Rosetta reached out to grasp Seoho’s hand again, the same hand that had been stroking his hair just moments ago.
“Seeing how quickly you’re setting up appointments, you don’t seem to have a leisurely personality.”
Seoho firmly grasped Rosetta’s hand as it caught his, firing back.
“And Rosetta, you’re not just leisurely—you’re downright slow, aren’t you?”
Perhaps noticing the slight reproach mixed into Seoho’s tone, Rosetta rolled his eyes and looked at Seoho. Seoho tapped Rosetta’s shoulder lightly.
“Just take care of it quickly and come back. I’ll try to come as fast as I can too. How about we have lunch together?”
While he couldn’t cancel the appointment when Rosetta was whining like this, he could at least end the meeting quickly. When Seoho proposed an alternative, Rosetta nodded.
“…Not bad.”
Then he got up from the bed. Seoho pushed firmly against Rosetta’s back and likewise got up from the bed.
“Yes, so hurry up and go now.”
Rosetta, who had been getting pushed by Seoho, turned to look at him before reaching the door.
“I’ll be back.”
Rosetta’s gaze wandered around Seoho’s cheek area. For a moment Seoho tensed up slightly, but fortunately Rosetta didn’t kiss his cheek like yesterday.
Seoho, who had been anxious that he might kiss him again when they weren’t even alone, felt relieved.
Rosetta poked exactly the same cheek he had kissed yesterday with his fingertip, then suddenly spun around and left the room.
Then Puti, who had been waiting by the door, jumped in surprise and hurriedly greeted him before quickly leaving the room following Rosetta.
Seoho watched the backs of the two as they walked away, then turned to look at Aris, who had been waiting just as Puti had. And he let out a deflated laugh.
“What’s with that expression?”
Come to think of it, unlike Puti, this seemed to be the first time Aris had seen Rosetta whine so openly like this.
Aris was looking at Seoho with a strange expression that was beyond description. Seoho shrugged lightly and asked.
“Pretty shocking, right?”
Aris quickly composed his expression and answered.
“…I could clearly see that His Majesty cherishes you greatly, Seoho-nim.”
Seeing Aris, who still seemed not to have fully recovered from the shock, somehow made him feel apologetic.
“I thought he’d get up once I let Aris in, but he kept acting like that so I was a bit flustered too.”
At Seoho’s response, Aris let out a small sigh.
“I suppose it means I’ve become His Majesty’s person. Well then, Seoho-nim. Shall we go now?”
Seoho quickly glanced at the clock.
“The appointment time is…”
“If you leave now, it’ll be perfect timing.”
Well, the meeting place wasn’t that far away, so there was probably no need to worry. Both Seoho and Rosetta had already finished preparing to leave anyway. Seoho didn’t delay and immediately left the room with Aris.
Walking toward the drawing room, Aris spoke to him.
“I heard you received a reply.”
“That’s right. And Rosetta also acknowledged that Grace is someone from the same place as me.”
“At least one thing wasn’t a lie, it seems.”
Aris was probably worried that now that it had been revealed Grace was from the same country, he might get too close to Yun.
‘Puti too—everyone worries so much.’
Seoho didn’t stop walking but just turned his head to look up at Aris.
“You’re saying that on purpose, aren’t you?”
Aris nodded as if it were obvious.
“Yes. You need to be somewhat cautious. It’s strange to sneak into the imperial palace just to gain a pen pal friend.”
“I am being cautious, for now.”
After it became certain that Yun’s mother was indeed from the same country as him, he did feel more affinity toward him, but he was still maintaining a reasonable level of caution toward him.
“Is that so?”
Seoho playfully raised the corner of his mouth and asked back.
“It doesn’t feel that way? Then I must be pretty good at acting.”
Then Aris let out a hollow laugh.
“Now I understand how you’re able to get along so well with His Majesty.”
What on earth did this mean? Seoho, who had been thinking about it for a moment, felt wronged.
“Are you saying I’m self-centered right now?”
Aris just smiled without giving any particular answer. At the silent affirmation, Seoho let out a hollow laugh.
“Aris has quite a mischievous side. But I like it because it’s interesting.”
“Seoho-nim is extremely honest.”
“That’s proof that I’ve opened my heart to Aris.”
As he smiled while quoting Aris’s words, Aris stopped in place. Seoho stopped walking following Aris and turned to look at him.
And he spoke to Aris, whose smile had disappeared at some point.
“If I start telling Yun all my inner thoughts without any reservation, then you can worry when that happens—it won’t be too late.”
Really, Seoho had not yet accepted the prince into his inner circle.
‘And I have no intention of doing so.’
He was basically the type to have a smiling face when dealing with people, and he tended not to lose his smile even in front of people who disliked him.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t know how others felt.
‘Things might be a bit different if I meet someone named Grace, but Yun’s case is different.’
Seoho looked straight at Aris, who wore an expressionless face that he had seen once before. After a moment, an answer came from Aris.
“…I see.”
His lips, which had been set in a straight line, curved upward again, and Aris, having returned to his usual self, approached Seoho’s side again.
Seoho resumed walking and asked.
“Seeing how Rosetta permitted today’s meeting, don’t you think it’s okay to build a moderate friendship?”
“I think differently, but you must be right, Seoho-nim.”
“Then I’ll try to become moderately close. Now, how about a smile?”
Aris glanced down at Seoho’s face and answered.
“You’re exactly the same as usual.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Seoho felt relieved to confirm that the worry had disappeared from Aris’s face as he turned to point at the drawing room located not far away.
‘Everyone sees me as too naive.’
Not only Rosetta but Puti also looked at him as if he were some child. Certainly, compared to them, he who had never even properly experienced working in society might not yet be fully grown, but still, age-wise, he was an adult in his own right.
Through lessons with Aris, he had learned the common sense of this world to some extent, and therefore he was old enough to fully understand the position and meaning that Rosetta held in this world.
So there was no way he would accept without suspicion someone who suddenly approached him when he had a deep relationship with Rosetta in some sense.
***
Unlike the previous day, Aris could watch the two people talking and laughing with an easy mind.
‘He’s someone with more backbone than I thought.’
Puti had worried so much, saying “Our Seoho-nim is too kind and naive,” and since Seoho, whom he had directly observed during lessons, was such an earnest and sincere person, Aris too had naturally thought of him too lightly, it seemed.
‘Being kind and sincere is different from having poor judgment.’
Aris looked at Seoho, who checked the time with a smiling face and then wrapped up the conversation.
“Shall we part ways here for today?”
“Are you busy?”
Even at the prince’s words showing disappointment, Seoho answered apologetically.
“I have another schedule after this.”
“May I request another meeting?”
“Of course.”
At Seoho readily nodding, the prince suggested.
“Then how about tomorrow?”
Then Seoho looked troubled.
“I’m sorry. Tomorrow I have lessons…”
“You don’t need to worry too much about it. Instead, next time please call me Yun casually like before. It would be even better if you dropped the formal speech.”
Seoho, who had been looking at the prince in surprise, soon smiled softly and answered.
“Mm… Alright. Next time, let’s both drop the formal speech.”
“Then. I enjoyed today.”
“Me too.”
Aris bowed to the prince and left the drawing room following Seoho. Once they had gotten some distance from the drawing room, Seoho asked.
“Aris, what are you thinking?”
Aris answered honestly.
“I was thinking that His Majesty won’t like the conversation you had at the end very much.”
Then Seoho smiled with a good-natured face.
“You heard earlier, didn’t you? He knows how to read Hangul.”
Aris recalled the conversation between Seoho and the prince again. Today’s conversation topic had been about Concubine Grace.
And so naturally the topic of letters came up, and it came out that the prince knew how to read and write Hangul.
The reason for revealing that fact despite knowing that once it was revealed he could read the letters would be considered was probably to become closer to Seoho.
‘Well, the fact that the prince might be able to read the letters was something we suspected on our end too.’
Among the orders the Emperor had given yesterday was also to confirm whether the prince said things during conversations with Seoho that he couldn’t have known unless he had read the letters.
Like with the canary incident last time, thanks to the prince confirming it first, Rosetta’s suspicion became fact, but.
“…That’s right. So he’ll be able to read Seoho-nim’s letters.”
“Yes. So I’m going to get closer to him.”
Normally he would have worried about this attitude of Seoho’s, but it didn’t seem necessary.
He didn’t know exactly what Seoho was thinking, but it would probably be okay. Since he had grasped that Seoho wasn’t someone with a pushover personality.
However, that didn’t mean there was nothing to worry about.
‘His Majesty won’t like it.’
If the Emperor had seen this scene directly, there was no way he could have accepted the two of them getting along using casual speech with each other.
So after taking Seoho to his room, Aris, who was leaving the room at Puti’s words that the Emperor would be coming soon, patted Puti’s shoulder.
“Why, Aris?”
“…You’re going to have a hard time.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. I’m going to write my report.”
“Ah, yes. Good work.”
Aris looked at the retreating Puti with pitying eyes and also offered his condolences to whoever would be directly delivering today’s report to the Emperor.
