CH 70

“Your Highness, please take a rest now.”

Myeongju spoke carefully to her master, who sat by the window and was only looking outside until late at night. However, Sukbi, Biyoung gave no answer to Myeongju’s question and was only looking somewhere outside. Biyoung’s side face clearly looked not excited, so Myeongju also felt a bit down. 

Tomorrow would be Sukbi’s birthday, so her master should be the happiest person in this palace more than anyone else, but no matter how she looked at her, Biyoung now looked far from happy and excited. 

“Do you have any worries, Your Highness…?” 

Myeongju asked again as she worried about Biyoung, who gave no answer. Biyoung then finally turned her head, heaved a sigh, and shook her head.

“I have no such things…”

“You look like you have a lot in your head. … Is it because His Majesty doesn’t come?” 

“No. What’s uncommon about it…” 

Even when asked carefully once again by Myeongju, Biyoung just looked afar and answered with a shake of her head.

It has already been quite a while since the Emperor stayed in Anjeong Palace without receiving anyone’s company. It wasn’t something unusual. Their emperor sometimes took care of not only the empress, but also all the concubines, and at other times, he often didn’t spend the night with anyone for a long time without any apparent reason.

Originally, the emperor spent the night with a woman for two reasons: satisfying his own lust and for the future. However, Yihan not only considered both as unimportant, he was even wary of both. Therefore, such a night was so natural and ordinary for the concubines, and they needed not to be anxious.

In other words, the emperor’s absence from going out at night was already familiar to the concubines, and it was not necessarily happening only in Unhwa Palace. In fact, except for the past Yeon Hwawoon, the current concubines were on good terms and did not have to fight and be wary of each other because of the emperor’s night. So just like what Biyoung said, there was no need to be hurt or depressed about it.

However, tonight, what caused Biyoung to become unable to move and only stared outside the window endlessly? 

“Then why?” 

“…”

“Are you still bothered by Jeongan Palace?” 

Myeongju eventually spoke out the name she had been wanting to ask since earlier. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t think of any other reason than Yeonbin of Jeongan Palace because her master was looking upset ahead of such a good day. Biyoung turned her head and looked at Myeongju as if to support her guess. Biyoung heard that His Majesty walked to Jeongan Palace again even only for a moment today.

Like all the other people who entered the Imperial Palace as a concubine, her position and family prestige were inseparable to Biyoung. When the concubine’s father gained power from the court, the concubine’s position within the internal court also strengthened, and when the concubine gained favor from the Emperor, the favor also reached their father as natural as water flowing from top to bottom.

Biyoung, like Yeonbin, entered the palace as a daughter of a meritorious family, but her father was naturally behind Yeonbin’s father, Yeon Juwon. However, Yeonbin could not catch up to Sukbi inside the internal court, so all this time Biyoung thought that she and her family were doing well by properly helping and leading each other.

However, for some reason, these days, Biyoung couldn’t help but suddenly think about this: What will happen if this balance breaks down? If by any chance,

Even though she thought such a thing would never happen, Biyoung wondered what would happen to her and her family if Yeonbin suddenly got the emperor’s love and surpassed her position as a concubine.

Biyoung certainly believed it wouldn’t happen. Their emperor wasn’t someone to get played by a concubine, and their empress wasn’t someone to let the favored concubine oppress the others. Above all, their majesty emperor was a man who would not let any concubine in his heart, so Biyoung knew that all of this was just useless worries and thoughts. 

Yet, after hearing news that she had never imagined before, 

After hearing the unbelievable story that the emperor visited Jeongan Palace, walked alongside Yeonbin at Suhwawon, the general officer of the Department of Internal Affairs walked to Jeongan Palace himself, and the Imperial Palace was noisy with Yeonbin’s stories everywhere these days.

She wondered if by any chance all of these were prelude to the future where she would get a knife put on her throat. She couldn’t shake off her anxiety that the price of the days when she bumped into and quarreled with Yeonbin might strangle her in that way. 

“… Forget it. Let’s take a rest now.”

Biyoung managed to control her mind, which continued to lead to a bad side, and got up from her seat. Thinking that she would face Yeonbin at the banquet tomorrow, it was Biyoung’s night when she couldn’t easily welcome the once-a-year birthday.

***

Seocheon was lost in thought for a while, looking at the signboard of the entrance to Jeongan Palace, which was written as Jeongan Gate. Starting tonight, Seocheon was officially assigned to stand guard at Jeongan Palace. Domyung always questioned Seocheon what he was planning to do, because he didn’t change his mind until the end. However, Seocheon could not give him any answer. Seocheon himself didn’t know what exactly led him to try to go to Jeongan Palace.

He vaguely thought he wanted to look at Yeonbin from a closer place, and perhaps on the other side, he felt displeased and unfair that the person, who lived because of Hawoon, was living well and having a good reputation unlike the past. Maybe he wanted to take off Yeonbin’s mask.

But what’s the meaning of that now? Hawoon was already dead and couldn’t come back, and even if Yeonbin’s bare face were to be shown, it didn’t mean it would raise Hawoon’s name.

“Why are you not going in?”

Seocheon’s colleague asked while nudging Seocheon’s shoulder as he was only staring at the gate. Seocheon only let out a weak smile, then walked slowly with his colleague. 

If I want to do something, I should have done it before I lost Hawoon. Whatever it is, I should have done it when Hawoon was next to me.

Seocheon was amazed and liked Hawoon, someone he met late and became one of his few friends in life. He thought there would be a lot of days in the future for them. He thought they could spend more nights and days as friends. Sharing more stories, relying on each other, continuing the life in the imperial palace for a long time. He genuinely thought that.

Alas, the time given to them was only like a flash, and Seocheon lost Hawoon before he could do anything.

Even though he knew it was useless, Seocheon walked toward the lost lingering feelings. Even if the palace was boisterous all day because it was Sukbi’s birthday, it had nothing to do with Seocheon.

***

Sukbi’s birthday banquet was held in Changgyeong Pavilion. Changgyeong Pavilion was the largest pavilion in Suhwawon. The pavilion was built again with stones and soil on the high ground, so people could look down at the main palace from up there. At night, the moon rose close, and the atmosphere was so beautiful that it was perfect for holding a banquet.

Songhyun, who walked up the pavilion side to side with Biyoung, found Yeonbin, who arrived first and had been waiting. She left Biyoung to go to Hwawoon without realizing it.

“Yeonbin! You came early!” 

“Yes. Welcome, Jeongbin.”

“I really enjoyed the osmanthus rice cake you sent me last time. So I went to give my gratitude, but you were not in Jeongan Palace…”

“Did you? I’m glad it suited your taste.”

Songhyun muttered with a sullen face as she remembered she walked in vain because the emperor was in Suhwawon that day. As though he thought Songhyun was cute, Hwawoon smiled. At that moment, Ahjin saw the court ladies, who had been busy preparing the banquet, stopped and exchanged gaze with each other. It seemed like Ahjin wasn’t wrong that she felt unusual gazes ever since Hwawoon showed himself in Changgyeong Pavilion.

For Ahjin, who expected a lot of people’s eyes to follow her master if he went to the banquet wearing new clothes with Seoseo, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but go up.

Hwawoon’s gaze, which was looking at Songhyun’s joyful face from meeting Hwawoon again, was slightly skirted from Songhyun because of Biyoung who was coming closer with a dumbfounded face, boring a look into Songhyun’s back. Hwawoon then bent his knees slightly at Biyoung, greeting her.

“Greetings, Your Highness Sukbi.”

“Don’t be so formal.”

Songhyun, who only then remembered Biyoung whom she had left behind, turned stiff for a moment, then she looked back at Biyoung with an awkward smile. When Biyoung glanced at Songhyun with a still flabbergasted expression, Songhyun rolled her eyes once, looking away for no reason, then took a step back from Hwawoon and stood next to Biyoung. Hwawoon continued to say.