Chapter 50: The Ghost of the Past

Seok Naegwan had cleaned the table with neat hands, and still at the center was a lacquered box of appropriate size. Anok silently stared at the box decorated with mother-of-pearl on black sandalwood.

Yeo Jaewon’s words came to mind: ‘If you ram into it, you’ll only break yourself.’ In her past life, he would never have said such a thing. Recalling their relationship in the previous life, Anok smiled bitterly.

In every aspect, Yeo Jaewon had the upper hand. The only thing Anok had ahead of him was death.

Her eyes were dry, without a trace of moisture. Yet she felt as if she were injured. The voice saying she would only break herself was so low and dry. It reminded her of her own resigned self.

Though not as large as Yeo Jaewon’s, her hands were quite big considering her build. Anok spread them wide and covered her face.

The moon rising toward the sky shone bright for no reason. Moonlight streaming through the open crescent window was calm, but Anok’s heart was extremely disturbed.

* * *

Lim Naegwan thought that the young queen was not that young, but he newly realized that the stamina of a young man in his prime was incredibly immense.

“…You’ve read all of this?”

Seok Naegwan, who hadn’t believed Lim Naegwan’s words, stared at Anok in surprise and asked. Anok had grasped and organized the ledgers he brought in just a few days.

“There were no major errors, so it was easy to review.”

“But when on earth did you have time to look through this much…”

Anok smiled faintly and didn’t answer.

He once managed the household of the Eastern Palace and even oversaw the affairs of the inner court in the imperial palace. The scale of a prince’s residence was not difficult for him. But he couldn’t reveal this secret, so he just smiled.

“Ah, His Highness the Prince said he would go directly to Jeongangung from the Ministry of Punishments.”

Sometimes Yeo Jaewon left Seok Naegwan behind and took another eunuch or went to court alone. It was a consideration not to have Seok Naegwan do simple errands since he was in charge of the residence’s affairs.

Anok was about to nod, thinking it was the same today, but his expression hardened slightly when Jeongangung was mentioned.

The two eunuchs, keenly aware of small changes, exchanged glances. Lim Naegwan stepped back while Seok Naegwan spoke, as if to relieve Anok’s worry that had been bothering him for the past two days.

“I’ve prepared gifts to take to Jeongangung. The Queen Dowager and Prince Jinyang will like them very much.”

Jinyang was the title bestowed by the emperor when he gave Yeorang a royal title.

Anok had prepared various snacks, including honeyed fruit that Yeorang especially liked. He also sent court ladies from the inner palace to the market to buy gifts the Queen Dowager would like.

Anok nodded and stood up. He began to prepare to go to Jeongangung. Naturally, Seok Naegwan withdrew, and Han Wol and Lady Yu entered.

Most of Anok’s grooming was done by Han Wol.

Young eunuchs including Seok Naegwan helped him change clothes, and Lady Yu, who was from the bureau of attire, selected clothes that suited Anok and were not against etiquette. But most preparations were done by Han Wol.

Today, the clothes Lady Yu chose were a pale purple color. It seemed she chose the color to match Yeo Jaewon, who would go to Jeongangung directly in his court dress.

After putting on a topknot crown decorated with amethysts and finishing with a short silver hairpin, Han Wol smiled proudly at her master’s handsome and dignified appearance.

“Your Highness, His Highness the Prince has departed for Jeongangung.”

“We must hurry so as not to be late. Let’s go.”

Hearing the news from Lim Naegwan, who had just returned from outside, Anok also stood up.

Visiting Jeongangung was still unpleasant, but unavoidable. Only after double-checking the gifts did Anok board the carriage heading to Jeongangung.

Jeongangung, a small detached palace within the capital, was located in a quiet place, as if secluded from the bustling light of the busy city.

The forest that wrapped around the palace from the north was, as Anok knew, artificially created.

But it was lush and grand, as if made by nature, holding the fresh green of spring. The black tiles of Jeongangung, where a flower garden gathered, shone neatly.

While Lim Naegwan hurried ahead to inform Jeongangung, Anok stood relaxing on the ground and spotted another carriage with the seal of the Prince’s residence. Probably the one Yeo Jaewon had come in.

“I greet Your Highness.”

It was a young eunuch who had accompanied Yeo Jaewon to court today. Seok Naegwan, who must have come here busily ahead, was probably attending Yeo Jaewon. The young eunuch, while tidying the carriage interior, saw Anok and bowed deeply.

“His Highness was waiting for you, but when he heard that Prince Jinyang was looking for him, he entered first.”

The young eunuch eagerly defended his master. Anok forced a calm smile on his expressionless face and nodded. No one had done anything wrong, so there was no need for this young eunuch to be afraid.

But Anok was using great effort. To differentiate the emperor he knew in his past life from the current Prince.

Since the attitude toward him had changed, he couldn’t place the two on the same line. Moreover, the emperor of the past life was the one Anok had loved so much, but in this life, he decided not to give even a single grain of affection to the prince.

The emperor, who had been indifferent even when his child died, and the prince who cherished his nephew were different people. Anok repeated that thought dozens of times in his mind as he entered Jeongangung.

The place where the Queen Dowager set a reception for guests was Dacheongheon. The building, located in a sunny spot, had elegant charm suitable for receiving guests.

Perhaps because it was a sunny day, the front of Dacheongheon had all the window shutters raised. Anok followed the dappled light on the stone floor and entered slowly.

“The Queen Dowager is receiving a guest from her family, so she may be a little late. His Highness the Prince is with Prince Jinyang, so I’ll take you there.”

A eunuch of Jeongangung approached and reported in a low voice. Suppressing his desire to say he would wait elsewhere, Anok followed the eunuch.

“…It’s ‘clean’ and ‘virtuous’, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

A child’s clear, bright voice and a familiar low voice crossed and entered Anok’s ears. Anok gestured for the eunuch to stop as he was about to announce the queen’s arrival. Through the crack in the door, Anok peeked at the affectionate uncle and nephew.

The child, Prince Jinyang Yeorang, was holding a brush. The desk was large for his small body, but Yeorang could move the brush freely because he was sitting in someone’s arms.

“Is this the courtesy name you made for me, Uncle?”

“Yeah. When you grow up, Song will remain as your childhood name. Use this as your courtesy name.”

Since a child wrote it, it would be hard to say it was good even with a lie, but Yeo Jaewon looked at the near-bad handwriting with a smile and adjusted his nephew in his arms.

As if quickly losing interest in writing, Yeorang put down the brush, turned to his uncle, and reached out to touch his official hat.

If the Queen Dowager had seen this, she would have raised her voice at such rudeness. But since Yeo Jaewon had dismissed the attendants, no one stopped Yeorang. Moreover, the uncle even brought his hat closer as if to let him touch it freely, so Yeorang, feeling the rough but neat texture, burst into giggles.

“What’s so funny?”

“Everything is fun.”

“Everything?”

“Yes!”

The child, who was ticklish, squirmed in Yeo Jaewon’s arms and then jumped down. The small child disappeared from Anok’s sight, standing still and then peeking through the door. Yeo Jaewon, rising leisurely from his seat, also seemed to chase the child and was no longer visible.

“Your Highness, shall I announce you?”

Lim Naegwan took the initiative instead of the Jeongangung eunuch. He was very cautious, but it was unclear what he interpreted from Anok’s expressionless face.

“Well…”

But before Anok could nod, a child, who had eagerly opened the narrow door and run out to escape his uncle, bumped into him.

Jeongangung was a closed space. It was located in a quiet, scenic place, but visitors were limited. So the child showed a marked difference in attitude between familiar people and outsiders. He looked up at the young man in pale purple robes with unfamiliar eyes.

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