Chapter 97: Between Past and Present

Dano Festival fell two days before the Founding Festival.

This year, the festivities were set to last for four days, from Dano until the day after the Founding Day.

The schedule varied slightly each year; sometimes it lasted only three days, and other times it stretched to five.

During Haeryeong’s time in Yeoran, it had mostly been three days, and the only other time it lasted four was the year of his marriage.

He could not fathom why it was different this time.

The dates for the Founding Festival should have been determined long before he fell ill with the fever.

‘Could it be that what I saw was truly just a dream?’

He couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

If so, was it safe to simply accept the Emperor’s current changes or the shifts in his surroundings so lightly?

Lately, whenever Haeryeong met the Emperor, he would stare at his face and agonize over this alone.

Every time he noticed the Emperor’s expression growing more tender, and every time the man obediently granted his requests, his confusion deepened.

The fact that the pain—so vivid when he first woke from the dream—was gradually dulling with time also played a significant role in his deliberations.

He had thought he could never forget it, but it seemed there truly was no match for the passage of time.

On the morning of Dano, he participated in the ancestral rites alongside the Emperor.

The rituals at the Imperial Palace were quite lengthy, and it was only after more than an hour that the ceremony finally concluded.

Haeryeong partook in the ritual wine and then moved to the Great Hall to share the ritual meal with the Emperor.

“What are your plans for the afternoon?”

“I intended to watch the court ladies on the swings with the Noble Consort.”

Haeryeong had already sent word to the Consort before Dano.

The Consort had seemingly not set foot outside his palace lately, and news of him was hard to come by.

When Haeryeong reached out suggesting they enjoy some fresh air together, the Consort had agreed quite readily to spend the time with him.

They had briefly faced each other during today’s rite, but they were too busy following the order of the ceremony to properly see each other’s expressions.

Haeryeong had meant to suggest they share the ritual meal, but the Consort had vanished the moment the ceremony ended.

‘He would have stayed if the Emperor had asked him to eat.’

As Haeryeong thought this, he realized the Emperor was watching him as if waiting for something, and he responded to the gaze.

Lately, the Emperor had often acted this way, appearing as if he were seeking Haeryeong’s attention.

“Does Your Imperial Majesty not have the Dano-cheop event to attend?”

The Dano-cheop was an annual event where poems composed by officials before Dano were gathered and appreciated together.

In his previous life, Haeryeong remembered the Emperor abolishing the event entirely a few years later, enraged by the officials’ lack of sincerity in their verses.

Haeryeong suspected it wasn’t that the officials were insincere, but rather that the Emperor simply didn’t like the event.

Sure enough, the Emperor twisted his lips with a look of great reluctance.

“I too wish to go watch the swinging with the Empress while sitting in the pavilion and eating charyun-byeong.”

Haeryeong soothed the grumbling Emperor.

“Please attend to the Dano-cheop first. I shall remain in my seat until Your Majesty arrives.”

“More importantly, will the Empress not be performing the Dano grooming? You must wash your hair in iris water and dress yourself beautifully in a green jacket and red robe.”

“In Yeonseo, we do not gather like they do in Yeoran. We each wash our hair or soak our bodies in iris water separately, so your servant intends to do so in the evening.”

In his previous life, the Consort had performed the Dano grooming with the court ladies, but Haeryeong had ended each year by simply soaking alone before bed.

“Then do as you wish. I want to spend more time with the Empress, but the afternoon schedule is tight, so I must depart first. Please do not be aggrieved, and try to understand.”

“Your servant was also just about to begin new preparations for the afternoon. Please do not be too disappointed, Your Majesty.”

Following the Emperor as he rose first, Haeryeong hesitated before parting his lips.

“Is there… perhaps any word on when the envoy from Yeonseo will arrive?”

He had expected them two or three days ago, but for some reason, there had been no news of the Yeonseo envoys, let alone their arrival.

This was despite the fact that envoys from other nations had already arrived and were resting from their travels.

Lately, Haeryeong had been quite busy hosting welcoming banquets for each arriving delegation.

This was because the Emperor, for some reason, wanted to take Haeryeong along to every single banquet this time.

Thus, it would have been ideal if the Yeonseo delegation had arrived early as well.

He felt a deep sense of regret over their delay.

In his previous life, the Emperor had never once sent a separate invitation to the Yeonseo delegation.

Although they came every year in the autumn to offer tribute, Haeryeong had never been able to see their faces with a peaceful heart.

The most he could manage was squeezing in a single day to share tea or a meal with them.

Recalling that there hadn’t even been a banquet or an event to welcome the delegation made a sudden sense of neglect wash over him.

‘I had accepted the Emperor’s disregard as something so natural.’

“In fact, it seems they will arrive by tomorrow. An express courier came yesterday, but I briefly forgot to inform the Empress.”

Haeryeong finally let out a sigh of relief.

He managed to settle his racing heart, which had been anxious that an accident might have occurred on the road.

Though it was a shame he couldn’t greet them in advance, surely he would see them at the Founding Festival banquet.

In the first place, the envoy had departed far too late, so it couldn’t be helped.

‘I never even expected them to be able to come, so should I not be satisfied with this?’

Haeryeong looked at the Emperor anew.

The man wore a look of bewilderment, wondering why he was being stared at.

Tucking the earlier sense of neglect deep into his heart, Haeryeong quietly bent his knees to the Emperor.

“Your servant shall also return to the Empress’s Palace now.”

“Very well. I shall see you later.”

Haeryeong simply bowed his head as a substitute for an answer.

The Emperor did not add anything further either.

He stared intently at Haeryeong’s face for a moment and then began to lead the way.

Haeryeong followed two paces behind him.

Even in the courtyard outside the Great Hall where the Emperor’s palanquin waited, Haeryeong remained silently bowed.

The Emperor hesitated as if he had something to say, but then let out a sigh and turned away.

Only after the palanquin had departed did Haeryeong lift his head, shaking it at his own narrow-mindedness for showing such a look of neglect over a sudden thought.

‘Humans are truly strange. When I was too afraid to even speak to him, such feelings of neglect weren’t even significant.’

‘Yet now that he treats me softly, even the neglect I hadn’t realized I felt seems to weigh heavily.’

Standing there for a moment in reflection, Haeryeong let out a quiet sigh and moved his feet toward the Empress’s Palace.

Upon his arrival, the court ladies moved with frantic energy.

As he removed the ceremonial jeogui he had worn for the rite and the large hairpiece and pins were pulled from his head, a sigh burst out involuntarily.

Dressing in formal attire according to custom was an exhausting ordeal.

First there was the weight, and then, with the weather starting to grow warm, the multiple layers of fabric felt stifling.

Having walked all that way in such heavy, thick clothing, his face was flushed from the heat.

Seeing this, Iryeon ordered a newly assigned court lady to fan him the entire time he was changing.

Perhaps because it was Dano, Iryeon brought out a green robe that he didn’t usually wear.

Haeryeong sighed and allowed her to dress him in the nogui hongsang.

In his hair, which had been unfastened and tied back up, she placed the jade hairpin bestowed by the Emperor.

As she slid a ring onto his finger, Iryeon met Haeryeong’s eyes and offered a shy smile.

“It is a function you are attending with the Noble Consort after a long time, so please, adorn yourself magnificently.”

Iryeon brought out all sorts of brilliant ornaments, acting as though she could not tolerate Haeryeong appearing less impressive than the Consort.

Haeryeong shook his head for a long time before letting out a laugh mixed with a sigh.

“It is not good to over-decorate. If one is adorned only in brilliance, does the person beneath not become insignificant? Rather than fretting over the exterior, one must care for what is within.”

Jongseon, who was assisting Iryeon, couldn’t help but interject.

“But Your Highness. Has the Consort not flaunted His Majesty’s gifts every single time? Now that Your Highness also possesses so many gifts from His Majesty, when do you intend to show them off?”

Even Iryeon, who would usually have scolded Jongseon, nodded in agreement this time.

“He has his way, and I have mine. Why must one be so desperate to compare oneself to others? What is there to be gained from it?”

Iryeon, Jongseon, and the other court ladies were left speechless and lowered their eyes.

Haeryeong sighed lightly at their reaction.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand them.

He even felt his own words were somewhat hypocritical.

Yet, he believed it was right to live with such thoughts.

If he hadn’t steeled his heart in that manner, the version of himself in his previous life might have gone mad and died even sooner.

Haeryeong knew all too well how cruel a life spent comparing oneself to others could be.

What would be the use of lowering himself by comparing himself to the Consort, and what would be the use of trying to elevate himself now?

Having finally received the Emperor’s attention, which he had craved so much, he felt he finally understood.

That hanging one’s life on such a favor—which shifted more easily than a floating cloud—was an utterly useless endeavor.

Rather than such things, what concerned him more now was the location where he had promised to meet the Consort.

The place that offered a clear view of the area where the court ladies were swinging was the very pavilion where the Consort had slipped in his previous life.

‘Of all places.’

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