Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

Dear readers, do read the complete announcement at the end of the chapter.

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In the end, Seren reached the rose garden of the Sevaric Estate with Drayce leading the way for her, as for some odd reason the hallways along the way had been suspiciously lacking any person she could ask directions for. The entire time her husband followed her, he had been trying to coax her and make up for not calling her by her name, but she remained steadfast in ignoring him.

Only she knew she had been smiling secretly at her husband's sweet attempts.

When the garden came into view, she found her brother was already waiting for her past the rose hedges, standing near the arrangement of tables and chairs placed on the beautiful green lawn.

"Brother!" she called happily and hurried ahead.

Cian caught sight of her at the same time she did and smiled at her, his gaze doting. Seren had walked several steps forward when she realized Drayce didn't follow her and she stopped to turn around and wait for him to catch up to her steps.

She was puzzled when she didn't see him moving. "Why did you stop?"

"You can go ahead," Drayce replied.

"Are you not coming?"

"You are meeting your brother after so long. I don't wish to meddle in you two's reunion."

"No, it's fine..."

"If I come to join you, the conversation probably won't last more than ten minutes before I bring you away. Will you be fine with that?"

She sure didn't want that. "Ah, alright. I will go on my own."

Seren turned around to go towards her brother. Meanwhile, Drayce crossed his arms over his chest, intending to watch her be seated before leaving the pair of siblings to enjoy themselves when he saw something that made him narrow his eyes.

The moment his wife reached her brother, Drayce found his wife jumping into her brother's outstretched arms. This caused the gentle smile on his lips to morph into a stiff one. Especially upon hearing Seren's voice filled with happiness--

"Brother!" she exclaimed as she tightened her arms around his torso. "I missed you, Brother."

Though somewhat surprised by her enthusiasm, Cian hugged her back, enjoying this rare moment of his normally quiet little sister openly showing affection. "I missed you as well, Seren."

It happened that when Drayce's stiff smile had turned into a frown, a hand patted his shoulder as if to console him.

"Don't tell me you still feel jealous seeing your wife in the arms of her own brother. Don't be so petty."

Drayce shrugged the hand off his shoulder, his gaze still fixated on his wife who was talking cheerfully with another man, not himself.

"Tell me that again when you see your mate jumping in her brother's arms, Arlan."

"Mate? Not wife?" Arlan chuckled. "Seems like jealousy is taking over your human side that it unleashed that beast inside."

Drayce closed his eyes briefly to calm himself, and when he opened them, he turned around to leave. Arlan smirked and followed his friend, only to come face to face with Slayer who looked as cold as usual.

"I thought it was suspicious you're not shadowing Dray. What kept you busy?" Arlan asked as the three walked together, with Slayer purposely keeping himself a step behind.

"Trying to keep one wife slave away from people's eyes," the knight replied.

Drayce frowned at this remark. "When you are in love, you don't mind being her slave, and doesn't matter what others think. You two will understand what I mean when you yourselves found your other halves."

"At least not in your wife's home kingdom. You are still a king and how you act affects the image of Megaris. Even if you don't care about strangers, you need to maintain your dignity in front of your in-laws at the very least," Slayer countered.

"Let them know how capable their daughter is to turn this invincible devil into her slave," Drayce replied with pride as he continued to walk ahead.

Slayer could only sigh. He was raised as a commoner and normally cared little for courtesy, but he had at least a bottom line. As a knight, he had a duty to preserve the honor of his king but that king was currently being irresponsible.

Arlan chuckled as he patted Slayer's shoulder to comfort him. "Your liege is totally ruined. Don't waste your breath on him."

"Makes me wonder if I was in my right mind to agree to be his guardian knight," Slayer said, which, of course, was meant for Drayce to hear.

The young king gave him a side glance. "Do you want me to relieve you of your post?"

"If you keep acting this way again openly, I will turn over the transfer request myself," Slayer said.

"Why transfer when you can retire? That way you can go manage that piece of land you've long been neglecting and take care of that estate that you don't even pay attention to. Better yet, accept the marriage offers sent your way and choose a fine lady to help you manage your household."

"That estate, you can take back. I never asked for it."

"I can't let my personal knight be shabby and poor."

"I don't mind being one."

"Both of you can stop now. My ears are hurting," Arlan stopped them.

-----

Meanwhile, the pair of Ilven siblings finally pulled away from each other. Cian glanced in the direction of Drayce's retreating figure and asked, "Seems like your husband is not pleased to leave you here."

Seren followed her brother's gaze, and as she watched Drayce disappearing from her line of sight, and smiled. She looked back to her brother. "Brother, I have many interesting stories to tell you this time."

"Truly? I freed up my entire day to accompany you. I can listen to them all with no worries," he replied and guided her way to the table overflowing with cakes and pastries. He pulled a chair out for her in a gentlemanly manner and let her sit.

"...and you know, Brother, I learned to play the zither--"

Seren enthusiastically told Cian a play-by-play of things she experienced for the past month, except for the things related to supernatural beings and her abduction. She didn't wish her brother to worry about her. Moreover, these things were hard to believe unless a human had personally experienced dealings with the supernatural world, and it would be better to let Cian remain ignorant of things beyond his control.

The entire time, Cian played the role of a good listener, asking questions here and there, content to simply enjoy tea as she shared things that left a deep impression on her.

'She has changed.'

The old Seren would never initiate conversation; she would reply when asked a question, but aside from that, their past interactions would mostly be her nodding or shaking her head, or simply staring as if she hated how others could not just read her mind.

But the current Seren...she was a lady overflowing with the energy of youth, finally acting her age, cheerfully telling stories about how she spent her days. Happiness was clearly reflected in her beautiful eyes.

'Could this be her real personality?'

"...it was scary on the ship that night because of the storm, but fortunately, we somehow made it out alive and everyone was safe. I hope next time I board a ship, I will never experience going through a storm again. But aside from that, I enjoyed the journey. I never thought I would ever get to see a ship up close, much less ride one."

"It's a pity I never got to bring you on board one, but it's good to know you had fun."

"Yes, I never thought it would be that fun. That's one thing less on the list of things I want to try."

"Hmm? List? What more do you want to try doing?" he asked.

"Umm..." Seren's eyes seemingly glinted with excitement. "Swordsmanship!"

It wasn't that he was looking down on his sister, but to think his frail sister who would twist an ankle at the slightest mistake would want to try wielding a weapon. "You  want to learn how to use a sword?"

She nodded fervently. "In Megaris, everyone, regardless of gender, seems to know how to use a sword. Even the skills of the previous queens were either fit for knighthood or had earned them military merits. I know it's too late for me to start, but I want to learn a few defensive moves so I can at least protect myself and not be a burden to others around me."

"You should definitely learn then, but promise to not overexert yourself during training. Since your body is not trained, you will be easily prone to injuries. However, as long as you are determined to learn, I believe you will be good with the sword as well."

"I will surprise Dray once again," she remarked with a cheer.

Cian noticed that for every two or three of Seren's sentences, he heard her add the name of the King of Megaris--and his sister hadn't seemed to realize this yet.

He smiled lightly, covering it behind a teacup, and asked, "How does King Drayce treat you? Is he treating you better than when you just got married?"

"Dray? More than better. He treats me the best." Her purple eyes brightened up as if she found an interesting topic to talk about. "He always listens to everything I say. Even if I trouble him or annoy him, he puts up with me. He lets me do whatever I want and never stops me, and you know, Brother, if something out of place happens to me, he is the first to fuss around me to check if I'm fine." She giggled a little. "Sometimes, I feel like he is my nanny."

Cian laughed a little as well. "That's good to know. I am glad to see both of you are happy together."

"Hmm, we are."

The sky had started to turn dark by the time the Ilven siblings finished their talk. For the course of the day, they didn't just stay in the garden to have tea. They also had a light meal together, and afterwards, they strolled around the garden before heading to the nearby orchard within the Selve Estate.

"How are your feet? Do you wish to go back to your chamber and rest?" Cian asked.

Seren looked at the sky and nodded, "It's late. I guess we should head back."

"Let me escort you then."

Cian took his sister back to where she was staying, and after leaving her with her servants, only then did Cian withdraw from her chamber.

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A/N- A surprise Art gift for the readers to view in advance.

1)Aureus and his mate couple art.

2)Arlan and His mate couple art.

3)Slayer and His woman couple art.

Q- How to get access to the Art?

A- You can see them in private channels of discord meant for the readers who are eligible for it. ELIGIBILITY is the gifts for the second .

1)Dragon gift- Aureus and His mate art.

2)Supergifts- Includes all three arts and any other arts related to the made afterward.

All the art will be available in January but you can get a glimpse of Aureus and his mate's art at this moment if you are eligible.

Discord link- https://discord.gg/FeBvNrBbkn

When you arrive at the server, do let me or the admin know the reason.