It was just as he was clenching his fist to suppress the cruel impulse directed at himself. A eunuch entered and announced a visit from Noble Consort Hyeon.

"Let her in."

Noble Consort Hyeon entered carrying a tray in her hands. She approached the writing desk and set down the tray, which held small bite-sized rice cakes one could eat easily.

"I heard you had turned away your meal, so I brought something in hopes you might eat at least a little."

"Thank you. How is your health?"

"Thanks to your concern, I have fully recovered."

Noble Consort Hyeon had declined the suggestion to recuperate at Geumju Fortress and had followed Hwi back to the palace. Noble Consort Seong and Yi Sowon had remained at Geumju Fortress, while Noble Consort Hyeon was looking after the royal concubines at the imperial palace.

"What is the mood among the concubines?"

"They are moved by the collapse of the Hell's Gate, yet remain half in doubt. The older concubines in particular cannot bring themselves to rejoice wholeheartedly. There are also those among them who show signs of anxiety — it seems they are worried about their own usefulness, in all likelihood."

The Yongrin, too, were no different — they could not feel pure joy at the fall of the Hell's Gate. Emptiness and confusion swept over them, and since this was a matter that required time, it had to be left to settle on its own. However, the real question would be what duties to assign them going forward.

"It is a critical time, so please do take good care to soothe the concubines."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You must be in turmoil yourself, yet you keep your center — I am truly most grateful."

"I am only fulfilling the duty given to me; how could I deserve such high praise?"

Noble Consort Hyeon bowed her head humbly. She did not withdraw and instead silently kept her gaze on the tray. Even out of consideration for her dignity, he ought to have made at least a show of eating, but he had no inclination to do so at all.

It was Noble Consort Hyeon who first cut through the silence that filled the office.

"Your Majesty. Do you have regrets?"

Hwi lifted his eyes and looked up at Noble Consort Hyeon. She gazed into Hwi's heart with an impassive expression.

Regrets. Could such a word even apply? Was it even appropriate? As he scoffed at himself, Noble Consort Hyeon continued.

"The Empress would not have wished it."

The memory of Yunseo's bright, eager voice as he chattered on and on about Noble Consort Hyeon surfaced in his mind. How he had said she was like a teacher to him, that if he had met Noble Consort Hyeon outside the palace rather than within it, he probably would have followed her around everywhere.

Perhaps the person Yunseo had spoken with the most in this palace was Noble Consort Hyeon. So what Noble Consort Hyeon surmised about Yunseo was likely correct.

"Did he…"

Hwi asked blankly.

"Did he stay until the very end?"

Noble Consort Hyeon's expression clouded over for a moment.

After everything had concluded, while he had been helplessly asleep, he had received a report of what had transpired. That the concubines had joined forces and strained themselves to close the Hell's Gate. That in the midst of it all, the Yongrin had attended to the concubines who had been pushed to the brink of collapse. And that in the process, Yunseo had exhausted all of his strength.

The question he could not bring himself to ask after hearing that report had traveled around and around, arriving at last at Noble Consort Hyeon.

Had Yunseo known? Had he been aware of the possibility that his own death lay at the end of it, and stayed until the last knowing full well?

That it was like him to have done so — yet surely he would not have done so leaving me behind. The moment the smallest gap opened, these two opposing assumptions clashed fiercely against each other.

"That is precisely why… I say you must not have regrets."

Noble Consort Hyeon chose directness rather than evasion or circumlocution. The corners of her eyes twisted. The grief and self-reproach of Noble Consort Hyeon, who had watched over Yunseo by his side almost until the very end, showed plainly.

It was just like Yunseo to have done so.

And so he had coveted him.

All of those choices had only come back to tighten around his own throat.

Hwi picked up one of the rice ball dumplings Noble Consort Hyeon had brought and put it in his mouth. A rather sweet flavor spread through his mouth, gently raising its thorns. Chewing persistently as though biting each of those thorns one by one, he finally emptied the bowl — yet instead felt his insides turn hollow.

* * *

When he opened the door and entered, Yeondeok, who had been wiping Yunseo's hands with a damp cloth, rose and paid his respects. Hwi gestured to stop Yeondeok from withdrawing.

"Continue."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Hwi sat in the chair and looked down at Yunseo's sleeping face, which still appeared peaceful. Every time he set foot in Geumju Fortress, the illusion would flit past him — those eyelids opening, and those clear, sparkling eyes turning toward him. But reality was here.

It had already been a month and a half. Yunseo showed not the slightest sign of waking, and time, as it always did, flowed swiftly without granting a single moment of reprieve.

He could not believe that, with a face that looked as though it might open its eyes at any moment, Yunseo had been submerged like this for so long. Hwi was gently stroking the hair from Yunseo's forehead when he shifted his gaze to the hands that were tending so carefully to Yunseo's hands.

"I hear Yunseo held you back when you were nearly driven away."

Yeondeok's hands paused briefly. He opened his eyes wide, then bowed his head.

"Did His Majesty say such a thing?"

A faint smile formed at the corners of Yeondeok's lips. Within it, one could feel the memories and solidarity and deep affection that filled the bond between him and Yunseo. A petty, chafing feeling rose in his chest, and Hwi swallowed a bitter laugh.

"Yes. Though His Majesty felt sorry to me over that matter, His Majesty is my benefactor. Thanks to His Majesty, someone of my station was able to learn letters and read books and see to my grandmother comfortably — and more than anything, I gained a precious bond... a dear companion. What greater grace could there be than this?"

He was aware of the complex and deep feelings Yunseo harbored for Yeondeok — feelings tangled with affection and guilt. So he would have treated him well, and during those years of confinement, they would have leaned on each other and become everything to one another. Those years were something he could not dare to encroach upon.

Hwi's hand moved down to the area near Yunseo's ear. He toyed gently with Yunseo's soft earlobe and the round curve of his ear before speaking.

"What did Yunseo like when he was young?"

"What comes to mind now is… dogs."

"Dogs?"

"Yes. There was a black-furred dog that wandered the neighborhood. One day it slipped into the inner quarters in the blink of an eye, wagged its tail at the young master, and in the end got food out of him. After that it came around often, and the young master was terribly fond of it — but since the head of the house would not permit keeping it, he had to be content with waiting for the dog to come and feeding it when it did."

Merely imagining young Yunseo hugging a black dog and feeding it was enough to make the corners of his mouth soften. Yeondeok had not even noticed the change in what he called Yunseo and was staring off into the distance, lost in memory.

"The young master wouldn't have known, but in truth, there were a few servants who were fond of him — they would catch dogs in the village and bring them into the inner quarters for him. Whenever the dog came inside, the young master would hush it, afraid it might be discovered and chased away. 'Shh, shh. You have to be quiet or I can give you food. I'm sorry. But you still have to be quiet.' Like that."

Perhaps because he had spent so much time with Yunseo, Yeondeok did a rather good impression of him. Watching it, longing washed over him like a surge of waves even with Yunseo right beside him.

"During one very cold winter, I heard that the black dog had frozen to death in the street, but I did not tell the young master. The young master was saddened that the dog no longer came to find him, and I told him a lie — that the dog had found a family. He believed it then and was overjoyed, but he must have come to understand what really became of that dog as he grew a little older."

Hwi painted before his eyes the world that Yunseo had lived in. A few words could not fully reveal every corner of that time — yet he painted the things Yunseo had to let go of, and the affection and hope and optimism he had tried to hold on to even so.

The world he had walked through until arriving at last — it was the declaration of some day that said there was nothing left he cherished in that house. The resolve to depart after first evacuating this servant, who was no less than family to him, from harm's way.

How, then, could he dare harbor something so petty as jealousy? Just as Hwi was trailing the curve of Yunseo's ear with his fingertip with a hollow laugh—

"Your Majesty. The royal physician has arrived."

"Let her in."

As the royal physician entered, Yeondeok stepped back. The physician bowed to Hwi and then immediately approached Yunseo.

The physician's face was careful as she took Yunseo's pulse. She examined Yunseo without fail every single day, yet the words that came from her mouth were always the same. For now, all they could do was hope that his condition would not worsen.

Even the Son of Heaven, who was said to hold an entire nation in the palm of his hand and bend it to his will, was powerless in so many things. Where on earth, then, was the will of Heaven supposed to lie? As Hwi combed Yunseo's hair with his fingers, his face sunken cold, the royal physician tilted her head slightly.

"I shall examine the Empress's body for a moment."

She bowed to Hwi and then drew back the coverlet draped over Yunseo's body. She lifted his upper garment, and as his abdomen was exposed, she placed her hands upon it. Hwi kept a sharp watch on the physician's face.

The physician examined Yunseo with concentrated focus for a long time before drawing back.

"Your Majesty. Would Your Majesty care to check for yourself?"

Hwi clenched and unclenched his fist, then turned to look at Yunseo. Since he had not received any treatment all this time, he had to be careful — if he were to let down his guard, his own energy might absorb Yunseo's protective star.

As he placed his palm over Yunseo's abdomen, he regulated his sacred energy. Applying close focus to his fingertips and gently channeling a faint stream of energy, he immediately felt Yunseo's protective star. The muscles around Hwi's eyes twitched.

The protective star that had once pooled and overflowed like a spring with no visible bottom was now dispersed faintly and quietly. The state of Yunseo's condition struck him nakedly, and the veins in Hwi's forehead stood out. Hwi exhaled deeply and turned his attention to Yunseo's deeper core.

Soon, something made itself felt. Unfamiliar and yet familiar. Like himself, and yet like Yunseo. But not us.

"The energy of both Yongrin and… the Eternal Spring Flower is being sensed simultaneously."