**Chapter 10: Waking in a Strange Place**
Hwayeon opened her eyes, tormented by intense thirst. She was lying alone in a dark room. The cotton blanket was soft, but the pillow was uncomfortable.
Her nurse, who always slept beside her, was not there. She tried to get up but was overcome by a brief dizziness and lay back down.
Footsteps sounded from outside the door.
“Miss, are you awake?”
It was the voice of a servant she had never heard before. Startled, Hwayeon propped herself up against the wall and sat up.
“Who is it?”
The door opened, and a woman around forty entered, carrying a bowl of *sungnyung* (roasted barley water). Her attire seemed more like that of a seamstress or a nurse than a servant.
“Where is my nurse?”
“N-Nurse?”
The woman swallowed and looked at her, looking somewhat flustered.
Hwayeon glanced around the room—it was an unfamiliar place. The smell of boiling herbal medicine hung in the air.
“Where is this? A physician’s house?”
“Ah, miss, please wait a moment. Please drink this first.”
The woman set down the bowl of *sungnyung* and left the room. It seemed she had gone to fetch the nurse.
Hwayeon, parched, drank half the barley water and lay back down. The back of her head hurt; when she touched it, she felt a small bump.
*’Did I fall and hurt my head? Is that why I’m at a physician’s?’*
A moment later, the woman returned to the room with a young man.
No stranger had ever entered her room before, so Hwayeon hastily wrapped herself in the blanket.
Seeing her tense up, the man stepped back to the doorway. He watched her with concern and asked:
“How do you feel?”
The man, around twenty-five, was too young and handsome to be a physician. The only outsider who had ever entered her room had been a doctor.
“Are you a physician?”
For a moment, the man hesitated, just like the woman had, but then slowly nodded.
“Do you not remember collapsing in the alley last night?”
“An alley?”
“Yes. You hit your head against a wall while fleeing from a molester on the night road.”
“Why would I be on the night road…? Where is my nurse?”
“Were you with someone?”
“Of course, my nurse…”
She recalled the warm embrace of her nurse, who had always been by her side, but could not picture her face.
Then she looked at her hands, exposed outside the blanket. They were not the small, chubby hands of a child, but those of a grown woman.
“Why are my hands like this?”
Overnight, her body had grown.
She felt her face and body. Her hair had grown long too, braided with a ribbon that now reached her waist.
So shocked and bewildered was she that, despite the man watching, she touched her chest—and felt the swell of breasts.
Just a few days ago, she had seemed to celebrate her twelfth birthday, and yet now she had become a fully grown young woman. Hwayeon looked at the man in terror.
“Wh-Who are you? Where is this?”
At her sharp, frightened questions, the man’s expression grew serious.
“Which noble house do you belong to? I will send word to your home immediately.”
“My house is…”
As she thought of her parents, a headache surged and her mind seemed to go blank. She caught a fleeting image of herself dressed in new year’s clothes, bowing to her parents—but their faces would not come to mind.
“I… I can’t remember…”
“Your accent is that of someone from Hanyang.”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you remember your name?”
“I don’t know that either.”
At the man’s bewildered expression, she was choked with fear. Clutching her chest, the man gestured outside. Soon, a small, elderly servant hurried over and stopped at the door.
“Deputy Manager, you called for me?”
“Cheon Seobang, the young lady cannot remember things well. Please examine her.”
Cheon Seobang entered and stood at the door. He began to observe Hwayeon.
“Miss, do you have a headache or feel nauseous?”
“I felt a little dizzy when getting up, but I’m fine now.”
“Do objects or people’s faces appear doubled or blurry?”
“I see clearly.”
When Cheon Seobang took out a prescription paper from his pocket, she read it fluently without difficulty.
“I’ve forgotten my own name and cannot picture my parents’ or nurse’s faces, yet I can read…”
At Hwayeon’s lament, Cheon Seobang cautiously spoke:
“It seems you have temporarily lost your memory due to the head injury. It should improve in a few days.”
Upon hearing this, the man called Deputy Manager let out a sigh of relief.
Hwayeon clenched her trembling hands and swallowed her tears.
After Cheon Seobang left the room, the man politely introduced himself.
“My name is Oh Seung-hoon. I assist the Boksung Trading Company. This is the home of Asan-daek, a relative of my mother’s family.”
“How did I come to be indebted to you, sir?”
“Last night, around the hour of *suljeong* (approximately 8 PM), I rescued you from a molester in an alley near the detached palace. My guard was with me, so you may call him and ask if you wish.”
“Why didn’t you take me to a physician?”
“I thought I might be mistaken for the attacker. I apologize.”
Oh Seung-hoon took a small silver knife from his pocket and handed it to Hwayeon.
“Asan-daek found this in your bosom last night.”
She took the silver knife and drew it from its sheath. On the well-honed blade, she saw engraved letters:
**”Yeon” (Lotus)**
“So my name… must be Yeon.”
“Then from now on, I will call you Miss Yeon.”
“Yes…”
“Do you remember any objects, names, or places?”
Hwayeon closed her eyes and tried to recall. Suddenly, she remembered crossing a bridge wearing a striped *saekdong* (multicolored) outfit.
“I see… a bridge. I was wearing a *saekdong* outfit… crossing a bridge with Mother, Father, and my nurse.”
“You must have gone to the *dapgyo* (bridge-treading) on Daeboreum (the first full moon of the year).”
“Yes. That’s right. *Dapgyo*… It was Hyogyo Bridge.”
When Hwayeon opened her eyes, Oh Seung-hoon, who had been watching her the whole time, quickly looked away.
“When you are well enough, I will take you to Hyogyo Bridge. You can try to recall your memories there. Please stay here comfortably until you regain them.”
“Thank you for saving me. I am deeply in your debt.”
“I am a merchant, so I will simply collect the lodging and treatment fees from you later.”
Oh Seung-hoon smiled softly and left the room. He was a clever and considerate man.
Hwayeon examined the silver knife closely. A silver plum blossom was engraved on the handle, but she could not remember it.
“I need to go to Hyogyo Bridge tomorrow. I must return home soon. How worried my parents must be. My nurse too…”
Then, beyond the hazy memories, she saw the trailing hems of two young gentlemen who had followed her across Hyogyo Bridge. One wore a *dopo* (scholar’s overcoat), and the other wore a *yusaengbok* (student’s attire). The way they seemed close to her made them feel like elder brothers.
*’I have brothers too. Two of them. They must be desperately searching for me right now…’*
Only then did her fear begin to subside a little.
—
It was the night of the thirteenth day of the first month. Taegang rode his horse at full speed to the detached palace early in the evening.
He was so worried about Hwayeon and longed to see her. He resolved to come back after merely glimpsing her shadow beyond the palace walls.
The winter wind cut through his forehead beneath his *heukyang* (black gauze hat), but he spurred his horse on at full gallop. The white breaths of the royal guards following him rose like smoke.
But as the detached palace came into view, Taegang turned his horse toward Cheonggyecheon Stream.
If he saw Hwayeon’s shadow, he would want to touch her; if he met her, he would hold her. If he visited the palace and spent the night, his mother the Dowager would never forgive the Queen.
No matter how much he missed her, he could not go to her now.
—
Moonlight illuminated the night streets of Hanyang.
In less than half an hour, Taegang arrived before Hyogyo Bridge.
Blue moonlight settled upon the bridge, empty of passersby.
On Daeboreum last year, he had promised Hwayeon, who had been unable to go *dapgyo* after their royal wedding:
“My Queen, let us go moon-viewing on next year’s Daeboreum. If we go two days early, it won’t be crowded, and we can hold hands and cross a bridge together.”
“Hyogyo Bridge would be nice.”
“Then so be it. I shall let you cross Hyogyo Bridge.”
But this year too, he had failed to keep that promise.
Taegang gazed at Hyogyo Bridge with a chilled heart. The bitter winter wind swept across his face hidden beneath the black *heukyang*. His heart ached, wondering if Hwayeon, who caught colds easily, had fallen ill.
He looked up at the moon; the sky rippled above him like a dark blue sea.
*’A place I could reach from the palace in half an hour… and I haven’t brought her here in eight years.’*
*Ttak-kak.*
The sound came from behind him—it was his royal guard, Jang Gyu-seok, unfastening the catch on his sword.
At the far end of the bridge, two men appeared. One was a slender scholar in a black *rip* (hat), and the other was a young man carrying what appeared to be a cane sword. They seemed to be a scholar and his guard.
The scholar, dressed in a *saenubi dopo* (a type of overcoat with triple-lined sleeves) and a neck scarf, stood at the end of the bridge holding a folding fan even in the dead of winter, gazing up at the sky. Had he also come for an unhurried moon-viewing before Daeboreum?
The scholar’s guard kept surveying the surroundings; even from a distance, he appeared to have a sturdy build and martial skill.
But something was strange. The scholar’s exceptionally pale face and slender frame looked very much like a woman’s.
*’A mistress in men’s clothing and her martial guard, out moon-viewing?’*
Now that he thought of it, the scholar’s height, slender build, and gait were similar to Hwayeon’s.
Taegang took a step forward.
The sound of the royal guards unfastening their longswords rang out in unison. Taegang signaled with his hand for his men not to move and watched the disguised woman.
After only a brief gaze at the moon, she seemed to search the area around the bridge for something. Her guard watched over her, and her demeanor was both dignified and cautious, as if observing propriety—not quite like master and servant.
*’Are they lovers?’*
The moon emerged from between the clouds, and the disguised woman began to cross the bridge slowly. The black hat obscured her face, but the line of her jaw and her graceful steps revealed in the moonlight belonged to someone he knew.
“My Queen…?”
Taegang started to run toward her—but an arrow flew at her.
