Chapter 88: The Only Empress

The Emperor frequented the Empress’s Palace again as if nothing had happened.

Because he chose mealtimes to visit, Haeryeong had been suffering from indigestion every single day.

The man would simply arrive in silence, eat his meal, and vanish just as quietly.

He did not utter any spiteful remarks; he merely ate wordlessly.

As Haeryeong filled his cup and drank with him during every dinner, he unintentionally became intoxicated and fell asleep in the early evening.

Despite having once commanded Haeryeong to wait for him every night, whenever Haeryeong woke up from his drunken slumber, the bed was always empty.

Seeing that his clothes were undisturbed, it didn’t seem as though anything had taken place.

He only knew the man had visited because the bedding beside him was rumpled.

Haeryeong could not understand what he was thinking, and his chest felt increasingly stifled.

He wondered if the man truly wanted to see him burst from frustration.

Swallowing a round pill the size of goat droppings every evening to ease his indigestion while thumping his chest had become Haeryeong’s new habit.

Han Su-yong, who had gone to ask about the hawk, also remained silent for days.

When summoned and asked about the outcome, Su-yong would simply clamp his mouth shut with an expression that said he was being asked something difficult, so Haeryeong eventually stopped calling for him.

Finally, after several days had passed, Haeryeong asked the Emperor directly when he arrived for dinner.

“May I ask a very presumptuous favor of Your Majesty? I wish to release my hawk.”

The Emperor stared intently at Haeryeong for a long moment before swallowing his food and finally responding.

“What do you mean by releasing the hawk? Are you saying you will not participate in the hunt?”

Haeryeong wondered if Han Su-yong had failed to deliver his message entirely.

However, having to speak the words himself, Haeryeong found his own voice failing him.

How could he say he didn’t want to participate when it seemed the Emperor was already sulking?

Yet, as expected, the Emperor’s intuition was only sharp at times like this.

Curling one side of his lip into a smirk, he poured wine into Haeryeong’s empty cup.

“Since things are uncomfortable between Us, you mean to act as if the whole matter never existed, is that it?”

Haeryeong wondered why the man kept trying to feed him alcohol.

He gazed at the cup, filled to the brim, with a look of disapproval, then spoke cautiously to ensure he didn’t appear reluctant.

“Your servant merely…”

Without letting him finish his careful response, the Emperor cut him off and lifted his own cup.

“I hear you have not been training at all lately.”

Under the weight of a gaze that urged him to pick up his cup, Haeryeong let out a long breath through his nose, already smelling of wine.

Haeryeong had no choice but to hold his cup with both hands and bring it to his lips in response to the Emperor.

The Emperor watched him with an intense stare, seemingly intending to look at him until the cup was empty.

He merely held his own cup to his lips without draining it.

Only after Haeryeong emptied his cup did the Emperor drink his wine in one go and lean forward across the table.

“You were so eloquent when you were pushing your righteous theories. Now I see you are only good with words. Is it right for you to abandon a task you agreed to? We are deeply disappointed.”

Haeryeong, who had been about to pick up a meat skewer thinking the man was leaning in for a snack, lowered his eyes at the Emperor’s words.

“My thinking was short-sighted.”

Haeryeong put the meat skewer in his mouth and chewed.

The Emperor watched him, then let out a short laugh and leaned back.

“Since you decided to do it, work hard. Should you not be a model for the hundred officials? The court is already full of people who are nothing but flowery words. Do not let the Empress become like them.”

The skewer, made of lean beef cooked until dry, was tough, and Haeryeong’s mouth felt parched.

He rolled the piece of meat in his mouth, looking at the Emperor as if he couldn’t answer because he was chewing.

While he chewed slowly as if trying to melt it, the Emperor’s gaze never left his face.

Haeryeong swallowed the half-chewed lump with a sigh and let out a small cough.

“Your Majesty’s words are entirely correct. I shall devote myself to training again starting tomorrow.”

“See that you do.”

The Emperor picked up the wine ewer again with a crooked smile.

“There is only about one cup left, so let us share it like a well-matched pair.”

Haeryeong wanted to refuse any more, but he could say nothing and only stared blankly at the Emperor’s face.

He wondered with what kind of face the man could speak of being a “well-matched pair,” but the Emperor simply gave a brazen smile as he poured the wine.

The wine did not even fill half the cup.

Following the Emperor’s lead, Haeryeong lifted his cup and poured the remaining liquid into his mouth while keeping their eyes locked.

The Emperor said nothing else, but he too stared intently at Haeryeong with eyes full of deep thought as he slowly tilted his cup.

The gaze that felt as though it would never break only fell away once Haeryeong looked down at the table to set his cup down.

Even so, he felt the Emperor’s eyes stabbing into his face like thorns.

After a moment of silence, the Emperor finally broke the contact and tilted his head back.

Letting out a low sigh, he whispered in a hazy tone, as if overcome by sleepiness.

“I do not know what you desire, but you are My only Empress. Do not forget that this fact will never change.”

The Emperor stood up and left his final remark.

“I have been lenient for the past few days, so see that you wait for Me tonight.”

The Emperor passed by Haeryeong.

Just before he crossed the threshold, Haeryeong murmured as if to himself.

“There is nothing absolute in human affairs. Especially when it comes to the hearts of people. Your Majesty, do not be so confident.”

Haeryeong had felt quite clearly lately just how fickle a person’s heart could be.

Without even needing to follow the Emperor’s heart, was his own heart not proof enough, swaying this way and that every time?

The Emperor paused for a split second before leaving the room, and the sound of his footsteps grew distant.

With every long stride he took, the rustle of his robes faded further away.

The sound was as desolate as reeds swaying in the wind.

****

The night was deep.

Haeryeong, who had been reviewing the logs from the Bureau of Food Service, finished his preparations for bed and sat huddled on the bed waiting for the Emperor.

Usually, he would arrive before the end of the Hour of the Pig, but today there was no word even as the Hour of the Rat was half over.

‘Must I remain waiting like I did during the first heat cycle?’

After a brief deliberation, Haeryeong pulled his collar tight instead of undressing and curled his body.

If he could refuse him, he would.

Since that was difficult, he almost wished the man wouldn’t come at all.

‘Seeing how late it is, perhaps he cannot come.’

Just as that hope began to sprout, the Emperor arrived at the Empress’s Palace.

The Emperor was indeed a man who possessed a remarkable talent for skillfully avoiding what Haeryeong desired.

He entered the bedchamber without a word and wore a subtle expression upon seeing the huddled Haeryeong on the bed.

Looking at him, his face bearing an expression so faint it was hard to tell if he was smiling, Haeryeong managed to move his body, which had briefly frozen in surprise.

Before he could rise to offer his respects, the Emperor reached him.

“Stay.”

The Emperor had entered alone without any attending eunuchs and began to remove his own dragon robe.

Every time the heavy fabric hit the floor with a thud, Haeryeong instinctively pushed his buttocks further back into the bed.

The Emperor undressed as he approached step by step, and finally, in front of the bed, he removed his topknot cap and the hairpin that held his hair up.

Haeryeong sat on the bed, looking up at him and clutching his collar tight.

Standing there, the Emperor stared intently at Haeryeong before letting out a long, faint sigh.

“State affairs are busy and exhausting. Since I must rise early tomorrow as well, let us just sleep.”

Before Haeryeong could respond, the Emperor climbed into the bed, lay down, and reached out his hand.

A faint scent of peach blossoms drifted from him, but it was an strangely gentle fragrance.

His heart, which had been thumping with tension, seemed to slowly settle.

“Do you intend to make My hand feel embarrassed?”

The Emperor let out a chuckle; he looked markedly more drained than usual.

As Haeryeong moved toward his arm, the Emperor pulled him into an embrace and sighed again.

“Is there another person in this world as difficult as you?”

Haeryeong simply felt a sense of injustice.

‘Why am I the most difficult person to deal with in the world?’

‘If you caught anyone in the palace and asked, a hundred out of a hundred would name the Emperor as the most difficult person to face.’

Haeryeong stared blankly at his brazen face.

“Why do you look at Me so?”

The Emperor, who had closed his eyes the moment they lay down, asked as if he were seeing him.

“Your servant finds Your Majesty to be the most difficult, so I was bewildered when Your Majesty said I was the difficult one.”

Opening his eyes slightly, the Emperor furrowed his brow.

“I do not think a bit of difficulty between a couple is a bad thing, but your words seem to have a barb in them.”

“That is not the case.”

Haeryeong fell silent and did not respond further.

He feared that if they spoke more, the man might revoke his decision to just sleep.

While sleeping this close was also unpleasant, he hated doing anything else with him even more.

Furthermore, he had grown quite used to sleeping with the Emperor, and his body was slowly relaxing into the man’s body heat and the subtle scent he emitted.

Thus, it was most beneficial for him to just sleep when given the chance.

Haeryeong obediently closed his eyes.

He felt the Emperor’s gaze linger on him, as the man had apparently opened his eyes again.

Haeryeong pretended to be asleep, acting as if he hadn’t noticed the stare.

A moment later, he felt the breath of the Emperor’s chuckle.

“I am letting you off because you are being cute. So stop rolling your eyes and get some sleep.”

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