***
“You failed to protect His Highness the Imperial Prince that your younger sister gave birth to risking her life.”
“You might as well have killed him. It’s all because of you.”
“If you can’t even protect the Imperial Grandson in that belly, your father also said he would never see you again. He said he’d consider you a child that doesn’t exist.”
“How long do you think His Majesty will favor you? Your younger sister too was nothing more than a passing fancy. You should have shown yourself well when he gave you his seed, but deficient as you are, you even lost your mind and finally ruined everything. Next time His Majesty comes to you, you must hold onto him. You must hold onto him and serve him no matter what it takes. Hmm? Is the bottom hole the only hole? If you know you’re deficient, you should make an effort, an effort.”
Sansan sat blankly on the Arhat bed, unconsciously caressing the pillow he was holding.
Gang-i was growing so well, so why did she speak so harshly—Sansan couldn’t understand his mother. He shook his head alone as if denying what she’d said and kissed the pillow.
“Our Gang-i sleeps so well.”
The court ladies sweeping and cleaning various parts of the side hall glanced at their master with pitying eyes. This was Sansan’s daily routine these days—listening to nothing but scolding all day when Lee Ja-yoon was around, then just killing time blankly like this when she briefly napped or went for a walk.
Since the day of the bleeding, the Emperor returned to Geoncheonggung Palace every night. Rumors were rampant that he slept alone there, but only the Emperor and his closest aides would know if he truly slept alone. Thus, murmurs spread throughout the harem that the Noble Consort’s reign was now over.
The servants of Mianggung Palace didn’t feel good hearing this. Though the person in question seemed to have no thoughts about it. That’s why no one at Mianggung Palace stopped Lee Ja-yoon.
No palace servant liked their master becoming a fallen concubine. The power their master held was Mianggung Palace’s power, and the power of the palace servants living there.
“Mama. Shall I bring more gwapyeon?”
Yeongchae, who had been killing time meaninglessly wiping the display cabinet, asked seeing the empty gwapyeon bowl.
“…Mm.”
“Then I’ll also bring more gui-byeong, hwagwa, and yakgwa. You’ll eat them all, right?”
“…Mm.”
Sansan nodded gently and replied weakly. These days he was eating well without skipping any of his snacks, breakfast, dinner, or even lunch. Yeongchae approached Sansan and extended her arm.
“Give me His Highness the Eighth Imperial Prince. I’ll have the wet nurse court lady feed and put him to sleep. If you keep doing that, won’t the baby in your womb also have a hard time? Don’t do that and comfortably eat your snacks and sleep. When His Majesty comes for dinner, this servant will wake you.”
At Yeongchae’s words, Sansan looked down at the pillow he was holding in his arms. As if thinking about something, he slowly gave the pillow to Yeongchae.
“…Mm.”
Sansan quietly stroked his lower abdomen. From when he’d recognized there was life in his womb until the day he’d bled last time, Sansan had never thought about his child.
At first it was strange, and at some point it became uncomfortable. The baby in his womb was proof itself that he’d made Sanwol suffer. So he’d always turned away from it.
Then he’d bled. Even though he didn’t really know what was what, he felt certain the child was in danger. He still remembered the sorrow he’d felt then.
“Sorry.”
Sansan, who had been stroking his belly, quietly muttered as if to himself. It was unclear who he was speaking to. Whether to the baby, to Sanwol, or to both. Either way, from that day on, Sansan had been making an effort to eat well. He thought that was all he could do for the baby.
***
“What did you do today?”
Even while receiving reports from Head Eunuch Han between handling state affairs about what Sansan was doing, the Emperor pretended not to know and asked. This was one of his habits for ending the day.
“…Ah.”
Sansan, who had just spit out the chungryonggu he’d been chewing along with tea water, searched his memory for what he’d done today. While doing so, the Emperor, who had received hot water from Yeongchae, approached Sansan closely and began wiping his wet mouth.
“I ate gwapyeon. I ate gui-byeong too. And ya, yakbap too. It was delicious.”
He listed the snacks he’d eaten during the day while folding his fingers one by one. Finding that sight cute again, the Emperor chuckled and then suddenly sucked Sansan’s lower lip.
“Ah…”
Sansan unconsciously wiped his lips, which had the Emperor’s saliva on them, with his sleeve. Whether that was annoying, the Emperor, who had slipped his body into the seat where Sansan sat and was fiddling with his waist, outright licked Sansan’s cheek once with his tongue. This time Sansan tactfully didn’t wipe it off.
“What flavor of gwapyeon did you eat?”
“Str-strawberry.”
“Do you like gwapyeon that much?”
“…Yes.”
“I’m already curious if our Won-i will also resemble his mother and only like sweet things.”
Saying this, the Emperor fiddled with Sansan’s belly. Then his hand parted the jacket and went inside. While fondling the bean-sized nipple, he buried his face in Sansan’s long, slender nape. Soon he inhaled deeply.
“Haah.”
“……”
“It’s good.”
“……”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…Yes.”
The Emperor silently gazed at Sansan, who looked up at him with round, pale amber eyes. The affection growing day by day was killing him.
He just wanted to enter this fragile body. He knew better because he knew how moist, hot, and tight this one’s inner chamber was. When he was inside there, Sansan’s body scent also became incomparably thick. All those sensations were dreamlike.
“If you hurt anywhere, you must find me immediately.”
He removed his hand from Sansan’s nipple with a touch dripping with reluctance. Then he immediately stood up.
“I’ll be going now. Sleep early.”
It was when he was about to turn around as usual. Two slender fingers grabbed and held the end of his dragon robe sleeve. The grip was so weak it didn’t seem like a grip, but the Emperor stopped walking.
“Do you have something to say?”
“…I.”
Sansan only started but couldn’t readily continue his words. The Emperor silently waited for such Sansan.
“Your Majesty, shall I su-suck you?”
It was after hearing nagging all day from his mother that he must serve the Emperor no matter what. Though she’d withdrawn to the side hall when it was time for dinner, she might return and continue nagging after the Emperor left for Geoncheonggung Palace.
He could just listen to the scolding and let it pass, but he didn’t want to see his mother cursing that Gang-i had died again.
“Because I want to suck you…”
“……”
“I, I thought maybe you keep leaving because I’m not serving you with all my heart. The bottom isn’t the only hole, so I want to suck you.”
Sansan recited exactly what his mother had said during the day. She’d said, is the bottom hole the only hole? If he was worried about the baby, he should serve with his mouth at least. Besides that, there were also thighs, and methods were plentiful.
“Ha.”
The Emperor, who had been standing quietly listening to Sansan’s words, let out a cold laugh. He immediately knelt in front of Sansan, placed his hand on his slender thigh, and asked.
“Who told you to do that?”
It was obvious who it would be.
“N-no.”
However, Sansan denied it. The Emperor frowned.
“Then?”
“……”
“Would you like me to stay by your side?”
“…Yes.”
“You thought of that yourself?”
“…Yes.”
The wrinkle between the Emperor’s brows deepened further. He had to face yet another emotion he was feeling for the first time in his life.
The desire to be deceived, even knowing it wasn’t true.
It wasn’t very pleasant. But,
“You lovely thing…”
It was irresistible. When one’s lover grasps a man’s wrist with shy hands and asks him to stay together this night, who could refuse? The Emperor roughly pulled Sansan into an embrace and kissed him as if he could no longer hold back.
He picked up Sansan, who was struggling to breathe from the kiss after so long, and strode straight toward the bedchamber. Sansan soon found himself revealing a naked body even whiter than the pure white fur blanket on the bed.
“I’ll suck you. Where would you like me to suck, hmm?”
Shall I suck this cute pink cock? Or shall I suck these coral-colored nipples? Hmm? Or if not that, here, shall I suck this red inner chamber of yours? Just say it. I’ll suck it all for you.
The Emperor whispered teasing words continuously in Sansan’s ear while caressing his entire body. For quite a while, Sansan’s cries of pleasure didn’t stop at Mianggung Palace. But that was as far as it went. After painstaking effort, he restrained his desire.
“Not sleeping together is the path for Mama’s sake.”
The Emperor instinctively felt it. If the baby went wrong, Sansan too would be finished. He might completely shatter.
He wiped his hands wet with all kinds of bodily fluids with the hot water a court lady handed him and looked down at his exhausted Noble Consort sprawled out.
“San-ah.”
“…Haah, haah.”
“Hooh, you lovely thing.”
He soon laid his body next to Sansan and pulled the tender body into his arms to confine it. His chest swelled with affection for the flesh he was holding. The two fell asleep embracing each other like that.
