Chapter 18

'Your Highness, it's 4 am... you couldn't wait till mornin-' The sentence was cut off by the concubine's yawning. 

'Tomorrow, no wait today,' The Queen excitedly spoke to Kira, 'let's go and visit painters!' 

'...'

Kira fell back into her bed and closed her eyes. 'Your Highness, whatever you want, I'll do.' 

The Queen beamed upon hearing this and skipped while humming back to her bedroom. 

...

'Wait... you were telling the truth?' The concubine's eyes widened. 

She was with the Queen for their morning meal. The King and the other two concubines were listening to this conversation but stayed silent. 

'Yes! There's so many things I have to teach you!' The Queen cheerfully exclaimed. Seeing how eager the Queen was, the concubine smiled. She loved seeing this side of Arisa, it warmed her heart deeply. The King on the other hand was on the verge of tears. He had planned a lovely day for him and his wife, they would go out and view the beautiful gardens with tasty treats and when night came, they would lie down and gaze at the stunning stars. 

'Don't you have plans already?' The King finally spoke, hoping the Queen would remember. 

'I already told the executive to cancel them all, since I'm going out with Kira.' 

'We...' Edward mustered up his courage and finished his sentence, 'we had plans.'

The Queen looked unbothered and carried on humming as she continued to eat. 'You can go do that stuff with the other two.' She spoke after a while.

She then turned to the other two concubines and smiled. 'You guys don't mind right?' 

The concubines were surprised to hear that the Queen was concerned for them and their hearts warmed a bit.

The eldest concubine spoke, 'Your Highness, that sounds wonderful, are you sure you won't accompany us with your presence?' Haeran wasn't exactly bothered if the Queen wasn't coming but she was more concerned about the youngest concubine. She felt it was improper that Kira was going out with the Queen without the presence of the King.

The Queen smiled upon hearing this, she understood the worry Haeran had and so she reassured the concubine. 'It's fine. I'll do well in taking care of Kira.' 

Kira immediately reddened, the Queen was saying silly things again! She thought to herself and looked down at the table. 

Haeran was shocked hearing this from the Queen and was greatly embarrassed. The Queen was able to understand the concern she held for Kira and instead of being furious with the concubine, she answered quite casually. This left Haeran with mixed emotions. 

The Queen had finished her meal and got up instantly. 'Kira, let's go!'

...

The Queen and the concubine were in disguises, they wore simple clothing and hats to somewhat conceal their faces. The executive had heard about the Queen leaving to explore outside and was extremely anxious. If he wasn't extremely busy, he would've accompanied the Queen. He had ordered two guards of the Moral Empire to spy on them so he didn't have to worry as much. The only thing that bothered him was how unpredictable the Queen was. 

The Queen brought out her horse and one carriage with two servants. These servants were the Moral Empire's most skilled fighters so the Queen wasn't worried if trouble was to come. 

Arisa sat alongside Kira in the carriage and they were chatting together. 

'Your Highness, tell me exactly why you want to see the painters.' The concubine had asked and so the Queen didn't conceal her reason. 

'I want to teach you that loving a woman isn't wrong.'

...

'HUH!!!!! YOUR HIGHNESS WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?! HOW WILL THE PAINTERS SHOW ME THAT????' The concubine's yelling would be considered extremely rude to outsiders, especially in the presence of a Queen. However, the Queen let out a laugh. This laughter continued until the Queen couldn't breathe anymore. 

'You can be so funny sometimes, why are you so scared? Where do you think I'm taking you??' The Queen wheezed. 

Seeing the Queen laughing, the concubine felt warm inside. Her smile was extremely dazzling. 

'Your Highness... this isn't fair on me.' The concubine pretended to sulk but she smiled along with the Queen. 'Please tell me, why do you want to show me something like that?' 

The Queen moved forward and rested her head on the concubine's shoulder. 'I don't want to see you cry again, that's all.' 

The concubine stayed silent but her eyes started to water. How can the Queen be so considerate of a mere concubine's feelings? Why is the Queen so nice to me? Kira thought to herself. The Queen looked up at Kira for a while, their eyes interlocking with each other. Seeing this serious look from the Queen reminded Kira of how frightening the Queen can appear. Kira wanted to lean forward and feel Arisa's lips on her like before, however she restricted herself. 

The Queen was also holding back and so she settled on poking as hard as she could on the concubine's cheek.

'OWWWWW! Your Highness, why do you love poking my cheeks?' 

'For someone with such a beautiful face, naturally, I want to touch it.' 

The concubine started coughing immediately and turned away from the Queen. 'How can you say things like that so normally?'

The Queen didn't respond but she answered mentally; 'I will make it normal for us.'