Yunseo held out a book and Hwi readily opened it and read through it. It was not long, and since it was content he already knew, it did not take long to finish. Hwi set the book down and Yunseo held out another. Seeing the content of the new book, Hwi's eyebrow lifted slightly.

"It is all about the Gakchim of Emperor Taejeong."

"Yes."

"What guided your question?"

"I — as well as everyone, I think — have believed all along that the Dragon Heir underwent Gakchim to hold back the Hell Realm. And that the Yeongchunhwa bloomed to protect the Dragon Heir. But if you look at these books, it is said that the Seonik Empress was renowned for the fragrance that emanated from her body."

Of course, in an era when Yeongchunhwa were entirely absent, if a fragrance suddenly emanated from a young girl's body it would be remarkable — but with the Hell Realm open and the nation in peril, at a time like that and near the capital of all places, it struck him as curious how such a leisurely rumor could have spread.

Moreover, not only in collections of folk tales but also in actual historical records, the time of the Seonik Empress's sprouting or blooming was recorded ambiguously, so he could not help but speculate that her sprouting had occurred before Emperor Taejeong's Gakchim.

Yunseo explained this and added further.

"And Your Majesty said that you underwent Gakchim the very day after I was born. When I checked the register of Yongrin and court nobles, there were many cases where the court nobles' birthdays and the Yongrin's Gakchim dates were only a day or two apart. As if…… it had been arranged to fit."

Hwi examined the register with a grave expression. He found Yunseo's name and traced it with his fingertip, then turned to look at Yunseo.

"In truth, there have been scholars who claimed that the manifestation of the Yeongchunhwa preceded the Yongrin. So what you say does have merit."

Yunseo let out a surprised exclamation at the fact that people who had arrived at the same idea before him actually existed. Hwi gently traced Yunseo's lips with his thumb.

"However, the reason that argument did not gain traction was because of the outdated logic that the Dragon Heir must come first and the Yeongchunhwa second in order to uphold the emperor's dignity, and because it was an unfruitful argument, like asking which came first — the chicken or the egg. I am curious what made this order weigh so much on your mind."

"That is……"

Yunseo recalled the sensation of when the monster's remnants had flung themselves at him in the cave, and the nightmares that had followed afterward. He quietly organized his thoughts, and Hwi waited in silence, gently pinching Yunseo's cheek without hurting him.

"You remember the incident at Yongrim Peak on our first day of the retreat, when that thing touched me?"

"……How could I forget."

"I do not know how this will sound."

"Say whatever it may be without hesitation."

"The feeling of when that thing touched me was exactly…… the same as when I encountered a Yongrin's poison."

Hwi blinked slowly, and then furrowed his brow. Yunseo waited for him to fully absorb what he had said before speaking.

"So it is strange. If the Yeongchunhwa was born first in the Realm and then the Hell Realm opened afterward — then what are those monsters……?"

"If the premise holds true that the root of a Yongrin's poison and those things is the same, then just as we do, those things would desire a guardian star."

Yunseo cautiously nodded. He was relieved that Hwi did not laugh off or dismiss his premise. He raised his hand and rubbed Hwi's furrowed brow, and Hwi's half-stiffened expression loosened.

"Your Majesty. From when did the opening of the Hell Realm become more frequent?"

"When was your blooming?"

"I bloomed at fourteen."

Hwi paused for a moment, then let out a short laugh and poked Yunseo's cheek.

"You hid it for a long time."

"……That is true."

"If you bloomed at fourteen…… yes. The timing when the Gate's opening became more frequent matches with your sprouting and blooming."

The color in Yunseo's expression grew seriously grave. Hwi also seemed lost in thought and kept his silence, his gaze resting somewhere in the air.

After a short time passed, Yunseo hesitated, then took hold of Hwi's hand.

"Your Majesty. If those things are a poison — should it not be resolved?"

"……"

"A guardian star could be the solution."

"No. The outcome cannot be certain, yet the risk to be taken is great."

"But if even a small possibility exists, do you not think everything ought to be tried?"

As though struck at a vital point, Hwi fell silent. Yunseo could anticipate how Hwi would react to what was coming next, but he had no choice but to say it.

"I will try."

"That is an absurd suggestion."

Hwi spat it out with a fierce curl of his lips. But if he had intended to back down here, he would not have raised it in the first place.

"I must be the one to do it."

"If it is needed, other court nobles can be called upon."

"Now that is what is truly absurd. Your Majesty, I am this nation's Empress. I have a duty to stand at the forefront to protect this nation. As the head of Yeonwiwon, I do not wish to hide behind the court nobles either."

At the resolute declaration, Hwi's gaze lingered long. He traced circles on Yunseo's hand with his thumb and then murmured.

"I should have left the Empress's seat empty."

"Could I have been satisfied as a mere favored concubine?"

At the openly provocative tone, Hwi ended up letting out a genuine laugh despite himself. He shook his head back and forth and took hold of Yunseo's chin. Hwi's eyes moved across Yunseo's face for quite a long time.

At last his gaze hardened with resolve.

"Very well. Let us try. I will guard your side."

"Yes, I trust you, Your Majesty."

Without either one leading, their lips drew close. The moment their tongues intertwined, Hwi's hand moved down and took hold of Yunseo's member. The hand that softly stroked from the root to the tip made his sensitive body draw in. Hwi tapped the tip gently and then cradled the sac in his palm and kneaded it softly.

"Mmh……"

The unrestrained hand loosened the cord tying the robe. Yunseo's already erect member rubbed against the curve of his backside. At the sensation and warmth, a tremor ran up from his tailbone. When Yunseo shifted his hips, Hwi slid his arms under the backs of both his knees and lifted him.

Their lips parted as his body was lifted up. His buttocks spread wide apart, and between them the reddened and swollen tip made contact. Hwi slowly lowered Yunseo down. The tip that pushed through the open gap slowly spread the inner walls apart and pressed deep inside.

"Ah……"

Since he had already cleaned up inside, it was dry, but still pliant enough to take Hwi in without difficulty. Yet without moisture, the sensation of friction as it bored in was overly stimulating, and the shape and feel of Hwi was felt explicitly.

"It feels, strange."

"The inside is gripping me tight, and you say strange."

Indeed, as Hwi said, his hole was clenching and his inner walls contracting. As the member scraped the inner flesh while rising and then retreating, the flesh adhered together producing a sticky sound. Yunseo swallowed his breath and shook his head, and Hwi bit the rim of his ear.

"It will not do for the Empress to be dishonest."

Saying this, he raised one finger and the dressing mirror that had been sitting at one side of the bedchamber floated over and settled on the round table.

"Look. It is being received very well."

The joining was reflected in the tilted mirror. As Hwi lifted Yunseo's body, the veined member and the soft rosy inner flesh being pulled out with it were reflected plainly.

He had never looked at this place in such detail before, and Yunseo's face flushed scarlet. Unable to bear looking any longer, he turned his head to the side — and Hwi pressed his own cheek to Yunseo's, preventing him from looking away.

"You must see how prettily your body swallows me."

The fluid that trickled down from the tip of the member, sliding down the shaft and dropping below, was captured in full in the reflection. At a sudden clench of his hole, Hwi added laughter to a low moan. Yunseo clutched at Hwi's hand, at a loss.

Hwi raised and lowered the arm cradling the back of Yunseo's knees while simultaneously thrusting upward sharply. The member drove straight to the deepest point and a strong tremor spread outward from his belly. Yunseo could not take his eyes off the reflection — his bouncing member and sac in the mirror, the mottled marks blooming across his spread thighs, and Hwi's shaft driving fiercely between them. Strangely, the arousal only heightened.

The creaking of the armchair bearing the weight of both men and the wet sounds continuing from where they were joined alternated in rhythm. Through that gap, Yunseo's heated moans cut across.

"Ah, hut, ah!"

"Playing around outside of bed — ah — is this allowed?"

Hwi threw out the teasing question and gnawed on the rim of Yunseo's ear. The softly loosened inner walls contracted repeatedly and kneaded Hwi's shaft. Hwi let out a rough breath and thrust into Yunseo without restraint. It was as though the threshold for feeling pleasure had lowered — unbearable ecstasy surged and swept over his entire body.

"Ah, it hurts, no, huh, it is good, ah, ah!"

His head fell back and he cried out, and Hwi licked along the line of Yunseo's throat. He swallowed a boiling moan and drove upward with his hips even faster.

In the swaying mirror was reflected the joining, copulating without pause and lewdly. The fact that Hwi and he were doing such a dissolute thing felt somehow newly unbelievable, making him ashamed, yet the distant sense of transgression only spurred his arousal further.

Yunseo raised his hand and touched Hwi's cheek and the back of his neck without care or aim, and sobbed freely. When Hwi's shaft reached the deepest point it could, pressing in and grinding steadily against one spot, he was swallowed into a dizzying pleasure like falling.

"Yunseo, unh……"

"Haa, mh, hut, Hwi, Hwi-nim, ah……!"

As each other's names came to their lips, the ecstasy doubled. Hwi bound Yunseo's body as though restraining him and drove his hips without mercy.