627 Cultural Shock For The Innocent
Seren woke up the next morning in her husband’s arms. It was a strange feeling to wake up in her old room, with Drayce sleeping by her side on her childhood bed, holding her like a body pillow.
Staring at the man sleeping soundly next to her, she could not help but notice the hint of fatigue on his handsome face.
Even though Drayce wouldn’t admit it, he had been exhausted after their long journey of more than two weeks. The travel itself was of little concern, but he did overexert his powers during the night of that storm, and afterwards, there was his relentless search for the suspicious Black Witch, not to mention as the King of Megaris, he still had to deal with the people of high society.
Seren softly gazed at his peaceful sleeping face.
‘This might be one of the best memories I have in this tower–waking up with Dray by my side. I never thought a day like this would come.’
“Good morning, Seren,” she heard Drayce say after he stirred awake some time later.
She smiled behind her veil. “Good morning, Dray. Did you sleep well?”
He nodded before leisurely pulling her closer to him. “Have you been awake for long?”
“Not really.”
Drayce planted a soft kiss on her forehead. “What were you thinking about?”
“That I should make a couple more good memories here with you.”
“Hmm, we absolutely must,” he agreed, and after nuzzling his face on her hair, he informed her, “Today, we will have to meet the King and the Queen of Abetha. Will you be fine?”
“It is merely giving formal greetings, isn’t it? That much, I can do.”
“Good.”
“But, I don’t want to have a private meal with them if they invite us to one,” Seren was aware of the formalities between royalty and she could expect what to come. If it was a banquet with other people, she could still tolerate it, but to share a meal with only King Armen and Queen Niobe…
“Sure. As you wish.”
After they got ready for the day, their morning meal was arranged in the tower garden as per Seren’s wishes. Back in the days, she was used to having her morning meal with her nanny while enjoying the beautiful view of that small garden. She wanted to reminisce about those memories again.
When the couple reached the garden, Seren was surprised to see Arlan along with Yorian waiting for them. She didn’t know these two would be accompanying them on their morning meal as well.
She threw a puzzled glance at her husband who was right next to her. “They are curious about your tower so I invited them for a meal. I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s fine,” she responded and they walked ahead towards their guests.
“Good morning, Your Majesties.”
“Good morning,” she replied cordially and heard Arlan add, “I hope we are not being a bother here.”
“Of course not, Prince Arlan. I am merely worried that you might find this humble place not to your comfort.”
“There is no need for that, Your Majesty. This garden is lovely. In fact, I find its serene atmosphere quite agreeable,” Arlan replied.
“Seems like the King of Abetha paid special attention to this place,” Yorian commented as he looked around. “Many of the plants in this garden would not thrive without appropriate care.”
Seren could not deny the obvious–that even in her absence, this place was well-maintained. A number of the flower-bearing plants she raised were difficult to tend, some particular about the water in the soil and some sensitive to changes in temperature. Yet all of them were obviously healthy; everything was how she had left it… but she chose to be quiet.
Arlan turned towards Yorian. “So, have you already finished sightseeing around the entire royal palace?”
“I had nothing to do yesterday.” Yorian didn’t deny it. “In case you plan to attack the Royal Palace of Abetha in the future, I can provide you with some insights.”
“I look forward to your report, elf.”
As they chatted, they walked towards the part of the garden where the servants had arranged a table with chairs for them.
Drayce pulled a chair out for Seren and helped her sit while others took their places.
After the servants served their meal and they started eating, Arlan spoke up. “Dray, about the summit this time, you must have received the invite already before you embarked on this trip.”
“Hmm.”
“This time, Samer Vailes will be attending for the first time since he has been crowned the King of Thevailes.”
“That is within expectation.”
“We will come across him after so long. Any thoughts?”
“As long as he behaves, then I will treat him as a fellow king,” Drayce commented and continued eating.
“A summit?” Seren asked as she didn’t recall Drayce mentioning anything about this.
“A gathering held in Mivesea,” Drayce replied, “and we both are going.”
“I am going as well?” she asked in a surprise.
“Hmm! After your sister’s wedding and dealing with a few more important matters, we will be heading to Mivesea, but since it’s still about a month away, we can take our time and travel through the lands of Abetha and Othinia along the way. From Mivesea, we will return by ship to Megaris.”
Her eyes shone at the thought of traveling around and asked, “What exactly happens at this summit?”
“Mostly deciding the general direction of development between kingdoms, a means to show off the achievements of the reigning monarch, and forming or strengthening alliances between nations, those kinds of affairs,” Drayce explained with a nonchalant tone. “However, this is an assembly meant only for kings or heads of nations, and it only happens once every three years or when one of the participating kingdoms crowns a new ruler.”
Seren, who was yet to finish her education as a queen, was quite flustered by what she heard. “Umm, won’t it be dangerous for rival kings to be present at the same place?”
“All the kings and their envoys have to follow certain rules. During the duration of the summit, the participants keep their rivalry to themselves. This summit is the most important assembly between the highest-ranking people in the continent–none of those attending would be stupid enough to offend another kingdom and risk raising the banners of war for nonsensical reasons like private grudges.
“If someone breaks the rules, the other kingdoms will either put diplomatic pressure like refusing access to trade routes with them or economic sanctions like putting higher levies on imported goods, or worse, isolate that kingdom from attending the next summit.
“No sane king will attempt to sabotage the summit and turn the entire continent against them.”
Seren let out a mouthful of air. “This summit sounds frightening. Do all kings have to attend it?”
“Theoretically, but not necessarily. If the reigning king is unable to attend, he may send his official successor or the first in line to the throne to attend it,” Drayce then looked at his friend. “Arlan is attending the summit in his father’s stead.”
“Hmm!”
“For Abetha, I heard Prince Cian is coming to participate in the summit,” Arlan remarked.
This brought a smile to Seren’sn lips as she said happily, “That means Brother Cian would be coming with us?”
Drayce nodded without a change in expression, but deep inside, he could not help but feel jealous over her reaction. He was sure she would remain glued to her brother’s side all the time.
pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 Arlan threw a teasing smile his way. The young king offered him a flat glare and then looked at his wife. “Seren, why did you stop eating? You should eat more.”
“Ah, I am still eating. I am just happy that my brother will be accompanying us to Mivesea.”
Drayce no longer commented as seeing her happy was everything to him.
Just then, Arlan’s eyes glanced at the side, as if sensing something interesting was happening. Arlan smirked before moving his gaze back to Drayce.
Drayce had followed Arlan’s gaze earlier and saw two knights were being rowdy to the point even some of the servants were also glancing their way. Azer was attempting to strike a conversation with Arlan’s knight, Imbert, but the young knight looked colder than an iceberg, refusing to entertain him.
Arlan sighed and said to Drayce, “Your knight is going to be heartbroken.”
Hearing that cryptic remark, Seren stared at Arlan with a confused look, while Yorian lowered his head, a vague smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Drayce glared at Arlan. “Watch your mouth. You should refrain from giving a cultural shock to the innocent people around you.”
Arlan awkwardly cleared his throat as he understood Drayce was referring to Seren and changed the topic, “The local food of Abetha sure tastes amazing. Especially their sweets. These honey biscuits are my favorite.”
Seren, who didn’t understand what was going on, pushed the dish of biscuits towards Arlan. “Please have some more, Prince Arlan.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Arlan replied as he felt relieved that the naive queen didn’t understand what he had said before.