Chapter 279: Promise To Fulfil A Wish

Seren stood up and lowered her head to bow to him. "Y-Your Majesty…" She didn't know what to say further. 

Drayce stepped towards her and stood a mere feet away from her. With him within an arm's reach, the sound of her heartbeat was clearly making its way through his ears, letting him know how scared she was at the moment. 

"My Queen," Drayce called her while looking at her lowered head, "look at me."

Inhaling deeply, Seren obeyed his words. Under his intense gaze, she felt her throat going dry. His presence alone was making her knees weak.

"May I know what my Queen is thinking?" Drayce asked softly. 

"Nothing, Your Majesty," she replied simply as she was not sure herself what she was thinking. 

"Are you nervous?" he asked straightforwardly. 

'Do I have to answer that?' Seren gulped, blinking a few times while looking at him. There was no doubt that her nerves were stretched so thin, to the point they were about ready to snap, but no word could come out of her mouth. 

"Be honest with me," he instructed. 

"A little...I guess..." she replied hesitantly after clearing her throat and lowering her head again. Her lips and throat had turned so dry, she had to gulp a few times to moisten them. 

After quietly observing his wife once more, Drayce turned around and stepped away from her. 

His action puzzled Seren, as that wasn't what she knew should happen next in the books she had read. It did not even take a second for panic to start filling her brain. 

'Did I say something wrong? Did I upset him? Is he leaving?' She felt her heart sinking. In a moment, her mind was filled with many thoughts of what she had possibly done wrong. 'Is my response rude? Does he not like my appearance? Maybe the fragrance of the oils is overwhelming?" However, a tiny voice inside her also wondered, 'But why am I disappointed if he is leaving?'

Just as she asked herself, she heard the sound of water pouring into a glass which pulled her out of her thoughts. He did not leave her chamber; he was standing in front of her bedside table, and it seemed like he had drunk the glass of water she placed there earlier.

Drayce was now pouring water on the glass, refilling it, with his back facing her. She heard him say, "My Queen, in Megaris, we follow one custom where on the wedding night, the husband promises his wife to fulfill one wish of hers."

This was something she had heard before in passing. Seren did not respond as she contemplated if Drayce would truly fulfill one of her wishes.

Drayce returned to Seren with the glass of water in hand. He did not drink the water this time but brought it for her. 

"Have this, my Queen," Drayce instructed as he offered her the glass of water. 

Seren quietly accepted it as she truly needed it. She had a few sips, and when she was done,  Drayce took the glass of water from her hand. It was a strange sight, as from what she understood, her husband...was serving her? No, it should be that way. Wasn't it her role to take care of small things like this for him? 

Not knowing what to do, it was too late for Seren to turn him down and simply let him take the glass. The anxiety of the night was getting on her nerves, and she felt like, despite all her preparations, she had no idea what to do. 

"Think about what wish of yours you want me to fulfill," Drayce instructed as he returned the glass on the bedside table. 

The moment he placed the glass on the table, he heard Seren's soft voice from behind him say, "I want Your Majesty to never remove this veil from my face."

Drayce smirked as he had expected it already. Since the start, she had been always adamant about one thing: never removing her veil. Even at this point in time, it didn't take her much to throw away the chance of having her other wishes fulfilled for the sake of this veil.

That night, the delicate purple-eyed woman in a wedding dress sat on their bed as her husband turned around, observing her with a grin on his handsome face. The soft candlelight flickered against his tall form, and she warily watched his reaction.

"So," he drawled, his voice wicked and magnetic, "I can't see my wife's face even on my wedding night?" 

Seren didn't know how to reply as all she wanted was for him to never see her face.

"Your Majesty has promised to fulfill my one wish," Seren commented, securing the veil that covered the lower half of her face with slightly trembling hands. 

He stared into her mysterious rare purple eyes. "May I ask, why such a wish?" 

She stared back at him. "Your Majesty might not like to see... ugly things." 

Drayce wanted to scoff. If he cared for appearances, he would have married himself. 

He could only smirk as he stepped towards her. "But, my Queen, I never had a liking towards pretty things." 

Upon seeing him coming towards her, Seren stood up, thinking of backing away from the bed, but the next moment, she already found his tall figure looming over her. Her eyes widened in surprise and fear.

'Isn't he the one who promised to fulfill my wish?' Seren thought. 'Did my wish anger him?'

Drayce moved his hand under her anxious gaze and he traced the lower edge of her veil. "Why is it about this veil? My Queen doesn't want me to see her face?" he asked. 

Seren gulped as she nodded. "I don't want Your Majesty to see my face," she repeated his words. 

"So it is about not seeing my Queen's face. What your wish is for me to not see your face," he concluded, slowly enunciating each word to make sure she could hear his words carefully. 

Seeing Seren nod again, Drayce peered into her purple eyes without another word. 

The silence within her chamber was causing Seren to wonder if she had ruined their wedding night, but she urged herself that she did nothing wrong. Her husband asked for her wish, and she simply told him her answer.