Chapter 48: Prince

“Prince Consort?”

The man before him called out to Anok, his voice laced with a subtle, mocking slyness.

How could such respectful words roll so easily from that mouth? The fine brush of weasel-tail fur Anok held was light and soft, but he set it down upon the inkstone with a touch far rougher than usual.

Springing up from his seat, Anok’s flustered lips spilled out a scattering of frantic questions.

“Your Highness—no, what brings you to this place? How did you…”

“I believe I told you before,” Yeo Jae-won replied, his expression entirely nonchalant. “There is no reason I cannot come here.”

With a casual glance, the Prince scanned the documents Anok had been examining. Recognizing them instantly as the financial ledgers governing the inner quarters, he set down the small tea tray he had carried in, placing it neatly on the empty space beside the stacked booklets.

His long, horizontal eyes veiled his true intent, offering only a superficial excuse. Following the direction of Yeo Jae-won’s gaze, Anok reluctantly lowered his eyes and saw the neatly arranged tray. Upon the body of the white porcelain teapot, vibrant yellow summer flowers bloomed.

“Surely you are not going to suggest it is unbecoming of a gentleman to meddle in the affairs of the eunuchs?”

“……This servant would never dare.”

“You seem remarkably adept at it.”

“That is only because Your Highness……!”

This man. How could he act like this day and night, even now? This kind of consideration is something he should reserve for the one he claims to have lost.

Anok felt a flare of indignation, on the verge of retorting that it was the Prince who had first brought up their shared bedchamber, but he pressed his lips tightly together, trapping the words.

This was precisely what Yeo Jae-won wanted. The thick, prominent brows of the handsome man—whose features must have been strikingly upright since childhood—rose slightly, silently daring Anok to finish his thought.

Anok bit his lip and chose silence instead. After waiting a moment and realizing Anok would not speak, Yeo Jae-won let a phantom of a smile grace his lips before calling for Chief Eunuch Seok. Having waited at a respectful distance, the old attendant stepped past the heavy silk curtain dividing the Grand Consort’s workspace from the bookshelves, cradling a small, lacquered box in both hands.

Bowing his head in a brief greeting, Chief Eunuch Seok understood his master’s unspoken instructions at a glance.

He set the lacquered box down, smoothly pushing aside the documents and ledgers Anok had been reviewing to make room. The beautifully patterned piece of lacquerware naturally commanded the space between them.

Anok recognized that box. It contained the precious heirlooms left behind by the late queen for the spouses of her two sons. But he had never expected to face it so soon in this life.

In his past life, Anok had only learned of its existence after entering the Eastern Palace. Even then, it had not been Yeo Jae-won who presented it; rather, it had been delivered at the request of Princess Jeongan. To have the object brought directly before him now by Yeo Jae-won’s own hands stirred a strange, unsettling sensation in his chest.

“What…… is this?” Anok asked, staring at the box as though it were entirely unfamiliar.

Gesturing for Chief Eunuch Seok to step back, Yeo Jae-won opened the latch himself.

Not all memories from his previous life remained intact, and Anok could not recall the exact contents in vivid detail. He only remembered thinking that because it was a relic of the late queen, he could not afford to use it carelessly. In truth, the first and last time he had ever worn a piece from that box was during the grand banquet celebrating his investiture as the consort.

Yeo Jae-won allowed the contents to catch the light before answering in his characteristically flat, measured tone.

“These are the belongings left by Mother. My sister-in-law held onto them and passed them down before the wedding. You mentioning her earlier brought them to mind.”

“Why would you present such priceless heirlooms to me?”

“Because they belong to you.”

“……”

“I felt it would be unseemly to act as though I am taking credit for Mother’s gifts, so I spent some time deliberating how best to give them to you.”

Speaking in a casual voice, Yeo Jae-won reached into the box and drew out a bracelet carved from flawless white jade. Without waiting for a response, he caught the dazed Anok by the wrist and slid the band over his hand without the slightest resistance.

Though completely unadorned, the pure, unblemished white jade was unmistakably a rare treasure. Anok, well aware of its immense value, stared at the white band encircling his wrist before pulling his arm back sharply.

“I cannot accept this.”

He was someone destined to leave this place eventually. Even if Yeo Jae-won had no intention of granting him his freedom, Anok had absolutely no desire to live submissively by his side again. He was only enduring this arrangement because the timing was not yet right; the moment an opportunity presented itself, he fully intended to vanish from the Prince’s life.

Even if it required an ignoble path. If escaping Yeo Jae-won meant being driven out in absolute disgrace, stained by whatever scandals society could manufacture, he would gladly take it.

After all, the brand of a bastard had dogged his footsteps since the day he was born. What difference would a few more marks of infamy make? These treasures belonged to whoever would become Yeo Jae-won’s true, cherished spouse.

Once, in a bout of foolish delusion, Anok had believed that he could be that person. He had thought that even if his affection went unrequited, Yeo Jae-won might one day recognize the depth of his devotion. He had hoped a day would come when the Prince would dimly understand just how entirely Anok’s heart had belonged to him.

But now he knew the truth. That day would never arrive. To Yeo Jae-won, he was merely a betrothed chosen out of political necessity.

Right now, the Prince might harbor a fleeting interest in teasing him, but that curiosity would inevitably wither. And even that small spark would curdle into hatred and resentment when the day came that Yeo Jae-won had to clear his name of the treason charges levied against the Baekya Manor.

Anok’s rejection, though firm, was delivered in a calm, surprisingly gentle cadence. Because the tone was so soft, it took Yeo Jae-won a moment of quiet deliberation to fully grasp that Anok was refusing his mother’s sacred relics.

“You cannot accept them?”

“These are precious mementos left by the late queen. I possess no right to receive them.”

“Mother left them specifically for the spouses of her sons.”

“I am aware. But even so, I cannot keep them.”

If he accepted them now, Anok feared the weight of the gift would prevent him from leaving cleanly when the time came. Refusing to argue the matter further, he slipped the white jade bracelet from his wrist, placed it back into the velvet interior, and brought the lid down. A sharp, definitive click echoed through the quiet study as he closed the box.

“Your Highness once said there is someone you never wish to lose again.”

“……”

“Give these to that person. Though we are bound by marriage, I am not your true spouse.”

The words fell from Anok’s lips with a heartless, chilling finality. Yet, he had never truly been a cold person by nature.

Chu-san had remarked on it once: Your mother heartlessly abandoned her lover, branding her own child with an inescapable mark before you were even born—so how is it that you are so full of warmth?

Yet Anok had never held resentment toward his mother. If anything, he envied her. He envied the strength of a woman who had fought to maintain her pride until the bitter end—a fierce, unyielding backbone that he entirely lacked.

Mulling over his own words, Anok finally admitted to himself that he was indeed his mother’s son. Had her voice sounded just as detached and unfeeling when she brushed aside the sordid affairs of the King of Baekya’s concubines? Anok conjured the phantom sound of a mother’s voice he had never lived to hear.

“You could be that person.”

Yeo Jae-won’s voice sounded dry, yet beneath the surface carried a subtle, desperate earnestness. His gaze remained lowered, fixed entirely on the closed lacquered box as if staring into a vast, empty chasm.

“No.”

It could not be so, it would not be so, and it absolutely should not be so.

“I am not that person.”

Anok, who had been staring straight into Yeo Jae-won’s eyes throughout the silent exchange, finally looked away, seeking a presence in the distance.

“Is Chief Eunuch Seok outside?”

Despite being summoned by the consort rather than his true master, Chief Eunuch Seok—who had been standing perfectly still behind the silk screen—stepped forward instantly.

“Did you call, Grand Consort?”

“The hour grows late. Escort His Highness back to his quarters. And ensure you take this box with you.”

True to his training, the Prince’s loyal attendant immediately sought to read his master’s countenance. Yeo Jae-won stared blankly down at the lacquered box for a long moment before slowly raising his head. The look he directed at Anok was entirely unreadable.

“……Married, yet not a spouse?”

Hearing the slow, quiet murmur, Chief Eunuch Seok could not conceal his profound perplexity, his eyes darting anxiously between the two superiors. The air grew thick with tension, heavy with the premonition that a storm was brewing.

He feared that his master, a man usually indifferent to subordinates but entirely unyielding when crossed, might lose his temper and strike the consort. If a hand were to be raised against the Princess, Chief Eunuch Seok stood ready, his feet shifting as he prepared to throw his own body into the fray.

Yet Anok remained perfectly composed as he stood before the Prince. Even while looking up at a man who stood a full half-head taller than himself, he showed not the slightest tremor of fear.

In truth, his insides were trembling, but he knew with absolute certainty that Yeo Jae-won would not strike him. Cruel as the Prince could be, he was not the type of man to lay hands on someone who had come under his protection and whom he considered his own.

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