Chapter 100: An Illusion Shattered

“Oh dear. Why are you crying?”

The Emperor pulled Sirak into his embrace and patted him.

Shh, at the soft sound of his soothing, even more tears fell.

Sirak only then clearly realized what he had been unsure of.

The Emperor’s heart had already changed long ago.

The man who had promised to give him every precious thing was no more.

Even though Sirak had never given him his own heart, four years was apparently a long time.

Thinking that everything he had held was merely an illusion made his body tremble with a sense of futility.

Sirak clutched the Emperor’s sleeve and wept in his arms.

Why did he feel so wronged?

Why did his heart ache so much?

Humans were truly, truly foolish.

Had he grown fond of the man while seducing him to avenge his mother?

Who would have known he would miss the favor he once thought he never wanted, now that it was entirely gone?

“Sirak-ah.”

The man’s tender voice echoed in his ear.

Sirak barely swallowed his surging sobs and looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

“Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?”

The touch that quietly wiped away his tears was pointlessly tender, causing Sirak to weep and laugh at once.

“Because the Empress is so affectionate, I was moved to tears.”

The Emperor quietly studied Sirak’s face and wore a strange smile.

He pressed a kiss to the corner of Sirak’s eye.

“Your eyes will become raw if you keep this up.”

Sirak closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the man.

“Comfort me a little more, Your Majesty.”

With their faces pressed together, he held Sirak tight and swayed his body slowly.

“How can you act so much like a child? I truly loved this side of you.”

The hand rubbing his back was still tender, but his words were not.

Sirak felt once again that the man’s heart had completely departed.

Clinging to the dragon robe, he buried his wet eyes in the Emperor’s shoulder.

It was better this way.

If the Empress had become that precious to the Emperor, it was actually a stroke of luck.

Since the Emperor was difficult to touch, he could simply target the Empress instead.

Sirak decided to send the answer he had been delaying for days to the Minister of Rites.

It was all the Emperor’s fault that he had to make this choice.

Therefore, he prayed that the Emperor would lose that wonderful Empress and taste the same pain he was feeling.

****

After the Emperor left following dinner, Sirak sent a court lady out to his private residence.

He placed a jade norigae in her hand as she left to care for her sick father.

“Deliver this to my father on your way. Tell him I prepared it as a Dano gift but apologize for sending it so late.”

“I shall do so, Your Grace.”

Sirak watched the court lady leave the bedroom and let out a sigh.

This was the signal he had established with the Minister of Rites before entering the palace.

Sending a jade norigae meant ‘Yes,’ and a jade ring meant ‘No.’

They hadn’t been able to share a single word easily due to the need for caution, but many other things had been exchanged instead.

Ever since the Minister had pulled his foster father, Jeong Yak-hong, into the scheme, he had used medicinal herbs or snacks to smuggle in small, rolled-up letters.

The last note Sirak received had also been delivered by his foster father.

Since many items were usually sent from his private home, no one suspected the bundles filled with snacks.

Seeing the note with only that character, Sirak knew the Minister of Rites intended to act during the hawk hunt.

He also knew that because he had not yet conceived an Imperial heir, the Minister was targeting the Empress instead of the Emperor.

After all, the Minister had viewed the Empress as a thorn in his side ever since the Emperor began frequenting the Empress’s Palace.

Having sent the answer agreeing to the plan, Sirak gripped his cold hands together.

It seemed he would struggle to find sleep again tonight.

****

After dinner, Haeryeong prepared for bed early for tomorrow’s banquet preparations.

The court ladies had filled the tub with water steeped in iris, and while he was soaking, the Emperor visited the Empress’s Palace.

It hadn’t been long since he entered the bath.

Haeryeong let out a sigh, having been interrupted just as his body was starting to relax.

“Tell His Majesty I shall be out shortly.”

He told Mok, who had announced the visit, but an answer came from the door before he could rise.

“I heard you just entered; why are you coming out already?”

The Emperor strode inside and dismissed the attending court ladies with a gesture.

“I have not performed my Dano bath yet, so I came to join the Empress.”

The Emperor answered the unasked question while unfastening the sash of his dragon robe.

Haeryeong stealthily moved to the far end of the tub to make room for him.

“Why do you perform this task yourself instead of using your eunuchs?”

At the suggestion to let someone else undress him, the Emperor’s hands moved even faster.

“If someone else is here, the Empress will be too shy.”

‘It’s not shyness, I just don’t like it.’

Haeryeong submerged himself up to his nose to swallow a sigh and watched the Emperor.

What kind of scheme was he bringing here now?

Wearing only thin white inner trousers and a tunic, the Emperor entered the water, and the rippling surface tickled Haeryeong’s nose.

If he didn’t keep his back straight, the water would have rushed into his nostrils.

Haeryeong pulled himself up until his shoulders were above the surface and let out a large breath.

The droplets of water that had entered his nose felt quite cold against his face.

The Emperor did not approach him, but leaned back against the opposite side of the tub and tilted his head back.

Sigh.

He let out a long breath and remained motionless for a while with his eyes closed.

However, the scent of peach blossoms was spreading through the steam from the moment he entered.

He would likely start his advances soon after releasing that scent.

Haeryeong could not even enjoy his bath in peace as he kept his eyes on the man.

Before long, the fragrance of peach blossoms filled the room.

Whether due to the scent or the hot water, heat kept building up in his body.

The steam-filled air made him feel as though he were losing his breath.

After enduring as much as he could, Haeryeong finally stood up with a loud splash.

“Your servant shall head out first. Please enjoy yourself a while longer, Your Majesty.”

Startled by the sound of water, the Emperor lifted his head and wore a strange smile.

“Do you intend to leave like that?”

Haeryeong followed the man’s gaze downward and realized his penis was clearly erect beneath his wet, clinging trousers.

Thoroughly shocked, Haeryeong collapsed back into the water.

While the Emperor giggled and moved through the water toward him, Haeryeong huddled in a ball, clutching his knees.

‘I must not be caught by him.’

Even as he thought this, strength flowed into his lower body of its own accord.

A strange sensation pooled in his belly, and his mouth fell open.

“…Please.”

At the words he blurted out involuntarily, the Emperor stopped inches away and arched an eyebrow.

“Do not come any closer.”

The eyebrows that had wrinkled his forehead relaxed, only for a scowl to form at the bridge of his nose.

In the meantime, Haeryeong panted for breath, reacting to the peach blossom scent coming from the nearby Emperor.

“Are you refusing me again?”

Haeryeong could not bring himself to look the Emperor in the face; he stared at the man’s collarbone and swallowed hard.

“Is tomorrow not a busy day with banquet preparations starting from dawn?”

“So you are saying you must sleep early. It is only the hour of the Dog; sleeping too early is not good for you.”

“I do not want to.”

Haeryeong shook his head violently in rejection to the man’s coaxing.

Despite this, the Emperor did not grow angry and simply gave a crooked smile.

When the Emperor raised a wet hand to rub his cheek, Haeryeong closed his eyes involuntarily.

The contact was so dizzying that his body shivered in the warm water.

When he pulled his thighs closer, the hidden penis throbbed with a dull ache.

One way or another, his body—now quite accustomed to the Emperor through their consummation—was reacting instinctively to his scent and touch.

While he struggled with his quickening breath, the Emperor’s wet fingers slid down his cheek and traced his jawline.

The hand on his chin seemed to pull away, only to delve between his slightly parted, gasping lips.

“Hng.”

Haeryeong half-opened his eyes.

The Emperor stealthily traced the membranes inside his upper teeth with a finger and whispered.

“Your body does not seem to dislike it as much as you say.”

Haeryeong’s tongue twitched as he tried to tell him to stop, but he quivered at the sensation of the finger delving deeper.

Saliva suddenly flooded his once-parched mouth.

While Haeryeong swallowed hard with a loud gulp, the Emperor’s finger tickled the back of his throat.

When his tongue churned and pressed firmly against the finger, the Emperor’s eyes curved into a smile.

As the ticklish sensation occupied his membranes, his mouth felt like it was truly overflowing.

When he closed his mouth to swallow the saliva pooling along his parted lips, the Emperor turned his hand to lightly scrape the root of his tongue.

The Emperor, who had been moving playfully while entangling the Empress’s bucking tongue, finally withdrew his finger.

When Haeryeong lowered his eyes to let out a sigh of relief, the Emperor’s face drew close.

Soon, their lips overlapped.

Unable to close his mouth in time against the tongue that surged in an instant, Haeryeong closed his eyes instead.

Pulling him in by the shoulders, the Emperor wrapped his free arm around Haeryeong’s waist and yanked him close.

Battered by the onslaught of the kiss, Haeryeong arched his neck back as far as it would go.

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