Seren probably never imagined that she would fall asleep inside the carriage as soon as she closed her eyes. She tried to clear her mind, to avoid thinking about anything in fear that Drayce could hear her thoughts, but that action only made her fall asleep. It must be because of the mental exhaustion she felt thinking she was getting married to a stranger, in addition to the shock she got seeing who the groom was. Not to mention the tedious preparation before the actual ceremony and the celebratory banquet after, there was also the fact that she had not eaten anything since last night's meal.

Drayce stared at his queen in appreciation, the side of his lips lifting into a smile. 'Are you not scared of me? How can you sleep so carelessly like this?'

​​

Though he couldn't see her face, to him, she was fine the way she was. Those scales on her body, though he had seen her without them before, those scales didn't seem ugly to him.

The sunlight coming from the glass window fell on her face and she stirred a bit, looking bothered by it. Drayce carefully moved the curtain to block the sunlight on her side. Time comfortably passed by between them just like that. Drayce did not do anything to wake her up and simply observed her sleeping profile from time to time. He soon noticed that her brows would furrow whenever the carriage would run on a rough path and hit a bump on the road. It seemed to disturb her calm sleep as her head would lightly collide on the cushioned side wall of the carriage where she was currently resting her head.

Drayce sighed and moved to sit next to her. He held her head and rested it on his broad shoulder. However, the difference between their sizes could not be ignored. Because he was much taller than her, he had to sit with his body lowered so she could keep her head comfortably on his shoulder. It was an uncomfortable position for him, but well, anything for his wife.

The sleeping young woman next to him seemed to not realize his discomfort and even rubbed her head and cheek against his shoulder to find the most comfortable place for her head.

'Indeed a little kitten.'

The carriage continued to run its course as the young lady, the Queen of Megaris, peacefully continued sleeping, unaware that she was using her husband's shoulder to rest her head.

When she woke up after her long sleep, her eyes that were still heavy with sleep were slow to flutter open. It took her several seconds to notice the closed curtain. Her gaze then moved to look at the person who was supposed to sit opposite to her, but the seat was empty.

'He is not there. Did he leave in boredom?'

A yawn was about to escape her mouth when she realized her head was resting on something... and someone was sitting next to her.

Seren slowly, ever-so-slowly, lifted her head as if she was scared to find out if her guess was true. She turned it to look at the person next to her. That person had his eyes closed with the back of his head resting on the wall of the carriage. She immediately moved away, but there was not much space in the first place. All she could do was shrink her body in the corner away from him.

A cold yet calm voice reached her ears.

"Though I am devil, I am not going to eat you."

When the man next to her spoke, he opened his eyes to look at his visibly flustered wife. Her bright purple eyes stared at him in shock, and it seemed as if her mind had gone blank at the moment.

Those innocent eyes, Drayce could never stop looking at them. He kept on staring at them, not realizing what effect it might cause on her.

As the person who was on the receiving end of those piercing red eyes, Seren didn't know what to say, nor how to act. His silence only made her anxious, making her wonder if he was waiting for her to do something. Should she apologize to him for sleeping while using his shoulder? Sleeping in front of a king was rude in itself, and that she slept on his shoulder only made it worse. He must be looking down at her lack of the most basic manners of a royal lady.

"M-My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty," she said in a low and weak voice, feeling nervous under his stare.

"Apologies? For what?" he asked in his normal cold tone.

She hesitantly looked at his shoulder which had a wet patch on the fabric, and she was sure she had drooled. She looked back at him and replied, "For resting my head on His Majesty's shoulder."

He stared at her for a while before speaking, "Hmm, it was indeed uncomfortable."

"A-Apologies—"

"Next time, you can just put your head on my lap when you want to sleep so it won't be that uncomfortable for both of us," he interrupted her.

Seren was shocked. She stared at him with her eyes wide open, as if to check whether he was serious or jesting.

'Is he not angry because I was rude?'

He continued, "If you do not wish to use my lap as your pillow, I will allow you to continue using my shoulder. However, since you are pitifully short, you have to sit on my lap and rest in my arms, so I do not need to lower my shoulder down to match your height."

"I-I dare not, Your Majesty!"

"Only you, my wife, can dare," he replied, still staring at her.

'He is a king! How can I do such a disrespectful thing?' she panicked inside. 'I never even sat on the lap of my father, the King of Abetha, like how other kids behave with their own parents because it is rude to act like that to a monarch. Is he trying to test me? I do not want to anger the king by sitting on his lap.'

"That would be inappropriate, Your Majesty," she said, lowering her head apologetically. As she waited for his response, her eyes kept glancing at his shoulder. That wet patch on the fabric still bothered her. 'Will he scold me once he notices I spoiled his robe?'

As her thoughts were running wildly inside her head, Drayce, who was staring at her in amusement, smirked. "There are a lot of inappropriate things we will be doing. This is just nothing."

His answer puzzled her. 'What inappropriate things? Does he mean something inappropriate for a royal lady? It seems he already noticed my drool on his robe. Does he mean a punishment, like treating me like a servant? What will he make me do? Do I need to wash his robe since I spoiled it? But I have never learned how to wash clothes because Martha was the one who did those chores. Ahhh... but I have seen how she washed clothes so I just need to imitate it. It's just one robe. Looks heavy though.'

"I will do it," she said, her weak voice sounding oddly determined.