318 The Devine Flower
Tea time with the First Concubine in her private garden had been a highly unpleasant experience, yet Seren went through it with quiet grace. With Dusk’s presence, Lady Clarisa was also smart enough to understand this was Drayce warning her that she was being watched, and thus, the middle-aged concubine resumed her amiable smiling face and began to tell Seren about work-related matters of the royal harem and the Vermillion Palace.
After realizing she could learn the rest once she got to read the related documents from Lady Clarisa’s office, Seren decided to leave. Though Lady Clarisa’s mocking didn’t affect her trust in her husband, she found it no longer necessary to pretend to be friendly with the woman.
“Thank you for the tea, Lady Clarisa,” Seren said as she stood up from her seat. Despite not liking the older woman, Seren was raised to be a royal with good manners.
When Seren told her she had other things to tend to, Lady Clarisa also did not pretend to make her stay. “It is my pleasure to be at your service, Your Majesty.”
In fact, she wished Seren would hurry out of the Vermillion Palace. The young queen’s indifference and confidence about Drayce and her position left a bitter taste in Lady Clarisa’s mouth.
After receiving a gentle pat on the head, Dusk let out a croon before flying away from the garden. When she stepped out of Lady Clarisa’s chamber, Seren saw Lady Tyra and her ladies-in-waiting just outside the door, ready to escort her back to her carriage with the documents taken from Lady Clarisa’s office.
Seren then left the royal harem after the ladies of the harem bid her farewell. Most of them were hoping that the new queen would treat everyone fairly well, as many of them had been targeted by Lady Clarisa’s bad temper at least once before.
Once Seren returned to her residence, she took some rest inside her bedchamber. Thinking about how from today onwards, her schedule would require her to talk to nobles and royals like Lady Clarisa, people with blades behind their smiles, she could not help but start to miss those idle days she only needed to tend to her flower garden.
‘Being a queen is really not easy. It is only the first day… How much busier is Dray since he’s a king? How does he do this every day?’
Seren’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. Lady Tyra, who had left her to arrange the documents inside her study, returned to the Queen’s chamber.
Marie opened the door to check who it was. “My Queen, it is Lady Tyra. Should I tell her you are still resting?”
“Let her in,” Seren replied as she left the comforts of her bed and sat on the lounge chair. The old woman entered the chamber and gave her a curtsy before approaching.
“Your Majesty, I have something for you.” Lady Tyra handed over a small wooden box to Marie who gave it to Seren.
Seren opened the box, and to her surprise, there was something she recognized inside that box, an item holding a gift that she had forgotten about. There was a brooch that had a familiar golden rose in it. It was not an engraving of a rose—rather, the head of the rose with golden petals was preserved in glass-like clear amber.
“Isn’t this the flower that Dusk gave me on my wedding day?” Seren asked, observing how that flower was fixed on that brooch.
“Yes, Your Majesty. This flower is not ordinary, but a magical one. It will give you protection from evil things. That’s why I wish you to keep it with you always.”
Seren studied the flower brooch with appreciation. That day, she was in a hurry to even look at it properly and simply ordered her servants to put it in a vase. “This looks like a rose but now that I’ve carefully seen its petals, it’s different.”
“Your Majesty, this flower is called Danshi. It’s a kind of lily rose,” Lady Tyra informed her.
“Danshi, such a nice name. But I have never seen a lily rose in this colour and it shines like gold,” Seren commented as she studied the shine emitting from that flower. “This glows because of magic?”
“That is why it is a divine flower,” Lady Tyra told her, “and only Dusk could get it.”
Seren moved her gaze from the flower to Lady Tyra. “Why only Dusk?”
Lady Tyra didn’t wish to tell Seren the exact meaning of giving this flower to someone, so she just told her just a part of it. “Dusk…His Majesty’s pet is not an ordinary hunting eagle. He belongs to a near-extinct species of divine bird. This particular flower grows at the dangerous peaks of the snow-capped mountains in Northern Megaris and is not something that anyone can reach. Due to its rarity, its existence and effect were only known by a select few, his species being one of them. The flower had become a symbolism of sorts to the male birds of his species in particular. They give this flower to a person they want to protect… and they can do it only once in their lifetime.”
It surprised Seren. “Only once? Why did he give it to me? That kind of loyalty to the wife of his master…He should have given it to someone who needs to be protected.” She laughed a little and continued to speak, “He should have given it to a female of his species. It would have been put to better use, right? Can’t wait to see him fly around the palace with his female eagle while carrying a rose in his beak.”
To this, Eva and Marie laughed a little as they imagined that but Lady Tyra’s expression did not change as she sighed inside. ‘That silly bird.’
Seren realized something. “Hmm, this flower’s appearance seems to be the same for the past two days? There is no change in its freshness and there are no signs of its petals wilting.”
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Dear reader, the name of the flower DANSHI is derived from the name of the reader – DnIsha.