Seven | Book 1 (An EXO fiction)

23.

~Chapter 23: Don't Get Too Comfortable~

The first few weeks of my existing (I don't want to say living because then that would mean that I actually live here) inside of the castle go by quickly, and as I anticipated it was rough as fuck.

I found myself, at any given chance, trying to stay inside of my room. After looking around the castle I did kind of want to go and play around in some of the rooms, but I was afraid of breaking anything by accident. Since each individual thing in this place is worth around 12 of my soul, I figure that staying in my room is for the best. A safe alternative you could call it.

Since my room is basically a house in itself, not leaving isn't all that much of a problem. I could probably hide in the room for at least a month no problem if food wasn't, you know, something I need to survive. Actually, getting up to leave the room feels more like a hassle than staying basically locked up in the large ass suite.

My breakfast, lunch, and dinner are brought to my room each day like clockwork by different human boys if I don't go to the kitchen myself to get it. I can't look at them, and they are in and out quick enough to not interact with me. My heart hurts every time I see them.

As for the days where I do leave for meals, I go to the kitchen, eat, and then come back. Unsurprisingly, no one in the castle eats together outside of when we're all called to the dining table. It's all so weirdly lonely. It's only happened twice since my 'welcome dinner' and both were just as uncomfortable as the first. There were no performances, but the Gaia chatter was just as lively as ever.

And just as degrading to Charmers.

I sat and listened only partially. I wanted to know what they were saying, but I didn't want to be invested enough in it for it to fully hurt my feelings. Sehun stood at my side at both the other dinners and could hear it all just as clearly as I could. I think that I was offended enough by their words for the both of us.

Every morning a Charmer comes to take me to the Queen's room. It's always around 10 in the morning when he knocks on my door; around right after she wakes up. I'll leave my room and walk behind the Charmer to hers. Same time. Same guy. Same route. The Queen says that having me with her in the mornings comforts her. Usually I will sit beside her or in her lap (if she's feeling especially clingy) where she will play with my hair while talking about what it is that she has to do for the day. She narrates her plans as if to remind herself, and I sit and listen to her mostly in silence. I'm never sure what to do with all of this information. Shouldn't she be keeping this type of stuff to herself? I feel like I know her schedules better than she does at this point.

For example, on Mondays she usually flies out to other parts of the world to show her face and hold service announcements for the important Gaia in that part of the kingdom. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, she is driven out to work on reviewing laws and things with her most trusted advisors in the outlining cities. Thursdays and Fridays she holds meetings within the castle for the entire day. I've seen the numerous people coming in and out of the palace all day. She's said that they just sit and converse with her about things that pertain to the kingdom. Overall behavior, cases of terrorism, threats to her rule, and things that are going well. On Saturday she seems to be off. She spends a good amount of time within her room relaxing and calling me in to entertain her on that day.

Sundays are reserved for meetings with specific advisors stationed in different parts of the kingdom. She leaves for most of the day just to go and meet with those people.

The Charmer that comes to get me (whose name I still haven't managed to catch) is pretty tall, and like really well built. So well-built that I bet he could snap my arm like a twig without any use of magic. Like the others he wears no shirt, but unlike the others he has intricate black tattoos drawn on his already dark skin. Swirls and stars and words that I don't know the meanings of. I try to avoid staring too long at his chiseled and inked upper body because I am a lady with respect for others.