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East Wind
After two winters had passed, Queen Kyung was deposed. It was because she had not conceived during the more than five years since becoming Queen. Normally, even in such cases, deposition wouldn’t happen, but Queen Kyung’s father, Kyung Munhwan, personally submitted a petition requesting his daughter’s deposition, and Queen Kyung herself also pleaded with the King for it. According to rumors, Kyung had gone to Tamra after the third winter since leaving the palace. Of course, ministers who heard this rumor wondered if Kyung had really gone to Tamra, but since the King made no particular comment about it, the rumor faded.
The King welcomed a new Queen immediately after Kyung was deposed. She was from a noble family that had been out of office for a long time, a decision made to prevent existing power factions from growing stronger. The new Queen was intelligent and benevolent, like a scholar who had been preparing for the state examination despite being female. Unlike the former Queen Kyung, she quickly gave birth to a prince and embraced the people alongside the King. Valuing this highly, the King designated the prince as Crown Prince before he even learned to walk, making the country more prosperous than ever before. All the people were affluent, and they finally had the long-awaited Crown Prince.
People unanimously declared: Our King is truly the most virtuous of rulers. Despite ascending to the throne at a young age, which must be arduous, he continuously implements policies for the people and revitalizes the nation. Though the King’s only blemish is the former Queen Kyung who was deposed for failing to conceive, he still brought in another Queen for the sake of the royal lineage and has seen the birth of the Crown Prince. How wise he is! There has never been such a virtuous king in previous generations.
“But about the deposed Queen. Wasn’t that a bit too harsh? Did it really warrant deposition…?”
“What’s too harsh! It shows decisiveness! With no Crown Prince to continue the lineage, deposition was appropriate!”
“Still though…”
“Oh, come on! I heard you’re preparing for the civil service exam, but you’re completely clueless! The King needed to see a Crown Prince quickly, you know? He needs to teach him statecraft so our country can continue prospering!”
The voice of a man drinking in the tavern grew louder. Though he seemed more excited due to the alcohol, those around him nodded in agreement, saying he was right.
“The Crown Prince is four years old this year?”
“They say he’s very intelligent. And well-mannered.”
“Is that so? So what the King planted bore a King!”
Laughter filled the tavern. When people gather, negative talk inevitably arises, but since they spoke only positively about the King, it showed how strong public sentiment was. At a nearby table, a man who had been quietly drinking had a genuine smile on his face.
“But is it true that the King is coming to the royal villa this time?”
At this new topic, the man paused the cup he was holding. The royal villa was where the King stayed during his processions, and there was such a villa in this area.
“That’s what I heard too, but many say otherwise? Since he’s so busy with state affairs.”
Although it was unlikely they would encounter each other, just to be safe, the man decided that if the rumor was true, he would need to leave the area for a few days after gathering more information. He got up from his seat, brushing himself off. It was a place he had finally settled after wandering here and there. Not that he disliked the wandering life. He had been able to try various foods and meet people he missed.
After parting with the King, Jeonggwan had stayed in Tamra with Jihoon at Kyung Munhwan’s suggestion. He rode horses to his heart’s content and ate plenty of tangerines there. After an indeterminable amount of time, when he heard that Juhwan was coming to Tamra, he ran barefoot to the dock. Although Jihoon followed and tried to dissuade him, saying it would take at least seven more days before Juhwan arrived, Jeonggwan waited for Juhwan there every day. And when he finally met Juhwan,
‘You wretch! I should cut you into pieces!’
‘Young Master, have you been well?’
‘Well? I’ll kill you, you rascal!’
They were so happy they embraced and cried. They spent days catching up on years of yearning, but when it was time for Juhwan to leave due to Kyung Munhwan’s message that it was now truly time to return from Tamra as it was becoming conspicuous.
‘I have something to tell you, Jeonggwan.’
‘What is it?’
Before boarding the ship, Juhwan had an expression of hesitation about whether to speak or not, but apparently deciding to tell him, Juhwan firmly grasped Jeonggwan’s hand and broached the subject that Jeonggwan had been deliberately avoiding.
‘The reason I didn’t conceive was…’
‘…Young Master.’
‘Because both His Majesty and I were friends.’
‘…Friends?’
‘The only friends who could talk about you.’
On a certain day three years before Juhwan was deposed, the man had suddenly visited Juhwan at dawn. He immediately became angry, saying Juhwan had raised Jeonggwan too indulgently. Juhwan was startled and asked if he was looking for Jeonggwan, but the man didn’t answer that question and just continued getting angry, lamenting, and eventually crying, repeating only what he had said before. That Jeonggwan had been raised receiving only love, so he had no greed. That because he wasn’t selfish, he had abandoned him.
The man drank alcohol every day for months without missing a single day. Although he didn’t neglect state affairs, as soon as evening came, he would immerse himself in alcohol. On nights scheduled for consummation, he would visit Juhwan and only talk about Jeonggwan. Before that dawn visit when he came crying, the topic had been “When I find Jeonggwan-” but afterwards, it was filled only with reminiscences about Jeonggwan. So they became friends—friends who could remember one person together.
They spent a year like that. But with the flood of petitions demanding concubines be brought in due to the Queen’s failure to conceive, Juhwan, not wanting to be entangled in palace intrigue, pleaded with the man to depose her, saying she wanted to live the rest of her life as she wished. Just grant this one wish of a friend, she said. The man strongly opposed at first. Without Juhwan, there would truly be no one with whom he could remember Jeonggwan. Feeling that he would completely fall apart if that happened, he rejected her request several times, asking her to reconsider. But thinking that Jeonggwan too would want Juhwan’s happiness, he finally let her go.
And the man finally crumbled. Due to the ministers’ insistence on continuing the royal line, he immediately brought in a new Queen, and subsequently saw the birth of a Crown Prince. The position the man occupied carried too much responsibility to quietly live yearning for just one person. By that time, Juhwan also thought the man had forgotten Jeonggwan. Much time had passed, and a Crown Prince had been born. However, when the man heard the news that Juhwan was going to Tamra, he quietly visited Juhwan one dawn and left one message.
If, perchance, you meet that child…
The King’s procession was now certain. However, it was said he was going to a different area, not where Jeonggwan was, so everyone in the area expressed disappointment. Still, people were hopeful that he might change direction and come this way since it had been raining heavily for days at his planned destination. But after waiting all morning with no magnificent procession in sight, everyone gave up hope, assuming he wasn’t coming.
So fortunately, Jeonggwan didn’t have to leave his home and could start his day as usual. Having perhaps inherited his grandfather’s blood, Jeonggwan worked milking goats at a large ranch in the county. After milking early in the morning, he would drive the goats to the hill for a walk. It was essential work to both exercise the goats’ muscles and let them graze.
“Sigh, there it goes again.”
But since animals don’t understand human language, there was always one that would stray, and each time, Jeonggwan had to go catch it. Of course, the goats raised at this ranch were all docile, so catching them wasn’t difficult, but it was still a nuisance. Jeonggwan slowly followed a goat that had run up to a different hill by itself.
Today, it seemed to have gone even further than usual, as the animal that normally grazed around here was nowhere to be seen. As Jeonggwan looked around and climbed higher up the hill, he heard someone’s voice, as if someone had already been there.
“This is a mountain goat, isn’t it?”
“It seems to have separated from its herd. Perhaps there are mountain goats released nearby.”
But that voice seemed so familiar that Jeonggwan’s legs gradually stiffened as he climbed the hill.
“This is my first time touching a live mountain goat.”
“The mountain goat is licking like Honey Rice Cake. You rascal. How impudent.”
Honey Rice Cake. A dog suddenly appeared in Jeonggwan’s memory. And that voice would belong to the dog’s owner. Since Honey Rice Cake was the dog of the Donggung Palace, it must be right. Jeonggwan needed to retrieve the goat, but his body was frozen, unable to do anything.
Surely it can’t be. They said he wouldn’t be coming this way. In Jeonggwan’s mind, there was a clamor to climb the rest of the hill and confirm that face for himself, but before his thoughts could even complete, his legs were already going back down the hill. If he said he lost a goat, the owner would surely be very angry, but now Jeonggwan was no longer a slave, so he could appease him. But he probably wouldn’t receive his month’s wages. He would struggle financially for a while, but still, he couldn’t go retrieve the goat. It was because of that slight possibility.
What if he still…
‘Jeonggwan. In my dream once, you flew away riding a dragon. I thought it meant good fortune would come to you, but instead…’
If, perchance, you meet that child, tell him that from the first time we met, I gave him all my heart, and I still do. And I always will.
‘It meant you had run away with all of His Majesty’s heart.’
For fear that the man’s heart might still be all his. Despite the new Queen and now even a child, the Crown Prince, what if his feelings remained the same? If that were the case…
If his heart was still all his, then… Jeonggwan felt he wouldn’t be able to contain that greed anymore. He would want only the man, thinking of, hearing, and seeing nothing else.
That would be unfair to Juhwan who had become a blemish in his place, and to the faith of the people who embraced even such a blemish. He just needed to avoid meeting him. Just not confirm the man’s feelings. With this thought, Jeonggwan hurriedly descended the hill.
But the autumn wind blowing from the east passed by Jeonggwan.
And the wind carrying that scent,
“…Jeonggwan.”
Finally caught him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
