Chapter 31 Side Story 3: The Emperor’s Penance

Ihan knew it too. This wasn’t truly a matter of Seo-cheon’s behavior or Hwaun’s feelings. The emotion Ihan felt had a much more fundamental origin. Not wishing to articulate those reasons in detail right now, Ihan simply stared at Hwaun, who was stroking his face with a soft touch, oblivious to the Emperor’s internal turmoil.

It was at that moment a chill brushed the back of Hwaun’s neck. He instinctively flinched. The energy in the Emperor’s eyes shifted subtly; it became strangely sharp and raw, sending a shiver down Hwaun’s spine.

“Your Majesty, why… ah!”

Hwaun tried to speak with feigned composure, but a small cry escaped him. Without warning, the Emperor lifted Hwaun’s body and sat him right on top of the desk.

This was the very desk where His Majesty had been attending to state affairs just moments ago. It was covered with various letters and official reports. To sit upon it was a blatant act of profanity. Startled, Hwaun kicked his legs frantically, trying to get down. Ihan quickly caught Hwaun’s legs, forcing them apart, and moved his waist between them to block any further movement.

“P-please, let me down, Your Majesty,” Hwaun pleaded, his face flushing deep red.

Seeing Hwaun—who had been so composed while discussing Seo-cheon—suddenly thrown into such disarray, Ihan felt the suffocating weight in his chest clear slightly. The primal urge to tease and trouble his lover began to bloom.

“Did you not hear me? Your crime is heavy, so from this moment, I shall bestow a fitting punishment.”

“Your Majesty, if that is the case, please release me first…”

In the past, even a slight raise of Ihan’s voice would have sent this man trembling to the floor in prayer for mercy. Now, even when threatened with “punishment,” he showed no fear. Thinking of this change, Ihan felt his heart melt like snow. He nearly let out a foolish grin but managed to hold it back, maintaining a stern expression.

No matter how lovely Hwaun was, this was the moment to carry out the promised penalty. Ihan continued in a stiff voice.

“Did you not hear me? How can one receiving punishment act so willfully?”

At Ihan’s repeated mention of “punishment,” Hwaun finally stopped trying to climb down and looked at the Emperor with trembling eyes. It wasn’t exactly fear; it was the anxiety of being unable to predict the Emperor’s intentions.

He knew Ihan didn’t mean a literal “sentence.” However, Ihan was a man skilled in making Hwaun feel so embarrassed and flustered that Hwaun often thought a real punishment might be easier to endure.

Meeting those expectations, Ihan slowly began to unfasten Hwaun’s waist belt.

“Your Majesty, what are you doing!”

Startled, Hwaun grabbed his belt with both hands, his eyes wide. Ignoring him, Ihan worked his hands obsessively to loosen the fabric, replying simply:

“Stay still.”

“W-wait, Your Majesty. Not here, p-please.”

“What do you mean ‘not here’?”

Having finally forced the belt loose, Ihan tossed it to the floor. Now he moved to pull down Hwaun’s trousers, wearing a perfectly shameless face. His eyes seemed to ask: I’m just taking off your clothes; did you think I was going to do something else?

While Hwaun was dazed by that sheer audacity, Ihan finished untying the waist strings. He pressed his body close, hugging Hwaun’s waist and lifting him slightly, fully intent on stripping the trousers away.

“Your Majesty, you cannot…!”

Realizing the Emperor was serious, Hwaun urgently pushed at Ihan’s shoulders in refusal, but he was no match for a determined Ihan. Hwaun’s struggling only made it easier for Ihan to slide the clothing off.

Suddenly finding his bare legs exposed in the very hall where the Emperor discussed national affairs with his ministers, Hwaun turned deathly pale. He desperately clutched the lapels of his inner and outer robes with both hands, trying to cover himself.

“Your Majesty, the private chamber… let us go to the private chamber!”

Hwaun realized that since things had gone this far, stopping the act entirely was impossible. If that was the case, he had to at least prevent it from happening in this vast, open hall.

The corners of Hwaun’s eyes drooped sadly. He knew by now that making a request with such a face made Ihan hopelessly weak; it was a tactic he had learned to use, not just understand.

But this time, Ihan had no intention of relenting. He wore an even more shameless, puzzled expression as he replied:

“Noble Consort, the sun is still so bright, yet you ask to go to the private chamber… do you desire to share ‘pleasures’ with me so much already?”

“……Pardon?”

“Hooo, I had no such intention myself, but since the Noble Consort is so desperate and desires it so, as your husband, I cannot bring myself to turn away such a request.”

As Ihan spoke word by word, Hwaun’s expression went blank. In his heart, he wanted to scream, What on earth are you talking about, Your Majesty? It was an urge toward total rebellion. To strip a man’s trousers without warning and then claim to have “no such intention” was a lie not even a passing dog would believe.

But Seong Ihan was a being whom no one under heaven dared to oppose, and his word was law. Hwaun could not argue against such stubborn logic. Taking advantage of the silence, Ihan succeeded in stripping away Hwaun’s undergarments as well, leaving his lower body completely naked.

Hwaun tightened his grip on his remaining robes and spoke in a trembling voice.

“If you intended to tease me, is this not enough, Your Majesty?”

“Tease you? I am not doing this to tease you.”

“But…”

“Have you not been listening? I am punishing you right now.”

In that moment, Hwaun realized. Ihan was right. The Emperor wasn’t doing this simply to bully him in a minor way. He was, in fact, throwing a quite desperate tantrum. It was an expression that said: You did nothing wrong, but my heart is so sorrowful, so please comfort me.

It wasn’t because of Seo-cheon. Although that sorrow had been triggered by Seo-cheon’s presence, Hwaun knew the emotion in the Emperor’s heart was deeper and heavier than mere jealousy. It was a kind of sorrow that could not be resolved no matter how much Hwaun loved him.

The Emperor’s sorrow was a swamp. It was an emotion that grew darker as his love deepened. No matter how much Ihan loved Hwaun, the yearning for a time he could never truly know was not the type of thing that could be erased simply by sharing the present and future forever.

As that thought reached him, the strength left Hwaun’s hands. He could no longer refuse the man before him.

Noticing the change in Hwaun, Ihan’s eyes glowed darkly. Hwaun’s submissive attitude often dangerously stimulated Ihan’s desires.

Finally, the Emperor commanded:

“Spread your legs.”

It was a dignified voice. It was a shameful command, but Hwaun felt no shame in it. He knew the command was not meant to insult him. The punishment for the lover who had sparked the Emperor’s jealousy was a game—an expression of love.

Hwaun submitted like the weaker party, but both of them knew that in this relationship, he was never the weak one.

“……”

Biting his lip hard, Hwaun slowly spread his legs. Though it wasn’t winter, the air rushing between his thighs sent goosebumps across his skin.

The surroundings were too bright, and the space was too vast. He could hardly believe he was opening his bare legs in this strictly formal space, exposing his genitals directly to the Emperor.

“I cannot see through the clothes.”

Ihan spoke while actually stepping a pace back from Hwaun. He hadn’t touched Hwaun with so much as a fingertip yet, but his voice was already thick with uncontrollable heat.

Hwaun’s trembling hands slowly began to pull aside the fabric that had been covering his front. His pale cheeks and earlobes flushed crimson. Finally, Hwaun was revealed starkly before the Emperor’s eyes.

Hwaun’s breath grew ragged. Though they had done nothing yet, his heart beat so fast he felt short of breath. They were a couple who had enjoyed intimacy in countless spaces throughout the palace, but never once had they done so in the Hall of State where ministers came and went daily.

To Hwaun, this was crossing a line—a line so far away he could barely see it. It was a command hard to follow, even from the Emperor. And Hwaun knew that if he truly expressed a sincere refusal even now, Ihan would immediately withdraw the order and embrace him to soothe him.