When dusk finally came, the Queen Mother’s handmaiden approached Seulgi to announce that she was allowed to leave. Tiredly she made her way back to the Queen’s residence, feeling as though a ton of heavy rocks were chained to her ankles. It also felt like her legs did not even belong to her; she was enslaved by the unbearable weight. Every step felt extremely heavy and she could not feel any part of her body except for how swollen her legs were. It was nothing that could not be remedied; hopefully her work performance would not be too affected. She really did not need to bring further disappointment to anyone, especially not to Joohyun.

She adjusted her clothes and fixed her hair on the way, wondering if she would be capable of pretending that nothing happened and that everything was fine. Or perhaps she would not be able to fool the Queen who did tend to pay a lot of attention to her.

When she was a few yards away from the residence, one of her subordinates was already running up to her urgently. “Captain, Captain! The Queen is demanding to see you.”

“What happened?” She asked worriedly. “You didn’t let any harm come to Her Majesty, did you?!”

“No, no. Her Majesty woke up from her nap not long ago and asked why you weren’t around. You better report to her right away, Captain. She’s in your chamber waiting for you.”

“Mine? Why would she…” Seulgi uttered under her breath as she strode right in. Indeed Joohyun was already there, seated on one of the chairs. But once Seulgi shut the door and it was just the two of them, Joohyun rose to her feet only to sit on the side of Seulgi’s bed instead.

“I heard about what happened,” Joohyun piped up as she shifted to sit in a more relaxed manner. “How are you feeling?”

“I…” Seulgi spluttered weakly. “I’m fine…”

Joohyun sighed. “Shall I penalize you for being dishonest with me as well? Would you like to carry on standing till the sun rises again?”

Seulgi looked down at her feet in shame. “Majesty...I don’t want to add to your burdens. I wasn’t looking for trouble. I wish it never happened.”

Insistently, Joohyun motioned for Seulgi to sit on the side of the bed. Seulgi did as she was told as she could longer find the energy to decline. But Joohyun did not stop there — she specifically instructed Seulgi to lie down and place her legs atop several cushions.

“Important to keep them elevated,” she explained. “Should help with the blood circulation. But you still need to relax.”

“I find it difficult to relax, Majesty,” Seulgi admitted. “It’s kind of awkward...like this…”

“Sharing a bed with me makes you feel awkward?” Joohyun asked deliberately. Although her tone was lighthearted, her words still made Seulgi’s eyes go wide.

“I don’t mean it like that!” Seulgi blurted. “Please don’t misunderstand…”

Joohyun could not help but laugh gently. “Look at you; you’re blushing.”

“What?! I...but…”

“So flustered and all. And here I thought nothing could make you react this way. Thought you were all desensitized to...certain matters.”

“Majesty…” she whined, using her hands to cover most of her face.

“Do you mind if I touch you?” Joohyun asked.

“I beg your pardon?!” Seulgi squeaked, scrambling to her feet but was abruptly stopped by the Queen.

“Poor choice of words,” Joohyun quickly clarified, even though Seulgi suspected that she phrased it poorly on purpose. “I just mean...if you don’t mind, I can give you a massage?”

Just when Seulgi thought she could not be more surprised than she already was, Joohyun proved her wrong.

“But...how??”

Joohyun shrugged. “I use my hands, I guess?” She looked down at her palms and wriggled her fingers. “I have two of these.”

“I...I mean...you...you can’t. You’re the Queen. Why would it ever be you doing that for someone else when it should always be the other way around?”

“Yes I can, and I would very much like to,” Joohyun insisted.

“That’s very kind of you, but...I can’t possibly just let the Queen serve somebody else, especially not me…” Seulgi gulped and her eyes darted everywhere. “Maybe...you could just get another servant to do it…?”

“So you do want a massage but you just don’t want me to do it.” Joohyun pouted and put her hands on her hips. This was the first time she had ever behaved this way in front of Seulgi, which inevitably made the guard chuckle.

“Majesty, I really don’t know what to say at this point,” she admitted, tenderly patting her cheeks to see if it would help make the blush go away.

“You’re right; I definitely could’ve just had someone else done it for you,” Joohyun replied. “But then word would get out, like it always does. And it would just lead to complications, people asking questions about why the Queen was giving special treatment to a guard. So...all the more reason for me to do it myself.”

“Alright…” Seulgi whispered, giving in seeing as the Queen was so adamant. She was too exhausted to come up with more excuses anyway.

Seulgi started to roll up the hem of her trousers, but then abruptly came to a stop. It was as if she realized that something was awfully wrong and changed her mind right away.

“You know what,” she said awkwardly. “It’s not really a big deal. I’ve been through worse as a child. It’s not going to kill me. I’ll just lie down for a bit and I’m going to be fine.”

Despite her seemingly reassuring words, she had her hands placed protectively over her legs. This gesture further enabled the Queen to see right through her lies. Joohyun was curious, of course, but was also reluctant to push Seulgi for the truth about what she was trying to cover up.

“It’s alright,” said Joohyun softly. Seulgi had been through enough and Joohyun would rather try to soothe her than pressure her into compliance. “I’m sure you know your body and your needs better than I do. But do get as much rest as you need.”

Seulgi did not move her hands away, but she did look up to meet Joohyun’s gaze. She nodded appreciatively, and then Joohyun took her leave, deciding it was probably better to give her some space and privacy. Joohyun had her own work to do anyway. In particular, she had to make up for the lost time as she had fallen asleep earlier. But that would have to wait till after dinner as she was hungry. It was not as if she could expect herself to be able to concentrate on work-related matters anyway, not when her mind was filled with thoughts of Seulgi, why she behaved that way just now, and why she was bullied by the Queen Mother earlier. Joohyun needed answers and she was getting impatient, which was making her frustrated. She wished someone could hand all the answers to her right away. And at the moment the only person that she could think of who might be capable of providing some answers would be