Chapter 58: Sweet Invitation

“This room and the room next door are the bedrooms you two will be using.”

Beep, slide.

When a somewhat luxurious white card was touched, the door opened automatically.

‘Wow, an automatic door.’

The inner palace for welcoming VIPs, which I was guided to following Choi Yeon’s footsteps, was just one of the buildings that blended well with the surrounding atmosphere on the outside, but when I entered, I could notice that the latest modern technologies were added everywhere.

‘Well, this is a place where people actually have to be welcomed.’

In my previous life where royalty had disappeared, no one lived in the palaces.

So, they would have restored it to its former appearance as much as possible in order to preserve its value as a cultural asset.

However, this is clearly a private property where a princess lives, and a place where guests must be welcomed.

There was no reason to stick to the old ways and become uncomfortable.

However, it wasn’t like the interior of the palace mixed with modern features was heterogeneous.

Rather, the atmosphere created by the mixture of past and present was quite refreshing.

“Now, come in.”

“…Wow, the room is so pretty.”

As soon as she entered the room, Sejeong exclaimed in admiration, and looked around the interior of the room with a curious expression.

“Guest rooms are important places to make an impression on our guests. We put a lot of effort into it from the design stage, and the princess chose every single ornament carefully. This clock here is….”

Perhaps she was pleased with Sejeong’s exclamation.

The wrinkles finely etched on Choi Yeon’s face deepened with a smile.

‘The room is definitely pretty.’

It was worth saying that proudly.

When I think of a palace, I only think of something grand, but when I actually look around, I feel a much more cozy feeling.

It’s not like it’s small… a warm feeling somewhere?

The room I just entered also had that feeling.

The structure itself was similar to a hotel from the West, but the ornaments and the design of the room seemed to have tried to reflect traditional culture, making it feel like I was in a luxurious hanok.

In addition, the sunlight coming in from the window warmly wrapped the entire room, so I could definitely feel that it was a room that had been carefully considered in many ways.

‘The senior chose all of these….’

As I looked around the room as if appreciating it, an empty frame with nothing filled in caught my eye.

A frame with a heavy brown color close to black as a base, decorated with a golden line that seemed to be wrapped around a dragon.

Above that, for some reason, the image of Lee Seorin came to mind.

-Tonight, I’ll come to see you around 12.

A voice containing a somewhat bewitching charm was replayed in my mind.

‘What the hell is she going to do by coming to see me at that late hour?’

If she came around dinner time, I could understand it, but midnight is honestly too late.

‘If she even told me to come somewhere alone, it would be a secret meeting straight out of a movie.’

…No, come to think of it, if Lee Seorin comes into my room and it’s just the two of us, isn’t that also a secret meeting?

Is that what she’s aiming for?

‘Should I be with Sejeong….’

Honestly, even though it hasn’t been long, I’m already taken, and I was warned a little while ago with a cute tantrum, so it might be better to be careful.

But….

There was something that bothered me a little.

‘There must be a reason why she told me only in my ear.’

If it was something that Sejeong could hear, would there be a reason for Lee Seorin to whisper it only to me?

‘Something to tell only me, and not Sejeong.’

…For example, the culprit of this fire?

Or, something important to say related to Sejeong…?

Perhaps, something unexpected related to the royal family came out because of this incident.

No matter how much I say I know the original work, the content has already been twisted enough with just a little variable like me.

Then what about the contents related to the royal family?

What if the contents that I vaguely guessed as ‘it will be like this~’ are actually progressing differently?

‘…These are problems that won’t be answered by thinking about them alone.’

The conclusion was that it seemed right to obediently follow Lee Seorin’s words, which were thrown like a phantom thief’s warning letter.

And if there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll help.

I’m no longer an outsider.

‘Something shouldn’t happen to Sejeong.’

First, a friend.

And, now, a lover.

Since she’s my first lover, I hope she only walks on a flowery path.

-…Wow. You, you’re quite a romanticist, aren’t you?

‘…Why, well. Is that bad?’

-Hmm…no, I just learned more about how different you are from me.

“…The explanation of the facilities is all on the tablet placed inside, but if you have any questions or need anything, please press the call bell placed inside and this old woman will come.”

Perhaps the explanation was over, Choi Yeon said that and smiled at us.

“Thank you for your consideration…um, what should I call you.”

“You don’t have to call me anything difficult, you can just call me Grandma.”

“Then, thank you. Grandma.”

“Hayeon-ah! Even so, if you suddenly call her so comfortably….”

“Hoho. It feels like I’ve gained a pretty granddaughter. There was a time when the princess also called me Grandma comfortably.”

Saying that, Choi Yeon handed us the card and left the room.

Even the way she left was silently elegant, making it hard to tell if there was even a person in front of me until just now.

There was a word in a martial arts novel in my previous life about that kind of state…what was it.

-Dapseolmuheun? (Walking on snow without leaving a trace)

‘Yeah, that.…Huh? How did you know?’

-Little by little, your memories are flowing in. When you think of a certain memory, it’s shown to me like a vivid image. Of course, your memories of your previous life too.

‘…Really?’

Then, that’s a big deal.

If various memories that I don’t want to be known flow into that guy…maybe, even memories of my private, enjoyable time!?

-Don’t worry, I haven’t received any such memories yet. Relax.

‘Then, that’s a relief….’

-I know that you’ve been touching my body here and there since you found your memories, though.

‘…T,hat’s.’

I swear, it was never anything like self-pleasure.

Just once.

I couldn’t overcome my curiosity, and I looked in the mirror in my room at night and touched it all over.

My chest, my lower abdomen….

‘I got scared somehow and didn’t do anything more than that….’

-You just imagined it.

‘…I didn’t!’

-Really?

‘I didn’t, I tell you!’

-Well, I’m not trying to blame you. Rather, I was surprised. When I found out that you were a man in your previous life, I thought that someday I would be relentlessly poked all day with your right hand and become sticky….

‘Ugh, stop! Don’t you have any shame as a girl!?’

Giggle.

-What are you talking about. Of course I have shame. But is it right to feel it towards you, who has already seen all of my naked body?

‘That’s….’

Haa.

The Kim Hayeon I knew from the original work wasn’t a girl who made such lewd remarks.

‘As expected, because her mind is that of an old lady….’

-What?

If there was a temperature in her voice, I felt like it had dropped by 5 degrees.

‘Ah, no. I misspoke. Ahem.’

-…If you say that again, you’ll know what I can do.

‘I’ll be careful….’

-Good.

“Wow, Hayeon-ah. Look at this. There’s a big bathhouse around here?”

“Where?”

‘Kim Hayeon’ Just as I was getting dizzy from the words of, I grabbed the rope that Sejeong had lowered.

‘Oh.’

When I went next to her and looked at the tablet, it contained information about a large bathhouse called ‘Hwaryeon Bathhouse’.

Various flowers were floating in the many baths shown in the picture, and it seemed that it was a bathhouse that used flowers as bath additives, befitting its name.

‘Come to think of it, it’s almost time to use up all the bath additives at home.’

Soon, the day was approaching when my mom would send various things she thought were necessary by courier.

‘She sent it on time before, so she’ll probably send it this time too….’

It was clear that bath additives would be included this time as well.

The problem was that Siyeon and I hadn’t used it all yet.

Due to my mom’s characteristic of buying a lot at once, there was a high probability that it would be difficult to dispose of if I didn’t use up what I had now.

‘Well, if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to share it.’

Originally, there weren’t many people to give it to other than Sohee or Jia, but this time there were quite a few people to share it with.

Sejeong, Senior, and Baek Ahra….

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Baek Ahra’s face.

‘Did they block all non-royal personnel from entering?’

That’s not the case, because in the original work, there was a scene where Baek Ahra came to visit Yoon Sejeong, who was also hospitalized in the royal hospital.

‘……Decision.’

When I meet Baek Ahra later, I’ll use this as an excuse to pretend to be very sad.

I was already looking forward to what kind of reaction she would show.

“The baths are all so pretty.”

“Yeah…um, Hayeon-ah.”

“Hmm?”

“That, this time….”

Twirling her hair with her finger, Sejeong smiled bashfully at me.

“Wouldn’t you like to, go in together?”

Bathhouse.