Chapter ~ 03
His face was concealed behind a mask, giving him an eerie presence.
The Fourth Prince of the Rye Empire.
King Muk, Seo Heon.
Beneath the black myeokri, his head tilted slightly.
Though his gaze could not be seen, it seemed to shine intensely in Mokyeon’s direction.
Everyone knew.
That mute prince never said a word.
But his chilling silence was his language.
He heard everything we said outside the gate.
Soa quietly bowed her head before the silent man.
“Th-that…”
Meanwhile, Mokyeon, who had gone deathly pale, opened and closed her mouth like a fish.
Her eyes searched desperately for an excuse to escape the situation.
Then she spotted the black horse standing outside the gate.
She had to compliment him somehow.
Mokyeon hurried over to his side and chose her words carefully.
“Wh-what a magnificent steed, befitting His Highness the King of Muk! A horse like that must be rare even in the Imperial Palace…”
The glossy black stallion was so tall that even its shoulder height surpassed Mokyeon’s height.
“It truly suits His Highness the King of Muk.”
The moment Mokyeon approached the horse with a smile—
Neigh—!
The horse let out a long cry and raised its forelegs.
【Take your filthy hands off me before I smash your skull!】
“Eek!”
Mokyeon stumbled backward and eventually fell hard onto her backside.
The horse thrashed wildly as if it were about to trample Mokyeon at any moment.
“Whoa, whoa!”
The flustered horseman tried to calm it down, but to no avail.
“Eek!”
The startled people screamed and scattered in every direction.
But perhaps the noise and movement only agitated the horse further, because it began to thrash even more violently.
Just as the King of Muk was about to seize the reins—
A small, slender hand fearlessly grabbed them.
In an instant, the small figure climbed onto the rearing horse and lowered her body.
Beneath the myeokri, her hidden brows furrowed.
“My goodness! That’s dangerous…!”
The horseman was horrified when he saw her as well.
The King of Muk’s horse, Pungroe, had been a wild horse.
Even among wild horses, it was particularly violent, and even experienced horse trainers had struggled with it.
The only person it allowed to ride on its back was the King of Muk.
If the Jin family’s young lady were to fall and get hurt…!
Just as a chill ran down the horseman’s spine—
“Easy…”
Soa skillfully stroked Pungroe’s neck.
“Yes, I know.”
As Soa whispered softly and soothed it, Pungroe snorted and gradually calmed down.
Soa gently ran her hand through Pungroe’s mane and smiled.
“What a fine horse.”
When she lightly stroked the cheek of the now-docile horse, Pungroe lightly pawed the ground as though pleased.
The horseman stared with his mouth hanging open.
“N-no, what…?”
Could that thing actually have a liking for women?
No. That’s impossible. Even at the King of Muk’s residence, it had been so rough with the women that the maids had been terrified of it more than once.
While the horseman was puzzled, Soa skillfully dismounted Pungroe.
【Ahem. She seems to be a human I can communicate with!】
Although Pungroe spoke gruffly, it lowered its body so that she could dismount safely.
The ability to communicate with beasts.
The ability that had made her Empress in her previous life was still useful.
In particular, beasts tended to be quite generous toward humans who could communicate with them.
Perhaps it was only natural.
If a dog suddenly spoke to a person, the person would be so surprised that they would at least stop and listen.
And if the dog approached them affectionately, they would find it even more adorable.
After getting off the horse, Soa straightened her disheveled clothes, and the horseman rushed over.
“How in the world did you tame Pungroe in an instant? Even the most skilled horse trainers gave up on him! I’ve known that horse for years, and even I can’t handle him carelessly. This is the first time I’ve ever felt jealous of a horse!”
The horseman patted his pounding chest as he took hold of the reins.
The guards accompanying the King of Muk also exchanged glances.
“How could that frail woman…”
“That fellow used to go wild even when I merely touched the reins.”
None of them had ever been able to handle Pungroe.
Soa dismounted and respectfully bowed her head before the King of Muk.
“I was in such a hurry that I rashly mounted Your Highness’s horse.”
“……”
It was merely a formal apology.
There was no way she could receive an answer from the King of Muk, who could not speak anyway—
【You have no fear.】
A low, calm voice echoed.
Soa looked at him in surprise.
The black myeokri swayed long in the wind.
Beyond the black veil,
the man remained silent without moving even his lips.
【I will take the Jin family’s woman with me now.】
Yet the voice was unmistakably his.
At the same time, a large hand grasped her wrist.
The force was firm, but not rough.
Soa followed him and began walking.
Yanghwa Pavilion, the most magnificent pleasure house in the Imperial City.
On the highest floor, which only the most distinguished guests were permitted to enter, a feast of delicacies from land and sea had been laid out alongside fragrant wine.
“By the way, I heard His Majesty the Emperor ordered the King of Muk to take a jaein.”
Amid the thick scent of alcohol, a martial artist with a bushy beard spoke.
To attach a concubine to the King of Muk, who was usually neglected like that.
It seemed the Emperor was rather embarrassed that a prince who had already reached adulthood still had not taken a single woman.
The Emperor had always regarded the Fourth Prince, King Muk Seo Heon, as a troublesome problem.
“I heard he eventually decided to take the daughter of the Jin family.”
“If it’s the Jin family’s daughter, was it Jin Mokyeon? I heard she’s quite beautiful.”
“No. Originally, Jin Mokyeon was supposed to go, but apparently the decision suddenly changed today.”
A man sitting slightly reclined while sipping his wine frowned faintly.
“It changed?”
At the gentle, refined voice, everyone enjoying their wine turned their attention toward him.
“Ah, now that I think about it, His Highness the King of Wei has a deep connection with the Jin family.”
The bushy-bearded man smiled.
The Third Prince, King Wei Seo Gon.
The Empress’s son and a prince who received more of the Emperor’s favor than anyone except the Crown Prince.
The current head of the Jin family, Lord Jin, had been his tutor during his childhood.
Thanks to that, he had frequently visited the Jin family and maintained a close relationship with them since childhood.
“I heard the Jin family suddenly decided to switch daughters today.”
For an instant, King Wei Seo Gon’s expression turned cold.
But the nobles were too busy chatting among themselves to notice.
“Did that family have another daughter?”
“Of course. You know, that bastard daughter who serves like a servant!”
At the nobleman’s words, everyone nodded as though they suddenly remembered.
Even if they didn’t know her name, everyone knew about the Jin family’s “bastard daughter who serves like a servant.”
She washed clothes at the well, carried trays, swept the courtyard, and scrubbed the floors.
Even the maids of the Jin family looked down on that bastard daughter and ordered her around.
“It seems even the Jin family was rather uncomfortable about forming a connection with the King of Muk.”
“I heard His Majesty also approved it, so apparently all that matters is giving the King of Muk some woman.”
They whispered as they thought of the cursed prince.
“Come to think of it, didn’t that bastard daughter admire His Highness the King of Wei?”
The nobles’ gazes turned toward Seo Gon again.
Seo Gon quietly took a sip of wine.
The fact that the Jin family’s bastard daughter admired the King of Wei was also common knowledge among those who knew.
“She would come running out whenever His Highness visited the Jin family, even though she knew she’d be scolded.”
“Didn’t she even pick flowers and give them to His Highness when she was young?”
“Whether you call it innocence or foolishness, tsk, tsk.”
The nobles laughed.
Seo Gon was a prince favored by the Emperor.
A mere bastard daughter who served as a servant had no place looking up at him.
And yet—
Clink—
Seo Gon placed his wineglass down coldly.
“You all seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
Seo Gon smiled, his eyes narrowing.
But his lips remained stiff.
The nobles immediately fell silent and glanced nervously at one another.
Could that rumor really have been true? That His Highness the King of Wei had intended to take that bastard daughter as his jaein?
Could it be that he wasn’t simply playing with her because she was pretty?
The glances passing across the drinking table grew restless.
Amid them, Seo Gon slowly rubbed his wineglass.
A jaein of the King of Muk…
He recalled the girl who used to gaze at him with shining eyes.
“Are you all right?”
His hand had once helped her up after she fell, making her cheeks turn red.
The bastard daughter who had grown up surrounded by contempt had helplessly melted at the slightest gentle smile.
“How dare the servants of your household speak to you like that?”
He had stepped forward because he couldn’t stand watching the maids mistreat her, and Soa had lowered her head, swallowing her tears.
“Thank you, Your Highness…”
The bastard daughter, who had nothing, easily gave her heart even over the smallest kindness.
That was rather adorable.
It was also amusing how she would practically swoon at a single word from him.
“Come to think of it, that bastard daughter will probably cry the entire journey to the King of Muk’s residence. She was always looking at such a handsome His Highness the King of Wei, and now she’s being dragged away to the King of Muk.”
The nobles burst into laughter.
King Wei Seo Gon and King Muk Seo Heon.
They were half-brothers, and Seo Gon had disliked Seo Heon from an early age.
No, was it only Seo Gon?
Even the imperial family openly treated him like a watchdog.
“I wonder if that monster even knows how to take a woman into his arms. It would be fortunate if he doesn’t pass his curse on to her.”
The nobles drank their wine and made the King of Muk the subject of their conversation.
Seo Gon rested his chin on his hand and repeated the words in his mind.
Soa has become the Fourth Prince’s jaein…
He once again emptied his wineglass.
