“Have you ever slept with a man, Seul-Ki?”

The Queen broke the silence with the strangest question I had ever been asked.

I snapped my head up. My wild, puzzled eyes met her dark, intense ones before they darted to the rest of her body. The Queen was draped across the floor bed; her robe slid sideways, revealing her collarbones. My cheeks heated and I quickly averted my head away. 

“N- No, Your Majesty, I- I am a maiden.” And, theoretically, so was everyone in the servants’ quarters. 

“Would you like to, one day?”

“Not… Not at all, Your Majesty.”

“Why not?”

“Um…” I cleared my throat. “I’m- I’m not particularly… interested...” I forced a small smile and added, “I- I am happy being a maiden forever, Your Majesty. To serve you.”

“I see.” The mattress rustled under the Queen. “Good choice. I preferred being a maiden too.”

My face was still maddeningly flushed, but I dared a glance at the Queen. She stared back at me, a hand on the pillow, the other stroking her neck. I gulped. “Then… why… did you marry the King, Your Majesty?”

There was a small jut in her cheeks. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Panic filled me. “Oh, I’m…” I lowered myself into a bow. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I didn’t… I didn’t know… I shouldn’t have asked…”

The more I stuttered, the more my blood boiled. Why was it that the more I knew about the King, the angrier I became? The Queen never wanted to be with him. She did not even want him to visit tonight. I clenched my hands into fists to stop them from shaking.

“It’s okay,” the Queen said softly. “It’s not something to complain about. I was chosen out of a hundred and three girls. I am… honored.”

“The King chose you, Your Majesty?”

“No. The Queen Dowager did.”

I pursed my lips. So neither of them wanted each other. 

The Queen chuckled. “Don’t look like that, Seul-Ki.”

My lips protrude into a pout. That order was difficult to follow. “I don’t like him, Your Majesty,” I declared.

The Queen lifted her eyebrows. Her eyelids flicked downwards momentarily. “Be careful, Seul-Ki. That is not something you should say lightly in the palace.”

Maybe it was the anger muddling my mind, or maybe it was the fact that I was alone with the Queen, but I did not care about that. The King could threaten to execute me, to kill me in cold blood like the Kang family, and I would not care. I felt my jaw harden as I pressed on, “He makes you upset. I don’t like him. I don’t want him to visit you.”

My ire subsided when the Queen let out a few more chuckles. “Are you perhaps jealous of him, Seul-Ki?” she asked, amusement painting her face. 

I did not know how to answer that. 

The Queen lifted her hand—the one that was trailing along her neck—and gestured. “Come here.” 

I shuffled closer to her. She beckoned again, and I moved again.

The slender hand reached out to grab mine. Before I could react, I was tugged on the arm—and tumbled onto the mattress. The Queen’s mattress.

“Y- Your Majesty?” I exclaimed. 

When I refocused my vision, I froze. 

My palms were pressed into the cushion, with the Queen’s head between them; my own was mere inches above. I was too afraid to look at what my hips were pressing against, and what my legs were touching. I was too afraid to even breathe. Meanwhile, the Queen’s every breath tickled my nose. 

“There is no need for you to be jealous,” she said with a smirk. A smirk. “I will show you what he does.”

“What… What do you mean—”

My sentence was cut off with a sharp gasp when the Queen clutched one of my hands. Palm on palm, she guided my fingers to her lips. Her soft, fleshy lips. 

“He will start with a kiss, right here.” She let me trace a smooth path downwards—from her chin, to behind her ear, to her collar. “Here too. And here. And maybe a little bit here.”

“Your… Majesty…” I tried to protest, but that was the most I could say. Her skin was so cold and so smooth, almost like fresh, silken tofu. I was sure that my rough hands would leave a scratch on her.

She brought my trembling fingers further down. I was now caressing the thin fabric of her robes. “He will take my clothes off and then touch me…” —my hand glided over her chest while my heart exploded in mine— “...here.”

“Your Majesty, I…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t think I s- should be…doing this…”

The Queen’s smile grew. She did not stop, however; my hand was now low, dangerously low. I finally saw what my hips were pressed against. It was her thigh. I was straddling one of her legs. 

I wanted to pass out, but I could not—I would fall right on top of the Queen and crush her. 

“Why not?” she challenged, daring me to answer, teasing me. Her other hand was pulling her lower robe up so our entwined palms could go under it.

I was touching her skin again. It was as smooth as ever, but it was now hot. Sweltering hot.

“And this is when he will take off his pants,” the Queen continued. “And then he…”

Her smile faltered as our hands—my fingers—traveled closer and closer to her core. To the source of the heat.

She stopped before we could get there. We stared at each other, unmoving, for a long moment.

“Is that… it, Your Majesty?” I probed.

She inhaled. I could feel the tremors in her breath. “No.”

“What else does he do?”

The smirk that had been taunting me vanished. Instead, a timidness I had never seen in her took over. Her eyes dilated while her lips parted. The lips I had touched.

Oh. She looked… adorable.

I was suddenly emboldened. It was my turn to tease. “What else does he do, Your Majesty?”

“He…”

My instinct took over, and I lifted my fingers to the spot. The Queen let out a loud gasp at that. I halted, waiting for her to tell me to stop. Instead, she let go of my hand as if she were giving me free reign to do whatever I wanted.

And so I did.

“Does he do this, Your Majesty?” I pressed on.

The Queen did not reply. She was not able to. As I explored the area between her legs—rubbing, kneading, caressing—the only sounds she could make were heavy heaves and occasional moans. Her face contorted with a different expression at every second, and they were all beautiful. They were all perfect.

“He doesn’t… do this…” the Queen muttered breathlessly. Her lips quivered as she spoke, while my pulsating fingers throbbed against her other set of lips. Warm, soft, and wet. So wet. “He doesn’t do… this… at all.”

“What does he do?”

“He… He doesn’t…”

“Does he do this instead?” Flipping my hand over, I slid two fingers into her. Radiating warmth wrapped around my digits, sending a wave of pleasure through me. This felt better than the bath, better than anything else in the world. This felt right.

The Queen cried out. Her back arched, and her hands clutched the mattress in desperation. 

“Is this good?” I asked, concerned.

She nodded.

“What about this?”

A more vigorous nod.

“This?”

“Oh, heavens.” Her head jerked backward and she stared wildly up at the ceiling. “God, Seul-Ki, yes!”

I plunged into her, curling my fingers the way she seemed to like it, keeping my thumb at her clitoris. The Queen’s moans, enchanting and melodious, became louder and less controlled. She called to the heavens; she repeated my name like a prayer; she begged me to continue. My ears had never been blessed more, my heart had never fluttered more—and I had never been happier.

The Queen climaxed in my hand. As she slumped down on the bed, shuddering and panting, I was reminded of the flower petal that landed in the bathtub, soaked, unfurled, and opened up to the world. To me.

“Seul-Ki… That… was… Oh, dear heavens…” The Queen covered her eyes with her arm and… giggled. Her laugh was so light and airy, like that of a young maiden. Her hair, which the maids had meticulously braided, was in a disarray. 

“Did you like it, Your Majesty?”

“Oh… very much…”

Slowly, I removed my hand from her and raised it in front of me. It was sticky and musky, and it glistened under the setting sun. Before I could decide what to do with it, the Queen grabbed my arm and stuck my fingers into her mouth.

“Your Majesty!” 

The Queen—the pickiest eater in the world—sucked on my fingers like it was the most delicious meal. I felt her tongue gliding back and forth, and I felt a bit of her teeth. A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine. Once again, I was inside the Queen. I was inside her again.

When my hand came out, it was still glistening. For a long moment, I could not do anything except stare at the Queen in awe. She stared back at me, her cheeks flushed and her eyes gleaming. She was a work of art in every way, shape, and form. 

She was a goddess.

“Your M—“

“The King has arrived!” A loud announcement cut me off.

The Queen jolted. She grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me out of the mattress.

“Go!” she exclaimed, frantic. “Go, get out! Now!”

I did not have time to think. I stumbled backward onto the floor before scrambling to my feet and exiting the room.

I left the hallway just as I heard a new pair of footsteps stride down. A spear of dread sliced through me. That must be the King. 

And he was here for her.