A weak voice came out behind the veil. “Dray?”

It was as if all his worries disappeared the moment she called for him. “Seren, how are you feeling?”

She was in a state of confusion. “Is this dream? The cave…”

“It’s not a dream. We have safely returned to the palace,” he told her, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

“The ice cave… What happened?” she asked.

“You don’t remember?”

She closed her eyes momentarily as her head hurt. “I…I don’t know. It’s just that…”

“How about we postpone this talk for later? You should eat something first,” he suggested to which she agreed.

Drayce called for the servants. Three women heeded his call: Martha, Eva and Marie. While Eva and Marie were helping Seren change to more comfortable clothes, Drayce pulled Martha to the side.

“She doesn’t remember anything,” he quietly told her.

Marthe went silent, glancing at the young queen with worried eyes. “Maybe it was a great shock for her. Once she calms down, maybe her memories will return.”

“I prefer they won’t,” Drayce said. “My wife cannot even ignore an injured bird. Imagine how she will feel if she remembers how she attacked those angels. She almost killed them. Even if they were enemies, even if it was not deliberate, Seren will be burdened by guilt.”

“We can only hope for what is best for her.”

Seren was served a light meal in bed, and after she finished, she dismissed her servants, leaving only her and Drayce in her chamber. With her body resting against the headboard, she silently gazed at her husband who was busy at work, waiting for him to notice her.

Drayce finally went to her side.

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Her purple eyes met his red ones. Her brows were creased, as if she wanted to ask a question but didn’t know how to say it.

Drayce tenderly put some stray strands of hair behind her ear. “What are you thinking about?”

“Uhm, what happened in that ice cave?” she asked, gazing at him as if searching for answers.

Expecting this, he chose to answer her with a lie–the first lie he had ever told her.

“You became unconscious due to the magic clashing inside you. Afterwards, the enemies found our hiding place, but your protectors managed to repel them and they escaped in defeat.”

“Defeated the enemies? Do you know who they are?” she asked, her gaze begging–no, burning– him to tell her the truth. These enemies, they were the main cause for her seventeen years of imprisonment.

Drayce caressed her hand to calm her first before answering, “Angels.”

“Angels?”

“Angels are divine beings who serve the deities.”

She could not believe it. “Deities? Why? What do they want from me? Have I offended them by any means?”

“No, you didn’t.” He offered her a reassuring gaze. “The power of hellfire inside you belongs to the heavens and they are after it.”

“Heavens?”

Seren was so shocked, her eyes grew wide.

“Don’t be scared. Chances are high they will not go after you again. We might soon have a way to remove this power from inside you. Everything will be over soon.”

She lowered her head, pondering over the things she heard. “Aren’t deities invincible? How did you manage to defeat them?” She had a doubtful look in her eyes.

“Your protectors are powerful, don’t you know? Besides, I was with you the entire time. Are you looking down on your husband’s strength?”

Seren still had suspicion in her eyes as she mumbled, “Was that all a dream?”

“What dream?”

She gulped and her lowered gaze moved to meet his. “You know that green-eyed woman in my dreams? I saw saw her again.” Her grip  tightened on Drayce’s hand. “She was angry. She was so angry, it was scary.”

“You don’t have to be scared–” he tried to console, but Seren shook her head.

“Dray, it was scary because this time I don’t think it was a dream. Something inside me tells me it was real. It was like, like we were connected? I was feeling her anger and seeing the world through her eyes. I…I saw a winged man. I think he belongs to the same race as Aureus. He was dying, her fire burning him.  There was a knife stabbed in his heart. That winged man…”

Tears were rolling down her eyes, her emotions in turmoil. She did not know that winged man’s identity, but it hurt her just thinking of him.

Drayce hugged her to calm her down while he himself had questions in mind.

‘Yorian said the Deity of Fire was awakened, and this was related to someone’s death in Agartha. Seems like the hellfire allowed Seren to resonate with that deity.’

Remembering he had Aureus to that mysterious kingdom, he could not help but be concerned. ‘I hope Aureus is safe.’

“What you saw…my mother had seen it too.”

She moved her head back to look at Drayce.

Drayce wiped her tears. In the end, he could not bear to deceive his wife and chose to tell her the truth. He had no wish to betray her trust, and he also chose to believe that his wife was stronger than she looks.

He narrated to her what exactly happened in the ice cave, about how her powers were awakened as well along with the Deity of Fire. He also apologized for his earlier lie and described how her outburst caused the angels to flee in terror.

“…so we will know once mother visits Agartha. If the Deity of Fire coordinates with her, removing this power from your body is only a matter of time. Everything will be fine then, and those angels won’t bother us again.”

“I-I don’t know. That woman is really scary,” she mumbled. “Will your mother be fine meeting her? What if she hurts them?”

“It is hard to say, after all we do not know what kind of person she is. Maybe she is different from what you imagine. I believe Mother will take care of it. That deity should not be hostile against us since we are giving back her powers.”

Seren nodded to his coaxing and buried herself in his embrace, relishing in his warmth to make herself feel better.

===

A/N- If you are reading all of my books and wondering where to vote, then please do vote Golden Tickets and Powerstones to new novel “The Devil’s betrothed” as it’s in WSA 2023 contest.

In coming months our ‘Devil and Witch’ series will end with all three books of it. I wish us to celebrate the end of the series by winning Gold award in WSA 2023 contest.

I hope you all enjoy Arlan and his run away betrothed as much as you enjoyed Dryace and Seren and support it. <3<3