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Join the ServerI asked if any word had arrived from the Great Hall, and as expected, a message had come.
“Yes, Your Highness. It seems he will arrive within half a sijin.”
Haeryeong sighed quietly and pulled back the bed canopy with his hand.
“I must hurry and prepare myself.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
While Iryeon pulled the canopy aside, Haeryeong lowered his legs from the bed.
He had hoped he would be fine after soaking in the medicinal bath, but his muscles from his waist to his thighs felt stiff and pulled.
After a brief frown, Haeryeong stood with a calm expression and let the court ladies help him change.
He donned a dark navy robe with a matching belt embroidered with silver thread and attached the perfume sachet his mother had sent.
While he sat inhaling the subtle lotus scent, Jongseon tied half of his hair up and placed a topknot cap engraved with a phoenix on him.
As she applied oil to tidy the stray hairs, the news of the Emperor’s arrival was announced from outside.
The court ladies hurried to tidy the surroundings, and Haeryeong went to the entrance of the Empress’s Palace to greet the Emperor.
The court ladies followed behind him and lined up at the door as he arrived.
Haeryeong bent his knees and offered his respects to the Emperor as he stepped down from the palanquin.
“Your servant greets Your Imperial Majesty’s noble face.”
Laughing heartily, the Emperor approached and wrapped his arm around Haeryeong’s shoulder.
“Even though we only saw each other a few hours ago, you are still so formal that I do not know how to respond.”
As he stood up with the Emperor’s assistance, the man buried his nose in Haeryeong’s neck.
“I smell medicinal herbs.”
“I soaked in a medicinal bath to prevent muscle pain.”
The Emperor nodded and began walking inside.
Haeryeong was practically dragged along in his embrace until he was suddenly swept off his feet; startled, he gripped the Emperor’s dragon robe.
“How is your body feeling?”
The Emperor, holding Haeryeong, asked while looking into his face.
Haeryeong lowered his eyes under the man’s direct gaze.
“It is not so bad that Your Majesty needs to worry.”
“That sounds to me like you are not entirely well.”
A quick moment of deliberation passed through his mind.
‘If I say it hurts, will he let me off tonight?’
‘But if he realizes I am feigning illness, I do not know what kind of wrath I might face.’
Haeryeong gauged his reaction and gave a small shake of his head.
“No. After taking an afternoon nap, I feel much lighter.”
The Emperor laughed boisterously as he walked down the long corridor.
‘Why is he in such a good mood again?’
Haeryeong received the answer to that question in the words the Emperor whispered.
“Then I shall bestow my favor upon you again today. Empress, do not be shy and accept it.”
Haeryeong hunched his shoulders and bowed his head at the breath whispering in his ear.
“Your grace is boundless.”
‘He is angry because I enjoyed a nap alone.’
At the Emperor’s whisper to be prepared, Haeryeong could not even let out a sigh and simply kept his head bowed.
Haeryeong bit his lower lip slightly and watched the Emperor’s reaction.
‘Would he listen if I asked him to go easy on me?’
‘Since there is a high possibility he would act even more maliciously, I could not dare bring it up first.’
Haeryeong stared at the Emperor who was carrying him, but lowered his gaze the moment the man looked back.
The Emperor chuckled as if he were looking straight through Haeryeong’s heart.
“If you have something to say, do not just stare at me like that and speak your mind.”
For some reason, he brought it up first.
Out of a desperate need not to miss this chance, Haeryeong grasped the straw the man offered.
“Your servant has a request for Your Majesty.”
“Let us hear it.”
“Tomorrow… I have horsemanship training again. Therefore…”
“You are saying you want me to be gentle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor stopped in front of the door and leaned his face toward Haeryeong.
“If you wish to make a request, then show me some coquetry. I shall decide whether or not to grant it after that.”
Haeryeong’s expression instantly turned gloomy.
‘Why does the Emperor always attach conditions like this?’
‘Would he grow horns if he just went easy on me once?’
Seeing Haeryeong’s pouting face, he chuckled and stepped through the open door.
“It looks as though it will rain soon; how about sharing a cup of sweet wine after dinner?”
He kissed Haeryeong’s cheek as he approached the table set for dinner.
“I wonder if you will act more like a child once you are a bit tipsy.”
No sooner had the Emperor finished speaking than the faint pitter-patter of falling raindrops reached them.
The sound of rain, falling at intervals, soon overflowed and echoed from all directions.
The Emperor sat in a chair while holding Haeryeong and gave a command to the Chief Eunuch waiting to serve.
“Keep the windows and doors open.”
As the eunuchs hurried to comply, he turned his head toward Haeryeong.
With a faint smile, the Emperor patted Haeryeong’s back and whispered huskily.
“Since the jade water is already falling, let us have a drink with our meal. Manchul, bring some Gamhongno.”
He gently rocked his thighs where Haeryeong sat and spoke in a voice as soft as a song.
“Does the Empress know a bit of drinking etiquette?”
“I do not know much.”
Even after living as a couple for seven years, there had been few opportunities to share a drink.
Only during the wedding ceremony and national rites.
Receiving a cup before others as part of a ritual was the extent of it.
Of course, having lived as royalty, he had participated in ritual drinking during special days or ceremonies since childhood, so he knew how to drink to some degree.
The Emperor surely knew that as well.
He was likely asking about Haeryeong’s tolerance.
While they conversed, the dishes began to arrive one by one.
As expected, the Emperor showed no sign of letting Haeryeong down, even as the dinner table was nearly complete, clearly intending to keep him on his lap.
“Um, Your Majesty. Please set me down.”
When Haeryeong finally plucked up the courage to speak, the man’s gaze turned sharp.
“Does the Empress find being close to We that uncomfortable?”
Haeryeong noticed the difference between his use of ‘I’ and ‘We’ and bowed his head.
When the royal plural left his lips, it meant his mood was soured.
“It is not that…. I thought I would need space to move in order to fill Your Majesty’s cup. How can I fill your cup while trapped in your embrace?”
In the meantime, the meal was fully served, and finally, a silver wine ewer was brought in.
The Emperor smiled crookedly as if seeing through Haeryeong’s tactic, yet he permitted him to sit in a different chair.
But that was exactly where it ended.
Haeryeong was allowed to sit in a chair pulled so close it was barely different from sitting on the man’s thighs.
No sooner had his backside touched the chair than the Emperor lifted his wine cup.
“Then, let us see about having a drink.”
Haeryeong poured wine into the silver cup that bobbed before him as if urging him on.
As the red wine filled the cup, a sweet scent like cinnamon punch wafted out.
Having received the wine, the Emperor took the ewer from Haeryeong.
It seemed he wished to pour a drink for Haeryeong as well.
“Empress, lift your cup and receive the Imperial wine.”
“Your grace is boundless.”
As Haeryeong held the cup with both hands, it was filled with a clear, trickling sound.
The red wine filled the small cup to the brim, rippling slightly.
The Emperor raised his own cup.
When Haeryeong followed suit, the man downed his wine in one go and quirked an eyebrow.
Haeryeong turned away from him and took a sip of the wine.
A sweet taste with a subtle hint of cinnamon lingered in his mouth.
Just as he thought it smelled like medicinal herbal tea, a floral scent slithered in.
As he swallowed the wine, a faint sweetness remained on his palate.
The Emperor chuckled, peering at Haeryeong’s half-empty cup.
“Drink slowly. Nothing is more poisonous than wine consumed in a hurry.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“So, is it to your taste? I chose a sweet wine, assuming you were not accustomed to drinking.”
Haeryeong smiled softly as he lifted the ewer to refill the Emperor’s cup.
“I enjoyed the sweetness.”
“You must not let it slide down too easily just because it is sweet. It is much stronger than it looks.”
Haeryeong offered him a smile.
He knew well enough that Gamhongno was strong.
Therefore, he actually considered it a relief.
‘If the Emperor gets drunk, perhaps I might avoid sharing the bed tonight.’
‘For whatever reason, he has been keeping a distance from the Noble Consort lately; would this not be a perfect excuse for him to seek him out?’
‘If he misses him while intoxicated, will he not leave without a second thought?’
However, the Emperor’s tolerance was higher than expected.
The drinking session that began with the meal continued long after it ended, yet he showed not a single sign of intoxication.
Instead, it was Haeryeong’s face that grew increasingly flushed.
Even though he hadn’t even drunk a quarter of what the Emperor had.
Despite the chill of the rainy evening air, heat began to pile up within his body.
When Haeryeong began to fan himself with his hand, the Emperor chuckled and reached out an arm.
“You seem to be heating up.”
The hand that had lightly rubbed his heated face descended slightly to tickle the tip of his chin.
The Emperor’s eyes appeared a bit more moist now.
‘Is the alcohol finally taking effect?’
‘If I feed him just a bit more, could I chase him away?’
While he deliberated, the Emperor emptied his cup and leaned toward Haeryeong.
“The snacks are all gone. I am in need of something to cleanse my palate; is this not a crisis?”
Realizing what kind of scheme the man was brewing, Haeryeong shrank back.
But before he could even move his body back, the Emperor’s hand cupped the back of his head.
As he was pulled forward by a stealthy force, Haeryeong squeezed his eyes shut right as their lips were about to meet.
“Open wide.”
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