Chapter 52: Call Me Husband

The rapidly galloping horse lifted its legs as it came to a sudden halt.

Haeryeong’s body fell forward, spilling against his chest.

While the excited horse stomped its hooves several times, Gangcheon held Haeryeong tightly.

And the moment the horse’s legs touched the ground, he kissed him again.

This time, he pried open the tightly shut teeth, sought out the tongue, and sucked on it.

Behind the suddenly stopped procession, the noise of horses whinnying and hooves stomping was loud, but it didn’t matter.

He simply focused on the kiss, fixing his gaze upon the quietly closing eyelids.

He had a premonition that if those eyes opened and met his own again as they had before, he wouldn’t be able to hold back any longer.

Fortunately, Haeryeong kept his eyes closed throughout the kiss and did not lift his gaze even after their lips parted.

Licking his wet lips while looking down at the man in his arms, Gangcheon felt a strangely intense thirst.

It was a peculiar sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

Even when he had wandered through the Gobi Desert chasing enemies, he had never felt such parching thirst.

[Your Majesty.]

Gangcheon snapped back to his senses at Seok-hwan’s telepathic voice.

Or rather, it might be more accurate to say he only then realized he had been out of his mind.

[What is it?]

He could sense a sigh in Seok-hwan’s telepathic reply.

[There are many eyes watching.]

He was telling him to keep things within limits.

‘No matter how many eyes there are in these outskirts, they are surely only the Black Shadows,’ he thought.

While looking around with that thought, Gangcheon met the eyes of a farmer plowing the land nearby and realized what Seok-hwan meant.

It seemed they were right on the cusp of the busy farming season, as everyone was busy plowing fields or channeling water after the rain.

He felt dozens of gazes directed their way.

Haeryeong also opened his eyes belatedly, looked around, and flushed red.

Gangcheon set the horse in motion as if nothing were wrong.

As the horse began to trudge along, he rubbed his lips against Haeryeong’s reddened face, causing him to let out a low groan.

“Your Majesty, please, your dignity…”

Toward the quietly whispering Haeryeong, Gangcheon let out a soft laugh and murmured back.

“Why do you call me that when we are out on a secret excursion?”

The distressed Haeryeong kept his head bowed but tilted his eyes upward to look at him.

“But…”

“Try calling me ‘Husband.’ Or ‘Dear’ is fine as well.”

As he urged him to hurry, Haeryeong stole a glance at Gangcheon and let out a sigh.

“Why do you sigh when I told you to call me ‘Husband’?”

“I am not used to it, so the words will not leave my lips.”

“The words seem to be leaving your lips just fine. Since you’ve opened them, go ahead and call me.”

Haeryeong clamped his lips shut tight like a clam again.

Gangcheon laughed slyly and pressed short kisses to his cheek and ear.

“Hurry and call me. Hmm? Haeryeong-ah, say ‘Husband’.”

“…Husband.”

Gangcheon burst into laughter at the voice full of resignation.

It was because he could read the man’s thought: ‘I don’t really want to, but I’ll do it since you’re asking.’

Startled by Gangcheon’s laughter, the horse snorted roughly and whinnied.

Haeryeong shot him another look full of a sense of injustice and then turned his head back to the front.

Despite the disrespectful gaze, Gangcheon couldn’t stop laughing and slowly drove the horse forward.

He had long since forgotten the reason he had originally given the reins to Haeryeong.

A hearty laugh escaped him involuntarily, simply because the soft breeze was cool and the man’s hair brushing against him in that wind was ticklish.

As the horse walked slowly, Haeryeong gained some breathing room and became preoccupied with observing the outside scenery with wonder.

What could be so fascinating about the scenery of rice paddies and fields?

“What do you find so interesting? Your head hasn’t stayed still for a moment.”

“Everything is just so novel.”

What was so novel about a landscape he must have seen throughout his journey from Yeonseo?

He tilted his head in confusion, then his thoughts drifted to the fact that the man might truly have no memories.

It couldn’t possibly be true, yet why was he looking around with such fascination as if seeing it for the first time?

Gangcheon suddenly became curious about that.

“It was exactly at the start of March when you arrived from Yeonseo. Do you not remember?”

Haeryeong hesitantly gauged Gangcheon’s reaction before bowing his head.

“I apologize.”

“You came wearing the wedding robes of Yeonseo. The red wedding attire was so magnificent that it remains in my memory.”

Gangcheon, who had only received reports of how it was when Haeryeong arrived, brazenly spoke of the situation as if he had seen it himself.

He intended to test Haeryeong’s reaction.

“In Yeonseo, there is a custom for women or Eumin to wear their wedding robes starting from their parent’s home when they get married. Perhaps… that is why.”

“How exhausting it must have been to travel that long road in wedding robes.”

“Your servant… does not remember at all.”

“I suppose you do not remember the wedding ceremony either. That day was the first of April. It was a year when the cherry blossoms withered early because the weather was warmer than usual. Surely you do not remember the rain of cherry blossoms falling from the trees planted at Hoehyang Pavilion next to the Great Hall, even drifting into the main courtyard?”

“Regrettably… I do not remember it at all.”

Gangcheon had forgotten everything else, but he remembered that.

It was because he had a memory of being irritated by those damned cherry blossom petals sticking to him as he walked through the courtyard after leaving the Great Hall.

Having stayed up all night checking reports the day before, he had already been annoyed by the heavy beaded strings of his crown, so the petals hitting his face had made his nerves sensitive.

His best effort had been not to scowl openly while walking through the center of the courtyard where his subjects were prostrated.

And those damned paving stones were so blindingly bright.

As he narrowed his eyes and recalled that time, the thought suddenly struck him that it might be a blessing for the Empress to have no memory of it.

After all, he might well want to forget the face of the heartless husband who remained expressionless throughout the entire ceremony.

“Today is not our only chance, so we shall pick another day to come out together.”

Realizing this meant they were heading back for today, Haeryeong nodded with a look of disappointment.

“We shall stop by Dorim Stream on the way back. I suppose the Empress has never seen Dorim Stream either.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Gangcheon decided to proceed with the assumption that Haeryeong truly had no memory.

Whether he had memories or not didn’t really matter, but he had come to believe that it was better for him if he didn’t.

“Dorim Stream is the lifeblood of Yeoran. It is a long river that cuts across the nation, and its waters are so clear and clean that many people make a living through fishing.”

“Are that many fish caught there?”

“You will likely be quite surprised when you see it for yourself. Although it bears the name ‘stream,’ it is a quite deep and wide river. The capital is upstream, so the current is narrow and fierce, but it will still be quite wider than the rivers flowing in Yeonseo.”

“Has Your Imperial Majesty ever seen the rivers of Yeonseo?”

At Haeryeong’s question, Gangcheon smiled broadly.

“I have not.”

“Then how can you be so certain that the rivers of Yeoran are wider than those of Yeonseo?”

At Haeryeong’s confident voice, Gangcheon’s gaze shifted from the front to look down at an angle.

Although he could only see the edge of the man’s ear and profile, he felt he knew the expression without even looking.

“Haeryeong-ah. Are you that confident that Yeonseo’s rivers are larger?”

Haeryeong turned his head halfway.

He certainly didn’t show his full face, but he pulled the corners of his mouth into a soft smile.

Gangcheon let out a short laugh and made a move.

“If you are that confident, would you like to place a bet?”

“How shall the winner of the bet be determined?”

“I shall trust your conscience. If you admit it, then I win; if you do not admit it, then you win.”

“Will you be able to trust me?”

Gangcheon smiled at the man who asked while turning his head completely.

“I am no gentleman… I am a person far removed from the word ‘trustworthiness,’ but I shall trust you this time.”

Haeryeong quietly scanned Gangcheon’s face before lowering his eyes.

“What shall be staked on the bet?”

“I shall grant you one wish.”

“Do you mean anything at all?”

Gangcheon pondered for a moment.

Just what did he want that he would attach such a condition?

Haeryeong’s voice was perfectly calm, yet something about the back of his head as he turned forward again seemed to overflow with some hidden scheme.

“I must. Anything that is within my power to do for you.”

Haeryeong also seemed lost in thought, pausing for a moment.

“And if Your Majesty wins the bet, what is it that you desire?”

The expression on his face as he stole a glance back was also perfectly serene.

If he thought it was a trivial bet, wouldn’t he have looked joyful or excited instead?

Since he seemed confident of his victory, shouldn’t that reaction be even more apparent?

“Should the prize for the bet not be the same for both parties?”

As Gangcheon replied, Haeryeong quietly lowered his eyes.

After a brief deliberation, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Then let it be so. However, since it is a bet with a reward at stake, how about we determine the winner by consulting the records?”

The measurements for Dorim Stream would be accurately recorded in the Imperial Archives.

Surely the rivers of Yeonseo could be easily found by searching the texts as well.

Gangcheon nodded.

“Let us do that. I shall issue the order to the Gagakgo as soon as we return.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then, save your sightseeing for later and let us pick up the pace a bit.”

They needed to arrive before the Dorim Stream construction work finished for the day, so they had to reach the capital before sunset.

They had traveled much further out than expected, and the return path was even longer because they were detouring to Dorim Stream, so they had to hurry.