The burial process had just ended and Seulgi went back to her own room alone, still blaming herself quietly despite the fact that it was not really her fault. She let Soojung take care of Naeun's baby and named her daughter Nayeon, similar to her own mother. 

The secret between Joohyun and herself was kept safely within that house of Joohyun. She had asked Joohyun to not come out for the time being until she got something done. She intended to order the river guard take the water from the river to let Joohyun 'drink' to trick the other people that the baby was hers. But then she thought about Sana. How she promised her that once Naeun gave birth, she would let her have her baby. 

Seulgi exhaled sharply and slumped back on her chair, kneading her own aching left shoulder after a long day at the funeral. She closed her eyes as she reminisced her past with Naeun just within a year. How Naeun would remind her to have her lunch, how Naeun would sew fancy patterns on her robe during her free time and show it to her cheerfully, how Naeun would sing to her baby in front of her and tell the baby that she had come to see them. Her head hung lower as she thought about their past. Even though she did not love Naeun, she still cared for her because Naeun cared for her.

"Yoon Ah." Seulgi called.

Yoon Ah rushed into the room immediately and checked on the Empress.

"Sana." She only said. And Yoon Ah nodded quickly before she went to Sana to the study room. Seulgi waited patiently as she thought about how to say it to Sana.

Awhile later, Yoon Ah came in to tell Seulgi that Sana was waiting outside already and Seulgi called Sana to come in. Yoon Ah escorted Sana in and stood at the corner of the room with her head bowed. Sana smiled and walked behind the chair after greeting Seulgi. She rested her hands on Seulgi's shoulders and helped her to massage her tensed shoulders. Seulgi appreciated it. But she was still thinking about how to let Sana know, because she was aware that Sana did not have the nicest temper among her wives. 

Seulgi put her hand on Sana's hand, turning her head slightly to the left to look at the girl before pulling her to stand on her side. She leaned on her right armrest as she looked at the girl who was smiling at her, a little too sweetly. Seulgi suddenly felt wrong. How could Sana be so happy when the funeral had just ended awhile ago? Maybe because Naeun was not her wife, so she was not affected. But still, they were supposed to still care for each other. She frowned after thinking. 

"Why are you looking at me that way?" Sana asked, her eyes rounded when Seulgi came back from her trance. 

Seulgi shook her head. "Sana, I have something important to discuss with you." 

Sana's lips curved up slightly when she heard that. "Yes?" 

"I... you see... Naeun... just passed away. So... I don't think it is right for you to have a kid so soon." Seulgi said slowly, checking the reaction of the girl. 

Sana's smile faltered and a frown slowly appeared on her face. "What do you mean?" 

"We will have a baby next time, alright?" Seulgi smiled softly, trying to give in slightly to the hot-tempered girl. 

"Just because she died?" Sana questioned in disbelief. 

The word stabbed through Seulgi's heart and her soft gaze turned into a glare. "Can't you show a bit of empathy?" 

"I just don't understand!" Sana said, looking away from Seulgi's gaze. 

Seulgi clenched her right fist and closed her eyes. "This is not the way you should be acting." She said coldly. 

Sana noticed that Seulgi was getting upset and she immediately dropped her stance, looking down to stare at her own shoes. "I just want to have a princess for you." 

"Not now." Seulgi said. "Not when... things are getting so messy. I need to sort things out first." 

Sana's eyes flickered when she heard that. Joohyun. Yes, Joohyun. How could she have forgotten about Joohyun. "Joohyun..." 

Seulgi's head snapped up, almost hurting her neck and she looked at Sana with slightly narrowed eyes. "What about her?" 

"She is pregnant right?" Sana asked, gazing firmly into Seulgi's eyes and Seulgi stared back even though she was shaking inside. Then she quickly glimpsed at the corner of the room to see Yoon Ah still standing there. She became flustered for a second before she coughed to clear . 

"Yoon Ah, I will call you when I need you." Seulgi turned to Yoon Ah and said. Yoon Ah looked up to nod at Seulgi before she went out of the room, leaving the room to Seulgi and Sana. "Yes she is." 

Sana pretended to gasp like she was unaware of it. "Whose is it?" 

"Mine." Seulgi stated. 

Even though she knew perfectly that the baby was not the Empress', she pretended to throw tantrum because Seulgi would be biased if she let Joohyun get pregnant when she promised that she would let Sana have her baby first. 

"And what about me?" Sana questioned, eyes widening to stare at Seulgi. Seulgi gulped quietly and looked to her side before she smiled. 

"Joohyun is 18 and you are just 16, so I just let her have a princess first." Seulgi made an excuse quickly. 

"So?" Sana pressed on. 

Seulgi decided to assert her authority and the smile on her face disappeared, her gaze sharply pierced into Sana's eyes as she said flatly. "You don't question me." 

Sana swallowed the lump in because Seulgi looked very intimidating. Seulgi was protecting Joohyun to this extent and Sana sensed that Joohyun was an even bigger threat to herself. Soojung was not that hard to deal with since the girl was quiet and Sana knew that Seulgi did not love her. But Sana had been wary of Joohyun ever since the first day that she met Joohyun right here in the study room. It upset her to even think that Seulgi loved Joohyun. She wanted Seulgi to herself. She wanted to be the queen. "I'm sorry." Sana bowed and apologised, even though she was very reluctant to. But she did not feel that upset because she knew that she had an upper hand. 

"Leave." Seulgi said and sat back properly on her chair, flipping through the report and ignoring Sana. Sana bit her lip with her clenching heart and she huffed quietly before taking a leave politely. Seulgi felt relieved once Sana was gone, at least that burden was relieved. But then she thought back on the sweet smile that Sana gave her when she came in, unlike Soojung who had red eyes from tearing and Joohyun who was not really in the mood to talk about happy stuffs. Sana definitely did not look upset at all. "Yoon Ah." Seulgi called. "Bring Soojung here, I want to see Nayeon." She said when Yoon Ah came in. "Wait no. Forget it. I will go there instead." She quickly changed her mind when Yoon Ah was about to leave. 

Soojung was surprised to see Seulgi when she was resting after looking after Nayeon for the entire day. The baby girl cried a lot that day, as if she knew that her mother would be buried under the soil and she would never see her again. 

"You come to see Nayeon?" Soojung smiled. Her eyes were still red because she was tired and she cried earlier on when Naeun was taken away. She had become friends with Naeun because they spent time with each other as well when Seulgi was working. 

Seulgi nodded with a small smile. "Is she sleeping?" 

Soojung nodded, taking Seulgi's hand carefully and she smiled to herself when Seulgi did not reject. She led her to the bedroom where Nayeon was sleeping on the bed soundly. Seulgi smiled wider when she saw Nayeon stirring in her sleep, her small fists reaching out in the air as she stretched. "She is so small..." Seulgi muttered to herself. 

"She will be pretty like her mother." Soojung said gently. Seulgi looked at her and nodded with the same smile. 

"Thank you." Seulgi whispered. 

"For?" Soojung chuckled lightly. 

"Taking care of her even though she is not yours." Seulgi added. Soojung looked at the baby softly and shook her head.

"I will treat her like my own. Don't worry." Soojung said without looking at Seulgi. Seulgi suddenly felt guilty. She stopped looking at Soojung and patted her daughter's small chest gingerly. "Do you want to carry her?" Soojung asked. Seulgi looked at her and nodded excitedly. Soojung had forgotten that Seulgi was actually just like a kid as well. Sh