Chapter : 07 — Your Majesty, I Am the Only Woman for You
The Temptation of Flowers
“Your Majesty.”
The Chief Eunuch bowed his head heavily, unable to give either an affirmative or negative answer.
“Do not worry. I have no intention of putting my Chief Eunuch in a difficult position.”
“I am deeply sorry, Your Majesty.”
At the Chief Eunuch’s words, Hyun gave a small scoff and turned around.
“Let us return to Gangnyeongjeon.”
And so, holding Yeonhwa close to his heart, Hyun proceeded with the wedding ceremony with Seonhwa, the daughter of the Second State Councillor, whose marriage had caused quite a commotion throughout the palace.
At the same time as the wedding ceremony, she was granted the rank of Gwi-in.
There was no one in the palace who doubted her Majesty’s favor toward her.
Furthermore, because people were jealous of that favor, outrageous rumors even circulated that if the Queen Consort were to die of heartache from jealousy, Gwi-in would take her place.
Hyun was not unaware of the rumors spreading openly throughout the palace.
Yet, faced with the woman who was already rumored to be the recipient of his favor, Hyun remained remarkably calm.
“It is hap-hwan-ju.”
At the Court Lady’s words as she assisted with the wedding ceremony, Hyun calmly drank the wine.
Afterward, the Court Lady helped Hyun and Seonhwa remove their cumbersome outer garments so that they could spend the night together without hindrance.
Then, tactfully sensing the moment, she withdrew from the room, giving the two of them time alone.
“You must have had a difficult day today.”
Hyun spoke to Seonhwa, who had become a Gwi-in, in his plain, composed voice.
She answered softly, her lips slightly raised.
“I do not consider it difficult. How could I possibly call it hardship when it was the ceremony through which I came to take Your Majesty as my husband?”
“I am truly grateful that you think so.”
There was nothing wrong with Hyun’s words, but strangely, Seonhwa felt empty inside.
And for quite some time, Hyun made no move whatsoever.
Although he would normally have to remove his clothes in order to spend their first night together, Hyun showed absolutely no intention of doing so.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
Seeing Seonhwa rolling her eyes and tilting her head this way and that awkwardly, Hyun asked.
“Pardon?”
Seonhwa, unaware of her own behavior, instinctively raised her head.
At that moment, she saw Hyun’s handsome face looking directly at her, his expression relaxed.
—My lady, they say His Majesty the King is such a handsome man.
It felt as though the words her maidservant had once spoken were echoing in Seonhwa’s ears all over again.
His straight forehead and high, prominent nose. His sharp jawline that tolerated not even the slightest excess.
His appearance was both strong and gentle, and the simple description of him as a handsome man seemed wholly insufficient.
“Why are you like that?”
At the words that escaped through his red lips, Seonhwa’s heart began pounding wildly, and she unconsciously swallowed hard.
“I-I beg your forgiveness.”
She lowered her head, her face flushed red.
“If you are uncomfortable, tell me. You must be tired from today’s wedding ceremony, so when you rest, should you not be comfortable?”
Despite his gentle voice, Seonhwa was trembling so badly that she could not bring herself to speak.
She had never seen anyone so beautiful in her life. He seemed far more beautiful than even her own reflection in the mirror that she saw every day.
“I-I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty’s grace.”
When she finally managed to utter those words, Hyun gave a quiet chuckle and climbed onto the prepared bedding.
“It may be uncomfortable spending the night in an unfamiliar place, but rest comfortably.”
“Yes? Pardon?”
Contrary to what she had expected, there was no sign that anything was going to happen.
Hyun simply pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes.
“Y-Your Majesty.”
At Seonhwa’s voice, Hyun opened his eyes and turned his head toward her.
“T-The consummation…”
Overcoming her embarrassment, Seonhwa squeezed her eyes shut and spoke.
“I am sorry. I think it would be best if we simply slept tonight.”
He made as much room as possible for her to lie down.
Contrary to Seonhwa’s thoughts that surely something would happen, their first night together consisted of nothing but sleep.
And the person who was happiest about this was none other than the Queen Consort.
“Really? You mean there were no signs of the consummation?”
“Your Majesty, please lower your voice.”
The Queen Consort’s face, filled with joy, brightened like the midday sun.
Court Lady Park cautioned her as though reminding her to maintain her dignity.
By this point, even rumors had begun circulating throughout the palace that there must be something wrong with the King’s body.
But even that rumor made the Queen Consort happy.
Whenever there had been a problem in the consummation between herself and Hyun, it had always been her, never Hyun. Therefore, the Queen Consort knew better than anyone that the rumor was false.
“It was never a matter of beauty. Does this not mean that I am the only woman for His Majesty?”
The corners of her mouth, raised all the way to the heavens, showed no sign of coming down.
The Queen Consort felt like throwing away her dignity and dancing right then and there.
As the Queen Consort seemed to have forgotten all the heartache she had suffered and was now overflowing with happiness, the Court Lady of the Queen’s private chambers also smiled contentedly.
She thought that happiness would continue until the day she came to learn of a certain existence named Yeonhwa.
“Who’s on fire duty today?”
The Kitchen Maid, Sibi, deliberately raised her voice, causing the surrounding maids to giggle.
There was no point in asking.
The day before yesterday, yesterday, today, tomorrow, and even the day after tomorrow—it was all Yeonhwa.
While Yeonhwa, who was supposed to be watching the fire in the furnace, was away for a moment, Sibi secretly poured water into it and then shouted.
Yeonhwa, who had returned from the storage room carrying a small dish of seasoning, froze on the spot.
“Hey, the fire in the furnace is completely out. What are you going to do?”
The moment she entered, Sibi’s words came flying at her. Yeonhwa hurriedly blew air into the furnace. Fortunately, a small ember was still alive, and the fire slowly began to catch again.
There was no way Yeonhwa could fail to notice the wet firewood and the smoke rising before her eyes.
It was always one thing after another like this.
Previously, they had poured a large amount of salt into the cooking pot and ruined the food, then blamed the entire incident on Yeonhwa.
But because she did not want to get dragged into a pointless fight, Yeonhwa swallowed her anger.
There were more than one or two girls who openly hated her, and fighting with them served little purpose.
But her feelings were different toward the person who knew all about these things and still allowed them to continue.
“What is going on?”
Court Lady Lee appeared at the noisy kitchen.
“I beg your forgiveness.”
These days, Yeonhwa had become so intimidated that she rose to her feet and bowed her head before Court Lady Lee.
“If Sibi had not noticed, all the food would have gone cold.”
“It is unsettling to entrust the fire to such a negligent Yeonhwa, Your Ladyship.”
As the maids who envied her each added their own words, Court Lady Lee curled one corner of her lips upward.
“Sibi, guard the fire. And Yeonhwa, follow me.”
At Court Lady Lee’s stern words, her eyes full of force, Yeonhwa followed behind her with an expression of resignation.
After taking Yeonhwa into her quarters and making her stand there, Court Lady Lee took out the rod used to discipline the palace maids.
“Where on earth do you keep your mind? The kitchen is where the food for the palace servants is prepared. How can you be so careless about something like this?”
“I am sorry.”
“Lift your skirt.”
Yeonhwa’s calves were already a mess of welts from the maids’ acts of harassment.
The bruises from the salt incident had not even completely faded. Yet the beating began again on her slender legs.
The sound of the rod cutting through the air was sharp.
“Ah!”
At the stinging pain, Yeonhwa’s knees trembled.
It would have been more satisfying for Court Lady Lee if Yeonhwa had simply cried. But with her lips tightly pressed together, Yeonhwa let out nothing more than a brief groan.
“You seem determined to crush what little patience I have left.”
Court Lady Lee unconsciously revealed the resentment in her heart.
“Why are you doing this to me? Why do you hate me so much?”
Yeonhwa, unable to endure it any longer, also spoke back to the Court Lady while suppressing the emotions rising inside her.
Court Lady Lee’s eyes widened as she raised her head.
“You do not know why?”
The greater the expectations she had once held, the greater the disappointment had been, and that feeling had remained as hatred in Court Lady Lee’s heart.
The hatred of the kitchen maids could be excused as childishness and immaturity, but Court Lady Lee’s hatred hurt Yeonhwa as well.
“Please tell me. What can I do to make Your Ladyship feel better?”
Yeonhwa pleaded, but there was no such way.
Perhaps if she were trying to appease the anger of the Court Lady serving in the King’s private chambers, but there was no way Yeonhwa could solve that problem herself.
“Just do what you are told properly.”
“That is not the real reason, is it? Are you truly doing this because I let the fire go out?”
“What?”
“You know as well, Your Ladyship. It is all right if my companions torment me. I can endure that. But why do you not punish the ones who tamper with the food in the kitchen and put out the fire every time? You know everything too. So why do you hate only me this much?”
“How dare you talk back to me?”
“Your Ladyship!”
“Enough!”
After shouting at her, Court Lady Lee struck her legs again.
“Even after this, do you still not understand your mistake?”
“You are being unreasonable. Ah! Your Ladyship is angry because of something else, are you not? It is not because of this!”
Even while being beaten, Yeonhwa continued to pour out her resentment toward Court Lady Lee.
But Court Lady Lee was determined to break her spirit.
In the fierce battle of wills between Court Lady Lee demanding that she admit her wrongdoing and Yeonhwa insisting that she had nothing to repent for, neither showed any intention of backing down.
“Even if I say I am wrong, what meaning would it have?”
At Yeonhwa’s final words, Court Lady Lee lowered the rod.
“Is Honggeum here?”
Court Lady Lee called for Honggeum, who was surely pacing anxiously outside.
“Yes, yes, Your Ladyship.”
Sure enough, Honggeum answered nervously.
“Fill a jar with water and come to your quarters.”
Not understanding Court Lady Lee’s order, Honggeum hurriedly moved about after answering.
“Follow me.”
Court Lady Lee led Yeonhwa toward her quarters. Then she made her kneel on the wooden veranda in front of her room.
“Your Ladyship.”
Honggeum, who had struggled to carry the water over, set the jar down beside Yeonhwa.
“Pick it up.”
Court Lady Lee said this while looking at Yeonhwa, and the eyes of both girls turned toward her.
“If I let you off because you are her companion, I will give you the same punishment.”
She meant for Honggeum to watch.
“Your Ladyship, please calm down.”
Honggeum tried to stop Court Lady Lee in a trembling voice, but she remained resolute.
“You will not move a single step from here until you admit your wrongdoing.”
Court Lady Lee had no intention of punishing her further if Yeonhwa would simply say that she had done wrong even now. But Yeonhwa, whose heart had already been hurt as much as it could bear, would not back down either.
Stubbornness took hold of Court Lady Lee, and she eventually forced Yeonhwa to balance the water jar on her head before returning to her quarters.
“What are you going to do? Is it really so difficult to say you were wrong? Hurry up and say you were wrong.”
Honggeum anxiously tried to persuade her, but Yeonhwa did not budge.
Yeonhwa had already been living as though she were half out of her mind, and after His Majesty’s wedding ceremony, she had become even thinner.
She could neither sleep nor eat properly, and with the maids’ harassment added to it, there was not a single day when her heart could rest peacefully.
Yeonhwa’s arm, with little more than bone remaining, began to tremble violently like a quaking aspen.
It was not as though saying a single word was difficult. Honggeum simply could not understand why she was being so stubborn.
Before even half an hour had passed since the punishment began, Yeonhwa’s lips had turned blue. Cold sweat poured down her smooth forehead like rain.
“Please, just say you were wrong for my sake. I am begging you. Please?”
Even at Honggeum’s almost tearful plea, Yeonhwa slowly closed her eyes, then struggled to open them again.
“If I back down now, I will have to keep saying that I was wrong every time. I do not want to live like that.”
Thinking that if she backed down even once, the same thing would continue to happen, Yeonhwa gritted her teeth.
Little by little, the sun began to set, and the cold sweat on her body grew even colder in the chilly wind.
Yeonhwa’s body trembled as though she had a chill, but her lips remained firmly sealed, showing her determination.
Only Honggeum was tormented by Yeonhwa’s stubbornness.
At that very moment, Hyun, who had been taking a walk in the rear garden, decided that he wanted to walk a little farther and began heading toward a more secluded area.
