TTF 01

The Temptation of Flowers

Chapter : 1 A Flower Dyed Red

The King’s bedchamber was softly illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the windows.

The woman bit down tightly on her lips, as though trying somehow to suppress her sounds, but it was of little use, and faint sounds still escaped.

“Make more sound. And I told you to look at me.”

“P-Please. Please stop.”

The woman, whose skin was white enough to appear almost translucent, endured the man who pressed against her with the strength of a beast.

“Your Majesty, please. I…”

The senior court lady guarding their bedchamber was restless, afraid that the sounds might escape, but she did not dare enter the King’s chamber.

It had already been five days.

The King of Joseon, 현, sought out the court lady who had received his royal favor, 연화, every single day.

현 raised the corner of his mouth at the distorted face of the woman flushed red.

The sensation of holding her was unbearably intense.

연화 did not dislike 현 either.

It had not been long since she had received the King’s favor, so 연화 was still unaccustomed to her present circumstances.

Even though it was painful, she was frightened by the extreme pleasure that felt as though her body might break apart.

Moreover, the senior court lady’s plea that she must not make any sound and that she should spare her life kept echoing in her mind.

연화 covered her lips with the back of her hand and tried to hold her breath. She thought that was the only way she could reduce the sounds, even a little.

But time and again, she only found herself in situations that made her feel sorry toward the senior court lady.

현 took hold of the hand covering 연화’s lips and turned her face toward him.

“Surely you like it now too, do you not?”

현 spoke firmly before biting her lips.

A sound inevitably escaped through her parted lips.

“Y-Your Majesty.”

현 was quite satisfied by her short, broken breaths, and the corners of his lips curled upward.

연화 took in everything with her eyes—not only that smile, but even the sweat on the face of the King whose countenance she had not dared look upon until only a few days ago.

현 looked down at her trembling eyes with a heated gaze before pulling her closer.

연화’s frail body, approaching his embrace without strength, was drawn deeply against 현’s chest. Then 현 lifted her body above him and lay back down on the silk bedding.

The court lady who had been attending to the King had climbed on top of him.

“Y-Your Majesty.”

Embarrassment was plainly visible on 연화’s face as it was illuminated by the moonlight.

현 was extremely pleased even by that expression.

“Do not worry. You will be fine.”

“What does that…”

“You only need to satisfy me.”

현 pulled 연화 into his arms.

“Your Majesty!”

현 enjoyed another sensation he had never experienced before.

“You are my treasure.”

“Y-Your Majesty.”

현 pulled 연화’s body downward forcefully.

연화’s neck stretched out as she drew her chest inward.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty.”

Her heated breathing rapidly grew faster.

현’s body, rushing toward its climax, was also covered in sweat.

“Hngh.”

With a brief cry of pleasure, the tension that had filled 현’s body suddenly released.

“Mmph.”

연화 covered her lips with her hand, her body trembling faintly as her head drooped. 현 pulled at her arm and held 연화 tightly in his embrace.

Moist tears trickled down onto 현’s chest.

Even so, without the slightest hint of reproach, 현 gently stroked her hair.

“Stay by my side throughout the night tonight.”

연화 gave no answer.

Of course, 현 did not need her answer either.

He did not release her from his embrace until dawn and eventually fell asleep.

Three months earlier.

“I, your humble servant, have committed a great sin against the royal family through my lack of virtue.”

Upon hearing that the Queen was ill, 현 put his affairs of state aside for a while and went to 교태전.

However, when the Queen suddenly spoke in supplication, 현 lowered his eyes.

Guessing that it was not her body but her heart that was hurting, 현 softened his voice as though to comfort her.

“It is not the Queen’s fault. Do not trouble yourself over it.”

At 현’s words, the Queen’s eyes grew moist.

His words, which she had always felt were indifferent, made her heart ache.

The King, who had never shown much interest in anything other than state affairs.

The Queen had been no exception.

Even keeping her by his side and seeking her out had only been for the sake of producing an heir.

Hearing such words from him seemed to melt away all the resentment she had accumulated over the years.

Their first attempt at consummating their marriage, achieved only after great difficulty, had failed, and afterward the Queen remained bedridden for nearly half a month.

They had assumed it was because she was young and arranged another attempt.

But after that, the Queen’s body could not accept a man.

Partly because of severe pain during intercourse, but her body simply would not become receptive no matter how hard she tried.

“I have a request, Your Majesty.”

Tears gathered in round droplets at the corners of her moist eyes before finally streaming down both cheeks.

현, who had always been rather insensitive, wore a bitter expression upon realizing that her emotional suffering had been deeper than he had thought.

“Please, abandon me. I am not worthy of sitting in this position.”

“How can you say such a thing? Queen, you are my wife and the mother of this nation. How can you speak such words?”

“But is there anything more important to the royal family than an heir?”

“Is that what has caused the Queen so much suffering?”

“I am deeply ashamed, Your Majesty.”

The Queen lowered her head again.

If things continued this way, she would likely be driven from her position by the ministers before she could do anything herself.

Fortunately, her father still retained his power in the position of Chief State Councillor.

But increasingly, there were signs that people were trying to bring their own daughters into the royal household as secondary wives.

And it was obvious that they would use every means available to drive her from the position of Queen.

Desperate to produce an heir somehow and secure her own position, the Queen came up with an idea.

At her words, 현 fell into deep thought.

This year, the famine had been particularly severe, and there were already countless matters that needed his attention.

To dismiss the Queen and welcome a new Queen in the midst of all this?

Even thinking about it gave him a headache.

Moreover, 현 had no desire to devote so much time to women in the first place.

After letting out a deep sigh, 현 looked at the Queen again.

“I will not send you away. Therefore, I cannot grant your request.”

At 현’s words, the Queen looked at him with deeply moved eyes.

“Your Majesty. However, we cannot give up on producing an heir. Please, I beg you to reconsider.”

“Must I cast away the Queen over such a matter? I will pretend I never heard this, so let us end the discussion.”

At 현’s words, the Queen opened her eyes wide in surprise, looked at him, and then lowered her head.

“How could I not know of Your Majesty’s boundless grace? However, please think of the royal ancestral shrine and the continuation of this nation.”

Having already determined that she had something in mind, 현 focused on the Queen’s words and actions.

The Queen hesitated under his slightly narrowed gaze. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to utter the difficult words.

“Are not all the women within the palace Your Majesty’s women?”

“……”

“I cannot receive Your Majesty’s body myself. So perhaps, even if it means borrowing their bodies, would it not be possible for Your Majesty to continue the royal line through them?”

현 fell silent at the Queen’s words.

“I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty. Even if it must be this way, I wish to bear Your Majesty’s child.”

If the daughters of powerful ministers were brought into the palace as secondary wives and gave birth to a prince, that concubine would become the mother of the next King.

Even if the woman herself were virtuous, the factions that had sent her into the palace would never remain quiet.

They would undoubtedly use every means possible to drive the Queen out.

If, instead, a prince were born to a lowly court maid, there would be no reason for him to cast her aside.

“I understand. Do as the Queen wishes.”

He understood perfectly well what the Queen intended by her words. He also knew exactly what the words he had just spoken meant.

But when a decision had to be made, 현 did not hesitate.

Bringing in a concubine was troublesome to 현 in itself, so he focused on the two possibilities before him.

Should he take the daughter of a noble family as a concubine? Or should he take a court maid as a secondary wife?

Rather than making the daughters of ministers his concubines, he judged that taking a palace servant as a secondary wife would, in many ways, reduce the potential trouble.

The Queen, who had been extremely tense, finally breathed a sigh of relief when the answer came as she had intended.

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

Thinking he had given her an answer that would serve as the proper remedy for her worries, 현 rose from his seat.

“I will go to 강녕전.”

현 spoke to the Chief Eunuch in a firm voice and walked outside.

The Queen stood to see him off. Once he disappeared from sight, she returned to her seat and sat down. Then her face twisted with misery.

“How cruel. If there is truly a god, how can you be so cruel to me?”

The Queen’s hand clenched so tightly upon the low table that the veins stood out.

Even while resting at 강녕전, 현 felt uneasy.

Thinking of the royal family, he could not refuse the Queen’s wishes no matter how troublesome they were. But was it really right to embrace a woman in this manner?

He thought a court council held before the ministers would be much easier.

Even though there was little for him personally to do, whenever matters concerning the Inner Court arose, he developed a headache before anything else.

“Let us go out and get some fresh air.”

“It will soon be time for Your Majesty to retire. Why would you do that? The night air is quite cold now. I fear it may harm Your Majesty’s health.”

“My heart feels stifled. Stop nagging and follow me.”

현 rose abruptly from his seat. The Chief Eunuch had no choice but to follow behind him.

But the fresh air did little to ease the heaviness in his heart.

현 suddenly lifted his head and allowed the soft moonlight to fall upon him.

“How is it that the absence of a single heir causes so many people to suffer like this?”

He pitied his own position, in which he had to embrace a woman for whom he had no feelings.

Yet he pitied even more the woman who, simply because she had received the King’s favor, would have to live out the rest of her life alone within the palace.

“Your Highness, please come inside. I am deeply worried that you may catch a cold like this…”

While 현 was lost in thought, the Chief Eunuch worried only about his physical well-being.

현 furrowed his brow at the Chief Eunuch’s words, which were completely oblivious to what was truly troubling him.

Realizing that his expression had become serious, the Chief Eunuch firmly closed his mouth and lowered his head.

“You worry about me catching a cold from a mere night breeze, yet you cannot read the troubled heart of your King?”

“I-I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty.”

“I wish to be alone, so follow from a distance.”

At 현’s shout, the Chief Eunuch stopped walking.

Even the beautiful autumn leaves, delicately colored beneath the bright moonlight, could not express their full beauty.

‘Do the weary people of this land ever have the chance to enjoy such beautiful moonlight?’

The lives of the people meant rising before dawn and preparing for the next day as soon as the sun went down.

To a King, a child was not merely a child born through the body of a woman.