SMHER C10

10. The Moment He Saw Her Lips

Sneaking quietly into the gisaeng house, Jaein hurried into an empty room and quickly changed her clothes.

Among the flamboyant garments worn by the courtesans, she chose the simplest one she could find and changed into it. Afterward, she covered her face with a jangot.

Surely he didn’t follow me all the way here…

For some reason, she felt as if the man who had been chasing her had entered the gisaeng house as well. Remaining on high alert, Jaein moved quickly.

I need to get home as soon as possible.

Slipping out through the side door of the gisaeng house, she tightened her grip on the jangot, wary of being seen.

Ever since becoming Hong Maehwa, she had prepared herself for a moment like this. Yet now that the danger of being discovered was right before her, impatience surged through her like a burning flame.

Her family, which would be destroyed because of her.
Her father’s disappointed gaze, unable to believe what he saw.
The resentful stares of her stepmother and Jeongeon…

Recalling all of it, Jaein pressed her lips together tightly and kept walking straight ahead.

It was already strange enough for a noble young lady to be hurrying near a gisaeng house late at night, but she had no leisure to worry about such things. Just as she hurriedly turned a corner—

“Ah!”

She collided with a man who had appeared out of nowhere.

Focused entirely on walking quickly and staring only at the tips of her feet, Jaein had been unable to prepare for the sudden situation. Her body tilted backward.

In that brief instant, countless thoughts tangled in her mind.

If I do a somersault in midair while wearing a skirt and land… that would look incredibly strange, wouldn’t it?

She was blankly thinking such a thing when the man she had collided with grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him so she wouldn’t fall.

Fortunately, she avoided falling—but unable to overcome the rebound, her jangot slipped down.

Who in the world walks around without watching where they’re going…!

Suppressing her irritation, Jaein lifted her head.

Their eyes met.

And almost simultaneously, both of them exclaimed.

“Y-You…?”

“C-Crown Prince… Your Highness?!”

The very face that had been tormenting Jaein by intruding into her thoughts at every opportunity was now looking down at her.

Unable to believe it, she blinked. He too seemed never to have imagined meeting her in such a place; a crease formed between his brows.

How long had they been staring at each other?

Jaein realized that the pounding heartbeat she felt was not her own. Wan had been supporting her body so she wouldn’t fall, and she could feel his heartbeat clearly.

They were far too close.

When the warmth of his breath brushed the tip of her nose, Jaein felt her mind grow faint.

Am I seeing things?

It seemed as though the look in his eyes as he gazed at her had deepened.

Unconsciously swallowing, she spoke.

“Y-Your Highness… c-could you p-please… let go… for a moment…?”

Only after Jaein wriggled slightly did Wan realize that she was trapped in his arms.

In that urgent moment, he had simply prevented her from falling, and fortunately the situation had ended without serious trouble. Naturally, he should release her as she requested.

Yet absurdly, a mad thought suddenly arose—that he wanted to remain like this.

Startled by his own thoughts, Wan let out an awkward laugh.

“Ah… I-I’m sorry.”

Once again, words of apology slipped out against his will.

Hearing his own voice, which he could hardly believe belonged to him, Wan flinched slightly. Since when had he become so accustomed to apologizing?

Stiffening, he slowly lowered the hand that had been supporting her waist and released the wrist he had been gripping.

Strangely, however, the moment she slipped out of his arms, a faint sense of loss rose within him.

Just as Wan frowned in surprise at the unfamiliar emotion—

“I’m certain she came this way.”

“She just left a moment ago, so she can’t have gone far.”

Noisy voices approached.

The moment he realized the owners of those voices were the gisaeng who had persistently followed him earlier, his mind went blank.

“I’ve never felt like this before. Is this what they call love at first sight?”

“Stop talking nonsense and find him quickly. If we lose the scholar, it’ll all be over.”

Bickering among themselves again, the gisaeng looked around.

The sight of them lifting their skirts and hurrying about with such enthusiasm sent chills down his spine.

They would discover him the moment they turned the corner. Imagining what would happen afterward made Wan dizzy.

For a crown prince who was normally unshakable in any situation, it was an extraordinary reaction.

“Hey… I think it’s that way.”

One of the gisaeng pointed precisely in the direction where Wan and Jaein stood.

Wan grew anxious.

What tenacious creatures… Stop right there!

He wanted to shout loudly, but doing so would clearly create an even more troublesome situation.

“Well then. Excuse me for a moment.”

Without time to think, Wan grabbed Jaein’s wrist and ran toward the dark, narrow end of the alley.

“Pardon? Y-Your Highness?”

Suddenly dragged along by Wan and trapped within the narrow, dark alley, Jaein had no idea how to deal with this bewildering situation.

Preoccupied with the pursuing gisaeng, Wan had not realized how close their bodies were.

When the gisaeng appeared nearby, he instinctively pushed Jaein further toward the end of the wall.

“He should be here—! Huh? He’s not?”

The gisaeng who had been certain Wan would be there drooped her shoulders in disappointment when she saw no one.

“If it’s not here, maybe the other side? Hurry before he disappears!”

The gisaeng ran off in the opposite direction.

Only then did Wan release a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately… we weren’t discovered—”

Muttering unconsciously, he turned his head.

The moment his eyes met Jaein’s, he could say nothing more.

He had been captivated by the fluttering of her long eyelashes.

Her eyebrows were neatly shaped like half-moons. Her eyes were clear and pure.

Her fair skin, her high nose bridge—

And her luscious lips…

Lips?!

Wan, who had been simply letting his thoughts follow what he saw, lost his ability to think the moment his gaze stopped on Jaein’s lips.

Once the word lips entered his mind, it imprinted itself there. He could think of nothing else.

He had always been a man of discipline and strict propriety, never allowing even his steps to falter.

And yet now he was shaken.

His eyes trembled. His breathing faltered.

He wanted to avert his gaze elsewhere, but he simply could not.

Is this what it feels like to be bewitched by a goblin?

Gripped by a strange and incomprehensible emotion, he stood still as if nailed to the spot, staring at her.

Jaein, feeling the heat of his gaze as it rested on her face, could not lift her head.

Why is he like this? Is there something on my face?

She felt inexplicably embarrassed.

Yet there was nothing she could do about her racing heart.

Every place his gaze touched felt as if it had been burned by fire.

Blink. Blink.

Awkwardly blinking her eyes, she finally lifted her head—and their gazes collided.

Jaein immediately regretted it.

I shouldn’t have looked up.

I shouldn’t have met his eyes.

It felt as though she might be drawn into them.

For the first time, she realized that within a person’s eyes there could exist a vast plain, torrential rain, and towering mountain ranges.

And in that immense space, only she was reflected.

Her chest tightened.

Without realizing it, Jaein let out the breath she had been holding.

Only then did she notice she had stopped breathing from tension.

The sound of her deep breath finally brought Wan back to his senses.

Today, he had been strange.

Unreasonably so.

And worse, he had been rude.

“I apologize.”

Barely managing those words, he stepped away from Jaein.

“N-No, it’s quite alright. Were you perhaps in some sort of trouble?”

Jaein asked, recalling what she had seen earlier.

“Ah… th-that is…”

Wan stiffened, unable to find the right words.

A crown prince being chased by gisaeng…

How could he possibly explain that?

The only thing certain was that it was a situation very easy to misunderstand.

“Not at all. There was no trouble.”

It seemed ridiculous to ramble on with excuses, so he simply replied firmly that nothing had happened.

“I see. That is a relief. I thought perhaps Your Highness might have been in danger… In that case, may I take my leave?”

“Y-Yes… you may.”

He had no reason to stop her.

Nor could he ask why she had been passing through such a place.

The moment he asked, it felt as though an unknown crack would appear in his emotions, and the fortress-like world he had carefully built would collapse.

“Then I shall take my leave. Please travel safely.”

Afraid that if he looked into her eyes once more he might unconsciously grab her wrist again, Wan merely nodded silently at Jaein’s farewell.

And he watched for a long time as the bright moon illuminated her path with pale light.

Late that night, the lights in Yeonghwa Hall, the residence of Royal Consort Jeongbin, remained lit.

The reason was that Left State Councillor Gwak Ji-un had come to visit.

“I hear His Majesty has not been visiting you as often lately?”

Receiving his sharp gaze directly, Jeongbin shrank slightly and replied in a small voice.

“Th-that is… my monthly illness has lasted longer than usual this month…”

“Regardless, you must pay closer attention.”

At his displeased expression, Jeongbin’s fingertips trembled as though she had committed some crime.

“I… I will do so.”

She understood better than anyone what lay behind the look in his eyes.

Who was it that had elevated her status so she could be called Mama, a royal consort?

If she knew that, should she not repay the favor?

And the way to repay it was simple—hold onto the king’s body and heart by any means necessary.

The price for turning her lowly blood into something noble was to use her pretty face and voluptuous body a hundred times over to satisfy his desires.

Yes.

She was a tool.

Not a person—a tool.

That had been Ji-un’s purpose in adopting her as his daughter.

Jeongbin lowered her trembling hands beneath the desk to hide them.

Even though she should have grown used to his attitude of treating her like an object…

Her gentle and soft nature left her unable to protest. She simply suppressed the pain in her heart once again.

“How has Prince Yeongan been lately?”

“H-He is doing well.”

At Jeongbin’s reply, Ji-un’s eyebrow twitched.

Had she taken his question as mere polite conversation?

Even frustration had its limits.

“I hear he wanders outside constantly. How can he accomplish anything important like that?”

“I-I apologize.”

Even though a grown prince living independently could hardly be controlled like a child under her skirt, Jeongbin lowered her head as if it were entirely her fault.

In truth, she did not even know what Prince Yeongan—Juhyeon—was doing or how he spent his days.

Ji-un still could not smooth the crease between his brows.

Whatever she said, Jeongbin’s timid attitude displeased him.

If only the Crown Prince were a little less capable, there would have been no need for such reckless moves.

The political situation was becoming increasingly unpleasant.

A brilliant, sharp Crown Prince.

And Prince Yeongan, who drifted about like a wastrel.

As they say, you can tell a good tree from its sprout.

Prince Yeongan was clearly hopeless.

He had once considered pushing him forward as the next ruler when the timing was right, but—

Blood will tell, after all.

In that case, it would be better to rearrange the board entirely.