The King’s punishment was an onslaught of kisses, apparently. Min-jun could hardly catch his breath between one and the next. Soon, Min-jun had wrapped his arms around the King’s neck, pulling them closer. He buried his face in the King’s shoulder, the fabric cool against his cheek. There was the King’s scent alone, with no hint of perfume or incense.
He’s still mine.
“You’re shivering, love,” the King whispered. “Why are you dressed so thinly?” The King’s hands rubbed up and down Min-jun’s back, as if trying to calm him.
“Hold me tighter then,” Min-jun said. Now that the King had returned to him, his anxious mind settled a bit, leaving behind only exhaustion. The King gathered him in his arms, so that Min-jun could sit on his lap. How romantic. Min-jun rested his head beneath the King’s chin, curling up against his chest. Wrapped in the King’s embrace, Min-jun nearly fell asleep then and there, his eyelids fluttering closed as he played with the ribbon of the King’s hanbok. When did they become so familiar with each other?
“Those men have been dealt with,” the King said. “You need not worry about them anymore.”
“I certainly didn’t expect to be ambushed on my first day,” Min-jun said. What had the King done to them? He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to feel pity for them. Day by day, Min-jun couldn’t help but feel accustomed to the King’s violence.
“That part of the city isn’t the safest.” The King brushed through Min-jun’s hair, slowly. “Though I didn’t think such a large group of criminals would be loitering around in our capital. They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
Min-jun twisted around to look the King in the eyes. Such concern. All for Min-jun’s sake. So much effort for a person who was little more than a vessel for information that the King wished to have. Just to find Mother.
You almost have me fooled, Your Majesty. But the King had admitted once that he intended to make Min-jun fall in love with him. Min-jun could not simply let him have his way.
“I wasn’t hurt,” Min-jun said, pushing the King away. The King’s eyes followed him as he stood, and Min-jun tried not to let that gaze unsettle him.
Without the King’s warmth, a chill crawled up his spine. It would be a cold night. Min-jun sighed. “I wish to sleep now. I hope you do not mind.”
“Today must’ve been exhausting for you,” the King replied. “I can stay if you’d like.”
Min-jun glanced back at him. What could it hurt, really? “I don’t mind.”
Not long after, the two of them lay in bed together. As usual, the King held him close to his chest, so close that Min-jun could hear his steady heartbeat. They would inevitably part after falling asleep, returning to the truth of things. For now, Min-jun allowed him to do as he pleased.
“So.” He had to know. “Who was that woman you were with?”
The King laughed, and Min-jun felt his chest vibrate with the sound. A light kiss pressed to the top of Min-jun’s forehead. Min-jun curled closer without meaning to. “That is your rival.”
Min-jun stiffened. He actually admitted it!
The hand on his back massaged circles into his skin to relieve the tension there. “Oh, my love. You have so little faith in me.”
“She’s the one those courtiers sent, isn’t she?” Min-jun pouted. He hid his face in the King’s chest, trying his best to appear pitiful. Ah, how forlorn is the abandoned consort! “Who knows? Perhaps you will feel something for her.”
“Perhaps.”
Min-jun’s head shot up, gazing at the King with wide eyes, his lips slightly parted. With a charming smile on his face, the King leaned in to kiss him.
“Silly love,” the King whispered into the kiss.
Silly!
The King continued to speak despite this grave insult. “Don’t worry. Lady Ok-jeong is a member of the Ni clan. It would be dangerous to let her into the harem.”
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.
Ktja kjr ktja atfs jikjsr rjlv! Rfza atlcu Zlc-pec xcfk, atfs kfgf rklamtlcu ab atf cfza mbegafrjc bg ifjnlcu atf mbecags!
“Cgfc’a P qjga bo jc bqqbrlcu ojmalbc jr kfii?” Zlc-pec jrxfv. Lf kjr reqqbrfv ab jrrjrrlcjaf atf Blcu! Lbk kjr atja cba vjcufgber? “Qbeivc’a ifaalcu tfg mbwf tfgf qbafcaljiis ulnf sbe jmmfrr ab lcobgwjalbc bc atf Rl mijc?”
The King pondered his question. “Didn’t think of that.”
Didn’t think of that? Him? The man who was always playing ten steps ahead of everyone else? Didn’t think of that?
“Too risky,” the King said, after a moment. “Unlike you, she has direct access to her family. I have more to lose than to gain in that situation.”
I am literally planning to murder you! How insulting!
“I hate you.”
“A-ah,” the King said, with a slight laugh in his voice, “I know.”
Hmph!
Min-jun turned onto his other side so that his back was to the King. Inside, he felt something akin to helplessness. Of course, he doesn’t take you seriously. Look at yourself. Min-jun was laying in bed with his target, and when he looked into his heart, there was nothing there. The rage that had once threatened to burn him alive was little more than a dying flame now.
“Min-jun.” A hand settled on his shoulder. The voice asked for forgiveness.
Of course, the rage had faded. How was one supposed to reconcile their protector with the one who had, in one single ruling, ruined their life? So much hinged on his ability to follow through with this mission.
“You won’t punish Ha-jun, will you?” he asked, remembering the man’s fearful face when they had run past the King. Talking about that woman was putting him in an even worse mood than before.
“Ha-jun?” the King spat the name out like a curse, indignant. “The two of you are on a first-name basis now?”
“He’s a friend,” Min-jun said. A friend who looked too much like the Ha-jun who’d stolen his first kiss.
“And I’m your husband,” the King continued, his tone approaching a whininess that Min-jun hadn’t heard before. “And yet, you still won’t call me by my name. Min-jun, you’re decidedly too cruel.”
“It would be improper to call our monarch by his name,” Min-jun said. The King’s advisors were the only ones able to call the King by his name: Yi Cheol. Min-jun recalled the love they had for each other and shrunk away from the memory. To have such familiarity with the King would mean breaking down yet another wall between them. He could not let that happen.
The King’s arms tightened around Min-jun’s waist. “You know, someone called me by my birth name today.” Min-jun glanced at him, unsure of where this was headed. “I could hardly believe it when it happened.”
“Oh?” The King had sounded so solemn, Min-jun couldn’t find much to say.
“I almost mistook her for someone else,” the King said, a bit of dark humor in his voice. “It was a miserable feeling, my love.”
What on earth was he talking about? “Your Majesty?”
The King paused as if he wasn’t sure if he should go on. “I’m sorry, my love. I should not burden you with this.”
. . .
“Apology not accepted.”
He doesn’t even know what I’m apologizing for. Cheol supposed that for him, anything goes, as long as it justified his vengeance toward him. Acting hostile was just another way of keeping himself in check.
Cheol could empathize. To have the thing he’d trained for all these years suddenly be taken away. Not even taken away, but willingly forfeited. Letting Cheol live would mean letting himself be unraveled at the seams.
And yet, Cheol could not offer him any sort of solace. He will never escape this. And for that, he felt a little sorry for his consort. The fall would hurt, even if Min-jun’s parents had not died by Cheol’s hand. He could only hope that perhaps Min-jun’s rage could find a new target, and that would be enough to keep him from crumbling.
Wishful thinking.
Cheol watched over Min-jun a while longer, just until he saw his breathing even out. Min-jun’s hair was soft as silk thread as Cheol ran his fingers through it. Not a single knot could be found. His skin was unblemished, pale in the moonlight with a light blush on his cheeks, and smooth to the touch. Undoubtedly the result of a strict routine centered around those sweet-smelling serums and creams he’d brought with him. If only he’d take as good care of his mind as he did his beauty.
The longer he laid there, beside Min-jun, the more he could feel his own resolve falter. He rose from the bed.
“Come now, Cheol,” he told himself, “this is no time for your guilt.”
Cheol slipped into his jeogori and left his consort to spend the rest of the night alone. Outside Min-jun’s quarters, Sun stood guarding the door.
“Your Majesty,” Sun said. Still placing all the blame on yourself, hmm?
“Hello, Sun,” Cheol replied. “Shall we take a walk?”
“I–”
“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Usually, you’d guard from the outside.” Cheol patted him on the back twice. “Come on, let’s not waste more time.”
They did not speak until they were outside, with only the moon to keep them company. The glowing crescent drew his eyes to its gentle light. His mother had always been fonder of the moon.
. . .
They had sat near the fireplace, listening to the crackle of the flames and the pitter-patter of rain outside. His mother sat in a low chair, reading to him an old children’s story as he sat with his elbows on his knees, the words forming images in his mind. As with many stories, a great adventure took place. There was a benevolent King, a wise old man, and a beautiful noblewoman that falls in love with the hero. At the end, the author expected everyone to understand that the two of them lived happily and peacefully. Cheol wasn’t sure if he believed them.
He stared into the fire as he spoke. “Mama, the noblewoman and hero barely know each other. They can’t know they’ll make each other happy forever?”
“I suppose they simply took the chance and were fortunate,” his mother said, leaning her chin on her hand. She had a smile on her face, amused by his childish questions, no doubt. His mother only dressed in commoner’s clothing now. Faded, itchy fabric that did nothing to hide her past as a royal.
“But that’s dumb,” Cheol said, flipping onto his back instead. He counted the divots in the leaky ceiling above.
“Yeong-a, don’t use such language,” his mother chided.
“But it’s true!”
His mother chuckled a bit, despite herself. “Alright, alright, perhaps marrying someone you don’t know very well is a bad idea. But, whether it be a day or a year, you’re taking a chance either way.”
Cheol wrinkled his nose. This love business was far too complicated for his nine-year-old brain. “I don’t think I’ll ever fall in love. It’s too much work.”
“Perhaps you will not,” his mother conceded.
The only romantic love he’d ever seen was between his parents. It was no small wonder that Cheol had no interest in it. Still, he was curious and the curiosity wouldn’t let up.
“Do you think I’d marry someone like the noble lady?” He slid across the floor to sit near his mother, as if waiting for another story.
“A noble lady?” his mother considered, patting him on the head. “Now, let me think. Such an important question you’ve given your poor mother. Hmm, if you fall in love, it will be with a person like moonlight.”
His mother spoke as if it were the truth. As if it were prophecy. Cheol did not understand.
“Moonlight? Mama, you’re saying riddles again.”
“Am I? It must be Auntie Hye-rin’s fault.”
Cheol rolled his eyes. “You say everything is Auntie Hye-rin’s fault.”
His mother laughed, light as windchimes. “That I do.” She lifted her gaze to the window. “A person like moonlight, to guide your way. Someone who will always return to you.” She smiled down at him. “You must treat them well. Such a person is rare.”
Cheol followed where his mother’s gaze had been just seconds ago. Through the window, he could see the clouds parting, moonbeams passing through the gaps. He frowned, unimpressed.
“You’re just saying that because the moon’s out.”
His mother clicked the book shut in her hands, a grin on her face. “Isn’t it impressive? I should write poetry.”
“No one would buy it.”
His mother gasped. “Yeong-a, little raindrop, you wound me.”
Hmph, he’d thought she was actually saying something important for once. She tapped him on the forehead.
“What is this love nonsense, anyhow,” his mother asked. “You are much too young to worry about such things.”
“Then why’s it in children’s books?”
His mother opened her mouth, only to close it again, tilting her head to the side. “I don’t know.”
For some reason, that comment made Cheol burst into giggles. His mother soon followed with her own hearty laughter, something he hadn’t heard all his life until they’d left the Palace. It made him glad to see his mother so happy.
It was unfortunate he’d gone and ruined it all.
. . .
I never thought there would be a day where I would pray not to see you.
Cheol gazed up at the moon, now just a crescent in the sky. He would be the fool if his mother had somehow survived. He would’ve killed his father for nothing. Spent years on petty revenge when his mother might’ve been alive and waiting for him to return. Nothing could compare to the relief he’d felt when he recognized that scar on Court Lady Goo’s face.
In that way, we are similar, Min-jun. It was a shame Min-jun would never know it, for this secret was too close to Cheol’s heart.
“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” Sun asked, watching him with more concern than Cheol deserved. I’ve made them worry again.
“Yes.”
He needed to focus. A band of thieves was waiting for him, after all.
A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed that chapter and a little glimpse into Cheol’s past. If you did, please leave a comment down below.
Cheol’s mom is so awesoooome 😭
Thanks for the chapter ♥️ ♥️
Ah, so much they can’t give each other, but neither of them will look anywhere else. At least they’re willing to share what they can, and it’s a very indulgent read when they do.
What if Cheol’s Mother is still alive???? And is seeking revenge against her son whom she believes betrayed her?!?!! (Ok I may need sleep to stop my imagination and paranoia from combining then leaking out)
Thank you for chapter
Yes! I love hearing about what made Cheol who he is, all about his mother, and how he met his advisers that Min-Jun envies so much.
What if Min-jun’s mother is cheol’s mum?? Okay, stop your wild imagination.lol