The Hated Male Concubine

In the early dawn, Hwawoon eventually left his bed and quietly walked to Jeongan Palace’s yard as he couldn’t sleep until that time. There were young court ladies on duty at the door, but they were already asleep leaning against the wall, so Hwawoon muted both his breath and step. He approached the swing that was shown only by moonlight, then sat on it.

He knew that it would not be good for his body to not be able to sleep like this, and he knew that if Ahjin knew, she would worry and nag him about it, but he really couldn’t sleep today. This was because his heart, which had been pounding so hard uncontrollably ever since when he was in Suhwawon, was still not calming down until the deep night.

“Because you are now a different person from that person.”

When Hwawoon sat on the swing and tried to take a deep breath, the emperor’s words lingered in his ears again like the wind. It had already been replayed hundreds of times in his head, but when he recalled that voice, his heart felt like it was dropping down on the floor again.

He wondered if the emperor knew that those words were like the sound of the opening of the world to him. If the emperor guessed that it was such a sentence that destroyed and rebuilt Hwawoon’s world like a violent thunderstorm.

How deep you will have remained in Hwawoon’s heart with that sentence alone—do you know it even the slightest, Your Majesty? 

Everything about the emperor was always like this in Hwawoon’s life. When he stretched his head out from the palanquin to look at his people. When he informed about Hawoon’s death, saying someone die miserably because of you to Hawoon who became Yeon Hwawoon. When he comforted the sick Hwawoon, telling him to stay here. And now too.

The emperor was just someone who showed his benevolent personality, but all his words and actions became greed, a consolation, a light, and warmth to Hwawoon every time. 

Therefore, Hwawoon may never be someone significant to the emperor, but how could that person not be a significant person and fate to Hwawoon?

This wasn’t about the romantic feeling. This was not just a feeling of longing for affection and love. To Hwawoon, the emperor had a much greater and broader meaning than that. Just as humans consider the sunshine of spring warm, the sun of summer brilliant, the wind of autumn refreshing, and the white snow of winter beautiful. To Hwawoon, the emperor was everything in the world that he cherished and glorified.

And here today he was allowed a new life by his world.

Hwawoon closed his eyes and took a big breath while welcoming the moonlight with his whole body. After waking up as Hwawoon, he was always nervous and under pressure, so he filled his lungs with the fresh night air that he had never felt properly. 

It was a long time ago that Hawoon woke up as Yeon Hwawoon, but it was only now that he truly lived a new life.

A single tear falling down his closed eyes was probably a joyful tear. 

***

Ahjin was still looking at the figure in front of her with a half-dazed face. The one Ahjin gave such a gaze was none other than the general officer of the Department of Internal Affairs, Jung Wonjung, who didn’t care about Ahjin’s gaze and was talking about how much attention he paid to what he brought with him, that those were made of precious materials, and how much effort poured in the making. 

“I chose this fabric because I heard you like blue, and if you look at the embroidery here…” 

Early in the morning, people from the Department of Internal Affairs came to Jeongan Palace. General Officer Jung, who brought Yeonbin’s new clothes and accessories, had been busy explaining this and that in front of Yeonbin, who was not very interested in clothes.

It was not surprising because it was common for the Department of Internal Affairs to send goods, but the reason why Ahjin was now frozen was that General Officer Jung personally came to Jeongan Palace with her master’s goods and explained them. This was the first time except when he came to greet Yeonbin in the early days he entered the palace and became the owner of Jeongan Palace.

The Department of Internal Affairs was by nature the most sensitive to power relations within the internal court. They acted like they would give everything when someone held the strongest authority in the internal court or when someone got the emperor’s unrivaled favor, but when that someone lost the authority and the emperor’s love, they turned away relentlessly and looked down on them. 

Those arrogant people would never treat Yeonbin, who reached a situation where he couldn’t wish for the emperor’s love forever, so there was no reason found for the general officer to come personally to Jeongan Palace.

Of course, even without the emperor’s love, Yeonbin had his father’s name, so the Department of Internal Affairs wouldn’t abandon him as they pleased. Nevertheless, they were acting like giving great mercy to Jeongan Palace.

Yeonbin certainly was enraged with the Department of Internal Affairs’ attitude and made a scene numerous times, but the Department of Internal Affairs, which had dealt with any kind of concubines throughout a long history, wasn’t an easy opponent. Jeongan Palace and the Department of Internal Affairs were just like water and oil. They really were.

But Officer Jung of that department—the very person who always clicked his tongue and turned his gaze whenever he met courtiers of Jeongan Palace—walked personally to Jeongan Palace.

This was a truly surprising thing even for Ahjin, who directly felt that the position of His Highness Yeonbin in the imperial palace was changing every day.

“Do you like it, Your Highness Yeonbin?” 

Meanwhile, Officer Jung, who had finished his long explanation, drew a friendly smile and asked Yeonbin. Hwawoon, who actually didn’t understand half of his explanation about the embroidery and the fabric, talked with a polite voice without losing his smile. 

“This is a very excessive sincerity for me, so how could I not like it? Thank you, Officer Jung.”

“What do you mean by excessive? Your Highness Yeonbin is the only one who suits these clothes in this imperial palace. And this one…”

Ahjin was in awe inside at Officer Jung’s shameless act—completely changed his attitude towards Yeonbin, acting as if he didn’t remember anything that happened so far and regarding it as nothing even though he was the one who not only knew well about the relationship between Jeongan Palace and the Department of Internal Affairs but also the one who made it become like that. 

As if something had suddenly come to mind, Officer Jung signaled a eunuch, who was at the door, and the young eunuch waiting outside came inside with a long box carefully.

“I prepared this especially because I heard you asked for this…” 

While saying that, Officer Jung opened the box personally and there was a wooden sword that Hwawoon asked through Ahjin inside. 

“Ah…!”

Hwawoon, who was just listening to Officer Jung’s explanation with courtesy, turned bright at once. Hwawoon almost jumped out of his seat because he was really happy. Light-colored eyes twinkled in an instant, and when Hwawoon’s response as he looked at the wooden sword inside changed at once, Officer Jung, who became a little more excited, approached Yeonbin and continued. 

“There are indeed piles of wooden swords for practice in our storage, but we can’t give any sword to you, can we? Therefore, I especially chose the material and made a new sword for you, Your Highness Yeonbin. Would you like to hold it once?” 

Hwawoon, who was already impatient before the officer’s words flowed out, reached out and grabbed the wooden sword in front of him as soon as the officer finished speaking. Both the nice grip and lightweight, it was clearly shown that it was made carefully even though he didn’t swing it.  

“I don’t know how to thank you for your sincerity when I just need any usable wooden sword. Thank you so much, Officer Jung.” 

“Don’t mention it, Your Highness Yeonbin. But… I would appreciate it if you could remember that I made a small effort like this later.”

Officer Jung said that and bowed, but he didn’t forget to furtively look up to examine Yeonbin’s expression. Ahjin stared at Officer Jung with her eyes narrowed because she was suspicious of the officer’s low-key attitude, but in fact, when the Department of Internal Affairs was being indifferent to Jeongan Palace, Ahjin herself had expected nothing from her master, so she was not in a position to say anything.

“Of course, Officer Jung. How could I forget this grateful thing?”

In the meantime, Hwawoon, who carefully examined the wooden sword, replied with a wide smile on his face as if he were sincerely happy. Officer Jung looked keenly at Hwawoon’s face for a moment and then bowed back again. The meeting on that day was more unpredictable than the emperor’s visit to Jeongan Palace.