The Flower Walks the Night

Gyo Yeon-oh, the youngest son of the Gyo General’s Household, one day met a man of exquisite appearance who visited his home.

Contrary to his first impression, Yeon-oh gradually grew closer to the man, who possessed an unexpected vulnerability.

It was then that Yeon-oh discovered this man was none other than the current Emperor, who had ascended the throne after murdering his own kin.

The Emperor had come to the Gyo General’s Household to take a concubine from the Gyo Marquisate family.

Yeon-oh felt a strange emotion at the thought that one of his female cousins would become the man’s concubine.

However, the Emperor sought out Yeon-oh, presented him with a token, and requested that he become his concubine.

******

A firm hand clasped Yeon-oh’s.

“I wish for you.”

The man turned Yeon-oh’s held hand, revealing his palm. An identity tablet bearing a phoenix crest, crafted from ox horn, was placed on the exposed palm. Carefully folding Yeon-oh’s fingers so the ox horn phoenix tablet would not drop, the man smiled softly.

“What…?”

Yeon-oh blinked, bewildered by the situation. Was what he was seeing now reality, or a dream?

“I wish for you to become my person, Yeon-oh.”

******

Yeon-oh became the Emperor’s concubine, believing it to be love. However, it did not take long for him to realize that his first affection was a lie.

The Emperor had a true paramour. Moreover, he had countless other concubines. The Dowager Empress, whom Yeon-oh had believed would be his ally as a relative, even seized his people and persecuted them, making life as a concubine arduous.

It was amidst this hardship that he discovered the reason for his entrance into the palace was merely to facilitate the easy entrance of the Emperor’s true paramour. Yeon-oh realized that he was nothing more than an obstruction, a villain placed between their two loves.

******

“Why, why was it me of all people? Your Majesty could not have been unaware that the Dowager Empress desired a Gyo Marquisate family member to secure the imperial line…”

Yeon-oh suspected that the Emperor’s cold shoulder might have been predetermined from the moment he first appeared at the Gyo General’s Household. Yet, a part of his heart hoped desperately that this was not true. He hoped the interest, which had reached out to him so quickly, had merely cooled down just as fast.

The Emperor stepped closer to Yeon-oh. As the tall man approached, a shadow fell over Yeon-oh’s face, which was stained with shock. Yeon-oh, who had been meticulously observing the rules of etiquette, even forgot the courtly bows ingrained in his body.

“Yeon-oh.”

A bright smile dawned on the man’s noble face. That same smile, which Yeon-oh had seen when he believed they were becoming intimate, possessed the power to seize a person’s gaze.

“…”

Yeon-oh accepted the truth: he had been truly deceived by the affectionate low tone calling his name. His foolish heart fluttered at the fabricated, familiar address made by the man.

“It would have been better had you been dull and lacking. Wouldn’t everyone be more comfortable had you grasped your predicament, despaired, diminished your presence, and resigned yourself to the back quarters?”

Yeon-oh’s shoulders rose and fell sharply at the man’s soft murmur. The smooth words, disguised as tenderness, were as warm as the spring breeze. Yeon-oh found his own feelings, the longing he felt for this pretense of familiarity, the regret that surfaced from the feigned intimacy, to be pathetic and sorrowful.