One of the reasons for Doha’s unfortunate end in the scenario was a rumor. A rumor that the flower of Siyeong Palace was an incredibly malicious poisonous plant. A rumor that not only did he harshly scold the court ladies and palace people, but blinded by jealousy, he also harmed Seowoo.
These rumors slowly tightened around Doha’s neck.
By severely punishing himself, he emphasizes that Doha was usually cruel and venomous. That was Seowoo’s purpose. Quickly grasping Seowoo’s intention, Doha abruptly stood up from his chair.
“Noble Consort!”
Doha knelt before Seowoo. He didn’t forget to sit slightly askew, just as Seowoo had done. As he shifted his body, his ankle protruded from outside his robe.
Seowoo’s gaze moved to his ankle. A vivid red mark. It was the trace of the shackle that had reportedly bound him to the chamber pillar. It was a clear provocation. Seowoo’s eyes darkened further.
“Don’t do this. I-I’m the one who did wrong. Hmm?”
Doha placed his hand on Seowoo’s face, which was gradually becoming distorted with jealousy. Tears were already welling up in his eyes.
The foundation of seduction is tears. A crying beauty is invincible. Doha knew this perfectly. As he blinked, a teardrop fell.
“I, I know that Noble Consort did that for me.”
Doha, sitting in the same position as a subordinate and shedding tears, looked as innocent as a fairy descended from heaven. His beautiful face, wet with tears, contributed to creating a halo. The gazes that had been fixed on Seowoo’s terrible appearance shifted to Doha’s face.
“Your Highness. This lowly one just…”
“Yes. You must have been trying to take my side.”
Subtly interrupting Seowoo’s words, Doha lifted his robe. With his elegant fingers, he picked up the fabric and firmly wiped Seowoo’s forehead. The blood soaked into the silk. Their gazes met beneath the silk.
While their faces were briefly hidden by the silk, Doha’s lips moved.
“As if you’d try to kill me.”
“…”
Seowoo’s face hardened at Doha’s suddenly changed expression. Something had changed. The venom in his eyes wasn’t typical of the usual Doha.
“How dare you, who’s been pushed to Gyopung Palace, challenge me?”
It was a provocation that precisely struck Seowoo’s weakness.
Because he fully knew the scenario, Doha already knew what Seowoo’s weaknesses were, what easily angered him. The difference between Siyeong Palace, “the season of flowers,” and Gyopung Palace, “a momentary wind.” The difference between Flower Bin and Noble Consort. That was Seowoo’s vulnerability.
‘Thanks to the benevolent image I’ve built up, he won’t be able to get angry.’
As he lifted the silk, Doha’s face changed back to a tearful expression. He placed both hands on Seowoo’s cheeks.
“How could I misunderstand you?”
“Your Highness, with all due respect, I…”
“In this vast palace, Noble Consort, you’re the only one I can rely on… How could I doubt you?”
Everyone was speechless at the sight of Doha caressing Seowoo while shedding tears. How could such a person exist? With a gaze that had grown warmer, Doha helped Seowoo rise from his seat.
“I don’t want you to be punished.”
Doha personally dusted off Seowoo’s robe, which was covered in dirt, with both hands. Though it wasn’t proper to fix a subordinate’s attire, once again, no one could point out this impropriety.
Doha glanced at where Court Official Park had been. It had been about 10 minutes since Court Official Park left. Now it was time for Hyunseo to burst in.
“Though my heart feels this way, if I don’t issue punishment here, discipline won’t be maintained…”
Doha said while wiping the tears that kept falling. His voice was trembling slightly. It was a perfect performance that no one could doubt.
“Of course, you must have been deceived by that impostor…”
Seowoo’s lips quivered noticeably.
‘The one who gets angry becomes the villain.’
You know that too, don’t you? That this is a trap I’ve set.
To Seowoo, who couldn’t say anything, Doha delivered his final line.
“Put the one who led this false accusation in Siyeong Palace’s prison, and I order the rest of the envoys to return.”
“We are deeply grateful!”
They lived. The faces of the envoys brightened. Though they had failed the order to attend the banquet and win the king’s favor, at least they still had their heads. The envoys, who had been sitting like criminals, bowed deeply toward Doha.
“Additionally, the Noble Consort is forbidden from leaving Gyopung Palace for two weeks.”
It was unusual for someone other than the king to order punishment for the Noble Consort, but at a time when Eunsung and the Noble Consort’s conspiracy was suspected, this was a lenient punishment.
All of Seowoo’s schemes came from his uncle, the Prime Minister. It was important to first confine Seowoo so that the Prime Minister’s eyes and ears couldn’t reach him.
Two weeks. The time Doha had earned.
“Your Highness! How could you do this to me!”
As Seowoo tried to kneel again, Doha embraced him. I won’t fall for it twice. To prevent any further actions, Doha wrapped his arms around Seowoo.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Like a seductress, Doha rested his cheek on Seowoo’s shoulder. Seowoo’s long hair tickled his cheek. You should smile. That’s how you become the protagonist. Though it’s already too late, still.
The sound of the door opening was heard. Court Official Park’s hurried steps followed. Even amidst the chaos, Doha’s attention was directed outside the door.
Now.
Doha turned his face toward Seowoo’s ear and whispered.
“You must forgive me for capturing His Majesty’s heart and for my superior status.”
In that moment, a fierce hand swept over Doha’s body. It was a hand trying to push Doha away from his embrace.
“…Ah!”
Just as Court Official Park was about to announce and as Hyunseo opened the door to look inside the interrogation room, Doha’s body staggered. Following Seowoo’s hand, Doha tilted his body beyond the stairs.
“Your Highness!”
Court Official Park screamed as he saw Doha’s body falling down the stairs. Both Eunsung and Hyunseo’s eyes widened simultaneously.
“Flower Bin!”
Hearing Hyunseo’s urgent voice, Doha closed his eyes. The greater the risk, the greater the return. He had to risk his life to end Seowoo’s as well. He needed to fall just enough not to die, just enough to break his leg.
What if I instinctively break my fall properly?
Doha’s first role had been “Assassin 1.”
* * *
The study was quiet. Because all the palace people and warriors who had been guarding the surroundings had been dismissed, not even a breath could be heard. Whenever his mind was troubled, Hyunseo sought out the study. It was his longtime habit to stand in the middle of the study, flipping through books while organizing his thoughts.
Sunlight leaked through the door cracks. Hyunseo’s face, holding an old book in one hand, sparkled in the sunlight. It was a sight Court Official Park would have admired.
“Haah.”
Hyunseo, who had been looking at the book continuously, sighed. The image of Doha wouldn’t leave his mind. The sight of him sleeping in his bedchamber, covered with blankets that were heavily imbued with his scent. Every time he heard the soft breathing, the desire to keep him locked up and the feeling that he shouldn’t hurt him conflicted.
Moreover, how sweet the scent was. It wasn’t this intense outside the palace, but as time passed, Doha’s scent became more and more ripe. Like a peach on a branch, his scent turned red.
It seemed as if sweet juice would ooze out if pressed.
His saliva swallowed when he recalled Doha’s scent. He was hungry enough to want to put everything in his mouth and suck it.
‘How can I send him outside the palace like this?’
His mind froze at the thought of other men smelling that scent. He couldn’t think any thought or reason. The only thing occupying his mind was that he should tie him up somewhere no one could see. Of course, he had imprisoned him according to that thought.
But at the same time, the face of him strangling himself wouldn’t leave a corner of Hyunseo’s mind. The face covered in tears, fiercely looking at him, the gaze that couldn’t possibly be seen as being directed at a lover, kept piercing Hyunseo’s heart.
Many times, it felt like being stabbed with a knife in the chest.
‘…When did his expression start to darken?’
In the days when neither palace nor king bound them, in the days when they wandered mountains and fields sharing love, Doha always wore a smiling face. With a face as clear as sunshine, he always called for Hyunseo.
Then Hyunseo would silently follow, embracing Doha’s shoulders as he often twisted his ankle. There wasn’t a day they didn’t walk holding hands, nor a day they didn’t sleep face to face.
‘Now I can’t even remember when that was.’
Even when he learned he was the king’s only bloodline, even when he was urgently called to the palace upon the previous king’s death, Doha didn’t panic.
<Things will be very different in the palace.>
<It’s okay.>
<Very… very different.>
It was in front of the wall of the house where they lived together. It was night, and Court Official Park, who was waiting for him, was already pacing in front of the door. Doha nestled into Hyunseo’s arms as he couldn’t lift his head.
<It’s okay. Because Hyunseo will still love me.>
<…>
<Even if many things change, that won’t change, right?>
Embracing his small Manifest, Hyunseo promised. That he wouldn’t let anything in the palace harm Doha, that he wouldn’t let anything change his precious Doha.
“In the end, I was the one who broke him.”
It was he who changed him. It was largely his fault that he drove him to the point of strangling himself.
“Haah.”
Just as he sighed and swept his hair with one hand:
“Your Majesty!”
Though he had ordered that no one should enter, Court Official Park had apparently forgotten the order and came running with unsteady steps.
“What is it?”
Hyunseo looked down at Court Official Park as he closed the book. Skipping the greeting, Court Official Park spoke quickly while panting.
“Flower Bin is heading to Gyopung Palace right now!”
“…What did you just say?”
“The Noble Consort is personally interrogating the envoys… Flower Bin said he needed to go there and threatened a court lady.”
Hyunseo’s gaze turned sharp. Court Official Park, who had been by his side from the time he came to the palace until now, knew that every time he changed his gaze, something would happen. Understanding the situation, Court Official Park prostrated himself on the floor.
“Please kill me, Your Majesty!”
“You couldn’t wait and removed his shackles?”
The book fell to the floor. Along with it, Court Official Park’s heart plummeted. If I’m not careful, my head will fall. Court Official Park shrank his body even flatter.
“I asked if it’s that difficult to serve one master.”
Hyunseo’s scent began to thickly spread in the study. It was an intimidating scent to the point where one couldn’t breathe. Court Official Park’s breathing became rougher.
“Your, Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, we couldn’t keep His Highness confined for too long.”
“You dare to move your lips after disobeying a royal order.”
“There was no choice, Your Majesty!”
Court Official Park coughed as the scent grew stronger. Though he clearly knew it was suffocating, Hyunseo showed no signs of withdrawing his scent. Court Official Park, who was grabbing his neck, finally raised his head as if he had made a decision.
“Despite your imperial command, His Highness refused to eat or drink, so I had no choice.”
“…”
“Don’t the two of you need to talk to make progress?”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
“Is it really right to just come at dawn and only look at his face?”
The answer was predetermined. Hyunseo also understood intellectually that he had already submitted the wrong answer. The reason he had been reluctant to meet Doha until now was because it was difficult to see the gaze mixed with hatred.
“His Highness is also human.”
“…”
“He’s saying with his whole body that he’s in pain and suffering, how can you turn away?”
Hyunseo, grabbing his forehead, quietly said:
“Let’s go.”
“…”
“To Gyopung Palace.”
This time, I must share warmth and exchange words. The image of Doha smiling brightly tickled Hyunseo’s heart. With a heavy heart, Hyunseo turned his steps toward Gyopung Palace.
And when he opened the door of Gyopung Palace, it was after Doha had fallen down the stairs.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
