"That was weird, wasn't it?" the Queen remarked after I helped her lay onto her mattress. She propped herself sideways on her pillow and smiled up at me as I knelt next to her. The toy bear sat innocently behind her as if it had not witnessed the entirety of the massage.

I nodded. "A... A little, Your Majesty."

"I will tell Sanggung not to be present for future massages. Just you and I from now on."

"That would be ideal." I shifted my body weight on my legs. "But... I'm sorry if I hurt you, Your Majesty."

"It wasn't painful, just... uncomfortable." Her eyes dropped to the floor. A wistful cloud shadowed her face. "It will be nothing compared to how it will hurt on that day. Sanggung has been through this with my mother. She knows what to do, and I will listen to her. I want it to go... as smoothly as possible."

My gaze dropped too, while my fists clenched on top of my knees. "I wish I could take your place, Your Majesty."

That drew an amused chuckle. "How would you do that?"

"I don't know. I don't... I just... I don't want you to go through all this discomfort and pain, Your Majesty. I wish there was something I could do to take your pain away. I would gladly bear all of it for you."

"Seul-Ki."

I snapped my head back up. The way the Queen muttered my name was almost like a command.

She met my eyes; hers were intense and imposing. "You have no idea how much pain you've taken away from me already."

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

There was a short pause; the Queen's wistful expression was back. "For about two months," she whispered, "I stopped eating. I don't know why I could not bring myself to... want to eat. All my favorite foods and fruits seemed to lose their taste. I used to devour bowls of dessert and eat everything Sanggung planned for me, but at that time, I found it hard to even drink a sip of water."

I frowned. I recalled the day I had met her—how she had refused to eat, how the Sanggung had looked so stressed about it. "Why was that, Your Majesty?"

"I am... not sure."

"Your Majesty, you mentioned that you were angry at the world when you married. Was that the reason?"

"Maybe." Her voice lowered. "Maybe I was ready to leave this world."

"Your Majesty!" I gasped.

She gave me a reassuring smile. "But then you came along, and you instantly brought a spark that I badly needed. You were this bright, dazzling soul, so fun and so cute. And the pain in my heart lifted, the pain that I did not even realize was there." She tapped her chest with a finger. "It's still here but it's manageable now. You made it manageable, Seul-Ki."

The words were spoken with such sincerity that my cheeks must be burning red. I grabbed her hand. "I want to take all the pain away, Your Majesty. All of it."

Her smile widened as she directed my hands to her belly. She pressed my palm against it, and I felt a kick. A kick. And another. My jaw dropped. Was that the baby?

When I stared back at the Queen, she was stifling her laughter.

"Has it... Has it always been kicking like this?" I asked incredulously.

"For a while now."

I turned back to the belly and relished the little flutters. They were soft and irregular, unlike my racing heartbeat. "Does it hurt?"

"Not at all."

I did not realize that my vision was blurred until the Queen wiped my tears away."Your Majesty, I... I'm sorry," I mumbled, my voice hoarse and thick. "I just... I didn't realize how... real this was."

"Did you think this was a dream?"

I did. I always did whenever I was with the Queen.

I sniffed. "I... It's just... For months, I have been hearing about the pregnancy, preparing for it, helping you with it, but... but soon, there will be an actual baby, Your Majesty. Your baby..."

And his...

"It will be your baby too."

I blinked. "What?"

She squeezed my hands. "I cannot imagine the baby without you as a parent. And I cannot imagine a future without you. What do you think, Seul-Ki? Will you be with me and take care of our baby?"

The question sucked the air away from my lungs. Taking in a shaky breath, I leaned down and kissed the Queen's belly. The fabric was so thin and fragrant. I felt a muted bump on my lips; it was as if the baby knew I was there.

Our baby.

I lifted my head and fixed my gaze on the Queen. "Yes, Your Majesty, I will."

She brightened. "You should name the baby, Seul-Ki."

"Me? Shouldn't that be left to you, or... the King..."

"The King and the Queen Dowager will decide on its official name, one that is to be used for future official titles and such. But we can give the baby a separate name, one that people will call it by. Its true name."

"Oh." Excitement tingled in me. "Okay. Uh, what's the gender, Your Majesty?"

"I don't know. You can come up with multiple names or a name that can be used for any gender."

I ruminated over the names in my head. The baby would no longer be born a servant, no longer be confined to the house. They would grow to live a life far better than I had ever lived, and I wanted nothing but the best for them. As I caressed the Queen's stomach, the name was decided as quickly as it came to my mind.

"Ji-Sung. It's a unisex name, Your Majesty."

The Queen raised her eyebrows. "Knowledgeable?" she interpreted.

"Yes, knowledgeable and noble. Like you and the Marquis, Your Majesty."

I wanted them to travel like the Marquis and to read and write like the Queen. I wanted them to be able to experience everything there was to offer in life. The name captured my desire perfectly.

She shook her head. "I am far from knowledgeable."

"Your writing is stunning, Your Majesty, and when you read to me, you craft entire worlds in my mind. You are knowledgeable."

She laughed. "Why are you always the sweetest person?"

"I mean it, Your Majesty."

She let out a few more chuckles before she calmed. Pushing the toy bear face down on the floor. she shifted on the bed and laid on her back.

"Seul-Ki," she ordered, her dark eyes narrowing, "come, sit on my face."

My stomach lurched. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Crawling over to her, I kissed her lips, but she tugged at my clothes urgently. I climbed over her head and straddled her, lifting my robes the way I did many times before. She wrapped her arms around my thighs as I began to rock against her.

"Joo-Hyun..." I moaned, closing my eyes as her delicate tongue sent ripples of pleasure through me. She knew exactly what I liked, what I needed.

My legs trembled with every roll, but she kept me firmly in place. When the sensations peaked, I opened my eyes to find her staring straight at me. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glistening. Fuck, she was gorgeous.

How could a flawless goddess like her become even more perfect?

The orgasm hit me hard; my muscles clenched as I bit my lips to stop myself from crying out too loudly. When the pleasure subsided, I toppled to the side, panting and shivering.

"Joo-Hyun," I whispered again.

"Seul-Ki," she whispered back.

I slid next to her and we cuddled for the next hour. She let out a soft sigh into my neck whenever there was a kick from our baby. And at that moment, there was nothing more I wished for than to be able to hold her like this.

Forever.

***

In the evening, the head palace lady pulled me to her private quarters.

"From today on, I will give you a private lesson every night on how to take care of a baby," she instructed as she shoved a pillow in my arms. "First up, I'll be teaching you how to hold a newborn properly. And how to change a diaper. And how to bathe them. Hey," —she slapped my arm as I turned the pillow in my hands— "do not shake a baby like this."

"Ouch..." I stuck my lips out in a pout. "Why are you teaching me now, Sanggung? I can learn from you when the baby is out."

"Insolent brat," she scolded, but she averted her head from me. "There will be no time for that. You will be the main caretaker, not me."

"What? Why? But... you're the Sanggung." I had thought taking care of the Queen's child would be one of the most important jobs—and should be given to the maid of the highest rank.

"You lazy little—" Surprisingly, the Sanggung cut herself off. A frustrated sigh escaped from her. "I served the Queen's mother for years and watched her grow up. I thought I knew everything about her, but now I realized that that is not true. She's always kept a big part of herself away from the world, even me. But you... All I know is that the Queen would want you to be the main caretaker."

I had been elated with the Queen telling me that the baby was mine, but it was a different feeling altogether to have the head palace lady entrusting the baby to me as well. I was filled with new-found confidence.

"Thank you, Sanggung."

"Yeah, yeah," she snapped, refusing to let any sentimental moment linger. "Shut up and learn now."

I was beyond exhausted from a full day of work, but I nodded vigorously. "Yes, Sanggung."