Chapter 31
Episode 31. I Shall Reveal My Most Intimate Secret to You (1)
"The two ministers have passed, yet it seems Your Highness has more to do."
I had asked to be informed when Lee Hyang's matter was concluded, and Eom Sangjeon came to tell me a little past the hour of the monkey, half-guk (9 PM).
Yunseo tore the paper again, put it in a silk pouch, hid it in a secret compartment inside the writing desk, and then lay down next to Hongwi.
And she meticulously took in his hair, loose like black silk, his thick, long eyelashes, his nose already straight and prominent like his father's, and his red lips, slightly parted as he exhaled warm breaths.
Though Lee Hyang, being cautious in all matters, was unlikely to do so, he could still order Kwon Ga, claiming she was possessed by a ghost spouting nonsense, to be dragged to the Naesao.
Yunseo had arranged earlier with Maegeumi to come and help her escape if she were confined to the Naesao or anywhere else.
Maegeumi nodded, as if excited by the opportunity to showcase her skills, responding with "Yes!" to Yunseo's request.
If things unfolded that way, this moment could be the last time I see our Hongwi.
'Should I not say anything? I already told Crown Princess that a spirit appeared in my dream and gave me a ring, and Lee Hyang accepted it somehow, so perhaps I could live like this...'
But that would only deceive for a few months, not years.
And because of the fact that I was deceiving him, Yunseo would always feel uneasy in a corner of her heart, and there would inevitably be a limit to the deep communion of hearts that should be shared.
A relationship born from lies cannot end well.
"Hongwi, I will do anything, everything, to return to your side."
Yunseo placed a light kiss on his forehead and inhaled Hongwi's scent for a very long time.
Hongwi smelled faintly of camellia mixed with medicinal herbs.
From now on, whenever I smell camellia, I will think of our Hongwi, who used to comfort me so tenderly, saying, "Don't cry, don't cry."
Yunseo sat up.
She went outside and asked Eom Sangjeon to call Lady Choi to look after His Highness the Grandson.
"I have something very important to tell Your Highness."
When Kwon Ga, dressed exceptionally beautifully today, said this, Eom Sangjeon nodded with a meaningful expression.
She seemed to think Yunseo was going to fulfill the Royal Order the King had given earlier at Cheonsu Hall, not to leave the Crown Prince alone at night.
"Go to His Highness with peace of mind. The Grandson rarely wakes up at night, does he not?"
Yunseo took the lantern Eom Sangjeon handed her, took a few steps, then quickly walked back and whispered in a low voice into Eom Sangjeon's ear.
"Royal Lady. If anything happens to me, kill Grand Prince Suyang. If the rope you've grasped is not rotten, Grand Prince Suyang must die."
"...Kwon, Kwon Ga, that, that is...?"
Eom Sangjeon was momentarily stunned when the beautiful woman, who gave off a chilling aura when she erased her expression, told her to kill a royal relative while going to attend the Crown Prince at night.
However, Eom Sangjeon quickly composed herself and replied, "I will do so. I will plan meticulously and ensure it is done."
Kwon Ga's expression was so solemn that it felt like she had to answer that way and send her off.
Yunseo, holding a single lantern, headed alone towards Bihyeon Pavilion, her footsteps rustling.
The muggy air of the day had cooled into a chill, making her back shiver.
Just then, a breeze of early summer night swept past, rustling Yunseo's skirt.
What would Lee Hyang say if he knew that the soul inhabiting Kwon Ga's body was an alien being from the distant future?
Whatever his answer, it was his to give, and Yunseo had a duty to faithfully report the truth.
"Kwon Ga, the maid, has arrived, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The young eunuch who attended His Highness at night announced her inside.
The sound of a chair being pushed hastily was followed by a voice saying, "Enter."
Yunseo's heart sank again at the clear joy embedded in that voice.
What if he dismissed her as a monster possessed by a ghost, spouting strange nonsense?
If she were driven out of the Palace like that, she could survive anywhere, but what about our Hongwi, and what about Lee Hyang, whose misfortune in choosing a wife was once again revealed to the world?
Or, if he decided that such a strange person like her was not someone he wanted as a woman, and told her to live only as Hongwi's nanny, could she live as a Palace Lady, calmly and indifferently, while clearly remembering Lee Hyang's lips that had touched hers so hotly?
'Above all, by choosing Lee Hyang, will I be able to embrace and faithfully carry out all the affairs of Joseon that come with it?'
In the brief moment the eunuch pushed the door open, the ten thousand thoughts she had mulled over branched out into ten thousand more.
As the door opened, Lee Hyang was already standing at the entrance.
His face, gaunt from continuous hard work, revealed even more elegant lines, and was filled with such clear joy and longing for Yunseo that her eyes welled up again.
"Yunseo!"
Before the eunuch could even close the door, Lee Hyang pulled her into his embrace and kissed her lips passionately.
Yunseo had originally planned to tell him everything, give him several days to think, and only then engage in a kiss or anything else after confirming his choice.
Betrayed love could easily turn into cruel hatred, as intense as the passion it once was.
However, unaware of Yunseo's feelings, Lee Hyang had already begun a deep kiss.
Having attended His Majesty's Royal Meal this evening, Lee Hyang would also know the Royal Order issued from Cheonsu Hall.
The fact that he had come directly to Jaseon Hall to find Yunseo, unlike other times, was likely a thoughtful consideration to give Yunseo time to think about that Royal Order.
And now that Yunseo had come to Bihyeon Pavilion first, he would be happily thinking that she had decided to form a marital bond, abandoning such unbearable romance.
As if not wanting to wait any longer and wanting to see the end immediately, Lee Hyang's hands unhesitatingly delved under her clothes.
A poignant desire bloomed unrestrainedly within Yunseo's body as well.
But before anything was decided, before Yunseo's desire grew stronger and she lost her reason, Lee Hyang needed to know the truth.
Ultimately, Yunseo pushed Lee Hyang away with Kwon Ga's strong hands.
"I have something to tell you, Your Highness."
"...Yunseo."
Pushed away with ragged breaths, Lee Hyang tried to say something but then simply brushed the hair Yunseo had disheveled behind her ear with his own hand.
Yunseo took a step back, avoiding Lee Hyang's tender touch, and then knelt on the floor, bowing her head.
"Your Highness, there is something I must tell you. Please go and sit on that chair."
Sensing that Yunseo's tone was unusual, Lee Hyang straightened his body, which had been bent to help her up, and instead commanded,
"Rise, Kwon Yunseo. Your knees must hurt. Sit on the chair and speak."
"Your Highness, there is something I have been unable to tell you until now, and I wish to tell you here. You must listen. You must judge after listening."
"!"
Perhaps sensing an ominous premonition, Lee Hyang suddenly knelt before Yunseo and gripped her chin painfully.
"Is it because of that man, Bogeom? Is it because of that Bogeom, whom you desperately seek even in dreams, that you have concluded you cannot accept me?"
What?
What is this talk?
Her heart, tense from not knowing how he would receive her secret confession, suddenly relaxed.
Only now did Yunseo recall Lee Hyang searching the entire Palace to find the man named Bogeom.
She had been so busy that she had completely forgotten to explain about him, but she never imagined it would come up like this.
"Your Highness, Bogeom is a figure like a portrait, someone I have never met in my life!"
"!"
"And I clearly told you then that you are much more handsome than Bogeom, so why are you talking about Bogeom? This is not the time for that."
"......"
At Yunseo's scolding, Lee Hyang said, "...I lose my senses whenever I stand before you," but he seemed quite pleased with the remark that he was more handsome than Bogeom, and again led Yunseo with a gentle expression to a table where six or seven people were gathered for a meeting.
"Speak here. Don't kneel and hurt your beautiful knees."
"Your Highness, please sit opposite me. I will sit here."
She sent Lee Hyang, who was trying to sit next to her, to the opposite side.
Lee Hyang then poured tea from a ceramic teacup and placed it before Yunseo, and poured himself a cup before sitting opposite her, instead of going to sit down.
Lately, she had mostly seen him wearing light, flowing robes, but today, Lee Hyang was still dressed in his Dragon Robe and Ikseongwan, having been working late with Kim Jongseo and Jeong Inji.
"Your Highness, when your official duties are over, even if you have more work to do, please wash up, dry yourself thoroughly, change into light clothing, and then resume your work. I taught Lady Park Sanggung's Servant Boy how to make soap. Wash with that soap, dry yourself well, and always wear light clothes to prevent boils."
She couldn't help but nag again.
"And I haven't had time to boil pig fat to make oil yet, but Lady Park Sanggung and her servants also know how to make Jaun-go. Jaun-go is very helpful for mild itching or early boils, so apply it, and order the Royal Physicians to make it into a stronger external medicine. That way, Your Highness will not die prematurely from severe boils."
"Yunseo."
Lee Hyang, now realizing Yunseo was acting strangely, started to rise and approach her.
But Yunseo shook her head firmly and said again,
"Listen from there, Lee Hyang. Lee Hyang, the Crown Prince of Joseon, who will later receive the posthumous title Munjong. Listen to my words from there. I am a soul from the future, inhabiting Kwon Ga's body."
"Yunseo!"
"Wasn't it strange? That Kwon Ga, suspected of having a borderline intellectual disability, who couldn't read but was only kind-hearted, suddenly claimed that the spirit of the Crown Princess appeared to her, started writing new characters, insisted on moving His Highness the Grandson to Jaseon Hall, and constantly nagged the healthy Your Highness about boils. Wasn't it strange?"
"......"
The color drained from Lee Hyang's face.
On his elegant face, weary from long hours of work and sleepless nights, a kaleidoscope of surprise, shock, and disbelief flickered.
She hadn't intended to confess so abruptly, pushing him like this.
Yunseo had planned to bow her head and confess in a gentle, measured tone that she was a soul from the future and wanted to marry him if he was alright with such a person.
But from the moment their lips met, she had felt an overwhelming urge to just go along with it and continue the lie that she only knew a few things due to a strange dream where the Crown Princess appeared.
To resist that temptation, Yunseo had to push herself, and ultimately, she had to push Lee Hyang like this.
The truth is always more painful than lies.
The desire to dismiss it all as a joke right now was so strong that Yunseo pushed herself even more harshly.
"Lee Hyang, history books record that you died suddenly within a few days from boils that spread across your entire body, nine years from now, when our Hongwi was twelve years old. That is why I insisted you wash frequently and wear light clothes, and why I tried to make soap and Jaun-go."
"......"
"I am Kwon Yunseo, a descendant 19 generations removed from the Crown Princess Kwon, from a Joseon over five hundred years in the future. I was three years older than you and worked as a woman who healed people's hearts."
"......"
"While visiting my hometown for my parents' death anniversary, I found and wore the ring you gave Kwon Ga in the attic, and was summoned into the body of Kwon Ga, the maid, who had just died after eating poisoned sweets. Your wife, who was killed by Grand Prince Suyang, asked me to save the pitiful Hongwi,"
"Yunseo."
Lee Hyang, who had been listening to the bizarre confession delivered as if she were being chased, cut off Yunseo's words.
"Stop speaking. Stop speaking and only answer the questions I ask. This is the command of the Crown Prince of Joseon."
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