Chapter 118 - No Emotions
"If you like it here, I will bring you here often," Cian offered when he realized that his youngest sister was staring at the lake in a daze. He could not help but add in his mind, 'At least, till you are here with us.'
'Do I like it here?'
Seren realized that rather than the lake itself, what she liked was this brief getaway—spending time with her brother, simply sitting inside the gazebo and enjoying the pleasant breeze coming from the lake.
However, she did not share her true thoughts and simply nodded, continuing to stare at the lake while the servant poured more tea into her almost empty teacup. Since she was not looking at her brother, she failed to see the conflicted way he gazed at her. It was both apologetic and filled with guilt at this moment.
Her response made Cian relax his mind. After several minutes of comfortable silence, Cian tried to probe, "Seren, have you heard of Megaris?"
Busy in her own world, she subconsciously nodded, "Hmm."
"Who told you about it? Martha?" Cian asked, as other than Martha, she never interacted with anyone.
"His Majesty has been sending many books for me to read every now and then. There are books that have information about the entire continent as well as an introduction to all the known kingdoms," Seren replied.
"I see. It is good that Father pays attention to your education," Cian said with the tone of a small talk, but he probed once again, "What do you know about Megaris?"
Seren looked at her brother. She was answering without even thinking much, but he was asking her so many questions. Was he testing if she was neglecting her studies?
Cian sensed her doubtful gaze and said, "If you are too tired to answer, we can stop."
She no longer thought of it and simply answered his previous question, "It's the largest kingdom in this continent and boasts the most powerful military and marine force. Geographically, it has all kinds of weather since its territory is more than twice the size of Abetha. Its extreme north territory borders the Northern Barrens; thus, it is covered with snow all year round, while its south is on the warmer side. The eastern sea coast of the content belongs to Megaris, sharing it with Griven further south. In the past, the size of its territory was similar to Griven, but in the few years after he ascended, the new king had expanded it by conquering the smaller eastern kingdoms around it—"
"Do you know who the king is?" Cian asked, interrupting her.
Cian was amazed to find out how knowledgeable his sister was, even though she was locked in the tower, isolated from the outside world, with no tutor or teacher assigned to guide her. He was sure that if he asked Meira about Megaris, she wouldn't have been able to say this much.
"King Drayce Ivanov," Seren replied blandly, as if answering a test question.
Hearing her answer perfectly to his questions, Cian turned silent. The name his sister had just mentioned without even hesitating for a moment...not even in her wildest dreams would she think that the owner of that name would soon be her present and future.
Seren observed her brother. "Is there anything wrong with what I said?"
Cian shook his head. "Everything you said was right."
Ever since the official announcement of her impending wedding, Cian had been bothered about how to break the news to his sister gently. He wasn't sure how well she would take it, but he knew that it would be wrong to keep her unaware of such an important change in her life. After all, she only had a week left until the actual wedding ceremony. Seven days could be considered terribly short, and it would not be fair to take away from her the preciousness of these last seven days of freedom.
Since Seren looked at ease now, Cian thought to use this chance to tell her about her marriage arrangement since the two were already talking about Megaris and its king.
"I want to tell you about something," Cian said.
She tilted her head, wondering why his mood suddenly became serious.
He continued with the same somber tone, "I want you to first listen to everything calmly. Can you do that for me?"
Seren nodded lightly, still confused why her brother was acting like this.
"Father has fixed your wedding with the King of Megaris."
Her body froze like ice. Seren felt like she had heard something wrong, but when she opened her mouth, she realized no words could escape her lips.
Cian sighed, "I know it's shocking, but you must listen as to why father had to do it."
'Wedding? Fixed my wedding?'
It was only then did the gravity of his words truly sink in. The grip of her hand on the tea cup tightened as she looked at her brother in disbelief.
"Seren—"
Her response was surprisingly calm, as if the thoughts in her mind were not a mess. "As His Majesty had decided for me, then there is no need to explain why he did it. I am only one of the King's subjects, and his word is the law. "
Done saying her part, she stood up. "I would like to go back to my room."
Seeing her composure and acceptance of this shocking news troubled Cian. Shouldn't she argue over it or ask questions about it?
Cian stood up as well and asked, "Don't you have anything to say?"
"I know there won't be any use, so I should preserve my energy in getting better faster," she said.
The Seren standing inside the gazebo right now seemed to be no longer the old Seren, the vulnerable young girl he remembered from his visits in the tower. The incident in her garden had changed her.
The young lady in front of him was so still, so quiet; he felt like she was someone without emotion. A pang of pain shot his chest as if he only realized he had lost something precious.
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Note-
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