Chapter 168: Lessons Of Removing Clothes

Seren studied Drayce's attire with a deep gaze, her expression serious as if she was in the middle of solving a great puzzle. 

'I think simply pulling will ruin the robe….'

His upper body was clad in a black robe from neck to waist, which was clipped together to a tight-fitting vest coat over an inner shirt. The long-sleeved outer robe had gold linings on its hems and seams, as well as golden embroidery on its black fabric, which crawled upwards to the open high collar highlighting his neck and. It created a diamond-shaped opening below, which ended up at his chest. His long neck and his collarbones were visible through it.

She moved her sight across his chest to observe how she could remove the outermost robe. Just then, her eyes caught the four tiny gold things lined up from his chest to his stomach, which should be the buttons. From below the stomach, the robe had a long slit till slightly above his knee, which made the black pants over his long legs visible through the gap. 

While Seren was observing his clothes, Drayce was observing his queen. He was not in a hurry, simply standing wordlessly not to disturb her. 

Seren moved her gaze up and down to make sure that it was indeed the gold buttons that had to be dealt with first before looking up to meet Drayce's stare. 

"May I start, Your Majesty?"

Though he was the one to force her to undress him, asking for permission was the right thing to do. 

Seeing Drayce nod, she raised her hands to touch the buttons. She was still standing away from him and did not take a step closer; thus, she had to stretch her arms to the fullest to reach those buttons. Drayce could clearly see her hands shaking. 

Drayce took a step closer to her, and before she could step back, he held her by the waist to not let her move. "This way, it will be easier."

Only when she nodded slightly did he let her go. With only a single step between them, she realized that although it made her uncomfortable, this was indeed better. Standing at an appropriate distance to make her job easy, she started to unbutton his robe. Because her hands were unsteady, she did each button in her own sweet time, probably enough time for Drayce to have changed into another robe, but he remained calm and silent the entire time. 

Once the four buttons were undone, she stepped back. "It's done."

Drayce looked at the unbuttoned robe without a change in his expression. "Do you keep your own robe like this after you loosened the ribbon around your waist, my Queen?" 

She shook her head and understood what he meant. The poor queen stepped around to go behind Drayce, and from his shoulder, she awkwardly pulled down his robe until she took it off him completely. 

Holding that robe in hand while standing behind him, she said in a low voice. "It's done, Your Majesty."

Drayce turned to face her as he looked at her questioningly. Her purple eyes looked anxious when she heard him say, "Looks like I should give my Queen a lesson about how to remove clothes." 

Her only response was a wrinkled brow. 'What now? I succeeded in taking off your robe.'

Drayce deliberately appreciated her robe, and Seren had a bad feeling that she was going to hear something she wouldn't like. 

"Clothes," he emphasized, "Are not a single piece of garment. Let's start with my Queen's robe, and later, your inner garments..."

"W-Wait!" she exclaimed as she took a step back. She realized she raised her voice again, so she cowardly lowered her voice. "I mean, wait, Your Majesty. I will help you remove the remaining clothes."

Keeping the robe she was holding on the wooden chair next to her, she returned to stand in front of him in haste. He stood quietly, his gaze telling her to go ahead. Under his intimidating gaze, the innocent young woman shivered as she stepped forward while avoiding his eyes. She started to unbutton his black tight-fitting vest coat and his undershirt. 

With each button getting undone, his wide muscular chest became more and more visible to her through the gap. She remembered that day when she saw it for the first time and couldn't take her eyes off of it. She didn't know what was so attractive to look at, but she couldn't stop gazing at it. 

When she realized her abnormal reaction, she shook her head to get her wits back. Trying hard not to look at his chest again, she looked at his wide shoulder and moved the vest and shirt down as she cursed in her mind, 'Uncultured man.'

With his upper garments gone, the sculpted body of this tall man became fully visible to her once again. She subconsciously stared at his chest, and her sight moved towards his abs going down until the upper lining of his black pants. She herself didn't realize she was appreciating his naked upper body. Though she was ignorant of the things between men and women, the typical female instinct was there, making her feel attracted to such things.

"Do you like what you see, my Queen?" Drayce asked after letting her take her sweet time in staring. 

Seren gulped and looked at his face. Her mind was puzzled by what she was doing exactly. Why was she staring at his naked chest?

"I asked if my Queen likes to see me like this," Drayce repeated. 

She didn't know how to answer it. If she said no, then she would offend the king, and if she said yes, then she would be labeled as an uncultured lady.

She lowered her gaze. "I am not sure, Your Majesty."

"You can tell it after touching my chest. Do you want to try?" he asked.

Startled, she looked at him with disbelief and rapidly shook her head. "No. It's fine, Your Majesty! Uhm, I do not dare—"

Before she could say another word, Drayce held one of her hands and put it on his chest. The touch of his warm skin against her palm shocked her. She tried to pull her hand back in panic, but he held it tight against his chest until she calmed down. 

Once she gave up, he said, "See, there is nothing to be afraid of. You can always look at me and even touch me. You are my wife, and only you are allowed to." 

His words sounded gentle, and there was no sign that he meant to tease her. 

She looked at her hand that he still held against his chest. Her hand was placed directly above his heart, and she realized how nice his steady heartbeats felt under that solid chest. She looked down at herself, towards her chest that seemed totally different from his and then looked back at him. 

He understood her silent question and explained, "It's different from yours because I am a man and you are a woman."

His words made her recall things. She did remember that all the women that she had seen had chests like hers, while the men's were solid and flat, similar to his. 

'So aside from clothes, this is how men and women are different,' she concluded and continued staring at his chest.