Chapter 25
······.
······.
A tender silence fell between the two.
Lee Hyang, who was experiencing love for the first time, didn't know how to express his feelings and could only gaze at the woman holding his son.
Yunseo, who was both happy and overwhelmed by the love that had suddenly arrived, could only gaze back at Lee Hyang, who was taking her in.
The silence between them was broken by the voice of Gimi Sang-gung, who cautiously announced from outside.
“Your Highness, I have prepared the Tarakjuk you ordered.”
“Bring it in.”
Lee Hyang gave the order, his gaze still fixed solely on Yunseo.
As the door opened, Yunseo quickly closed her eyes.
Since she was lying facing the door, she didn't want to be caught as a Palace Lady receiving the Crown Prince's gaze while lying down.
“Your Highness, the weather is warm, so we didn't have pre-curdled milk and had to prepare it anew, which took a long time. I apologize.”
“It’s alright. Leave it by my side and go.”
“I will taste it,”
“It’s alright. I will taste it.”
“!”
They say the Crown Prince is utterly captivated by that thousand-year-old vixen of a Palace Lady, and now he speaks such grave words, his gaze fixed solely on her.
However, as the Crown Prince's command was absolute, the Royal Lady glanced at the Palace Lady who was still asleep and His Highness the Grandson nestled in her arms, then left the Heated Room.
“Yunseo, you must eat something. You haven't been able to eat anything but herbal medicine, have you?”
Lee Hyang, finally having found something to say, happily approached Yunseo's bedside with the small table.
Yunseo, who had been lamenting with her eyes closed, 'Was our ascetic Cold beauty Crown Prince always like this?' finally opened her eyes out of necessity.
“Can you sit up? Shall I feed you?”
Lee Hyang said, already taking a spoonful and chewing it, tasting it.
Yunseo, who felt good about Lee Hyang's heart rushing forward like a runaway train without regard for his surroundings, but was also burdened by it, was about to refuse, 'No, I'm not hungry...' but suddenly felt a fierce hunger at the savory smell of Tarakjuk.
It was a terrible hunger, as if she could devour an entire cow.
Yunseo carefully took Hongwi from her arms, laid him down, covered him meticulously with the blanket, and then tried to sit up.
...She tried to sit up, but dizziness washed over her, and the strength drained from the arm she used to prop herself up.
Lee Hyang caught Yunseo's upper body as she toppled back onto the bed.
“Your Highness……”
“Shh, you must be tired. Don't say anything and open your mouth. This is very savory.”
Lee Hyang embraced Yunseo from behind, letting her lean against his broad chest, then held the bowl of Tarakjuk in his left hand and the silver spoon in his right, scooped a spoonful, and offered it to Yunseo's mouth.
It felt like her parents hadn't held her like this and fed her anything since she was over ten years old.
With a very awkward and trembling heart, she opened her mouth and took the first spoonful, then continued to open her mouth like a baby bird begging for food.
Her body, weary from exhaustion, craved the Tarakjuk.
Yunseo ate diligently, so much so that she could feel the vibration of Lee Hyang's chest as he fed her without pause, his silent laughter resonating through her back.
After diligently finishing the warm wild ginseng tea with reishi mushrooms as a dessert.
Yunseo finally felt vitality and energy coursing through her entire body.
“Your Highness, I am alright now. I can sit up by myself,”
“No. You wouldn't be alright with just one bowl of Tarakjuk.”
“······.”
Even though she said she was fine, His Highness insisted she was not, and pulled Yunseo even closer.
Oh well.
Yunseo closed her eyes comfortably, leaning against him, half in resignation and half feeling incredibly safe and protected.
Through her darkening vision, she could clearly hear a heartbeat, though she didn't know whose it was, the clinking of weapons from the guards on night watch, and the distant cry of a scops owl.
“What time is it?”
“The bell for the third watch of the night rang a while ago.”
“Did Your Highness eat anything?”
“I ate with Hongwi earlier. Hongwi, he insisted on not leaving your side, so I had no choice but to let him sleep with us.”
Every time Lee Hyang spoke, Yunseo could clearly feel the vibration of his voice box.
“Your Highness.”
“Hmm?”
“Why do you like me, Your Highness?”
“I like... all of you.”
“······.”
While she was grateful that he liked all of her, Yunseo couldn't fully rejoice.
The situation was too sudden and complicated.
“Your Highness, how far do you intend to elevate me?”
Then, Lee Hyang rested his head on Yunseo's shoulder and quietly confessed.
“You are my Consort, my only companion, and you will rule Joseon with me.”
Lee Hyang's voice held a firm conviction that Yunseo would accept his proposal.
However, Yunseo truly couldn't bring herself to start such a grand relationship, where loving one man meant the entire Joseon kingdom came along with him.
Yet, she also didn't want to push away the affectionate and handsome Lee Hyang like this.
“Your Highness. Let's just date.”
“······?”
Although he didn't know the word 'date,' Lee Hyang sensed from Yunseo's tone that it wasn't the answer he desired, and his body stiffened.
“Instead of becoming the Crown Princess, I want to date you, Your Highness.”
Since such an important conversation should be had face-to-face, Yunseo freed herself from Lee Hyang's arms, which had been tightly wrapped around her waist, and sat up.
This time, Lee Hyang let her go willingly.
Yunseo sat facing Lee Hyang.
It felt like a lifetime ago since she had gone to Bihyeon Pavilion to discuss fingerprint collection last night.
Lee Hyang looked much thinner after just one night.
“······.”
Lee Hyang simply gazed at Yunseo without a word.
He was the Crown Prince of a nation, a man who had several children including their Hongwi, yet he looked at Yunseo with the face of a hurt boy rejected in love.
“Your Highness.”
His expression pained her, so Yunseo reached out and cupped Lee Hyang's cheeks with both hands.
“!”
It was the first time a woman—or rather, a woman allowing herself to be held so tenderly by a woman—had done this. Lee Hyang's twenty-nine-year-old eyes trembled slightly.
Having only known relationships with women as a Consort, a Concubine, or a Royal Concubine, Lee Hyang had no idea how to 'date,' as it was not written in any of the countless books he had read.
“Dating, Your Highness, is like this: we like each other, and we express our feelings like this, but it doesn't necessarily mean I have to become your Consort or a Royal Concubine. You are simply you, and I remain the nanny Palace Lady for our Hongwi, meeting occasionally to confirm our feelings,”
Yunseo slowly drew Lee Hyang's face closer.
“And adult dating is like this, expressing love. Close your eyes, Your Highness.”
As if bewitched, Lee Hyang closed his eyes at the command of a mere Palace Lady.
In the pitch-darkness, his other senses sharpened. He clearly felt warm breath on his nose, and then something soft, warm, and yielding touching his lips.
Yunseo lightly kissed Lee Hyang's lips and then burst into laughter.
She had several children, yet our Crown Prince seemed to have never kissed before, keeping his lips pursed without opening them.
Lee Hyang opened his eyes at Yunseo's laughter.
Their gazes met intensely at the distance where their noses touched.
“How presumptuous, Kwon Yunseo.”
Lee Hyang cupped Yunseo's cheeks with both hands, just as she had done to him, and then pressed his lips to hers.
It was an adult kiss, performed with open mouths.
As the intensity deepened and the desire grew stronger, Yunseo pushed weakly against Lee Hyang's chest.
“Haa, dating, Your Highness. It’s about slowly getting to know each other, haa. Repeatedly meeting, and truly seeing if that person is, haa, my person. Let’s get to know each other slowly, slowly.”
Slowly.
You are the Crown Prince of Joseon, where even marriage is an act of governance.
Slowly.
I am still a stranger in this world, unsure of how to live.
“Your Highness, slowly. Let's date slowly.”
“...I am already certain you are my person, but if you wish to take time to date, so be it.”
Though desire burned and caused him pain, Lee Hyang accepted Kwon Yunseo's words.
The dating Yunseo spoke of, getting to know if she was 'his person,' was an act he had never experienced with other women, and thus it felt like a special time, meeting as an ordinary man and an ordinary woman, free from the heavy obligations of being Crown Prince or Crown Princess.
And so, the two spent the night of their first day of dating with just a passionate kiss, sleeping with Hongwi between them.
Neither could sleep very deeply that night, but it was also a night of sweet torment.
\\*
The next morning, before dawn, Lee Hyang crossed to the Seoondol, dressed, and paid his respects at the Queen's Palace, so as not to wake Hongwi and Yunseo.
Queen Soheon, who had heard about the commotion at Cheonsu Hall from King Sejong yesterday, and later heard from Park Sanggung that Kwon Ga had collapsed and even the royal physician had been called, then slept with Hongwi in the Heated Room, carefully observed her son's face.
Her son looked tired, yet his expression was bright.
“Is that child Kwon Ga alright? Well, she wouldn't recover easily after such a shock,”
Queen Soheon said, glancing at King Sejong.
“Why did you want to question that child so much when she was so frightened? You should have just sent her away.”
King Sejong cleared his throat and shook his head.
“That child is not so timid. The Queen will see later, but she is so dignified and bold. Ah, she reminds me so much of my own mother. Don't you think so, Hyang?”
“Ah, no, Father. Yunseo is such a gentle woman.”
'Yunseo,'
King Sejong and Queen Soheon exchanged glances.
Queen Soheon, confirming that her son had finally met a woman he cherished, smiled broadly and laid out her thoughts.
“Her family background isn't very good, so it might be difficult to immediately bestow a high rank. We can start with Seunghwi, and if she has a son or daughter, we can promote her to Yangwon, and then gradually to Consort, which would be acceptable.”
Queen Soheon said this because she trusted the judgment of Park Sanggung from the East Palace.
When asked what kind of child this Kwon Ga Palace Lady was, that Hongwi followed her like his own mother, and her son, who was usually so reserved, had rushed forward like a madman, Park Sanggung sighed, 'Sigh,' and answered in her characteristic eloquent manner.
"Her greatest strength is 'Samusa', meaning she has no malice or wickedness in her thoughts." She doesn't become envious or resentful without reason. Furthermore, she will risk her own safety for His Highness the Grandson. She is also more intelligent than most men and has the composure to not be fazed by almost anything in the Palace.”
In short, she was fit to be the Crown Princess.
Although there was no physical intimacy between them last night due to Kwon Ga's discomfort, Queen Soheon surmised that they had already developed deep affection from spending late nights together at Bihyeon Pavilion several times before. She wanted to quickly arrange a formal partner for her son, who had been living like a widower.
However, her son's expression, which she expected to be joyful, was peculiar.
“My Kwon Yunseo and I will be dating for the time being.”
“!”
“?”
“······.”
After a stunned silence, Queen Soheon asked King Sejong.
“Your Majesty, what is 'dating'?”
“That, I do not know. What is dating, Hyang?”
“Dating is…”
'It is restraining oneself from wanting to embrace immediately and slowly getting to know each other.'
Lee Hyang wanted to say this, but as the most upright man in Joseon, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Furthermore, he carefully chose his words so that his Father and Mother would not think Yunseo was insolent.
“It is observing and getting to know each other over time to see if we are suitable partners. I wish to observe Kwon Yunseo further to see if she is a suitable woman for me.”
“Oh, ho!”
“That makes sense.”
She has already failed twice, so she wants to be cautious this time.
Well, that makes sense.
Indeed, our Crown Prince is truly deep-thinking, cautious, and upright.
King Sejong and Queen Soheon, unaware of the truth, understood each other through their gazes.
Still, Park Sanggung, who had an excellent eye for people and possessions, affirmed she was fit to be Crown Princess, and even the loyal and cautious Eom Sangjeon treated her with the respect due to a Crown Princess.
“Hyang, don't be too hasty. She is already outstanding in appearance, outstanding in character, intelligent enough to be questioned by Your Majesty, and most importantly, she is genuinely good to our Hongwi!”
She said, teasingly provoking Lee Hyang.
