Chapter 85

Everyone living within the Imperial Palace harbored a certain gloomy quality that others could not know.

Intrigue and conspiracy were rampant in the Imperial Palace.

Yeon-oh himself was becoming a person who suspected everything. His heart constantly fluttered unsteadily.

“Your Majesty, were you very contemptuous of me while you were deceiving me?”

Seonjae did not speak for a moment.

“Why are you suddenly bringing that up?”

“Just…”

Yeon-oh admitted that his past self had viewed the palace too lightly. This was not a place where one could be lost in impulsive emotions like love.

A scoff escaped him at how ridiculous the moment he mistakenly thought he had adapted well to the Imperial Palace was. Every time he realized it, his past self felt unbearably embarrassing.

“I thought you were a good person.”

A complaint directed at an unclear target flowed from Yeon-oh’s mouth. In the darkness, his tear-filled eyes gazed at the man’s handsome face. The eyebrows of the expressionless Emperor slightly furrowed at the voice that trembled at the end. He frowned and turned up the corner of his mouth.

“Me?”

Yeon-oh nodded silently again.

“…”

Then, he suddenly understood. Most of the emotions building up inside him were still directed toward the man. Any event, feeling, experience, whatever it was, ultimately reached the Emperor.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that. I’ve only ever heard words like ‘an incomprehensible fellow,’ ‘a despicable thing,’ or ‘the most useless existence among the nobles.’ A good person? Does such a thing even exist in the world?”

Yeon-oh felt flustered rather than angry at Seonjae’s whisper. Muttering the soft words, the man gently stroked Yeon-oh’s head, who looked incredulous. The touch passing over his neck was careful.

The man tilted his head and placed his forehead against Yeon-oh’s. Warm breath descended over his lips.

“Y-Your Majesty.”

“You weren’t that contemptible. Watching you, I was often bewildered, and I realized that if you let a precious young master of a great noble family only see good things and raise him with affection, he truly does become a good person. Feeling an inferiority complex toward you? How rude. You are too presumptuous. Remember that you would be severely punished even for asking if I am envious of you.”

“Envious of what?”

Yeon-oh questioned the man’s words. His expression showed genuine confusion.

Seonjae, seeing Yeon-oh’s bewildered face, let out a soft laugh.

“That question you just asked is something only a being who is the subject of the world’s envy would say. Those who are the subject of envy usually do not know why they are the target of envy.”

The man’s words seemed understandable, yet were like terrible sophistry. The man’s arm, which was around Yeon-oh’s back, tightened. Seonjae pulled Yeon-oh deeper into his embrace.

“Your Majesty?”

“Your body is still cold.”

The man held Yeon-oh firmly and gently stroked his bare back with his large hand. It was strange and surprising that he could press his body against a person he did not like merely due to court ritual.

If Yeon-oh asked the Emperor how he could do this, he felt he knew what he would answer.

He would probably say he was foolish.

As if reprimanding such a thought, the man pressed his lips onto Yeon-oh’s. Yeon-oh slowly opened his mouth. A hot piece of flesh parted his lips and penetrated inside.

Wet sounds echoed messily throughout the room.

It was pathetic to be exchanging tongues with the person he should hate the most.

******

Yeon-oh stood in front of an ancient, richly colored hall. Spring had passed and summer had already arrived. Although the heat was not yet at its peak, the sunlight was intense by midday.

Yesterday, he had fallen asleep while locked in a kiss with the man. He did not remember when he had drifted off.

The Emperor sent the Chief Eunuch early in the morning with a command that Yeon-oh was to come and cleanse his lack of virtue. Having paid his respects to the Empress Dowager and finished his morning tasks, Yeon-oh headed for the Cheonghan Hall.

Chief Eunuch Wan led Yeon-oh to the Su-eo Pavilion. The Su-eo Pavilion in the Cheonghan Hall area was the Emperor’s study.

“Consort Gwi-bi, Your Majesty, please enter.”

Yeon-oh had expected to be forced to kneel in front of the Cheonghan Hall, but the turn of events was unexpected. Yeon-oh entered the Su-eo Pavilion feeling slightly bewildered.

The Su-eo Pavilion was the oldest and largest building in the Cheonghan Hall area. Old books were stacked high in one corner of the magnificent hall. Chief Eunuch Wan waited briefly for Yeon-oh, whose gaze was captivated by the stacked books.

The Emperor was in the innermost room of the hall. Books were stacked everywhere in the room where he was. The man was seated in front of a large desk. He was drawing thick red lines across the memorial he had spread out, causing a cold, red rain to fall.

“We pay our respects to His Majesty the Emperor. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless fortune.”

Seonjae spoke without taking his eyes off the memorial he was reading.

“You have arrived.”

Chief Eunuch Wan, upon hearing his words, personally came to Yeon-oh’s side and helped him rise. It was unusual for the Grand Chief Eunuch, who served the Emperor closely, to assist a consort.

Yeon-oh politely expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you, Grand Eunuch.”

Just then, Eunuch So, who had entered without a sound, handed a teacup to Chief Eunuch Wan. Chief Eunuch Wan received the teacup and naturally passed it to Yeon-oh.

Yeon-oh, who had received the hot teacup inadvertently, suddenly paused. He realized what was happening when he saw Chief Eunuch Wan and Eunuch So smiling benevolently at him.

The eunuchs were passing their duties onto him.

As if to inform him of this, Chief Eunuch Wan politely gestured toward the Emperor’s location. Yeon-oh turned his body and headed toward the man.

“I withdraw.”

Then, as if they had been waiting, the sound of withdrawal echoed from behind. Yeon-oh turned back with a hint of sorrow. Chief Eunuch Wan gestured for him to go quickly, and Eunuch So bowed deeply. Master and disciple were exactly alike.

Yeon-oh properly recognized his role. He was the Emperor’s closest attendant today. He was likely the lowest-ranking attendant among all of them.

He steeled his resolve and approached the man’s side.

Serving the Emperor was difficult. Even the temperature of the tea water was tricky. The Emperor did not like tea and did not like hot things. Hot tea was merely a fishy liquid that the man would only wet his lips with and discard.

Yeon-oh tasted the tea the man had set down and refused to look at after frowning, and he agreed with the reason why he never touched it. The tea, which had an impressive aroma when hot, became excessively bitter and fishy once cooled.

Yeon-oh chose a lightly scented tea and brewed it in water that was not too hot to maintain its aroma and taste. He took care to ensure that the taste did not become bland and the elegant aroma remained, even when pouring water that had cooled slightly.

Thump.

As Yeon-oh set down the teacup, a large hand moved toward it. Seonjae, who placed his hand on the cup to check the temperature, paused.

“…”

He had intended to immediately withdraw his hand if he felt stinging heat, but the moderately warm temperature reaching his hand made him pick up the cup. The man, who intended to wet his lips and put the cup down, tasted the bright aroma tickling his nose and the smooth tea, and turned his head. Having tasted the tea, which was neither too hot, nor fishy, nor bland, Seonjae subconsciously emptied half the cup.

“…”

Since the Emperor did not speak, Yeon-oh only focused on organizing the scrolls that he had carelessly placed after looking at them. He was satisfied that the tea he served was not merely wet his lips with and discarded.

He thought that his picky and sensitive aunt in Yeongsan and his uncle-by-marriage, who insisted tea had no discernible taste, were helping him in this way.

It was a skill honed by the severity of his aunt, who would not touch the teacup again after a single sip if the temperature or aroma was off, and the elegant verbal abuse of his uncle-by-marriage, who would say, “No one will drink your tea if you do it like that.” His aunt would look pityingly at her lacking nephew and serve him the world’s most delicious tea at the perfectly right temperature.

When the Emperor finished the cup of tea, Yeon-oh was slightly pleased that he had done a good job. When the young eunuchs and Chief Eunuch Wan looked at him with surprise as he carried the empty cup outside, he even felt a little proud.

Thump, the teacup was placed in a corner of the Emperor’s desk.

Yeon-oh served tea an uncountable number of times. The Emperor only excelled at making a mess, yet intensely disliked anything that wasn’t neatly organized. He properly organized the scrolls he had scattered and arranged the stacked memorials according to type.

By the time the sun set, his hands and feet were numb. It was exhausting, but he knew the Emperor had given him a lot of leeway.

He could not rely on the Emperor. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He was an untrustworthy man. However, he knew that the man had indulged him a little today.

He could spend the entire day away from the consorts by attending to the Emperor. Although those who misunderstood might torment him even more because of this, for now, he could avoid the things he disliked.

Smooch.

A brush heavily laden with ink streaked across Yeon-oh’s hand. The ink quickly dried and stiffened, making his hand feel a little tight. Yeon-oh gazed sulkily at the man who was childishly bothering him.

“Why is your face still like that?”

Seonjae spoke to the sullen face and moved the tip of his brush. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] An elegant flowering tree blossomed on the clean back of his hand.

Yeon-oh, looking at the noble graffiti, muttered to himself.

“I thought you were a good person.”

Seonjae laughed at Yeon-oh’s whisper, which left him speechless. The face whispering the sorrowful words was a little pitiful.

“That word again, Consort Gwi-bi.”

Yeon-oh sighed and blurted out his true feelings to the Emperor, who was trying to slip away by pretending not to know.

“It’s difficult to live in the Imperial Palace.”

He knew he shouldn’t, but he wanted to tell someone, and so he spoke his true feelings.

“…”

The smile that had been on the Emperor’s face gradually faded. He agreed with a faint nod.