Chapter 29: Between Peony and Restraint

Gangcheon smoothed his furrowed brow and smiled crookedly.

Was the Consort so displeased by his time spent with the Empress?

He found the use of such shallow tricks rather cute, and the faint irritation that had risen soon vanished.

“Is the Consort truly in such poor health?”

When he asked softly, Court Lady Han, still prostrate, began to tremble.

She stammered in a voice that sounded as if she were being strangled.

“He complains of fever and dizziness, and finds it difficult even to sit up… I am deeply sorry.”

“So you are telling me to turn back?”

“I beg for your understanding.”

Gangcheon could not suppress his laughter and let out a hearty sound.

“I suppose I have been far too indulgent with my favor lately.”

“Manchul, open the doors. I must see the Consort’s condition for myself.”

Court Lady Han pleaded urgently.

“His Grace is not yet prepared to receive Your Majesty. I shall inform him first, so please, wait a moment.”

Gangcheon ignored her and stepped through the open doors.

As he strode down the long corridor, the closed doors opened quietly in time with his steps.

When he reached the bedroom, Sirak was lying on the bed but hurriedly sat up the moment he saw Gangcheon.

“Your… Your Majesty.”

Restraining him from rising with a hand, Gangcheon sat on the edge of the bed and smiled tenderly as he touched Sirak’s forehead.

“I heard you were ill. I feel no heat, though your face does look a bit pale.”

“I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Illness is nothing to apologize for. Instead of lying here, should you not have called the physician first? Why act so foolishly?”

Sirak’s face, which had gone pale upon seeing Gangcheon, visibly regained its color.

Peering at him, Sirak tugged at the hem of the Emperor’s dragon robe.

“Now that I have beheld Your Majesty’s face, I feel as though I have made a full recovery.”

As Gangcheon gently stroked his face, Sirak wore a shy smile.

“Rak-a.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“If you ever pull a cunning stunt like this again, I shall not overlook it a second time. Understood?”

Sirak stiffened for a moment before slowly pouting.

He buried his face in Gangcheon’s shoulder.

“But Your Majesty has been far too indifferent. I was lonely without you; do you not care for my heart at all?”

Looking at the tears shimmering in the eyes that stole a glance upward, Gangcheon’s mind became complicated.

‘What am I to do with this thoughtless Consort?’

If he scolded him and made him cry, it would be distressing; yet if he left him be, the man’s manners would surely worsen until he dared to pluck the Emperor’s beard.

Seeing this use of shallow tricks reminded him of the Empress, who possessed not a single ounce of such cleverness.

The memory of the Empress’s bloodless, dying lips felt so different from the current Sirak that his heart stirred strangely.

“While you use your wits for such things, I hear your calligraphy studies have not progressed at all?”

‘Is the problem that I have indulged him too much?’

Gangcheon tried to set a stern tone, but Sirak continued to act spoiled.

“Your Majesty was so cold to me that nothing could enter my head.”

Gangcheon replied coldly as he embraced the shoulders of the man burrowing into his chest.

“Then perhaps you should remain here in the Consort’s Palace alone for the rest of your life. I clearly stated I would not visit until you mastered the Thousand Characters.”

Sirak lifted his head and searched Gangcheon’s expression with tearful eyes.

Gangcheon gently wiped away the moisture near his eyes and whispered flatly.

“Will you disappoint me again? I have kept every promise I made to you.”

Raising him to the position of Empress was contingent upon his own efforts, so other than that, Gangcheon had fulfilled every vow.

He wished for Sirak to put in the effort, yet seeing him only increase his childish behavior made him wonder how he could ever place him on the Empress’s throne.

Moreover, lately, he had been growing closer to the Empress.

Considering his bearing and the way he treated his subordinates, the Empress was certainly more suited for the position than Sirak.

Thus, Gangcheon intended to give Sirak one final warning.

If things continued to stall like this, that promise would become as if it never existed.

“I shall work hard, Your Majesty. So please, withdraw your word that you will not come.”

Cradling the weeping man, Gangcheon whispered with a trace of a laugh.

“I shall be fooled just one last time. Bear in mind, and keep it clearly in your heart, that there will not be a second chance. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall devote my heart and soul to my efforts.”

Gangcheon decided to trust him a little longer, for he did not think Sirak was truly dim-witted.

Had he been lacking in intelligence, he wouldn’t have been able to memorize so many musical pieces.

‘He said he would try, so shall I be fooled once more?’

As he inhaled the fragrance of peonies that was beginning to waft around them, he let out a sigh.

“Your Majesty. Then… will you simply pass over my upcoming heat cycle?”

“Since your cycle is irregular anyway, if you memorize the Thousand Characters by then, we may be able to spend it together.”

Sirak’s face darkened instantly.

Because his Eumin nature was weak, Sirak’s heat cycle occurred only once every few months at best.

Even then, it usually only came when Gangcheon continuously infused him with Yangin energy, and now that the possibility of it being delayed further had increased, Sirak looked dejected.

“But to do so in only a few months is impossible.”

Gangcheon laughed softly at the charming complaint.

“That is why you should have studied in advance. Have you not been in the palace for four months already? And yet you only just finished the ‘Subjects Yield to the Tribes’ section?”

Gangcheon looked at him sternly with narrowed eyes and lightly pinched his cheek.

“Does that not mean you failed to learn even four characters a day? Even a cricket that does nothing but sing all summer would be more diligent than my Consort.”

“Your grace is boundless.”

Sirak, looking completely dejected, pulled away from Gangcheon and curled his small body into a ball.

It was a protest of his bad mood.

When Gangcheon simply watched without trying to comfort him, the man, who had been puffing out his cheeks, finally spoke cautiously.

“Then, do you intend to refrain from spending the heat cycle with me until I finish the Thousand Characters?”

Gangcheon let out a chuckle.

‘How much jealousy will this man show now?’

“In a few days, it will be the Empress’s heat cycle, so I must spend it with him. After all, we postponed the consummation that was supposed to happen last month.”

Until then, he had only agreed to it because he couldn’t withstand the continuous petitions from the officials, so his current feelings were somewhat unfamiliar.

Had the Empress not fallen so ill, and had they not spent this time together, Gangcheon likely still wouldn’t have any expectations for the consummation.

But now, a small sense of anticipation had formed.

The more he thought about how that virtuous person would become disheveled, the more that expectation seemed to grow.

Sirak bit his lip upon seeing the faint smile on Gangcheon’s face.

When the Emperor ignored his bid for attention, the fragrance of the Consort began to grow a bit stronger.

The scent of an Eumin existed to seduce a Yangin.

The heat cycle was no different.

When an Eumin’s cycle begins, a Yangin reacts to the scent and enters their own cycle; thus, many Eumin used it as a weapon to compensate for their weak bodies.

That was the reason for the countless stories of Eumin who seduced lords—most of whom were Yangin—and brought chaos to the world.

Sirak, having been raised in a brothel since childhood, was quite clever in that regard.

Whenever he faced a disadvantage or wanted something, Sirak would often scatter his scent and act in a meltingly charming manner.

The reason Gangcheon allowed himself to be swayed was, after all, because of the first impression.

It was because he remembered the day he had been intoxicated by the scent drifting on the wind as those small, fair hands plucked the strings of the zither.

****

The realization that hawking required more than just handling a hawk came from the Emperor’s question late that night at the Empress’s Palace.

He appeared having spent a quite pleasant time with the Consort, his entire body drenched in the scent of peonies.

“Do you know how to ride a horse?”

Haeryeong searched his distant memories for the last time he had been on a horse.

“When I was a child, I once rode a pony.”

He was about five years old.

It had ended with him begging his mother to let him ride when his older brother started learning horsemanship.

The Emperor let out a long sigh as if he had expected as much, then chuckled.

“It seems the Empress’s daily routine has gained one more task starting tomorrow.”

He had been idle anyway since no one ever visited him.

Moreover, Haeryeong liked almost all animals, so he was actually looking forward to learning to ride.

“Am I truly permitted to learn horsemanship?”

“Do you think I am a man of empty words? I shall assign Su-yong to you, so go and pick a horse you like from the Imperial Stables.”

The Emperor was acting even more soft and pliant than usual.

Watching him quietly, Haeryeong bowed obediently and lowered his gaze.

“I shall do so.”

After receiving assistance with his robes, the Emperor approached Haeryeong once he had changed into his sleeping tunic.

Haeryeong, who had assumed the Emperor wouldn’t come, had already finished changing and was just about to lie down.

The Emperor, approaching while smelling strongly of peonies, lightly flared his nostrils near Haeryeong and wore a strange smile.

“Your scent has grown quite strong. Your heat cycle must be approaching.”

Haeryeong’s cycle was quite regular.

Though it varied by two or three days depending on his physical condition, it arrived roughly every fifteen days, so he had already been sensing its start.

The heat cycle, which had been difficult to endure even when spent alone, was even more unwelcome this time.

He still harbored a fear of the cycle, and he found it deeply unpleasant that the man who had previously sought him out with a look of pure disgust was now acting so persistent.