Min-jun had acquired a small pile of documents from around the time of his parents’ deaths. He had found little that was directly written about his parents, but there were a few abnormalities in the years surrounding their executions that seemed rather concerning. Concerning and hopeful.
He did not get far, however, because soon the King’s head eunuch arrived, breathless as if he’d run all the way from the King’s quarters to the Investigation Bureau.
“Y-Your Highness, His Majesty summons you.” The Head Eunuch took a long, wheezing breath. The poor man was too old for this sort of thing. “To his quarters.”
“What for?” Min-jun asked.
“Wh-what for?” the Head Eunuch replied as if he did not quite understand the concept of someone questioning the King’s summons. “I-it’s dinner time, Your Highness. He said you would understand if I told you this.”
The paper beneath Min-jun’s fingers crumpled. Dammit. Why’d he have to go and do something so useless? He should’ve just let the King continue his bad habits. Now there would be no peace. Min-jun would have to dine with him at every single meal.
“Tell him that his Consort Hui will have to reject his summons,” Min-jun said, putting the report off to one side. Hmph. Not even the King could tell him what to do when he was on a case.
The Head Eunuch looked moments away from tears. “Reject!” His eyes opened wide, and then he reached into his robes and pulled out a letter, folded in three parts. “H-his Majesty wrote this for Your Highness!”
Did he have to shout everything? Min-jun stood up with a sigh, rolling his eyes all the while. The Eunuch bowed as Min-jun took the letter from him. He unfolded the letter to glossy black ink. It was the king’s handwriting alright.
“My love,
I knew you would be stubborn, although you’d been insistent upon this earlier today. So I must remind you that your court ladies’ fates are still in my hands entirely”
Min-jun snorted. Trying to threaten him with the lives of Jeong-eun and Chae-won? It might’ve worked when Min-jun had first come here, but the King had long since proved he loved Min-jun too much to hurt his loved ones in such a manner. Even after they’d poisoned Min-jun, the King would not allow them to be treated poorly in their confinement. Why would he do so now, over something so petty?
Oh, there was more on the other side.
“I suppose you won’t believe me. In a way, I am glad that you don’t. Do not expect to go unpunished if I do not see you within the next half hour.”
Punishment? Very well then, Min-jun looked forward to what punishment the King had planned for him.
“Tell him I will remain here,” Min-jun told the eunuch, opening up another record and setting the letter aside. “If he wishes to see me, he will have to come here himself.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf fecemt’r ibkfg ilq agfwyifv. “Dea Tbeg Llutcfrr.”
“Xb bc,” Zlc-pec rjlv. “Pa lr cba jr lo tf’ii qeclrt sbe. Yg jgf sbe rjslcu beg Blcu lr j mgefi wjc?”
“Rb, cb, cba ja jii,” atf fecemt qgbafrafv nftfwfcais, rtjxlcu tlr tfjv. “Llr Zjpfras lr wbra yfcfnbifca.”
Zlc-pec kjnfv tlw boo, rlaalcu yjmx vbkc lc tlr ilaaif mbgcfg bo atf gbbw. “Ktfc gec jibcu jcv vfilnfg ws wfrrjuf.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Right away, Your Highness,” the man said in a tearful voice. He walked out of the room, defeated. Tch, what were they so afraid of anyhow? The King had a murderous streak, certainly, but he did not hurt people without a reason.
Needless to say, it did not take long for the King to arrive at the records room, much more composed than his eunuch had been. He looked regal in his crimson robes, the gold embroidery catching in the firelight of the lanterns. His expression sat somewhere between neutrality and amusement, and his lips curved upward almost indiscernibly, his brow relaxed, his posture befitting of any nobleman and yet markedly unstrained. He looked most beautiful in the firelight.
The inspectors were already on their knees, greeting the King in trembling voices, but he paid them no mind. Min-jun sat in the corner across from him, only glancing up from his work when the King’s gaze grew too tantalizing to ignore. Damn those violet eyes.
The King crossed the room to Min-jun, who stared up at him defiantly. There were reports all over the floors, many of them freshly labeled, but the King trampled over them like they mattered as much as the dirt they walked upon. He leaned over Min-jun, staring him down and resting one hand on the wall.
“Busy?” the King murmured.
“Quite,” Min-jun said. He flipped the page to prove a point. He was not going anywhere.
“And who was the one going on about the importance of a healthy diet and rest just this afternoon?” The King reached down to cup Min-jun’s chin. “The records will still be here when you return. Come home for now. You must be hungry, and I’m sure sifting through all these records is tiring.”
It was. Min-jun’s eyes felt strained, and his stomach had started growling about an hour ago in protest. Now, it growled again, and Min-jun averted his gaze, bringing his lips into a pout. What if he was close? What if the next scroll or book he picked up was the right one? The one that would tell him everything there was to know about this case. The one that would tell him if he could love the man in front of him wholeheartedly. He needed to see proof that it wasn’t the King who had given that sentence.
“Min-jun,” the King said, letting his voice turn sing-songy. He sank to his knees to be on the same level as Min-jun. A hand covered Min-jun’s, and the tension in him subsided. “I promise we will reach the truth, but you must not neglect your health. You are my consort, remember. If your health fails, people will become anxious. Never mind my own reaction. I do not wish to see you ill.”
Min-jun pouted but nodded slowly. His chest felt tight again. “I will accept it then. On one condition.”
The King cocked his head to the side. “What is that?”
Coquettishly, Min-jun leaned in to whisper in the King’s ear. “Carry me to your chambers.”
The King let out a small laugh, lowering his head. When he lifted his gaze again, there was fondness in his violet eyes. “That is a request I can certainly honor.”
With that, the King scooped Min-jun into his arms, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he was prone to do nowadays. Min-jun put his arms around the King’s neck and made himself comfortable in his embrace.
“Are you sure you can make it all the way back to your quarters holding me like this?” Min-jun whispered against the shell of his ear.
“Of course,” the King said. “You’re light as a feather.”
“Hmm, I shall consider you an efficient form of transport then,” Min-jun murmured, burying his face in the curve of the King’s neck, the fabric of his hanbok soft against Min-jun’s cheek. Truthfully, his legs were rather tired today.
Sun followed them quietly, but Min-jun thought he saw a flicker of a smile on his lips. Tch.
“I heard your request for the court ladies’ release,” the King said, voice low. Min-jun could feel the sounds vibrate in the King’s throat. Absentmindedly, he pressed his hand to the base of the King’s throat, fingers gliding down from beneath his chin past his adam’s apple, eventually resting the palm of his hand on the King’s chest. You could strangle him in his sleep. Look at how helpless he is now. He would let you do it too.
The thoughts arose as if they had been practiced time and time again. He supposed they had been. Min-jun had been fantasizing about the King’s death for years now. Still, the words in his head took him by surprise, and he shifted in the King’s arms a bit, bringing his own to loop around the King’s neck again. He wished to chase those thoughts away somehow. In front of the King’s legion of servants and several inspectors, Min-jun kissed him on the jaw.
“Min-jun, are you listening?” the King scolded lightly.
“Mmhmm,” Min-jun replied. “Anything other than agreement would not end well for you.”
A low laugh rumbled in the King’s chest. “Indeed, so it is. I will give them guards and a sizeable allowance. It should last them through the year, at least. They will also be given a home in the countryside. The one that I had planned to give to you, actually.”
“Hmm,” Min-jun hummed. Perhaps that sort of freedom was something he had to give up on, but that did not mean he could not indulge in some form of it while with the King. “We should visit the countryside sometime.”
He could feel those violet eyes on him, as the King replied. “We shall someday soon, my love. The people will be glad to see us living amongst them as well.”
“Truly?” Min-jun asked, hands on the King’s shoulders as he gazed down at him with hopeful eyes. The King readjusted his arms around Min-jun, one hand trailing along his back. That smile of his could melt anyone’s heart, and Min-jun’s began to race.
“Truly,” the King replied. His expression turned teasing. “So, where would this consort of mine have us go?”
Min-jun cupped the King’s chin with one hand. “Everywhere.”
“The consort is victim to avarice, I see,” the King replied, but he was smiling cheek to cheek, his eyes shining. “As I am victim to all his whims.”
“I have even more whims, if you’d lend an ear to them,” Min-jun said. For a brief moment, he glanced up, his eyes catching on the expensive, colorful hanbok of a noblewomen. That is . . .
Lady Ok-jeong stood a little ways away, off to the side, almost hidden from view. What is she doing out here? It was then that Min-jun noticed the small crowd eyeing them with little subtlety. Court ladies, courtiers, stable boys, anyone and everyone who had a moment to spare had come to watch the King and his consort flirt. Hmph, if they wanted to watch two people caught up in romance, they could’ve just gone to a Kisaeng house, where kisaeng and clients flirted, kissed, and bedded each other day in and day out.
Even so, Min-jun gave her a small smile, an offering of peace. They would have to coexist, after all. What he got in return was something dark and furious. He was almost taken aback. What had he done that was so horrible? He glanced down at the King again, who carried him like he was something most precious.
Oh! Surely, she wasn’t jealous. Ok-jeong was to be Queen. The King would surely warm up to her after a while. All she had to do was act as the Mother of her people and . . . be the mother of the King’s children. Perhaps she was jealous of their physical relationship? The King hadn’t touched any of them since their arrival, but Min-jun knew the rumors that twisted around the castle walls like smoke.
“The King spends every night he can with his consort. And not even the female consorts! He is rolling around in bed with a male companion!”
“Perhaps the King had been bewitched!”
“I heard the rumors around Consort Hui’s past are true! He was a Kisaeng. He must’ve used some tricks he learned in the brothels and used them on the King.”
Tch. If only they knew the truth. The King didn’t seem much interested in having sex with anyone. But he was so duty-bound, Min-jun wouldn’t be surprised if he did end up sleeping with the Queen. His arms tightened around the King instinctively.
But he’ll still love me the most. Though he won’t dare to touch me. He still loves me the most. It’s in his eyes, his lips, his tongue, his body, his gentle voice.
They were at the King’s quarters now, passing through doorways until they finally returned to the King’s bedroom and study. Min-jun was placed down on a cushion near the table, and without sparing much thought to the consequences of his actions, brought the King’s lips to his own.
“Your Majesty, sh-shall we still serve dinner?” the Head Eunuch asked, nervously.
The King peered down at Min-jun, amused. “Shall they, my love?”
Min-jun nodded. “They shall. My appetite seems to have returned.”
A/N: Chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed the fluff! If you did, please leave a comment to fund Cheol and Min-jun’s vacation.
How min-jun is expecting to not be the only one in the king’s life i– 😭😭😭
And also min-jun with his records is totally me when i read or play video games : i get so into it i forget almost everything else
Cute!! I thought Cheol would be annoyed when he came but I forgot why Min-jun’s investigation is so important to them both. Min-jun’s response to the king’s coaxing is flat out adorable. As for the rumors, logic dictates that they could stop the misinformation by explaining that the king actually hasn’t been with anyone yet, but strangely enough, I don’t think they’ll handle it that way 😂.
Really really appreciate the double update! I accidentally started a fire in a different author’s FB group so I’m hiding out for a while 😀
Reality starting to set in on Lady Ok-jeong ? You may be future Queen but you will never have Cheol’s heart
Thank you for double update
Hahaha min jun thought a smile would be friendly to lady Ok? That’s equivalent to taking of a white glove and slapping her across the face!