His Dark Queen - Sondam

Chapter 7: Gets the Tough Stains Out!

— Sonia's POV —

       Tea was everywhere, spilled on my lap, dripped down my legs, some even stained into the bedsheets. Gundham's and I eyes were filled with panic, he had grabbed some towels of the cottage's shower room.

"Here are the towels!" Gundham puffed, we laid the towels all over the wet, stained areas. Trying to soak up any of the tea from the bed. I placed towels on the bed and pressed down to grab the moisture, however, every time I tried to work, Gundham would insist that he must clean it up by himself. "Sonia, I must take fault and responsibility for this, I will use my dark magic to lift these stains!" boomed Gundham.

"But, wouldn't it be better for me to help, could this possibly help with my demon training?" I asked.

"I suppose you do have a point, however, be warned that this task is much more drastic than the rest." He pulled his scarf to his nose, red from both all the scrubbing and question. After that agreement, he tried to do the most he could to clean the stains, within minutes of patting down towels, the stains were dry of all excess tea. "This is what I meant by 'drastic'" Gundham pointed to the leftover stains stuck in the bed.

I thought to myself, in my kingdom, we didn't do much cleaning since we were royalty. The servants had the job of cleaning every room in the castle, no matter how often they were used. But, sometimes I'd watch them as they cleaned in the little free-time I had in the princess life, they used bottles and bottles of cleaning sprays each day to keep the rooms shining. And that's when I got it.

"Wait!" I exclaimed, Gundham turned to me, ready to hear my idea, "You do remember that closet in the restaurant, yes?"

"Yes, I do and?" Gundham's asked, his bandaged hand rubbing his chin.

"Perhaps that might contain some cleaning products for us to use!" I suggested, no one actually ever went to look inside that closet, but the restaurant is always clean each time we were in it. It had to get clean with something somehow.

"What a perfect idea! Why didn't I think of that!" Gundham's praised, "We must get a hold of those supplies quickly!"

"You wait here, I'll go grab them!" I turned, getting closer to my door, turning the knob to open.

"Wait! Sonia!" Gundham warned as I opened the door.

"What is it-?" Before I could finish my sentence, I felt the cold night breeze blow against my dress, it was so so cold! The wet tea spots felt freezing on me just at the doorway.

"That is what I was going to warn you about." Gundham claimed while he crossed his arms, "A-and, uhm, you'll need to change." He looked up and down the me with an embarrassed expression, then swiftly turned away. I gazed down at the tea spots and gulped when I saw the cloth of my dress was more 'see through' since the bottom half of my dress was wet.

"Oh- you are definitely right." I sputtered, covering the wet parts with my hands. "What if I were to change in the bathroom, while you go and grab the cleaning supplies from the restaurant's closet?" I suggested, Gundham was still turned away from me, but after asking, he looked into my eyes and responded with a sharp nod. He was sweating heavily, his face red as if he was bathing in the sun for hours.

Gundham moved over to the doorway, giving me flashes of eye contact then looking at the floor. I turned so he could venture out to bring back the cleaning products.

"I shall be back quickly! I will not let those stains set in for eternity!" He promised right before leaving the cottage. I waited until I couldn't see him anymore to close the cottage's door. I glanced over at the clock, it was getting near to 10 PM, I decided to change into sleepwear. It's getting to around the time I'd normally go to bed and I'll be ready when those stains are gone.

I stepped into the bathroom, with my green-lace nightgown in hand. The floor was cluttered from when Gundham went to grab all those towels. Before changing, I picked up the small lotion bottles and other items that were stacked by the towel rack. There was something odd in that pile, there was a small, shining golden disk earring. It felt familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It's definitely not mine though. I decided to keep it close to me, I must find this earring's owner and return it to them immediately. I changed out of my wet day-clothes and now into my nightgown, I hope this stain gets out soon, I'm really for bed.

— Gundham's POV —

After leaving Sonia's cottage, I rushed into the restaurant as quick as I could. It's not very far from where everyone sleeps, but the traveling always feels longer when it's worrisome. I can't believe I did that, I should've placed down that tea cup, I should've shut their cage before drinking it, I should've- I should've- No, what's done is done, even though I cannot go back to stop what had happened, the best I can do is to fix it, I mustn't give up! The area was dark, I only had the light coming from the moon to guide me through the empty restaurant. I placed my hand over the walls, the closet that Sonia mentioned was on the left side. Sliding my body over the walls until I felt a doorknob, turning it, an automatic closest light illuminated the room. Sonia was right, there were so many cleaning products, from bottles to jugs of it. I had no idea what to use, grabbing all that I could carry I returned back to her.

Walking back was easier, now with all these bottles and supplies. My arms were much heavier from all the carrying, but I was successful with my mission. I saw her door was slightly cracked open, giving the door a few knocks to make sure she was changed. With the exposing tea stains, that's the most I've ever seen of anybody! Just thinking about it gets me all red.

"I am changed, you can come in!" Sonia announced, I nudged open the door with my elbow, arms filled. My jaw dropped and almost did all the cleaning supplies when I saw her, her loose silk green nightgown swayed from the outside breeze as did her long blonde hair. Clutching onto the items more, my face growing red from this marvelous sight. "My apologies if I changed too differently," Sonia joked, "It is just that I normally go to sleep around this time."

"Oh, right." I gazed to the side then up to the clock and slowly back at her, "You still go to bed this early? You do know we don't have to follow the 10PM to 6AM anymore, right?" I asked.

"I do, however, we still all meet at the restaurant in the morning. Hajime gives us daily tasks to do. It is mandatory to attend!" Sonia informed me, her gown waved smoothly at every movement she made.

"Do you think that might change with everyone else being awake? Seeing how it was only the 5 of you all before." I questioned, she paused, thinking for a moment to respond.

"Maybe, but I will still meet at the restaurant tomorrow morning! Incase we still have to, would you want to join me?" Sonia requested, her hands were balled into gentle fists near her face.

Join her? I've never been asked that, most times I wake up late and barely get there in time. Maybe this time, I should be there earlier, the topics discussed will be much more important than usual.

       "I accept your offer, I shall join you tomorrow!" I promised, "But first, let us clean these terrible stains." And with that, we looked over the cleaning bottles together. There was a spray that promises to 'remove deep stains within minutes' by putting it on the stained area and letting it set. We followed the instructions as it said, but when the time came to wipe it off, the stains were still there...