The painter dropped her pen in shock. She looked at the strange woman in front of her and spoke.
'Is it possible this one could repeat it?'
'Show me your most erotic drawings!'
The 'strange' woman was indeed the Queen of the Moral Empire. Seeing how appalled the painter was entertaining but she forced herself to keep a calm expression. The concubine accompanied the Queen but even she was surprised by how shameless this Queen was. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed, her cheeks and ears both reddening.
'Your- Arisa... let's go.' The concubine tugged onto the Queen. She grabbed her sleeve and tried to drag her out. Unfortunately, the Queen wouldn't budge.
The painter picked up her pen and pushed her hair into a messy bun. This painter went by the name, Hana. Hana had run away from her family and went into hiding long ago. She spent most of her time painting through the day and strolling around markets. It was a while since she had visitors because of how distant she was around people. Hana looked at the two women in front of her, even if they were dressed quite simply, their beauty was absolutely hard to look away from. Earlier, she had seen these people with such grace walk towards her and so she prepared herself. However, what happened next was unexpected.
'I'd have to ask you to leave.' The painter pointed her hand towards the exit.
The Queen turned her head and smirked. 'Hanako?'
Hana eye's widened, no one knew her real name. How was it possible that this strange alluring woman knew who she was?
The painter walked backward and reached for her pen and held it up for self-defense.
'How do you know who I am? What do you want from me?'
The Queen laughed. 'Is it possible that this prostitute already has forgotten me?'
Hearing this, Kira furrowed her brows in confusion.
'Prostitute?' She asked immediately. The Queen stopped laughing and sighed.
She waited for the painter's reaction and a while later the painter realized. She threw her pen on the floor and ran into the Queen's arms. 'Your Highness, you should've said it was you from the start!' She sulked.
Arisa hugged the painter back and they looked at each other. The Queen's eyes lingered on the other for a moment but her eyes widened when she felt a pinch on her arm. She turned to look at the concubine who's eyes were brimming with anger.
'Who is she to you?' Kira spoke.
The Queen let go of the painter at once and rushed to explain.
'Three years ago, I don't know if this concubine remembers, but I pulled a huge prank and it all went smoothly thanks to the help of this prostitute.' The Queen revealed a reassuring smile toward the concubine.
The painter lightly punched the Queen, 'Your Highness, I'm a painter now and my name is Hana, if you continue to call me a prostitute, I'll really be mad.' She joked.
The Queen awkwardly laughed, even if she wanted to joke back, she was afraid of getting pinched again. She walked back and maintained a distance between them. 'This is the woman I brought to my Kingdom and... kissed in front of others.' The Queen explained.
The concubine let out a gasp from realization. She remembered all too well when she first saw the Queen. When they made eye contact and the Queen was kissing another woman... so this woman was the painter???? The concubine thought to herself. She couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards the painter. The concubine didn't understand why, she didn't know why she hated seeing the two get along so well. Was she really in love with the Queen? Did she hate seeing the Queen with another woman that badly? Kira was lost in thought and the Queen realized.
She pulled the concubine and kissed her deeply. Her hands cupped Kira's face and Kira returned her kisses. The Queen let go but the concubine grabbed her just like the first time when they kissed. The Queen managed to let go of the concubine and was out of breath. She turned to the paled face painter and smiled.
'Could you paint that?'
...
'YOU WANT ME TO PAINT YOU EROTIC DRAWINGS???'
'Hanako- Hana, calm down. I'll pay you.'
'Your Highness, forgive this one for being out of line but I'll certainly get my head chopped off if anyone finds out.'
'If anything happens, I will take responsibility for it.' The Queen reassured the painter.
The concubine didn't like how quickly the Queen was to put herself in danger and so she grabbed the Queen's arm. 'Your Highness, how will this help anything? Why do you want her to draw erotic paintings for you?'
'So we can learn how women can love each other.'
'Y-your Highness, how will erotic paintings help??' The concubine couldn't help but stutter over her words. Just how strange was this Queen? She thought to herself.
The painter sighed and hesitantly said, 'Honestly, I shouldn't even tell you...'
The Queen eagerly looked up at Hana, 'Tell me!'
'There is a rumor of a painter known for his erotic paintings... the only thing is,' the painter massaged her head with her head and continued to speak, 'he is known to be the cousin of the King you married.'
'???'
'He was kicked out from the Regin Kingdom and has been living earnestly in the Moral Empire ever since. He created a reputation for himself as one of the most influential scholars. Being the cousin of a King greatly increased his position. However, rumors were spread randomly that this scholar was an erotic painter and that's the very reason why he was kicked out of his own Kingdom. His paintings are also known to be ones of what you seek for. Between the same gender... but his is rumored to be of .... men.'
The Queen and the concubine were extremely interested in this. The concubine had only joined the King seven years ago in the Regin Kingdom, later than when the cousin was kicked out so she hadn't heard of this before.
The Queen suddenly got an idea and grabbed the concubine. They both rushed to the carriage that was waiting outside and the painter waved goodbye to them.
'I'LL BE COMING BACK!!' The Queen yelled, she poked her head through the carriage windows but her head had been pulled back in.
The painter chuckled at this sight, seeing the chemistry fly between the concubine and the Queen made the painter understand very quickly why the Queen was acting so strange.
'So the Queen has fallen in love huh?' Hana sighed as she returned to her residence.