Chapter : 2 — I Am Yeonhwa
The sound coming from the grass did not seem to be caused by the wind.
Hyeon looked around.
The Chief Eunuch and the palace attendants were standing nearby, but since they had heard Hyeon’s voice, they merely kept their heads lowered and waited for him to call them.
Rustle.
Hyeon’s eyebrows rose sharply.
Once again, the grass moved greatly.
Hyeon focused his ears on the sound.
The forest became quiet again.
At this point, it was certain that it was not a wild animal.
Of course, an assassin skilled in swordsmanship would not be this careless.
“Who is it?”
Hyeon spoke in a low voice.
It was too quiet for the Chief Eunuch, who was standing some distance away, to hear, but whoever was making the movement would certainly have heard him.
As if to prove it, the forest moved again.
Unable to overcome his curiosity, Hyeon finally jumped into the grass.
Having jumped into an unexpected space, Hyeon looked around carefully, watching in every direction.
Shine.
Something reflecting the light of the setting sun caught Hyeon’s eye.
Feeling something strange, Hyeon took a few steps and picked up the shining object. At a glance, it was an extravagant ring that looked quite valuable.
At that moment, the Chief Eunuch, who had seen Hyeon’s movement, approached his location together with a guard.
“Your Highness!”
“Do not make a fuss. I will call you if I need you.”
Hyeon raised his voice firmly at the Chief Eunuch’s voice coming from outside the bushes.
“B-but—”
“If you take even a single step before I call you, I will punish you for that crime.”
At the stern command, the Chief Eunuch stopped in his tracks and wore a worried expression.
But Hyeon paid no attention to the Chief Eunuch’s concern and turned his head again, keeping watch over his surroundings.
“Who are you? If you show yourself now, I will not hold you responsible for your crime.”
The surroundings were silent.
Hyeon moved forward again, and it did not take long for him to catch the culprit.
Behind a small tree, there was a petite palace maid crouching down with her hands covering her mouth.
The king, whose tension had eased, relaxed his body at the sight of her cautious movements.
The palace maid slowly raised her eyes toward the shadow falling before her. Since the sun was just about to disappear, it was not difficult to tell who he was.
The palace maid immediately fell flat on the ground and begged for her life in a trembling voice.
“P-please spare me just this once.”
“What crime did you commit that you were hiding here like this?”
Hyeon’s sharp gaze turned toward the palace maid.
“I-I am sorry. I was afraid to dare face Your Highness, so I hid.”
At the palace maid’s appearance, which was so surprising that it was almost absurd, Hyeon furrowed one eyebrow.
Was a palace maid supposed to hide like this simply because she had seen the king?
It was something he could have easily overlooked, but Hyeon persistently questioned the palace maid.
“If that is the case, you should have gone on your way. Why were you doing this here?”
“……”
“Answer me. If you do not answer, I will charge you with insulting the king and hand you over to the Uigeumbu.”
At Hyeon’s stern voice, the palace maid’s shoulders flinched.
Was she frightened by the mention of the Uigeumbu?
The palace maid squeezed her eyes shut and stammered as she continued.
“I-I am sorry, but I-I dropped something precious that I was carrying somewhere around here.”
Hyeon somehow found the palace maid’s trembling voice pitiful.
He already knew the identity of the suspicious person, and there was no reason to drag things out any longer. Moreover, since his suspicions had been cleared, there was even less reason for him to treat her coldly.
Hyeon let out a light laugh and spoke in a gentler tone than before.
“Are you talking about this?”
Hyeon bent one knee and half crouched down so that he could meet the palace maid’s eyes.
When the palace maid saw the ring lying on Hyeon’s palm, held out before her, her eyes widened as she looked at him.
Only now did the woman’s face properly enter Hyeon’s sight.
He had sensed it from her head shape, but her face was truly small, very fair, and smooth.
And her large eyes, set upon her fist-sized face, held such fear that it seemed as though tears might spill out at any moment.
Below them, her smoothly shaped nose and small lips, as red as if they held a cherry, were truly beautiful.
Could even the most famous beauty in all of Joseon compare to this woman?
Before Hyeon could become intoxicated by her beauty, the startled palace maid lowered her head.
“I-I-it is my p-property.”
At the woman’s voice, Hyeon’s mind became blank, as though he had just awakened from sleep.
“Then take it.”
At Hyeon’s words, the palace maid held out both her hands.
When her delicate, small hands, which looked soft at a glance, appeared before him, Hyeon felt his heart beating rapidly.
But the same was true for her.
The king’s face, which she saw for the first time, was, contrary to what she had imagined, young, handsome, and gentle.
He spoke kindly to her as she trembled with tension and fear, and even smiled at her. The palace maid’s heart felt as though it might stop.
“What is your name?”
She must have been staring blankly without realizing it.
“Pardon?”
Hyeon, who had handed her the ring, suddenly asked her a question, and she came to her senses and raised the end of her voice.
“I am not a person who says the same thing twice. You may never have to see me again, but you should not answer me like that.”
His words sounded like a reprimand at first, but his gentle tone made them sound more like he was soothing her.
“I-I am sorry. I am Song Yeonhwa.”
At Yeonhwa’s words, Hyeon tilted one corner of his lips upward and let out a short laugh.
“Does it mean lotus flower?”
Feeling unnecessarily intimidated, Yeonhwa nodded.
“It seems to be quite a valuable item, so keep it safe.”
Leaving those final words behind, Hyeon stood up.
Although they had probably been nothing more than passing words, Yeonhwa could feel her face growing hot.
She could not understand why her heart was beating so fast.
“T-thank you.”
Without answering Yeonhwa’s final words, Hyeon walked out of the grass. Then, as if to spare her embarrassment, Hyeon spoke loudly.
“It is nothing. Let us return to Gangnyeongjeon.”
Soon, when silence descended once again, Yeonhwa took a deep breath and sighed in relief.
She had been unable to breathe properly from the fear of meeting someone she absolutely should not have met, and all the strength drained from her body.
— I am sorry that I have to have you stay in such a humble place, young lady.
She suddenly remembered the words of the person she now called Father.
— You must never catch the eyes of the royal family or other high-ranking people. Just live quietly without anyone knowing. That is how you can protect your life, young lady.
Hot air escaped between Yeonhwa’s slightly parted lips.
Junggungjeon.
The Jimil Sanggung, wearing a worried expression, tried to comfort her in a sorrowful voice.
“Your Majesty!”
But nothing could comfort her.
“How could you give me a body like this?”
Once again, two thick streams of tears flowed down the Queen’s cheeks.
Hyeon was different from the kings of previous generations.
Under the justification of producing an heir, it was not considered a flaw for a king to have as many secondary wives as he wished. But Hyeon had absolutely no interest in women, including herself.
In other words, if he already had an heir, it meant he would never have to share the person he truly loved with anyone.
And yet, the fact that she had to give him to someone else was terribly bitter to her.
That was why she had endured and endured until, at the words of the Buwongun that she could only preserve her position if there was a royal descendant, she finally had no choice but to surrender.
“Call the Sangung of the royal sleeping quarters.”
At the Queen’s words, the Jimil Sanggung lowered her head and left. Soon, the Sangung of the royal sleeping quarters appeared.
“Did you call for me, Your Majesty the Queen?”
The Queen looked at the Sangung of the royal sleeping quarters with complicated eyes.
“Your Majesty, is there perhaps something troubling you?”
“No. I called you because I have something to tell you.”
“Please speak, Your Majesty.”
“From now on, we must bring in a palace maid to spend the night with His Highness in his sleeping quarters.”
“Pardon?”
The Sangung looked quite surprised, since the king had never been close to any woman other than the Queen.
“Therefore, you must choose the palace maid who will enter the king’s sleeping quarters.”
“Yes, I shall follow your command.”
“Under no circumstances may she be beautiful. Therefore, you must show me every palace maid who is to enter the sleeping quarters before sending her in.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Also, you must not allow him to spend the night with a palace maid who is not in her fertile period. And they must not share a bed more than three times.”
“Why is that?”
“If feelings of desire develop between a man and a woman, there is no solution. Therefore, you must absolutely follow my orders. Otherwise, I will punish you severely.”
“I-I understand, Your Majesty.”
At the Queen’s fierce warning, the Jimil Sanggung bowed deeply and left Junggungjeon.
Somehow, an ominous feeling seemed to linger in the air, but for now, there was no other way.
Once again, a heavy sigh escaped between the Queen’s lips.
“This is the palace maid who will be brought in this time.”
The Sangung of the royal sleeping quarters brought a woman into the Queen’s room.
The palace maid, fear filling both her eyes, carefully paid her respects before the Queen.
“I humbly greet Your Majesty the Queen.”
The Queen’s gaze strangely wavered as she looked at the woman who bowed with both hands together.
No matter that he was the king of a nation, to her, he was her one and only husband.
At the thought of the woman who would spend the night with him, unpleasant emotions she had never felt before began to rise within the Queen.
Feeling the cold atmosphere, the palace maid lowered her head before the Queen and tightly closed her lips.
“Raise your head and tell me your name. What is your name?”
At the Queen’s question, the palace maid carefully lifted her head, which felt as heavy as a thousand pieces of gold.
