Chapter 47
Episode 47. Black Night, We (1) / Paid Content Begins
"Yunseo, if you act like this, I..."
Cupping her cheek with a large hand, Lee Hyang met Yunseo's eyes and gaze.
"If you seem to be angry without saying anything, I get anxious."
"Your Highness..."
Startled by the unexpected words, Yunseo's eyes widened.
"...I'm anxious that you might climb over the wall and run away."
"!"
"The day you told me to wait, you ran a hundred ri without rest, and you said you could swim across the Han River and escape far away to Samnam. I sometimes worry that you might run away like that. Every time you tell me the knowledge you possess, it feels like the world you lived in was much freer than here, and so I worry that you'll find this Palace stifling and eventually abandon me to leave lightheartedly."
My goodness!
Lee Hyang's eyes were truly trembling with deep anxiety.
"...Is that why you had your evening Royal Meal here at Seoondol that day?"
"...Yes. I had to confirm you with my eyes, fearing that while I waited, you might conclude that you could never hold me or this Palace in your heart forever, and decide to leave."
"...Ah, my goodness. Your Highness!"
The fact that she wasn't the only one feeling anxious was surprising yet deeply comforting.
"Your Highness, please speak."
I should speak too.
Like this,
Without suffering alone, speak!
Yunseo buried her face in Lee Hyang's broad chest and sighed.
"Actually, Your Highness. I really want to run. I really want to swim."
Lee Hyang, who had reflexively reached out to embrace Yunseo but then restrained himself, remembering he needed to purify his body and mind for the rain ritual, could hardly believe his ears.
"What did you say?"
"Running, Your Highness. I was someone who used to run five days a week, that is, seven days a week. And I was someone who swam across rivers."
"......"
"I can't sort out my thoughts when I run, so negative emotions just pile up, and it's so agonizing. My birth chart lacks water, so I need to fill it with swimming, but I can't, and I feel like my very soul is withering, Your Highness."
As she spoke, Yunseo, adding her own frustration that she couldn't express due to pride, began to sob uncontrollably, feeling utterly pathetic from the depression caused by lack of exercise.
"Haa......"
Lee Hyang was dumbfounded.
What was he to do with his beloved, crying and wetting her chest on this moonlit night because she was frustrated she couldn't run?
Then, an idea struck him, like 'Submerged Tiger Head!'
A rain ritual, the Submerged Tiger Head, was scheduled to be held ten days later at Yangjin Hall above Yangjin Ferry, due to a severe drought. It involved placing a tiger's head, a symbol of yang energy, into the Han River, where the Dragon God of water resided, to appease it. If it were for a rain ritual, using the body of a miraculous soul from the distant future to appeal to the Dragon God by placing it in the Han River!
"Yunseo, can you really swim across the Han River?"
"Yes, I can swim. I've swum back and forth across the Han River during informal triathlons!"
"Good. Do you have any black clothes? I mean, nightwear."
"Yes, I do, but why?"
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Yunseo wiped away her tears and asked.
"Then, ask Eom Sangjeon to look after Hongwi, change into black clothes, and bring another set of black clothes to change into after swimming to Bihyeon Pavilion in half a shichen."
"Yes!?"
Swimming!
Swimming!
Yunseo's tears had already dried, and she looked at Lee Hyang with wide eyes.
"There's a rain ritual where we place a tiger's head, but tonight, you will swim across the Han River in place of the tiger's head, as a miraculous person from the future. Who knows, perhaps the Dragon God of the Han River will take pity on you and grant us rain?"
"...Your Highness!"
Knowing that while it was called a rain ritual, this was far more about Lee Hyang's consideration to create an opportunity for her to swim, Yunseo couldn't help but hug Lee Hyang's neck.
"Your Highness, thank you. Thank you!"
"Yunseo."
Lee Hyang's heart fluttered as he chuckled softly, then pulled Yunseo away and whispered,
"You were the one who asked for purification of the body under the guise of a rain ritual."
After reluctantly separating, Lee Hyang lightly kissed Hongwi's plump cheek and resolutely left Seoondol.
Lee Hyang summoned Cheon-ga, an eunuch who served as his personal guard rather than the Crown Prince's official escort.
"Five guards who are good swimmers, and prepare a long, sturdy rope tied with strong cloth, long enough to swim across from the Amphibious Army training grounds below Mangwonjeong to the other side. Also, prepare simple ritual items like fruit, dried meat, and incense."
"Yes, Your Highness."
It had been two days since the full moon.
The moon, slightly waning on the right but still shining brightly, cast its light everywhere on this night.
Yunseo was wearing a black cotton nightwear Jeogori and trousers, her hair tied back tightly with a headband across her forehead, at Eom Sangjeon's quarters, when the door slid open and Maegeumi entered.
"Together?"
"Shh, I'm going swimming with His Highness for the rain ritual."
"Together!"
Maegeumi, who had also donned black clothes and a black headband, stated resolutely that she couldn't let Yunseo go alone.
Knowing that even if told not to follow, Maegeumi would climb walls and tread on roofs to do so, Yunseo said, "Okay! Let's go!" and then asked again.
"Can you swim?"
"Paddle, splash."
Maegeumi put a sword in her mouth and mimed swimming and beheading someone without hesitation.
What kind of organization do you belong to, to chase after people even on boats and slit their throats? But then again, with you here, Grand Prince Suyang can certainly be eliminated.
"Then pack another set of clothes to change into after swimming."
Thus, the two of them, each with a bundle containing spare clothes on their backs, concealed their presence and headed to Bihyeon Pavilion.
Lee Hyang, dressed entirely in black, was waiting for Yunseo.
Upon seeing Maegeumi, Lee Hyang raised an eyebrow but gestured for them to follow without a word and led the way.
Leaving Bihyeon Pavilion and heading towards Geonchunmun, they found five robust guard eunuchs at the stable, leading seven horses.
"One horse is missing, should we go back and get it?"
The guard eunuch Cheon-ga asked, seeing Maegeumi.
"No. Gwonga can ride with me."
And so, Yunseo, riding with Lee Hyang, galloped towards the ferry landing at the Navy training grounds below Mangwonjeong, under the softly pouring moonlight.
The sound of galloping horses echoed through the sleeping Gwanghwamun and Yukjo Street, but no patrol guards blocked their way.
It seemed the notification that His Highness the Crown Prince was heading to the Han River for a midnight rain ritual had already been delivered.
Yunseo's eyes took in nothing of Lee Hyang's firm chest pressing against her back, the cool early summer night air brushing her cheeks, the scenery of Seoul's night unfolding in quiet succession under the moonlight.
Her body and mind were desperately, intensely focused on the swimming she hadn't been able to do freely since falling into 15th-century Joseon, her every cell trembling with excitement.
After galloping for a little over an hour, a pavilion rose high on the riverbank, and next to it, a wide path led down to the Han River.
"Your Highness, the ground ahead is gravel, so you'll have to dismount and walk."
The guard eunuch, who had been leading the way, stopped his horse and jumped down to say this.
The horse Lee Hyang was riding was significantly larger than the others. Lee Hyang dismounted first and then extended his arm towards Yunseo.
Yunseo, landing on Lee Hyang's chest, exclaimed, "Wow!" at the sandy beach sparkling under the moonlight and the long stretch of water beyond.
"Shh! We have to perform the rain ritual first."
Lee Hyang said.
The guard eunuchs cleared a flat spot, spread a mat, and placed the fruits, dried meat, and dried fish they had brought, facing the river. They lit incense in the censer.
Everyone bowed together, and Lee Hyang, as the representative, offered wine and read the prepared prayer.
Although it was written in Chinese and Yunseo couldn't understand it, even if she could, it wouldn't have registered as she gazed solely at the dark river water, sparkling and reflecting the moonlight.
The rain ritual concluded after the prayer was burned in the censer's flame and sent aloft.
Yunseo, Lee Hyang, Maegeumi, and another guard eunuch headed towards the riverbank. Of the remaining four guard eunuchs, two stood guard at the entrance to the river, while the other two brought a small boat tied up at the side of the ferry landing.
"Tie this rope around your waist."
"Yes? Why, a rope?"
"In case of an emergency, we'll pull you out."
"Ha! What do you take my swimming skills for?"
"Lady Gwon, one cannot be too careful in the water!"
Hearing even Cheon-ga insist on tying the rope, Yunseo recalled that Gwonga's body wasn't accustomed to swimming itself.
However, her arms and legs would remember how to move, and besides, tonight she would only be swimming slowly back and forth with her head above the water like a frog.
"It seems the dredging hasn't been done, so it's shallow and the current is slow, but since you're worried, I'll do it."
Yunseo took the rope from Lee Hyang's hand, tied it firmly around her waist, instructed Maegeumi, "The rope is only one, so you wait here!" and slowly walked into the river.
Due to the property of water warming and cooling slowly, the river water was actually warmer than the night air.
After the water reached her calves, her waist, and then her navel, Yunseo slowly leaned forward and lifted her feet from the slippery riverbed.
Splash, splash.
Though her body was momentarily surprised by the sudden change, after two breaths, her arms stretched forward and cut through the water to the sides, her legs spread wide and kicked in coordination with her arms, and Yunseo's body began to move slowly towards the south.
The sensation of the water soaking her entire body, and the pleasant effort of moving her limbs to create propulsion, spread throughout her body, and her awkward movements soon fell into a pleasant rhythm.
Yunseo focused solely on moving her limbs and occasionally turning her head to check left, right, up, and down, without any other thoughts.
"...Yunseo."
Lee Hyang cautiously entered the water at first, but as he reached a depth past his waist, he bent down and watched Yunseo's retreating back, submerged in the water, without breathing.
Gwon Yunseo, with her head above the water, began to swim slowly but steadily towards the south. The sight of Gwon Yunseo gliding through the river with barely a splash was like a seal, or perhaps a mermaid from legend.
It was only now that Lee Hyang strongly realized that Gwon Yunseo was not a woman belonging to his Joseon.
It was an unfamiliarity that felt more real than when she shared knowledge from the future, and a fear that she would be lost forever, as if being drawn into the darkness.
'Can I live without Gwon Yunseo?'
Lee Hyang clutched his chest at the sudden question.
"Gwon Yunseo!"
Lee Hyang's call shattered on the water like moonlight.
However, as if hearing nothing, Yunseo swam unhesitatingly into the distant darkness, finally disappearing into the pitch-black river.
'I can live without Yunseo!'
But my chest will be empty, and my life will be filled only with the diligent duties of a Crown Prince and future King, and it will be a dry, flavorless life without pleasant excitement!
"Launch the boat!"
Lee Hyang gave the order and, with an eunuch rowing, began to chase Yunseo rapidly.
Standing at the edge of the boat, holding a lantern high in one hand and the rope tied to Yunseo's waist firmly in the other, Lee Hyang's heart glided over the water, searching for Yunseo's head, a black silhouette occasionally flashing beyond the moonlight shimmering white on the water, chasing the tiny ripples that broke each time her arms and legs moved.
Episode 47. Black Night, We (1) / Paid Content Begins End
ⓒ Yoon In-soo
