# Chapter 7: True Colors
Hwayeon drank the wine straight from the bottle. As the intoxication rose, her body grew warm and the ceiling began to spin.
“Wet nurse, I feel dizzy and sleepy.”
“It is said that falling asleep immediately after drinking is harmful. I shall bring some honey water.”
After drinking the honey water, her dizziness subsided slightly.
She removed the heavy ceremonial wig, changed into a silk sleeping garment, and lay down on the quilt.
Her body was feverish, so she even took off her inner sleeping jacket and tossed it outside the quilt. Feeling stifled, she also loosened the ties of her underskirt. As she closed her eyes, sleep rushed over her.
“His Majesty the King arrives!”
The wet nurse, startled, hastily hid the wine bottle behind the peony folding screen and was straightening the gold-brocaded jacket when the King entered the main room.
Hwayeon had even taken off her inner jacket and could not sit up. Fearing the smell of alcohol would waft, she lay still, covered her face with the quilt, and closed her eyes.
*’What do I do? What do I do? Of all times…’*
She had thought the King was taking a nap in the inner chamber of the Pyeonjeon, yet he had come to Junggungjeon without any notice.
From the lower room, a clear voice rang out:
“Wet nurse, has the Queen already fallen asleep?”
“Ah, y-yes, just now…”
“What is that smell?”
A sound of inhaling came from outside.
“Alcohol? Surely you haven’t been drinking at this late hour?”
“Th-that couldn’t possibly be…”
“Then who? The Queen…?”
“I-I mentioned my stomach felt unsettled, so I offered some wine. Please forgive me.”
“When the stomach is unwell, plum tea or quince tea would be better.”
She heard the King click his tongue.
Hwayeon retrieved the inner jacket she had tossed outside the quilt and began to carefully put it on under the covers. After tying the jacket’s ribbons, she lay still, squeezed her eyes shut, and racked her brain for how to handle this situation.
“Alright. Let only you remain in the lower room, and have all other court ladies withdraw. No—you may also withdraw and rest.”
The sound of the sliding door opening and closing came, and Taegang strode over and sat at the head of the quilt. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the movement of the crimson royal robe. She deeply regretted not having extinguished the yellow candles.
A large hand covered Hwayeon’s forehead. Having come in from the cold wind, the hand’s touch was cool.
“Queen, you seem to have a slight fever. I should call the royal physician. Queen?”
Hwayeon slowly opened her eyes and, seeing the King frowning with concern, she smiled sheepishly. It felt like being caught by her mother after doing something wrong and hiding.
The King lowered his head, examined her face closely, and smoothed his furrowed brow.
“Queen, have you been drinking?”
“Yes… t-two cups, no, three cups, Your Majesty.”
“For what reason?”
“My stomach was a bit upset. At the news that you would be selecting a concubine…”
“Haha, your face has turned as red as a persimmon.”
Hwayeon, embarrassed, covered her face with both hands.
“I wonder what a persimmon tastes like?”
The King smiled brightly, slipped under the quilt, and gently caressed her cheek.
“For me, there is only you. I need no other woman.”
Hwayeon, without realizing it, wrapped her arms around the King’s neck and rubbed her forehead against his.
Taegang could not resist and embraced her. His touch was so gentle and careful that Hwayeon yielded to him.
As his lips traced her body, it seemed as if all the bruises on her body were disappearing.
Her gentle and careful husband’s touch completely relaxed her wine-softened body.
Like petals absorbing dew, her body grew moist. She let out moans without any shame.
At some moments, scales seemed to form on her body, then vanish in an instant, and tiny wings seemed to sprout. Wrapping her arms around the King’s neck, she frolicked atop five-colored clouds.
Thus the two shared a long, passionate, and tender love.
Holding her sweat-dampened body, the King whispered:
“Today is the first time we’ve met.”
“The first time…?”
“Forget all the nights that came before. That is a royal command.”
“Your Majesty…”
“For me, there is only you.”
Wherever the King’s lips had passed, the bruises faded, and the night of the rampage was gradually forgotten in Hwayeon’s memory.
—
Taegang, who had fallen into a deep sleep holding the Queen, woke to the sound of the watchtower drum.
The Queen, who had enchanted him the night before, was now tightly fastening her sleeping garment and trying to escape his embrace. Taegang pulled her close and patted her back.
“You should sleep more.”
“I must go offer morning greetings to the Dowager Queen.”
“You still have a slight fever, so rest until today. I will speak well to Her Majesty the Dowager Queen, so you stay like this until morning.”
While Taegang had his morning porridge, the Queen kept her head lowered. When their eyes met, she blushed like a new bride and bit her lips gently.
Before leaving the room, Taegang whispered in her ear:
“What is there to be so shy about between husband and wife? Now I have seen your true colors. Show me again tonight. No—I want to see it every day.”
He kissed the Queen’s persimmon-red cheek and smiled brightly.
He didn’t want to leave Hwayeon’s side, but fearing he might do something too aggressive and shameless again, he hurried out of the main room.
As he left Junggungjeon, he commanded Senior Court Lady Jeong:
“Bring more wine to Junggungjeon. It has an excellent taste.”
—
Braving the dawn wind, Taegang headed to the archery range in the rear garden.
Taegang had tasted paradise the night before.
The wine-intoxicated Queen, radiating plum blossom fragrance, was no longer the shy new bride of the past. Her gently yielding, smooth body had driven him racing into the valley of pleasure.
She had always been the Queen who, mindful of the court ladies outside the door, would embrace him under the covers. But last night, she was not the elegant, composed Park Hwayeon he had observed for eight years.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and did not suppress her moans. When her smooth limbs entwined around him, he experienced the pinnacle of pleasure for the first time in his life.
Taegang reined in his surging desires and held Hwayeon with extreme care. This time, he took care not to leave even lip marks, not just bruises. And finally, he succeeded.
In the early dawn, he kissed the forehead of his soundly sleeping Queen and whispered:
“I will remember last night for the rest of my life. I love you.”
As he headed to the rear garden archery range, he felt a slight worry—whether the wine-intoxicated Hwayeon would properly remember the night before.
*’Should I have left a few marks?’*
At the archery range, Taegang displayed his perfect marksmanship, and naturally basked in the admiration and praise of the Sangseon and inner palace guards.
With a refreshed mind and body, Taegang received reports from the Royal Secretariat in the Pyeonjeon. However, the Royal Secretary frequently let out short sighs, and the Left and Right Secretaries hesitated as they submitted documents.
Wondering why they were acting so strangely, the Eastern Deputy Secretary, who had married this spring, lowered his voice and reported:
“Your Majesty, on your neck… there is a mark.”
“A mark? What mark?”
He tensed, thinking the Queen’s fingernail marks had been discovered, but the Eastern Deputy Secretary grinned.
“It seems you had a very passionate night.”
At the Royal Secretary’s glance, the Eastern Deputy Secretary quickly withdrew.
After finishing the meeting, Taegang went to the inner chamber and examined his neck in the hand mirror brought by the Sangseon. Indeed, on the right side of his neck was a red mark like a flower petal. It was a lip mark from the Queen.
His lips curled up with pleasure, but then he met Hong Sangseon’s gaze and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, I should wrap a cloth around my neck, shouldn’t I?”
“It will not be noticeable to the senior ministers.”
“The ministers are fine, but if Her Majesty the Dowager Queen finds out, it will create troublesome complications. It would be best not to visit the Dowager Queen’s residence today.”
“I shall arrange that.”
Taegang examined his neck in the hand mirror again and smiled contentedly.
But as he wrapped a cloth around his neck, the scab on the scratched part came off, making the red mark even more prominent. It was a mark left by the Queen, so he smiled.
—
Taegang presided over morning court with vigorous energy.
After spending such a happy night, the gloomy sky looked clearer than the blue autumn sky, and even the ministers lined up in the Pyeonjeon seemed as welcoming as old friends he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Today, even if a minister delivered stomach-churning remonstrance, he would not have him beaten or exiled a thousand li away.
Even if a minister in the back row picked his nose or hid behind the front row to yawn, he would forgive them once.
“As the old saying goes, ministers are the king’s closest neighbors. If my house catches fire, wouldn’t it be the close neighbors, not distant relatives, who help put it out? I always trust and rely on you ministers to govern the people, and for that I am grateful and secure.”
“Your Majesty’s grace is boundless!”
At Taegang’s gesture, the Minister of Personnel reported:
“Gangssi, the wife of fisherman Kim Soe-dol of Janggi-hyeon, Gyeongsang Province, gave birth to triplets fifteen days ago. Both the mother and the three children are reportedly healthy.”
“Hahaha, the birth of triplets is truly joyful news. Order that grain and cloth be bestowed, and that special care be given to the mother and children.”
Since ancient times, when triplets were born, the state would award ten mal of rice and beans, but Taegang commanded even generous cloth to be bestowed. On a day like this, he wanted to give anything to the good people.
—
Hwayeon’s face reddened even under the quilt.
*’Before, it was only difficult and painful, but why was it like that last night? Why did it change? He was even more intense than before…’*
This was not something she could ask the wet nurse or Senior Court Lady Jeong.
*’Since it concerns His Majesty, I cannot even ask my mother or sister-in-law…’*
Just as Hwayeon lowered her blushing face, the King entered Junggungjeon.
The moment the refreshments were served, the King dismissed all court ladies outside the room.
“Queen, I told you to rest lying down today, but you got up?”
“I have improved greatly.”
“Is there any place that pains you?”
His fierce gaze as he sat closer seemed to pierce through her gold-brocaded jacket. She had nowhere to look, so she lowered her head and fidgeted with her teacup.
“Are the peerless beauty of last night and today’s Queen truly the same woman?”
“I-I, Your Majesty?”
“Why are you so surprised? I’m merely pleased.”
The King abruptly grasped her hand. In the past, he would gently stroke the back of her hand, but today he held it firmly and caressed all the way to her wrist.
Hwayeon tried to pull her hand away, fearing the court ladies would see, but instead the King pulled her closer, almost embracing her.
When his hand began to descend toward her waist, Hwayeon tried to subtly shift away to stop him.
“Your Majesty, please have your tea before it gets cold.”
“I should have discovered your true colors long ago. I was foolish to only now find paradise right before my eyes.”
The beaming King scanned her entire body and swallowed.
The blazing fire of desire in his eyes resembled that night and frightened her once more.
How could she forget that cruel night? It seemed she could not fully love her husband while carrying that memory. She wanted to cut away that night’s memory as if with a knife.
