Chapter 26: The Consort (2)

Anok attempted to subtly disengage from his grasp, but it was far from a simple task. Though the crushing force had ebbed slightly, Yeo Jae-won still held him firmly in place.

The prince lowered his posture just a fraction, willingly aligning his eyes with Anok’s.

“Let us do it together.”

“……Do what?”

“A stroll.”

“Why…… for what reason?”

“I, too, find my mind quite troubled.”

Having blurted out a retort entirely on instinct, Anok found himself at a sudden loss for words. He could only blink his eyes rapidly in succession. A few sentences hovered at the very tip of his tongue, but they failed to materialize, remaining trapped behind his lips.

“The one facing an impending wedding is not uniquely you, is it?”

“Are you implying that you find your mind troubled because of the wedding, Your Highness?”

“I am about to take a person as my Consort who openly intends to keep a paramour separate from her husband. Naturally, my mind is troubled.”

Confusion swirled deep within Anok. Heard one way, it almost sounded like the grievance of a man who was deeply slighted because he could not possess someone completely—even though he didn’t actually want that person’s heart.

However, Anok quickly reinterpreted Yeo Jae-won’s words.

The prince was likely anxious because he could not exert absolute control over every facet of his environment. The person chosen to stand beside him as his primary Consort had to be flawless and beyond reproach. He was merely concerned that a hidden lover would manifest as a dangerous vulnerability.

“If that is the case, Your Highness could simply keep a paramour of your own.”

“That would leave your position remarkably precarious.”

That is exactly what I desire. Anok pushed the matter further, his tone carrying an edge of incitement. In the meantime, Yeo Jae-won naturally released his grip on Anok’s arm, shifting to walk right alongside him. Before he even realized it, Anok was pacing the front courtyard of the detached pavilion in step with the prince.

“Once Your Highness has achieved whatever goals you desire, you may fabricate an appropriate justification and discard me. Would it not be a fine arrangement to then elevate that paramour to be your wedded mate? You mentioned previously that you have no desire to take concubines, so would that not be far preferable to bringing her in as a lesser wife?”

The slow strides of the two men brought them directly past the spot where the pear tree sapling had been planted. Anok, walking with his eyes anchored straight ahead, was entirely too focused on delivering his words to notice. However, Yeo Jae-won, strolling with his hands tucked behind his back, was staring intently at the youthful profile of the bride-to-be beside him.

They traced a wide, sweeping circle around the perimeter of the detached pavilion. Throughout the entire duration of the walk, Yeo Jae-won maintained a resolute silence. Instead of answering, he brought Anok to a halt at the top of the stone steps leading back into the building, while he himself remained standing on the ground below, facing him directly.

“This marriage was ordained by my Imperial Father and finalized alongside the King of Baekya. Therefore, I shall accept you as my Consort and accord you the absolute highest respect and treatment.”

Hearing the exact same words that had been delivered to him on their wedding night in his past life caused Anok’s expression to harden instinctively. Yet, Yeo Jae-won merely continued speaking, his countenance retaining its characteristic languor.

“Therefore, you must also accept me as your husband.”

“…….”

Anok had fully expected a cold admonition warning him to watch his behavior, but the sudden pivot to an entirely different command left him utterly bewildered. As Anok hesitated, unable to meekly offer affirmative compliance nor firmly push the demand away, Yeo Jae-won pressed him for a response.

“You must answer, Anok.”

Anok instantly bit down hard on the inner flesh of his lower lip.

Hearing his own name articulated by that specific voice sent a strange, fluttering tremor deep into his stomach. He realized, with a pang of self-loathing, that he wanted to hear his name pronounced by that deep voice over and over again. He could not forgive himself for allowing such a desire to surge within him.

“……I shall keep it in mind.”

“It is late, so you should head inside. Once the sun rises, you will be incomparably busy with the wedding preparations.”

Yeo Jae-won gazed at Anok quietly, a trace of sleepiness in his eyes. Thanks to the elevation of the stone steps, their eye levels were nearly equal, sparing Anok from having to tilt his neck back to look up at him this time.

Even though his existence had reset, Yeo Jae-won—entirely oblivious to his own power—still possessed the terrifying ability to thoroughly unravel and agitate Anok’s heart with such effortless ease.

Did the prince have even the slightest inkling? Did he know how Anok’s heart collapsed into ruins and reconstructed itself repeatedly at a single glance, a single word from him? If he knew, he could not possibly treat him this way in this lifetime as well.

Offering a brief, shallow bow of his head, Anok turned around. The grand result of his impulsive, possessed flight into the courtyard was nothing more than laying bare his completely unresolved emotions toward Yeo Jae-won.

The tiny, fragile ember of affection that remained would easily morph into a raging wildfire with just a few gusts of wind, reducing his entire heart to ash. Throughout the remainder of the dawn, Anok did nothing but fiercely drill a single resolution into his mind: Never mistake Yeo Jae-won’s words and actions for something they are not.

The sky was incomparably clear, and the warm, golden sunlight cascading from the vast firmament wrapped the prince’s manor in a gentle embrace.

From the very moment the first flush of dawn began to erode the eastern sky, a frantic bustle gripped not only the detached pavilion but also the primary courtyard where the grand wedding tables were being arranged.

Having spent the entire night wide awake with his eyes open, Anok was functionally operating in a daze. Even while being washed and subsequently dressed in multiple layers of heavy garments, he did absolutely nothing but stand perfectly still with his arms extended.

“……Though it is said that the ceremony has been stripped of hollow formalities and scaled down at the explicit request of the Prince of Myeong, a wedding of the Imperial family can never be equated to that of a common household.”

“I understand.”

Court Lady Jo’s stern reminders persisted without a single pause throughout the grueling process of donning the ceremonial robes and securing the heavy phoenix crown upon his head. Half-filtering out the lengthy lecture, Anok offered nothing but mechanical, routine responses.

Perhaps because he had skipped sleep entirely, his head and his entire body felt strangely, agonizingly heavy. The anomaly was not confined merely to his physical frame; his consciousness felt half-submerged in a hazy, dreamlike fog.

It was only when he perceived a distinct, subtle heat laced within his exhaled breaths that Anok realized this was a definitive sign marking the genuine commencement of his heat cycle.

The realization that these few, distinct physiological shifts were ruthlessly dragging him back into the grueling patterns of his past existence filled him with intense displeasure.

Furthermore, he could acutely sense that Court Lady Jo’s scrutinizing gaze was actively searching for any indication that his heat had begun, which only amplified his irritation.

As a beta, Court Lady Jo would naturally find it impossible to definitively ascertain the onset of a cycle compared to a dominant dynamic. To make matters worse, Anok could feel that his current state was merely in its absolute infancy.

For a non-dynamic beta to notice, they would have to catch very specific, overt physical symptoms. Because of this, Court Lady Jo’s eyes remained relentlessly glued to him, tracking his every movement.

“I shall perform exactly as we have practiced, so do not trouble yourself.”

With a rigid expression, Anok spoke sharply, effectively throwing a wall up to force Court Lady Jo away from his immediate vicinity. Only then did the court lady lower her eyes and bow her head, feigning complete innocence.

Before long, Court Lady Jo and the other servants withdrew from the chamber, allowing Han-wol, who had been lingering quietly in a far corner, to step forward with cautious steps.

“Um, Anok-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Are you unwell anywhere? Your complexion appears terribly pale.”

Having spent her time in the Baekya manor constantly monitoring Seol Ga-mook’s temperament while attending to him, Han-wol was naturally perceptive and highly vigilant.

Furthermore, Han-wol was an Omega. Since an already sharp child happened to be an Omega rather than a beta like Court Lady Jo, it was entirely natural for her to perceive the minute shifts in Anok’s condition.

However, he had to conceal it—at least until the wedding ceremony concluded and they entered the bridal chamber. If the events of his past life were to unfold identically, this development, too, had to remain aligned with the previous timeline.

Thus, Anok shook his head gently and forced a soft smile onto his face. He lowered his voice, speaking as though sharing a deep secret exclusively with her.

“I could not let it show in front of Court Lady Jo, but it seems I am merely experiencing a bout of nerves. ……I am uncertain whether I will be able to perform well.”

Those final words, at the very least, were entirely sincere. With the wedding hovering right before his eyes, everything felt agonizingly distant and surreal.

Time continued to flow relentlessly in this repeated existence, yet the things he had managed to alter with his own two hands were painfully trivial. The solemn vows he had made to himself at the dawn of this second life had mostly fractured into failures.

He had resolved that he would rather die, yet even standing at the precipice of the cliff, he had failed to cast himself down. He had attempted to manipulate Yeo Jae-won into dissolving the engagement, yet that endeavor had ultimately shattered. Despite swearing that he would never marry that man a second time, he now stood inside the detached pavilion of the Myeong Prince’s manor, clad in his second set of wedding robes.

What could someone like him possibly hope to change moving forward? Failure and despair were things he could never grow accustomed to, no matter how many times they visited him.

“You will do wonderfully.”

Han-wol offered her support in a quiet, yet remarkably stubborn and unshakeable voice.

“Who in this world could possibly dislike you, Anok-nim? You are such a gentle, warm person.”

Is that truly how I appear through the eyes of this young child? Anok quietly shook his head in denial. He had always viewed himself as timid, unremarkable, and entirely ordinary; he had never once considered himself to be particularly gentle or warm.

Yet, Han-wol merely smiled, stepping directly in front of Anok to carefully smooth out the long, draping sleeves of his ceremonial robe once more before continuing.

“Furthermore, having been adorned like this today, you look vastly more beautiful than usual. His Highness the Prince of Myeong will undoubtedly cherish you deeply. How could anyone look upon someone so magnificent and fail to give them their heart?”

Yeo Jae-won would never grant him his heart. Although the prince had jokingly urged him to find a lover, Anok knew the brutal truth. Yeo Jae-won was simply not the type of person to expend his energy on something as entirely volatile and exhausting as loving someone—whether it was Anok or anyone else.

If that man had truly possessed the capacity to give him his heart, would Anok have ever made that catastrophic choice in his past life?

Through the hazy fog of his consciousness, exacerbated by the creeping fever, Anok allowed his mind to drift into a completely meaningless hypothesis.

If I had been loved by anyone at all, would I have abandoned the thought of relinquishing my life? If even a single soul had reached out to anchor me…

Tracing the tip of his tongue over the tiny wound he had bitten into his lip during the dawn, Anok bitterly cast his gaze downward.

There had been no such person in his past life, and there would be no such person in this one. Ultimately, he was destined to endure this existence entirely alone. For anyone in this world, life was bound to be a thoroughly exhausting and lonely endeavor.

Even so, he could at least find solace in the fact that he had met Han-wol this time around. Even if things would never unfold according to the child’s sweet predictions, it was a profound comfort to have at least one person in his life who would offer him such words.

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