Chapter 4: The Lucid Dream of a Young Master

Upon opening his eyes, Haeseung was immediately struck by the unfamiliar sight of the distant ceiling. Gazing up at the ceiling, which was significantly higher and broader than that of his own room where he slept and woke daily, Haeseung slowly blinked.

The bed he lay on was plush, and the blanket covering him was soft. A slight turn of his head revealed a room adorned with excessively opulent and luxurious decorations.

Bright sunlight streamed through the tightly closed window, scattering light in a scene so magically beautiful it felt utterly unreal.

Thus, Haeseung readily concluded it was a dream. He had stayed up all night, reading his Noona’s novel and organizing feedback to email, all in hopes of securing his part-time earnings.

He’d only intended to catch two or three hours of sleep before heading out, but it seemed he’d drifted into a dream during that brief respite.

‘A lucid dream?’

A dream consciously dreamt, a lucid dream. Intrigued by this novel phenomenon, Haeseung decided to rise and move about.

He pushed aside the incredibly plush blanket, soft enough to sink under a finger’s press, and attempted to stand, only to feel a faint bewilderment as his body refused to obey his will.

‘Perhaps I need time to acclimate to this dream,’ he mused. With that thought, Haeseung lay back comfortably on the bed and slowly began to wiggle his fingers and toes.

He remembered a scene from an old movie where someone practiced in this manner to awaken a stiff body.

First, his fingers. Then, his toes. As he systematically moved each finger and toe, the bedroom door opened, and someone stepped inside.

Upon seeing Haeseung, whose eyes were wide awake, a woman approached him and inquired,

“Are you awake?”

This was the first other person to appear in his dream. Before Haeseung could even turn his head to confirm, something damp touched the corner of his mouth.

“You’ll be thirsty when you wake up,” she explained. “But they say you shouldn’t drink water immediately. Just moisten your lips like this.”

Folding a water-soaked towel, the woman gently placed it between his lips, speaking in a soft, even tone. Just as she said, he was indeed thirsty.

‘Even in a dream, you wake up thirsty, just like in reality,’ Haeseung momentarily marveled. As he held the damp towel to his lips, his cracked, dry lips absorbed the moisture and became slightly rehydrated.

“My body won’t move.”

“You woke up after five days,” she replied. “It will be difficult to get up right away.”

‘This is a lucid dream, isn’t it? Shouldn’t I be able to do anything I imagine within it?’ Listening to the woman’s practical explanation, Haeseung lamented that his lucid dream seemed to be grounded in excessively realistic reasoning.

‘Was this a consequence of my own pragmatic nature?’

“Can you help me get up?”

Since the woman who had appeared seemed intent on being helpful and had spoken to him kindly from the start, Haeseung extended his hand and asked for assistance.

As expected, she gently took his outstretched hand and carefully helped him prop himself up to sit against the bed.

Only then could Haeseung clearly make out the woman’s appearance. Even when he had briefly scanned the bedroom earlier, he had sensed a distinctly medieval ambiance, and the woman’s attire now confirmed it, resembling the historical dresses he had seen in films or photographs.

‘All that time I spent reading romance novels indiscriminately to help Noona, and this is the dream I get in return.’ A strange mix of laughter and lament threatened to escape him, twisting Haeseung’s expression into an odd grimace.

“Are you in pain again?”

Misunderstanding Haeseung’s expression, the woman asked in a hurried tone. ‘Was my face really that strange?’

Covering his face with a hand, Haeseung shook his head.

‘If this is the case, will a prince appear too? A prince isn’t really my type.’

Haeseung’s ideal type wasn’t an emperor or a king, but rather someone who possessed wealth and power, yet remained detached from the center of authority, thus having less work to do. ‘There’s barely enough time for romance as it is; if an emperor only ever works, when would they ever date?’

While he had certainly read novels where emperors found love, Haeseung realistically believed such a kingdom would hardly thrive.

“My body is fine,” he assured her. “I’m going to try to get up and move around slowly.”

‘Shouldn’t a dream be characterized by rapidly shifting scenes, with characters appearing and disappearing at a breakneck pace?’ Yet, at this moment, Haeseung couldn’t even leave the bed, and the only characters present were himself and the woman.

“Already?” she questioned. “Wouldn’t it be better to lie down a bit longer?”

“No,” he insisted. “I need to meet people, and r— No, anyway, I need to make progress quickly.”

‘If this is a romance novel dream, then there ought to be some romance.’ The thought that he might wake up from this dream, having only observed the scenery without ever meeting any handsome men, filled Haeseung with a sudden urgency.

“Young Master, are you really alright?”

The woman asked with a somewhat hesitant expression, yet Haeseung could only express his astonishment.

“Wow, I’m a Young Master.”

“I’m a Young Master. Then you must be… my sister-in-law?” ‘Surely my brother won’t appear too? And Noona? If those people show up in my dream, that would truly be a nightmare.’

Believing that no matter how realistic a dream might be, it wouldn’t involve the horrifying scenario of his entire family appearing, Haeseung nervously awaited the woman’s reply.

“Of course not,” she said, a hint of concern in her voice. “I am Rosie, the one who attends to the Young Master. Maid Rosie. …Don’t you remember?”

‘Ah, *that* Young Master.’

“Uh, well… I feel like I might remember, and then again, maybe not,” Haeseung stammered. “Goodness, I just woke up after five days, so my mind is still a bit hazy…”

He chuckled awkwardly, attempting to change the subject.

While his relationship with his family wasn’t strained, he certainly didn’t wish to see them even in a dream, so he felt a slight wave of relief. Haeseung’s preference leaned more towards melodramas than family dramas, after all.

“Anyway, it’s nice to be a Young Master.”

‘In a society based on status, aristocrats are undoubtedly at the top.’ ‘Perhaps this is a dream where I get to be a carefree noble and indulge in endless romance?’

Convinced this dream was a manifestation of his own desires, Haeseung decided he needed to get moving. He had to go somewhere, anywhere, and meet someone.

“I should tell the Madam. Please, lie back down.”

‘If I just leave this bedroom, I’m sure to meet some man. And once I do, I can skip all the preamble and get straight to the steamy parts.’ Crushing Haeseung’s eager expectations, Maid Rosie attempted to make him lie back down on the bed.

“No, I told you I need to get up!” he protested. “I’m really fine!”

“Please, Young Master,” Rosie pleaded. “Please stay in bed. I’ll bring the Madam right away.”

After giving Haeseung a stern warning, Rosie hurried out, opening the door and disappearing from the room. Left alone in the now quiet bedroom, Haeseung cautiously descended from the bed and placed his feet on the floor.

Though he was barefoot, a rug or carpet of some kind was spread around the bed, keeping his feet from feeling cold.

He felt strangely weak, his body heavy and listless, but thankfully, not to the point of collapsing. It seemed the premise was that he had woken up after five days, and considering that, he thought his condition wasn’t bad, so he began to slowly walk around the bed.

Just as he was getting accustomed to moving his body before truly venturing out, the door swung open, and a group of people streamed in. ‘Now the dream is truly beginning,’ he thought.

Gulping, Haeseung swallowed hard, a wave of tension washing over him.

There were six women and one man. All of them were foreigners, and, with the exception of one, the women wore dresses similar to that of Rosie, who had identified herself as a maid.

‘Indeed, medieval attire.’ Haeseung nodded slightly in admiration, just as the woman leading the group into the bedroom opened her mouth to speak.

“You really… woke up.”

She wore an elaborate lace dress, and her face appeared older than the other women’s. The woman’s expression, a mixture of surprise, bewilderment, and a touch of reluctance, made Haeseung tilt his head quizzically.

“…Yes, well. I woke up… right?” Haeseung replied, trailing off. “But who are you?”

“Heinjell. What are you saying?”

“Madam. The Young Master’s behavior has been a little strange since he woke up.”

It was Rosie, who had gone to fetch the Madam. Standing at the edge of the group, she approached the older woman and spoke in a hushed whisper.

Yet, it was a whisper so utterly meaningless that Haeseung, though separated from the newcomers, could still distinctly hear it.

‘Heinjell, by the way. Is that my name in this dream?’ Haeseung’s eyes darted busily from side to side.

In a dream set in a medieval world, much like those found in romance novels, the appellation ‘Young Master Haeseung’ certainly felt incongruous.

‘That older woman, addressed as Madam, appears to be playing the role of my mother.’ Just a moment ago, he’d thought it would be a nightmare if his entire family appeared, but now, with a complete stranger as his mother, Haeseung felt a strange pang of disappointment.

‘It would have been truly hilarious if Mom, Noona, and my brother had all appeared wearing these kinds of clothes.’

Observing Haeseung, who stood still, lost in his thoughts, the older woman turned her head towards the sole man in the group.

“Vant.”

At the woman’s gesture, pointing towards Haeseung, the man named Vant, who had been called, stepped forward.

“I will check your condition,” Vant stated. “Please lie down first, Young Master.”

At the words of Vant, who appeared to be a doctor, Haeseung quickly lay back on the bed. His action was a calculated move: he needed to comply with the Madam and Vant so they would finish their tasks and leave, thus allowing him to finally explore the dream.

Haeseung patiently allowed Vant to take his temperature and check his pulse, waiting for this situation to conclude quickly. He offered vague affirmative responses to questions about where and how he felt pain, his physical state upon waking, and other similar inquiries.

‘This isn’t a modern hospital anyway, so there won’t be X-rays or CT scans. At most, it’ll just be a simple medical interview.’ Just as Haeseung expected, Vant did nothing beyond a basic question-and-answer session.

“Ah, I moved around after waking up for the first time in a while, and I think I might be feeling ill again. My body feels a bit tired.”

Haeseung pressed a hand to his forehead, feigning collapse, and subtly glanced at the others. The older woman and Vant whispered to each other, then left the room after advising him to rest.

Calmly waiting for the sounds of the departing group to fade, Haeseung suddenly sprang up from the bed the moment he felt no one outside the door. Rosie, who had been preparing for his care at his bedside, looked at him in surprise.

“Y-Young Master. You said you were ill…”

“I’m perfectly fine again. It seems I just go in and out of being ill, so don’t mind it.”

Haeseung waved a dismissive hand and hurried over to a mirror placed in a corner of the room. This was because he had caught a glimpse of something earlier while briefly looking around as he lay in bed.

“Hmm.”

Standing still and gazing at his reflection in the mirror, Haeseung let out a low hum.