Even after Seren retired to the guest room that night, her mind was still filled with Great Lady Theodora’s words. The story of their predecessors, King Theron and Queen Esther, the past behind the current Ivanov family, the broken relationships surrounding her husband—all these made her feel like she’s experienced another lifetime.

It wasn’t her own story, but she felt herself sympathizing about the experiences of these people who had made their own decisions and had properly lived their own lives. It made her curious how amazing and scary ‘love’ is. Didn’t that ‘love’ that brought happiness also brought pain to the members of the royal family?

As she lay in bed, her thoughts gradually drifted to  Drayce.

‘He said he would return in two days. One day has passed, now one more day to go.’

A light smile painted on her lips under her veil. ‘I learned a lot about him, and I cannot wait for him to return.’ She looked at the space next to her in bed. ‘Without him, everything seems empty…’

Realization hit her. ‘Am I missing him already? Seems like it.’

She closed her eyes in anticipation to see her husband soon. ‘Maybe he will miss me too and return early?’

Some time near midnight, the cold evening breeze picked up into a gale, causing the rustling leaves of the trees around the Crystal Palace to shake along with their branches. Along with it, an unknown energy silently crossed the barrier set around the Crystal Palace and entered the palace grounds.

Seren, who had already fallen asleep with a single dim lamp on the bedside table, felt restless and tossed in bed. When she opened her eyes, she found the silhouette of a familiar person inside the guest room. Her eyes widened when she noticed the man walking out of her room.

Even though she could only view that person from the back, she could not mistake this person. A delighted smile blossomed on her face as she sat up, her body no longer feeling drowsy.

“Dray, when did you return?”

Maybe she spoke softer than intended because he didn’t seem to have heard her. He didn’t answer, neither did he turn to look at her, and closed the door of the chamber behind him.

“Dray?” she called out, puzzled. ‘Is he going to go to a separate room? He must be tired if he just returned. Isn’t it better to sleep in the same bed as me?’

She stepped out of the bed in hurry to follow him, wondering if he didn’t realize she’s awake. She even forgot to wear her footwear and followed him barefoot.

When she left the guest room, she found the hallway was empty. It took her eyes time to adjust in the darkness and realized her husband was at the other end, about to take the left turn leading to a different hallway. There was already too much distance between them. It didn’t surprise her as she knew Drayce could move fast using his powers.

She ran to catch up to him. “Dray, wait, where are you going?” However, the distance between them was increasing instead of the other way around, and if not for him occasionally stopping, she might have already lost sight of him.

“Dray?” she called out again, but the man didn’t seem to hear her and continued to walk, making her run behind him.

Though she couldn’t see his expression, Seren found herself worrying about him, especially after remembering everything Great Lady Theodora shared with her. He must have been feeling miserable during this time of the year every year, as his birthday was also the time his mother left him.

As she followed him, she didn’t realize she had left the main residence of the Crystal Palace and was walking in the garden barefoot. At one point, she stopped to catch her breath and felt the uneven ground under her bare feet. Realizing she was merely clad in a thin nightgown and was starting to feel cold, she felt like giving up but she could not.

‘Dray is not acting normal. He must not be feeling well. I want to comfort him…’

She looked at the man who finally turned to look at her. They were standing at the shore of the lake, the pale moonlight softly illuminating his lonely-looking tall physique.

His red eyes seemed to be dimmer than what she remembered, but he’s still as devilishly beautiful as a man fresh out of a royal painting, and the moonlight seemed to emphasize his broad shoulders that trimmed down to what she knew was a sculpted torso. His cold handsome face held an expression of sadness as he gazed back at her.

Seeing his face, Seren felt relieved. This confirmed her guess that Dray, her husband, must not be feeling well. Her decision to run after him without giving up was not for nothing.

“Dray, shall we head back in? It’s cold out here…”

Her husband shook his head. She started walking towards him, only to see that the man had already climbed inside one of the boats docked by the lakeside.

‘Where is he going? Why is he not taking me with him? Is there anything wrong? It is not a dream, right?’

She knew Drayce was not the kind of person who would leave her like this, especially when she’s calling out for him. She couldn’t help but question this strange scenario. She pinched her arm, and with that hurting pain, she confirmed this was not a dream.

‘Something is wrong with Dray. I need to see what is going on. Why is he not talking to me?’

An errant guess shook her core as she was reminded of the story of Queen Esther.

‘The Queen…the Queen left without explaining anything to Dray for his own good. Did he also visit me because something happened and he’s not explaining anything for my sake? No, that can’t be. But why is he leaving? I can’t let him leave like this…what if he doesn’t return too?’

She ran towards the lake but the boat Drayce was riding had already left. In her panic, Seren untied another boat docked nearby and pushed it into the waters. Just as she was about to get the oars, the boat moved on its own and followed Drayce’s boat.

‘Is Dray controlling this boat as well?’ she questioned and continued to sit quietly as her gaze was stuck on the tall figure of the man in the boat in front of her.

‘He never acts like this with me. I wonder what happened?’

The boat continued to move across the lake, leading to a different water channel than the one she’s familiar with that led back to the main grounds of the royal palace. As they passed through a thick fog in eerie silence, goosebumps appeared on her entire body.

Only then did Seren feel a foreboding feeling as she rubbed her arms for some warmth.

She didn’t know how long it was, but when his boat stopped, they were already on the other side of the lake which had nothing but dense trees. It was a forest with trees so huge and dense, even the light of the moon could barely penetrate their crowns, causing the place to be covered entirely in darkness.

Seren saw her husband step out of the boat and walked towards those dense trees. When Seren’s boat stopped there, she also did the same despite staring at that dark forest with hesitation.

‘Dray is there. It should be fine,’ she convinced herself and followed the path that the man took.

With the help of the moonlight, Seren could at least see where she’s stepping on, but she could no longer see the silhouette of the man she was following.

“Dray?”

Her voice echoed within that forest, but there was no reply.

Seren was tempted to return back to the lakeside and simply wait by the boat, but when she heard the sound of his footsteps, she was able to control her growing fear. Although she couldn’t see him, she could follow him by the sounds he’s making.

After walking for a while, she reached a particular circular area devoid of trees. In the center of the meadow, a tall man stood while looking at the night sky. As if he had heard her arrival, he turned to look at Seren, and the next moment, he disappeared in the form of smoke as if he was nothing more than an illusion.

“Wha—Dray?” she exclaimed in shock and ran to the middle of that meadow, checking if there’s a hole in the place where the man disappeared. It was flat land covered in grass. She looked around in fear. “Dray, where did you go?”

There was no answer to her question, but soon, she saw figures in black emerging out of the woods.

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