Chapter 2
Hyül halted once he had left the vicinity of the royal audience hall.
Before him stood Jaseondang, the residence where he had lived during his days as Crown Prince. Having remained empty for ten years, the area surrounding it was steeped in silence.
Thud, thud. The sound of green plums dropping from the branches of the plum trees lining the wall and rolling across the ground rang out with unusual clarity.
“Must you really go this far?”
Hyül spoke as though wronged.
“Indeed. Had you not broken your promise, I would have had no reason to do this.”
“Just once! I failed to keep it only once—yesterday. And for that, you came all the way to the audience hall? It’s not as if I would disappear or run away.”
“Listen, Your Majesty.”
The woman looking at him smiled calmly.
“You said something very similar ten years ago, didn’t you?”
“Th-that was…”
“Think back ten years. You broke your promise to me, stole what I cherished most, and even toyed with me using lies. And now you claim to be wronged? Tell me—who is truly being unreasonable here?”
“…Why bring that up again?”
“Why else? Because you seem to keep forgetting that you’re a liar and a thief—no, a seed-stealing thief.”
“A seed—seed-stealing thief? I am the King of Joseon!”
Hyül’s voice rose in indignation. The woman watching him widened her eyes with interest.
“Oh my, Hyül…”
At the sudden sound of his name, his eyes trembled.
Strange. Whenever she called him like that, his mind seemed to drift into a haze.
“You’ve become quite the man now. You even know how to get angry.”
As she strode toward him, a peculiar fragrance wafted through the air. The hem of her blue skirt brushed lightly against the trailing edge of his crimson dragon robe.
“There’s no need for a long conversation, is there? I’ll be gone from your life soon anyway.”
She met his gaze. They stood so close that he could clearly see his own dazed reflection in her eyes.
“Come to me every night, as you promised. I’ll keep my promise to you as well. After that, I’ll leave the palace as you wish. Understood?”
Her gaze was overwhelmingly intense.
He wanted to look away—but for some reason, he could not. Her face, her scent, her red lips, her warm breath—they were all far too close.
“Hyül.”
At the sound of his name, Hyül snapped out of his daze and looked at her, flustered.
Was he bewitched by those lips? Just like the boy he had been ten years ago.
Startled, Hyül stepped back. Unfortunately, he stepped on one of the unripe plums scattered across the ground—just another sign of his abysmal luck.
“Ah—!”
He lost his balance and was about to fall.
It happened in an instant.
The woman moved swiftly, catching him in her arms. Before he knew it, Hyül had fallen straight into her embrace.
“You…”
She smiled brightly.
“You owe me again.”
And that debt—you’ll repay it dearly.
“Excuse me, Gyeomsabok.”
Lost in thought, Munchang lifted his head. Before him stood a group of officials who had witnessed the commotion in the audience hall.
“That court lady who received the royal favor—what is her identity? Who in the world is she…?”
“I do not know.”
Munchang cut him off sharply. The man who had asked the question frowned.
“Do you take me for a fool? I hear you secretly brought her into the palace. And that on that very day, you accompanied His Majesty on an incognito inspection.”
“I know nothing of it.”
“Why is it that you always claim ignorance?”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Wait! Gyeomsabok!”
Munchang left without so much as a backward glance. He heard them grumbling—calling him an insolent youth, a lowborn man emboldened by the king’s favor—but he paid them no heed.
‘Still… she truly is suspicious.’
As he walked aimlessly to avoid the officials, his expression grew serious.
‘Even if she shares an intimate relationship with His Majesty, how could she behave like that before him…? I should investigate her background.’
At that moment, sensing something, Munchang halted.
“Gasp.”
A short exclamation escaped his lips. In the distance, he saw Hyül—and the woman in question.
Munchang blinked.
What did one call that again? Not a “princess carry,” but a “king’s carry”…?
Then, clearly, Hyül’s voice reached his ears.
“Please put me down, Immortal!”
Immortal…?
Only then did Hyül notice Munchang’s presence, and panic spread across his face. Twisting his body awkwardly, he managed to free himself from the woman’s arms.
To be seen like this by Munchang—caught being held by a woman! And more importantly…
“Did Your Majesty just call that court lady ‘Immortal’?”
“D-did I?”
“Yes. I heard it clearly. You addressed her as ‘Immortal,’ Your Majesty…”
“No, that can’t be!”
Hyül blurted out hastily.
“I—I said ‘teacher.’”
“…Teacher?”
“That’s right. Teacher!”
Munchang blinked again. It was less strange than “Immortal,” perhaps—but “teacher” was hardly any less peculiar.
The woman interjected.
“That is correct, sir. His Majesty calls me his teacher. You are aware, are you not? That His Majesty visits my quarters every night.”
“What… exactly does he learn?”
The woman looked at Munchang with an enigmatic smile.
“Hmm… how to become a true man?”
As if amused by her own words, she burst into laughter.
“In any case, you must have business with His Majesty, so I’ll take my leave. And, Your Majesty—”
She cast a meaningful glance at Hyül.
“Do not forget tonight’s lesson.”
With light, graceful steps, she departed, her skirt swaying gently.
The smiling court lady, the king who felt like weeping, and the bodyguard who understood nothing—each of them recalled the day, just a few days ago, when their fates first intertwined.
“Oh dear… when on earth will it rain?”
“It’s been over a hundred days without a single drop. This year’s harvest is ruined.”
A small tavern on the outskirts of Hanseong.
There were only a few patrons: a group of three traveling merchants who seemed to have closed shop early, and two noble scholars seated a short distance away. The merchants had been drinking since midday, chattering endlessly about all manner of topics.
“With a drought this severe, what is the king even doing? Shouldn’t he at least hold a rain ritual?”
“Bah, a rain ritual? Don’t make me laugh! With all the rumors of him being a tyrant, do you think the Rain God would grant us rain just because he performs one?”
One of the merchants frowned as he spoke.
“You’re right. Didn’t you all see it? That notice posted on the wall on our way here!”
“Exactly. With a king like that, it’s no wonder Heaven is angry—”
“Gentlemen.”
“Gah!”
At the sudden voice beside them, all the merchants startled in shock.
One of the two scholars had approached them. Though his attire was refined, there was something rough about his bearing.
“To speak ill of the king in broad daylight, in the middle of a tavern—do you have two lives to spare?”
The merchants’ faces turned pale. After all, slandering the king was a crime worthy of death.
“Y-you’re absolutely right. This fellow must have been overcome by the heat… Come on! Get up! We should take you to a physician.”
One of them spoke in an exaggerated tone, dragging the others along. As they fled the tavern, the scholar addressed his companion.
“Your Majesty. I will go after them briefly.”
“Leave them be. They are merely idle gossipers.”
“The matter of the posted notice concerns me. I will learn what it said and return.”
“…Very well.”
One of the two scholars was none other than King Yi Hyül of Joseon. The other was his bodyguard, Munchang.
Finding Munchang’s reasoning sound, Hyül nodded in approval.
“They are ordinary citizens. Do not treat them harshly.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will return within a quarter hour.”
Soon, Munchang disappeared outside the tavern. A gust of hot wind brushed past the now solitary Hyül.
“A tyrant…”
The purpose of traveling incognito was to gauge the sentiments of the people. If public opinion held that Heaven withheld rain because the king lacked virtue, then he could only accept it.
“Perhaps a rain ritual truly is the answer…”
Murmuring softly, Hyül looked up at the sky. The blazing sunlight poured down mercilessly.
“Oh my, where have all the other gentlemen gone? Well, they say fortune in food is something one is born with. Sir, please have some of this—it’s absolutely delicious!”
The tavern keeper approached with a bright smile, carrying a tray.
How could she not be delighted? The most handsome man she had ever seen in her life was sitting in her tavern.
A sweet fragrance drifted on the breeze—the rich scent of ripe fruit filled the air.
“They’re peaches. As sweet as honey! Since such fine young gentlemen have come to visit, I wanted to offer you at least this much…”
“A-ahhh!”
It happened in an instant.
Hyül sprang to his feet as if launched. Startled by his outcry, the tavern keeper dropped the tray. The large, luscious peaches rolled across the floor toward him.
“Remove those at once! Quickly! Get them away from me!”
Hyül shouted like a man possessed.
The tavern keeper was equally flustered. For such a well-built man to make such a fuss over peaches…
“Take them away! Somewhere out of sight—please!”
Snapping back to her senses, she hastily gathered the peaches and hurried off to the kitchen, shaking her head as if dealing with a madman.
Only then did the thick peach scent dissipate from the heavy air.
“…Peaches…”
Hyül let out a long sigh.
“Of all things… peaches…”
Peaches. Of all the fruits in the world, why bring him peaches?
‘I am cursed.’
Because of that day—ten years ago.
The sleepless nights, the nightmares, the way he woke up begging for his life…
He had never told anyone what he experienced that day.
Who would believe him? Even he himself could scarcely believe it.
“For ten years, nothing happened. Let’s forget it. Forget it…”
Just as Hyül was murmuring to calm himself—
“I smell peaches…”
A woman approached the tavern, as if drawn by something.
She looked as though she had traveled a long distance. Her clothes were covered in dust, and her face showed clear signs of fatigue. Yet her eyes were vividly alive—strangely intense.
Her gaze dropped to the ground.
There lay a large, ripe peach the tavern keeper had missed.
“A peach… If only this were mine…”
She picked it up—and at that very moment, her eyes met Hyül’s.
Their gazes locked.
“You…”
The word slipped from her lips. At the same time, an indistinct groan escaped Hyül.
“You…!”
She raised a finger and pointed at him.
“You!”
“S-s-save me!”
Hyül’s face turned deathly pale as he blurted out a plea for his life.
“Yi Hyül!”
Not only did she dare point at the king, she spoke his royal name without hesitation.
In the next moment, her voice rang out in fury—
“Yi Hyül, you seed-stealing bastard!”
