Chapter 6: Cold Water, Burning Flesh

“It is because his body temperature is so high, Your Majesty.”

“Please do not worry and gradually release your Yangin energy.”

“I shall lower the water temperature little by little as I observe the situation.”

Gangcheon remained skeptical of the physician’s words, yet he slowly released his Yangin energy.

Soon, the scent of peach blossoms began to fill the bedroom bit by bit.

However, far from subsiding, the Empress’s trembling seemed to grow even more violent.

Haeryeong, with his knees drawn up toward his chest on the Emperor’s thighs, curled his body like a piece of curved jade and shivered.

His dark, hollow eyelids twitched erratically before his limp hand rose to clutch the Emperor’s collar, hanging on for dear life.

Haeryeong clenched his trembling hand into a tight fist, his parched lips, white with peeling skin, fluttering.

When the Emperor leaned down to bring his ear close, a voice so weak it seemed it might extinguish at any moment was stumblingly calling for someone.

“Your… Majesty…”

The one he was searching for with a voice on the verge of fading away was none other than Gangcheon.

Gangcheon looked down at Haeryeong’s hand with a lukewarm expression.

He was currently somewhat annoyed by the weight of the slender, white fingers desperately clinging to his collar.

And yet, he didn’t feel the urge to actually push them away.

Rather, his attention was drawn to the blue veins tracing across the pale back of that hand.

Every time the Empress exerted strength to grip the collar tighter, the sight of those blue veins pulsing and standing out kept catching his eye.

“Your Majesty, I shall pour a bit more water.”

As another bucket of water with a finely adjusted temperature was added, the water level rose slightly.

And the temperature dropped a bit more than it had been a moment ago.

Perhaps due to that, despite being unable to even regain consciousness, Haeryeong’s body heaved violently.

The water level was barely enough to submerge below Gangcheon’s waist, or even half of Haeryeong’s side-lying thigh.

It wasn’t a level of coldness that should have elicited such a massive reaction.

Gangcheon’s gaze slowly traced over Haeryeong’s shivering face.

He wondered if the man had actually woken up and was playing such a cunning trick while pretending to be asleep.

Such suspicion reared its head.

However, he soon decided to set that thought aside.

This was because it was painfully obvious how Haeryeong’s forehead, which hadn’t even been touched by the water, was becoming drenched in cold sweat.

Moreover, if he were the type of person to pull such a cunning stunt while his body temperature was this high, he would have done so long ago.

Since it didn’t seem like he was faking the pain, it was unlikely he was doing this to intentionally win favor.

The Haeryeong Gangcheon knew was merely like a water lily blooming in a pond.

A noble lotus floating quietly upon the surface of the water.

A person who acted as though he alone were pure and refined, despite having his roots in the mud.

That was the image of the Empress that Gangcheon held in his mind.

An uninteresting individual who smiled gently no matter what was said, replied quietly, and showed no emotional fluctuations.

Even now, that impression remained unchanged.

Once the fever broke and he opened his eyes, he would surely cast his gaze down with that same quiet look as always.

Whether that was due to shyness or because they were a couple without affection, Gangcheon hated that side of him.

When looking into those eyes that seemed to possess not a shred of vitality, he sometimes felt the urge to gouge them out.

Why did such a person have to become the Empress?

Gangcheon thought about this every time he faced the Empress.

Part of the reason he gave no affection was that the person who petitioned to raise him to the position of Empress was the Minister of Rites, the right-hand man of the previous Emperor.

But even without that, the Empress’s behavior and expressions simply did not suit Gangcheon’s taste.

How much better would it have been if the Noble Consort were the Empress instead?

He wished he could have placed that man, who chirped like a baby bird, in the position of Mother of the Nation.

Had the Noble Consort not been a former musician from a brothel, Gangcheon would have made it happen even if he had to overreach.

Was it because it was an unwanted marriage?

Not a single spark of interest arose for this man who was like a wooden doll, reacting with indifference to everything.

Therefore, even now, he merely looked down at him without any expectations.

Since the rumor of a virtuous Empress was spreading far and wide thanks to his mild nature, there truly was no one more suitable to occupy the seat of the Mother of the Nation.

That was the reason he was still safely alive.

For the time being, he was the most fitting person for the title of the virtuous Empress.

However, what would happen once the Noble Consort produced an Imperial heir?

No matter how lowly his birth, if he were the mother of the legitimate son, there was no reason he couldn’t become the Empress.

Gangcheon smiled faintly, thinking of the Noble Consort he had left sleeping in his private sanctum.

Since he had left him alone for a long time, he wondered if the man was sobbing and crying.

How should he comfort him if he were crying with his round eyes reddened?

Just the thought of it was enjoyable.

After being submerged in the water for some time, the sensation of the fabric absorbing the liquid and becoming wet began to travel upward.

Being in lukewarm water while holding a scorching body actually made Gangcheon feel as if he were developing a fever himself, yet Haeryeong continued to shiver, still unable to regain his senses.

As if he might open them at any moment, his eyeballs rolled busily beneath his eyelids, and his parched lips whispered something repeatedly.

Most of those words, spoken in a voice too small to be understood, were calling for Gangcheon.

Since they were a couple who only occasionally shared an evening meal or lunch, his searching for him was quite unexpected.

Wondering what he could possibly want to say that he kept calling, Gangcheon leaned his head closer and, after a long while, finally made out a different set of words.

“Please… kill me.”

Gangcheon curled one side of his lip upward in a crooked smile.

What on earth was this about now?

Had he truly fallen ill like this out of jealousy?

Was he saying he wanted to die simply because of such an emotion?

It was unexpected that the inner thoughts of the wooden-doll-like Empress were this passionate.

But that was all.

It was merely a side of him he hadn’t anticipated; it didn’t spark any great interest.

Gangcheon frowned and peered into the Empress’s face.

“Your Majesty, I shall lower the temperature a bit more.”

“Do so.”

It seemed no one else in the bedroom had heard the Empress’s murmurs.

Even at this distance, they were barely audible.

Gangcheon looked at the rising water level and signaled the physician.

‘More.’

Recognizing the Emperor’s intent, the man hesitated before pouring in another bucket of water.

At the water temperature, which was now significantly colder than before, Haeryeong’s eyes looked as if they were about to roll back into his head.

“Empress.”

Gangcheon called him in a low voice.

“Do you intend to die over just this much?”

“Where do you think you are going, leaving me behind?”

Gangcheon raised a water-drenched hand and patted Haeryeong’s cheek.

The gaunt cheek, so thin that it wouldn’t make a sharp sound even when struck with a wet hand, produced a dull thud.

“Where do you think you’re going just when things are starting to get interesting?”

Releasing his Yangin energy to the fullest, Gangcheon used the hand that had been tapping the cheek to tilt Haeryeong’s chin upward.

He slowly lowered his head and bit the other’s lips.

He didn’t know what a kiss meant to be an energy transfer was supposed to be like, but he figured all kisses were more or less the same.

He licked the tightly shut, trembling teeth.

Even the membranes that should have been moist felt dry and parched due to the heat.

He pulled his tongue back into his mouth to wet it again before licking once more, and only then did the texture seem a bit softer.

Gangcheon slowly and persistently licked the lips that were peeling like tree bark.

Wherever he found a rough spot, he used his pointed tongue to delve in and lick with obsessive persistence.

After quite some time, the lips that had been rough finally became soft.

The scent of peach blossoms billowed throughout the entire bedroom, yet there was no way to tell if this was helping.

Far from his fever breaking, the Empress remained limp and unconscious.

No matter how much he sucked on the lips, the tightly clamped jaw showed no sign of opening.

“Physician. It seems there is no improvement.”

Gangcheon looked up and met the physician’s eyes.

The man flinched as if pierced by the Emperor’s gaze and bowed his waist deeply.

“You must… join lips more deeply.”

Since even the heat radiating from Haeryeong’s body hadn’t subsided in the slightest, Gangcheon, whose patience was not very long, was starting to get annoyed.

“If there is no improvement after making me do this, you will have much to answer for.”

“I-if we lower the temperature further, we will surely see an improvement soon.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“If we lower the temperature too abruptly, the Empress may not be able to withstand the cold, Your Majesty.”

Gangcheon smiled only with his lips as he supported Haeryeong’s back and gathered his sagging body.

“So you’re telling me to keep doing this all night?”

“I am ashamed…”

“Be quiet.”

The Emperor waved his hand in irritation.

“Manchul, put in the ice.”

“But, Your Majesty…”

The physician started to speak as if to stop him, but he immediately shut his mouth at a single glance from Gangcheon.

Ignoring the man who had gone silent, Manchul poured the ice into the bath at the Emperor’s renewed urging.

After dumping in about three buckets of ice chunks larger than a fist, the chill rose rapidly.

Since it was cold enough to make the robust Gangcheon’s bones ache, the cold felt by Haeryeong was likely beyond measure.

At the sudden cold, Haeryeong’s body writhed and twisted.

His head, which had been resting quietly, tilted back, and the whites of his eyes showed through his slightly parted lids.

Gangcheon watched him quietly, waiting for his mouth to open.

Before long, Haeryeong’s mouth fell open as he panted for breath that was growing increasingly shallow, and Gangcheon supported the nape of his neck.

Just before their parted lips met, Haeryeong’s hot breath erupted from his mouth as if dousing the Emperor’s face.

Gangcheon silently pulled his lips into a smile and inhaled that breath.

Then, he pushed his tongue between the parted lips and pulled the body into a tight embrace.

Perhaps because the fully released Yangin energy had properly constricted Haeryeong’s body, a faint scent began to slowly rise from him as well.

While delving into the parted mouth to search for the tongue that had curled inward, Gangcheon took a deep breath through his nose.

A scent like a forest after a rain began to permeate his nostrils.

At first, it smelled like damp, wet pine.  Then, as the scent grew deeper, a sweet fragrance like that of wildflower blooms followed.

Even his scent was just like him plain and simple, with no hint of flamboyance.