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East Wind
Jeonggwan, who only today realized that Court Lady Bong held an important position within the palace and that eating with her meant getting many treats, smiled throughout the meal. Tasting hobak chaltteok (pumpkin rice cake) for the first time in his life, Jeonggwan was so enchanted that tears welled in his eyes, and he decided he should stick close to Court Lady Bong from now on.
“By the way, is the Crown Prince’s palace far from here?”
Jeonggwan, who had been nibbling away at the rice cake, asked Court Lady Bong something he’d been curious about. If that emblem was related to the Crown Prince, and if the man really worked by the Crown Prince’s side, he wondered if perhaps that place was far from where he was.
“The Donggung Palace? It’s far from here. But I think it’s quite close to your quarters? Why do you ask?”
The Donggung wasn’t far. If it wasn’t far, then perhaps he could secretly go see the man sometimes when he wanted to. That is, if the man was a eunuch working at the Donggung Palace.
“Ah, I guess it’s true that the person you serve is really designated as the Crown Princess.”
“Why?”
“Usually, outsiders’ quarters aren’t placed inside. But the Crown Prince suddenly ordered an empty palace near the Donggung to be cleaned, and they even planted flowers in the yard and made such a fuss!”
“Flowers in the yard? Do you mean Gujeolcho (chrysanthemum)?”
“Gujeolcho? No. It’s Ssukbujaengi (aster). They say whoever brought the flowers couldn’t tell the difference, so they brought Ssukbujaengi.”
“Ah… But they look very similar.”
“I guess that’s why the Crown Prince just told them to plant it without saying anything. Anyway, we were all really excited! We wondered how beautiful the future Crown Princess must be for him to go to such lengths!”
He had thought the flowers in the yard grew there naturally, but to learn that the Crown Prince had ordered them to be planted…
When Jeonggwan first saw what he thought was Gujeolcho blooming in the yard, he remembered walking with the man and had a melancholic moment, thinking the flower and he were destined. But now that he learned not only that the man was a eunuch, but also that the flower wasn’t even Gujeolcho and had been artificially planted by the Crown Prince’s order, he felt somewhat embarrassed at his own exaggeration.
“I should make a good impression on you. If she really becomes the Crown Princess, you could someday become a court lady serving beside the Queen. You never know what life brings, so take this rice cake too.”
Come to think of it, if Juhwan really became the Crown Princess, he would naturally become the closest court attendant to the Crown Princess. If the Crown Prince were to ascend to the throne, his partner the Crown Princess would become Queen, and then he would become a court attendant serving the highest-ranking person in the women’s palace.
Could a person’s fate be this strange? Just until recently, he had been nothing but a lowly servant born among the slaves of the Kyung household.
“You really never know how life will turn out…”
Jeonggwan was returning to Juhwan’s quarters after parting with Court Lady Bong. He had intended to have just a brief chat, but after hearing various stories about the palace, much time had passed. Still, since he had the whole day off, he wouldn’t have to face Juhwan’s scolding for being late. That fact felt both nice and strange.
So this is the life of someone who isn’t a slave. From his earliest memories, Jeonggwan had to attend to Juhwan even when sick or tired, but from the moment he received treatment as a court attendant, he gained his own time and could have his own will. Now, Jeonggwan could visit friends if he wanted to, or even go see the person who occupied his heart. While this might be normal for others, for Jeonggwan, it was a precious and happy freedom beyond words.
So he desperately hoped that Juhwan would become the Crown Princess. As Jeonggwan passed through the wide rear garden, he looked at the eastern pavilion that Court Lady Bong had pointed out. Donggung Palace, named so because the Crown Prince who would inherit the throne resided there, like the newly rising sun in the east. The Crown Prince who stayed there held his fate. Although the Crown Prince wasn’t the one who would choose from the three candidates, the position of Crown Princess was still beside the Crown Prince, so Jeonggwan could only pray earnestly while facing east.
Also, if Juhwan became the Crown Princess… perhaps he would be able to frequently see the man who worked at the Donggung Palace.
“Where have you been?”
As Jeonggwan crossed the small inner gate heading toward his quarters after passing through the rear garden, a figure standing beside the gate stopped him. It was the man he had been thinking about just now.
“Where have you been?”
“Young… Master! No, Court… No, wait… Um…”
“…Just call me Young Master.”
“Ahem. Young Master, what brings you here?”
Jeonggwan’s heart sank again at the unexpected encounter with the man, but knowing the man was a eunuch made it easier than before. Still, he couldn’t stop his heart from racing every time he saw the man’s face.
“…I came to see you.”
“…”
“…I will come to see you every day.”
The man was looking down at Jeonggwan with his hands behind his back, and his expression didn’t seem like he was joking. Facing the man who was sending him such a serious, deep gaze, Jeonggwan felt as if someone was beating his heart with a laundry bat.
“Is that alright?”
“…”
“Tell me it’s alright.”
Can someone without testicles make me feel this way? Jeonggwan felt his face instantly turn red. He had wanted to go see the man, but instead, the man was coming to see him every day… Jeonggwan felt as if forsythias were blooming here and there in his chest. Ticklish. Jeonggwan shyly nodded, and the man quietly approached and embraced him.
“I missed you.”
“…Me too.”
The cold wind blowing from the east made the man and Jeonggwan cling even tighter to each other.
The man had hurriedly left Bihyeon Pavilion after hearing Jeonggwan’s rest period was over, but by the time someone he had stationed came to tell him this fact, Jeonggwan had already gone somewhere. The man had been waiting for Jeonggwan for almost an hour, feeling anxious and worried about who Jeonggwan might be meeting or where he might have gone. But when Jeonggwan shyly nodded, saying it was alright to come see him, all the man’s worries seemed to melt away.
“But Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“Why are your clothes so simple today?”
“Ah…”
Before, he had worn a jeollik with the Crown Prince’s emblem of the Four-Clawed Dragon to reveal his identity, but today he couldn’t do that. If rumors spread that the soon-to-be-crowned Crown Prince visited a private family’s court attendant in broad daylight, the court would be in an uproar. So the man was wearing only a light blue jeollik that he usually wore for archery practice.
Although this outfit lacked only the embroidered patterns compared to his usual attire—its fabric and quality far superior to what normal nobility wore—the man had worried about not having a more ordinary jeollik. But since Jeonggwan only noticed the absence of the embroidery rather than the quality and called his clothes simple, a smile naturally appeared on the man’s face.
“I don’t usually dress this simply. I toned it down today.”
“Ah… By the way, Young Master, are you perhaps at the Donggung Palace?”
“…Huh?”
“I went to see a seamstress court lady, and there I saw clothes similar to what you wore before. They said it was the Crown Prince’s dragon robe.”
“…Was it very similar?”
“That one was a darker navy blue. But the embroidery on your chest was similar. So I wondered if perhaps you work at the Donggung Palace.”
“…Well, if you ask if I work at the Donggung… I suppose you could say that.”
It wasn’t a lie. It was true that he worked at the Donggung, so the man nodded while trailing off. Although he would reveal his identity eventually, he didn’t want to do so right now. He wanted to exchange hearts with Jeonggwan who thought of him more comfortably.
From the corner of the pavilion, Chief Eunuch Eom was keeping a sharp eye out to see if anyone was passing by or watching. This was because, from the small room inside Jaseon Hall—where court ladies of the Donggung used to take turns napping to attend to the Crown Prince when court attendants didn’t have days off in the past—sounds that could make one blush were leaking out.
It wasn’t sounds that would make one turn red, but rather smacking sounds like the ghost of someone who died without being able to kiss had possessed someone. At first, Chief Eunuch Eom was startled, not believing such sounds could come from the Crown Prince, who was usually indifferent and cold-blooded. But soon, fearing someone might hear, he was vigilantly keeping watch.
“Mmm… Young Master. But how did you find this place?”
“…It’s where the Crown Prince sometimes rests.”
“Oh no! What if the Crown Prince suddenly comes in?!”
“…It’s fine.”
The man had Jeonggwan sitting on his lap and was sucking on his lips until they swelled. When Jeonggwan squirmed, the man pulled the back of Jeonggwan’s head toward himself again as if telling him to focus. However, Jeonggwan was so worried that he kept shifting his bottom, afraid the door might open.
“Still…”
“That will absolutely not happen, so come here and don’t worry.”
Despite Jeonggwan being terrified, the man seemed more urgent about pressing their lips together, making Jeonggwan a little intimidated as he wondered if eunuchs could be this passionate.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
