CH 90

“Actually, I came here before finishing my work…” 

“Ah…” 

“I stopped by first because I thought it would be too late if I came after finishing my work.”

Because the Emperor was anxious and impatient, worrying the sick person would fall asleep while waiting for him, Eunuch Oh decided to not say anything else. Hwawoon, who heard Yihan’s words, said with a surprised face, 

“Then you should go back, Your Majesty.” 

“… All right. You should rest well now.” 

While telling him to go back, Hwawoon’s eyes were full of regret, and the emperor’s steps were hardly moving. It was like that even though there were no words shared with each other. Only after Eunuch Oh stepped in once again, spitefully saying, “Your Majesty,” did Yihan manage to get up from his seat. Hwawoon, who also raised himself despite Yihan’s dissuasion, said.

“It’s important to do national affairs, but please don’t overdo it, Your Majesty. Always think of your health first.” 

“Very Well. Don’t worry about me and take good care of yourself… I’ll come again tomorrow.” 

I’ll come again tomorrow. The words once again resonated in Hwawoon. Hwawoon answered even though he knew it was not suitable for him. 

“Then… I’ll be waiting for you to come…” 

The two men, who had never waited for each other, said that to each other. The wind of the new season was filling Jeongan Palace.

***

While following the emperor out of Jeongan Palace to return to Cheonggeon Hall, Eunuch Oh’s gaze stayed at a man kneeling on his knees, waiting for the emperor’s palanquin to pass. Eunuch Oh couldn’t see the man’s face clearly because he was bowing, but he looked familiar somehow. Eunuch Oh had lived in the palace for a very long time, so it was no wonder that he knew a lot of guards.

“Hm…”

Eunuch Oh soon remembered the face. He was a close friend who recovered the body of the dead guard, who saved Yeonbin when he fell into the pond. At that time, the emperor was greatly sorry for the death of the guard and gave funeral expenses to his friend who took the body of a person who had no relatives, and it was Eunuch Oh who delivered the funeral expenses himself. 

The fact that the eunuch, who served the emperor closest, moved personally was a proof that the Emperor regarded the matter as important. It was truly exceptional to send Eunuch Oh directly for a mere guard chosen from ordinary people. 

As the imperial palanquin passed by him, Eunuch Oh’s head slightly turned to look at him back. Anyway, such a thing happened, but the subject was one of the guards who had nothing special in him. Yet strangely, his eyes were on him today because this was the way from Jeongan Palace.

The changes in present-day Yeonbin all started from that accident. Yeonbin fell into the water that day, and after a guard jumped in to save him and died instead, Yeonbin became a completely new person. Yeonbin’s changed appearance changed his relationship with everyone in the imperial palace who was related to him, and eventually changed the emperor’s mind, who hated and despised Yeonbin. 

In a way, there was nothing bad with that. Yeonbin was the only troublemaker in the internal court. There were so many courtiers suffering from him alone, and even the emperor was troubled by him, so no matter what, it was a great relief and good thing that Yeonbin changed due to that. 

However, the deceased person cannot return and perhaps the friend, who valued him should remain here and watch the person living a new life due to the death of his own friend. 

No one planned that, and although life is not only about good things to everyone, Eunuch Oh wondered if it was only because of the dark night that the bent back of the guard he didn’t know the name caught his gaze. 

“What’s wrong?”

Yihan, who noticed Eunuch Oh’s hesitation, looked down and asked. Eunuch Oh lowered his head. 

“It’s nothing, Your Majesty.” 

In any case, Eunuch Oh was only a person who lived by serving the emperor, so there would be no reason to think about anything else if it was good for the emperor. Is there only one sad life in this vast palace? Eunuch Oh hurried to stop his useless thoughts and focused on the steps he took ahead. Life, as usual, was very unfair. 

***

Late at night, Seocheon’s footsteps suddenly stopped while patrolling Jeongan Palace. A colleague who was walking next to him stopped together with a curious face and looked at Seocheon. Seocheon stood still and looked at Jeongan Palace’s pond. 

“Why? Is there anything strange?” 

“No. It’s just…”

Even though he roughly glossed over his colleague’s question, Seocheon’s gaze did not leave from that place. Seocheon saw the pond of Jeongan Palace, where Hawoon died, for the first time today. 

It was Seocheon who recovered Hawoon’s body as he had no relatives. In other words, it was Seocheon who saw Hawoon’s last appearance. What kind of wounds were there on the always neat and clean face, and how cold and hard his body, which gave warm warmth to everyone including Seocheon, was only remembered by Seocheon, who could not stop crying with his already breathless body in his arms. Therefore, it was never easy for Seocheon to find calm in front of the pond where Hawoon died an unnatural death instantly. 

“Oh, come to think of it, here…!” 

His colleague raised his voice for a while as though he remembered what happened in this pond, and he quickly closed his mouth as he saw Seocheon. The room he stayed in was far from where Hawoon was, so they were not close, but he knew that Seocheon was the closest to Hawoon.

Only then did he remember what Domyung asked him when Seocheon first moved to Jeongan Palace. A request to take care of Seocheon so that he wouldn’t do anything useless because he was still grieving Hawoon’s death.

“We’ll be late at this rate. Let’s go now!” 

The colleague, whose thought reached that point, grabbed Seocheon’s arm and pulled him, pretending to not know. Fortunately, Seocheon moved again without much resistance. However, Seocheon looked back several times and looked at it again and again as Hawoon, who was willing to jump into the pond for someone who had nothing to do with him, kept coming to his mind.

*** 

“Oh Jinsung.” 

The emperor only left Cheonggeon Hall when it was dawn. He stopped walking and opened his mouth. Eunuch Oh immediately responded, but the emperor didn’t speak immediately and looked at the garden of Cheonggeon Hall, where the moonlight fell, for a while, and said.

“Yeonbin must have fallen asleep.” 

In fact, it was so obvious that it was meaningless to ask. If the patient hadn’t fallen asleep by this time, it was another problem itself. Therefore, Eunuch Oh closed his mouth as he realized that the emperor’s question was not asked because he wanted an answer. The emperor was not curious about whether Yeonbin was really asleep or not. There must be something else the emperor really wanted to say now. 

“… If I come to him now, I will definitely bother him.” 

Something like this. 

Yihan felt like he couldn’t believe that he had seen Hwawoon just a few hours ago. He really questioned whether the time had disappeared in vain because he was possessed by something. Otherwise, it would not have felt like he saw Yeon Hwawoon as if it had been so many millions of years ago.

The emperor’s steps to the palanquin slowed down because he hesitated several times. He wanted to go to Jeongan Palace. He wanted to say that. He felt frustrated because he couldn’t think of a suitable reason for himself to go there at this time. He even felt confused by himself as he eventually thought about how it would be if he went quietly and saw Yeon Hwawoon’s sleeping face because he had already fallen asleep.

“Your Majesty.” 

As usual, it was Eunuch Oh to stand in front of such an emperor. 

“Of course, there is no one who dares to stop your steps, but no matter how quiet you go, Jeongan Palace will become noisy. If His Highness Yeonbin took medicine and finally fell asleep, wouldn’t he be disturbed?” 

“…”

“And you have been lacking in sleep too much lately. If the emperor’s body is damaged at this rate, even if this person dies, he will not be able to pay off all the sins. It would be even better if you go back and rest today and walk when His Highness Yeonbin is awake tomorrow.” 

There was not a single slip of the tongue. In particular, Yihan also didn’t want to disturb Hwawoon’s night, so he knew there was no reason to go to Jeongan Palace at this time.

However, Yihan was just disappointed. He just wanted to see Hwawoon’s face again, even for a short time. It was a feeling that was too much to deal with.