Chapter 16 …
The Path
Wang Hae spent the night confined helplessly in the bridal chamber.
After draining an entire bottle of hap-hwan-ju by herself, she had collapsed face-down on the table and fallen asleep. The moment Wang Hae discovered her, he carried her to the bed and laid her down.
It was already the second time.
The second time he had stood over her like this while she slept.
With a face as fine as jade, yet so bold.
The more he thought about it, the more a faint laugh escaped him.
Even he had not expected her to prod a man’s pride in such a way.
She acted as though she yielded, yet in the end she never lost a single word.
When his emotions got the better of him and he tasted her lips, he had nearly crossed a river from which there would be no return.
It was a tremendous relief to Wang Hae that she had shown no reaction. In that stillness, he had been able to realize what he was doing—how beastly his behavior had been.
If he had met her not as the daughter of Yi Ja-gyeom, but simply as an ordinary woman, she was beautiful enough that he might have cherished her freely. He might have held her in his arms all night without sleep.
However, in a situation where he could not tell whose side she was on, he could not rashly trust her. Instinctively, Wang Hae sensed that if he fell for her, she was the kind of woman he would not be able to handle.
To him, Seoryeon was like a poisonous mushroom that must never be eaten.
“I’m sorry…”
As if accepting his whispered apology, she smiled faintly in her sleep.
At that fleeting smile, Wang Hae’s heart began to pound wildly.
Thump, thump — his chest hammered like a drum, and he pressed a hand against it.
“Why is this…”
The only alcohol he had drunk was a single ceremonial cup of hap-hwan-ju symbolizing their marriage.
He did not like alcohol to begin with. When intoxicated, one’s senses dulled — one could not tell what entered one’s mouth or what dangers lurked nearby. For that reason, at the gyobang they specially prepared for him a fruit-wine-like beverage that did not cause intoxication. Because he was a monarch extremely sensitive and cautious about managing his own body, it was the palace attendants who suffered the most trouble.
Even if he was particular, no one could blame him. Who would dare oppose a king who had inherited the throne through the legitimate line? The only person who could truly control the king was the State Duke — the man who had placed him on the throne, his maternal grandfather and father-in-law.
To Wang Hae, the State Duke was like a double-edged sword. At once the one who upheld his royal authority and the one who could threaten it at any time. Anyone who showed signs of opposing the State Duke was eliminated immediately. Thus, even when Wang Hae tried to recruit new officials, he could not appoint anyone capable of checking him. As a result, only the State Duke’s cronies surrounded him.
Right then, a rooster crowed loudly.
Wang Hae rose from his seat.
If he stayed any longer, he felt he might come to resent her as well. Whether she was being manipulated by the State Duke or harboring other intentions, he could not tell — but part of him was annoyed that she seemed to regard him as nothing more than a one-night plaything.
That was why he had pressed her further.
Telling her to “open the path.”
Even to his own ears, it had sounded childish — the kind of lecherous remark not even a street rogue would make.
Still… she wasn’t actually planning to “open the path” as a woman for a man, was she?
Just as his mind began drifting into such ridiculous speculation, Chief Eunuch Kim approached Wang Hae, who had stepped out of the annex.
“Your Majesty?”
Chief Eunuch Kim glanced back and forth between the annex and Wang Hae.
Even on the night of his first union with the Princess Consort, the king had practically fled the bridal chamber the moment he entered. Now, at this hour when the sun was already rising, seeing him emerge from the annex made the eunuch rub his eyes repeatedly to confirm it was truly his master.
“How are you here?”
Flustered, Wang Hae asked an obvious question.
Even though it was only natural for a eunuch to attend the king’s side.
Suppressing the smile that threatened to escape at the sight of the embarrassed king, Chief Eunuch Kim suddenly noticed that the front tie of Wang Hae’s trousers had come undone — and choked on his breath.
“Ahem—! H-how could this be…”
Wang Hae looked down at the coughing eunuch with disbelief.
“M-my apologies, Your Majesty. I shall straighten your attire at once.”
Just as Chief Eunuch Kim barely composed his expression and reached toward the king’s loosened trousers—
“W-what are you doing?”
The king stepped back in alarm.
“I was merely trying to arrange Your Majesty’s garments… It seemed you were quite… busy through the night.”
“…?”
Lowering his gaze slowly, Wang Hae finally understood why the eunuch had made such a strange coughing sound.
“Ahem! I’ll fix it myself.”
He quickly straightened the front of his trousers.
He himself had no idea when the untouched garment had come undone.
Wang Hae’s eyes drifted toward the annex where she still slept peacefully. As he retraced the moments when they had been close, his lower body throbbed faintly.
Snatching the outer robe draped over the eunuch’s arm and putting it on swiftly, Wang Hae gave his order.
“We are returning to the palace. Prepare at once.”
“…Pardon?”
“It seems the one who was busy all night was you, Chan — judging by how you can’t understand me at once.”
“T-that is not it. I was informed that the Grand Madam is preparing breakfast for Your Majesty.”
The king holding his wedding at a subject’s house was one thing — but insisting he stay for breakfast was less for Wang Hae’s sake and entirely to elevate the State Duke’s authority.
No doubt he wanted to boast to the world that the king had stayed at his residence, spent the first night with his daughter, and even taken breakfast there.
“I’ll leave. I have much to do.”
“If you say ‘much to do’…?”
Chief Eunuch Kim tilted his head. Most court matters were decided by the State Duke and his faction; the king merely lingered around the gyobang and later heard reports of what had been discussed.
Yet suddenly — “much to do”?
“I’ll start by tightening discipline among the eunuchs.”
The men who would be kept closest at her side once she entered the palace.
Unaware of the king’s true meaning, Chief Eunuch Kim mentally reviewed his recent conduct.
Why suddenly regulate the eunuchs he had never shown interest in?
“Discipline… you say…?”
“Are they truly all hwaja?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m asking whether all the eunuchs are truly eunuchs.”
“Of course. The Chief Eunuch personally verifies each one before admitting them into the palace.”
“That’s not enough. I will confirm it with my own eyes.”
“….”
Sweat beading on his forehead, Chief Eunuch Kim reluctantly answered, “Yes.” Any objection would only bring down another thunderous reprimand.
And it would be his own responsibility to smooth things over with the State Duke. At this rate, his head might roll off at the hands of either the king or the duke someday.
Letting out a quiet, deep sigh as he turned—
Chief Eunuch Kim spotted Seoryeon emerging from the annex.
Now someone who must be addressed as Her Majesty the Queen.
Dressed in a plain white cotton skirt, she walked out softly step by step. To Chief Eunuch Kim, she looked like a ray of light — as if the Bodhisattva of Compassion herself had descended to save all beings.
He hurried toward made her.
“Did you rest well last night?”
Seoryeon blinked her round eyes and looked down at the man who suddenly bowed before her.
From his attire, she quickly recognized him as a eunuch. And seeing Wang Hae standing at a distance watching them with displeasure, she guessed he must be the king’s direct attendant.
“Ah— I am the humble eunuch Kim Chan. I beg your pardon for blocking your path, but His Majesty says he will return to the palace immediately, so I came to ask what you intend to do, Madam.”
“Return to the palace?”
Already?
That would be troublesome.
‘From now on, when you enter my bedchamber, come just like this.’
At the memory of last night — the way his touch had explored every corner of her body — the fine hairs all over Seoryeon’s skin stood on end.
She did not particularly wish to return so quickly to where his bedchamber was.
“If His Majesty wishes to return, tell him to go ahead. I would like to stay a while longer.”
Expecting the answer he wanted, Chief Eunuch Kim immediately ran to Wang Hae and relayed her words exactly.
“What? She’ll stay?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Unlike Wang Hae’s thoroughly displeased tone, the eunuch’s voice carried a hint of relief.
With a dubious expression, Wang Hae looked down at Kim Chan’s head before shifting his gaze toward Seoryeon standing before the annex.
Just then, she too was looking his way, as if waiting to see his reaction.
Their sharp gazes met in midair.
So… you want to try me?
Though he could clearly see through her attempt to avoid returning to the palace, the situation — both in circumstance and in etiquette — was unfavorable to him.
In Goryeo, it was customary for a son-in-law to live with his wife’s family and repay their grace through labor or wealth. He had already brought carts full of riches, but the king’s dignity was another matter. Unless the queen accompanied him, if he returned to the palace alone, rumors might arise that the newlywed royal couple was already on bad terms.
‘For
