His lips touched Doha’s lower lip. Each time he moved his mouth, the scab on Hyunseo’s lips made contact. Doha, eyes wide open, looked down at Hyunseo.
“Kugh, keurgh.”
With a choke, Doha spat out river water along with his breath. The water that had filled his lungs made it difficult to breathe. As he clutched his throat and coughed, Hyunseo hurriedly pressed both hands against his chest.
Doha held his breath against the surging pain.
“Breathe, quickly!”
“Heu…!”
Doha gasped for air. His breathing was labored. His nose burned and his throat stung, leaving him disoriented. Hyunseo grabbed Doha’s confused face. His large hands cupped Doha’s neck and jaw.
“Hup!”
Once more, Hyunseo covered Doha’s lips with his own. Beyond their overlapping lips, as if to devour him, he blew air into Doha’s mouth. After swallowing the breath, Doha choked again, spitting out river water as he raised himself up.
“Keu, cough, cough.”
River water poured from Doha’s coughing mouth. Though his chest and throat felt like they were being torn apart, he couldn’t stop coughing. In his agony, tears formed at the corners of Doha’s eyes. Hyunseo wiped away the tears pooling in his eyes with his hand.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m… cough, I’m fi- heu, hup.”
“Refrain from speaking. You’ll need to expel water for quite some time.”
Before he could finish speaking, another wave of dry heaving came. As Doha bent at the waist coughing, Hyunseo quietly patted his back. Only after spitting out river water for a long while did Doha finally raise his head.
After adjusting his clothes, Doha looked around. They were in a damp cave. The floor was cool due to being wet, and the sound of water dripping from the ceiling could be heard.
“It’s a miracle. We were lucky to escape the river and find this cave.”
Having confirmed Doha’s condition, Hyunseo leaned against the cave wall in his wet military uniform. Tilting his body slightly, he observed Doha.
Having regained his strength, Doha cautiously poked his head toward the cave entrance. Outside was pitch black, with nothing visible. A cool chill blew in, suggesting it might be raining. It seemed that quite some time had passed.
“Are we far from the hunting grounds?”
Doha, who had been watching the steadily falling rain, turned to Hyunseo and asked.
“Yes. We’ve drifted downstream for at least an hour. Fortunately, we survived thanks to the knot Bin tied.”
“…”
Only then did Doha’s gaze fall on Hyunseo’s hand. The knot was clutched in Hyunseo’s hand. It was a knot with Eunsung’s name embroidered intact. When he tightened his grip, the green knot was terribly crumpled.
“You did quite the adorable thing.”
A low voice echoed through the cave.
The knot embroidered with one’s affiliation, duties, and name was precious to palace people. It was valuable enough to be used as a substitute for identification, and palace people secretly exchanged them as tokens of affection. Hyunseo, the master of the palace, would certainly know this.
Doha should have made some excuse, but his mind, already overcome by the cold, wasn’t working. His blue-tinged lips trembled. With a pale face, he called out to Hyunseo.
“…Your Majesty.”
“When I saw the knot caught on the branch, do you know what I thought?”
A vein bulged on Hyunseo’s forehead. When he regained consciousness in the river, the first thing that caught his eye was the knot connecting Doha’s wrist to his own. A knot with another man’s name on it. That knot, caught on a branch, was supporting both Doha’s and Hyunseo’s bodies.
The moment he recognized the owner of the knot, his body, which seemed like it couldn’t get any colder, turned icy. Recalling when he first saw the knot, Hyunseo clenched his fist.
“Do you know what I thought when I realized another man’s knot was tied around your wrist?”
“Your Majesty, that is…”
“What were you thinking, keeping another man’s possession?”
In the darkness, Hyunseo’s eyes were visible. His bulging eyes glared at Doha resentfully. The painfully contorted expression was deeply etched in Doha’s heart. At that expression, Doha’s heart sank.
“Is my order to stay put so difficult? Should I phrase it more simply for you to obey?”
“…”
“Answer me. Hmm? Or should I just tie you up in Yongwa Palace?”
In the palace Hyunseo had created for him, Doha only needed to rest comfortably. Without any worries or concerns, he just needed to stay still like a flower until Hyunseo finished putting the palace in order.
From needlessly provoking Seowoo to going against the Chief State Councilor’s wishes—lately, Doha had been volunteering for too many dangerous activities. Hyunseo couldn’t contain his anger at Doha recklessly throwing himself into danger.
And how shocked he had been when he saw Doha’s clothes soaked in blood. As soon as he carried Doha to the cave, he lifted his clothes. Only after confirming there wasn’t a single wound on his smooth skin did he feel relieved.
The veins on Hyunseo’s forearm stood out as if he would tear the knot he was holding.
“If you had followed the Noble Consort’s words at the cliff, we wouldn’t be trapped in this cave. With your frail body, why would you do something so dangerous!”
Hyunseo’s voice grew louder. At his words expressing regret about the cliff incident, Doha’s expression crumpled. The words in his heart flew like arrows toward Hyunseo.
“Then should I follow the Noble Consort’s words?!”
“Yes, at least then you wouldn’t have had to risk your life.”
“Ha, then will Your Majesty breed with the Noble Consort like a stud horse?”
Stunned by the crude term typically used by commoners in the marketplace, Hyunseo lost his words. He stared blankly at Doha and stammered.
“…What did you just say?”
“Am I wrong?! Is this grand, noble plan of our precious Your Majesty all there is, and I should have followed you?”
“Flower Bin!”
“Do you even consider me as yours?!”
Seething, Doha sprang to his feet. His bare feet made splashing sounds as they reached Hyunseo.
“I have a mouth and eyes, Your Majesty. I move and live! Am I a walking corpse to Your Majesty who cherishes me so?”
“Then what! What should I do if I don’t protect you?!”
A thunderous voice reverberated throughout the cave. Doha inhaled sharply at Hyunseo’s tone, which he had never heard before. Seeing Doha’s startled face, Hyunseo touched his forehead and muttered.
“All my life, I’ve done nothing but protect you! What more, how more should I do…”
Looking exhausted, he gazed down at the floor. The damp floor was just like his heart. Since entering the palace, he always felt soaked. His body felt heavy and stifling. Even when looking at Doha, who was as bright as sunshine, he couldn’t escape the rain that had fallen before.
Is it all my fault?
He thought, pushing back his wet hair. Doha’s resentment seemed to still ring in his ears. All he had ever done in his life was protect Doha. He had long forgotten his life before that.
That’s why he had been reassured that he just needed to protect Doha in the palace too.
“Do you regret coming to the palace?”
The flat voice stabbed into Doha’s heart. Just as Doha was about to call Hyunseo’s name, he looked up at Doha.
“Do you regret coming to my side?”
His eyes gleamed in the darkness. Somehow, it was a cold gaze. With a hollow laugh, he continued.
“But what can I do? I can’t let you go now.”
In an instant, he grabbed Doha’s legs. Before Doha could even groan, his body fell backward.
“Your Majesty!”
Quickly catching Doha’s neck and waist, Hyunseo climbed on top of him. Trapping Doha between his thick arms, he faced him. Fear swirled in their locked gazes.
“Does Your Majesty still have the energy of the Pleasure Period remaining?”
With a surprised face, Doha looked up at Hyunseo. It was the first time he had pressed his body against him so brazenly.
Doha’s face gradually reddened at the feel of Hyunseo’s body against his lower half.
“The Pleasure Period subsides when body temperature drops. I can bear it now.”
“Then why…”
“Even without an aphrodisiac, I’m always in heat for you.”
Looking down at Doha, he slowly lowered his head. As warm breath touched below Doha’s ear, he let out a soft moan.
“Heu…”
What is this, why is it like this?
While unable to collect himself due to the strange feeling, Hyunseo’s lips moved toward a more intimate area. Following Doha’s neckline, he pressed his lips against it.
“From now on, beneath me.”
“…”
“Stay still.”
A low voice resonated against Doha’s neck. As if threatening him, Hyunseo bared his teeth and gently scratched his neck.
It was a rather menacing movement, as if he would cut off his breath.
“Eut… what if I can’t?”
“Then there’s no other way, is there?”
He buried his face in Doha’s neck and inhaled. A subtle scent emanated, reaching Doha’s nose.
“I’ll have to keep you tied to my side in the way you hate most.”
Before he finished speaking, he bit Doha’s neck hard.
“Ah!”
“No matter how much you cry, I won’t let you go from under me.”
“Your Majesty, ah, it hurts!”
Closed lips ground against Doha’s neck. In the burning pain, Doha struggled with both arms. Despite Doha’s movements, he pressed his body even closer.
“I will hide you where only I can see you, tie you up so you can’t move, then dress you in my clothes and cover you with my scent so only I can have you. By then, you will willingly become mine.”
When he raised his head, he saw Doha’s frightened face. Satisfied just by the imagination, he gave a twisted smile.
“Isn’t that right, Flower Bin?”
Doha, who had been struggling, froze. He now seemed to understand what the sense of foreboding he had felt all along was about.
The reason you hid me in the palace. The reason you made me an incompetent consort. The reason you neglected me under the pretext of protection.
It was all to control me.
This love was somehow twisted. By the time Doha realized this, he was already isolated in the cave.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
