Lord Kim was in a very foul mood.
The face of his youngest, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, looked gaunt. That wasn’t all—His Majesty, who was supposed to be a son-in-law, had seated their small, thin, and adorable youngest on his lap and was fondling him as he pleased.
‘What an utter scoundrel.’
Lord Kim glared at Hyunseo while harboring such disrespectful thoughts. He had been somewhat impressed by how Hyunseo handled the Chief State Councilor’s words, but no matter how he looked at it, his youngest was too precious to give away.
Moreover, his mood was already sour after hearing rumors that Hyunseo had been intimate with Noble Consort.
“Father, aren’t your glances too sharp?”
Jeonghyeon, who had been alternately watching Hyunseo and Lord Kim, whispered quietly.
“There are many eyes watching.”
“One should act beautifully to be seen beautifully. I don’t know why His Majesty is behaving that way, but it doesn’t look good at all.”
“If our youngest is happy with it, what can we do? The marriage has already happened and can’t be undone.”
Jeonghyeon was right. Lord Kim also knew that the relationship between the two was irreversible, that he could never hold his precious youngest in his arms again. Though he knew this, it didn’t mean he suddenly liked the son-in-law who had snatched his youngest away.
With a groan, Lord Kim swallowed a sigh and quietly replied.
“That’s why he should have at least paid a proper visit home. He snatched him away like an eagle catching prey, so it keeps weighing on my mind.”
Lord Kim recalled the first time he saw Hyunseo. A dark and large fellow. A commoner with unusually strong presence. A man who rarely spoke as if something was lacking, who followed his youngest around. That was his first impression of Hyunseo.
At some point, that dark man had begun following his youngest, who had been sent away for treatment. He initially thought he was a new servant, but upon closer observation, he seemed to merely take good care of his youngest rather than being a servant.
“Who is that fellow?”
When he asked that, his youngest looked at Lord Kim with bright eyes and answered.
“Father, how could you address my friend like that?”
“Friend?”
“Yes, my one and only companion.”
His youngest’s face was red as he introduced his friend. It was hardly the expression of someone simply introducing a friend. Perhaps Lord Kim had foreseen the current situation even then.
Despite clicking his tongue, he left them alone, thinking, as long as our Doha is happy, that’s what matters. Fortunately, the dark fellow merely silently guarded his youngest’s side and didn’t seem to do anything beyond his station.
The man followed his youngest around like a chick following its mother, attending to his needs. When his youngest was about to fall, he would catch him; at mealtime, he would always prepare food; and after eating, he would brew medicinal herbs and give him medicine. Both Lord Kim and Jeonghyeon were amazed at how skillfully he soothed his youngest when he whined that the medicine was bitter.
Lord Kim finally acknowledged the man when he saw him chopping firewood before dawn and putting it in the furnace, worried that his youngest might be cold while sleeping.
So he let him be. It was with the thought that if he kept him around, he would at least take good care of the medicine.
Never in his dreams did he imagine that the dark fellow was born of royal blood.
“In no country would it be acceptable to simply snatch someone else’s child. Even now, I can’t sleep when I think about that time.”
“Father, His Majesty had no choice back then, didn’t he?”
When he saw his child, who had been sent away for treatment, at the palace, he thought the world was ending and the country was falling. Lord Kim secretly grabbed the back of his neck upon seeing Doha smiling brightly in red wedding attire. After realizing that the person standing beside him was the dark fellow he had seen before, his head felt even more dizzy.
Saying that only the wedding remained, Doha smiled brightly, not knowing his father’s distress. Sitting deep in that hellish palace, smiling broadly.
“Can… can you endure it here?”
Lord Kim grasped Doha’s hands with trembling hands. If Doha wanted, he was prepared to exile them to a country other than Shinguk.
However, Doha, so precious that it wouldn’t hurt to put him in his eye, smiled more brightly than ever and said:
“I like it here, Father.”
“…”
“Where Hyunseo… I mean, where His Majesty is, that’s where I belong. This is our home.”
It was then that Lord Kim realized his child had grown enough to be independent. And that he could no longer control Doha as he wished.
Lord Kim left the palace that day, and after learning that the Chief State Councilor and Hyunseo had made some sort of deal regarding Doha, he resigned from his position. He didn’t want to burden the two anymore.
Both resigning from his position and stopping his visits to Doha were his way of organizing his feelings. He thought it was his way of supporting and blessing them.
But now, to hear he had been intimate with Noble Consort.
“It’s my fault. I should have buried that fellow back then…”
“F-Father!”
Surprised, Jeonghyeon called out to Lord Kim loudly. Concerned that other ministers might hear, Jeonghyeon covered his mouth with his sleeve and pressed close to Lord Kim.
“How would burying him work? He’s the kind who would dig himself out—it would be better to behead him…!”
Jeonghyeon rapidly spoke in a hushed voice. Following that introduction, assassination plans for Hyunseo streamed from Jeonghyeon’s mouth. It was only then that Lord Kim learned his eldest son had been making so many plans.
While the father and son were conspiring together, Doha was observing Lord Kim and Jeonghyeon carefully.
According to his plan, he was supposed to be sitting between Lord Kim and Jeonghyeon, playing the role of the beloved youngest to the fullest. Getting information would be killing two birds with one stone, and even if not, there was much to gain from the two.
‘The problem is that Hyunseo has no intention of letting go.’
Hyunseo’s arms binding Doha showed no signs of loosening. Doha, who had been wearing an awkward expression all along, cautiously asked him:
“Your Majesty, I’d like to see my father and brother after so long… Couldn’t I go for just a moment?”
At Doha’s words, Hyunseo closed his eyes briefly as if considering. When he opened them again, they scrutinized Doha sharply.
“That wouldn’t be possible.”
“Your Majesty, please let me go now.”
“I’d die if separated from my Flower Bin even a little.”
Hyunseo clung to Doha’s body like a newlywed husband. Doha was busy hiding his rising irritation and confusion at the body that stuck to him at every opportunity.
‘You’re just a wet leaf now.’
Calling him a sticky gum would be too harsh—wet leaf was more fitting for Hyunseo. Doha looked at the very wet leaf with weary eyes.
He said he was protecting him, that this was the only way to protect himself. Doha didn’t like how Hyunseo seemed to know something but wouldn’t tell him, only clinging to him instead.
‘I’m not usually someone who needs protection.’
That strangely wounded Doha’s pride, making him increasingly irritated. He had his own plans and methods for countering Seowoo’s schemes, but Jin Hyunseo kept ruining those plans.
‘Damn, I really can’t be a proper consort.’
And then there were the facial attacks every time he opened his mouth to say something. Knowing full well how handsome he was, Hyunseo would smile and bring his face closer. Doha was also frustrated with himself for being rendered speechless each time.
“For someone who claims to die if separated even a little, it seems you haven’t seen me for about a week?”
A sarcastic tone escaped without him realizing. Responding to this obviously disgruntled tone, Hyunseo smiled and replied:
“That’s why I became a living corpse.”
“What living corpse…”
Doha turned his head to look at Hyunseo. He did seem to have lost some weight, and his face looked pale and wan. Only now did Doha notice these things, having been distracted by his handsome features.
‘Did he really suffer emotionally?’
He had thought Hyunseo was happily having sex with Noble Consort, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Without realizing it, Doha brought his hand to Hyunseo’s face. Feeling the warmth, Hyunseo leaned his face into Doha’s hand.
“My heart doesn’t beat without Flower Bin.”
It was a languid voice. With a face like a beast purring in the sunlight, Hyunseo slightly lowered his eyes. Doha thought that if he had a tail, it would be swaying in a figure-eight pattern by now.
Hyunseo slowly opened his eyes to look directly at Doha. The beautiful face was captured in his eyes. At the same time, Dojin’s footsteps could be heard from behind. Hyunseo, who had been measuring the distance while looking at Doha, narrowed his eyes. He then placed Doha’s hand on his chest.
“It had stopped until now, and only now is it beating again.”
“…That’s a lie.”
“How could my heart beat as it pleases when its owner is here?”
Five steps. When there were five steps left until Dojin’s arrival, Hyunseo pulled Doha’s hand forcefully. Surprised by the sudden strength, Doha was drawn in. Doha’s face was now close as if about to kiss him.
Dojin’s footsteps stopped. From behind, the two looked like lovers kissing.
Just as Doha and Dojin had appeared in the garden.
“So how about stopping these games now?”
Hearing the sound, Hyunseo twisted his head with a smile at the corner of his lips.
Doha was still stammering, trying to choose the right response, when the palace servant guarding the door loudly announced to the banquet hall:
“Noble Consort is entering!”
Damn, why is the timing like this today?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
