Chapter 792 - THE DAY OF THE CEREMONY (5)

For the ceremony, the entire floor of the throne room had been turned into a very large but shallow pool, which was filled with cool water.

The pool was shallow enough so that the water couldn't even reach their ankles when stepped into it. And, all the guests arrived were barefoot as they discarded their footwear outside in respect to the ceremony.

Because it was a sacred ceremony, and only the most important people were invited. Unauthorized people were prohibited from entering the occasion.

The atmosphere was full of serenity and majestic tranquility.

Raine was holding Torak's hand, trying not to trip over her own gown while Torak helped her to step up the three royal stairs toward their designated seats, right next to the thrones of the king and queen. The place was clean of water, thus at the very least, Raine wouldn't have to wet the edge of her gown, unlike the other guests below the throne.

All the guests were wearing grey cloak on top of their colorful clothes or gown and with their solemn expressions as they awaited their future queen to make an appearance, it only brought out more serenity to the sacred ceremony. The room was filled with a harmonious silence.

However, when Raine and Torak reached their seats, she realized that something was off. She took a quick glance around the room only to find that Kace and Hope were nowhere to be seen.

[Where are Kace and Hope?] Raine mind- linked Torak, because it was inconvenient for them to make a sound in this quiet room.

[They will not attend the ceremony.] Torak replied to her and helped Raine to sit down on her seat, which was made from the skin of a white alabaster.

[Why?] Raine looked at her mate in confusion. [Why will they not attend the ceremony? Where are they?]

Raine remembered how Hope was very excited about this event. To say the truth, she was even more enthusiastic compared to Lilac and of course Raine didn't really like to be in this crowded place. Fortunately, those people's attention was not on her.

[They went to find her.] Torak replied while squeezing her hand to calm her down.

[Who?] but, even before the question was fully formed in her mind, Raine could immediately guess who they were searching for.

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"Why don't you change your gown?" Kace complained when he saw that Hope was lifting her dress, careful as to not step on it while running.

"I like this dress!" Hope glared at him and Kace could only sigh and slow down his very own pace to match hers. "We are not attending the ceremony, at the very least let me enjoy wearing this."

Upon hearing that, Kace grumbled something incoherently.

This was not his idea. It was right that he suggested it, but in the end, it was Hope who decided not to attend the ceremony because she was very worried about Serefina.

However, why couldn't she change her gown into something more comfortable? It wasn't like Serefina would roam around the castle to make it easy for them to catch her, because ever since two days ago, when the actual preparations were started, she had disappeared from there.

The witch hated flowers and now the whole castle was covered with them. Of course she wouldn't be there, it would be like the whole set of decorations were collectively testing her patience.

Yet, they knew the true reason why Serefina had disappeared and for that very reason, Hope wanted to look for her.

"You know, we can go back to the castle if you really want to see the ceremony," Kace said as his frown deepenedat the sight of her endless strugglingwith the whole outfit. Hope was having a very hard time handling her own gown.

In the end, he crouched down and tore it until her ankle to ease her movement.

"Arrghh!!" Hope shrieked and hit Kace's shoulder. "What are you doing!? You ruined my dress!"

Kace stood up and threw aside the remaining fabric that he had torn apart. "Don't be silly!" he knocked Hope's head lightly. "If you want to attend the party, we will go. But, if you want to look after Serefina, you can't wear this," Kace said sternly. Sometimes, Hope was so childish making it hard to understand her line of thought.

"Don't be angry," Hope whined. She threw herself onto him and hugged her mate tightly.

And the most important thing was; she knew how to appease his anger whenever he got angry at her silly actions.

From afar, they could hear the sounds of bells from all the four towers in the four directions. The first sound indicated that the queen was walking towards the throne room to meet her mate.

"All right," Kace patted her head and Hope grinned foolishly. They started to run again in search of Serefina after the small debacle.

"Are you sure, it is this way?" Hope looked around when they reached a place where they could see nothing but a large number of tall trees.

"Hm, I can smell her scent stronger here, " Kace said and heard Hope murmuring something like; 'it is easier this way.'

However, right at that moment, they could hear a fairly loud explosion.

"What is that?" Hope frowned. The sound came from the direction where Serefina's scent could be smelled and it could only mean one thing; the witch was the cause of the sound of the explosion.

"I don't know, but it definitely didn't seem anything good," Kace said in annoyance. Did Serefina try to burn down the entire forest? "Let's go." Kace grabbed Hope's hand and quickened their pace.

Kace didn't need to voice out what was inside his mind, because Hope had the same thoughtsas him.

Indeed, Serefina was not the kindest creature Hope had ever met, but she saw the witch as someone closer to a mother figure for her, as she didn't know her family.

Kace cringed when Hope told him her reason, he said Hope gave him goosebumps because she could think of Serefina as a mother figure, the witch was miles away from that figure.

Moreover, it was Serefina and Lana, who had been taking care of her ever since she was only a baby, when Kace had to run away from Jedrek's people, who wanted to catch him.

However, both of them had the same concern for her. Lana also would be here to look for Serefina if it was not because she was too weak to look for her.

The night before the wedding, when they gathered together in the tavern, had tired her out and forced her to get a proper rest.

Therefore, knowing what Serefina was going through now, made both of them very worried.