Once Seren had settled on the bed, Drayce covered her with a quilt before going to the adjacent room to change his clothes as they too had blood stains after he helped carry the injured Dusk.

When he returned after changing clothes, he noticed Seren had already drifted into a deep sleep. He went closer to her and observed the woman whose breathing was finally steady and rhythmic. Her face was calm, unlike how anxious and agitated she was a while ago.

He sat at the edge of the bed, still looking at her sleeping figure. His queen had experienced a lot today. The stroll in the crowded merchant district, the fear those wolves caused, her continuous crying, and later, her powers showed up; this altogether must have exhausted her.

'Powers?'

Drayce realized something. As per his knowledge, whenever Seren got angry, her anger could put someone on fire. He was sure she couldn't control it despite the fact that she didn't mean to harm anyone. This was the energy he felt from her when she burned those men who harassed her in the marketplace, back in Abetha's capital. But this time, she did not put those wolves on fire even though she was far angrier today compared to when she was in front of those scum.

'Could it be that her powers couldn't harm animals?'

Not only that, from what he heard, other strong emotions would also manifest strange occurrences around her. Whenever she cried, a downpour of rain was inevitable, and when she shouts, glass and other fragile items would shatter. She cried this time, yet there was no rain at all, not even a sign of dark clouds in the atmosphere.

'Has she learned to control her power?'

Feeling puzzled, Drayce continued to look at her. Again, he remembered something. Although subtle, it seemed like the energy he felt from her when she was angry in the marketplace of Abetha and the energy he felt when she was angry due to Dusk were totally different. Both energies reflected her anger, but one was wild and overbearing, but the other one was subdued and obedient to her. In front of the wolf, it was the second type of energy, the one that was obedient to her.

'Perhaps, there exists two energies inside her. The one that was wild and not within her control was the energy from her curse, while the more obedient one was her own power, the one her nanny said was suppressed,' Drayce thought as he analyzed the clues he had so far. 'Are her own powers starting to show up because she will soon be reaching adulthood? Will she be able to fully use her powers once she turns eighteen?'

The mysteries about his wife would not be easy to solve. He was still lacking information, and he could only observe her for the meanwhile. Drayce left the room, leaving her to sleep peacefully. The two lady servants were standing outside if she ever needed something.

Drayce went towards the guest room provided for the Crown Prince of Griven. He wanted to talk to him regarding leaving for the capital of Griven.

When Drayce entered his room, Arlan was standing on the balcony, looking at the large estate. The Crown Prince was remembering the old days when he had visited this place with his father. As a king, it was strange for his father to personally oversee the lands, but the King of Griven was not someone who enjoyed staying in the palace for long durations of time. It had something to do with wanting to see with his own eyes how his people were living. Back then, Arlan remembered his father visiting the large merchant groups here as well as checking the issues regarding the border sharing with Abetha. Of course, they had stayed in the Loyset Residence; after all, the Loyset Family was a family of knights. The King of Griven's personal knight was Marquis Loyset, whose first son, Imbert Loyset, then swore to serve the Crown Prince.

Because Arlan was immersed in his thoughts, he did not notice his friend's arrival Drayce found it rare to see a talkative person like Arlan like this.

"What are you thinking about?" Drayce asked as he joined him on the balcony.

"Nothing much. Old memories," Arlan replied and asked, "How is your queen?"

"Resting. Must be exhausted with what happened today."

With a slight nod, Arlan said, "According to our initial plans, we will be leaving at this hour, but it seems like we have to delay it now."

"Once she is awake, we can decide," Drayce replied.

"Hmm," Arlan agreed as he leaned against the railings of the balcony. "The route to the capital of Griven is safe and the official roads are maintained. Since the distance is not much, we can travel at night too."

Drayce nodded as he stared off into the distance.

"What are you thinking about?" Arlan asked.

"I am wondering what kind of desire can make one person desperate enough to not even care for his or her own life."

Arlan thought for a moment and answered, "To protect the one they love. What do you think?"

Drayce did not nod or shake his head.

"Freedom," he replied, after a while.

Arlan looked at him. "Are you talking about your past? Why are you even bringing this up?"

"There was a time in my life when I was desperate to get freedom without worrying about the consequences. I just wanted to be free."

"I know that your attempt to run away was the reason we met," Arlan added.

Drayce nodded, his gaze still faraway. "Protecting someone should not turn into taking away their freedom."

"Are you talking about your wife?" Arlan asked directly though he had already guessed why Drayce suddenly talked about freedom.

"Hmm," Drayce agreed.

"Today, in the market, was she trying to…?"

"Hmm." Drayce sighed, knowing what his friend would say, but not wishing to hear those words.

Run away.

His wife was trying to run away from him, again and again, and again, when all he did was to care for her.

"You know her situation," Arlan said.

"I don't blame her as once I was like her too. All this time, I knew what she was trying to do but I never stopped her. I want her to do what she wants and when she is tired, I am there to protect her."

"She needs to trust you first. Only after she learns who you are as a person will she realize there is no reason to run."

Drayce agreed to it, but it was difficult to gain the trust of a woman who refused to open up herself to him. His queen was quite delicate, and one wrong action might easily erase what progress he had made with her.

"To protect her, her father imprisoned her. I'm a king as well, so no wonder she expects the same from me, trying her best to run away before we reach Megaris. If I say that she doesn't have to worry and I will always protect her and let her do what she wants, she won't believe my words. Instead of me pushing her, it's better for her to understand her situation at her own pace. Actions speak louder than words."

Arlan patted his friend's back to console him. "After suffering for so many years, it will take a lot of time but she will understand as you remain patient."

"I am not in a hurry either."