Chapter 12

The King furrowed his eyebrows at this sight. Eating meals alongside each other was supposed to be intimate in its way, as people say being able to share a meal with your partner brings them closer. SO WHY THE HELL ARE THEY HERE TOO??? He yelled in his mind.

The Queen was surrounded by the King's concubines as she told them a story. Kira was seated so close to the Queen, non-stop asking questions throughout the story, Ave was so immersed by the Queen's story-telling, the story wasn't as interesting but the Queen was able to dramatize her words with her bold actions. The only concubine who looked uninterested was Haeran, she picked on her food but still perked her ears to listen to the rest of the Queen's story. 

'And as soon I walked into the horse chapels, there were not three... BUT FIVE HORSES!' Kira gasped hearing this from the Queen and the Queen curved her lips, amused. The King had enough and coughed quite dramatically. 

'Is the Queen's husband alright?' Haeran quickly got up, with a glass of water ready for him. The King put his hand up for her to sit down and so she did. 'I'm fine, I just have a question for the Queen.' 

Ave and Haeran understood right away and prepared to leave. Kira helped herself to Haeran's unfinished meal and continued to stay seated. The King sighed in frustration and shot a look at her. The Queen smiled and spoke, 'Let her eat.' 

'Don't be ridiculous, this is a conversation between a husband and a wife.'

The Queen smiled even more, noticing his tone was getting angrier and angrier. She wanted to keep his anger rising and responded, 'Wasn't the King going to marry this concubine before me anyways?' 

Seeing the King tongue-twisted for a moment made the Queen laugh.

'The amount of time you spend time with this concubine and not with me... some would think that you're married to this concubine instead of me, the King!'

The Queen flashed a look at the concubine, expecting her eyes to widen. However, the concubine looked unbothered. Seeing the concubine unaffected, the Queen felt assured.

'Are you jealous of me?' Kira suddenly spoke. The Queen observed the concubine's facial expressions but unexpectedly she remained calm and cool. The Queen had a brief idea of what this concubine's personality was like, slight gossip was enough to make her swing around in excitement, knowing her curious nature, it seemed unusual seeing how bored she was. 

'Don't be ridiculous! Saying stuff like this is outrageous, you will surely be punished for this!' The King got up and rushed over to the concubine's side, taking out his sword. The Queen got up immediately over to the concubine's place, seeing how indifferent the King was to the concubine he once said he would marry in the future had surely surprised her.

'What exactly are you going to do?' The Queen mocked him, she walked to the King, her intimidating eyes piercing right through him. He slowly backed away as she came closer. She held the sword and pointed it towards herself. 

The King's eyes widened as she let the sword pierce through her a bit. He wanted to move but his legs were frozen. 'If you are prepared to take your sword out, surely you are prepared for the outcome.' The Queen smiled as a trickle of blood came out. 

'You- you're definitely insane!' The King yelled, he regained his senses and left in a hurry, throwing his sword on the floor. The Queen broke into a fit of laughter and turned to the concubine. The concubine who had been so indifferent and unbothered earlier was beyond shocked. Her eyes widened and her hands were trembling. 

'Did you see his face?! Hahahahah! This King is so funny!! I will tease him more now!' The Queen genuinely found the King's reaction hilarious and hadn't noticed the concubine. Kira began to cry, her tears rushing down her soft face. 

'Your Highness, how can you laugh?' She sobbed. The Queen stopped laughing and looked at the concubine with a confused expression. 

The concubine came closer to the Queen, punching her lightly. 

'Do you take your life as a joke? To casually let the sword stab you and laugh as if it's nothing?' The concubine said in between her crying. The Queen smiled and looked down at her dress which was ripped and bloody. She had completely forgotten that she let the sword stab her a little. 

'Don't worry, it's nothing.' The Queen said trying to calm the concubine down. However this only triggered Kira more, 'Please promise me you won't do something like this again!' Seeing the concubine so worried, the Queen had no choice but to promise to the concubine.

'Okay, okay, I won't, stop crying.' The Queen kicked the sword further away pulled a chair and seated the concubine. She bowed down to the concubine and fixed her dress from the bottom. The dress was long and had gotten dirty from the floor. The Queen folded the dress a bit and looked up at the concubine.

'Answer me this,' Kira nodded, wiping her tears away. 'For someone so eager to learn is so indifferent earlier when the King said... those things. What is the reason for this?'

'Your Highness, anything that concerns me isn't quite interesting so naturally, this concubine is unbothered.' The concubine said this so casually which struck at the Queen's heartstrings. 'Why would you think so less of yourself like this?' The Queen asked this but the concubine just continued to look at her. Her eyes suddenly filled with admiration. 

'This Queen... you don't batt a single eyelid when the King stabs you with a sword but when concerned with me... The Queen couldn't be possibly in love with me right?' Even though the concubine said this in a joking manner, her cheeks went immediately red. 

The Queen's eyes widened and she got up at once. She cleared her throat and turned to the concubine before she left saying, 'I will quickly go get this wound sorted out before my servants take notice and scold me.' 

The concubine sat there speechless. A ton of thoughts were flooding her mind and she sighed. 

'At least deny it Your Highness,' She spoke, her cheeks growing more red.