Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The bitter decoction, said to fortify a woman’s body, slid down my throat.

I set the bowl down on the wooden tray with a clack and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. From its musty smell to its taste, it was a medicine I could never grow fond of.

I had drunk the decoction three times today alone. Still, since it was meant to restore my strength, I had no choice but to endure it.

Besides, my stamina was so spent that my body trembled, so skipping the medicine wasn’t really an option. My thighs and waist in particular throbbed with a tingling ache.

That miserable sensation felt like proof that I had finally become a man’s wife, and it embarrassed me.

“Should you need anything at any time, you need only call for this servant.”

“…Very well.”

The servants of Prince Hye’s residence were, to a one, obedient.

It was only natural for servants to be obedient, but it was of a different kind from what I had seen in my father’s house. It was submission on another level entirely.

They behaved with such exaggerated courtesy that it was as if they were attending a god. They tensed at my every word and carried out whatever I instructed to perfection.

Their briskness was welcome, but being treated so lavishly only left me at a loss for what to do with myself.

Imperial family members apparently lived being treated like this. I had been the daughter of a fairly prominent family myself, yet even I found it hard to bear.

How high must the noses of those raised amid such treatment be? They must feel as if the whole world lay beneath their feet.

So that was why that nine-tailed fox of a man gave off such an arrogant air.

“I wonder if he’ll come tonight…”

I sat on the bed, wriggling my toes.

I had not a shred of strength left in my body, but if my husband came tonight, I was prepared to display great magnanimity and accept him, as though against my will.

…To be honest, it hadn’t been only painful.

At first, my belly had throbbed and the tears had streamed down so painfully that I thought I would die, but as time passed, the pain blurred and another sensation rushed in. It was a deadly sensation, as if something I had been holding down had burst all at once.

When that thrill swept through my mind, I crossed my legs without meaning to. Even just imagining it made my body twist and squirm.

‘That damned nine-tailed fox. Leaving after teaching me nothing but things harmful to me. If this isn’t fraud, then what is?’

I felt like reporting him to the magistrate’s office. He must have cast some mysterious spell on me.

No one had ever told me that what happened between a man and a woman at night was this dangerous…!

Before I knew it, the sun had set and the cool night air had begun to wrap around the world outside. Since he had told me to rest well when he left during the day, he surely wouldn’t look for me tonight.

I pouted, disappointed at the thought, then caught sight of myself and snapped back to my senses.

“Disappointed? What’s there to be… I’m not disappointed at all!”

As I was muttering furiously to myself, the door opened without warning.

I was so startled that I leapt up from the bed. My body had bolted on instinct.

A servant would never open her mistress’s door without announcing herself. That meant there was only one person who could be entering now.

“What is it that you’re not disappointed about?”

It was Prince Hye, as expected. He had come.

He had holed up in his study all day without showing so much as his nose, and only now did he appear.

I could have gone to him first, but I hadn’t, since going without any business felt awkward. Nor was he someone I wanted to see badly enough to make the first move.

In his ceremonial robes he had looked dignified and solemn, but tonight’s attire looked much lighter. This, too, was a new side of him.

“…I was talking to myself.”

“From now on, you must be careful even with talking to yourself. It’s fine now, in the prince’s residence, but later in the palace, a careless word can become a snare.”

“Yes, I will bear it in mind.”

For what reason had he come to find me? Had he come to check whether my stomachache had eased?

If so, he could have had a servant ask. Then, could it be that he had come to spend tonight with me as well?

“So, what was it you weren’t disappointed about?”

He sat down in a chair. Watching his mood, I carefully took the chair across from him.

“That is…”

I hesitated. While I was wracking my brain over what excuse to give, Prince Hye cut straight in.

“You said you wouldn’t be disappointed even if I didn’t come looking for you tonight, didn’t you?”

“N-No, that’s not it!”

“Isn’t it?”

My face turned bright red. Sure enough, this fellow was no ordinary man. He must have the power to read minds.

“Truly, you wouldn’t be disappointed?”

“…You came, didn’t you?”

“And if I hadn’t? Even if I hadn’t come, do you think you wouldn’t have felt any disappointment at all?”

That smirk on his face…

Oh, you fox!

A fox among foxes. I had never seen such a sly old serpent of a man. How was a greenhorn like me supposed to deal with him in order to win?

“Hwacheon, answer me. Don’t just blush.”

His sturdy hand closed around my slender wrist. The inside of my lower belly began to boil.

This fellow had truly mastered the art of eating a person’s liver, he had. But did he think anyone would hand theirs over so easily?

“…I’m not disappointed.”

“Is that so? I am.”

“Pardon?”

“I came because I thought I would be disappointed if I didn’t look for you tonight. But since you say you’re not, I suppose I’ll go.”

With that, he rose from the chair and looked down at me.

My lips moved, and then I softly caught hold of the hem of his clothes as he pulled away.

…No, my body had reacted before I even thought to catch him.

My body wouldn’t move the way I wanted. I felt like biting off the very hand that gripped his clothes.

Prince Hye turned slightly to look at me.

“Shall I not go?”

“That is…”

He tossed me up and let me drop, leaving me dazed. Whatever I did in front of this man, however I racked my brain, it was all useless.

“You said you weren’t disappointed, but it seems you are.”

He came closer and knelt on one knee before me.

Though I sat in the chair with my back ramrod straight, his eyes, kneeling on the floor, were nearly level with mine. Somehow, it wounded my pride.

“Is your belly any better?”

His large palm pressed down and stroked over my lower belly.

I drew in a breath and swallowed hard. His touch had no hitch in it. It neither lingered nor hesitated.

“…Thanks to you.”

“What did I do?”

“You sent the decoction, did you not?”

He let out a smile that was neither too much nor too little.

“Tomorrow we will go to the imperial palace to pay our respects. I came to tell you that.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Now that we are husband and wife, we must formally greet my elders. They are very curious about you.”

Those who were curious about me must surely be the Emperor and Empress. The very ones who had ruined my life, and who stood at the apex of this empire.

Tomorrow, I would face the most exalted man and woman in the Nakbyeon Empire. And as their daughter-in-law, no less.

‘I’ll have to rise early tomorrow and dress up properly.’

Was he done speaking? Then would he leave now?

If he was going to go, I wished he would hurry. Instead of sitting across from me and trying to test me. When he lingered before my eyes, my body stiffened so much that I could barely hold out.

Just then, his hand lifted the hem of my skirt slightly.

It was a faint movement, but the sound of me swallowing echoed through the room louder than I’d expected.

Hearing it, Prince Hye drew the corners of his mouth up a little higher. I was so embarrassed I wanted to hide on the spot.

“It seems there is something you want from me.”

Like a thief with a guilty conscience, I answered at once.

“No.”

“No?”

“Yes, no.”

“Is that so? No, you say…”

He lifted my skirt more boldly, until my knees were visible. I shuddered and shifted my hips back in the chair.

“What shall I do?”

“Wh-What…”

“Shall I stop here and leave, or spend the night with you? Which do you prefer? Tell me whichever you feel inclined toward.”

Why was he putting such a difficult question to me? If he simply did as he pleased, I would go along with it.

“Is it hard to answer?”

“Nngh…”

“Then answer with your actions. If it’s the former, turn your head to the side. If it’s the latter, part your knees a little.”

I bit my lip and agonized, then slipped a small gap between my tightly clamped knees.

At the same moment, it flashed through my mind that if I was going to do something this mortifying, I should have just answered with my mouth.

Then I would have been less distressed than I was now.

“Good.”

He pressed his lips to the inside of my thigh. A gasp burst out of me without my meaning it to.

“Good girl.”

He began to tame me in the gentlest way possible.

I was no wild beast, and I disliked that attitude of his, as though he meant to tame me.

But quite apart from how I felt, my body was responding to him faithfully.

No, perhaps he didn’t intend to tame me at all. Perhaps it was only my crooked way of looking at things that misread his actions as “taming.”

If that was so, why did I keep viewing him so sarcastically?