Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Back in the Eastern Palace, I was finishing my ritual washing and changing my clothes. The investiture was over, so next I had to pay my respects to the Emperor and the Empress.

It would have been too exhausting to go in the heavy ceremonial robe, so changing into comfortable everyday clothes was a must.

Now that I was Crown Princess, my attire was unmistakably grander than when I had lived as Princess Consort Hye. I had lost count of how many ornaments had been pinned into my hair.

My hair had been drawn up so tightly that my scalp throbbed.

‘The women of the palace must be prone to hair loss.’

I looked at the headpieces that still remained in a great heap and heaved a deep sigh. I liked pretty things, but adorning myself to this extent was torture.

The ornaments did not end at my head. I even wore four pairs of earrings.

Every time I turned my head, all I could hear was the jingling of earrings, so I doubted whether I could even hold a proper conversation with anyone.

On my left wrist I wore a gold bracelet layered with a jade one, and on my right wrist a silver bracelet set with amber.

At least the garment itself was far simpler and lighter than the ceremonial robe from earlier, which was a comfort.

And the shoes were so high. I had prided myself on being well trained in high shoes as a daughter of a noble house, but not at all.

The peony, king of flowers, embroidered on the shoes was lovely, but if I ever missed a step in these, my ankles would not survive.

Just then, someone flung open the door without warning.

I knew who it was without even looking at the door. Drained by all the adorning and full of ill temper, I turned my head.

“Hwacheon.”

Look, it was just as I had expected. My husband, who as of today was the Crown Prince.

“Your Highness…”

I gazed at him with brimming eyes, pleading with all my heart to be rescued from this swamp of adornment.

I thought this was surely enough, but the hands of the senior court lady and the court ladies showed no sign of stopping. I understood that formality mattered for the first greeting after entering the imperial family, but I could no longer endure it.

Noticing my state, my husband quietly ordered the court ladies.

“This is enough. It is sufficient, so all of you withdraw. We are now going to see Father and Mother.”

The court ladies bowed at his words and filed out in a rush.

Finally able to breathe, I approached him with my earrings jingling.

“I want to go back to Prince Hye’s residence.”

“No. The Eastern Palace is your home now.”

“But it’s so hard. There are too many people, and the adornments are far too excessive.”

“You moved in only half a day ago. Why are you grumbling so much?”

“Can’t you see my ears? There are four pairs of earrings, four pairs! If my earlobes tear, will Your Highness take responsibility?”

“I will take responsibility.”

“How will you take responsibility, exactly! I don’t care. I was never fated to sit in such a high position.”

When I drooped my brows in anxiety, he folded his arms and let out a long breath.

“Let us go. They are waiting.”

At his firm manner, a wave of hurt surged up in me.

Anyone who had gone from a private household to the palace overnight would be anxious and burdened with thoughts, just as I was.

I resented that my husband did not seem to understand my feelings.

“…Hmph, he can be comfortable because it’s his own home. I’m the one whose life as a daughter-in-law is only beginning…”

I had muttered it very quietly, but he heard it like a spirit and glared at me.

What was he going to do about it, glaring like that? Cast me out on the spot, after the Crown Princess investiture was already complete? Even the Crown Prince could not do that.

“This is not a private household. What do you mean, life as a daughter-in-law?”

“Then what is this, if not life under in-laws? Is it life in my natal home? Even Your Highness would be uncomfortable if you were told to live in the same house as my mother, wouldn’t you? You would worry too… and I’m the same…”

If he did not take my side, I had not a single ally in this vast palace.

Surely being called “husband” did not mean he could play the part of somebody else’s side.

While we were at Prince Hye’s residence he had been nothing but tender, yet now that we had come to the palace he seemed to give no thought at all to my feelings.

“…I’m hurt.”

“Truly, I cannot live because of you.”

In the end he clasped my hand firmly and began to walk.

Before I knew it, court ladies and eunuchs had lined up and were following behind us again.

Did these people have nothing to do? It would surely be more efficient for running the palace if they spent the time they spent trailing us doing other work.

“Doesn’t it bother you, Your Highness, to have so many people following behind?”

“I thought nothing of it, since it was always like this when I lived in the palace, but it does feel awkward after so long. Still, it doesn’t particularly bother me.”

“Why on earth do they follow us?”

“Well, partly to guard against assassination threats… but the biggest reason is to establish dignity. Does it bother you?”

When I nodded vigorously, he turned around and declared,

“Each of you, go and attend to your own duties. I wish to walk quietly with the Crown Princess, just the two of us.”

At those words, the procession behind us scattered in an instant with a rustle.

“Was it all right to simply tell them to go?”

“Why would it not be?”

“I thought it wasn’t allowed by protocol.”

“I am above protocol.”

Ah, yes… I suppose so.

What an insufferable way of speaking.

He seemed to toss out words without a thought, but chewed over carefully, every one was supremely arrogant. He must be a gentleman who lived on his own self-regard.

“How nice for you.”

“It is the same for you. In the palace there is no protocol more important than your will.”

“Then may I douse the Emperor’s favorite consort with water, since I am above protocol?”

“That is a matter of morality, not protocol, isn’t it? Lacking manners and not following protocol are different issues. You know all this and still tease me so.”

I swung our clasped hands back and forth widely. With that watcher-like crowd gone, my mood had improved considerably.

Looking again, the scenery of the palace was truly beautiful. There was even a huge artificial lake, and I could not begin to imagine how much labor had gone into making it.

“Hwacheon, the palace is a frightening place.”

A voice suddenly sank low. I was already struggling to soothe my own unrest, so why was he saying such a thing?

“You must keep your wits about you and never let your guard down. There are dozens, even hundreds, waiting for you to slip.”

“What have I done? I have lived a decent life, in my own way.”

“Whether you are good or bad does not matter. In a stagnant society like the palace, abnormal currents are bound to flow. Stay here long enough and people go mad. They want to pull others down even when they have done no wrong, and they stab you in the back even when you have helped them. Such things happen every day.”

He added,

“There is no guarantee that you will not become their sacrifice.”

At those words, a stubborn pride suddenly welled up in me.

“You are looking down on me too much.”

“Sigh…”

“If anyone tries to torment me, I will torment them first. Since I have come to the palace anyway, I will take this chance to become an extremely, extremely formidable person. I will become more ruthless and cunning than anyone and make everyone tremble.”

At my bold declaration my husband smiled brightly, slipped his hand out of our clasped ones, brought his palm to my backside, and squeezed it tight.

“Such big talk from someone so tiny.”

“Y-Your Highness…! Let go…!”

He seemed to loosen his grip, but then began to stroke my backside gently.

My face flushed as red as a carrot, and I thumped his chest with my fist. Even so, he showed no sign of removing his hand.

“You… you pervert! Lecher! Lecherous fiend!”

“Rather than such names, try calling me ‘my lord’ or ‘husband.’ Jin says his wife calls him that.”

He said that when he had played Go at Ryu Jin’s house not long ago, he had heard no end of boasting about forms of address. Though he had acted indifferent on the surface, my husband must have been dying of envy inside.

“I’m sure it’s because Prince Yeong is not the sort of man who gropes his wife’s backside in the middle of the road! That’s why Princess Consort Yeong treats him so tenderly, I’m certain.”

“That fellow is worse than I am, if anything, never less. You might say it’s fortunate if he only touches his own wife’s backside.”

As time passed, this man seemed to be growing ever more brazen.

As we walked along, bickering like this, a woman of graceful bearing came walking from far away.

Her modest attire was clearly not that of a court lady, and she seemed to be one of the Emperor’s consorts. Only two court ladies followed behind her.

Her beauty was outstanding, but her dress was not as splendid as mine. She was probably a low-ranking consort. The treatment of palace consorts depended entirely on the Emperor’s favor.

The woman, who had been walking with her eyes on the ground in a dejected manner, brightened visibly the moment she noticed my husband standing beside me. The instant I saw that, something deep inside my chest stung.

‘Stung…?’

I had not been pricked with an acupuncture needle, so I could not understand why this stinging sensation reached me. I looked at my husband.

He seemed to know the woman too, but the smile he had been wearing a moment ago had vanished, and the line of his mouth was oddly stiff.

The moment the woman noticed me standing beside my husband, her bright face stiffened all at once. What on earth was this situation now?