"Are you feeling shy, my Queen?" Drayce asked as he watched her while trying to hide the grin forming on his face.

'Shy? Why would I? Instead, I am scared of those red eyes. Stop staring at me,' was what's truly on her mind, but the reply that came out was a simple, "No, Your Majesty."

"You must still be tired. Sleep for a while more," he said, sounding as gentle as he could, but she failed to notice it. What she wanted was for him to be gone from her room.

"I-I am fine, Your Majesty."

Still lying on the large bed with his body facing her, Drayce continued to watch her with amusement. "Are you planning to keep sitting on the floor?"

Seren realized how unbecoming she must have looked sitting on the floor, thus she hurried to get up. The next moment, a cry of pain escaped her mouth as she put weight on her foot that was sprained the previous night. It was in a worse condition not only because she kept running recklessly, but also because it was not given immediate attention, causing it to swell.

She managed to hold the edge of the bed before she lost her balance, but at the same time, a pair of strong arms pulled her closer to a broad, muscular chest to not let her fall. Her breath hitched as she felt his strong but steady heartbeats through their nightclothes.

In shock, she looked at the red-eyed man and then looked at the other side of the bed which was now empty.

'How did he reach this side in a blink of an eye? I didn't see him coming to me,' Her curiosity made her almost forget the pain she's feeling on her ankle.

Before she could voice out her question, Drayce lifted her tiny body up in his arms and made her sit face to face with him on top of the bed.

Seren looked at his calm face, not knowing what to say or do. She was not used to getting close with anyone and didn't know how she should feel about it. Aside from Martha, no one really got this close to her, to not even shy away from touching her.

This kind of care and affection from him was new to her. Her whole life, people had always tried to stay away from her, and even her own brother had been careful around her. Only during those precious last days in the capital did he openly showered her with attention. This man in front of her, she didn't know if she could trust him or be careful of him.

'What could this man be plotting?'

Drayce arranged the pillows on the headrest before lifting her body once more so she could rest her back comfortably against the pillows. He then sat at her feet to check where she was hurt.

The moment he touched her swollen foot, she pulled it back, hiding both of her feet inside the nightgown as she hastily adjusted the bottom of her skirt.

Drayce looked at his queen. She did not appear shy, but she looked hesitant. If she was shy, he would have been happy, but this blank parchment knew nothing.

An ordinary woman would have been shy since she knew the reasons to feel shy, but his queen was nothing ordinary. Her husband was there but all she felt was fear of him, constantly wanting to run away from him. He could not fault her; after all, he was no one but a stranger to her.

Fear… He didn't want her to fear him.

It would take time for her impression of him to change, but Drayce was patient. "We need to treat your injury, my Queen."

With her gaze lowered towards her folded knees, she replied in a low voice, "It will heal on its own."

"If we don't treat it early, you won't be able to walk properly and I have to carry you all the time. Will such a case be fine with you, my Queen?" he asked.

'Carry me all the time?' she thought as she glanced at his cold face. Of course, she didn't want him to carry her. Seren let her guard down and slowly pulled her dress up to show her feet.

Drayce looked at the swollen ankle, and the moment he touched it, she whined in pain. It was really in bad condition. The previous night, he didn't know she had hurt her feet as everything looked fine, but his carelessness had made it worse.

"Wait here," he instructed as he went out of the room. After a while, he returned with a tiny white ceramic bowl in his hand. There was some sort of green ointment inside that smelled of herbs. Sitting at the edge of the bed next to her feet, he was about to apply it but Seren stopped him.

"Your Majesty can leave it here. I will apply it after a bath or it will only wash away."

"You don't need to have a bath again," Drayce replied as he lifted her foot in his hand to apply the ointment.

She blinked with a clueless expression, not understanding what he meant... until she looked at her dress. It was a different nightgown from the one she was wearing last night. He had changed her clothes again, and there was no dirt on her.

She screamed inside, 'He did it again! The pervert!'

Seren wanted to get angry at him for doing this, as it was evident he must have seen her naked.

'Ahh! So embarrassing! Martha told me a lady should always wear nice clothes, keep herself covered and never let anyone see her without them. It's a disgrace for a lady if someone sees her without clothes. This man has repeatedly brought disgrace to me. If I were to tell Martha that this man had seen me naked many times, even though I was unconscious and thus without consent, she would be sad that I didn't follow what she had taught me. I am such a disappointment to Martha.'

Though Drayce was not looking at her face, he could faintly guess what must have been going on in her mind. He had changed her clothes and she must feel embarrassed thinking a stranger had changed her clothes. Drayce didn't mind it and simply continued what he was doing. Afterwards, he wrapped one red silk cloth around her ankle tightly like a bandage to prevent her from moving it so that the swelling would heal fast.

While he was doing all this, Seren studied his serious face as she wondered, 'Why didn't he say anything about how I tried to run away? As a king, shouldn't he just scold me or punish me? Is he really letting it slide or does he have something else in mind? He is always so expressionless that it's difficult to understand what he's thinking, and those red eyes, I dare not look at them. So scary. Maybe I am right and he will only punish me once we arrive in Megaris.'

Thinking about her punishment, she could only sigh helplessly.

Once he was done, Drayce let go of her hurt foot and checked the other one but it looked fine.

He looked at her. "Are you hurt somewhere else too, my Queen?"

She stared at him for a moment. His face looked calm and his voice was filled with care for her. 'Why is this scary man acting gently with me? Am I dreaming?'

Seeing her lack of response, he asked again, "Where else are you hurt?"

"No...it's just that one foot," she replied.

Drayce didn't insist as he climbed off the bed. "I will take a bath and you can rest till then. We can eat toge—"

Seren was initially nodding her head when she realized that the man in front of her was removing his robe. "Wait!"

Drayce was bewildered by her shout. "What happened?"

Realizing she had raised her voice, she lowered her head and asked in a calmer tone, "Your Majesty, why are you removing your clothes here?"

'So she at least knows it's not good to see someone else without clothes,' Drayce thought as he asked, "Can't I, my Queen?"

"Martha said, it's not appropriate to change clothes in front of others," she replied, still her head lowered down.