FDOT 06

Chapter 6 …

The Daughter of the Duke

Wang Hae couldn’t take his eyes off the name written on the paper.

Lee Seoryeon.

The person beside him had definitely called her that.

For a moment, Wang Hae felt his heart drop—but then it began to race uncontrollably.

Though he hoped it wasn’t true, deep down, he felt a different stir of emotions.

“Lee Seoryeon… you mean she is the adopted daughter of the Duke?”

“She is a child picked up from the street, raised in the temple, and thus unaware of worldly matters. Therefore, there is much to teach her.”

The woman was also dressed in monk’s robes.

It could have been a coincidence of the same name, but from the name itself and all the circumstances, everything pointed to her being the Duke’s daughter—Lee Seoryeon.

Could it be that this woman was truly the Duke’s adopted daughter?

Wang Hae felt bitter about the fact, yet in some strange way, he also felt pleased.

The Duke immediately scrutinized Wang Hae’s expression.

Seeing Wang Hae’s face change so distinctly, the Duke, as if shoving more fire into a stove, stoked the man’s emotions further.

“This child was secretly brought in, so I understand why Your Majesty might be taken aback. I hope Your Highness will kindly look upon her favorably.”

It was natural that the queen would be shocked. For the daughter of another household, both the family and social status would be lower than the queen’s, so she could dismiss her. But for the Duke’s adopted daughter, it was a different matter.

Moreover, since she was an adopted daughter, unlike the times of the Yeondeok Palace, there would be less opposition from officials worried about royal inbreeding. Once the king himself gave his approval, this royal marriage would proceed smoothly.

Still, it was hard to predict the depths of the Duke’s ambitions. She was no ordinary woman; she possessed formidable swordsmanship skills. The Duke could not have brought her in without knowing this.

“I am curious… an adopted daughter secretly chosen by the Duke?”

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Wang Hae’s lips.

“In that case, perhaps it is best to refrain from frequenting the gyo-bang. It is hardly proper for the king to visit there so often, and…”

“My efforts notwithstanding, how can I resist the butterfly drawn to the flower?”

This time, Wang Hae cut him off. No matter how beautiful the woman placed before him, he had no intention of dancing to anyone else’s tune.

“Do not forget that our late king fell ill from frequent visits to the gyo-bang.”

“…!”

“I trust you will choose a day today, and I shall take my leave.”

Though spoken politely, it was a veiled threat.

Wherever the king walked, his life rested entirely in the Duke’s hands.

Alone in the empty throne hall, Wang Hae slammed the table in frustration.

“Damn it!”

They called it a royal marriage, but in truth, it was as if he were being asked to choose the day someone would put a blade to his neck.

After all, if the king could discard even his own daughter so easily, why should it be any different?

“Kim Naegwan! Kim Naegwan, are you outside?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I must leave the palace immediately.”

“B-But… the Duke specifically requested that the royal marriage be confirmed today…”

Kim Naegwan’s voice was almost begging for mercy.

“Decide that as you see fit.”

The wedding day itself no longer mattered. First, he would find that blade and break it.

Haewolru (Sea Moon Pavilion)

Haewolru, a pavilion under Haewolgak, was named so because the moonlight over the sea looked especially beautiful there.

By sheer chance, drunk and wandering, Seoryeon arrived at this very place.

“Why am I… here?”

Just as she turned to leave, the faint sound of a haegeum floated from inside the walls.

Enchanted by the delicate music, Seoryeon climbed the wall in one leap and landed on the pavilion roof.

Lying on her elbows, gazing at the slicing full moon, she murmured softly,

“How lovely…”

A sound once so tiresome could now feel so delightful.

As a child, it was a lullaby; as she grew, it became a sorrowful, haunting sound, yet part of her had secretly longed for it.

Perhaps due to the alcohol she had drunk in succession, today the haegeum’s notes seemed more delicate, more melancholic, brushing a layer of comfort over her complicated heart.

“This… is why people come to the gyo-bang.”

While the dances were beautiful, many came specifically to hear Sohyang’s haegeum. Haegeum meant Sohyang, and Sohyang meant haegeum. But for Seoryeon, it had always been bothersome, like cicadas screaming in the summer. Her mother always played the haegeum after scolding her; the sound left no comfort for a child burdened with resentment. One day, when Seoryeon unexpectedly longed for it, she sneaked onto the Haewolru roof like a night thief. At that exact moment, her mother’s music flowed out.

Only then did Seoryeon realize: her mother had played the haegeum to hide her own cries.

Memories of her mother brought tears to Seoryeon’s cheeks. Rarely one to cry, she startled at the cold touch on her face and sat upright.

The clattering from the roof halted the haegeum immediately.

“Who’s there?!”

Startled by a man’s voice, Seoryeon tried to flee, but her foot slipped.

“O-oh…!”

Just as she was about to crash to the hard ground, a familiar voice intervened.

“Thought you were a stray cat… and yet, it’s you.”

“…!”

It was the man she had sparred with earlier that day.

Before realizing she was in someone’s arms, Seoryeon quickly freed herself and landed on the ground.

“At this point, I suppose it’s fair to say you’ve been following me.”

“F-Following? Who would…”

“Then why are you here? Women don’t usually visit the gyo-bang. You’re not looking for a man, are you?”

“Well… um…”

She couldn’t tell him it was the haegeum that drew her here.

“The moon. You climbed up here to see the moon?”

“The moon isn’t still the moon, even if it’s sliced?”

His defiant tone made him smile.

“What’s that smile for?”

“Envy.”

Surprised by the candid answer, Seoryeon looked at him, unsure if he was serious.

“The life of leisure is the most enviable.”

“Leisure? You think I just loaf around doing nothing?”

“Compared to the gyo-bang women here, you seem more relaxed.”

He settled beneath the pavilion and began to play the haegeum.

Seeing the performance directly, rather than just hearing it, brought far deeper resonance.

The music played by a handsome man, not a heavenly maiden, was utterly mesmerizing.

If there were a gyo-bang where such a man played, anyone would want to come. His performance was flawless.

Perhaps due to the lowering of her guard or the lingering alcohol, Seoryeon felt herself growing drowsy. Her eyelids kept drooping. The exertion of internal power from drunken aerial moves likely contributed as well.

Even after the music stopped, Seoryeon did not wake.

Wang Hae approached to rouse her, but her body leaned into his arms.

Before he could think to push her away, she nestled closer.

And then, the words she whispered froze him.

“Mother…”

He too had lost his mother early, and eventually his father, leaving only the heavy burden of kingship.

This woman, too, had likely lost her parents, as the Duke had said she was picked up from the street.

Despite himself, Wang Hae felt a strange kinship with her, someone whose circumstances were not unlike his own.

“Why… must it be… the Duke’s daughter?”

He quietly let her rest on his lap and observed her.

When the wind disheveled her hair across her face, he gently brushed it aside.

Under the slanting moonlight, her clear face was revealed.

Her round forehead was beautifully high, her long eyelashes delicate above closed eyes.

The once fierce, murderous gaze was gone. Sleeping, she breathed softly through her cherry-red lips, and Wang Hae’s heart began to beat louder.

He had seen countless women, from palace maids to gyo-bang courtesans, but none had captured his attention like her.

Except for one child—the girl who had danced to Sohyang’s gayageum here. Even a heavenly maiden might not have seemed more elegant. That girl had left a lasting impression on Wang Hae.

After his father, the late king, pressed him to visit the gyo-bang, the child had thrown a fit and run off. When he returned to apologize, she had vanished.

Even after ascending the throne, he searched repeatedly, but the girl never appeared.

Sohyang had said she was surely dead, but Wang Hae could not believe it. Her fierce eyes seemed alive.

He only wished she had survived, and still, he waited for her.

And now, absurdly, this woman had dropped from the sky.

Even if she were trying to attack his life, she showed no trace of caution.

He wondered with a strange thrill how she would react if she learned he was the king of Goryeo.

At that moment, a dagger protruded from her chest, catching his eye.

‘One day, this blade might be aimed at my neck.’

Perhaps it was a god-given opportunity.

A chance to cut off the Duke’s ambition and power.

But if she, like the queen, was merely being used by the Duke’s ambition… if she too was deceived without fault…

Just as he thought to retract his hand from the dagger, Seoryeon curled into him, pressing her body between his thighs.