CH 24.2

Yihan, who walked on both feet when he came out as he did when he entered Jeongan Palace, panted like a boy who ran endlessly for a very long time. He couldn’t figure out what just happened to himself. His mind was all over the place as if he had entered a cave of a fox that possessed people.

“Your Majesty, are you okay?”

As the emperor stood still, breathing so hard, Eunuch Oh, whose face contorted simultaneously, approached him and asked. Yihan gave no answer, so the eunuch asked again.

“Would you like to climb the palanquin, Your Majesty?”

Those words were a question asking the emperor if he wanted to leave this place. It was no different from asking if he wanted to leave this place and go to other palaces—to other concubines’ residences. Yihan was still struggling to catch his breath for no reason and then turned his head, looking at Jeongan Palace, where he had just come back from.

Very slightly, the tip of his toes flinched. Where do I want to go? What do I want to see? Right now, what do I want to do?

Yihan bit his lips at the flooding questions. He thought he couldn’t find the good answers for those. He felt the questions kept increasing since he didn’t answer them.

Do I want to return to Jeongan Palace? Do I want to go back and see Yeon Hwawoon? Go back and grab his hand again. Pulled him to me again. Then, I, him,

As he thought that far, Yihan desperately bit his lips and tried hard to clear his mind.

No. No way. It’s impossible that I want to see Yeon Hwawoon again.

Those were the only answers he could put together. Eunuch Oh, who was still waiting for the emperor, opened his mouth with a slightly lower voice.

“Your Majesty…”

“…”

“You are the greatest person under heaven. All in this palace are yours, and every person in this palace is your person. What is it for you to worry and be afraid about?”

Once again, Yihan clenched his fists hard. Hwawoon’s thin wrist filled his grasp. The face that glowed under the moonlight and the voice full of dedication to the emperor.

Then, the eunuch said,

“Just do as you wish, Your Majesty. They will certainly be happy and welcome you.”

The eunuch didn’t explicitly say who will be happy and welcome him. However, Yihan knew that he was talking about the owner of the palace behind him. Eunuch Oh was someone who served the emperor from the closest and longest. He sometimes knew better what the emperor wanted than he, himself and was also the one who knew the emperor’s feelings better.

Hence, Yihan couldn’t understand him. How could such a clever person, such a quick-witted person who knew him better than others, say he wanted to stay in Jeongan Palace?

I, but I really don’t want to see him.

The emperor walked and climbed the palanquin instead of asking the reason. Eunuch Oh accompanied the emperor’s steps and said nothing more. After climbing the palanquin, Yihan’s gaze looked at Jeongan Palace once again. That place, which was serenely bathed under the moonlight, looked just like Wolgung Palace (*a palace known to be on the moon in the legend).

“… Let’s go to the empress palace.”

Then, the emperor gave his order. The eunuch only followed the emperor.

***

“Ahjin unnie!”

The courtiers of Jeongan Palace, who were gathering in front of Yeonbin’s bedroom, rushed as soon as Ahjin came out. Ahjin’s face, holding the ointment pot in her hand, was very teary. The girls who wore the same troubled expression hurriedly opened their mouths again.

“Is His Highness fine?”

These days, all the courtiers in Jeongan Palace couldn’t hide their curiosity toward their master, so they were busy watching Hwawoon very carefully wherever he went. They were amazed by how their master, who they had been scared of, became very friendly, so they couldn’t take their eyes off him. In addition, Hwawoon, who was no longer cranky, was beautiful like a virtuous man from heaven, so it was inevitable for their eyes to stay at him.

For that reason, there were also many courtiers who wandered around and secretly glanced at Yeonbin, who enjoyed the moonlight. Because of that, there were many eyes that had watched what happened with the emperor, and in the middle of the night, Jeongan Palace was in a state of chaos due to a silent disturbance.