YCHW Ch 78

Even though it was just one encounter, I was as drained as I had been on our first night. Yoonso watched Hwi, breathing softly like a creature that had just learned how to breathe.

He had fallen asleep at some point after cleaning Yoonso up. It was the first time Yoonso had seen Hwi sleeping, so he observed him in silence.

At first glance, it seemed as if he were just closing his eyes. However, the steady rise and fall of Hwi’s chest and his face, which felt peaceful rather than expressionless, revealed his slumber.

It was a moment he had never witnessed during their month-long journey, which made him realize that the guardian energy had truly helped Hwi. Yoonso wondered what he was dreaming about, hoping he would fall into a deep sleep without any dreams at all, and then quietly rose from the bed.

He put on his clothes and roughly fixed his hair, then carefully opened the door. He waved off the court attendants who tried to follow him and went out into the garden.

Night had already fallen, and Geumju Castle was quiet under the pale white moon. Perhaps because there were few lights, every single constellation embroidered in the night sky shone clearly, making it feel as if he were under a endlessly unfolding star chart.

There was no scent of human life nor any vitality here, and this atmosphere was nothing more than something built upon ruins, but it was exceedingly beautiful. As I stared blankly up at the sky, tears burst out without any warning.

Just as I was barely suppressing my sobs, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. At the consideration from a man who usually moved as stealthily as a goblin, a sob finally escaped. A warm hand grasped Yoonso’s arm and turned him around.

“You did it on purpose, did you not?”

Yoonso pounded Hwi’s chest with his balled-up fists.

“So that I would have no choice but to pity Your Majesty, hngh, you did it on purpose! Going out alone to wear yourself out, so that I would have no choice but to settle down here!”

While Yoonso shot glares at Hwi with tear-filled eyes, pushing him and throwing punches, Hwi simply endured the clumsy and confused hands, holding Yoonso in his arms and only preventing him from getting away.

By the time his energy was spent after a few punches and he was clinging to Hwi’s collar, shaking with sobs, Hwi gently stroked Yoonso’s back.

“That is right. I sought your pity, and this is my trap, so you had no choice but to be caught.”

Yoonso bit his lip hard and his eyes widened. Even now, Hwi offered no excuses and had finally dragged him into the center of this predicament.

His grip on Hwi’s collar tightened. He was still heartless and cruel, and I knew I would never be able to hate anyone this much for the rest of my life.

No matter how much he was the Son of Heaven of this nation, I deeply resented why he could not escape that predicament, why he could not choose me, and whether his affection was not enough for that. If this was how it was going to be, why had he deceived me and acted like an ordinary lover? For a fleeting moment, I had even loathed those moments I had wanted to cherish so dearly.

But the moment he first encountered the monsters pouring out of the hellscape, the moment he witnessed Hwi fighting them, Yoonso reached the single-minded conclusion that he could not leave him alone.

I still want to leave this palace. I want to throw away things like duty and responsibility and just run away. I still long for all of those things.

However, he could not abandon them to grasp the freedom and dreams built upon the sacrifices of Hwi and these many others.

Yoonso’s lips trembled slightly as he cupped Hwi’s cheek with one hand. At that, Hwi leaned his head against it, like a beast submissive only to its master.

He understood his choice, the one that had led him down the current path after facing numerous opportunities and crossroads. Of course, he would never be able to fully comprehend and fathom it. He had decided to understand even that gap, that blank space. He did not even know if he was being foolish. For all I know, this too may have been his intention.

But it did not matter. Hwi was the companion he had chosen, and even if this journey flowed down an unwanted path, it was his affection to see it through to the end.

“Why did you not bring me here sooner?”

Hwi covered the back of Yoonso’s hand with his large one and fiddled with it as if taking his time.

“It is not a very nice place.”

Since when had he been a part of this chaotic scene? It was said that crown princes sometimes went to the hellscape even before their ascension, so it was highly likely he had been going since before he was twelve. Yoonso thought of his and Hwi’s time, which had flowed in parallel in different places, and shook his head.

“From now on, I will stay by Your Majesty’s side.”

His moist eyes, embracing the starlight, gazed steadily at Hwi. In the firm and solid light that no one could break, Hwi faced Yoonso without the slightest movement, as if blinded, his gaze distant.

Silence enveloped them. In the quiet of the early summer where not even the insects chirped, Hwi finally took Yoonso’s hand preciously and pressed a reverent and polite kiss on the eight-ringed bracelet on his wrist. Yoonso just… laughed, relieved and bravely.
8. Adaptation

Sobaeguk, having entered the palace for the morning assembly, rubbed the tight spot in his solar plexus that felt like indigestion and calmed his uncomfortable mood. Today, too, his heart felt stifled and uneasy, and his face turned reddish.

The main throne hall, where the emperor had not yet arrived, was chillingly quiet. The bastards who usually approached him first to curry favor with fawning flattery had all shut their mouths since that damned curse incident and maintained a strangely cold attitude, making him so furious he could die.

He could not understand why such a mishap had occurred in the first place. It was surely the work of spies trying to slander the So family. Sobaeguk looked for the ones who might have done such a thing, examining their faces one by one, before giving up in a surge of indignation.

In truth, the person who angered him the most was none other than his second son, So Yoonso. He had gone to the trouble of placing him in the noble position of empress, only to have him be of no help at all, which could not be more frustrating.

How wonderful it would be if he used his handsome face and precious guardian energy to sway the emperor’s heart and benefit the family. He had brought in tutors for a long time to teach him for that very purpose, but it seemed all those years were about to be for nothing.

How on earth did he manage his subordinates that he got caught up in such a vulgar setup? He had been an unsatisfactory son since he was young, being overly innocent and reckless, but he had never dreamed he would cause this kind of trouble after entering the palace.

The only thing to believe in now was that guardian energy of his. Three signal fires had been raised yesterday afternoon, so the emperor must have gone out to battle himself, and he could only hope that Yoonso had stepped up this time. So Yoonso absolutely had to prove his worth with his guardian energy.

“His Majesty, the Emperor, arrives!”

The ministers lined up in rows paid their respects politely at the eunuch’s resounding cry. The emperor strode forward with straight, unhindered steps. The dragon embroidered in the middle of his back looked even more majestic today, and even the hem of his black ceremonial robe, fluttering with his movements, felt like great sacred energy.

The emperor sat on the throne and looked around at his officials with an indifferent face. Though it was just an ordinary gaze, his eyes always had a mysterious power to make people tense. Sobaeguk furtively glanced at the emperor’s complexion, trying to guess his mood, but as always, he could not figure out a single thing.

He could not concentrate at all as the routine procedures and agendas passed by. It was an unacceptable and shameful thing to be so neglectful of state affairs, but this was beyond his control. And with good reason…

“Your Majesty. The empress, who should protect the imperial personage and preserve the security of the nation and love the people, has abandoned his duties and planted a wicked object in the palace to curse the imperial personage. This is a crime of high treason that shakes the foundations of the state, and you must set the nation’s foundation aright.”

The mongrels appeared as if they had been waiting for the right time to attack. The words to set the foundation aright were practically the same as saying the empress should be deposed, so Sobaeguk ground his teeth in anger.

In reality, what they wanted was likely not his deposition. They would push hard at first, and then, if the emperor took a step back, they would aim to make the Yeongwi Committee independent from the empress’s palace and surely reduce the authority of the Yeongchunhwa. For them, this was a heaven-sent opportunity that could not be missed, so it was obvious they would not back down.

“Your Majesty. The sinner’s* testimony is clear, and the Ministry of Justice has already compared the characters used in the curse with the empress’s handwriting and has determined that the two are identical. This means the evidence of treason has been clearly revealed. How can such a heinous act be tolerated?”

Shouts denouncing the empress continued from all sides. Sobaeguk trembled with a sense of betrayal as the Ministry of Personnel, to which he belonged, raised its voice the loudest.

However, even at a moment like this, what did not leave his mind was the emperor’s heart.

From the time the curse incident was first brought up in court, the emperor had not shown any sign of emotion, to the point of seeming indifferent and weary. Even when the debate between the faction denouncing the empress and the faction defending him continued, he did not mediate or organize it as he usually did, but simply listened quietly before ending it with the ambiguous words, “Let us conclude here for now.”