Chapter 3

'Mother!' The King rushed into the dining room where his mother was. He didn't have much respect for women in general and his mother wasn't an exception. If other kings witnessed how he treated his mother they surely would be shocked. The King's mother couldn't control her son's temper, there was always a distance between the two and it deepened ever since the King's father passed away. 

'What nonsense are you saying? Me? Marry the Queen of the Moral Empire? You know how much Father detested that foolish Kingdom!' 

The King's mother stayed silent while her son continued to yell. 

'I've already got three concubines, one of which I plan to marry in the future!' 

'Silence!' The King's mother had enough of her son's tantrum. 'Marry a concubine? How long are you going to repeat silly things!' 

The King was stunned. 

'It's already been decided by the government of this Kingdom. We have planned to increase our connections by marrying into the Moral Empire. We have fewer enemies and more allies this way.' The King's mother got up from her seat as she finished eating. She was a reserved and quiet woman. Never in her life had she raised her voice to her son. 

The King stood there, with his mouth slightly opened as his mother left the room. He had never seen his mother like this. 

'If this is what she wants,' He spat out while his hands turned into fists, 'so be it!' 

'But I'll do it my way.' The King left the room and consulted a few of his servants for an important errand to be made.

... 

The Queen had been locked into a cell. This underground cell was built initially for the traitors and assassins who have attempted to harm the Moral Empire. However, the queen was quite familiar with this cell...

After one of her extreme pranks she pulled, she was locked in this cell for almost a year. She smiled a little thinking about it. In the past, Arisa had found that she enjoyed seeing the government panic. At that time, she wanted to do something even more unruly, something that would not only shock her government but... the world. Her pranks from meeting brothels and gifting prostitutes to different kingdoms went into something much worse. That time was truly the best day of her life, even if she was locked in the cell and punished harshly, it still made her laugh continuously even now thinking about it. 

It all started when she heard a few of her servants gossiping in the kitchen. Even if Arisa despised her government, she had a soft spot for the servants who had served their lives from the day she was born. Arisa had never met any of her sisters, some had passed away or had moved away from the Moral Empire and lived with their husbands. She had never felt the true concept of family love but thought to herself. That feeling must be how I feel with them. She smiled to herself as she looked at her servants laughing to themselves as they prepared the Queen's breakfast. 

'Your highness, you couldn't sleep?' One of the servants, Yara, a year younger than the Queen, softly said as she looked at the Queen. Yara had grown up with the Queen. If not for their status difference, Yara wouldn't have been so polite to the Queen. Arisa always felt it was a shame since many of the servants had grown closer and even spoke to her comfortably. Yara was always more mature than the queen, even if their age difference wasn't much, the queen always felt a bit embarrassed about it.

'Yara, why is everyone so excited,' the queen was amused, 'did something happen?' 

'Your Highness, this one wouldn't dare to answer the Queen, as it doesn't seem appropriate.'

'Yara, how many times have I said you can speak normally to me?'

'My deepest apologies, your highness.' Yara bowed her head down in respect. The Queen sighed and walked further into the kitchen. She expected Yara not to say anything so she spoke to the others, seeking for what she wanted to hear. 

The servants became silent as they heard someone approaching them, however seeing the queen made them sigh in relief. 

'Queen, you truly had me frightened.' One of the chef's ladies spoke, her voice seemed to have been shaking from the fright the queen gave them earlier. The queen laughed, they were quite adorable. She felt a little bad as well, why should they have to be so frightened just by the chance that someone heard them? They must've been talking about something serious. 

'What happened?' Arisa sat down on one of the chairs, putting her legs up on the table in front. Three servant ladies all sat at the same table and shuffled quite close to the queen. 

One of them double-checked just to be sure and once she was aware of her surroundings, she looked at the queen with quite a complicated expression. She began to whisper... 

...

'HAHAHAHAHAH! THAT'S ALL???' The queen had thought it was something quite important from the servant's expression. Learning that it was something so simple, she felt a little disappointed. 

'Your Highness, forgive me if I'm coming-

'Come on, what did I say? I'd rather anyone else but you guys speak to me like that. You know how much I hate it.' 

The servant that was speaking, paused for a bit. She was slightly older than the Queen, nonetheless, she still felt like she was sort of a mother figure to her. Her heart ached whenever she thought about the Queen being somewhat of an object for the Kingdom to use. The Queen had not been able to meet any of her blood relatives. This servant knew very well how Arisa looked up to her and the rest of her servants. Just as the Queen saw them as family as did they. Therefore the servant changed how she was speaking earlier and continued. 

'Your Highness, if you insist... After hearing about this, you still find it so small?' 

Arisa shrugged her shoulders and said with a confused expression, 'It's just two women marrying? What's the problem?' 

All the servants gasped, including Yara. They all rushed towards the Queen, their mouths unable to close. 

'Your Highness, you mustn't talk about it in a normal matter!'

'Nothing about this is normal!' Another chipped in.

The Queen had always been open-minded. Mostly because she didn't listen to what others had to say. She barely followed the rules in the Moral Empire and she thought about what most people found ridiculous was not that bad after all. Two girls liking each other in this period was completely unnatural, if people admitted they harbored feelings for the same sex, they would be executed immediately. Yet the Queen didn't understand why.

'Can I ask you something then?' The Queen stood up from her chair and all the servants looked up to her. They respected the queen despite her unruly acts. 'If a woman and a man are married and their marriage consists of fights and lies. There is no pure love in this marriage right,' the servants nodded along and the queen continued. 'Is it okay for a marriage between a man and a woman who don't truly love each other and not for a woman who loves another woman with her whole heart to get married? Doesn't it seem unfair?' 

The servants were stunned. Never in their life had they expected a question like this, nonetheless from the Queen herself. The Queen was always strange but this was too much for the servants to handle. The eldest of the servants got up and went back to continue her cooking and the rest followed. She looked towards the Queen who looked unbothered and spoke in a gentle tone. 

'Your Highness, it's completely okay for you to speak to us as if nothing matters, but please.' She sighed, 'Never speak a word of how you feel about this to this government if they ever hear this... I'm afraid you will be punished.' 

THAT'S IT! The Queen yelled in her mind. 

That's exactly when the queen got the idea. The idea that truly shocked not only the Moral Empire but the entire world. 

...

The Queen looked around her cell and laughed once more. It was quite a memory to treasure, especially seeing the shocked faces of the men around her. 

Back then, the Queen had begged for the government's permission. However, they wouldn't budge. They were well aware of the Queen's chaotic nature and hence what she asked for seemed impossible. However, the Queen didn't stop asking. Every day, she stepped inside the royal court where the government's men had their meetings. One day, as usual, she ran to the court to beg for their permission again. However, this time she wasn't aware other people were present.

'Please, please, please, please...' The Queen was on all fours, she looked up to them with clear determination, ignoring how shameful it looked to see the leader of a Kingdom like this. The guests all looked at the commotion the Queen was causing and hence she was sent away at once. The top executive of the Moral Empire was embarrassed, he looked at the guests; another Kingdom they were well acquainted with. The guests tried to fill in this silence with awkward laughter. 

'What must the highness want so badly that had her...' The guest stopped speaking as he felt it might be considered rude to say. The executive understood quickly and spoke right away. 

'The Queen has been insisting on the same thing for days now.' 

The two guests looked at each other in surprise and then towards the executive. 'Is it something we could ask about?'

The executive laughed, 'It's nothing that big, it's just strange to be coming from the Queen directly.'

'??'

The executive looked at their curious eyes and continued to speak. 

'She wants to organize a gathering with Kingdoms all around us.' 

The guests had not expected that, one of them smiled at the executive and spoke. 'Wouldn't this be better for what we were discussing earlier? We needed to confirm our relationships regarding the kingdoms we have allied ourselves with and besides it's a good chance to create more allies.' 

The executive was just about to shake his head but stopped when he heard that last line. The guests that he had invited to the Moral Empire were one of the many Kingdoms that they had allied themselves with. However, the Moral Empire always had that distance between other Kingdoms because of their use of Queens. The executive had been stressed about this and invited one of the Kingdoms he felt quite close to as he needed someone to whom he could talk about this. 

'Maybe it doesn't sound so bad after all...'