The Hated Male Concubine

#160

Jaran said, having her heart lightened a bit in an absurd way. As long as the problem wasn’t Yeonbin reverting to his old self, this could be resolved somehow. The Emperor was clumsy in love, and Yeon Hwawoon was overly cautious and insensitive, so perhaps this was all just a misunderstanding. Jaran took a sip of her slightly cooled tea and pondered.

***

Hwawoon gripped the end of the paper dearly with his fingertips. He actually wanted to hold it in his arms, but he couldn’t touch it with much force, afraid of damaging the thin paper.

He had read and reread all the words dotted with love on each page so many times that he could now memorize them all with his eyes closed. Regardless, Hwawoon still didn’t want to let go, and he continued to keep them in his eyes. These were hearts that had stopped and would never come to him again, but for Hwawoon, these were memories that would stay with him for a very long time to come.

If I had known, I would have written more letters. I would have been a little more shameless and stored his heart, even if it was in just a few lines.

Repeating his vain regrets, Hwawoon swallowed his sorrow and held the words in his heart as if they were the only treasure he had been allowed to have.

“Your Highness!”

“Ahjin…?!”

Ahjin suddenly burst into the bedroom, calling out to Hwawoon in a high-pitched voice. She had called out to him a few times, but hearing no answer, she rushed in anxiously, worried that her master might have passed out again. Hwawoon was so focused that he didn’t even hear Ahjin’s voice calling out to him.

Hwawoon, who was sitting on the bed, was visibly surprised and quickly hid what he was holding behind him. Since he didn’t hide it well enough, Ahjin saw the stack of papers sticking out of his side, and her expression shook helplessly. She had made up her mind to not show her emotions openly in front of her master, but she couldn’t help it. What Hwawoon was looking at alone in his bedroom, unaware of anyone entering, was the letters from the Emperor.

Fighting the sensation of her heart sinking to the bottom of her stomach, Ahjin lowered her head, pretending not to have seen the letter.

“Your Highness, I called you outside, but you didn’t answer, so I got worried and came in.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. I must not have heard you.”

“Yes, I guess so. Is there anything you need?”

“No, I’m good.”

Even though Hwawoon must have been the one suffering the most at this moment, he smiled softly at Ahjin. In Ahjin’s eyes, that smile looked sadder than crying, but she couldn’t let herself be the first to fall apart when her master was holding on so strongly. Ahjin forced herself to smile back at Hwawoon.

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll go out then. Please enjoy your rest.”

“Okay… Oh, Ahjin, wait.”

This time, Hwawoon called and stopped Ahjin, who was turning around. Ahjin turned around and said, “Yes?”, then Hwawoon spoke in a cautious voice.

“I was wondering about something…”

“Yes, tell me.”

“If… even if my stipend got cut… there’ll be no problem in giving the girls their salary, right…?”

“…”

“If I don’t get my allowance anymore, all of you… will still get your salary through the Department of Internal Affairs, right?”

Ahjin’s pupils shook furiously, making her efforts in vain. There was no way she wouldn’t crumble in front of her master, who was worried about things like the girls’ allowances even at this moment. Blinking her eyes which were getting wet in an instant, Ahjin parted her lips.

“Your Highness, why are you worrying about such things? I don’t know what misunderstanding His Majesty has, but you haven’t done anything wrong, so whatever it is, it will be resolved in no time. Even… even if it won’t…”

I should have pulled the corners of my lips in a smile. This problem will be resolved in no time and become nothing, so I shouldn’t have disturbed His Highness’s mind. But, why do my tears keep pooping and my voice keeps trembling so much? Feeling herself to be pathetic, Ahjin pinched her own thigh.

“Even if it won’t, I’ll take care of that, so please don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll take my leave now. Please get some rest!”

As a servant, she knew that she had to get her master’s permission before leaving his room, but if she stayed, she might actually cry in front of him and vent her frustrations about the Emperor. Without listening to Hwawoon’s reply, Ahjin immediately turned around and walked out of the bedroom.

“Unnie… Are you okay?”

Seeing Ahjin looking pale as she ran out of the room, Seoseo approached and asked. After blinking back a few tears, Ahjin wiped what remained with her sleeve and took a few deep breaths before turning to Seoseo.

“Seoseo. I want you to gather every single one of the children in Seojeong Palace right now. All of them, even the eunuchs.”

“… Why?”

“I have something to say. It’s very important, so I want you to gather them all, every last one of them.”

Upon listening to Ahjin’s voice, which somehow sounded determined, Seoseo nodded once and quickly walked away. Meanwhile, Ahjin stood there and looked back at her master’s bedroom. She could clearly picture her poor master, whose heart was breaking into a thousand pieces, trying to bear her sadness by clutching the letters from the Emperor in his hands.

“Unnie, I’ve gathered everyone.”

After some time, Seoseo approached and informed Ahjin. Ahjin then looked at the courtiers gathered in the courtyard. They were all children she had spent many years with at Jeongan Palace. Ahjin let out a deep breath and spoke in a firm voice.

“I know that recent events must be disturbing to all of you.”

Everyone who had gathered because they were somewhat worried, not knowing why Ahjin had suddenly summoned them, listened to her. Ahjin looked at each of them and continued.

“This has happened because there was a misunderstanding between His Majesty and His Highness, but it will be resolved soon. But regardless, I must warn you. If any of you dare to look down on His Highness, to disrespect him, or to talk nonsense carelessly, because of what has happened to him, I will not forgive you. Do you understand?”

She spoke in the sharpest, hardest voice she could muster. Although she believed this matter would be resolved well, Ahjin had to keep every possibility in mind. It was not uncommon in this Imperial Palace for a concubine whom the Emperor no longer favored to be openly despised by the servants in their own quarters.

If the one in this problem was Yeonbin of the past, she wouldn’t have had to worry about this in the slightest. Even if he didn’t have the emperor’s favor, he still had his father, and even if he didn’t have that, he was never a man who would allow lowly people to disrespect him. But Yeonbin was different now. He was not the kind of man who would punish his subordinates for being disloyal because he had lost the Emperor’s love. Ahjin’s worry was rooted in that.

But there was something strange. After hearing her words, the people gathered in front of her remained silent, their expressions were dark. Ahjin’s face grew even more alarmed.

“… Why are you all silent? Does this mean you don’t want to follow my words?”

While on one hand, she thought it couldn’t be, her heart beat fast. The children in Jeongan Palace were generally young, and all of them were innocent and docile. But people’s hearts never went as expected. There was no telling how some of them might try to take advantage of this moment if they were still harboring memories of what their master had done to them.

When Ahjin’s uneasiness increased as they remained silent even after she voiced her assumption, one of the young court ladies pouted her lips and spoke up.

“Unnie, what are you talking about? We all have eyes to see, thoughts to think, and feelings to feel.”

“…?”

“His Highness has been so kind to all of us… So how could you think that we’d disrespect His Highness just because of this matter? What do you think we are?”

A chorus of voices chimed in, “That’s right!” and “Why do you have to tell the obvious so seriously like this?” Ahjin’s shoulders, which had been stiff with tension, slowly relaxed, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

In the end, these children were no different from her. Although they had suffered indescribable hardships at Jeongan Palace before, they all thought that it was done at the hands of a different Yeonbin. Their current master was a different person. Their current master was more compassionate and generous to them, and he was always kind and beautiful. They would always do their best to serve their master. It was clear that all of the people who were speaking up to Ahjin now had such feelings.

It felt like her stifled heart became freed, and Ahjin couldn’t help but smile at them.

***

“No, who asked you to let me in? I’m telling you I just need you to deliver this!”

A commotion erupted in front of the outer gate of Seojeong Palace. There was Jeongbin, Songhyun, who was arguing with a guard. When the guard insisted that the Emperor had ordered no one to enter, Songhyun sighed heavily in frustration and raised her voice again.

“I mean, His Majesty said not to let people in, but did he also say to not let even not even a wooden box like this?”