Chapter 20: CH 10.2

It didn’t mean that his face had changed. He certainly had the same face as Yeonbin that Yihan had known before. But strangely enough, as he looked back on Yeonbin he met today, it felt like he became a different person.

His eyes shone like a quiet lake, his calm expression even after seeing the emperor, and his neat and clean voice. Nothing was the same as Yeonbin that Yihan knew before.

As he took a breath, he remembered Yeonbin kneeling down and cowering before him.

He had always been skinny, but perhaps because of his behavior, no one ever thought of him as fragile or even pitiful.

However, there was fragility emanating from the appearance of Yeonbin today. He had never felt it before, so subtle discomfort beyond absurdity continued to crawl around Yihan’s mind like a grain of sand.

At the same time, the empress, who recognized that the emperor was still unable to concentrate on their time together, quietly bowed her head and spoke in a soft voice.

“You look very tired, Your Majesty. How about taking a short nap here?”

It was not until he heard that voice did the emperor realize that he was again immersed in the thought of that fellow Yeonbin.

After all, it was obvious that Yeonbin—being like his usual self—did all sorts of tricks to meet him in Suhwawon and bring him to his residence. However, he couldn’t know why he ignored this fact and kept thinking of Yeonbin’s previous appearance.

Yihan turned his head for a moment and looked somewhere beyond the window, where the spring breeze was blowing. He thought that the reason he kept thinking about Yeonbin that he encountered earlier was that he was getting caught in that hateful person’s scheme. 

How dare he think I’ll fall for that shallow trick.

The emperor sneered at Yeonbin inside his mind before raising up his body.

The emperor said alright, and the empress smiled softly. Yihan thought that face was much better to see than that despicable Yeonbin’s sad expression. 

***

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“Your complexion looks pale…”

Hwawoon was collecting his breath while leaning in the chair because he felt powerless. He only realized that his body was not in a good condition after Ahjin asked if he was okay. 

Lifting his hand, he saw the tip of his slender fingers tremble. Hwawoon found it to be amusing that he kept quietly looking at his hand.

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In the past, Hawoon had a quite healthy body. Even if he grew up starving—only eating once a day—he hardly got sick, and he grew tall enough to be comparable to others. The teacher he met later said that even if he was not big in size, he was born with talents and was perfect for learning martial arts.

As though his teacher was telling the truth, Hawoon had never caught a cold after learning martial arts. In addition, as he grew up, never did once he felt he was not feeling well. 

Looking at how he kept catching his breath when he didn’t even run, Hwawoon asked Ahjin.

“Ahjin, am I… originally have a weak body?”

“Yes, Your Highness. You were born weak, and you’ve had a lot of minor illnesses since you were young. Your lungs are not good, so you have to take medicine regularly.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Hwawoon recall the past few days when he had to swallow down the medicine given by the palace physician. Hwawoon thought it was only because he fell into the pond, but it seemed like there was a medicine he usually had to take as well.

Hwawoon rolled up his sleeve and looked down at his slender wrist that couldn’t even fill a fistful. He couldn’t understand if his body was weak because he was so skinny, or if he was this skinny because he was born weak, but Hwawoon’s body was so thin and skinny to be called a man’s body.

Even though Hawoon was quite slender for a man, he had never been this skinny except for the days when he lived starving every day when he was very young. He suddenly thought that maybe the reason for Yeonbin to have a nasty temperament was that he had been sick since he was a little. Of course, even so, that couldn’t be an excuse for him to harass others.

While looking down at his wrist, Hwawoon wondered if his health would improve a bit if he gained some weight. However, he soon shook his head. The reason was a man’s body was far different from a woman’s, and if he put on weight and muscle, he thought it would be bad for His Majesty to see. 

“….”

Surprised by what he just thought of, Hwawoon suddenly closed his mouth. It was said that humans were bound to adapt to any situation, but he thought he was being ridiculous for acting like a real concubine when it hadn’t been long since he lived as Yeon Hwawoon. 

In the meantime, as if she had been worrying about her master who had been silently watching his wrist, Ahjin approached and massaged Hwawoon’s wrist gently and said,

“Your Highness, is your wrist hurt?”

Hwawoon quickly pulled back his wrist because he still felt unfamiliar with Ahjin’s touch before shaking his head as he sighed. Still, since he had sat down for a while and collected his breath, he felt his suffocated chest felt even better.

“No. It’s just… I was so surprised that I was out of breath.”

“Understood, Your Highness. Then I will prepare your lunch. You will feel better after having lunch and drinking your medicine.”

When Ahjin was away for a while, Hwawoon was lost in thought again. Since Hwawoon had nothing else to do here at Jeongan Palace, he had a lot of time to think these days.

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