Chapter 259: Recalling The Previous Night

When Seren woke up the next day, it was late in the morning. The sun was high in the sky and had already brightened up the entire capital. Her head felt heavy and her vision was blurry despite blinking a couple of times. Her mind was empty of thoughts, but out of habit, she looked to her side to see if someone was there but the other side of the bed was empty. A little clarity came into her mind.

Drayce was not there with her. 

Just then, she heard the familiar female voices which politely greeted her every morning. 

"Good morning, Your Majesty!" Marie and Eva bowed towards her.

Still in a daze, Seren didn't respond as she kept lying in the bed. She cradled her throbbing forehead. 'Why is my head hurting like this?'

Marie, who had already expected something must have happened between her king and the queen the previous night, stepped towards the bed and asked with worry, "Your Majesty, are you not feeling well?"

"My head hurts," Seren replied weakly. 

"I will get something for Your Majesty to cure the headache," Marie informed and looked at Eva, who left after understanding the wordless instruction.

Seren tried to sit and Marie hurried to help her. "Let me help you, Your Majesty."

Marie even placed pillows to support Seren's back as she sat up in the bed. She then heard Marie's voice again. "I will get water for Your Majesty." She closed her eyes for a bit as she listened to the sounds of Marie moving around. She must have gone towards the water container placed on the table in the bedchamber.

When she opened her eyes again, Seren noticed that she was wearing the same dress she used on her outing from the previous night instead of her nightgown. 

'Why am I wearing the same dress…? Wait...when and how did I return? I don't remember returning to the palace...' 

She tried to recall everything from the previous night, but with little success.  The last thing she remembered was that she suddenly started to feel uncomfortable...

"Your Majesty, please have some water." Marie returned with a glass of water. 

It broke the flow of memories for Seren. She looked at the glass of water and felt unusually thirsty as if she had not drank water for so long. Once she emptied the entire glass of water down her throat, only then did she feel a little better. 

"Your Majesty, would you like me to help you get to the side chamber?" Marie asked as she noticed her queen didn't look so good.

Seren shook her head, and she pressed her temples with both her hands when she realized the small action worsened her headache. Just then, Eva hurried back to the bedchamber with a small wooden tray in her hand, carrying a small white bowl filled with the liquid medicines on it. 

Eva bowed to her queen and then looked at Marie. "Lady Tyra had this prepared already."

There was hardly anything that could be hidden from Lady Tyra and knowing about their queen's situation was nothing unexpected. 

Marie picked up the bowl from the wooden tray and offered it to Seren. "Your Majesty, this medicine will help you get rid of the headache."

Seren accepted the bowl while Marie and Eva turned around so that their queen could finish the medicine after lifting up the veil on her face. Seren finished that bitter medicine in a moment as all she wanted was to get rid of that deadly headache. 

Once she finished it and Marie accepted the empty bowl of medicine from Seren, the servant took a good look at her appearance once more. The concern could be seen on the servant's face. "Your Majesty, would you like to sleep some more?"

Seren wanted to shake her head out of habit but stopped midway as she cradled her head again. "Just prepare a bath for me."

Marie and Eva nodded and left to prepare the bath. Once it was ready, Marie informed her, "Your Majesty, it's ready."

At this moment, all Seren wanted was to soak in the hot water, clear her mind and relax her tired body. She pushed her body out of bed, but just as her foot stepped on the ground to stand, Seren felt herself lose balance. Luckily, Marie was quick to hold her. "Your Majesty, you can rest for a while more and I will call for a royal physician."

"No need. I just need to have a bath," Seren said. She steadied herself and slowly took steps ahead towards the side chamber where her bath was prepared. 

Though Marie and Eva felt worried, they had to listen to their queen and simply decided to assist her to the bath. While walking, Seren realized her thighs ached a little and her entire body felt weak, somewhat reminding her of the time when she was sick. 'Did I walk for too long?' 

Not having any clear answer, she went to the side chamber where Marie and Eva helped her remove her clothes and then helped her get into the hot water tub. Once Seren was settled inside the bathtub, she instructed, "Leave me alone for a while."

Leaving their queen on her own in such a condition didn't feel right to Marie. "Your Majesty, you are not well so we can't leave you alone like this."

"I am fine. Trust me," Seren insisted.

As mere servants, they didn't dare contradict their queen's orders and had to agree. Despite their reluctance, they had to bow and leave the side chamber. "If there is anything, please call for us, Your Majesty. We will be standing by the door."

Seren didn't reply. She simply listened for the sound of their fading footsteps. After she was sure she's alone, she then rested her back against the wall of the bathtub and folded her knees in front of her chest, looping her arms around them as she watched the ripples on the hot water with her every movement.

'How did I return and why do I feel so strange? There is surely something that I can't recall.' Seren knocked the back of her head against the wall of the bathtub and closed her eyes. 

"Seren, let it go!"

The moment Seren closed her eyes, a memory of a man's voice suddenly caused her to open her eyes in shock. 

'What was that? That voice...my name…?'

Seren closed her eyes again and tried to recall whose voice it was. This time, she could hear it clearly.

"Seren, let it go!"

"It's... His Majesty's voice," she concluded after a while. She was confident she did not make a mistake, but then she realized something strange. He was calling her by her name. 'Why did he call me like that?' 

Seren's entire body trembled as those words stirred something in her foggy memories. Drayce's hoarse voice had a seductive sort of charm in it, and it was as if the way he called out her name was telling her something she should not have forgotten.

Seren tightened her grip around her knees and buried her face in it, her eyes shut tightly as she allowed her mind to recall the memories of last night. Images slowly surfaced, starting from the moment the performance began, towards the moment before she felt an aching discomfort while watching that erotic play. More images flooded as she recalled everything vividly, even those parts that only ended up burying her under a mountain of embarrassment.

She recalled the words Drayce said to her after they returned to her bedchamber. She even remembered what they did after that. She felt surprised by her own reactions and behavior when she was craving for his touch and how he helped her relieve herself of her aches. 

The moment she recalled exactly how he helped her, she opened her eyes and peeked at the place between her legs which was under the water. She didn't wish to believe a single thing that happened between her and Drayce. 

She buried her face in her wet palms. ''Why? Why did I act like that? It's so embarrassing! How am I going to face him?'

She remembered that strangely satisfying feeling she experienced the previous night which she had never felt before and questioned herself about what exactly it was. After reading so many books and watching that play, she could understand why those women acted like that because she could now relate it with what she had experienced. 

Her entire face had turned red as if all the blood in her body was flowing to her face. Her heart was beating faster, and her breathing had turned rapid as her mind kept recalling what happened inside her bedchamber. Her entire body shivered and had goosebumps all over even though she was sitting in the warm water.