CH 143

“…”

“…”

But in the end, Hwawoon couldn’t say it. He couldn’t muster the final courage to push his voice out of his mouth. Yihan, who had been secretly expecting seeing Hwawoon move his lips as if he wanted to say something, pressed his lips together when he saw Hwawoon shut his mouth back. In his heart, he wanted to confront Hwawoon and ask him what it is that still makes you feel so sad and lost.

“… Aren’t you tired?”

But Yihan didn’t do it. Instead, he asked in a soothing voice and cupped his cheek with his hand, forcing Hwawoon to lift his head and meet his eyes.

Yihan didn’t want to use his authority as the emperor to force Hwawoon to convey his feelings. Rather, he wanted Yeon Hwawoon to tell him of his own accord. Yihan wished for Hwawoon to trust him, depend on him,

And love him sincerely.

So in the end, Hwawoon would spill out everything he hid deep in his mind. Seeing Hwawoon’s long eyelashes flutter as if he had relaxed, Yihan leaned down and kissed his forehead. Hwawoon tensed up even though it was a brief kiss, but still, he didn’t pull away.

“I think you should sleep earlier because you’re sick. Let’s call it a night.”

There were many days he had ignored and pushed Hwawoon away even after had he changed, so it was only natural that it would take time to gain his thrust. Yihan calmed his anxious heart, hoping the day would come for him to embrace all of Hwawoon’s heart.

***

Walking past the Empress who kneeled at the foremost to greet him, the Emperor reached out to the noble concubine. No one was surprised as they had all gotten used to it. However, it wasn’t the case with the Empress, who had to see the Emperor’s steps passed her coldly. The young Crown Prince, standing there, watched his mother’s tears flow down behind the extravagant title of the emperor’s love.

At a blink of an eye, a gust of blood blew everywhere. Sorrowful cries filled the sky, and blood, splattering like fountains, flowed on the ground like a river. Meanwhile, the noble concubine, sitting on the bloody grave of her son she wished to rise to the throne, smiling from ear to ear, opened her mouth.

“I do commit sins, but the ones who made me like this are His and Her Majesty.”

Everything had ended anyway. Her precious son, who got the Emperor’s blood, had already become a cold body, and all of her family, who got involved with the treason, wouldn’t get forgiven. Thus, the noble concubine, who lost even the will to beg for pity, smiled and said,

“His Majesty’s whisper, ‘I will give you all the precious things in this world,’ planted the seed of treason in my heart. Her Majesty, the Empress of this nation, is intimidated by a mere concubine and can’t hide her jealousy, letting that seed grow.”

The young Crown Prince was there. The Crown Prince, who was nourished by his mother’s tears and grew up in fear, hiding in the shadows, was looking at his troop and the hordes of his brothers who had turned against him. The noble concubine continued.

“Every time the Empress looks at me, she can’t hide the look in her eyes that tells she’ll tear my flesh and drink my blood if her son ascends to the throne.”

The noble concubine, who had been laughing hysterically, her shoulders shaking like someone who had lost her mind, suddenly turned her head and glared at the young crown prince. Her gaze was so murderous and eerie that the crown prince was terrified and felt the urge to run away, but he couldn’t move an inch as if his feet were stuck to the ground.

“Crown Prince.”

The noble concubine’s lips thinned out wide as she called out the young prince. Even as she took the form of a demon whose eyes blazed red, she looked only at the young prince and spoke.

“So how could I spare your life, oh Crown Prince?”

Soon, the noble concubine’s ghost-like wailing tore through the heavens and earth, and the young crown prince lost his consciousness just like that.

***

“Gasp…!”

Yihan opened his eyes with a ragged breath. He couldn’t move his body as if he hadn’t woken up yet, but his breathing was heavy. His eyes darted from side to side for a long moment before he finally calmed down enough to move his stiff body. It had been a long time since he’d had a nightmare like this.

“…”

He tossed and turned in agitation, and it was at that moment that he felt a familiar presence. Curled up in a ball by his side, was Yeon Hwawoon, asleep.

Without realizing it, he let out a soft laughter. It was so instant, so reflexive, that he was taken aback, even as he laughed. Yihan’s nightmares stemmed from an old, bitter wound. Now everything was behind in the past, the nation had become stable, and Yihan became the most acclaimed wise ruler in the history of this nation. But on the days when he had this nightmare, he would feel down all day, making the entire palace nervous.

Now he woke up from such a horrible nightmare, but Yihan laughed despite seeing the man who clearly had caused him to have that nightmare.

Yihan was sure Yeon Hwawoon was the reason he had this nightmare again. Because Yihan admitted his love for him. Because he declared a concubine, not the empress, as his only lover, the guilty that had always been lurking around must have cast a spell and brought on the nightmare.

It warned him that he shouldn’t have done that. It blamed himself for embracing the very emotion he had spent his life hating. He knew that somewhere deep in his heart, he was still stopping himself from taking this path.

Even so, Yihan laughed when he saw Yeon Hwawoon’s face. He found him adorable, curled up in a small ball. Recalling the night before when Hwawoon had made Yihan grumpy again by insisting that he wouldn’t dare to sleep on the emperor’s arm even if he offered to give him an arm pillow, he couldn’t help but laugh because he was both annoying and cute.

It was the reality that the past would never win against.

Instead of lying there and beating himself up over the nightmare, Yihan gently pulled Hwawoon to him. Wrapping his arms around the easily pulled body, he gently slid his arm under Hwawoon’s neck. Halfway through, Hwawoon tossed and turned for a moment, letting out a small moan that made Yihan nervous, but he didn’t wake up, probably because he hadn’t been feeling well since yesterday. With that, Yihan, who had Hwawoon in his arms, rested his elbow on the bed for a moment and raised his upper body slightly to look at Hwawoon’s sleeping face.

He wondered if his face had always been this gentle. Yeon Hwawoon in his memory had a glamorous impression. He was undoubtedly a beauty second to no one, but he had a face that was fierce, certainly far from gentle. But that wasn’t the case with Hwawoon in front of his eyes now. Hwawoon was still exceptionally beautiful, but now he looked even more innocent, and his face was clean and clear without a single blemish.

Staring at his face, he felt like all the old wounds and guilt that had been lodged in his heart had receded.

Yihan then gently lowered his head and planted a series of soft kisses on Hwawoon’s forehead, the tip of his nose, and then his lips.

Hwawoon did not know it, but he was the salvation of the young crown prince, who could only tremble as he stepped on the blood.

***

“Achoo!”

“… Miss Ahjin, do you have a cold?”

Having heard Ahjin sneeze numerous times, So Jeong asked with a serious face. Ahjin turned her head, looking questioning what he meant by that, suddenly remembered that she had felt her body heavy and cold since she had woken up. She opened her eyes wide and covered her mouth with both hands.

“Maybe I do? I’ve been feeling under the weather this morning. Could it be a cold…?”

So Jeong’s expression turned grave. It was no trivial thing for a servant serving their master at the closest place to fall ill. Ahjin made a tearful look and said.

“What should I do? I took care of His Highness this morning and even served him his meal by his side! What if His Highness got my cold when he’s already unwell?”

“Calm down for now… First, go and quickly take your medicine. You may rest for today. I will tell this to His Highness. You might get His Highness infected with your cold if you go to report it yourself.”

“Yes… I should do that. Tell His Highness that I’m sorry. And tell him to wait a bit because I’ll get well quickly.”

“Okay.”