TTF 12

Chapter : 12 — Sharing One’s Heart

The Temptation of Flowers

Yeonhwa’s voice was solemn, as though she had firmly made up her mind.

“Yeonhwa……”

“My heart already belongs to Your Majesty. I have missed you, longing for you every single day.”

Seeing Yeonhwa honestly give him her heart, Hyeon was happier than words could express. He wanted to throw away even the dignity he had to maintain as the king of a nation and shout out in joy.

But pretending to be composed, Hyeon lightly kissed her lips before gently scolding her.

“I am not bestowing Seungeun upon you. We are sharing our hearts.”

“Your Majesty……”

Yeonhwa’s voice trembled ever so slightly.

Stimulated by her response, Hyeon’s lips gently traveled down along her neck.

“So whenever you are frightened, tell me. If you are in pain, you do not have to endure it.”

Yeonhwa took a deep breath, nodded, and accepted Hyeon’s kiss.

Once again, Yeonhwa’s back carefully settled onto the silk bedding.

Hyeon stroked her hair, then moved his lips in succession to her forehead, cheeks, and lips.

Hyeon’s soft lips and tongue, sweetly probing, persistently explored Yeonhwa’s lips. Instinctively, Yeonhwa accepted his lips as though she were drawing in honey.

His tongue gently traced her lips as if soothing her, then pressed softly against her lower lip. When he drew it into his own mouth, Yeonhwa slightly tilted her head and took his upper lip between her lips.

Hyeon was certain that no woman would ever respond to his touch in such a way.

Yeonhwa was genuinely opening her heart to him and accepting him.

Because of that, he wanted to learn more about her, little by little.

And the more he experienced her body step by step, the more he looked forward to what would come next.

Her inner jacket and undergarments were removed by Hyeon’s hands, and Hyeon’s outer robe also slipped from his body.

Feeling the firm body of a man, Yeonhwa flinched in surprise at the unfamiliar sensation.

However, the gentle movements and voice with which Hyeon carefully cared for her soon erased her fear.

Whenever Hyeon’s touch reached another unexpected, intimate place, Yeonhwa’s body stiffened involuntarily. Whenever that happened, Hyeon soothed her with gentle kisses and caresses until she relaxed again.

Then her tension would gradually disappear, replaced by a languid, hazy feeling.

“This is… strange.”

“How so?”

He asked while continuing to kiss her body.

“It feels as though I am floating high in the sky. My body does not feel like my own… Ah.”

She spoke adorably with her tiny mouth, and a playful impulse arose in him. He gently nipped her delicate skin.

A thrilling sensation spread through her as though lightning had struck her. Her body stiffened again, only to relax soon afterward.

Hyeon’s face, which had awakened every sensation throughout Yeonhwa’s body, appeared before her eyes once more.

Parting her delicate lips and entwining his tongue with hers, he felt the thrill spread through his entire body.

As Hyeon drew her lips in more deeply, his body gradually began to heat up.

The instinct he had hidden deep within himself rose and tormented him.

He was not rushing, but it was becoming difficult to restrain himself.

“Are you all right?”

Although he himself was far from all right, he waited for Yeonhwa’s answer.

Yeonhwa pulled Hyeon’s face toward her and kissed him again, giving him her answer.

Hyeon exhaled roughly and felt the heated gaze in Yeonhwa’s slightly unfocused eyes.

His rapidly beating heart was beyond his control.

Remembering her painful cries on the day of their first consummation, Hyeon gently stroked her hair with a sympathetic gaze.

“It will hurt. Do not hold your breath. You need to relax your body so that the pain will be less.”

He kindly explained what would happen next, then caressed Yeonhwa’s cheek with his long fingers.

Hyeon’s approaching lips touched Yeonhwa’s heated lips. At that, her sweet lips parted weakly.

Hyeon slipped his tongue through the opening, moving it as though rowing a boat.

Their soft breaths brushed against each other’s cheeks like feathers.

At the moment when they became lost in ecstasy and pleasure enveloped their entire bodies, Hyeon tensed his waist.

“Ah.”

A heavy sound escaped softly amid their heated breaths.

Hyeon persistently kissed Yeonhwa’s lips, waiting for her pain to subside.

“Exhale.”

As he gently nibbled her earlobe and whispered in a low voice, Yeonhwa released a long breath.

“Whoo~”

He moved one step further into her world.

Hyeon continuously stroked Yeonhwa’s trembling body, easing her pain.

And so, their first consummation, which they had been unable to complete before, finally began.

As Hyeon’s lips moved down from her neck to her shoulders, a strange emotion stirred within Yeonhwa like a wave.

“Yeonhwa.”

The low voice with which he called her name was filled with his affection for her.

“Your Majesty.”

With the sound she uttered almost like a sigh, the corners of her eyes grew moist.

Yeonhwa, too, endured the pain that came from him because of the love she held for him.

Unable to suppress her surging emotions and pain, Yeonhwa wrapped her arms around Hyeon’s neck.

Feeling the warmth of Yeonhwa entering his embrace, Hyeon held her tightly against himself.

“Yeonhwa. I love you.”

Receiving the love he gave her with her entire body, Yeonhwa struggled to stretch her lips into a smile.

“I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s grace… Ah.”

As though he had no need to hear the rest of her words, Hyeon swallowed her lips in a single kiss.

Once Hyeon felt that Yeonhwa had become calm, he carefully moved his body.

Their bodies were as hot as the blazing sun at midday.

As the dragon pattern embroidered on the silk bedding seemed to ripple as though ascending to heaven, Yeonhwa’s heated breaths spread plaintively through the room.

The air inside the room was gradually becoming hotter.

Yeonhwa’s mind grew hazy at the sound of Hyeon’s rough breathing brushing against her ears.

Her fingertips gradually tightened, and her toes curled.

She could not stop the soft moans that escaped her involuntarily.

As the stimulation reached him through her sounds, Hyeon, unable to overcome his desire, became more intense.

The dizzying sensation, a mixture of pleasure and ecstasy, was enough to make her lose consciousness.

“Your Majesty… Ah… I—!”

With the rapid movement that nearly stole her breath away, Yeonhwa felt the peak of pleasure pass before her eyes.

When an extreme pleasure washed over her, raising goosebumps across her damp, bare body, Hyeon’s exhausted body fell against her chest.

The dizzying stimulation and pleasure gradually faded, but the scent of each other remained deeply engraved in their senses.

Exhausted, the two of them could do nothing.

Hyeon held the limp Yeonhwa tightly in his arms and did not let her go until dawn.

And so, at some unknown point, the two fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

And the next day.

Before the Jungjeon, Jejjosanggung reported what had happened during the previous night.

“Is that so?”

The Jungjeon’s hand, which had hardly been able to calm itself, suddenly stopped.

The tea in the cup she had picked up before receiving the morning meal rippled violently once before becoming still.

“What shall I do?”

Although Jejjosanggung waited for her command, the Jungjeon first confirmed the events of the previous day once more.

“His Majesty went to find her himself?”

“Yes, Jungjeon Mama.”

As Jejjosanggung bowed her head, the Jungjeon set down the cup in her hand.

“From which quarters is the girl?”

“She is a court lady from the Sojubang.”

“How old is she?”

“She has just turned twenty this year.”

The Jungjeon lowered her eyes and tightly pressed her lips together.

The Gwiin who had recently entered the palace as a royal concubine was also twenty.

Hyeon was twenty-five.

The Jungjeon, who was one year older than the king, began to feel a strange sense of wariness toward the two young women.

“Mama.”

Seeing the Jungjeon lost in thought, her Jimil Sang-gung called to her in a low voice. She was worried that Jejjosanggung might notice the Jungjeon’s troubled expression.

“Proceed according to custom.”

As though coming back to her senses, she gave the order, and Jejjosanggung withdrew.

Once only the Jimil Sang-gung remained in the room, the Jungjeon’s eyes reddened.

“Mama, please compose yourself.”

The Jimil Sang-gung’s worried voice trembled sadly.

“I am fine, Bak Sang-gung.”

The Jungjeon cleared her throat as though trying to compose herself before calling the Jimil Sang-gung.

“Yes, Mama.”

“I would like to see the girl who received Seungeun last night.”

The Jungjeon was not confident that she could look at the girl without being affected.

But the king had never shown even the slightest interest in any woman, including herself, until now. Moreover, he had not even taken an interest in the Gwiin, whose beauty was widely renowned.

Therefore, there was something she desperately wanted to confirm about the girl who had caught his eye.

“I shall bring her as soon as the morning meal is finished.”

At the Jimil Sang-gung’s words, the Jungjeon nodded and received her morning meal.

However, when she thought about what must have happened the previous night in Dongondol, even the rice felt rougher than grains of sand in her mouth.

In the end, after barely taking a few bites, the Jungjeon had no choice but to have the meal taken away.

Sang-gung and court ladies gathered in front of Yeonhwa’s room.

“What? The Sojubang court lady received Seungeun yesterday? Who?”

Seeing the room marked as belonging to someone who had received Seungeun, the court ladies all looked shocked and began whispering among themselves.

“Honggeum?”

“Did Honggeum finally receive Seungeun?”

The court ladies were certain that it could not be Yeonhwa, who had failed to consummate her union with His Majesty, and continued talking among themselves.

Then, when the door opened, the Sang-gung and court ladies lowered their heads.

Even during the brief moment when they had to show proper respect, the court ladies were curious about who was wearing the silk dangui.

Unable to contain their curiosity, they hurriedly raised their heads to look at the honored woman who had become a Special Sang-gung.

“Y-Yeonhwa?”

The most shocked of all was Sibi.

And Gopdani from the neighboring quarters stared at her with intense, reddened eyes.

“She is Special Sang-gung Mama.”

At Jejjosanggung’s announcement, the quarters became noisy with whispers.

“Yeonhwa, who was a court lady in the Sojubang, received Seungeun from Sanggam Mama last night.”

Having received the Jungjeon’s command, Jejjosanggung entered the Sojubang and announced Yeonhwa’s Seungeun from the previous night.

“Until yesterday, you were a court lady just like all of them. But now you have become a Special Sang-gung, so from this moment onward, you must be especially careful in how you treat Mama.”

As soon as Jejjosanggung finished speaking, all the Sang-gung and court ladies of the Sojubang bowed their heads.

“Yes.”

Caught up in the moment, Yeonhwa also lowered her head slightly before following Jejjosanggung toward the detached palace prepared for her.

“From now on, you may use this detached palace.”

“Thank you.”

“Now that you have become a Special Sang-gung, you should not use honorific speech toward me.”

“Ah, I understand.”

When Yeonhwa instinctively spoke respectfully, Jejjosanggung stared directly at her.

Reading that gaze, Yeonhwa cautiously spoke again.

“Understood.”

“Soon, Sang-gung and court ladies will be assigned to attend to you in the detached palace. If there is anyone you have in mind, please tell me.”

“I have not thought about it yet……”