Chapter 67: Please Cherish Me

“Mmph, mmph….”

He felt like begging to be let go.

But when the thick glans forced his throat open and delved deep, he couldn’t even think of that.

Without realizing tears were streaming down his face, Haeryeong desperately pulled at the Emperor’s trousers.

His body twisted involuntarily, and even though he thrashed his feet against the bed, it was of no use.

“Just a little more. Hmm? Haeryeong-ah, you must do at least this much.”

His throat churned and his stomach turned.

In an instant, his face was a mess of tears and nasal fluid.

Even though he wanted to close his jaw, he couldn’t move an inch, as if it had dislocated from being forced open.

The time it took for the Emperor, who had pushed in so deep that his coarse pubic hair touched Haeryeong’s lips, to slowly withdraw felt like an eternity.

The Emperor did not rush and slowly pulled his penis out.

When the member finally left his mouth completely, Haeryeong curled up and burst into sorrowful wails.

The Emperor pulled the curled Haeryeong up and gathered him into his arms.

While Haeryeong dry-heaved and retched until his stomach settled, the man slowly rubbed his back.

He was a man busy giving both the wound and the medicine.

“Was it that difficult for you?”

Honestly, he felt like he was dying.

His jaw felt like it would drop off, and his throat was forced open and churning, causing a pain that drew tears from his eyes.

His stomach was still rolling.

He couldn’t even remember when the streaming tears had turned into sheer resentment.

His head rang from the lack of air, and his face was beet-red with heat.

Haeryeong burrowed into the Emperor’s chest without even realizing he had burst into tears.

He didn’t even want to know why he had to do something so agonizing.

Feeling only a desire to die right then, he unconsciously pounded his fists against the chest of the Emperor holding him and wept.

It was only after his crying subsided a little that he realized the rattling, wheezing breath was his own.

Only then did Haeryeong realize he was striking the Emperor while trying to push him away, and he froze, his body going rigid.

Resting his chin on the head of the completely frozen Haeryeong, the Emperor let out a chuckle.

“I suppose I made it too hard for you.”

It was truly like him not to offer an apology.

At the voice so low and small it was hard to tell if he was angry or not, Haeryeong barely managed to lift his trembling head.

The Emperor pulled his chin away from Haeryeong’s crown and met the man’s shaking eyes.

“Did it hurt a lot? Was it that exhausting?”

The Emperor was smiling tenderly.

As he scanned the drenched face with his hand, there was no sign of anger in his gaze.

After gathering his wide sleeve to wipe away the fluid from Haeryeong’s nose, he laughed heartily and rubbed his lips against the man’s cheek.

“I was excessive.”

“But what am I to do when the Empress is so cute when he cries? I fear I shall want to make you cry again.”

Haeryeong’s face crumpled, foundering in the sorrow of those words.

How could a human be so cruel?

Contrary to his heart that wanted to hurl insults, pleas flowed from his trembling lips.

“Pl… hng… do not do that… please… sob…”

“Do not do that?”

With a small laugh, the Emperor drew closer and asked.

“Then what would you have me do?”

Haeryeong gripped the Emperor’s collar and pleaded.

“Please favor me. Please cherish me.”

The tears blocking his vision overflowed and streamed down the cheeks he had just managed to wipe.

Drip.

The sound of them falling wetted Haeryeong’s chest.

“Please, look upon me… kindly…”

It wasn’t that he needed the man’s love.

He simply hated the pain.

He thought only the feeling of a blade carving into him was sorrowful, but everything the Emperor gave him was nothing but misery.

The man always demanded something from Haeryeong.

From small tantrums to his very life.

There was nothing among them that Haeryeong truly wanted to give him.

The same went for what the man gave him.

Neither the jewelry received last night nor the penis thrust into his mouth today were things Haeryeong wanted, yet the man forced them upon him.

He endured and endured, but sorrow was not a feeling that vanished through suppression.

Rather, it grew in volume the more it was repressed.

What use was it to pack it down tightly and stomp on it?

This indifferent man kept digging it back up as if it were nothing.

The Emperor always toyed with Haeryeong’s heart with his bare hands.

‘Do you find it that enjoyable?’

Haeryeong wanted to ask him as he saw that smirking face.

He wanted to ask if he had always been this way with the Noble Consort.

As far as Haeryeong knew, the Emperor was always tender with the Consort.

Whether whispering in front of him or clinging to each other from a distance, it always appeared so.

The Consort was different from his own intimidated self.

He always smiled while answering into the Emperor’s ear and always smiled as he was held.

Was that truly because of the man’s boldness?

Or was it only possible because the Emperor had accepted him generously from the start?

The Emperor stared at the weeping, pleading Haeryeong and raised a hand to gently rub his cheek.

“Do I not already favor you?”

Haeryeong burst into loud wails and shook his head violently.

“I do not know. I do not know Your Majesty’s heart at all.”

Haeryeong could see nothing of the man’s heart.

Thus, he hated him more.

Had he cherished him even half as much as the Consort, perhaps he would have already forgiven him.

Since he was not a person who harbored deep hatred by nature, he might have resigned himself to a life of “what’s good is good.”

But is even that unacceptable to you?

Why must you be so desperate to provoke and stir me up every single time?

Gangcheon watched Haeryeong, who was crying while clutching his collar.

He tried to understand the words being spoken, but they did not make sense to him.

As he stared blankly, Haeryeong wept mournfully, shedding tears like morning dew on petals.

‘Did his grip get stronger from holding the reins while riding?’

The sound of fabric straining could be heard from the force he used to grab the clothes—much stronger than before.

Yet his gentle Empress didn’t even seem to notice, instead applying even more strength to pull at him.

A chuckle escaped Gangcheon involuntarily.

‘Why is he acting so cute?’

Unlike the Consort who was used to acting spoiled, the Empress was a person whose face clearly showed his hurt.

It was entirely different from the Consort’s intentional displays of grievance.

He seemed to be trying to smile, but his dejected eyebrows and slumped lips laid his heart bare.

Recently, he had started to smile more.

However, whenever he stole glances and gauged the mood, it was obvious he was agonizing over something.

And when he approached with a soft smile, anyone would have to suspect that smile was suspicious.

That clumsiness was actually quite cute.

At times when he burst with overwhelming emotion, he was truly lovely.

The Empress was so lacking in intuition that it was plain to see how much he must have been pampered in the palace of Yeonseo.

In the past, Gangcheon would have been annoyed by that lack of wit, but now it didn’t seem so stifling.

He prided himself on cherishing him in his own way, yet what more did this greedy Empress need?

He had bestowed jewelry and fabrics no less than what he gave the Consort, and he stayed by his side like this; why was he not satisfied?

Yet, strangely, his curiosity was growing larger than any sense of dislike for those traits.

This was especially true after hearing that the Empress, upon receiving all that jewelry yesterday, had opened a book instead of his jewelry boxes.

He had already vaguely noticed that the man was not one for material greed.

Then what is it that he truly desires?

Gangcheon found it bizarre that he felt a desire to grant whatever the man wanted.

He found it laughable that the man had truly become as beautiful as he had been claiming.

Occasionally, when meeting those tear-moistened eyes, a sigh would escape him.

To think he wanted to drown in those eyes that shimmered like a wine cup reflecting the moon.

He wondered if he was going mad.

The Emperor stared intently into those moist eyes and chewed over Haeryeong’s words.

‘Cherish me,’ ‘Look upon me kindly.’

‘How much more kindly can I look at you than this?’

‘You might as well just pester me for money.’

It would have been better if he had pestered him for a child or jewels like the Consort.

He was confident in giving him all sorts of magnificent things, but he had no confidence in cutting open his chest to show his heart.

A heart? How could he show such a thing?

He didn’t even know where his own heart was located.

What more could he show to a man who didn’t even believe him when he whispered that he was beautiful?

He was simply at a loss.

The Empress wept endlessly, as if his entire body were made of tears.

He wept, shedding transparent fluid without ceasing, like an icicle hanging from the eaves on a winter day when the frost melts.

Whenever a hand was offered to wipe away the tears, he would immediately create a new path for them.

The crying out loud was brief; later, he could not even make a proper sound and only sobbed.

He cried for a long time, sniffling and swallowing dryly, until finally, he squeezed his eyes—raw and red as if from a headache—shut tight.

Gangcheon moved silently toward his lips.

Hot breath burst out without a pause, drenching the face that drew near.

A sweet scent wafted from his parched mouth.

The plump, swollen lips were as hot as his breath.

When Gangcheon took them into his own and touched them with his tongue, Haeryeong quietly parted his lips to let out his breath.