“I’m so sorry!”

“Relax.”

“I’m so sorry!”

“It’s ok, get up.”

“I’m so sorry!”

“You guys were supposed to teach her how we do things here.”

“I’m so …”

Someone grabbed my shoulder firmly, forcing me to stop bowing. The raven-haired stared at me with her disinterested eyes.

“That’s enough. You’re sorry, and we get it.”

The queen leaned in, touching my nose gently with her finger: “I understand that you’d be in a lot of trouble back home, but we do things differently here. Besides, it’s not like you could’ve known I’m your ruler. It’s not like I have a crown on my head or something.”

“Still, I should’ve known from your noble features …”

“There are no nobles in our society! Didn’t they teach you that? Or have they failed to do so?” She asked while giving the other demons a reprimanding look.

“I, uhh … I’m still having trouble understanding how your society works.”

“Fair enough. From what I understand, you’ve been with us a little longer than a single moon. Is that right?”

“That is correct.”

“The first lesson you were supposed to learn was not to bow to anyone here.”

“I did my best to learn her that, but she still refuses to accept it,” Mun-Hee said.

“And there are good reasons for it,” the queen continued, “Titles aren’t hereditary in our society. My mother wasn’t a queen. I was born a commoner.”

“A commoner?”

“Yes. I grew up in a poor family and worked hard to get where I am now. Our society isn’t hereditary. It’s meritocratic and individualistic, which means that your heritage plays no role in it. People get what they deserve not based on what family they’re from but based on their actions and their performance. I’m not a queen because my family has a monopoly on power. I’m a queen because I’m knowledgeable, capable, and on top of that, a hard worker. But that also means that if I ever get lazy, I will lose my title and won’t be the queen anymore.”

“In a human society, a beggar can become a king, and a king can become a beggar,” Raven-haired added.

“But that’s …”

“Yes, I know,” the queen rested her elbow on the table, “you people think that’s not a proper way to run a society. You believe that specializing in a specific profession from a very young age is the way to go. But you underestimate people’s passion. You underestimate just how powerful the motivation is. You people actually think that having freedom is a bad thing. But that’s all going to change. Not anytime soon, but it will. And that’s where you come in.”

There was a short pause as she stared me in the eyes for some time. I had no choice but to avert my eyes away from her gaze. It just felt as if I’m not worthy of her sky-blue eyes looking at me for so long.

She turned to face the other demons: “Have you told her anything?”

“No. We waited for you.”

The queen sighed tiredly: “You could’ve saved me some time. Ok, here’s the thing, Snirba. You have agreed to be Jens’ sekretri. Is that correct?”

“Yes! I will serve him however I can!”

“Urgh! We’ll have to have a separate conversation to fix that submissive attitude of yours. Anyway, you were a slave before you got here, right?”

“That is true.”

“And you were a noble before you became a slave, right?”

“… yes.”

“By the way, shouldn’t that make it easier for you to understand human society? It’s not like our societies are so different if your nobles can become slaves.”

“She didn’t become a slave because of her mistakes,” Eric said, “Her family sold her to cover the expenses.”

“Oh … well, that sucks.”

“And their slaves can’t become nobles,” Mun-Hee pointed out.

“Anyway, the point is, don’t bow to anyone. I’m the queen now, but if I make some stupid mistake, I may end up in a dungeon with a lower social status than yours. Also, if you work hard enough, you may end up being the governor or something similar, even if you’re timkik. In short, social status isn’t set in stone here, it’s constantly changing, and it’s not tied to your family. Therefore, bowing serves no purpose here. I’m not saying you should be discourteous, by the way. You should acknowledge people, shake their hand, nod your head, but you shouldn’t submit to anyone. We see it as a weakness here. If you’re submissive, that means you’ve got no ambition, and that’s how you end up being trodden on. That’s how people start using and abusing you.”

“… I see.”

“Well, with that out of the way, let’s get down to business. You’re probably wondering why a human queen is talking to you right now.”

“I … yes. I don’t think I’m worthy of your attention.”

“You’re terribly wrong. You’re exactly what I need right now.”

“I … for what?”

“You see, I want to send a message to your Emperor. We didn’t see eye to eye yet, but I already know what he’s like. As much as he hates his new duties, Jens is a born diplomat, and he did a great job gathering information about your people. I just wish he’d stop keeping his distance as much as he does, but nobody is perfect.”

“Am I to deliver a message to his Majesty?”

“Yes, but not with words. You’ll deliver it with your deeds. I want to make him realize that discarding you was a huge mistake on his part. And let’s be honest about it, you’ve been discarded. I don’t know what they’ve told you, but your people were certain we’ll use you as a toy to satisfy our demonic urges. Which is bullshit, by the way. We’re not demons. You can see it yourself, none of us have horns. We aren’t tormenting anyone. We don’t even have slaves here. Nobody is even trying to drag you into their bed. Hell, compared with you people, we’re a hermit society! Don’t get me wrong, everyone here wants to fuck you too, but they’re all troubled because you can’t give proper consent in your current situation. That’s why no one dared to make a move yet.”

“That’s …”

“That’s how it is! How can we be demons when we’re doing our best not to slight or offend anyone? But, for some reason, your people still think that we are! And that’s why we have a lot of work ahead of us, to prove that we’re nothing but simple mortals, just like all the other people living in Greadinall. That’s where you come in. They gave you to us as a toy, to appease us, but you’ll return to them as a fully-fledged lady. I’m disappointed that you weren’t born as a slave to be perfectly honest. That would make a much bigger impact. But at least we can put our plan in motion sooner this way. You already have what it takes to be a lady, but you still have much to learn. First, you will learn how to be an independent vumn. Uhh … female, that is. An independent female. Mun-Hee will teach you that. That’s why I have nothing against the two of you sharing a room.”

“I’m … not sure what you mean by that.”

The queen swiveled to face me with her entire body: “Do I look like someone who takes orders from other people?”

“No, because you’re the queen.”

“I was like this before I became the queen. In fact, I became the queen only because I already had a queen’s mindset. And you’ll develop it too. That’s how I need you. I need you to have enough courage to get in the Emperor’s face and tell him the truth as it is. Or in my face. Unfortunately, many people confuse unwavering resolve with attitude and then make themselves appear arrogant and rude. But we’ll polish that out. I’m talking about the end result, and you have a long road ahead of you. The first step is to get your ladyness back and stop acting like a submissive slave because that’s not what you are. Just doing that will be enough for now.”

“And, that brings us to why the queen has joined us today,” Eric said, “A new meeting with the timkik Emperor has been agreed on. It won’t be just yet another friendly visit, we’ll talk about some serious things this time. World-changing things. That’s why we need you to come with us.”

“The meeting is set up for the next moon,” the queen continued, “We thought about giving you more time to prepare but, since we realized that you grew up as a noble, a single moon will be enough. You just need to get your confidence back. You’ll be in Jens’ company, but not as his escort. You’ll be there as his equal, and you better remember that! Officially, you’re his assistant. You have a lot to learn before you become one, but timkik nobles don’t need to know that. You’ll go there with Jens, but you don’t have to follow him every step of the way. Our society encourages personal initiative, so it’s ok for you to go your own way if you see that some unexpected opportunity has revealed itself.”

“Opportunity for what?”

“We don’t know. But there are always opportunities to be taken advantage of. You’ll know it when you see one. The point is, you have one moon to get your confidence back and start acting as an independent individual. You’ll escort us whether you like it or not though. You don’t have a choice in that matter.”

Eric cleared his throat: “This may be confusing since the queen ordered you to become independent just a moment ago. The thing is, you must earn your independence with your actions. Only when you start acting as an independent, responsible person will you get the right to choose. And not on all matters. Social progress is achieved step by step, with each step opening a new set of privileges for you. And responsibilities.”

“Good point,” the queen pointed her index finger at Eric for a brief moment, “You’ve got no choice now since you didn’t show any skill yet, and you haven’t done anything worth notice. But, prove yourself, and you’ll get more choices in the future. Be constructive, help your allies achieve their objectives, seize any opportunities you may find, and you’ll be rewarded with both coin and social prestige. That’s how you advance in human society. Not by backstabbing your competitors and dragging them down, since you’ve got no competition here. You rise in rank and importance by getting enough people in your debt through helping them, thus having them vouch for your skill and efficiency.”

“This requires some additional explanation,” Eric took over, “You see, Karla has already told you that she may lose her crown if she makes a big mistake. Our society places a lot of value on responsibility, and not even a king or a queen is exempt from it. That’s why instead of promoting people we like, we’re far more likely to promote helpful people. Having competent people nearby to help us makes it harder for us to make mistakes and lose our hard-earned positions. That’s why it doesn’t matter what your race, gender, or anything else is. If you’re useful, everyone will want you nearby.”

“And if you try dragging others down, everyone will know it,” the queen said, “You probably don’t realize how fast information travels here. Walls have ears in this place, quite literally, so don’t think you can cheat your way through our society.“

“I’d never do something like that.”

The queen leaned back in her chair, putting her hands on the back of her head while puffing her chest out in a casual manner.

“So, to summarize. You’ve got no choice right now since you’re on the bottom of the barrel. You’re not a slave anymore, but you aren’t free to do as you will either. Do well, and you’ll be rewarded in all the ways possible. Coin, fame, more choices, more freedom, the sky is the limit for capable, ambitious people in human society. Actually, not even the sky is the limit, but that’s a topic for some other time. Do well, and you’ll be rewarded. Do bad, and you’ll be reprimanded. But try backstabbing someone or setting them up, and you’ll become a pariah for the rest of your life. Now, let’s have a more pleasant conversation with that out of the way! What do you think of this place and, above all, what do you find strange and intriguing? I’d really like to hear a timkik’s honest opinion about the modern, human society.”