When Min-jun awoke, he was warm and comfortable and felt as if he’d been buried underneath at least five sets of blankets. He recalled waking up before, although he’d felt so delirious with fever that he could hardly remember what had happened. Only now did he register that he was safe and sound back in his room in the Inner Palace. The scent of old books, roses, and cloves calmed him.
A groan rumbled out of his throat as he tried to sit up. He had almost forgotten that he’d been injured, but then a jolt of pain sparked in his side and he gasped, gripping a hand over his stomach.
“Lie down,” a voice ordered, and Min-jun, almost on instinct, laid his head back down. The voice was commanding, yes, which wouldn’t usually bother Min-jun, except that it also sounded quite angry. The sort of anger the bubbles beneath the surface, heard in the tremble of a voice or the clench of a jaw.
It was the King, of course. Min-jun twisted his head around to watch as the King approached the bed, beautiful as always, his red hunter’s robes lined with gold. Soon, Min-jun felt the King’s hand on his forehead, checking for fever.
“I feel fine,” Min-jun muttered, eyes fluttering closed.
A gentle touch pushed Min-jun’s hair out of his face. “I didn’t ask if you felt fine.”
“I figured you would, sooner or later,” Min-jun said, leaning into the hand on his cheek. “How long was I out for?”
“Two days almost,” said the King. “You were feverish for half of it. The doctor had been worried sick. Quite literally. He fell ill yesterday from the stress of it all.”
“I suppose I had you all in a bit of a panic.” Min-jun sighed. He lifted an arm to cover his eyes. “But you must admit, I did well –”
“What you did was reckless.”
“And if I hadn’t done it, those girls would be landing in the Northern Empire and sold to the highest bidder right about now.” Min-jun opened his eyes and paused. The air between them had shifted. He felt as if he’d unknowingly stepped into a minefield.
“Do you enjoy putting yourself in danger?” the King asked. His voice was steady, as his hand brushed over the blanket covering Min-jun’s body. “Do you enjoy bringing me to the brink of madness thinking I might never see you again?”
Min-jun sucked in a breath. “It wasn’t about that. If I hadn’t done it, who would?”
“I have hundreds of men under my command, Min-jun,” the King said, sterner now. “Any one of them can risk their lives for me. They are trained to walk with death. But you are not one of them. You are not allowed to take such risks.”
Min-jun scoffed, “not allowed?”
“Do you forget your place?” the King asked.
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.
‘At the King’s side.’ How could he forget? It was all anyone ever talked about.
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“Are you displeased because I hadn’t been to visit you in so long?” the King asked. “You and I both know that if I could I would spend every minute with you.”
“And all I’m allowed to do is wait for you all day,” Min-jun said. “You would all have me waste away here. What sort of life is that?”
The King’s eyes widened a fraction as if he could hardly believe what he was hearing. “I gave you a chance to leave, Min-jun. You knew what life as my consort entailed.”
Min-jun’s heart dropped, memories of the King’s coldness resurfacing. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then why?” the King asked, quietly. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“I . . .” Min-jun swallowed. There were so many reasons he could give him, but in the end, he could not put any of them into words. “I don’t know.”
The King let out a breath that sounded like a laugh, full of disbelief. “Are you saying you did all this on a whim? You risked your life on a whim? You . . . Do you have any idea what would’ve happened to you had I shown up a moment later?”
He would’ve died. He must’ve been so scared. Min-jun remember the terrified look on his face when he’d pulled the Minister off of Min-jun. He remembered the fear when he’d considered the possibility of the King being ambushed by those men stalking him in the city. Just a fraction of that fear had been enough to make him panic. If he had found out that the King had suddenly left the Palace to act as bait for some heinous criminal . . . and hadn’t even bothered to take a single guard with him, he would’ve been beside himself with fear (and certainly angrier than the King was right now), despite knowing the King could handle himself in any battle.
“I’m sorry,” Min-jun said, sliding closer to the King. “I should’ve been more careful.”
“What you should’ve done is stayed out of this matter entirely,” the King replied, as Min-jun came into his arms. The King put up no resistance, relaxing into the embrace somewhat, relishing it.
“Perhaps I could’ve dealt with it better,” Min-jun murmured. The arms around him tightened. Min-jun winced a bit.
“I have realized something,” the King whispered, after a moment.
“And what’s that.”
“Loving you is a dangerous thing,” the King said, as his fingers combed through Min-jun’s long hair. “I feel as if you could slip through my fingers at any moment.”
Min-jun frowned, uncertainty filling him, replacing his guilt. He shifted to see the King’s face, gazing into his violet eyes. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“No, you won’t be,” the King whispered. The King’s hand raised to Min-jun’s cheek, caressing it. Min-jun’s eyes fluttered closed. “Consort Hui, I am confining you to this villa as punishment for your insubordination.” The hand left his cheek, the King released him, and yet, it felt as if he’d just locked him in chains.
Calm down. The King had tried confining him before and failed. Surely, this was just a momentary punishment. It would be over soon and he would be released once again.
“For how long?”
The King smiled down at him, and somehow, it was worse than if he’d gotten cross with him. “Indefinitely.”
The King passed him and walked to the doors. Min-jun stood up suddenly, ignoring the pain that traced all the way up to his chest.
“You can’t be serious!” Min-jun said, sprinting to stand between the King and the doors, planting himself firmly. “Cheol-ah, please. Be reasonable.”
“Reasonable!” the King laughed, his voice full of frustration. “Reasonable. Love, I’ve tried to be reasonable with you for as long as I could have. Even after all the reckless, dangerous –”
“I won’t do it again,” Min-jun replied, stepping closer to the King so that they were nearly touching. He hoped his expression looked earnest. He touched the King’s chest, smoothing down the burgundy fabric. “I just wanted to help you.”
“Help me? By getting yourself stabbed?”
Min-jun glanced back down at his wound and then cleared his throat. “The stabbing wasn’t part of the plan.”
Another disbelieving look. “And what was the plan exactly? Get yourself kidnapped and just hope that I’ll show up in time?”
“And you did,” Min-jun said, placing his hands on the King’s biceps. “And I knew you would. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”
“You’re saying it was faith,” the King whispered. “But I cannot leave your well-being in the hands of something so fragile. I need to know you’re safe, Min-jun. Every second of the day. Otherwise, I might lose my mind.”
Somehow, Min-jun believed him. He didn’t know how he felt about being the only thing holding together the King’s psyche.
“You’ll lock me up just for your own sake,” Min-jun whispered. “You sound like your father.”
The King’s expression then was all the confirmation he needed. He should’ve stopped there, instead of tearing open old wounds. Later he would wonder where that cruelty had come from. The threat to his autonomy? Or something deeper?
“Is it true then?” Min-jun asked. “That he kept the Queen locked in her quarters, and killed anyone who tried to get close to her? That he was a jealous man that kept the woman he loved in chains?”
The pain that flashed across the King’s face was enough to give Min-jun pause. What was that? A part of the King he’d never seen before? Some deep gash that had long since scarred over, ripped open and bleeding. Had I gone too far? Another part of him was fascinated. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything the King had to offer him.
“Cheol-ah?” Min-jun said, cautiously. But the King seemed frozen in shock. “Cheol?”
The King pushed Min-jun away and opened the doors with more force than necessary. The servants moved out of his way as he passed them, not even a word or a glance exchanged between them. He was not one to ignore others like that. Min-jun followed him out into the hallway. Something was wrong. The man who could seemingly brush off even the cruelest words had suddenly shown the gaps in his armor.
“Your Highness,” a servant said. “You must return to your rooms.”
Min-jun could only stare into the space where the King had been.
“Your Highness?”
Min-jun whipped his head around to look at his servants. They did not possess any of the energy or enthusiasm they usually did. The women did not giggle as they usually did, gossipping about how handsome the King is, and the men had their heads lowered and their mouths shut in a thin line. What had happened? What have you done, my King?
Min-jun realized, with horror, that there was one person missing. “Where is Sun?”
The servants exchanged looks, chewing on their lips. Finally, court maid Hae stepped forward, unafraid as usual. “The King had ordered that Lord Sun is to receive fifty lashes. He’s been recovering from his injuries since then.”
Fifty lashes? That was enough to kill an ordinary man.
“The King values you far more than you know,” Min-jun had told him. Sun had expressed such uncertainty. It would appear they had finally learned who was in the right.
A wave of nausea had him doubling over, and several of his servants raced to his side. He’d underestimated the King, completely. All that warmth and gentleness . . . it had led him to believe the King wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. A slap on the wrist was all. He had proven him wrong. Oh, how wrong he’d been. And this was just a taste of what the King could do. All the people that surrounded him now . . . they were all in danger of suffering the same fate. Not all of them would survive the King’s wrath if they were subjected to it.
So there were the dragon’s claws. On display for all to see. Min-jun could feel them around all their necks now. One wrong move and they’d all have their throats slashed open. Except for Min-jun. Min-jun could stand and watch as it happened. Because the King loved him, and every move the dragon made, was in service of Min-jun’s safety. ‘All for you, my love.’
A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope Cheol seemed angry enough. If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment down below.
threatening and hurting the people around min-jun is certainly going to be more useful at confining him than an order but well… cheol, i know you’re scared for your murder muffin but he’s going to sulk for some time after that
Murder muffin is sulking 😅
Thanks for commenting!
AUTHOR OH MY GOSHH IVE BEEN WAITING!! IM SO EXCITED FOR THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE UPDATE!! 🥹
Thank you so much for commenting! I’m glad you enjoyed it! ❤
Thanks for the update ! 🧡🧡🧡
Thank you for commenting! ❤
بكل صدق مين جون جعلني غاضبة قليلا هذا الفصل وايضا ردة فعل الملك جعلتني أشعر بالحزن عليه اه كم اتمنى ان تعود الامور إلى السابق وافضل ربما ….
Hopefully things will get better between them soon! We all need some fluff after this lolol. Thank you for commenting!
HAHAHA That’s right
Aww babies 😓. They’re hurting each other so much! Min-jun pushes all the time with no fear because of how much Cheol loves him, he acknowledged that he has felt terror at losing Cheol and understands it must have been worse for Cheol to see him nearly killed. Cheol knows Min-jun lashes out when he’s threatened and insulted. I hope they’ll take a breath and get each other through the crash when the adrenaline wears off.
They understand each other so well but they can’t communicate bc they prioritize completely different things. Hopefully they’ll be able to meet in the middle and compromise. Thanks for commenting!