The Hated Male Concubine

Actually, despite the fact that Jeongan Palace had such a beautiful garden, it was difficult to find a vase in the living room or bedroom where Yeonbin stayed frequently.

Yeonbin didn’t like the flower itself very much, and whenever things went wrong, he would be busy throwing away all the vases he could get his hands on. Thus, the court ladies of Jeongan Palace, who had been troubled several times, rarely put the flowers sent by the Department of Internal Affairs near Yeonbin anymore. 

However, the fact that such people put flowers in a vase and offered it to their master on their own accord meant that there had been a slight change in the minds of those who had been suspecting Yeonbin. Ahjin was excited about it above anything else. At this moment, she even seemed to not remember that she herself had been doubting Yeonbin’s heart until recently.

Hwawoon asked the young court lady, who still looked flustered.

“What is your name?”

“Yes, Your Highness… My, my name is Seoseo.”

“Seoseo… thanks to all of you, I feel more refreshed. Thank you very much.”

“Your happiness is ours, Your Highness. Then I’ll get going now.”

Even after making the flower arrangement, the court ladies couldn’t decide on who would bring it in, so they scuffled for a long time. Seoseo, the court lady who had been eventually pushed to bring it in, unconsciously smiled when she saw her master smile at her and returned with light steps unlike when she entered. 

She had a lot to say to those who were waiting for her to come out.

“Your Highness.”

Ahjin called for Hwawoon, who was looking at the back of the young court lady with a smile. As Hwawoon turned away and erased his smile because her voice seemed to be somewhat low, Ahjin, who was holding the vase tightly, said to Hwawoon,

“No one believed Your Highness would change at first.”

“…”

“Neither did I. The more you treat me kindly, the more scared I was because I was afraid I would believe you and let my guard down and ended up getting tricked.”

There was a saying that even though you know the depth of the waters, you couldn’t know the depth of a human’s heart. Moreover, her master was someone who behaved capriciously twelve times in a day, so how could Ahjin be sure about her master’s mind at that time?

“However, you eventually changed our minds.”

But Ahjin thought, If my master’s heart is sincere at all, if he truly wants to reflect on all the mistakes of the past and correct everything he has done wrong now,

“And now you’ve changed those kids who were trembling just by listening to your voice.”

Ahjin thought she had to help her master so that he wouldn’t give up because of the lonely feeling that no one believed in him. It was a path for her master who was only despised in this imperial palace, but at the same time, it was also for herself.

Ahjin laughed as she looked at Hwawoon’s eyes, which were shaking. She wondered if he was touched by the words said by her, who was no more than a mere maid.

“So, Your Highness, even His Majesty’s heart… someday you’ll be able to return it too. I believe so.”

Ahjin decided to willingly stand by her master’s side sincerely for his sake and herself.

***

“Did you also hear about yesterday’s event, Your Majesty?”

Sukbi was the first to bring up the topic in the place where every concubine gathered to give morning greetings to the empress. At the same time, the eyes of those who gathered in the empress palace were sparkling with amusement. What happened at Jeongan Palace yesterday made the whole imperial palace noisy.

“I did hear it.”

“Doesn’t this mean Yeonbin is even doing ridiculous acting now?” 

“He is perhaps doing his last desperate act since His Majesty doesn’t look at him even after he jumped to the water.” 

When the empress said that she also knew about the news, Sukbi, who was sitting in front of her, and the other concubines talked about Yeonbin. While the empress didn’t talk more, Sukbi opened her mouth again.

“When His Majesty came to Unhwa Palace last time, he even gnashed his teeth when he talked about Yeonbin… It seems like since there is no chance for him to change His Majesty’s heart, that almighty Yeonbin has no choice but to pretend to be obedient.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Still, how long would he go on…”

It was Jeongbin, Jeong Songhyeon who once again responded to Sukbi.

They couldn’t guess perfectly what Yeonbin was planning by doing such a move. There was no doubt that it was his trick to lure the emperor, but everyone was convinced that his behavior this time wouldn’t last long, no matter what kind of plan he had.