Chapter 10

The concubines were seated with the King and the Queen for breakfast. The awkward silence filled the room for quite a while. The King had a scowl on his face and the Queen was happily feasting on her food. It was then, she decided to speak.

'Make sure you guys finish everything.' The rest nodded except for the King but the Queen didn't seem to mind.

One of the concubines, Kira, had been observing the 'couple' for a while. Just what the hell happened yesterday? Kira was dying to know what happened, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

'Your Majesty,' She decided to ask the King directly. 'Did the Queen beat you yesterday night... all we could hear were sounds of groaning from the King.' 

The two concubines immediately faced their heads down, they knew how blunt and straightforward Kira was but to be this dense was truly a talent. The King was no stranger to Kira's blunt nature but he still coughed out his food. The only one who didn't seem to mind was the Queen. Instead, she laughed and looked directly at the concubine. 

'Indeed, the King got a battering from this Queen!' Once she spoke, Kira widened her eyes in shock. 

'Really? Did you? Did it hurt? What happened after?' Kira bombarded them with questions. At this point, the King had enough and shot a look at her. 

'Don't be ridiculous, Your Highness was giving this one a soft massage, and the sounds you were hearing... you must've imagined it.' 

Kira was about to speak again but she felt a kick on her leg, sure enough, the eldest of the concubines was shooting her a death glare. 

Kira sulked and picked on her food. The Queen noticed and smiled. 

'You mustn't get mad at the food.' Kira looked up at the Queen and they made direct eye-contact. This reminded Kira of two years ago.

'If there are any other questions you have, meet me in my library after.' The Queen finished speaking, getting up and humming along as she left. The King glared at Kira, however the concubine was happy. The Queen was willing to have a conversation with this mere concubine? How strange of a woman she is. Kira thought to herself, trying to contain her excitement. 

…

The concubine made her way to the Queen's library with the help of the servants. The King wanted to come but the Queen asked the servants to let only Kira in. Therefore the servants refused to let the King in. Kira walked past the sulking King and slowly curved her lips.

Once she set foot in the library she gasped. This library was much bigger then her whole room back in the Regin Kingdom. She walked forward, her mouth still open in shock. The concubine then turned to look at the lady in front of her. It seemed the Queen hadn't taken notice of the concubine. Kira took this as a chance to observe the Queen. The Queen's hair was put up neatly and she was quietly reading a book.

Kira walked over to the Queen and bowed once the Queen realised she had arrived.

'Your Highness, this concubine is here.'

The Queen put her book down immediately and pulled a chair by her side. The latter understood and seated herself.

Kira brushed a look towards the book the Queen was reading and the Queen smiled.

'Do you want to read it?'

'I…' Kira looked down, her cheeks slightly red, 'I can't read.' The concubine didn't know why she felt embarrassed, it was natural for women not being able to read or write but seeing the Queen who was able to made her feel slightly ashamed.

The Queen got up and walked over to one of her book shelves. After contemplating between a few books, she decided to just take them all. Kira took count of how many books the Queen carried and it was a total of eight! These books didn't look light either, hard books with long pages. To see a women this strong… it interested the concubine deeply.

The Queen placed the books on the table and sat down next to Kira.

'These books helped me greatly to give me the knowledge I have now.' She turned to the concubine, 'You can have them.'

The concubine was shocked. These books were for her? How would she even be able to learn without a teacher guiding her? It was almost as if the Queen read her mind and spoke, 'Every day come to my library and this Queen will spare you a few hours and teach you myself.'

'Your Highness, this is too much-

'You don't want to learn how to read?'

'How can I? If word gets out this lowly women knows how to read… I will surely be punished.' Kira looked down, she smiled sadly. She knew the harsh reality was for women.

The Queen furrowed her brows and patted the concubines head.

'Let them try. Will they dare say anything knowing the Queen of the Moral Empire taught you personally? Come on, look up and let's start.'

Kira looked up at her, the Queen's hand still gently resting on her head. She gave the Queen a smile, 'It's a big honor to be this Queen's student.'