Stepping from roof to roof, they arrived at a pavilion situated at the outer edge of Manguwon. It was the tallest building in Manguwon, and standing there, the scenery of Manguwon spread out refreshingly before them.

Standing a little higher did not mean the stars were more clearly visible, but his heart at least felt open and free. Yunseo quietly gazed at the moon and then asked.

"Do you think there really is a rabbit living on the moon?"

Yeonduk had once pointed to the dark parts of the moon and told him they were the shadow of a rabbit. When he was young he had believed it just as he was told, but once he grew a little older, the fact that the rabbit was always in the same position struck him as unbelievable.

"It would be better to have a rabbit living there than a person. At least it would not covet this place."

"That is a sharp way of looking at it. But to me it just looks like a stain."

"A stain. That could be so as well."

"Is it not remarkable. That even that beautiful, radiant moon carries a stain."

Sometimes when he felt melancholy, or when he seemed lacking and insufficient to himself, the moon in the night sky would become a comfort. Even the moon has a stain — what does it matter if someone like me carries a few flaws.

His fingertips grazed the back of Hwi's hand. Yunseo glanced down at the hand that drew no closer, and asked.

"Your Majesty. Why will you not say sorry to me?"

Hwi turned his body and looked at Yunseo. His gaze flowed gently and carefully over Yunseo's eyes, nose, and lips.

Hwi's eyelids closed and opened two or three times in succession, his long lashes fluttering. He was watching with curiosity what was perhaps the most delicate part of all Hwi possessed, when Hwi's lips parted.

"An emperor is without shame."

"……"

"Even if I were to go back, I would make the same choice — so what is there to be sorry for?"

Hwi posed the nonchalant question and then scrutinized Yunseo's face thoroughly. As though to unearth even the smallest speck of dust. Yunseo gazed back steadily at him and replied.

"Do you wish for me not to forgive you?"

Hwi silently raised his hand and caressed Yunseo's cheek. His warm fingertips warmed the cool skin.

After letting a long stretch of time pass, Hwi confessed.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because someday, I hope not to lose even you."

Only then did Yunseo step one foot inside the inner world Hwi had opened and shown him. He was, in other words — he had already concluded that one day he would come to regret it. And so, for him not to loathe himself too, all of this had to have been done to him against his will alone, and the blame also had to be something that could be directed back at Hwi.

A hollow laugh slipped from between his lips. Yunseo sighed loudly so that Hwi could hear, and took hold of the hand Hwi had rested on his cheek.

"Hwi-nim."

The name he had not put in his mouth for so long felt good to say. The eyes that had been fixed on Yunseo's face wavered all at once.

"I chose Hwi-nim knowing everything, accepting all of it. Of course one cannot say that it was entirely of my own free will. But. If I had truly disliked it — if I had not wanted Hwi-nim — I would have run away by any means necessary. I am someone who, even after being beaten so badly at the age of eight, did not know how to give up."

Though he had been caught by the ankle at Hwi's call, the decision to remain by his side in the end was his own will and intention. Would there come a day when he would regret that decision? He did not think it would come, but even if it did, he would not hate anyone.

He would sooner curse fate, the shackles, the divine being somewhere high in the heavens above.

"Surely days of longing and missing will come. But that is my portion to carry. I must not blame anyone, and I will not blame Hwi-nim. And……"

"……"

"What is inside here — that is Hwi-nim's portion to carry."

Yunseo lifted his empty hand and laid it on Hwi's chest. Guilt, anxiety, self-loathing, self-contempt — whatever was inside, it was not something he could relieve. Even if he were to soothe him saying it was alright, that he would not regret it, that nothing was Hwi's fault — it would not lighten Hwi's heart.

"Just as I chose Hwi-nim nonetheless, Hwi-nim also chose me nonetheless."

Thump, thump, thump — a heavy beat spread through his fingertips. He was glad to feel his life. Glad that Hwi was standing before him this steadfastly, having pierced through all that hardship and pain, and glad that he could give him a place of rest.

"So carry it. Do not hold back your words or actions toward me."

Yunseo declared it firmly. The more that was so, the more he had to love him. He had to pour out his expressions without holding back. He wished for Hwi to focus on his love toward him rather than his self-loathing. So that someday…… a full and true rest would come to his heart as well.

Hwi's eyes seemed to blur, and then clear, vivid light filled them. He nodded slowly. Repeatedly. As if he had realized something. As if he had found an answer. The corner of his mouth faintly crumbled.

"Yes. I truly…… always learn so much from you."

In the moonlight, Hwi's face shone brilliantly. Even if that radiance considered its own choice a stain, no one could take this light away. And this light would always drift around him, bewitching him so that he could not look anywhere else, monopolizing his heart entirely.

"If I have any right to say it…… there is nothing in all this world I could cherish as much as you, turning away brings me inevitably to thoughts of you, and a life without you is something I cannot even dare imagine — so this heart is love. That is what I wish to say."

At the confession in which heartfelt emotion was steeped into every syllable, Yunseo smiled quietly. Hwi's thumb slipped out and smoothed Yunseo's curled lips flat.

"That I have met you is the greatest fortune of my life, but the fact that I cannot be that kind of existence for you…… is truly a pity."

With a face contorted in bone-deep anguish, Hwi put into his mouth only the word "pity." Yunseo looked at Hwi for a moment, then took him by the back of the neck and pulled him into his arms.

Hwi held Yunseo back as though to crush him and buried his head in Yunseo's shoulder. Hot breath spread along the skin, urging the heart to beat all the more fiercely.

My, beloved and fragile coward.

Yunseo smiled and raised his eyes. The moon — radiant in its glory even as it carried its stain — was looking gently down upon the two men.

As deep night fell, the world grew even more still. It had been a long time since he had stayed awake this late. In the days before he ran away from home he would stay up all night like this. That time felt only distant to him now, which was itself something new.

Besides, back then he had watched the small hours with anxiety over whether his plan would succeed, whereas now he was watching them with no particular worry — so the feeling was bound to be different.

He had been blankly watching the clouds pass under the bright moonlight. He heard a stirring, and when he turned to look, Hwi was sitting up, staring fixedly down inside the bed.

What is there? Just as curiosity made him crane his neck, Hwi abruptly stood and strode over to fling open the door.

The fairly loud sound startled him and he drew a sharp breath — Hwi's head snapped toward him at once. The keen light crossing his sharp eyes instantly shrank in size. Yunseo looked at Hwi's bare feet crossing the threshold and wordlessly spread open both arms.

Without hesitation Hwi readily stepped forward, lifted Yunseo into his arms, and sat down in the armchair. He buried his nose in Yunseo's neck and drew in a breath, then asked.

"What were you doing?"

"Feeling the flow of time."

"Were you feeling lonely?"

"No. I was at peace."

Hwi fiddled with Yunseo's bare feet resting on his thigh. It was still a bit embarrassing to bare his feet so freely, and he curled his toes.

"Your feet are small."

At the unremarkable observation, Yunseo furrowed his brow.

"They are not small. Let us compare."

He placed his foot on top of Hwi's, and the difference was plain to see. Yunseo looked somewhat put out at Hwi's toes sticking out past his, then quickly moved his foot back. Hwi laughed softly and kissed the shell of Yunseo's ear.

He hunched his shoulders at the ticklish feeling, and Hwi cupped Yunseo's foot in both hands. His foot, which had felt slightly cool, grew warm quickly, and his body languidly relaxed.

"Your Majesty."

"Yes."

"Actually, I think I wanted you not to know that my brother hated me like that."

The fact that he still did not understand what of his had gotten on Wongyeong's nerves made him wonder whether he deserved to be hated. Yunseo curled his toes, and Hwi caressed each one of them in turn.

"You already knew that I had been the unwanted one in my family. But I did not want to show you even this shameful sight. And…… I wanted to hide it before it reached your ears, perhaps. He is my brother, after all."

Inside he had told himself he would reveal the truth once he had evidence and everything was certain, but he was not sure whether he truly would have done so. Once it was revealed, it would become a crime and Wongyeong would surely have to bear the responsibility for it…… in the end, would he not have been rushing to cover up his family member's faults?

"Also, I hoped you would not have to feel that. I do not know what the relationship between Prince Inchin and you is like, but this is a different matter. I did not want to trouble your heart based on nothing more than my suspicions."

When he grasped Prince Inchin's intention of harming him as a means of harming Hwi, he was at a loss. Whatever desire had dragged him to such a state was beyond his comprehension, but it was something absolutely unforgivable.