The Night Fate Is Reversed (2)
"..."
"..."
A gentle silence settled between the two.
Lee Hyang, who had only just come to understand love, did not know how to express his feelings, and simply gazed at the woman holding his son in her arms.
Yunseo, who felt both joy and hesitation at this sudden love, silently returned his gaze as he filled his eyes with her.
The silence between them was broken by the cautious voice of Court Lady Gimi from outside.
"Your Highness, I have brought the milk porridge you requested."
"Bring it in."
Even as he gave the order, Lee Hyang kept his gaze fixed entirely on Yunseo.
The moment the door opened, Yunseo quickly shut her eyes.
Because she was lying facing the door, she did not want anyone to discover that she, a mere court lady, was receiving the Crown Prince's gaze while lying down.
"Your Highness, since the weather is warm and there was no prepared milk, it took time to make it fresh. I apologize."
"It is fine. Leave it beside me and go."
"I should taste it first—"
"It's fine. I will taste it myself."
"!"
So it was true—the Crown Prince had been completely captivated by that fox-like court lady. Without even glancing elsewhere, he spoke such dangerous words while looking only at her.
But the Crown Prince's command was absolute, so the court lady merely glanced once at the still-sleeping attendant and the Royal Grandson nestled in her arms before stepping out of the warm room.
"Yunseo, you must eat something. Haven't you had nothing but medicine?"
Finally having something to say, Lee Hyang approached her bedside carrying the small table.
Yunseo, who had been inwardly sighing, Was our cold and restrained Crown Prince always like this?, had no choice but to open her eyes.
"Can you sit up? Shall I feed you?"
Already having taken a bite to taste it, Lee Hyang spoke as he chewed.
Though Yunseo liked his straightforward, unstoppable affection, it also felt burdensome. She was about to refuse—No, I'm not hungry…—but the rich aroma of the milk porridge suddenly stirred an intense hunger.
A hunger so fierce it felt like she could devour an entire cow.
Carefully, Yunseo eased Hongwi from her arms, laid him down, and tucked the blanket snugly around him before trying to sit up.
…She tried to, but a wave of dizziness struck, and the strength drained from the arm supporting her.
As her upper body collapsed back onto the bedding, Lee Hyang caught her.
"Your Highness…"
"Shh. You're weak, so don't speak. Just open your mouth. This is very savory."
From behind, Lee Hyang held her and let her lean against his broad chest. Holding the bowl in his left hand and a silver spoon in his right, he scooped up the porridge and brought it to her lips.
After she was ten, even her parents had never fed her like this.
Feeling both awkward and strangely fluttering, Yunseo opened her mouth for the first spoonful.
After that, like a baby bird begging for food, she kept opening her mouth again and again.
Her exhausted body craved the nourishment.
Lee Hyang fed her without pause, and Yunseo ate eagerly—so much so that she could feel the silent laughter in his chest through the gentle vibrations against her back.
After finishing even the warm ginseng tea infused with lingzhi mushrooms for dessert,
Yunseo could finally feel vitality and energy returning to her body.
"Your Highness, I'm fine now. I can sit on my own—"
"No. How could you recover from just one bowl of porridge?"
"..."
Even though she insisted she was fine, he refused to accept it and instead pulled her even closer.
Whatever.
Half resigned, half comforted by the sense of being safely protected, Yunseo leaned back against him and closed her eyes.
In the darkness behind her eyelids, she could clearly hear a heartbeat—uncertain whether it was hers or his—as well as the clinking of weapons from the night guards and even the distant cry of a bird from the mountains.
"What time is it now?"
"The bell for the third watch rang earlier."
"Have you eaten, Your Highness?"
"I ate earlier with Hongwi. He refused to leave your side, so I had no choice but to let him sleep with you."
Each time Lee Hyang spoke, Yunseo could feel the resonance of his voice through his chest.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
"What is it about me that you like?"
"Everything. I like everything."
"..."
Though she was grateful, Yunseo could not fully rejoice.
The situation was too sudden, too complicated.
"Your Highness… how far do you intend to raise me?"
At that, Lee Hyang rested his head on her shoulder and confessed quietly,
"You will become my consort, my only partner, and rule Joseon with me."
His voice carried firm certainty that Yunseo would accept his proposal.
But Yunseo truly did not have the courage to begin such an overwhelming relationship—loving one man and having all of Joseon come with it.
Yet she also did not want to push away someone as gentle and as striking as Lee Hyang.
"Your Highness… let's just date."
"…?"
Though he did not know the word date, Lee Hyang could tell from her tone that it was not the answer he had hoped for, and his body stiffened.
"Instead of becoming your consort, I want to date you."
Since such an important conversation had to be done face to face, Yunseo gently removed his arms from around her waist and sat up.
This time, Lee Hyang let her go without resistance.
She turned to face him.
It felt like ages had passed since just last night, when she had gone to discuss fingerprinting.
In that single night, Lee Hyang had grown noticeably gaunt.
"..."
He simply looked at her without speaking.
A man who was the Crown Prince of a nation and a father to several children—including Hongwi—was now looking at her with the wounded expression of a boy rejected in love.
"Your Highness."
Moved by the sight, Yunseo reached out and gently cupped his cheeks with both hands.
"!"
Though she had just said she only wanted to "date," this was the first time a woman had ever touched him so tenderly—or that he had allowed it. Lee Hyang's eyes trembled slightly.
All his life, meaningful relationships with women had only been as a consort, a concubine, or a court lady granted favor.
Something called dating, which was none of those, was not written in any of the countless books he had read.
"Dating means, Your Highness… we like each other like this, and we express our feelings like this—but that doesn't mean I must become your consort or a favored court lady. You remain who you are, and I remain Hongwi's caretaker. We meet from time to time, confirm our feelings…"
Slowly, Yunseo drew his face closer.
"And for adults, dating also means expressing love like this. Close your eyes, Your Highness."
As if bewitched, Lee Hyang obeyed the command of a mere court lady and closed his eyes.
In the darkness, his other senses sharpened—the warmth of her breath against his nose, and then something soft, warm, and gentle touching his lips.
Yunseo pressed her lips lightly against his in a soft kiss—
Then burst out laughing.
He had children already, yet it seemed the Crown Prince had never even properly kissed. He simply pressed his lips forward without parting them.
At her laughter, Lee Hyang opened his eyes.
At a distance where their noses nearly touched, their gazes tangled intensely.
"How insolent, Kwon Yunseo."
Just as she had done, Lee Hyang cupped her cheeks with both hands and pressed his lips to hers.
This time, it was a kiss of an adult—his lips parting.
As the kiss deepened and desire grew stronger, Yunseo finally pushed against his chest with difficulty.
"Ha… dating, Your Highness… is about going slowly… getting to know each other… ha… little by little. As we meet again and again… deciding whether that person… is truly mine… ha… Let's take it slow… slowly."
Slowly.
You are the Crown Prince of Joseon, where even marriage is part of governance.
Slowly.
And I am still a stranger who has yet to decide how to live in this world.
"Your Highness… slowly. Let's date slowly."
"…I am already certain that you are mine. But if you wish for time to 'date,' then so be it."
Though desire burned painfully within him, Lee Hyang accepted her words.
The kind of "dating" Yunseo spoke of—taking time to determine whether someone was truly one's person—was something he had never experienced with any other woman.
And so, it felt like a special time—one where he could cast aside the heavy duties of Crown Prince and consort, and meet her simply as an ordinary man with an ordinary woman.
Thus, on the first night of their relationship, the two spent it with nothing more than lingering kisses, falling asleep with Hongwi between them.
Neither of them slept deeply—but it was, in its own way, a sweet and aching night.
At dawn the next day, Lee Hyang quietly moved to the west ondol room to dress properly so as not to wake Hongwi and Yunseo, and then went to pay his respects at the Queen's palace.
Queen Soheon had already heard from King Sejong about the commotion at Cheonchujeon the previous day, and later from Court Lady Park that Lady Kwon had collapsed, been treated by the royal physician, and then slept in the east ondol room with Hongwi.
Now, she carefully observed her son's face.
He looked tired—yet his expression was bright.
"Has that child, Lady Kwon, recovered? Well… it wouldn't be easy, after being so frightened."
As she spoke, Queen Soheon cast a sideways glance at King Sejong.
"If she was that terrified, you should have sent her back at once. Why did you hold onto such a child and question her?"
King Sejong cleared his throat and shook his head.
"That child is not so weak. You will see later, but she is bold and composed—ah, she even reminds me of my mother. Isn't that right, Hyang?"
"N-no, Father. Yunseo is quite a gentle woman."
Yunseo, he calls her.
King Sejong and Queen Soheon exchanged a glance.
Realizing that their son had finally found a woman he cherished, Queen Soheon smiled brightly and spoke her thoughts aloud.
"Her family background is not particularly strong, so it may be difficult to raise her rank immediately. She could begin as a Seunghwi, and after bearing a son or daughter, be promoted to Yangwon, and eventually to a royal consort. That would be acceptable."
Queen Soheon spoke this way because she trusted Court Lady Park's judgment.
When she had asked the previous night what kind of person Lady Kwon was—after seeing Hongwi cling to her as if she were his mother and her normally restrained son rush about like a madman carrying her—
Court Lady Park had sighed and answered in her characteristic tone:
"Her greatest virtue is samusa—she harbors no wicked or malicious thoughts. She does not envy or resent others without cause. And for the sake of the Royal Grandson, she would risk her own safety without hesitation. She is also more intelligent than most men, and possesses a boldness that does not flinch at most matters within the palace."
In short, she was fit to be Crown Princess.
Since Lady Kwon had been unwell, nothing could have happened between them the previous night—but hearing that the two had spent time alone late into the night at Bihyeongak before, Queen Soheon assumed their bond had already deepened.
She wanted to seize this chance to properly arrange a partner for her son, who had lived like a widower.
But instead of joy, her son's expression turned peculiar.
"For the time being, Kwon Yunseo and I will be dating."
"!"
"?"
"..."
After a stunned silence, Queen Soheon asked King Sejong,
"Your Majesty… what is 'dating'?"
"That… even I do not know. What is 'dating,' Hyang?"
"Dating is…"
It is restraining the urge to embrace immediately, and instead taking time to understand one another…
That was what he wished to say—but Lee Hyang, known as the most proper and principled in Joseon, could not bring himself to say such words.
At the same time, he carefully chose his words so that his parents would not think Yunseo presumptuous.
"It means taking time to see whether we are suited to become partners. I wish to observe a little longer whether Kwon Yunseo is truly the right woman for me."
"Oh-ho!"
"That makes sense."
He has already failed twice—of course he wants to be cautious this time.
Indeed, that is only natural.
Our Crown Prince is truly thoughtful, cautious, and upright.
Unaware of the real meaning, King Sejong and Queen Soheon exchanged satisfied glances.
Still, with Court Lady Park—who had an excellent eye for people—declaring her fit to be Crown Princess, and even the loyal and prudent Senior Attendant Eom already treating her with the respect due such a position—
"Hyang, do not overthink it. She is beautiful, of good character, intelligent enough to answer even His Majesty's questions, and above all, she sincerely cares for our Hongwi."
Queen Soheon added gently—
while unknowingly striking directly at Lee Hyang's heart.