Before attending the royal court, King Armen called for the Head Royal Physician to meet him in his chamber. Before announcing anything, King Armen needed to know his daughter's exact condition.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," Heath Leuven said with a bow.
King Armen accepted the greeting and directly asked, "How is the Third Princess now?"
"Your Majesty would be glad to know that Her Highness the Third Princess is recovering faster than what we predicted. Since she is now able to eat and her body is responding well to the medication, her health has improved a lot. If Her Highness wishes to move about, as long as she doesn't stay under the sun for too long, I believe there won't be a problem for her to stay outdoors for a bit."
King Armen felt glad hearing such good news. "I'm relieved."
"Either it's a small miracle, or Her Highness is stronger than what we can imagine," Heath Leuven added with a pleasant smile painted on his lips. "According to the nurses, Her Highness is already starting to respond to people, and it won't be too long from now that she will be back to normal ."
King Armen could no longer contain his happiness and laughed out loud. "That is the best news I have received these days. You and the entire royal pharmacy had worked hard. Eudes! See to it that the budget for the royal pharmacy will be increased starting next month. Reward Physician Heath as well as the nurses assigned to the Third Princess!"
With another laugh, King Armen stood up from his chair and murmured, "I should visit her," before striding out of his chamber. He wanted to see his daughter as soon as possible.
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After leaving the Queen's residence, Cian took a detour towards Seren's chamber. Today was the day when King Armen would formally announce her wedding with the King of Megaris to the entire kingdom, and he wished to see his sister before heading to the royal court.
It happened that just as Cian reached her chamber, King Armen arrived there too.
"Good morning, Father!" Cian greeted him.
King Armen lightly nodded at his son, and the two entered Seren's bedchamber after the knight opened the door for them.
This time, Seren was no longer dressed in a nightgown and sitting on her bed. Instead, her petite body was standing by the window, looking outside with the eagle accompanying her.? As if her thoughts were wandering far, her hand continued to move through his golden-brown shiny feathers idly.
Since the previous night, she was already able to react to the people around her. When the nurses offered her medicines or even prepared a bath for her, she would follow their instructions quietly. Clad in a simple light dress, she no longer looked like a weak, sickly person. She was even capable of eating the meal that the nurses offered her, leaving Dusk finally free from doing his food delivery service.
More than Dusk's relief, the knights and soldiers of Megaris were celebrating that they were finally freed from eating bland meals meant for a sick person.
"Seren?" King Armen called out with a slight shiver in his voice. Though the Head Royal Physician had already confirmed her improvement, he was still nervous about finding his daughter up and about. He could not remove the brief flashes of memory from the last several days—that pale face with an empty gaze, that tiny body curled like a ball...
Seren heard someone call her name and turned to look at that person. She didn't forget the manners Martha taught her and greeted the man in front of her not as her father but as the King of this kingdom.
She did a slight curtsy. "Greetings, Your Majesty."
The fact that she didn't call King Armen as a father hurt him, but he understood why and dared not voice out his true thoughts. All these years, in order to protect her, he had kept her locked in that tower all by herself. He kept her at an arm's length, not even giving her a chance to spend time with him as family.
Why would she call him father when she never got the love and care of a father from him?
Though he cared for her, it was behind the curtains, a father's love that she could never see.
In order to lighten the strange mood between the two, Cian smiled at her and said, "Nice weather outside, isn't it?"
She nodded slightly but said nothing. There was a momentary silence before King Armen asked, "How are you feeling now?"
"I am fine, Your Majesty. My apologies for all the troubles I caused," Seren said. As she said those words, her head lowered down with her gaze fixed towards the floor, like a child asking for a scolding.
Something touched King Armen's heart, and he consoled her gently, "You don't need to apologize. We know it was not your fault."
Seren was aware of what kind of disaster she had brought with that scream. Though she felt nothing for the people in the palace as they had always hated her, she never wanted to hurt anyone.
"Seren, do you trust your brother?"
Cian could guess what his sister was feeling at the moment. Though everyone called her a witch, she was innocent and soft-hearted.
Only when Seren looked up did he continue speaking, "Listen to me, all right? You don't need to feel guilty for someone else's doing. I know my sister will never hurt anyone."
Her eyes turned moist at the gentle warmth of her brother's words, but she controlled her emotions, not wanting to cry.
"Your brother is right," King Armen agreed. He wanted to reach out to comfort his daughter, but he knew that he had no right.
Seren nodded, but for now, she had a more important question in her mind. "Martha?"
"She is yet to return," King Armen informed her.
Though it was her father who said it, she didn't trust his response. 'Didn't return, or was she banished by you?'
Not letting her true thoughts out, she simply nodded again to show she understood.
When Lord Eudes entered the room to inform them that it was time for them to head to the royal court, King Armen immediately turned to leave while Cian let himself fall back to talk to Seren. "I will take you out soon. We can go to the river just outside the palace walls. You like to go there, right?"
Seren nodded, and Cian left with a smile, but as she watched his retreating back, she could not help but wonder, 'How did Brother know I like to go there? I don't think I have ever mentioned it to him since I am not allowed to leave the palace. Other than Martha, no one knows it.'