“Silence! How far will you insult the royal authority! No matter how the world has changed, a royal command is sacred! Do you see me as a scarecrow?!”
Lee Won stood up from his throne and shouted. Before his resounding roar, Kim Dae-geon had no choice but to flatten himself. His hands on the floor trembled.
“I cannot overlook this contempt for royal commands. Kim Dae-geon’s remaining bloodline shall take her place at the wedding ceremony.”
“Y-Your Majesty. That child is a man! He’s a male with balls! According to family law, same-sex marriage is impossible…”
“Court Attendant!”
At the thunderous command, the waiting court attendant hurried over. Lee Won ordered him to prepare to issue an edict.
The king’s will was truly formidable. To make an example of those who had treated the royal command lightly, he revealed his determination to push through with this marriage no matter what.
The great hall became busy receiving these orders. Amid the commotion, only the two men froze. Park Jae-guk, who had to suddenly accept a male daughter-in-law, seemed to have lost his soul and stood with his mouth hanging open, while Kim Dae-geon, who doted on his children, was on the verge of fainting.
For the crime of insulting royal authority, the two were detained for three hours. As soon as he was released, Kim Dae-geon rushed home. Fortunately, the house was peaceful. His wife, who knew nothing, even asked what was wrong, looking worried instead.
“Honey, Yu-shin! Where’s Yu-shin!”
“He’s in his room. Why are you like this? Good heavens… you’re covered in cold sweat….”
“Get Yu-shin out here quickly! Pack his passport and send him abroad right now!”
“What are you suddenly talking about! Honey, just calm down first…”
“How can I calm down right now! Instead of Sara, Yu-shin is—oh my—our Yu-shin is going to marry into the Park family!”
Kim Dae-geon stamped his feet. His wife’s face also turned pale as she grasped the situation.
Just then, the front door burst open and five or six men in black suits rushed in. Shield-shaped embroidery adorned their lapels. They were all members of the royal guard.
“We will be in charge of security until the wedding, Minister. Please understand.”
The head of the royal guard bowed politely. Security in name, but in reality, it meant surveillance.
“How dare you! Where do you think you are! Get out of my house!”
“Minister, we are people who serve the royal family’s orders. Please show proper respect.”
The royal guard moved in unison. They blocked the entrance and gate tightly like setting up a barrier. It was nearly impossible to break through the tight security and escape.
While this chaos was happening on the first floor, Yu-shin’s room on the second floor remained peaceful.
Even though it was well past noon, Yu-shin was still sound asleep, wrapped up in a cloud-like white blanket.
Thin brown hair sprawled messily outside the blanket. The tip of his nose as he breathed softly was prominent, and even his small nostrils were delicately shaped.
Like a young master raised in a greenhouse, Yu-shin had no worries. He was enjoying a sweet late morning sleep, never imagining in his dreams what was about to happen.
At that moment, the door burst open and Chief Manager Min rushed in.
“Young master!”
Chief Manager Min, who rarely got excited, was making a fuss. She stripped off the blanket in one motion and shook the soundly sleeping Yu-shin awake.
“Quickly, get up quickly!”
“Ah… what is it?”
The awakened Yu-shin stirred groggily. He immediately frowned as if the sunlight on his face was dazzling.
“No time to explain. Hurry!”
Chief Manager Min urged as if being chased by something. She grabbed Yu-shin’s wrist and forcibly sat up his lazy body, then brought a thick cardigan and put it over his pajamas.
“You need to escape right now!”
“What’s going on… Did our house go bankrupt? Did we become traitors or something?”
Yu-shin chuckled. He was still drowsy and his whole body felt languid. Damn low blood pressure made his head spin too. Chief Manager Min couldn’t possibly not know that…. Today, she wasn’t considering Yu-shin’s physical condition at all.
To make matters worse, Chief Manager Min opened the window and looked outside. The way she tossed things out the window looked exactly like someone gauging whether it was okay to jump from the second floor.
At that point, the smile disappeared from Yu-shin’s face too.
“…Is this for real?”
“Young master, you need to stay sharp, especially at times like this.”
Chief Manager Min’s expression was so grave as she said this. Rather, it heightened his anxiety.
She opened the window wide.
“Young master, close your eyes and just jump. Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
“Are you crazy? If I break my leg, I can’t even run away!”
Yu-shin had no intention of going along with Chief Manager Min’s insane act. There’s yangban dignity to uphold! How could he flee so ungracefully!
He opened the door and went out as he was. As he walked through the hallway to the stairs, he finally saw the house in chaos.
He first made eye contact with his mother, covered in tears. Beside her stood several fierce-looking men in a row. Yu-shin muttered “Mom….” half in a daze.
“Ah, Mr. Kim Yu-shin.”
The royal messenger holding a red silk cushion with both hands greeted Yu-shin as soon as he saw him. He immediately climbed the stairs. Yu-shin’s father, Kim Dae-geon, desperately grabbed the messenger’s pant leg and clung to it. His mother also joined in to lend her strength.
“Ahhh! No! Not our Yu-shin!”
“Minister, you’ll be punished if you continue like this.”
When the messenger gave a slight nod, several members of the royal guard approached and separated the couple. The messenger then climbed the remaining stairs with a much lighter step.
Yu-shin’s legs stiffened and he couldn’t move. All he could do was stare wide-eyed at the unidentified man and his wailing parents.
Chief Manager Min blocked his front with her whole body. But it was futile given her small female frame.
The messenger, who had somehow reached the second floor, put down the silk cushion on the floor and bowed deeply. He then reverently picked up the golden scroll.
The scroll unfurled sideways with a swoosh. The messenger, with his belly firmly tense, shouted.
“A royal command!”
The resounding voice produced with diaphragmatic breathing shook the entire house. The dragon pattern embedded in the golden scroll was vivid. Everyone except Yu-shin prostrated themselves flat before the king’s authority. It was instinct.
“Kim Yu-shin, 32nd generation descendant of the Hwaryeong Kim Clan, shall marry Park Jun-wan, 35th generation descendant of the Cheongseon Park Clan. Should anyone disobey, the position of Family Head shall be stripped, and both families shall be severely punished.”
“…Marriage?”
Yu-shin muttered in a daze. Is this a dream? This must be a dream, right?
“Kim Yu-shin, bow four times and receive the royal command.”
Chief Manager Min quickly made Yu-shin kneel on his behalf, reading the situation. It wasn’t that Yu-shin hadn’t learned proper etiquette. It was just that he had lost his mind before this shocking situation, so it was only right to help.
Somehow the scroll was handed over. Yu-shin couldn’t believe it and read the contents with his own eyes.
The edict contained exactly what the messenger had conveyed. Yu-shin let out a hollow laugh. His eyes rolled back. He fainted instantly.
***
At the same time, a similar situation was unfolding at a Korea University research lab.
Unlike Yu-shin’s family home, due to the special nature of a workplace, the messenger simply delivered the edict quietly instead of shouting “A royal command!”
That didn’t hide the fact that he was from the royal family. After all, the cushion he was carrying and the gilded scroll both had dragon embroidery, didn’t they?
Thanks to this, everyone in the research lab was watching with interested eyes. Jun-wan found this quite unpleasant.
“……”
Jun-wan already knew that a royal command had been issued regarding his marriage. Also that his counterpart had registered their marriage as if fleeing.
He thought the matter had already fallen through, so it was puzzling that an official edict was being delivered.
He silently unfolded the scroll. On the high-quality Korean paper lined with silk, neat calligraphy was written vertically. Even after confirming the trace of the red royal seal stamped at the end, there was no particular change of expression on Jun-wan’s face.
“I understand for now.”
That was the extent of his comment. When Jun-wan showed a calm attitude as if it were someone else’s business, the messenger smiled awkwardly, unusually flustered.
“Don’t you have any other questions?”
“No.”
Well now, he should be losing his mind… what incredible composure.
The messenger thought to himself. Honestly speaking, Park Jae-guk’s second son, Park Jun-wan, was a perfect groom candidate hard to find anywhere.
His handsome appearance went without saying, and he was even brilliant. The fact that at only 32 years old he had obtained a doctoral degree from Korea University and was going through a postdoctoral research process showed he was a promising talent with only success ahead.
