A Kind Goblin's Bird

Court Lady Yoon, who recalled the same time, opened her mouth with a face full of injustice.

“Your Highness, I will never,”

“I don’t want to hear it, so stop.”

“Your Highness…… !”

“It is as if the lowly one dares to disrespect me by speaking about the mercy of the Exalted One. Know that your master is a noble person, and that your humble life is not known. Get out of here right now.”

Court Lady Yoon looked up at Sa Heon-yeong.

She herself raised him. King Mun, who she was proud of even if others call him the demon king. 

As a court lady, she did not have any children, so Sa Heon-yeong was actually no different from her children. But sometimes she thinks. If he had been her real child, on that summer day, would she have been able to tell the Crown Prince about the mask? 

She didn’t know that the Crown Prince could be so cruel. Had she known he would be so cruel, she wouldn’t have said it…… , no, could she not have said it? It would have been difficult for her to save her own life if someone else had told the Crown Prince about it. How can she not say it?

Why can’t you understand my situation? Except for that time, I did my best for you.

It was only once, Your Highness. Only once.

“My wife will greet her tomorrow. If you know, disappear with that filthy thing.”

It was as if telling her to disappear from his life.

Court Lady Yoon looked up at Sa Heon-yeong and politely bowed her head.

“I will take my leave.”

Before Court Lady Yoon could even speak, Sa Heon-Young turned his back. Seeing him disappear, Court Lady Yoon bit her lip.

*

The next morning, the frost fell.

Sa Heon-yeong took Young-young, who had lost consciousness because of the long relationship, and carefully put her into the bathtub. Hng. Young-young shuddered slightly from the heat, but soon she calmed down again.

There was the sound of crackling, tapping, and sparks from the furnace. Young-young, who rested her head on the arm that Sa Heon-young gave to her, slept with her mouth wide open and wheezing. 

Sa Heon-yeong’s hands carefully wiped away her sensitive areas, and she groaned.

“Unng, hng. Wh, what…….”

“Are you waking up?”

Lord Heon-young? Young-young whispered. She didn’t mean to ask if it’s Lord Heon-young. It was more of a confirmation tone. Sa Heon-young, who felt happy at the voice saying, ‘It should be you,’ kissed her round forehead.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“You said we were going to the palace together today.”

“Yes. I will take the wife to the Empress Hall, and I have an attendance.”

Attendance. That means going to work. Young-young blinked her eyes and remembered the Empress. She was a very beautiful woman. Young-young had never met such a beautiful woman since she was born. But looking back, she was a little scared.

“Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Queen Mother. You have to call her Queen Mother.”

Sa Heon-yeong shook his head and corrected it. Young-young asked slowly.

“Queen Mother?”

“You’re my wife. She has become your mother. It means Empress Mother.”

“Her Majesty Queen Mother,”

“No, just Queen Mother. You can say that. When she calls you, all you have to do is say Queen Mother.”

“It’s hard.”

“Yes, the court system is a bit complicated in the first place.”

Young-young sighed. Not only her but also Sa Heon-yeong was naked. Unable to hold onto his collar, she grabbed Sa Heon-yeong’s long hair.

“Lord Heon-young speaks a lot of difficult things……, I can’t do that.”

Young-young muttered anxiously with a sullen face. Sa Heon-yeong whispered as he comforted her.

“Anyway, the only thing the Queen Mother wants from the wife is a song. She said it in the first place. I think she’ll ask you to do it once.”

“Yes.”

“You can come and sing a song while she takes a nap. You don’t have to say difficult things.”

Of course, the Queen Mother will despise her for all eternity. But it didn’t matter, because after this job he’d never let Young-young into that messy place again. She only needs to go there once.

The hazy face showed no sign of clearing, so Sa Heon-yeong brought a sweet proposal to her.

“Tomorrow, let’s go out together to the market and pick a bow to take to the hunt.”

“Market?”

Young-Young had never been out before. She had been told it was a very large place, but she didn’t know the size of the place, so she tilted her head. 

Market? What kind of place is that? Young-young was quite curious about it. 

She was like a bird. But unlike before, Sa Heon-yeong has become quite generous with this bird. This bird, even when the cage door was open, only tilted, but never left the cage. 

It was a bird that only walked out by touching Sa Heon-yeong’s finger. Without Sa Heon-yeong’s embrace, the bird did not move. She thought she couldn’t move.

As long as she was in his arms, he’ll let her enjoy everything in the world. Sa Heon-young smiled brightly.