Eyes darkening with excitement upon hearing the news, Seomun Cheon was already clad in ordinary garments, fully prepared to head out.
“Let us depart.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Following behind Seomun Cheon, several guards melted into the shadows.
What kind of trouble is he going to cause today?
As that thought crossed his mind, a soft chuckle inadvertently escaped his lips.
Recalling Song Wongyeong, Seomun Cheon quietly slipped out of Jeongyang Hall.
Finally, the time had come to catch his audacious concubine.
A short while later.
“Wontae! I’m here!”
As the door burst open and Song Wongyeong barged into the Sanggwan Inn, Song Wontae, who was looking over the sales ledger, turned pale with shock and hastily covered his brother’s mouth.
“Please keep your voice down!”
“Mmf? Mmf, mmph?”
Song Wongyeong was dragged into a vacant room just like that. The moment the door clicked shut, Song Wontae glared with wide eyes and began pointing his finger accusationally.
“You came just five days ago! Why have you come out again?! What if someone recognizes you?!”
“Why else would I come out? I was bored, so I came out.”
Regardless of how his younger brother scolded him, Song Wongyeong didn’t pay it any mind. Digging in his ear casually, he stroked his belly and pleaded with a woeful expression:
“Instead of nagging, just give me something to eat. In the inner palace, they only serve things that look like cattle feed, so I have no appetite whatsoever.”
At those words, Song Wontae’s eyes rolled back as he thoroughly inspected Song Wongyeong from head to toe.
Indeed, Song Wongyeong was even thinner than he had been five days ago. Sparks flew in Song Wontae’s eyes upon seeing that state.
His Majesty is far too much! No matter if he is a male concubine, how could he treat him so harshly?!
Resentment flared inside Song Wontae toward the Emperor whose face he had never even seen, and he let out a deep sigh. Considering the situation, sending his brother back was the right thing to do, but…
Seeing his brother’s scrawny, hollowed-out appearance hurt his heart. In the end, succumbing to affection, Song Wontae led Song Wongyeong warmly.
“Understood, Hyung. Shall I bring a meal?”
“Eating alone every single time gets tiring too. By any chance, is there a seat downstairs?”
“…Just in case, I kept a secluded corner table vacant.”
“I knew I could count on you!”
The brothers chatted warmly as they made their way down to the dining hall. Guiding Song Wongyeong to the innermost corner table, Song Wontae instructed:
“I will have the food brought out shortly. Please wait just a moment, Hyung.”
A short while later, appetizing dishes were served just as Song Wontae had arranged.
Grilled meat, thin noodles topped generously with garnishes, and alcohol to go along with it—at the sight, Song Wongyeong’s eyes went wild, to put it vulgarly. Dishes glistening with oil were on a completely different level from the temple-like meals in the inner palace.
How long has it been since I last had this!
Downing a piece of meat greedily with a full cup of liquor made life feel worth living again. No lie, all the indignities he had endured in the inner palace felt as if they were completely washed away.
This is what living is. With slightly unfocused eyes, Song Wongyeong giggled and worked his chopsticks.
It was around then that someone appeared at the empty seat across from him.
The counterpart was wearing a blue long robe and a veiled hat (myeongni). Before Song Wongyeong even had a chance to say anything, the person sat down directly opposite him.
Huh? That person is…
Isn’t that the ‘young lady’ from back then?
Just as Song Wongyeong was experiencing a sense of déjà vu, a low, gentle voice leaked from beneath the veil. It was a clear, pleasant man’s voice.
“I searched for quite a while.”
“You are…”
“Five days ago, do you remember?”
“Five days ago…? Ah!”
The moment Song Wongyeong realized, the man in the veiled hat quietly lifted a bottle of liquor.
“Since this too is fate, have a glass on me. My treat.”
“…Sounds great!”
Drunk, Song Wongyeong nodded repeatedly and raised his cup.
By the way, so it wasn’t a young lady after all.
Clear liquor poured smoothly into the pale porcelain cup. Smelling the aroma of alcohol, Song Wongyeong grinned and stole a glance at the man sitting opposite him.
Looking at him now, the man’s height and build were both larger than Song Wongyeong’s. How on earth had he failed to notice this before?
Hmm, was it because of the atmosphere?
Even with his face covered, he was an elegant man who looked as though he had descended from the moon. Frankly, even because of that aura alone, his body hadn’t even caught Song Wongyeong’s eye.
Yet why did something feel strangely unsettling?
Is it just my imagination?
Song Wongyeong chuckled awkwardly as he took the liquor bottle and filled the man’s cup. Completely unable to imagine that the man sitting across from him was the Emperor, who had come out to catch his runaway concubine.
“Apologies for last time. I, well, mistook you for a young lady…”
“It is fine. Thanks to you, I was unharmed.”
Though his tone sounded anything but fine, the man said so while bringing his liquor cup beneath his veil to drink. Being waited on by others and addressing others casually seemed exceedingly natural for him.
I wonder if he’s from a prestigious house?
Song Wongyeong’s family wasn’t lacking anywhere either, but he had no intention of bragging about it.
The moment he hears it, he’ll definitely bring up things like male concubines.
Because rumors that the Sanggwan Song clan had survived by offering their eldest son to the Emperor were rampant throughout Gyeong’an.
Likely, this man also had his own reasons for concealing his face. But still.
Why does it feel like he’s glaring at me?
Through the veil’s canopy, a strange gaze could be felt. It was a gaze hard to pinpoint precisely feeling partly enraged, partly dumbfounded.
His voice sounds somewhat familiar too…
Yet no matter how hard he thought, no one came to mind. What man could Song Wongyeong, residing in the inner palace, possibly meet?
Hmm. Must be my imagination.
Rather than feeling anxious with such thoughts, it was better to eat more delicious food. He couldn’t throw away his outing after five days like this.
Using the meat noodles as a side dish while drinking, Song Wongyeong asked:
“By the way, why did you go into that back alley so late at night?”
“I went out to sightsee.”
“Ah, to sightsee…”
“And today, I came to look for my wife.”
“Pfft!“
Song Wongyeong ended up spitting out half the liquor he was drinking. Good grief, a wife!
“You are married?!”
The man offered no answer, twirling his liquor cup around. Somehow, through the translucent veil, the man’s crooked smile seemed dimly visible.
“And you?”
Clearly, Song Wongyeong had been the one asking, but a question returned instead of an answer.
Had he been in his right mind, he would have found it strange, but currently, Song Wongyeong was tipsy and woozy from drinking for the first time in a long while. Song Wongyeong scratched his head and answered slyly:
“As for me, well… Haha! Do I look like someone who is?”
It was a vague answer that, at first listen, sounded like ‘I haven’t tied the knot.’ In an instant, Seomun Cheon almost snapped his chopsticks in two.
This shameless concubine dares to scam me by pretending he isn’t even married?!
Seomun Cheon glared with all his might through the veil’s canopy. It seemed this man had a habit of implicitly leaving room for flirtation.
Even now, drunk, wasn’t he flashing chuckles and smiles at a complete stranger?! With his husband keeping his eyes wide open right in front of his face, it was truly a lamentable situation.
“Though I suppose I did… Well, it’s just so-so.”
Song Wongyeong let out a short chuckle and a brief sigh, then cast his eyes down as if he had a tragic backstory. In that action of gazing into his liquor cup, the hardships he had endured implicitly showed through, making it look like a sight anyone ignorant of his story would sympathize with.
Just as the dumbfounded Seomun Cheon was about to ask something, Song Wongyeong grinned as if he had never been somber and offered a lighthearted question:
“By the way, what kind of person is your wife, Hyungjang?”
“Are you curious?”
“Of course! You emit such a handsome aura even with your face covered, so I’m curious what blessed woman she is. What kind of person is she? Is she cute? Or lovely? Or else…”
Song Wongyeong asked excitedly, fueled by the alcohol. At Song Wongyeong’s cheerful, chattering voice, Seomun Cheon bore a sneer.
“She seems rather fierce. So much of a wild tomboy that she sneaks out secretly at the dead of night to roam about outside.”
Good heavens, for a noble lady to recklessly scale walls and go on night outings.
“For a dignified gentleman like Hyungjang to speak like this, she must be quite something.”
Song Wongyeong chimed in appropriately while scanning the man sitting opposite him.
Dignified and resolute posture, proper speech, an attitude slightly arrogant yet courteous, down to his caring heart for his wife–he seemed utterly flawless.
To make her husband suffer like this, it seems your wife must be quite a vicious woman.
Song Wongyeong clicked his tongue quietly, imagining the unknown man’s wife.
“So, have you found your wife?”
“You could say that,” the man answered lukewarmly.
“Since I have spare time, I would like to tour around this neighborhood. Do you happen to have time? Judging by your movements that day, you seem to know the geography around here quite well.”
“That is…”
If I go out today too, Wontae will pour out a crate full of nagging at me, won’t he?
–Hyung. Is escaping the inner palace not enough for you? Are you causing trouble again?
As his brother’s voice clearly came to mind, Song Wongyeong was about to refuse the offer.
That is, if the man opposite him hadn’t dropped a subtle remark:
“If you do not know, then never mind. I shall find someone else.”
The man turned his body slightly as he said so. The casual words dropped as if telling him not to worry triggered Song Wongyeong’s competitive spirit.
“Ahaha! If that’s the case, you’ve found the right person! This Song guy knows every nook and cranny of Gyeong’an.”
Song Wongyeong patted his chest and laughed heartily. Since he was itching all over from being stuck in the inner palace anyway, he thought this worked out great.
“Speaking of which, shall we go right now?”
“Right now, you say?”
“Yes! Just trust me and follow along, Hyungjang! Let us go!”
Song Wongyeong sprang up and headed toward the exit of the inn. At his lively and stylish stride, passersby stole glances at Song Wongyeong one by one. Consequently, Seomun Cheon’s rage deepened.
“Not even calling me ‘Sir’, to call me ‘Hyungjang‘ when we’ve barely met.”
Seomun Cheon muttered spookily. Had his ministers heard it, it was a voice that would have caused them to faint, crying out that ‘a demon has taken root in his mind.’
