Chapter 16: 16

Episode 16: I Can Hear Your Voice (2)

 

TL: thursdays 

PR: altacco

 

Just what is that bizarre name!

Really, apologize to the dog, lamented the attendants.

Half a year had already passed since Dayeon came to the imperial palace. The more that Dayeon adjusted to palace life, the more the courtiers came to understand her personality, which was in essence reserved and introverted but was actually pretty funny sometimes.

She enjoyed being alone and did not speak much, but she had a sense of humor. She had a quiet way of making people laugh. Sometimes when she talked to the emperor, she was more humorous than him and they played off of each other well.

“So this is where you were,” Dayeon mumbled.

 

It was the puppy that she saw in the back garden of the lateral palace not long ago.

She hadn’t seen him since around the time she first met Theo, but the dog had gotten a little bigger. And maybe in that period Samsik had run about the palace a lot, because the dog looked a lot dirtier than before.

Without hesitating, Dayeon knelt down and leaned into the pit.

In the emperor’s eyes, the both of them were equally unkempt. Covered in dirt, the two looked just like youthful little puppies.

Dayeon reached her hand out without delay to the crying puppy that could not escape the dirt hole that was larger than it. Everything happened in an instant, before the people around her could stop her.

The puppy, which had been alone for a long time and was extremely scared of human hands, bit Dayeon’s hand with a chomp.

It was young, but its fierceness gave Dayeon pause. Shortly, her hand was wounded.

As blood began to spill from the noticeable tooth marks, the emperor raised his voice to stop her, but Dayeon did not care. She reached out again and finally managed to grab the puppy’s scruff. And like that, she succeeded in taking it out of the hole.

Putting the struggling puppy on flat ground, Dayeon silently made a broad smile. The puppy hurriedly distanced itself from the humans as soon as it was put on the ground. Then, standing at a little ways away, it stared at Dayeon while trembling.

Somehow, Dayeon thought she could read that expression.

It was scared, anxious, but it was also sorry. It was sorry for attacking after receiving her help. But the dog was still scared and couldn’t come close, and it seemed like it was about to cry.

The almost-crying puppy was cute to Dayeon. So she laughed out loud innocently.

“I’m all right.”

Goodbye. Hurry and go play again. Honestly, Dayeon who spoke and smiled so innocently seemed like a bit of an idiot. Nevertheless, the emperor could not say a word.

The emperor had been shocked once again. Her brightly smiling face was so clear and pure that he felt like his heart was sinking. Dayeon, who said goodbye and smiled with a relieved expression, looked too lovely.

His heart was soft and his body was foolish. But what was he supposed to do when she was so lovely? As expected, he had to live beside her. His chest felt itchy and hot, and so the emperor could not open his mouth easily.

It was then that the grand chamberlain mentioned Dayeon’s injury, clearing the emperor’s mind. Looking worriedly at Dayeon’s bloodied hand, he carefully said, “Treatment…” At those words, the emperor snapped back to attention.

“The court doctor. Summon the court doctor!” he roared.

 

Naturally, the emperor was fired up in anger. Because of that, the doctor who had suddenly been called had to disinfect and treat Dayeon’s wound in a blood curdling atmosphere.

“Why are you so careless?”

As the emperor raised his voice in fury, the very air froze. His attendants and the maids all bowed their heads and shot each other looks. Dayeon, too, had nothing to say, and so she just stood still.

“How could you fearlessly reach out to a wild beast? Who knows what diseases it has, roaming all over the place? What would you do if the disease spread? How could you be so thoughtless?”

The attendants inwardly clicked their tongues.

The puppy, who was so young that it couldn’t have been long since it was born, was too adorable to be called a beast. But from the emperor’s words, one would think it was a savage predator. The emperor’s portrayal was greatly inconsistent with reality, but at the same time, he wasn’t wrong. What he was saying was basically the reason why they did not raise animals in the palace.

Normally, the puppy’s fate was to be culled. However, nobody here would bring up something so insensitive. Courtiers were all people who lived based on their wits. Reading the air was basic knowledge and a virtue for them.

The emperor was furious, but in the end, he would not be able to do anything to that puppy. It was because Dayeon had favored the puppy to the point of giving it a name.

Samsik would grow up to be the first adult dog allowed to traverse the palace grounds in 300 years of the empire’s history.

Meanwhile, the doctor treating Dayeon’s wound clicked his tongue as well.

The emperor’s words were true. It was dangerous to be bitten by a dog. Dogs that weren’t raised by humans in particular were very likely to have infections.

But the reason he clicked his tongue was because Dayeon’s wound was very, very minor. And even if the wound was worse, it wasn’t like it was impossible to treat.

The doctor, who did not have much to do after entering the palace other than prescribing medication for stomach pains, usually cloistered himself in his office and focused on researching medicine. Thus, he had been out of the loop on the rumors.

But even he who did not know the circumstances in the palace immediately noticed that the emperor liked Dayeon. It was so obvious that he couldn’t help but notice it.

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“Will there be a scar?” the emperor asked the doctor. His tone was still upset.

The doctor was dumbfounded. Why would such a minor wound ever leave a scar? At this level, it was more appropriate to say that Dayeon was scratched by a dog’s tooth than to say she was bitten.

However, the doctor feigned composedness and replied calmly, “This should not leave a scar. I believe it will heal before long.”

“But just in case, we should call a healing priest.”

“For an injury like this, you… definitely should call a priest. Yes, it would be good to call one right away.”

The doctor almost let his true thoughts slip before he noticed the emperor’s expression shift. It was a shift that showed that the emperor was ready to exercise his authority.

One servant quickly left the room to send word to the temple.

In this frosty atmosphere where everyone was on edge, the emperor once again broke the silence. Sighing, the emperor addressed Dayeon, and as he spoke, he seemed to get angrier and angrier.

“Why don’t you know how to value your own body?”

“…….”

“You’re the biggest fool in the world.”

“…….”

“You starved yourself by not eating, and now you offer your hand to a wild dog to be bitten? I’ve never seen anyone as stupid as you who cannot take care of her health.”

Your Majesty… Shouldn’t you stop now?

One of the attendants whispered to the grand chamberlain with a concerned expression.

They could see that the emperor was upset because Dayeon was injured in front of him, but they were worried that Dayeon, who suffered from a mental illness, would be hurt by his blunt words.

But contrary to everyone’s worries, Dayeon was not that hurt.

The emperor was angry, but she understood what really upset him. Anybody could. He was upset because he was worried about her, and so most of the sting in his ceaseless tirade was taken out.

Dayeon, who felt his concern clearly, quietly interrupted the emperor’s words.

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“I won’t get hurt from now on.”

The emperor, despite himself, shut his mouth.

Thus, the attendants all wore looks of admiration.

A-amazing. She stopped our emperor’s scolding!

Mikhail, who stared at Dayeon with an unreadable expression, spoke in a somehow tired voice.

“Give me your hand.”

Dayeon readily held out her right hand, which the doctor had meticulously disinfected and treated with medicine.

The emperor put that hand on his and fixed his gaze on it. He stared and stared with such intensity like he was going to dissect it.

Dayeon and the attendants watching them soon felt uncomfortable with the situation.

It was because the emperor, staring intently at Dayeon’s hand, was stroking the hand like he was holding something incredibly precious.

Dayeon became more and more embarrassed. Her face was about to turn red again.

Dayeon thought that the emperor must be someone who did not feel shame. He really had a talent for mortifying people.

Slowly brushing the back of her hand with his thumb, the emperor spoke in a grief-stricken voice.

 

“Don’t get hurt.”

“…….”

“Don’t cry, either.”

“…….”

The emperor’s green eyes gazed steadily at Dayeon.

“Do you understand? I mean that you should cherish your body.”

Facing the emperor, who spoke sincerely as if he was asking for a promise, Dayeon nodded. Her face had slowly become hot and was now completely red. Everyone held their breath at the tingling atmosphere.

Nobody could say a word until the healing priest who rushed over from the temple arrived at the palace and broke the silence.

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