After leaving Griven's capital, Karlin, the royal entourage resumed their leisurely pace as they traveled towards their home, the Kingdom of Megaris. For the next few days, their group mostly rested at the different cities along the way for a night at most. With each passing day, Seren not only enjoyed looking at the scenery, but she also noticed how the temperature seemed to be dropping. The people around her started wearing layers of clothes.
During the trip, they also stayed at the residence owned by the Wimark Family as its territory was situated at the Griven-Megaris border. As per the orders of the Duke and Duchess of Wimark, the best arrangements were made for them, suiting their status as part of Megaris Royalty.
Seren could finally see where the cute little lady, Rayjin, was raised, and she could imagine how she ran and played around in the countryside, supervised by her parents. Sadly, she was not there and stayed back in the capital. Seren realized how she missed Rayjin, although they barely got to know each other.
When they finally arrived at the Kingdom of Megaris, Seren was welcomed by a sight she would never forget. On the very first city they entered, not only the soldiers stationed at the border received them with dedication, even the ordinary people crowded the main road where their entourage passed, cheering to welcome their king who they were proud of, and their queen who their king had chosen to rule the kingdom alongside with him.
"General of the southeast border, Kayden Hart, greets the dragon and the phoenix of Megaris!"
Their entourage was welcomed by the noble in charge of the southeastern territory of the kingdom, Marquis Hart, along with his family, the lower nobles, and the military officials under his command. Seren could see how the nobility of Megaris treated Drayce with utmost respect and fear.
During their stay, everyone, from people of status to the most ordinary servants, paid the royal couple great attention, but not many tried to converse with them. Even someone like Seren who was oblivious to most affairs of people could feel a strange atmosphere. However, time was short on her side, and she wasn't able to figure out the reason why since they left the very next morning.
While traveling across the various cities towards the capital, she didn't fail to notice how the clothing of the people of Megaris were different from Abetha and Griven. It was also due to Eva and Marie dressing her up in a different set of clothes than the ones she had brought with her. Those from Abetha and Griven seemed to generally prefer more stylish and colorful clothes, while people of Megaris seemed to favor darker-colored clothes and wearing coats and robes in layers. The women, in particular, wore long boots, instead of the typical heeled shoes. It must be because Megaris was on the northern side of the continent and it was colder compared to the central regions.
As she clutched the soft yet thick outer robe closer to her body, a thought struck her mind. She remembered something she read in the books about Megaris—snowfall.
'Will I get to see snow now?'
She had never seen it as there was no snowfall in Abetha during winter.
The sun had long set when their entourage reached Blackhelm, the capital city of Megaris. Still, the entire capital was bustling with music and cheers as the people welcomed the return of their king and the arrival of their queen. Many lamps and fire torches were set up everywhere, and the city guards and knights kept the roads clear for the royal entourage to pass by without any disturbances. The crowd was excited to see their monarchs, and some even followed behind the carriages like they were in a parade.
Seren woke up due to the various sounds everywhere—the sounds of horses, the festive music, the people cheering, and the royal guards giving instructions to people around to keep the path empty. She had been asleep in the carriage because they traveled nonstop from the time they left their last destination.
As usual, she realized her head was resting on Drayce's shoulder. She lifted her head before shrinking her body to her side of the carriage. "A-Apologies, Your Majesty—"
"For spoiling my robe with the drool?" Drayce asked.
Seren nodded, and he could only smile lightly.
This scene had become routine for them for the past few days since they left the capital of Griven. Before she fell asleep, Drayce would always be sitting opposite to her, but whenever she woke up, she would then find him sitting next to her with her head resting on his shoulder. Seren had somehow gotten used to it.
All the nights they spent together for the rest of their journey, Drayce no longer tried to teach her any 'lesson' between husband and wife, other than just accompanying her in bed by sleeping next to her. He was scared of the devil inside him, and he was more scared of that devil hurting his wife. He first needed to get answers to his questions from the one person who could answer him—Lady Tyra.
Seren looked outside of the glass window, and even though it's nighttime, many people were standing by the sides of the road, paying respects towards the royal carriage even though they couldn't see their king sitting inside it. The entire capital seemed to be decorated with banners and lanterns hung everywhere, as if there was a festival happening.
Soon, their carriage left behind the residences and buildings and reached an upward slope, as if they were climbing a mountain. Seren's eyes caught sight of the entire city below them from one window, like small dots of fireflies. On the other side, a long stretch of tall stony walls with fire torches came into view.
The carriage rode closer to the main palace gate and she tilted her neck a little towards the window to see the view of the Royal Palace of Megaris which was behind those tall stony walls. From her seat, only a few tall towers were visible.
'It should have been a majestic view if only I could see this during the day,' she couldn't help but think.
The huge iron-wrought double gates fixed in the middle of those walls were open. Many royal guards and soldiers stood in formation on either side of the road,? bowing towards the carriage to greet them and show their respect as they passed by them.
'How polite,' she thought as she remembered how consistent everyone was ever since they entered the kingdom. 'People from Megaris really do respect their king.'
Seren was too surprised and awed to see such a grand welcome for Drayce, she forgot it also meant to welcome her, the queen of the most powerful kingdom in the entire continent.
Sitting beside her, Drayce didn't disturb her. He simply watched over his wife who was still like a kid who got excited and curious over every new sight she saw.
'This entire kingdom belongs to us, my Queen. You can do whatever you feel is right. No one will stop you, not even me,' Drayce thought as he observed the naive woman beside him.