Chapter 24: Sovereignty and a Seed of Hope

As Ihan willingly parted his lips, Hwaun was the first to extend his tongue, venturing into the Emperor’s mouth. He sought Ihan’s tongue, entangling it and sucking with a raw intensity, swallowing every drop of their shared heat. A low, gravelly sound, like a beast growling deep in its throat, rumbled within the Emperor.

A chill ran down Hwaun’s spine—the thrilling shiver of being prey—but he loved even that sensation, and his body tensed in response. Involuntarily, Hwaun tightened around him. Unable to endure any further, Ihan, his tongue still locked with Hwaun’s, gathered the slender body into his arms, laid him back, and began to drive into him with a relentless, rapid pace.

“Mng! Ah! H-ha-ah…!”

As Ihan moved roughly between his parted legs, Hwaun let out a series of explicit cries. He was so overwhelmed by the speed that he seemed unaware of the sounds he was making. Finally, with a sharp constriction in his lower abdomen, a searing warmth spilled deep inside him.

Hwaun’s blurred vision searched for Ihan. He wanted to say he wanted to kiss, but his voice wouldn’t come. Just as a wave of inexplicable sorrow began to well up, Ihan—as if reading his mind—immediately leaned down, pulled Hwaun into an embrace, and pressed their lips together.

A careful tongue-tip traced the lines of Hwaun’s lips with painstaking devotion. It was a delicate, soothing motion. When Hwaun parted his mouth, trying to catch that tongue, Ihan let out a soft laugh.

“Do you want my tongue?”

As he spoke, Ihan withdrew his member—which had been buried to its hilt—only to slowly thrust it back in to its full depth. The seed that had overflowed surged out, only to be pushed back inside, a rhythmic cycle of friction. Even after release, Ihan had not diminished, and this slow, grinding sensation provided a different kind of stimulation than before.

Hwaun trembled at the feeling but nodded his head. He wanted Ihan to kiss him until he was breathless.

Ihan quietly slid his tongue between Hwaun’s lips. He remained still for a moment, and Hwaun, after a second of surprise, began to suck and pull on that tongue as if it were a sweet candy.

Wet sounds echoed from both above and below. Ihan watched the way Hwaun worked his tongue before interlocking their lips deeply once more. He began to move his hips again, gathering speed, as he explored Hwaun’s mouth until they were both breathless. Hwaun’s moans were swallowed whole by the Emperor.

When Ihan finally pulled his lips away, he looked down into Hwaun’s half-lidded, hazy eyes.

“I have given you my tongue, so your entire night belongs to me.”

Thus, the night began anew.

There were times when Chief Eunuch Oh felt truly doubtful.

“Look at this.”

Right now, from atop the palanquin, a certain someone was insistently thrusting a tiny incense pouch—barely visible to the naked eye—downward.

“Ahem, I said look closer.”

That person was practically straining his arm, waving his hand to show it off.

“Have you ever seen an incense pouch this beautiful?”

Eunuch Oh wondered if this was truly the same Emperor he revered—the one he was willing to die for.

“How did he even think of this… I heard he even pricked his fingertips with the needle while making it.”

“…It seems Jin-bi Mama prepared it with great devotion for Your Majesty.”

“Right? It seems… Un-ah truly loves me dearly.”

At the Emperor’s words, Eunuch Oh almost accidentally stopped walking. He didn’t even know where to begin processing that statement.

First, even if this wasn’t a formal setting, calling a concubine by his private name in front of the servants was a problem. Second, it was the duty of a concubine to love the Emperor, yet the Emperor was treating this pouch as if it were some miraculous proof of affection. If one were to list the issues regarding dignity and majesty, the list would be endless.

Eunuch Oh swallowed the many words swirling in his mind for the sake of his own safety and spoke with a forced calmness.

“Majesty, is it not already a fact clear to heaven and earth just how much Jin-bi Mama adores you?”

“Jin-seong, love… it isn’t like that.”

Eunuch Oh stared into the distance as he listened to the Emperor discuss the nature of “love” with a eunuch. While losing focus while attending the Emperor was a grave sin, he was desperate to avoid thinking the irreverent thought that a man in love becomes a fool.

Unaware of Eunuch Oh’s internal struggle—or perhaps simply not caring—his master, Seong Ihan, continued in a serious tone.

“Do you think one’s heart is at ease just because they hear they are loved every day? Yesterday might have been so, but who is to say the heart hasn’t changed today? Do you have any idea how anxious I am every day, wondering if his heart cooled long ago and he only says he loves me because I am the Emperor?”

Eunuch Oh was genuinely happy that the Emperor had learned of love and found a happy “private” life. After all, he had subtly helped Hwaun for that very reason.

“And as you know, my Consort is quite exceptional. It is only because I am the Emperor that people don’t try to snatch Yeon Hwaun away from me.”

Yet on days like this, he strangely missed the version of the Emperor who used to repeat that an Emperor must never know love.

“If I started punishing everyone who looked at Yeon Hwaun with private desire, there wouldn’t be anyone left in this palace.”

“…….”

“So how can I, even as Emperor, be at ease? Jin-seong, don’t you agree?”

Whether the late autumn sky cared for the sighs Eunuch Oh was suppressing, it remained cruelly, perfectly clear.

After finishing his morning preparations, Young sat on the edge of his bed before heading downstairs. He unfolded a single letter he had carefully taken from a drawer. It was a ritual he performed every morning.

It had been nearly a year since Young, who used to beg on the streets, had started living and working at the inn. He still remembered that day vividly. The innkeeper, who used to give him dumplings at Haun’s request, spoke one day with a face that looked like he was running a very bothersome errand.

‘Haun asked me to take care of you.’

‘I’m being paid for it, so don’t thank me. From now on, you’ll stay at the inn and help with chores.’

‘The pay will be generous, so you won’t have to suffer on the streets anymore.’

‘That fellow… he worried about you a lot.’

As a beggar child wandering the streets, how could he have dared to hope for such luck? To Young, Haun was the first person to show him warm affection and true concern. Even after going far away to the Imperial Palace, he thought it was more than he deserved that Haun continued to look after him through Samun, the innkeeper.

But for Haun to go this far for someone like him—a stranger with not a drop of shared blood—was a miracle. Young looked at the letter with eyes that had grown stronger as he had grown two spans taller thanks to good food and sleep. The short letter was written in a neat hand.

“I know how cruel it is to speak of tomorrow to someone who finds it hard even to endure today. But Young-ah. If you do not dream, if you do not harbor hope, you might truly lose your tomorrow forever. I once thought those things weren’t necessary for lives like ours, but now I know that isn’t true.

Please understand that because you are still young, I have to entrust you to the Ajusshi [innkeeper], fearing that sending a large sum of money might put you in danger. But once you reach an age where you can protect and take responsibility for yourself, I will be able to help you in other ways… Young-ah, I hope you don’t give up on looking forward to tomorrow, dreaming of the future, and being happy.

I will write when I can, though it may not be often. Stay healthy.”

Young read and re-read this letter every day. He had memorized it word for word. A bright smile played on his lips. The boy who had merely survived from day to day was gone. Now, Young had a distant dream he desperately wanted to achieve.

“I, too, will one day…”

Determination shone in the eyes of the boy who made a secret vow for the future. Haun was no longer there, but in his place, someone else was beginning to dream.