I thought I would never fall asleep, but eventually, I managed to. When I awoke, I could not feel my arm at all. The Queen was still laying on my left arm, hair disheveled, cheeks squished against me. A quilt draped across us, mostly covering her body, barely covering mine. Someone must have placed this on us in the middle of the night.

I should be worried about this mysterious person, but I was too distracted by the sight in front of me. Bare and naked, hands resting on my chest, eyelashes fluttering with my every breath. 

The Queen.

I could not believe it. I had fucked her and then slept with her. This gorgeous woman with the magnificent body. 

The Queen. 

I wanted to squeal out loud, but I did not want to disturb her. She looked adorable as she slept.

“Your Majesty, my Queen, good morning.”

I had been so used to the head palace lady’s annoyed, snappy voice that the gentle tone of her greeting made me jolt with terror.

The Queen fell out of my arm. The weight was gone but the numbness remained.

She stirred. “Ah, Sanggung, good morning…” Her eyes flickered open—and widened as they met mine. “S- Seul…”

She did not finish uttering my name.

“Your Majesty,” I whispered, “good morning.”

A flush crept up her cheeks. She quickly sat up, grabbing the quilt along with her. She was wrapped, her privacy protected; I was fully exposed. 

“It’s- It’s morning. I…” She looked around and saw the head palace lady kneeling next to us, head lowered and eyes cast downwards. A small basin of water sat by the mattress, along with a neatly-folded set of clothes; they were too bright and colorful to be mine. “Oh, is- is it time for breakfast, Sanggung?”

“It is, Your Majesty,” the Sanggung replied. “His Highness, the Marquis, is currently waiting in your study. Would you like to have breakfast with His Highness, or should I send him away for now?”

“Oh, yes, I- I do wish to dine with Oppa. I will get changed first and find him.”

My eyes darted between the two women as questions inundated my mind. Was that the Queen’s older brother who was visiting? Was I not going to eat with her again? And why was the head palace lady so nonchalant about my presence in the Queen’s bed? She did not cast as much as a glance in my direction. 

Also, where were my clothes?

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the head palace lady said. “I will take my leave now.” She bowed before backing out of the room.

When the door shut, the Queen flung herself back onto the mattress and back into my arms. 

“Oh, thank the heavens Sanggung is here,” she exclaimed, burrowing her head into my neck. “I usually wake up to a few maids-in-waiting, but Sanggung must have dismissed them.”

My heart clenched as I remembered the Queen’s concern about the King finding out. I had grown up around fellow maids, so I knew they gossiped a lot. Tightening my grip around her waist, I muttered, “Your Majesty, maybe we… shouldn’t sleep over like this next time.”

She shook her head. “No, please do. I’ll just have to give Sanggung an earlier notice. She will help me, no matter how much she disagrees with me. No matter how unhappy she would be doing it.” She chuckled. “And she looked so unhappy just now.”

I could not tell that at all—the head palace lady was always a million times meaner to me. But I was not going to disagree with the woman snuggling on me. My arms were no longer numb, so I raised one of them to caress her nape. She nuzzled further into me.

We cuddled for a few more minutes before the Queen lifted her head. “Help me get dressed.”

I nodded and we stood up. Not wanting to be naked while dressing up the Queen, I wrapped the quilt around my body.

She frowned. “Where are your clothes?”

“I… I don’t know, Your Majesty.” None of our haphazardly tossed clothes were around.

“Sanggung must have taken it then. She tidies my room every morning and places fresh clothes and water for me. She must have tidied your clothes too and forgotten to get you new ones.”

There was no way the head palace lady would forget such a thing. Realization dawned on me—this was to be my punishment.

I helped the Queen put on the underlayers of robes, carefully tucking away the best parts of her body behind the exquisite fabric. She washed her hands and face while I combed and braided her hair. As I secured her hair with a golden hairpin, I leaned down and kissed her lightly on the back of her neck. Her hair was as fragrant as ever. 

The last step was the outer robe. I helped her into it and fastened the ribbon. Stepping back, our eyes met, and her lips tugged into a smile. I wanted to melt into a bow. She was beautiful—dressed or undressed.

“How do I look?” 

 I was at a loss of words, but I managed to breathe out, “Stunning, Your Majesty.”

Her smile widened as she smoothed her sleeves. “Thank you, Seul-Ki. I will now go for breakfast with my brother.”

I lowered myself into the deepest bow I could manage—as low as my quilt-covered body could go. 

When the door shut behind me, I stood back up and got to searching. My clothes had to be somewhere.

“What do you think you are doing?” The head palace lady’s voice pierced into my ears. 

I knocked my head against the wardrobe I was rummaging as I scrambled to greet her. “S- Sanggung, I- I am looking for my clothes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stop slacking off and take those bedsheets for cleaning. You’re on laundry duty again today.”

“But I need clothes, Sanggung…”

“That’s your problem to figure out.”

So, this was definitely a punishment. 

I squirmed. “But… But Sanggung—“

“Don’t you dare break Her Majesty’s heart.”

All my protests died in my throat. I blinked and stared incredulously at the older woman. She was facing away from me, but I could still sense the anger—the command—in her glare.

“I will never,” I stated. “I swear on my parent’s graves.”

There was a short moment of silence, and I was sure there was a smile on her face. But when she turned to look at me, her signature scowl returned. “And be quiet. I can only keep people away from the room, not the building.”

My cheeks burned. I was not the one who needed to be quiet, but I decided against revealing that. After all, standing in the Queen’s bedchamber, naked and covered only with a quilt, I did not want to be punished more.

Instead, I nodded and said, “Yes, Sanggung.”