-31-
East Wind
Jeonggwan, who was resting all day, thought he could sleep late, so when deep darkness fell, he sat on the porch of Juhwan’s quarters and took out a honey rice cake bundle he had hidden in his clothes. When angry court ladies caught him, they tried to take the honey rice cakes from his hands, asking if the head eunuch had caught him, but he had begged desperately, saying he hadn’t been caught going anywhere, and managed to protect his precious honey rice cakes.
Though the shape was a bit squashed, as long as they tasted good, it was fine. He had tried them earlier, and truly, honey rice cakes were the best food Jeonggwan had ever eaten. As he chewed the chewy rice cake with a blissful smile on his face, feeling the honey burst out sweetly, his chewing gradually slowed down with a sudden thought.
‘But what if what he saw wasn’t the head eunuch?’
‘Someone like him could make that mistake. Hey, describe what you saw.’
‘…Blue robe with embroidery on the chest. And young and very handsome… Don’t you know…?’
‘A very handsome young eunuch in a blue robe with embroidery on the chest… There’s only one very handsome young person I know in the palace…’
‘…Who is it?’
‘How dare you try to identify him, it’s His Highness the Crown Prince. What are you going to do?’
‘Gasp…! The Crown Prince?! Absolutely not! Absolutely!’
‘Of course not. There’s no way he would be wearing eunuch clothes.’
The identity of the man he had thought was the head eunuch fell back into mystery. He seemed to be a eunuch of some palace, but which one exactly… He definitely seemed like a eunuch serving the royal family or a royal concubine. His jeogori was quite elaborate, made with fine fabric and decorated with splendid gold embroidery. Jeonggwan swung his legs back and forth over the edge of the porch as he recalled the man he had encountered earlier in the evening.
‘Jeonggwan…!’
He had run away in confusion earlier, but when he met the man again, his heart had felt like it would burst. To face that gentle voice and gaze again… Jeonggwan’s face turned red as he swallowed the honey rice cake. Honestly, learning he was a eunuch had cooled his feelings enough to immediately choose honey rice cakes instead, but he still liked the man’s handsome face and gentleness enough that he could spend his life just looking at his face if asked.
When would he see the man again? Would he come looking for him again like last time? Would he be hurt that Jeonggwan ran away because he was a eunuch and not come back? Whatever the case, it felt good that the man’s approach didn’t seem to have bad intentions. Jeonggwan held up the last green songpyeon to the round moon before popping it all into his mouth. He couldn’t tell if it was the bursting honey that was sweet, or if he was happy from seeing the man’s face.
Meanwhile, the man who had been mistaken for a eunuch while wearing a jeoglik, worn as casual attire rather than the royal dragon robe, was both dumbfounded and amused by Jeonggwan’s misunderstanding. Even though it was called casual attire, the jeoglik was a brighter blue than the royal dragon robe, with a large gold dragon embroidery on the chest that no one else in the palace would mistake for eunuch clothing.
Although it was understandable that Jeonggwan wouldn’t know better, having never been to the palace and being Juhwan’s servant all his life… it was a bit unfair to be mistaken for a eunuch. Especially when he thought about Jeonggwan several times a day, feeling aroused.
“What is he doing now?”
“He’s sitting on the porch eating honey rice cakes.”
“…Through Court Lady Heo, tell them to serve extra honey rice cakes for Jeonggwan’s portion tomorrow—no, the day after tomorrow at breakfast—no, lunch.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Since Jeonggwan would be resting the next day, there was no need to serve honey rice cakes with Juhwan’s meal then, and to avoid indigestion from eating honey rice cakes in the morning, the man instructed they be served at lunch—such detailed instructions from the man made Chief Eunuch Eom suppress his laughter to the point that his mouth twitched. It was lamentable that the Crown Prince, who had gone out to verify rumors about his future Crown Princess, had fallen in love at first sight with her servant, but Chief Eunuch Eom was secretly relieved to see the Crown Prince, who had been working non-stop for years to receive the abdication from the ailing king, finally showing vitality and brightness.
“…Your Highness. Should I clarify the misunderstanding separately…?”
However, the accusation of being a eunuch had to be cleared up. How dare that impudent fellow call such an honorable person a eunuch and then run away. Besides, calling someone a eunuch was like saying they weren’t even a person! Chief Eunuch Eom, recalling the white figure who ran away as if having a fit, was even more indignant, perhaps because he himself was a eunuch.
“That’s fine. Leave it.”
But the man didn’t seem particularly interested in explaining. It was true that he had waited for Jeonggwan wearing attire that anyone in the palace would recognize as the Crown Prince’s, intending to reveal his identity, but Jeonggwan couldn’t even imagine he was the Crown Prince and only thought he was a high-ranking eunuch. The man feared how shocked Jeonggwan would be and how he would distance himself if he learned he was actually the Crown Prince.
In his heart, he wanted to immediately reveal that he was the Crown Prince, elevate Jeonggwan’s status with royal favor, and keep him by his side, but even though he would soon receive the abdication, he didn’t know exactly when. And while Juhwan was designated to be the Crown Princess, no one knew what would happen in the palace. He wanted to keep Jeonggwan by his side after Juhwan was officially selected as Crown Princess and Jeonggwan became an official palace person, when his power would be strong enough that no one could mention Jeonggwan’s origins.
“Let me know when Jeonggwan wakes from his afternoon nap.”
Until then, he just wanted to see his face every day and make him grow more attached. So that even when he learned his true identity, he couldn’t leave.
Jeonggwan, who had woken up late, lazily walked out of the quarters feeling hungry and headed somewhere. Having spent his entire life with Juhwan, Jeonggwan hadn’t realized he was surprisingly sociable—he had made friends with ladies who worked in the kitchen, in the embroidery department, and even with the inner court ladies. Today, he was going to eat with Court Lady Bong from the embroidery management department, who was in charge of embroidering clothes for all the royal family members and palace people, so he hurriedly headed toward the embroidery department.
“Bong! I’m here.”
“Oh, wait there. Let me finish this embroidery and then we’ll go.”
Unlike the sewing room where fabrics were scattered everywhere for making clothes, the adjacent embroidery room had a calmer atmosphere, perhaps because it was a place for needlework. But even there, the area for embroidering official uniforms for palace people was a bit more disorderly, while the area for embroidering for royalty like the king, queen, and Crown Prince was so quiet you couldn’t even hear breathing. Court Lady Bong, who was friends with Jeonggwan, was making clothes for palace people, so it was fine for Jeonggwan to suddenly enter and speak to her, but if she had been a court lady embroidering clothes for the upper palace, she would have been greatly upset about breaking her concentration.
“What kind of clothes are those?”
“These? These are clothes for eunuchs of the Crown Prince’s palace.”
“Ah… So there are green ones too…” Jeonggwan muttered quietly as he sat behind Court Lady Bong, silently watching her embroider. The rank of the eunuch for whom Court Lady Bong was making clothes seemed low. The embroidery on the chest was very small, and the thread wasn’t gold. Moreover, the fabric wasn’t silk but felt somewhat rough. Power really is everything. The official uniform that young master wore was very elaborate…
Having lost interest in the simple embroidery, Jeonggwan looked around the embroidery room and noticed a garment being embroidered by a court lady at the end of the room. A deep navy blue garment of good texture and color, with golden embroidery as bright as well-ripened rice. Jeonggwan stared at the clothing as if entranced, until his attention was drawn to Court Lady Bong, who had finished her needlework and was tapping his shoulder, asking him to come eat.
“What are you looking at so intently? Let’s go.”
“Oh… okay.”
Jeonggwan got up and followed Court Lady Bong. But his eyes kept being drawn to the clothes he had just seen, and he kept turning his head to look at them until he finally couldn’t contain his curiosity and spoke up.
“By the way…”
“Yes?”
“What is that clothing the head court lady is holding?”
“Which one? That one?”
“Yes.”
Just then, as if wanting to see the entire embroidery on the garment, the court lady shook the clothes with a “thwack!” and began to hang them on a long rod, slipping her arms through it. This allowed the navy blue garment to be fully displayed with its arms spread wide, and large, circular dragons were heavily embroidered on the chest and both shoulders.
“That’s a royal dragon robe.”
“A royal dragon robe? What’s that?”
“It’s what His Majesty the King or His Highness the Crown Prince wears.”
“What?!”
“Shh!”
“Gasp… Sorry.”
When Jeonggwan let out a shrill scream in surprise, Court Lady Bong quickly put her finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet. Jeonggwan tightly closed his mouth and looked at the navy blue royal dragon robe again with surprised eyes. Is that really what the king wears? Somehow, knowing it was for the king made it look even more magnificent. But Jeonggwan had only heard that the king’s clothes were red, so he was surprised to see this navy blue color, and his head tilted in confusion.
“That’s the Crown Prince’s royal dragon robe, so it’s navy blue.”
Noticing Jeonggwan’s confusion, Court Lady Bong added this explanation, and Jeonggwan nodded in understanding as he stared intently at the Crown Prince’s royal dragon robe. Come to think of it, the man’s chest also had similar embroidery… Though the man’s clothes didn’t have dragons on both shoulders and the color was a very bright blue, so they must be different official uniforms, the pattern felt quite similar.
‘There’s only one very handsome young person I know in the palace…’
‘…Who is it?’
‘How dare you try to identify him, it’s His Highness the Crown Prince. What are you going to do?’
His Highness the Crown Prince… Could the man be a eunuch working close to the Crown Prince? Is that why he was wearing clothes with a similar pattern?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
