Chapter 96: The Place He Finally Returned To

However, Moon Hae-min steadied himself as he recalled Bok-dong. Had he not come all this way driven by the determination to uncover the truth behind Bok-dong’s death?

“…It was Prince Gwanghan.”

He also explained how he had come to that conclusion. In the process, he had no choice but to reveal that Hee-yul had become one of Prince Gwanghan’s people.

He did not feel even the slightest guilt toward Moon Hee-yul. Hee-yul had endangered him first; there was no loyalty left to protect.

“Still, I do not know why Prince Gwanghan abducted me. I cannot imagine I would be of any use to him… But I swear upon the heavens that everything I have said is the truth. Please believe me, my lord.”

“I believe you. And you certainly did have value to him.”

“To me?”

Hae-min’s eyes widened. It hardly seemed important at the moment, but he genuinely could not imagine what value someone like him, without even the smallest official post, could possibly possess.

“Yes. Through you, he could provoke me.”

“That cannot be true.”

Song Seol smiled bitterly. It was probably for the best that Moon Hae-min did not know how he had spent each agonizing day since realizing Hae-min had disappeared.

“So then. You still have not told me how the fire started.”

“Ah, that… I desperately wanted to escape that place. But with shackles on my ankle and not even a blade at hand, there was nothing I could do.”

“…”

“So I set the place on fire.”

“Wait.”

Pressing one hand to his temple, Song Seol asked,

“It feels as though several steps were omitted from that explanation. How did you arrive at such a conclusion?”

“If I still had value to them, they would surely remove the shackles in order to save me from the flames. I intended to take advantage of that moment.”

“Moon Hae-min…”

Song Seol let the name slip out like a groan. Since their reunion, it was the most conflicted expression he had worn yet. Even when hearing the story about Hae-min entering his household as a concubine in Hee-yul’s place, he had not looked this troubled.

“Please do not worry for me, my lord. I survived thanks to wrapping myself in a blanket soaked with water.”

“It was clever of you to think of that, but there are limits to recklessness. What would you have done if things had gone wrong?”

“But thanks to that, I escaped, didn’t I? I am unharmed. Though the coat you gave me ended up riddled with holes.”

Hae-min deliberately added the last part in a cheerful tone, but Song Seol’s expression showed no sign of easing.

“Hae-min.”

“Yes?”

“Do not ever do that again.”

There was anxiety hidden in his gentle voice. Anxiety over what might happen if Moon Hae-min were ever placed in danger again.

“No… rather, there will not be a next time to begin with.”

“Yes…”

“But if, by some chance, anything like this happens again, I will come save you.”

“…”

At that moment, the image that surfaced in Hae-min’s mind was Song Seol rescuing him when he had nearly been killed by the tiger. The same scene he had recalled countless times replayed once more in his thoughts.

“Why are you silent? Do you not trust me?”

“No. …Quite the opposite.”

He could not help but believe him.

Hae-min had thought there was no one in this world who would come to save him. But that was not true. If it were Song Seol, he felt certain the man would come for him again and again, no matter how many times danger found him.

“Th-then… please say it was an accident. Tell me I merely suffered misfortune.”

Words he had secretly longed to hear. Words he had dismissed beforehand, thinking, ‘Don’t ask for the impossible’. Yet now he found himself yearning for them again.

“It was an accident.”

“…”

“A tragic accident for which you bear no blame whatsoever.”

Tears surged up once more. All the effort he had spent stopping his crying seemed meaningless as another flood threatened to spill over. ‘What right do I have to cry like this?’,  he thought, pressing his lips tightly together. But once the emotions swelled, there was no suppressing them.

“Ugh…”

“Moon Hae-min?”

“…Hngh…”

When he burst into miserable sobs once again, Song Seol looked momentarily flustered. Only for a moment, however. Soon he quietly opened his arms.

Normally, Hae-min would have refused. But perhaps because he already felt too far gone to care, he decided to do something even more absurd. He stepped forward and buried his face against Song Seol’s chest.

The warmth he felt was comforting. Like the night they had shared body heat together deep in the cold mountains.

Song Seol wrapped his arms around him. Unlike before, when he had held him tightly enough to crush him, this time he stroked him gently, as though afraid he might break.

“You must have suffered greatly.”

Instead of answering, Hae-min cried openly into his chest. Other than when he lost Bok-dong, he had never cried this hard even as a child, yet now the tears would not stop.

The betrayal he had felt upon learning Hee-yul’s true nature, the despair of being imprisoned, the terror of setting the fire, it all seemed to crash over him at once. And beyond that, he felt guilty for deceiving Song Seol all this time…

“I-I’m sorry, hngh, I’m so sorry…”

“Save those words for after you stop crying. At this rate you will choke.”

“I’m truly sorry…”

And because Song Seol did not rebuke him for any of it, because he treated him with such kindness instead, the tears only came harder. In the end, Moon Hae-min gave up trying to calm himself and simply sobbed.

****

By the time his crying had subsided somewhat, Song Seol asked,

“Come to think of it, have you eaten?”

“Ah… I had breakfast…”

“So you skipped lunch and dinner.”

Song Seol summoned a servant and ordered food to be brought. As though it had been prepared in advance, an extravagant meal soon arrived. The table nearly seemed ready to collapse beneath its weight.

Yet despite the feast, Hae-min could not even finish half a bowl of rice. It was not because he lacked appetite. The tears still had not fully stopped, making it difficult to eat.

“You will upset your stomach at this rate.”

Unable to bear watching any longer, Song Seol told him he could stop eating.

The moment Hae-min set down his spoon, it was time for a bath. Assisted by servants, he sank into warm water. The heat loosened the exhaustion clinging to his body.

By the time he finished bathing, he was so drained he was half-asleep. Somehow he managed to return to the room and collapse onto the bedding. The instant his head touched the pillow, drowsiness consumed him.

Hae-min slept, and slept, and slept again. He remained deeply unconscious through the moon’s setting, the sunrise, and the fall of evening once more.

“…”

His awareness returned hazily around sunset the following day.

Sunlight filtered through the paper windows in long streaks. Too red to be morning light, too dim to be noon. Blinkingly, Hae-min opened and closed his eyes.

“You are awake.”

A low voice sounded from beside his head. At once his mind cleared, and Hae-min hurriedly tried to sit up. But dizziness overtook him, forcing him back down.

“Do not push yourself. Rest longer.”

“…How long did I sleep?”

“The entire day.”

“Th-the entire day?”

“Yes. Though since you fell asleep in the middle of the night and awoke at sunset, perhaps not quite an entire day.”

“That long…”

It was not merely midday but already nearing sunset. Hae-min had not expected to sleep so long, leaving him dazed. Foolish as it made him feel, his body did feel much lighter.

“…My lord, yesterday I showed you a disgraceful side of myself.”

“No.”

“I appreciate you saying so, but…”

It was not as though he had cried a little. He had sobbed uncontrollably. Embarrassment flooded him belatedly, and Hae-min bit lightly down on his lower lip.

“Your lip.”

“…Pardon?”

“Do not bite it. Your lips are already chapped enough.”

“…Yes.”

Absentmindedly, Hae-min fiddled with the edge of the blanket. Song Seol had comforted him yesterday, and now even worried over such a trivial habit. For some reason, his heart thudded loudly in his chest.

“M-my lord…”

“Speak freely instead of watching my mood.”

“…Are you refraining from scolding me because of the promise you made before?”

“The promise?”

“You said that no matter the circumstances, you would never treat me carelessly.”

“Ah, that.”

Only then did Song Seol seem to recall it, nodding slightly.

“It is not merely because of that promise.”

“Then why…?”

Surely he could not truly be free of anger. Hae-min’s actions were hardly minor mistakes, and in the past Song Seol had become furious over far less.

That fear had been the greatest reason Hae-min hesitated to return to him at all, that once Song Seol learned the full truth, he would grow disappointed and turn away from him.

As if reading those thoughts, Song Seol spoke.

“Of course, at first I was angry.”

“…”

“Especially when I heard testimony that you had been traveling with a woman.”

“A-a woman? When did I- Ah! If you mean Ah-jeong…”

“…Ah-jeong? Who is that?”

Song Seol’s eyes sharpened instantly. But only for a moment before he spoke calmly again.

“You may explain that in detail later. In any case, it is enough that you returned alive.”

Looking back now, the moment he believed Hae-min had perished in the fire while shackled had been the worst of all. At that time, he would almost have preferred to believe Hae-min had run away with another woman.

His anger and jealousy had all been swallowed by the despair of possibly losing him forever.

“You returned to my side without so much as a serious injury. What more could I ask for?”

Those words were entirely sincere.

Reflecting upon the past, upon all the times he had failed to protect Hae-min, Song Seol silently made himself a vow.

“Nothing like this will ever happen again. I will protect you so that it cannot.”

His expression was resolute. Watching him, Hae-min felt moved, and yet puzzled.

Things were unfolding nothing like he had expected.

Nothing like his plans at all.

After all, his ultimate goal had always been to leave Song Seol someday.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

I’m a Magical Girl, but My Little Sister Is the Big Bad Villain!

ComedyFantasyFemale Protagonist

Read Now →
Not interested