Chapter 115: The Price of Silence

Now, Suyong knew the Emperor simply had no interest in those matters and had avoided them for fear of hidden assassins, but back then, even Suyong was among those who believed the rumors of the Emperor’s impotence.

He wondered if the Emperor’s way of treating the Empress might have been better had he at least dealt with a few prostitutes back then.

Or perhaps not; he was so full of himself with his string of victories at the time that it might have been exactly the same.

“Whew,” Suyong sighed, watching the Emperor glare warily at Nureongi with sharp eyes.

As a general or an Emperor, the man was quite reliable.

As a man, he possessed a fairly boisterous personality.

However, as husband material, it was an entirely different story.

If asked if he could introduce the Emperor to his younger sibling back home, Su-yong thought he would refuse even if his eyes were filled with dirt.

What was the point of his high status?

What did it matter if all the nation’s wealth belonged to him?

Suyong would much rather choose Seokhwan for his sibling’s husband.

Though Seokhwan was silent and perhaps boring, at least he wasn’t the type to toy with people’s emotions with useless antics.

An Emperor who smiled while testing people was fit to be a ruler, but was utterly unsuitable as a lover.

His lack of hesitation in killing and his cruel nature were also traits best suited for a sovereign.

Therefore, Su-yong grew increasingly worried.

The Empress, who was initially timid and quietly enduring, was now looking at the Emperor and saying things that were dangerously precarious.

He wondered if a massive volcano was about to erupt at any moment.

Lately, he couldn’t even rest properly because he worried about it every single day.

He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles just watching the Empress while having nothing else to do.

At least one of them should know how to act in moderation.

Like husband, like spouse, as the saying goes.

The Empress was proving to be just as frustrating as the Emperor, which was a grave concern.

He didn’t know how to let things go and argued back point by point at every turn.

Thinking to himself, Su-yong briefly considered whether he should just return to his hometown.

But since the Empress finally had some spirit and there was no one else to take his side, it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

Su-yong caught up with the Emperor, feeling fed up.

Why was he the one agonizing over this?

No matter how much he worried, it wasn’t his business, and his concern wouldn’t change a thing anyway.

‘I should stop.’

Seok-hwan was right when he said soldiers have no need for thoughts.

Looking at it that way, he seemed to be the one with the most peace of mind.

****

Haeryeong woke to a throbbing pain and found himself in the Emperor’s bed.

He let out a groan as he turned his head and met the eyes of the Emperor sitting on the edge of the bed.

The Emperor simply looked down at him with a strange expression.

He didn’t say anything, nor did he seem to be waiting for Haeryeong to wake.

He merely stared with an unreadable, mysterious gaze.

Haeryeong’s mind was hazy, perhaps from a fever caused by the wound, and he blinked his eyes slowly.

He simply wanted to fall back asleep.

The pain continued tediously.

Every time he drew a breath, the wound throbbed as if it had its own pulse.

When he closed his eyes again, only then did the Emperor’s hand descend carefully onto his forehead.

“I shall have a pain-relieving decoction brought in, so drink it and sleep.”

The Emperor covered Haeryeong’s entire forehead with his large hand, then began to stroke it slowly with only his thumb.

Haeryeong, his nerves frayed by the pain, shook his head and pulled the man’s hand away.

Perhaps because a small groan escaped him, the Emperor whispered in a worried voice.

“The treatment is finished, but it will be very painful for a day or two.”

“You will likely have quite a fever as well.”

After the Emperor ordered the Chief Eunuch to bring the medicine, the faint sound of water reached Haeryeong’s ears.

Haeryeong soon felt the cool dampness of a cloth on his forehead and realized late that the Emperor was wetting the cloth himself.

When Haeryeong opened his eyes, the Emperor was smiling with a much softer face than before.

“Why do you do this yourself instead of ordering the servants?”

Haeryeong took the Emperor’s hand.

The man paused for a moment, then resumed wiping the sweat from Haeryeong’s forehead and face.

“I simply wanted to do this for you. Is that not allowed?”

What could he do if the man insisted on it?

Haeryeong shifted his eyes as he submissively received the touch, and after the hand was withdrawn, he began to ask the questions that had been weighing on him.

“Was there an assassin at the hunting grounds?”

“Yes.”

The Emperor was turning his body to set down the cloth, so Haeryeong could not see his expression.

When he turned back, he wore the same mysterious expression and a faint, awkward smile.

Letting out a long sigh, the Emperor helped Haeryeong sit up and spoke.

“I suspected something might happen during the hawk hunt.”

“However, I assumed they were targeting Me, so I let My guard down.”

“My heart is heavy, as if the Empress being injured is entirely My fault.”

“Had I been a little more prudent, you would not have been hurt like this.”

“Are you being sincere?”

Haeryeong grimaced as he sat up with the man’s help, the pain rushing back.

The moment he straightened his back and the wave of agony receded, the words left his mouth before he could stop them.

He was more curious about something else than whether the Emperor truly felt that way.

As he stared intently, the Emperor frowned and asked back.

“Does it look to the Empress like I am worrying without meaning it?”

“I was asking if you truly did not expect the assassin to target your servant.”

In the Emperor’s brief silence, Haeryeong found his answer.

‘You knew.’

‘The Emperor guessed that I could be hurt, yet he didn’t give me a single warning.’

Seeing Haeryeong’s expression, the Emperor answered hurriedly.

“I anticipated it was possible, but I could not cancel the hawk hunt.”

“Therefore, I made preparations in My own way.”

“The Black Shadow members had set up camp at the foot of the mountain since the day before, and everyone below was on high alert.”

The Emperor rambled on at length, unlike his usual self, as if making excuses.

‘No wonder he’s been making that strange face; was he actually feeling sorry?’

He caught the gist of the man’s feelings, but for some reason, his own heart felt as if it were crumbling.

Haeryeong bowed his head deep and buried his face in his palms.

“Your Majesty should have explained it to me beforehand.”

“If you knew, you should have done so all the more.”

His chest felt heavy, and his breathing grew increasingly shallow.

Haeryeong squeezed out his voice, which was becoming smaller and smaller.

“If Your Majesty had even a speck of feeling for your servant, you should have told me. Is that not so?”

“I could not tell you because you were looking forward to it so much.”

“Can you not understand My heart, which did not want to see you disappointed?”

Haeryeong lifted his head and looked at the Emperor.

His face, contorted by the pain in his arm and shoulder, traced a clumsy smile.

“Your servant has always told Your Majesty that trust is paramount.”

“I even told you that I could no longer give you my heart because I cannot trust you.”

“If Your Majesty truly cared for me, should not the priority have been to give me a reason to trust you?”

Haeryeong asked the Emperor—who was now silent as if speechless—in a small voice.

“Is the reason Your Majesty gave me no warning because this matter is related to the Noble Consort?”

The Emperor looked uncharacteristically flustered, hesitated, and then finally shook his head after a long pause.

“No one knows the exact details yet. There is only suspicion, but no evidence.”

“However, We have caught the one who shot the arrow at you, and the assassins We encountered on the way back, so We are about to find out.”

Haeryeong watched the Emperor as he made his long-winded excuses and let out a hollow, bitter laugh.

“So you had your suspicions and made preparations, yet you cannot reveal the mastermind because there is no physical evidence?”

Haeryeong looked away from the Emperor and let out a long sigh.

“Your servant’s question was simple, but Your Majesty’s answer is far too complex and difficult.”

“Therefore, I shall ask again. Did Your Majesty ever think, for even a single moment, that the Noble Consort might have plotted this? That is what I wish to know.”

“I did.”

Haeryeong pushed the Emperor—who still had an arm around him—away with all his might.

Given the massive difference in their sizes and his own injured state, even his “all” was likely a weak force.

Yet, the Emperor hadn’t expected it, and his large frame was pushed back.

To the bewildered man, Haeryeong poured out his words rapidly.

“Since he is someone you cherish so much, you likely wanted to bury it if nothing happened.”

“That is why you used your servant as bait to watch the show without a single warning.”

“Well, now that things have turned out like this, how do you feel? Are you enraged that your stupid Empress failed to even dodge an arrow and caused such a mess?”

The Emperor’s bewildered expression gradually turned fierce.

His face hardened as he swallowed dryly, seemingly struggling to suppress his rising anger.

That sound only served to fuel the fire in Haeryeong’s heart.

Haeryeong sharply brushed away the Emperor’s hand as he reached for the man’s arm and ground his teeth.

“Do not touch your servant.”

“If you love him that much, then go to him; why are you here? What more do you need that you are lingering in this place?”

“If you are trying to silence me, there is no need. Even if your servant had died at the hands of an assassin, who would even have cared?”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

The Cursed Prince and the Fated Mark

Adultdominant MLDrama

Read Now →
Not interested