Chapter 20: What You Desire

“The sword dance?”

At the Crown Prince’s words, Eun-gyo’s eyes went wide.

Wow, for real.

Just as King Seongrim had said, he really had to perform the sword dance.

Had King Seongrim pulled strings behind the scenes?

Whether he had learned of the decision in advance or engineered it himself, it was impressive either way.

“If you don’t wish to do it, I will find an excuse to refuse on my end.”

The Crown Prince himself seemed rather reluctant.

At least it didn’t seem like he had been the one to push for it.

“You said I’d be performing before His Majesty the Emperor, right?”

At Eun-gyo’s question, the Crown Prince gave a small nod.

The furrow between his brows showed no sign of easing.

He really didn’t like this.

“Will you give me time to practice?”

At the word “practice,” the Crown Prince’s frown deepened.

“It’s been days since I’ve moved my body.

If I make a mistake before His Majesty, it would be a disaster.

Imagine if I accidentally dropped my sword and it fell toward His Majesty—my head would be gone that very day.”

Even as he frowned, the fact that the Crown Prince didn’t deny it was more terrifying.

It seemed if a sword slipped from his hand and fell toward the Emperor, he would indeed be executed for attempted assassination.

At the thought, he gasped, and the Crown Prince let out a long, slow breath.

“Fine.

Will three days be enough?”

If he was performing the same dance as before, it wouldn’t take that long.

In fact, it was the only sword dance he knew.

“The practice location…”

“The banquet hall!”

Before the Crown Prince could designate another place, Eun-gyo quickly called out the banquet hall.

Perhaps because he’d cut him off, the Crown Prince frowned again.

Pretending not to notice, Eun-gyo met his eyes and smiled sweetly.

The Crown Prince couldn’t bring himself to scold him and only let out a heavy sigh.

“There’s no need to go all the way to the banquet hall.

There are plenty of spaces here suitable for practicing the sword dance.”

“But the actual performance will be before His Majesty the Emperor.

Won’t it be in that same banquet hall?”

“One can’t be certain.

It could be there, or it could be the main hall.”

“Ah, surely not the main hall.

That’s where official business is conducted.”

At Eun-gyo’s reply, the Crown Prince stared at him with a hardened expression, then shook his head.

The main hall had long ceased to function as a place for state affairs.

The ministers, judging that the Emperor’s faculties had dulled, had been reporting all matters of state—both domestic and foreign—directly to the Crown Prince, and the Emperor, though aware of this, tacitly allowed it, finding it troublesome to personally attend to affairs.

The main hall now served little more than a place for the Emperor to receive greetings from his ministers.

It was a fact known to everyone within the palace.

Even those not residing in the palace would know it if they had even a passing interest in politics—but Ha Eun-gyo didn’t.

That meant he was indeed not a spy planted by someone for political gain.

Had he truly entered the palace for the sole purpose of performing the sword dance?

And had King Seongrim simply taken pity on his circumstances?

Lee Kang doubted him dozens of times a day, only to shake his head, thinking it was absurd, whenever he looked at Eun-gyo.

“If possible, I’d prefer the place where I’ll actually perform before His Majesty.

The more familiar I am with the space, the fewer mistakes I’ll make.”

“Your sword dance was flawless last time as well.”

This was genuine.

Despite being an unfamiliar dance, the lines traced by the sword were so beautiful he couldn’t look away.

The sword and Eun-gyo moved as one, flowing smoothly while the blade remained sharp.

It felt less like a simple dance and more like witnessing a form of swordsmanship.

That day, not only he but all the ministers—including the Emperor—had watched with rapt attention.

“It feels good to be praised.”

Eun-gyo smiled brightly.

Seeing him genuinely happy over such a small remark was oddly affecting.

He had praised him, but hadn’t bestowed any reward commensurate with the compliment.

“Is there something you desire?

If you complete this sword dance safely, I will grant you what you wish.”

“Hmm.”

At the unexpected offer, Eun-gyo let out a long hum as if seriously considering.

So he did have something he wanted after all.

“Freedom?”

At the answer, Lee Kang’s brow furrowed deeply.

He understood that the freedom Eun-gyo spoke of meant escaping his grasp and leaving the palace.

As his expression twisted, Eun-gyo immediately smiled softly and added.

“Just within the palace, I mean.”

Not leaving the palace—his eyes added the unspoken words.

Just the fact that he wasn’t trying to leave the palace was enough to ease Lee Kang’s expression somewhat.

“No matter how spacious the Crown Prince’s residence is, being trapped here is no different from a bird in a cage.

Perhaps because I haven’t lived my whole life like that, I feel like I’ll go insane from stress if this continues.”

Sometimes Eun-gyo used vocabulary that was hard to understand.

Not only was his way of speaking different from Sinhye people, but so were the words he used.

Though Lee Kang could roughly grasp the meaning from the context, moments like this made Ha Eun-gyo feel particularly distant.

Even though he was right there, within arm’s reach, there were times when he suddenly seemed as if he might vanish like smoke in an instant.

Even if he were to disappear like smoke, Lee Kang would catch that smoke and trap it.

He laughed dryly at his own thoughts.

Why did he keep clinging to that boy with inexplicable obsession?

He had never before felt the need to keep anyone bound to his side.

He intended to cast him aside the moment he became unnecessary.

Yet at the same time, a contradictory feeling existed—that he would never tolerate him leaving of his own accord without permission.

This was the first time anyone had ever unsettled his mind like this.

Was it because he couldn’t read his mind?

Because he didn’t know, he kept wanting to know; because he couldn’t fathom him, he wanted to forcibly keep him close?

“If I perform a sword dance that satisfies His Majesty, will you grant it?

Permission to freely roam anywhere within the palace.”

Eun-gyo pressed for an answer.

Having offered first to grant what he desired, Lee Kang had no good reason to refuse.

As long as he didn’t leave the palace, it should be fine.

“Very well.

However, the palace is not as safe as you think.

So you must always be accompanied by Court Lady Han and the guards.”

At the Crown Prince’s answer, Eun-gyo beamed with satisfaction.

That smile, like a child’s, belonging to a twenty-seven-year-old…

No matter how many times he thought about it, it was astonishing.

And yet when sprawled beneath him, utterly disheveled, he was endlessly lewd.

At the thought that suddenly surfaced, he smiled wryly.

Now that he thought about it, in bed, he did display a certain maturity befitting his age.

Which was why Lee Kang always felt a peculiar displeasure.

Was he jealous of a body that seemed to know other men?

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

Jealousy?

That couldn’t be.

He was simply displeased by the fact that someone other than himself, the Crown Prince, had shared him.

“When can I start practicing?

Can I begin today?”

“Do as you please.”

If he stayed here any longer, he felt he might throw himself at Eun-gyo and take him in broad daylight—despite already taking him almost every night.

It was only after being with Eun-gyo that he realized his own sexual appetite was this strong.

Unsatisfied with one round, he would drive him to the point where he begged him to stop.

“Ah, will you be sleeping elsewhere again tonight?”

Could it be that he had actually been waiting for him last night?

“If you’re busy, you don’t have to come…

No, I mean, it’s not that I want to monopolize Your Highness’s bed.

I just thought that if you’re going to be away often, it would be inconvenient for me to use an ownerless room, so it might be nice if you could prepare a small separate room for me.”

So it wasn’t that he’d been waiting—he’d rather he didn’t come.

Realizing his true intent, Lee Kang frowned, and Eun-gyo quickly said, “Never mind if you don’t want to,” and averted his gaze.

He was always this rude, seeming to fear the Crown Prince yet always saying exactly what he wanted.

If anyone else had acted this way toward him, he would have punished them dozens of times over.

He was truly being lenient.

It was precisely because he was being so soft that Court Lady Han kept misunderstanding that this one was special to him.

Special…

There were many meanings to the word.

Whether in a positive sense or a negative one.

***

Arriving at the banquet hall, Eun-gyo asked Court Lady Han to procure him clothing like what the guards wore.

His reason was that the cumbersome women’s clothes were uncomfortable for practicing the sword dance, but Court Lady Han’s expression hardened.

“Are you certain that’s wise?

If you were to be discovered…”

Though he was cross-dressed, he was still a man—she seemed worried that wearing men’s clothes might give him away.

“It’s not just a single piece of clothing that’s hiding it, so please don’t worry.”

Unlike Court Lady Han, Eun-gyo was confident.

Before coming to Sinhye Kingdom, in his world, he’d had shorter hair and always worn jeans and comfortable shirts, yet he was still often mistaken for a woman.

It was only from his tone and demeanor that people realized he was a man—thanks to his small build and naturally delicate features, whenever he wore something even slightly unisex, many people couldn’t tell if he was male or female.

Now his hair was long, and he had makeup on his face.

If merely wearing a soldier’s uniform would make him be perceived as a man, then surviving in the palace while cross-dressed was impossible from the start.

“This is quite disorienting.”

After he changed, Court Lady Han shook her head and said.

Just as Eun-gyo had said—he looked less like a soldier and more like a woman in male attire.

“That’s not a compliment, you know.”

Eun-gyo replied with a wry smile.

With his long hair, it was even more ambiguous.

“Anyway, at this level, it shouldn’t be a major problem.”

After receiving Court Lady Han’s approval, he took the sword for the sword dance and entered the banquet hall.

During the previous banquet, ministers had been seated all around, so he hadn’t realized it, but the empty banquet hall felt even more spacious than he’d imagined.

Closing his eyes and steadying his breath, music echoed in his ears.

In the silent banquet hall, Eun-gyo began to move alone.

Perhaps because it had been so long since he’d moved his body freely, he naturally grew excited.

His worries that his body might have stiffened were all unfounded.

As he stamped his feet and rolled on the ground, his body lifted lightly.

Only the sounds of the sword cutting through the air and his sleeves fluttering followed.

Thud.

As he finished his final movement and straightened his posture, sweat dripped from his forehead.

This feels great.

After being trapped for so long, the satisfaction from moving his body was immense.

The corners of his mouth curled up without his realizing it.

Once again, he repeated the movements from the beginning.

It was less like practice and more like stress relief.

He was so focused that he didn’t notice someone watching him from behind a pillar at the edge of the banquet hall.

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