Chapter 14: 14

“I was wrong.”

The grand chamberlain, listening from behind, couldn’t believe his ears. What did His Majesty do wrong for him to apologize?

Dayeon felt the same and was embarrassed. She was so taken aback that her tears receded.

“…Why are you apologizing?”

When she asked the question in bewilderment, the emperor answered in a clear voice that seemed natural but somewhat agitated.

“Didn’t you cry?”

“You don’t even know why I cried.”

“You’re right. Then, why did you cry?”

What in the world was this nonsense?

While everyone was confused about how to react to this illogical dialogue, the emperor himself seemed ignorant of the strangeness of his words.

 

The emperor was still serious. The stiff expression continued to remain on his face.

With that somber look, he took one step closer to Dayeon and carefully reached out his hand. As his hand reached toward her face, Dayeon instinctively shrunk back.

At that, the emperor paused for a moment, but only for a moment. The hesitant hand approached again slowly and finally held Dayeon’s cheek like it was precious.

Unable to pull her face away, Dayeon widened her eyes as she was held by the large hand.

Wh-why are you doing this t-to me? Our relationship isn’t touchy-feely like this.

Dayeon opened her mouth dazedly, but she could not speak any of these words. It was because Mikhail’s face, quietly looking at Dayeon’s face, was so serious, sincere, and somber.

In a quiet whisper, he said, “Don’t cry.”

“……”

The room was enveloped in silence. In this unusual atmosphere, the emperor’s attendants and maids could barely breathe, only staring at them furtively. Dayeon also had no response.

But shouldn’t she say something in answer to the emperor’s words? One by one, those around them started to think that way.

The emperor was still waiting for Dayeon to speak, but for some reason, Dayeon just stood there without a word. Instead, the servants saw her begin to glow red like a tomato.

The nape of her neck started to turn red first. Then, the redness gradually began to spread all over her face.

The blush, shyly advancing under everyone’s attention, finally came up to the cheek held by the emperor’s hand and dyed Dayeon’s whole face bright red. Her flushed face looked like a ripe tomato.

Dayeon stooped her head, knowing what her face would look like without glancing in a mirror. Now she looked like a bashful tomato.

It was a sight that made everyone who saw it feel embarrassed and flushed. At this point, the emperor seemed to have sensed her embarrassment.

 

Maybe the bashfulness was contagious. The emperor, whose face was always dignified, looked slightly shy and sheepish. Upon closer examination, the handsome tips of his ears were red too.

Wh. What, what is this atmosphere?

Are these two… in love?

The sights of the attendants lined up behind them were spinning, and the maids were silently screaming.

Gosh, this is crazy. It’s making my heart flutter!

It was chaotic as they tried to signal with their hands while making no noise.

The emperor’s ears were painted red, but he did not remove his hand from Dayeon’s cheek. When he tried to, he hesitated, and he brushed his finger near Dayeon’s eye as if he were bewitched. He felt like his fingertips were electrified. His heart was pounding fiercely.

And the more the emperor stroked her face, the redder Dayeon’s face grew.

“Your hand, please….”

In the end, Dayeon looked around and spoke in a voice like she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Embarrassed and ashamed, her whole body was shaking.

Mikhail lowered his hand reluctantly as she became uncomfortable. It was only a touch, but she became so anxious. As the emperor gulped apprehensively, everyone saw his Adam’s apple bob.

It was then that an attendant entered the lateral palace, breaking the soft, passionate atmosphere, and bowed his head in front of the emperor.

“Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your conversation. After speaking with the Sarman envoy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that he had something to report to Your Majesty, so he is waiting in front of your office.”

All of the emperor’s attendants felt relieved.

They were glad that they were not the sinner committing lèse-majesté by delivering that news. 

All right. I’ve lived pretty well so far. It was a good life.

The attendant didn’t know how the mood became like this, but he felt that he was incurring the emperor’s unbearable wrath for the crime of interrupting.

Unsurprisingly, it seemed like lasers would shoot out from the emperor’s eyes as he looked at the attendant who had given the report.

The emperor glared at the attendant and let out a short sigh before turning to look at Dayeon again.

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Indescribable emotions overflowed from the emperor’s eyes looking at Dayeon. It was something like reluctance, like regret, and like burning passion—a deep emotion that made the observers want to twist and turn.

“I’ll come back,” the emperor said in a voice dripping with regret. 

Soon after, the emperor left, followed quietly by his attendants. It was as if a storm had swept through.

After a while, in the room, the remaining maids screamed, ‘Kyaaa!’ holding into each other and shaking each other’s bodies wildly. Marie alone prepared the bathwater with an expression full of anguish and frustration.

 

The minister of foreign affair’s report was long on that particular day. Every moment required patience. As the emperor listened to the report, his heart felt impatient, and he wanted  to leave quickly. But when he arrived at the front of the lateral palace, the emperor somehow began to hesitate. He remembered Dayeon’s crying.

The grand chamberlain, who was watching over the emperor, felt his eyes dry, ears become blocked, and nose become stuffed.

Since when did Your Majesty get so shy about entering the lateral palace? Didn’t you use to all but kick down the door?

However, since the emperor was the emperor, the grand chamberlain kept his thoughts to himself this time as well.

The room which just earlier looked like it had been bombed was already neatly arranged by the time the emperor returned. Dayeon was sitting in the middle of the room and practicing writing letters on a piece of paper. The emperor looked down at the characters that had been written half-heartedly.

When the emperor came in, Dayeon put down her pen and stood up, but after that passionate moment, the mood between man and woman was a bit awkward. The emperor covered his mouth with his hand and coughed a little.

“Were you studying writing?”

“…Yes. Would you like to sit down?”

The emperor readily sat down.

Dayeon gathered the papers in a bunch and pushed them in the corner like she was throwing them out. It was difficult to comment on the handwriting on the papers, some of the characters being a complete mess.

Still, the emperor looked at the paper’s corners wrinkle with a bit of regret.

“Why did you cry earlier?” the emperor asked, staring straight at Dayeon. “Was it because you were homesick?”

Dayeon scratched her cheek in embarrassment at the emperor’s question and said, “I don’t really miss the place I used to live.”

“Why? Was it not a good place for you?”

“Um, it isn’t like that, but I don’t think I have many good memories of it either.”

“I see.”

The emperor nodded his head.

Perhaps because of the previous event, Dayeon strangely treated the emperor in a clumsy manner. She didn’t turn away from the emperor, but she avoided his gaze, seeming embarrassed.

The emperor was nervous and disappointed by her actions. Of course, it was only in his own thoughts. To everyone watching them, they looked pretty and yearning.

The two were acting awkward and strangely shy. The two who could not meet the other’s eyes didn’t know it, but the tips of both of their ears were red.

After, the conversation between the two of them was really useless. It was stilted, had little substance, and was strangely rambling. Even the emperor, who was usually known for his eloquence, seemed unable to display his skills much today.

First of all, they had no business to discuss. Secondly, their being overly conscious of each other led to disaster. Nevertheless, the awkward and meaningless conversation, the words that seemed pointless to others, were being put together piece by piece patiently by the emperor—as if he was being conscientious not to end their conversation.

Because he wanted to stay with her longer.

 

The next day, there was a small commotion in the lateral palace.

It was late in the morning, long after Dayeon had woken up. The emperor’s young attendant came and knocked on the door of Dayeon’s bedroom.

The maids of the detached palace, who welcomed the mysterious guest, widened their eyes. The young, handsome attendant was holding a fistful of freshly picked flowers.

As the maids began to gossip, the emperor’s attendant knelt down on one knee and presented the flowers to Dayeon. Dayeon bewilderedly received the flowers.

“While training this morning, His Majesty wanted to share the flowers with you because they are beautiful and picked them with that in mind.”

“……”

The bouquet looked clumsy and rough in appearance. They were common flowers that smelled like grass more than flowers. So, it made the recipient more embarrassed and her heart flutter.

The emperor’s attendant remained smiling, but before speaking, he took a deep breath with a slightly tense expression.

“His Majesty also said to tell you to have a good day today as well.”

“……”

The attendant bowed at his waist and disappeared.

Kyaaaaaa!

The lateral palace, after the attendant left, was upturned. The maids, continuing from yesterday, screamed like they were screeching.

How could this hot issue be happening in the gloomy detached palace? I come to work because I’m curious about the next episode of this drama. Going to work is thrilling! Oh, I’m swooning!

Meanwhile, Dayeon, who had frozen with the flowers in her hand, became a tomato this morning like she did yesterday. A child maidservant carefully took the flower from her hand and quickly left to put it in a vase.

The events of last night and of this morning were clear indicators that showed all the courtiers the emperor’s feelings. They thought something was strange for a while, and in the end, something was sparking between the two. At least one side, for certain.

This was how the romance of the imperial palace began, with everyone except the two involved realizing that they were dating.

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