***
He thought the end would be only endless darkness. The Emperor didn’t believe in an afterlife. He’d only thought he would become nothing and scatter into darkness.
However.
Was that pearl truly nothing at all? The pain that had felt like his breath would stop came to nothing. The Emperor ended up opening his eyes again. Looking up at the familiar canopy bed’s ceiling, he soon exhaled a weary breath.
Not Mianggung Palace but Geoncheonggung Palace. Thinking that Head Eunuch Han must have discovered him and saved him, the Emperor frowned at the irritation rushing in and covered his face with his hand.
“Han-ho-ya.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Head Eunuch Han answered immediately as if he’d been waiting. The Emperor slowly raised his upper body while glaring at him for no reason.
“You did something useless.”
“……Though it is frightening to say, this slave is incompetent and cannot fathom Your Majesty’s heart.”
“The Fourth Imperial Prince has matured, so I don’t worry about the future. Assist him well despite his shortcomings and try making him into a sage ruler once. I want to stop now. Therefore, you must absolutely not call the Imperial Physician this time. After this, bury my corpse together with the Noble Consort, and—”
“Your Majesty.”
Head Eunuch Han, who couldn’t understand a single thing the Emperor was saying, uncharacteristically cut off the Emperor’s words. It was a capital crime for which his head could be cut off immediately, but the words were so bizarre that he momentarily lost his patience.
“Though it is extremely presumptuous to say, the Fourth Imperial Prince has not yet reached yakgwan, so it’s difficult to see him as mature. Also, which Noble Consort are you referring to?”
“Are you mocking me now? Naturally I’m speaking of Sansan. How dare you compare the Noble Consort Jin I personally elevated with those expelled women?”
Who on earth is Sansan, and what is Noble Consort Jin? Did he have a dream? Head Eunuch Han struggled to suppress his maddening feelings, then hurriedly knelt and bowed deeply, begging forgiveness before receiving greater wrath.
“Your Majesty, this slave has committed a crime worthy of death. However, I truly cannot fathom what you are saying. Please look down with mercy.”
At his appearance of even striking his head while pleading, the Emperor’s rage surged and he struck the bed fiercely with a bang. Head Eunuch Han cried out again that he had committed a crime worthy of death.
The frustrated Emperor was about to explode in anger again when he suddenly remembered one phrase from Head Eunuch Han that he’d brushed past.
“……The Fourth Imperial Prince hasn’t reached yakgwan?”
In Year 20 of Yeonghwi, the Second and Fourth Imperial Princes reached yakgwan and held their coming-of-age ceremonies together. Since it was the coming-of-age ceremony of the Second Imperial Prince, who was practically the eldest son in the imperial house with the Crown Prince dead, he had personally presided over it. No matter how little interest he had in his children, he couldn’t have been mistaken about this.
“Yes, Your Majesty. The Fourth Imperial Prince turned eighteen this year.”
But Head Eunuch Han said no again this time without a flicker of wavering. That meant—
“What year of Yeonghwi is this year?”
“……It is Year 18 of Yeonghwi, Your Majesty.”
It truly meant time had turned back. The Emperor immediately turned the ring on his hand to check. When he opened the emerald, the pearl that should have been inside wasn’t visible.
The precious treasure was truly a precious treasure. The Emperor closed the emerald again. Then he covered his face with the hand wearing the ring and laughed with shaking shoulders.
Hahaha.
The Emperor’s sharp laughter amplified Head Eunuch Han’s doubts and concerns. It was just when he was wondering if he really should call Imperial Physician Do.
“Then what is today’s date?”
The Emperor, who had stopped his self-mockery, asked. It was that original cold expression with all traces of laughter completely gone.
***
“I really, really hate you, Your Majesty.”
Impudent thing.
The Emperor, chin propped on his hand, laughed with a snort. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant-looking laugh. Seeing him, Head Eunuch Han asked.
“Shall I send them all out?”
The Emperor nodded. Head Eunuch Han waved his hand dismissively, and five women became tearful and walked out in a line in the opposite direction from the door they’d entered.
When all the women had left, five new women waiting outside entered in succession. Regardless, the Emperor didn’t spare them a glance and kept thinking other thoughts.
The woman who had stood at the forefront among them came forward first, slowly knelt on one knee, and paid her respects. A palace eunuch watching her stepped forward and shouted loudly.
“Daughter of Minister of Public Works Jusa Yoon Yun-gyeom, Yoon family’s Sanwol, twenty years old!”
“This young lady, Yoon family’s Sanwol, greets the Empress Dowager Mama and Your Majesty. Your Majesty, Empress Dowager Mama, may you live long and enjoy great blessings.”
Then, the Emperor, who had been consistently maintaining an indifferent attitude, straightened his back from where he’d been leaning languidly. The person he’d been waiting for had finally appeared.
He briefly recalled the situation from a few days ago.
“Today is the third day of the second month.”
Since the concubine selection was held every five years on the fifteenth of the second month, he could immediately tell it was still before Sanwol entered the palace.
What should he do—the Emperor, who hadn’t resolved the conflict arising in his heart, decided to just let time pass until the selection day. And so the current situation had come.
“Her posture is proper and her voice is gentle yet strong. Even her appearance has dignity, so she’s clearly outstanding among those seen. What do you think about selecting her as a concubine, Your Majesty?”
Since the Emperor seemed to be showing considerable interest, the Empress Dowager gauged his heart and asked on his behalf. It had also been quite concerning that not a single maiden had been selected during the one shichen since the selection began.
The Emperor glanced at such an Empress Dowager. She, who was not the Emperor’s birth mother, always showed signs of watching the Emperor’s mood. Yet for some reason, when Sansan was repeatedly elevated, she had opposed it.
“Your Majesty. This mother will like anyone Your Majesty likes. However, since ancient times, excessive favor has been known to bring calamity. Please understand this old one’s sincerity.”
“Yoon Yun-gyeom’s daughter, you say. Come now, raise your face and show it to me.”
Upon receiving the Emperor’s command, Sanwol raised her head with a modest motion. Perhaps nervous, she unknowingly swallowed, her saliva going down her throat. Because of this, her slender neckline was emphasized even more.
The hall became quiet all at once. She was an incomparable beauty. Since the Emperor never refused beauties, surely she would be selected as a concubine—everyone present was thinking as one when—
“Hmm……”
Breaking everyone’s expectations, the Emperor only exhaled a long sigh. It was clearly a beauty he’d once considered not bad, but now both here and there were all lacking.
The outer corners of her eyes should droop a bit more than that, and her eye color should be lighter. Her lips would be cuter if they were slightly parted in a daze showing her pink tongue. The Emperor unconsciously traced another unforgettable face over Sanwol’s face.
Meanwhile, at the Emperor’s sigh, Sanwol’s face flushed bright red. Soon thinking she wasn’t to his liking, she lowered her head again. The Emperor continued to be silent. It was the moment when Sanwol was about to rise to tactfully step back like the other women who hadn’t been selected.
“By chance, do you have an older brother who hasn’t married?”
Receiving the sudden question, the flustered Sanwol blinked her innocent eyes. Watching her, the Emperor smiled a twisted smile.
“I really, really hate you, Your Majesty.”
Sansan’s quiet voice circled the Emperor’s ears like a curse.
Even if you hate me, what can you do?
The Emperor propped his chin again and waited for Sanwol’s answer. The sneer hanging on his lips grew deeper and deeper.
“Receiving your question, I respectfully answer. Yes, this young lady has one older brother who has not yet married.”
“Then is your father setting aside his grown eldest son and trying to marry the younger sibling first?”
“……That is so, Your Majesty.”
The moment Sanwol finished her answer in a quiet voice, the Emperor let out a great hollow laugh.
“Truly a household without proper order. In all matters there should be proper sequence and order, yet someone who is even a Jusa regards this as less than dog food—even I who watch feel ashamed. You’re quite something too, aren’t you, looking so demure?”
Under the concentrated attention of everyone around, at the Emperor’s rebuke that fell, Sanwol’s face dyed redder than a rose-of-Sharon flower. Even her slender nape turned completely crimson, making it impossible to find an untouched spot.
Footnotes
1) Yakgwan: 20 years old.
