Drayce stood up and looked at the old innkeeper. "You say he left an hour ago?"
"Yes, my Lord. He brought a satchel with him and paid for his lodging. SInce he's a traveler, it's highly likely he'd be leaving this island within the day, if he hasn't boarded a ship yet."
'I need to ask the port master for the record of the ships or boats that have left the island within the past one hour. If that witch is still around, I will be able to sense her powers the mont she lets down her guard, and if she has left, I should at least know her possible destinations.'
Drayce stepped out of the room after making sure there were no other clues. The old man followed him like an obedient dog. As Drayce was about to leave the inn, Barry asked, "My Lord, anything more I can do for you?"
In response, Drayce rely threw at him a small pouch which the man caught imdiately. After looking at those silver coins inside, the old man raised his head to look at the generous nobleman, only to find no one was there.
-----
Drayce went to the port where his ship was docked and the repair work was ongoing in a shipyard. As Slayer and his brigade were appointed to protect Seren in the inn, Sir Azer Brayden, the Vice-Commander of the Royal Knights, was taking care of keeping an eye on the ship together with his n.
The knight imdiately bowed to the King upon seeing him. "Greetings, Your Majesty. What brings you to the shipyard?"
Drayce explained to Sir Azer what he needed to do. SIr Azer understood the situation and excused himself to ask the port master, while Drayce climbed his ship and stood inside the crow's nest, using his keen eyesight together with the binoculars he borrowed from a sailor to keep an eye on the people along the pier, as well as those ships sailing in the distance.
Despite his inhumanly sharp eyesight, he was unable to spot anyone fitting the Black Witch's description. He could not help but sigh, thinking it's also possible that the witch changed her manner of dressing to fool his eyes.
After finishing the given task, Sir Azer returned to the ship as fast as he could. Drayce, who had seen him approaching from high up, climbed down to the deck where he t up with the knight.
He bowed to Drayce. "Your Majesty, I retrieved the information you asked for."
Drayce nodded and Azer continued, "Three ships have left the port in the past one and a half hours. The first ship left exactly one and a half hour ago--a cargo ship belonging to the Golden Hawk rchants headed to the port city of Selve in Griven. The next one, which was also a cargo ship but to the Eastern Trade Coalition, left half an hour after the first ship and it was headed for the southern territories of Abetha. The last one was a longship belonging to a small rchant and left half hour ago, its destination also the port city of Selve.
"The first ship is of no use but the other two have a high chance," Drayce said as he mumbled. "Abetha and Griven?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. And when I asked around, I found a match on the small slender man who had his face covered. The crew on the pier especially rembered him because they said the man paid a hefty silver in order to board the vessel that was about to leave the dock. From what they said, they swore he was seen on the longship leaving for Griven."
"Understood! You did well," Drayce said as he saw Captain Benett coming towards them.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"How's the repair work going? Any major damages?"
"Our ship is the best in the kingdom; how could it be hard by such a storm? With half of the port's shipwrights working on the minor repair work of the underside, it will be completed by ti the day ends."
Drayce nodded and dismissed the two as he returned to his wife. On the way back to the inn, he still had that Black Witch in mind.
'If that Black Witch had indeed gone to Griven, then I hope she cos across Arlan. Before leaving Blackhelm, I did send out a formal correspondence to the Royal Family of Cromwell that I will be making a stop in Selve. Knowing him, he would volunteer to leave the capital to receive the King and Queen of garis.
'Arlan, I hope you do co across her so in our next eting I can get clues about her from you.'
-------
Seren woke up from her nap and saw she wasn't alone. Lady Xena was in the room with her, sitting in one chair doing so idle embroidery.
The young queen sat up in bed. "Xena, why are you here? Didn't I ask you, Eva and Marie, to take a break and have fun for the day?"
Startled, Lady Xena imdiately put down the needle and cloth in her hand, and the young woman approached the Queen. "Your Majesty, did you sleep well?"
When Seren nodded, Lady Xena smiled at the unhappy look on the younger woman's face. "Apologies, Your Majesty, but the three of us cannot take a break all at the sa ti. Even an ordinary noblewoman is required to have a single maid following her side all the ti, what more the Queen? If outsiders were to hear Your Majesty has to put on her clothes on her own, the royal family of garis will be ridiculed. At the very least, one of us should be here to attend to you. As your lady-in-waiting, it's not right for to leave your side."
Seren could not argue over this.
Lady Xena continued, "Besides, I don't mind. As a noble, I have plenty of chances to travel. Let's give Marie and Eva this chance to enjoy the island on their own."
At that, Seren was finally convinced. Her lady-in-waiting helped her freshen up, and when the two won went out of the guest room, they found Slayer standing outside the door as a guard. Seren understood he was there on Drayce's order. That ant Drayce was not present in the inn.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," Slayer said as he gave her a knight's salute.
Seren accepted it with a nod and asked, "Where is my husband, Sir Calhoun?"
"His Majesty has gone out, but he did not ntion where. He will probably be back by evening," he inford.
"Oh." She looked around the quiet corridor of the inn. "Did he ntion anything else? I want to go out and explore the rest of the town."
"I will protect you, Your Majesty," Slayer said with his head still lowered in front of her. His aning was clear that she could go out if she wished so, and he would accompany her as her escort guard.
Seren thought about it and said, "Then I'll be in your care, Sir Calhoun."
Seren left for sightseeing along with Lady Xena. Despite covering their bodies in ordinary traveler's cloaks, the three of them were pretty eye-catching as they left the inn. The two young won in particular were followed by nurous male gazes. Slayer followed behind the two with a sharp air, causing those curious gazes to imdiately lose interest.
The roads of Port Hope had a pretty simple layout, thus, the knight's gaze lingered on the alleys and the people walking past, observing everything around carefully, keeping check on any possible kind of danger.
On this island where many travelers gather, he could not afford to be careless. Worse, there was also that invisible threat hanging due to the supernatural beings targeting the Queen...
Seren bought many unusual things from the shops--from locally-made handcrafted items to rare products from the sea--and Lady Xena had the shop owners deliver them straight to their ship. After satisfying her curiosity, Seren left the town to take a stroll on the beach side of the island.
The sand was soft under her boots, and with each step, her foot would sink down and leave footprints, causing her to giggle like a little girl as she played around kicking sand. Lady Xena was stunned, as the Queen had always had a quiet and sophisticated air around her when she was with people, but out of the public's eye, she seed to not mind simply enjoying the beauty of the beach with a heart as pure as a child's.
Soon, the lady-in-waiting helped Seren collect small seashells buried in the sand.
After so ti, Seren stood on the coast facing the glittering blue water, simply enjoying the salty breeze tossing her hair and skirt around. She had seen the sea from the port near Blackhelm before, but it was a pier ant to receive ships and boats, and not a peaceful beach like this where the sandy shore ets the sea. The only noise were the calm sea waves and calls of the seagulls in the distance.
"I wonder how it feels to step in that water and let those waves touch our feet?" Seren mumbled.
"My Queen, why don't you try it to know?"
She heard the familiar voice and imdiately turned around to see Drayce standing behind her a few steps away.
"Dray? When did you co?"
Her husband walked towards her and held her hand while Lady Xena and Slayer tactfully stepped back to give the couple privacy.
"Will it be fine for us to play in the water?" Seren asked, her purple eyes shining excitedly.
Drayce stopped in front of her and dropped to a single knee, taking her by surprise. "Dray, what are you doing?"
"My Queen, you have to remove your boots so they won't be soaked in water. Let help you."
She stepped back. "Ah, I can do that on my own. You don't need to--"
Drayce wordlessly stared at her and she realized he was not going to listen no matter what she said. She gave in and let him do what he wanted, obediently staying still as she let him remove her boots for her. She watched this handso man doing such a nial task for his wife.
This proud king who bends in front of no one was kneeling in front of her.
An ordinary man, an ordinary husband, caring for his wife.
Once he removed the sturdy leather covering her dainty feet, the grains of the sand felt cool and fine against her soles, and she couldn't help but wiggle her toes as she enjoyed the sensation of standing barefoot on the beach. She watched him put them aside, and when he removed his boots as well, he placed them next to hers. Drayce stood up facing her.
"Now, we are ready."
Her sweet husband held her hand and led her towards the direction of the water. As they approached the ebbing tides, Seren felt thrilled.
"Cold!"
The mont she felt one wave splash over her feet, once after another, she let out gasps of awe, her eyes shining like a little girl's. She giggled as another wave ca over, as if she was experiencing sothing amazing. She watched with wide eyes as the sand and small pebbles under her feet slowly slid away with the water as it went back to the sea.
"The water feels so good, Dray!" she exclaid, smiling widely under her veil.
Seeing the genuine happiness in those purple eyes of hers, Drayce clasped her hand firmly and pulled her deeper into the water until they were standing with the water splashing against their calves.
One hand on her skirt, Seren held onto his arm with the other, sowhat fearing the waves would knock her into the water, but that smile on her face never disappeared.
"It feels better than what I could ever imagine," she comnted as a cool breeze blew past them.
"With you by my side, it feels better than what I had ever felt before," Drayce comnted back as he lightly squeezed her hand.
As they stood in the midst of the water, the sky gradually changed colors, starting with hints of orange that later dyed with hues of red. The lovely view of sunset on the beach, accompanied by peaceful clouds and birds flying as if to return to their hos...
"I never thought I would be able to see this," she mumbled.
"I already told you, with you will get to see and feel things that you never even thought about."
She smiled and nodded, holding onto his arm even firmly as if to feel his presence a little better.
Drayce gently freed his arm from her hold and instead used it to wrap her shoulder and pull her closer to his chest.
'Feels even better,' she thought with a satisfied smile.
The King and Queen of garis stood together quietly, imrsed in the beauty of nature while wrapped in each other's arms.
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