Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

When the Queen's carriage was seen moving inside the grounds of the royal palace, whoever noticed it, whether it was a servant, noble or royal, stopped on their tracks to pay respect to the passing carriage. Though they had not seen their queen yet, those within the palace recognized the carriage bearing the royal crest that represents the Queen of Megaris, and that alone was enough for everyone to bow their heads without a second thought. 

The sun was the symbol for the Ivanov Royal Family, and the royal crest for the Queen of Megaris was the same except for the one small difference—that shining sun had a flying phoenix bird with its elegant wings wide open carved in the center. That crest was meant for the Phoenix of the Kingdom. Similarly, Drayce's crest had a dragon carved on it in the center to show he represented the Dragon of the Kingdom.

"It's Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Bow to her."

The new Queen of Megaris suddenly became the topic of curiosity inside the palace among everyone. Most of them wished to see her, and some could not help but wonder why their king had married this woman.

"Has anyone seen her yet?"

"They just returned the previous night, so I missed their arrival."

"I think aside from the knights and servants from the royal residence assigned to Her Majesty, no one had seen her."

"I heard she is the Third Princess of Abetha."

"I wonder what our King had seen in her? After he killed the prettiest lady of Megaris, Lady Corline, I believed our King would never look for a woman."

"Then is she prettier than Lady Corline? From what I heard, she does not reveal her face in public and wears a veil all the time. I wonder what kind of a beauty she is."

"You think His Majesty can be lured by something so superficial? Our King married to get benefits from Abetha. It's a political marriage."

"There are some rumours about her?"

"Shh! Keep quiet. Have you not heard what the knights were talking about earlier? His Majesty issued a decree. Speaking ill of our Queen can earn you a death sentence."

Sitting inside the carriage, Seren could see the people from all walks of life bowing whenever her carriage passed them. She understood it was all because she was their queen now. In Abetha, she had experienced such a view when she went out in a royal carriage with her brother, Cian. This was simply part of what the life of a royal should be, the kind of life she was deprived of for years.

Before she was made queen, Seren never received the treatment befitting a noble lady, much less a royal princess. Perhaps some ladies from the middle class led better lives than her. Whenever she was among other people, either everyone would point accusing fingers at her, or pretend not to know who she was.

'I wonder if the people in Megaris would soon become like the people in Abetha and despise me for what I am. Well, not like I care. I am happy the more they stay away from me,' she thought.

Just then, her eyes caught a beautiful view of a certain body of water, and she stared at it with a silent gasp.

"Is that a lake?" Seren asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. There are three lakes inside the palace, among several ponds where we raise lotus and fishes. This one is the largest, and it's a natural lake that existed even before the royal palace was built. Would you like to visit it, Your Majesty?" Lady Tyra asked.

"Can I?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. Everything here belongs to you now. You only need to speak a word," Lady Tyra explained, seeing how hesitant the young queen was. She seemed not to understand what kind of authority she held. 

There was a reason why Megaris was a strong kingdom, despite it having a young king and an immense territory that would have easily caused strife in any other kingdom; as a military kingdom who highly respected battle prowess and the way of swordsmanship, hierarchy was strictly implemented and discipline was highly looked upon, much more than in any other part of the continent. 

Though most princesses were not trained to be queen, all of them should have been taught what authority they held once they were to manage their own households after they married into a family. Lady Tyra had no idea Seren was never educated and thought it must be because the young queen must be feeling hesitant due to the differences between the palace life of Abetha and Megaris. 

'Our Queen is a prudent woman as well. His Majesty really chose her well.' Lady Tyra instructed the coachman, "Please stop by the lake."

The carriage took a small turn and moved towards the lake. The carriage stopped by the lakeside, where there was a small wooden bridge built over the lake. There was a beautiful gazebo on the other side of the wooden bridge in the middle of the clear waters.

Lady Tyra helped Seren to step out of the carriage before stepping behind to accompany her in the capacity of a chaperon. Seren could not help but smile under her veil. The beautiful clear waters were surrounded by what seemed to be willow trees. Seren observed the water in the lake was clear, that even the waterbed at the bottom was visible. 

In Abetha, the eastern lake mostly had muddy water that was covered by beautiful water lilies all year round. That was because the lake was connected to the grand river outside the palace walls, and it would somehow bring in pebbles and river fishes from time to time. In comparison, the water of this lake looked crystal clear; its surface even reflected the color of the blue sky. Even with a normal person's eyesight, one could see the colorful fat fishes swimming around as if to hunt for food.

When Seren first caught sight of the lake from the carriage, part of her view was obstructed by trees, and she didn't realize how large and extraordinary the lake was. She remembered Drayce's words when they went to visit the lake in Karlin—'We have an even bigger and prettier lake in Megaris,'

'So, he was not making up things. It's really prettier,' she thought, as she observed the lake. 

"Your Majesty, would you like to rest in the gazebo?" Lady Tyra asked, and Seren nodded. 

Seren had started to realize that although she enjoyed her experiences of visiting the various cities and the entertainment they offer, she had an even stronger preference towards places in harmony with nature, especially places like lakes, gardens, and rivers. 

'Is it because they always look beautiful, and I never got to see it to my heart's content?'

She was brought out from her thoughts when they heard the sound of wheels traveling the road. They caught sight of two slightly smaller royal carriages coming closer towards them. 

Although Lady Tyra was old, her eyes were sharp.. She recognized who those carriages belong to and frowned inwardly as she didn't expect their arrival.