(Seren's POV)

The next morning, I woke up only to find myself in my bedchamber. Again. "I am sure it is not a dream."

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I immediately sat up in bed. The first thing I did was to check my dress. It proved my suspicion. "So he changed it again. That shameless pervert!"

With gritted teeth, I checked for wounds on my skin where it hurt last night after I fell down in the pit. There were no marks and I was not in pain. "I am... completely fine again? No pain, no tiredness... but how?"

I looked around the bedchamber and sighed, "Seems like wherever I go, I will end up back in the palace."

By now, I already understood that the red-eyed man was the one helping me go out of the palace but he was also the one to bring me back afterwards.

"Who is he? What does he even want? Does he think this is funny? He is completely toying with me!" I was frustrated and angry and curious, but all those emotions had to be swallowed and hidden as a sense of helplessness and desperation enveloped me.

"Did His Majesty send him to keep an eye on me?"

This was the only conclusion I could draw. If that red-eyed man was powerful enough to whisk her out of the palace and freeze time of both the living and nonliving, then she did not stand a chance. She could never run away under his watch.

"Once I go to Megaris, that red-eyed man won't follow me and I can run from there." I was determined. "No one in that kingdom knows me. It will be easier to run away."

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Inside his bedchamber, Drayce was seated comfortably behind his desk when he heard Seren talk to herself again. Just like the previous day, he enjoyed his one-sided conversation with her.

"I am sure it is not a dream," he heard her say.

Drayce smiled, "I am sure it is not."

"So he changed my clothes again. That shameless pervert!"

"Shameless? Pervert?" Drayce sighed, hearing what she called him. She did not understand his painstaking care but he smirked, "I won't mind being one for you."

"I am... completely fine again? No pain, no tiredness... but how?"

"Due to your elixir pills," he replied as he imagined her checking her own body, and added, "Now don't try to run away. We have only a few of them left."

"Seems like wherever I go, I will end up back in the palace," she mumbled.

Drayce replied to her mumbling, "After going to Megaris, you will never end back here. Rest assured, I will fulfill your wish of going away from here, never to be back again."

He heard her again. "Who is he?"

Drayce smirked, "So eager to know me huh? Just make sure you will be able to hold your ground when you will get to know."

He could hear the frustration in her voice. "What does he even want? Does he think this is funny? He is completely toying with me!"

The young king grinned, trying to imagine once again how her eyes would look as she vented out.

"Did His Majesty send him to keep an eye on me?"

He shook his head. "Instead, your father tried to keep me away from you," he said and next moment heard something surprising, one that he never expected would come out of her mouth.

"Once I go to Megaris, that red-eyed man won't follow me and I can run from there."

Drayce chuckled, "Dear, that entire kingdom belongs to this red-eyed man."

"No one in that kingdom knows me," she spoke with an odd sense of confidence. "It will be easier to run away."

"Let's see who wins," Drayce replied as if challenged by her odd confidence. He couldn't stop smiling. 'What to do with this naive girl?' was what he thought.

-------

While Seren was dealing with the ridiculous outcome of her every escape attempt, busy cursing that red eyed-man who kept bringing her back to the palace, the one person she had been desperately waiting for finally reentered the Royal Palace of Abetha.

When Sir Berolt came to the King's study, he found King Armen just finishing his morning meal. Together with him was Prince Cian, and they seemed to be discussing how the prince's day with Seren went by the day before. The two appeared to be in a good mood.

"Your Majesty, I came to report that the Third Princess's nanny has returned," Sir Berolt informed after bowing to greet the two royals.

King Armen immediately asked, "Where is she?"

"Outside. Waiting to meet His Majesty."

"Send her in."

King Armen was both bothered and upset that Martha had been gone for so long. As for Cian, he was puzzled by the situation. He knew that someone who was allowed to stay by his sister's side would not be an ordinary person, but based on his father's behavior, he seemed to be underestimating the importance of this old female servant.

Martha entered the study and paid her respects to them with a lowered head., "Greetings, Your Majesty! Greetings, Your—"

"Where have you been, Martha?" King Armen asked, interrupting her speech.

King Armen was in a hurry to know where she had been. He wanted to get answers to the many questions plaguing his mind. Martha had been serving his daughter for nearly two decades. What could make her disappear for so long and be irresponsible towards Seren?

"Your Majesty, my apologies for not being able to return soon," Martha said without a change in her humble expression. The calmness of her voice irritated the King.

"I asked where have you been!" King Armen raised his voice. "Why were you gone for so many days?!"

It was as if all the emotions he had bottled up the past several days finally exploded. Cian had rarely seen his father lose composure. Even facing the royal court all these years, King Armen was always able to keep his true feelings on a leash. Until today.

For more than a week now, he was unable to sleep and eat well. He was already frustrated with what had happened with Seren and how her life had changed drastically in just a span of days. He had been forced to send his precious daughter away. No king would ever tolerate such a disgrace, and no father could ever swallow such an insult.

If Martha had been with Seren in the first place, none of this would have happened.

Despite his outburst, Martha remained calm with her head still lowered down. "I apologize again, Your Majesty, but I am afraid I might not be able to answer this."

Her reply annoyed King Armen even more, and he slammed his hand over the table. "Martha! Do you dare speak to me this way? All this time, not once have I ever asked you where you go and what you do because you are the only person whom I could trust to protect Seren." He clenched his fist. "But this time, you failed me… Do you even know what your absence has caused?"

"I know, Your Majesty. Commander Fletcher has kindly informed me beforehand," she replied politely. "Though I am apologetic and accept my fault, I also wish to say this is Seren's destiny and what happened is for her own good."