Palace

Three weeks later

Hwan traced the delicate ribbons arranged on the desk in front of him. He had found out the store that sold the best and purchased an assortment encompassing every imaginable hue and design. As he gazed upon the rainbow of fascinating fabric strips, some embroidered, some plain, some shiny, some floral, a vivid image blossomed in his mind's eye - Jay Yi picking them thoughtfully and tying them every morning, the Eastern sun illuminating the translucent glow of her face.

Palace life must look dreadfully dreary and life-sapping, and they would be most unsuitable....

Her words kept echoing in his mind. His thoughts drifted to a sudden recollection of an incident during his confinement at the Eastern Palace as the Crown Prince. Three weeks into it, a complete lack of activity had set off severe boredom, causing him even more depression. His eidetic memory meant there was not much he could read that he already hadn't and didn't remember. So Jay Yi would try to uplift his mood by regaling stories about her pursuits around Gaeseong. Though he did not talk much, or at all, he liked to listen to Jay Yi.

"Once, we tried to sneak into a Giseang's house to listen to music."

Hwan had been appalled.

"We looked too young, so they turned us away," she had added morosely as if a noblewoman dressed as a man sneaking into such a place was utterly commonplace.

"Unfortunately, I also recognised several of Abbuji's men there, so we never could try again."

The relief he had felt at that was enormous.

Jay Yi had moved a small table by his side and sat there, giving him company by either reading or drawing. He had discovered she was a talented artist. "I loved to draw with Abbuji," she had informed him.

Reading was not her strongest suit. Though she loved reading, she could not sustain it for long. One day, he had looked up to see her head resting on an open book, fast asleep.

She would get a stiff neck, he had thought worriedly.

Hwan had slowly risen and gone over to her, carefully trying to ease the book from beneath her head, meaning to replace it with a pillow.

The back of his fingers had accidentally touched her lips, and he had jerked back as flames of desire licked him raw, making him feel ashamed and embarrassed.

Swatting at what she thought was a fly, she barely missed hitting his hand, her slap cutting through the air in front of her mouth, and she woke up.

Flustered, she had plunged headlong into a flurry of apologies for falling asleep in his presence.

Hwan had been so consumed by his inappropriate and perilous reaction to the accidental touch that he had been unable to utter a word, further convincing her he was upset with her.

Closing the book with a thud, she had stood up in repentance, her fervent apologies tumbling one after the other.

Feeling ridiculously tongue-tied, he looked up at her from his still haunched position, her rosy face making him even more conscious of her. Though he had been aware of his powerful feelings for her for a long time by then, he had successfully steered his thoughts from being lustful, a feat he took great pride in.

At that moment, though, all his moral codes of rightful conduct seemed to have flown the closed chamber, leaving him wanting to grasp her hand and feel her lips again.

He had looked down in guilt and mortification, terrified his face would somehow betray his obscene thoughts, and his gaze had fallen on the book.

Etiquette and duties of a noble Queen, Mother of the Nation

That had cooled down his ardour quickly as astonishment took its place.

"How come you are reading this?" Hwan had picked up the book. His heart had jumped. Did she, by chance, hope.....

She had flushed even deeper. Unfortunately, not for the reasons he had assumed, no, rather hoped.

"Ah! Well, you see, Your Highness," she had cleared her throat, "being confined here," she had gestured around awkwardly, "without any work has been, er, relatively uninteresting -"

"You mean dull and incredibly tiresome," Hwan had supplied dryly.

"Er, yes, that. I mean, it's not that I am bored when I am with you," she babbled placatingly, making him smile despite himself, "but sometimes it's hard to just sit around. So I was curious how the women of the Palace spend a lifetime here," she had given the book a sad look, "doing practically nothing -" she had trailed off.

Just reading about being a Queen had proven so dull that she had nodded off to sleep.

Hwan sighed, picking up an orange ribbon similar to the one she had tied the shaman's legs with.

An exquisite golden hairpin would replace it someday if that day ever came. If she agreed. His heart fluttered at the thought. No matter how he tried to break the barriers, she kept erecting new ones.

Obstinate till the end, she had refused to be seen by his side that evening after the woman had been taken away. He had tried to win over her reservations with his passion. In return, she had dug her heels, stubbornly making her way up the slope by herself even though it had been a trudge with her hands obviously hurting and then waiting somewhere out of his sight until the palanquin came for her.

She had melted in his arms that evening; she chirped like a magpie whenever she was with him, yet he knew none of that would be enough to convince her to come to the Palace with him. She was hell-bent on saddling him with a Queen.

However, he was nothing if not tenacious. He would woo, persuade, charm, coax, convince, and do everything he could to make her see she belonged by his side in the Palace.

Starting today.

He had considered visiting her house but decided against it. It was too dangerous. Truthfully, he had been unable to trust himself fully around her lately. It had to be a public place where he would be forced to keep his temptations at bay.

He would meet her today in the evening. His missive to Myung Jin had been short - he was treating everyone to a meal and an update on the fate of the prisoners. He had kept it impersonal so that Jay Yi would not be able to refuse.

It's been three weeks since he had laid eyes on her. He wished he was able to meet her more frequently. The demands on his time at the Court had been brutal, leaving him little time to plan such trysts.

Eunuch So alerted Hwan to the Right Minister Han's presence outside his door.

Carefully packing away the ribbons in a thin, rectangular wooden case bordered with a thin gold line and carved with his initials and Min Jay Yi's name, Hwan asked the minister to enter.

"How have you been, Your Majesty? Is your malaise any better?"

Hwan's 'illness' of sleepless nights and inability to conjure up an appetite had become a significant crisis to everyone but himself. Without being able to tell them that the 'treatment' resided about five miles from the Palace in a school, he could hardly escape their concern or ministrations for a 'cure'.

"It has been better, Councillor Han," Hwan lied.

The Left Minister Han's kind eyes looked at the two names on the paper Hwan presented to him.

"Both the families are closely related to Late Governor Min," the Left Minister observed. "What do you plan for them, Your Majesty?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I found the members of these two families learned, honourable and loyal. I want to pick one of them as Lady Min Jay Yi's guardians and adoptive parents."

If Minister Han was surprised, he did not show it. He carefully laid the paper.

"Hmnn. I know the second family well. Min Gae Sik shared a great deal of affection for Min Ho-Seong. All three sons of this family are well accomplished and top talents in Joseon."

"I am aware of that, and I feel they might suit as an adoptive family admirably."

"Does Lady Min know?"

Hwan shook his head. "Not yet. She might disagree, but I must appoint a guardian family she can fall back on if necessary."

"Is that the only reason, Your Majesty?"

Hwan looked away from the discerning eyes of Minister Han Joon-Ean. It was awkward. Not only did he not know where he stood with Jay Yi, but Minister Han happened to be someone who had once hoped Jay Yi would become his daughter-in-law, especially considering Sung On might not have moved on from Jay Yi's rejection. Hwan had little inkling how Minister Han would take Hwan's desire to bring Jay Yi to the Palace. The last thing Hwan wanted was to hurt or offend the loyal old man who had stood by his side like an unshakable pillar. Furthermore, his upbringing adhered to a code that discouraged the discussion of matters of the heart, especially with esteemed elders, and he was expected to uphold it in keeping with the responsibilities of a sovereign.

The inevitable shyness forced him to look down. "What other reason can there be?" Hwan prevaricated.

A long sigh escaped Minister Han. "Your Majesty, the matter of your marriage -"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Hwan interjected before Minister Han could finish. "I have already met seven families and plan to meet more. I'm confident the situation will resolve in due time.." Hwan stated the half-truths straight-faced.

The seven families he had turned into his loyal followers after scaring their poor daughters of what an ogre they would marry if they consented to wed him.

Hwan had laid three conditions:

-They should not expect him to spend time with them, maybe forever;

-they should learn to adjust to his disagreeable disposition (his nasty reputation preceded him, helping his cause to an infinite degree).

- he would expect them never to meet or even see the faces of their loved ones as he harboured a solid aversion to familial interference.

If these were not enough to scare them away, Hwan had added a secret weapon: If Hwan rejected them, the women would not be allowed to marry ever; however, if they refused him, he would set them free of all conditions.

If his stipulations seemed strange to them, they didn't argue. They could not afford to have him reject them, so they happily obliged by declining to be his Queen. In return, the families were overwhelmingly grateful that Hwan did not take the rejections as a slight, nor did he seek revenge. Instead, he rewarded them with prestigious appointments, solidifying their unwavering loyalty to him for life.

Manyeodang

The bitter cold had driven everyone indoors. Kim Myung Jin puttered around happily as his guests made themselves home around the table. Ga-ram skillfully arranged the plates, presenting an impressive spread that included rice cakes, soup, stew, fish, a variety of succulent vegetables, kimchi stew, and moist, mouthwatering beef roasts.

Adjusting her hat, Jay Yi rubbed her hands together to warm them before hiding them in the folds of her wool tunic. She wriggled her toes to make sure they still existed.

"Cold?" Hwan asked softly.

"I hate cold. My hands freeze, and I can't feel my toes!" She grumbled.

Hwan remembered her complaining about it even as his Eunuch. He had gone to great lengths to keep her within his chambers in the Eastern Palace, away from Eunuch Kim and Eunuch Cha's hawk-like gazes. Hwan had some exhilarating ideas about chasing away the cold from her. Unfortunately, those ideas would have to wait for now.

Hwan pointed at Jay Yi's hands, asking her to open them to him. Jay Yi obliged. He grasped them gently, scrutinising them. The cuts had healed beautifully, and only a scant faint scars remained to tell the story of her jaw-dropping courage.

Jay Yi coloured prettily. "They have healed completely, Scholar Park, by your grace." She yanked her hands, aware of three pairs of eyes on them.

Mun Jeon, sitting on Hwan's left, was watching them intently. Hwan did not like it a bit.

"Do I have a fly on my face?" Hwan asked, irritated.

Mun Jeon chuckled, dragging the soup bowl closer to him.

Hwan let out a long, irritated breath. He needed to stop rising to this annoying man's baits.

"But how did the woman know about the poison?" Garam asked as she took her seat across from Jay Yi.

"Her father was a quack who sold unregulated and dangerous herbs. She learnt from him. He apparently killed three of his daughters. But this woman, being the first child and her talent for reading people's faces and accurately predicting their offspring, must have saved her from such a fate. She helped her father kill some more children for money. Looks like her deadbeat father eventually decided to sell her, so she poisoned him, picked up her two brothers and ran," Hwan could not keep the twinge of sadness from his voice.

"Has His Majesty decided her punishment?" Mun Jeon asked.

"I believe her interrogation is still going on. From what I gathered, this was not her first time. She has repeated this in at least two parts of the country and then moved to Hanyang."

Ga-ram gasped. "How many children has she hurt?"

"It's impossible to know. But at least the Office of Investigations has identified all the families in and around Hanyang and many from other places. The positive development is that we've located girls who managed to survive. Their likelihood of staying alive significantly increased if they made it through their first four years of life. Twelve physicians are currently working to find an antidote for the potion. All those little girls have been moved to an infirmary for the sick and are being treated."

"So her prophecies are not that accurate after all," Jay Yi addressed no one in particular, a suspicious trace of sadness, almost undetectable to ears that didn't know her, lacing her voice. Hwan, who had heard a good part of the horrible words the murdering shaman had spewed except for one particular piece, looked at her thoughtfully. Did she wish that one specific piece of prophecy would come true? His mood vastly improved at the thought.

"What about the old Shaman you captured?" Kim Myung Jin asked, taking a break from slurping the soup before him.

"He was procuring the herbs for her. He knew the herbs were harmful but did not know to what extent. He looked the other way for the money she earned him. The rest believed the rituals guaranteed a son and the potion could change genders,"

"And the men who attacked you?" Helping himself to a rice cake, Mun Jeon asked.

"Two were her brothers. Rest were alley thieves they picked up on their way. Min Jay Yi has put both the brothers away for at least six months," Hwan looked at her fondly as Jay Yi gave everyone a broad smile of accomplishment.

"I am glad all of you came away safe." Myung Jin exclaimed and gazed at Ga-ram, who smiled shyly.

Jay Yi's hand stilled midair with the beef roast she was helping herself with. She looked. She really looked and saw for the first time. Under which rock had she been living to miss something so monumental?

She glanced at Hwan and realised he had noticed it too.

Myung Jin liked Ga-ram, not just as a student or his assistant. And Ga-ram liked him back.

Hwan smiled, slightly leaning back, intrigued. Ga-ram caught Jay Yi's gaze and Hwan's look and turned pink.

"Ah! I will get the drinks," Jay Yi sat dumbfounded as Ga-ram's rose to escape them.

Worried, she threw a look at Hwan.

Returning her tense glance with his reassuring one, Hwan stood up. "I also have something to give you all from His Majesty."

Hwan left the table and returned with five beautifully wrapped boxes.

Four boxes had an exquisitely crafted, custom-woven silk quilt adorned with intricate dragon and plum motifs, stamping them as a personal gift from the King and a letter of gratitude from the sovereign with his seal. Myung Jin and Ga-ram looked at him, emotional, as they silently bowed, acknowledging him.

Mun Jeon looked stunned, for once, unable to say anything other than muttering a short note of acknowledgement.

Gentle fingers traced the green quilt lovingly that sat before Jay Yi.

Hwan impulsively slid his hand over her other one in her lap, hidden away from everyone else's gaze.

Jay Yi sucked in a sharp breath as his thumb softly circled her inner wrist before entwining his fingers with hers.

"Do you like it?" Hwan asked her softly. He wasn't really talking about the quilt.

She blushed. He wished they were alone so he could take her in his arms.

Jay Yi gently withdrew her hand, propping it above the table as if reading his thoughts. Hwan sighed. He was sighing an awful lot these days.

Jay Yi looked at him shyly. "It's beautiful."

Hwan pushed the fifth box towards her. Jay Yi looked at him questioningly.

"Go ahead, open it."

A gasp around the table greeted the row of beautifully arranged ribbons nestled inside the box. Rows of ribbons. Jay Yi turned to him with eyes as wide as the moon that hid behind a cloud of astonishment and wonder.

"It's for the one you lost in the woods the other day, and," Hwan paused, "for all the ones you never got to wear after you ran from Gaeseong."

She knew he was referring to the ribbon Sung On had bought her what seemed to be like another life ago.

"Khamsahamnida, Y-Scholar Park," Jay Yi almost made a mistake, her voice soft with emotions.

It was so easy to please her.

A loud bang at the door ruined the enchanting moment.

Another bang.

"Aish!" Myung Jin muttered in exasperation. He was halfway out of his seat when Ahn Ban Rye, Myung Jin's cousin, burst in.

Not expecting an audience, the lad stopped dead in his tracks. Then, his face transformed into a theatrically ecstatic expression as he executed his greetings with a dramatic flair.

"I apologise for interrupting you," Ban Rye began, not sounding apologetic at all, "but I had to come here right away as soon as I heard." Clearly, whatever he had to share was better when the recipients were larger in number.

"What did you hear?" Mun Jeon had very little patience for melodrama.

Much to everyone's frustration, Ban Rye settled himself in the empty seat next to Jay Yi, taking his sweet time. Everyone closed their treasure box with a sigh and moved them under the table to make space.

"I am going to be married in three months!" Ban Rye declared delightedly.

The deflated air of aggravation at the table swept past the oblivious Ban Rye altogether. Ga-ram passed him a bowl. The beaming manchild helped himself to the food, looking at everyone expectantly, obviously anticipating more questions on the topic.

Mun Jeon was the first one to catch on. "Wait! The marriage ban is still in place. How-?"

Triumphantly, Ban Rye banged the table. "It's going to be lifted any day now."

That was news to Hwan.

"I have it from an extremely reliable source in the Palace that His Majesty has chosen a Queen, and he will be married in the next three months!"

Hwan froze.

Mun Jeon carefully kept his spoon down, no more an uninterested party, as he rested his chin on his hands and looked at Ban Rye with infinite inquisitiveness.

Kim Myung Jin lost colour and a mouthful of food, coughing.

Ga-ram turned pale, shooting a distressed glance at Myung Jin before settling on Jay Yi, her eyes wide with dismay.

Both Myung Jin and Ga-ram studiously avoided his gaze.

They know! Hwan thought wondrously.