Both Ends of the Line

'Morning, 1,' I greeted him as I finished getting dressed for work. After I got to my room last night, I was too exhausted to do anything except drag myself to bed – not to mention too embarrassed to strike up a conversation.

"I thought we were going to continue talking last evening," Alessandro said, lounging in his bed. He had a hunch that 20 started her days early, so this morning he got up as soon as the first rays of light filtered through his bedroom curtains – again – on the chance that he would catch her. And as he heard her greeting, he realized he may be right about her keeping an early schedule. He was still groggy with sleep, but he supposed that can easily be fixed with strong coffee later.

At his mention of last evening, my mind flashed back to his comment I had involuntarily heard, and I got embarrassed all over again. 'I thought you may have been busy,' I cleared my throat.

"Busy with what?"

'Weren't you, uh, with someone?' I tried to phrase the question as innocently as I could, but I still felt my cheeks burning hot.

"How did you know that?" Alessandro asked.

'I, uh, heard you.'

"What did you hear?" Alessandro sat up quickly, outraged at the thought of what she might have heard. He had never made a secret of his sexual relations with different women, and because he was always in the center of attention as Luxentfort's emperor, that aspect of his life was almost public knowledge. Still, he didn't want her to view him in an unfavorable light before they had the opportunity to properly get to know each other. And he certainly didn't want her to think of him as a cad this early on in their acquaintanceship.

'Nothing important,' I said dismissively, trying to wriggle out of the topic. 'Can we stop talking about it?'

"Not this time," Alessandro said.

'Why not?' I challenged.

"Because this is about me, not you," Alessandro pointed out. He was adamant to know what 20 had heard. It couldn't have been that bad – could it?

'Fine,' I relented, almost shouting in my head. 'You said you were ready for bed. Are you happy now?'

"But, but," Alessandro stammered. "You said you've never heard me randomly before."

'I didn't,' I confirmed. 'Last night was the first time I did.'

"Was that all you heard?" Alessandro insisted.

'Yes,' I replied, exasperated. 'Can we drop the topic already?'

"Why didn't you try talking to me?" Alessandro wasn't ready yet to let go of this matter. Their unusual communication lines seemed to be functioning even more unconventionally, and he was intrigued to learn how it all worked.

'Because you were clearly occupied with your princess,' I sighed. Seriously, this guy! Why did he have to have everything spelled out in black and white? Couldn't he be contented that I was able to piece together some things about him on my own? If he was indeed a male concubine – which by now I had more grounds to believe was really the case – then of course he'd be with a princess in the evenings.

"How did you know I was with a princess?" Alessandro's jaw dropped to the floor. He was with Lucrezia last night. "Can you also see me?" He had on his sleeping robe, and he self-consciously pulled up the blankets to adequately cover him from the waist down.

'No, I can't,' I answered him, rolling my eyes. 'I was just able to guess what you were doing.'

"I see," Alessandro replied, not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

'Besides,' I continued. 'It's not my fault we have opposite work hours.'

Alessandro coughed at what 20 implied with that statement. He wasn't exactly working with Concubine Number 1, but he didn't correct her. "Next time you do hear me first, just talk to me."

'What if you're busy?' I countered.

"I'm never too busy for you." He said it so simply, as if that was a given. But suddenly I remembered Bong-su, and how he had never said anything like that during our time together. He wouldn't even pick up my calls when he was out partying with his colleagues, except when he had to bail out on me. Like on my birthday.

*****

After a long morning mopping the north hallway, I ate lunch on record speed, intending to use the rest of my break walking in the outskirts of the garden. I wanted to take advantage of the gorgeous spring weather – without pushing a heavy laundry load or a carrying giant watering can.

I had just sat down under the shade of a tree when I heard 1's voice. "Tales of your incompetence don't interest me." I had never heard him talk like that before. His voice was firm and authoritative, like he was certain about whatever he was talking about and he expected the other person to listen – and obey.

Maybe I shouldn't bother him. But I remembered what he said to me that morning, and decided to put it to the test. He could always ignore me if he really didn't want to talk. And besides, I was getting more curious about how we exactly we could communicate. 'Did I catch you at a busy time?' I asked tentatively.

Alessandro's patience was near its end. He was in a meeting with some ministers, and they were showing him disorganized data about the distribution of funds after the war. Those funds were intended to mitigate the damage suffered by the regular citizens of the empire. They weren't by any means a way for government officials to stock up their treasury. He was about to order a minister to resign from his post when he heard 20's voice.

Fighting back a smile at her hesitant question, he turned to his officials. "Everybody, leave the room." Some of them seemed reluctant to do so right away, but when they saw the others – especially the ones who were being drilled by Alessandro just then – hurriedly shuffling their papers, they also got ready to leave.

When the room was clear, Alessandro spoke to 20. "No, you didn't."