A spring rain fell in a soft, dreary drizzle. Because the rear window had been left open, the sound of the rain drifted inside and created a pleasant resonance.

Hwi had said it would be fine to simply summon Hanmi and Daeung to the main hall, but since Yunseo was the one requesting to hear their story, and wanting to provide a more comfortable setting, he chose Wolyudang as the location.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he and Hwi had enjoyed refreshments together here. It would have been nicer had the weather been clear, but the rainy scenery had its own charm.

He was warming his fingers against the heat of his cup when he suddenly took Hwi's hand. Finding his fingertips cool, Yunseo moved Hwi's hands to hold the teacup instead. The moment their eyes met and they exchanged a quiet smile, a eunuch announced the arrival of Hanmi and Daeung.

The moment they stepped inside, they offered their greetings, visibly tense. It seemed that having a private audience with the imperial couple was no small thing for them. Yunseo deliberately smiled brightly and gestured for them to sit.

"Please, sit. I am glad you accepted my invitation."

"We are overwhelmed that you would call upon us. We only worry that our humble circumstances may be of little help to Your Majesty."

"I hope you will think of this as simply sharing conversation."

A palace attendant poured tea into the two guests' cups. When Yunseo gestured and took a sip, the two exchanged a glance and cautiously lifted their cups.

In the meantime, Yunseo looked back and forth between the two. They were similar in height and build, and their faces—blunt and composed—were strikingly alike. Seeing them together brought to mind the saying that married couples come to resemble each other, and he found himself smiling.

"I have heard that the two of you have been friends since childhood. Is that so?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. We are childhood friends who grew up in the same village. This one entered the palace first after blooming, and I underwent the ritual the following year."

It was a truly remarkable coincidence. For two childhood friends to enter the palace—one as a Yeongchunhwa, the other as a Yongrin. Their feelings at the time must have been tremendously complicated, and so Yunseo asked carefully.

"May I ask what was in your hearts back then?"

"We came to naturally accept that we had become beings who could not live without a guardian star… and yet, in another part of us, we could not accept it. To receive the nation's stipend and serve His Majesty was a great honor, but it was not something we had chosen of our own will."

Hanmi was not of noble birth, but had grown up in a rather well-off household. There was a betrothed chosen by the family, and Hanmi's parents had wished for her to carry on the family business—but Hanmi had no desire to marry a man she did not love, nor any intention of continuing the family trade.

Having resolved to break free from the path her parents had set, and in the midst of countless conflicts with them over that very thing, she underwent the Gakchim ritual. Not only had her life become bound to a guardian star, but a great fate and duty had come crashing down upon her head—and so in the end, Hanmi had not been able to choose anything by her own hand.

Not even her own desires. After undergoing Gakchim as a Yongrin, the guardian star came to take precedence over every longing. Overcoming the sense of estrangement that came from that had been the most difficult thing.

"You must have suffered greatly."

It was the first time he had heard a Yongrin's perspective like this. He had only ever caught fragments here and there, or guessed at their feelings by projecting onto Hwi—but the emotions they carried were far more complex and tumultuous than he had imagined.

"And this one……"

Hanmi turned to look at Daeung, who had been silently listening the whole time. The look in her eyes was so warm and tender that Yunseo's own chest felt a strange tickle for no reason.

"Like everyone else, I had never once imagined that I would bloom as a Yeongchunhwa, and so I was bewildered."

Daeung's inner feelings were easy enough to understand without being told. But there was one thing that set him apart. Unlike Yunseo, who had bloomed at a very young age and been educated accordingly, Daeung—much like other Yeongchunhwa—had bloomed at sixteen and undergone flowering thereafter, and so he had felt a sense of revulsion toward physical contact with men.

For the Yongrin, the guardian star was of the utmost importance, so they were not constrained by the gender of the Yeongchunhwa—but for the Yeongchunhwa, it was not uncommon to feel discomfort when first making contact with someone of the same sex and undergoing Yochi, even after receiving education on the matter.

Of course, once they stayed at Geumjuseong and came face to face with the Yongrin returning from battle, that sense of revulsion would gradually ease, and they would come to accept it as natural.

"We often encountered each other at Geumjuseong, and as we were dispatched to the same Hwasicheong and spent time together, we came to confirm each other's feelings."

Perhaps embarrassed to be speaking of such things, Hanmi scratched the back of her head. They had not realized at first that what they felt was love, and so they had gone through countless conflicts and misunderstandings, she said.

Hearing another person's love story for the first time was quite riveting. Yunseo had been listening to Hanmi with his mouth slightly open, before catching himself and straightening his posture to maintain his dignity. Then he glanced over at Hwi—who had apparently been watching Yunseo the entire time, for he was still looking over at him.

Yunseo covertly signaled him to at least pretend to pay attention to their guests, but Hwi gave no sign of understanding whatsoever, and simply went on serenely sipping his tea.

"Hmm, and yet the relationship between a Yongrin and a Yeongchunhwa is a particular one, so it must have been all the more difficult."

"Yes. This one's guardian star was not compatible with me, and while we held each other in our hearts, our bodies had to be with others. It caused us to part ways repeatedly."

Yongrin and Yeongchunhwa could marry once they came of age at thirty, but that did not mean they were assigned exclusively to each other. Even after marriage and becoming husband and wife, they still had to perform Yochi with others—and in truth, this was the greatest obstacle for a Yongrin and Yeongchunhwa couple.

"How did you overcome it?"

To the careful question, it was Daeung who answered first this time.

"As the Yongrin who had passed forty and whom we had passed in the halls one by one began to disappear, and when Hanmi collapsed one day in Jiokdo, I realized that before death, nothing else holds any meaning."

As if the long stretch of time when they had ignored each other meant nothing at all, Daeung had steeled his heart to make a lifelong promise to Hanmi. Though Yongrin did not easily fall ill or get hurt, their lifespans were short—perhaps from being overworked in Jiokdo—and the awareness that if things continued as they were, only deep regret would remain had set Daeung's chest ablaze with resolve.

This was surely not something that had happened to them alone—and thinking of how many people before Hanmi and Daeung must have quietly nursed their grief, must have had to suppress and sever their own emotions, Yunseo felt a sorrow beyond words.

"I cannot say with certainty that determination alone can overcome everything. However, rather than suffering over the fact that we could not have each other all to ourselves, we chose to be grateful for the time we could spend together—and it is that resolve, the refusal to yield to the trials that fate had given us, that has brought us to where we are today."

Perhaps because they had crossed one difficult threshold after another before finally reaching each other—on the faces of Hanmi and Daeung there rested a steadfast love and a peace that seemed as though no one could shatter them. To have arrived at such a look on their faces, they too must have had to climb steep mountains.

Now Jiokdo was closed. The Yongrin's poison still tormented them, but the desperate and urgent situations that had once put lives at the brink, and the Yochi that came with them, would now fade into history. And so, how to reform the system for those who remained would be the foremost task ahead.

"It cannot have been easy to speak so candidly like this—I am truly grateful that you told me so willingly."

"Not at all. In truth, we were glad that Your Majesty wished to hear the story of this one and me. The bond between Yongrin and Yeongchunhwa has long been depicted as nothing more than a romantic subject in the hands of others who have no part in it—so would it not be truly meaningful for 'our' story to be recorded?"

Hearing Hanmi's earnest words, a sense of responsibility and duty settled heavily and purposefully upon Yunseo's shoulders. But it was a welcome feeling, and he accepted it gladly, nodding his head.

After chatting for a while longer, he sent Hanmi and Daeung on their way. The sight of the couple leaving side by side, shoulders touching, was a pleasant one.

"Was it a satisfying time?"

At Hwi's question, Yunseo turned to look at him. Hwi was resting his chin in his hand, gazing quietly at him—his posture unhurried and at ease.

"Yes. It was a meaningful time, being able to learn about the inner lives of others."

Even after receiving the reply, Hwi made no particular response and simply continued to gaze at him. Yunseo reached out a hand with a mildly curious look on his face. Hwi took that hand in his and opened his mouth.

"There was a time when I held two contradictory wishes within me. I wished for you to remain a naive child who knew little of the world—and yet at the same time, I wished for you to care for those people and the common folk with your goodwill and generosity and compassion."

Yunseo waited in silence, but Hwi did not continue. Yet he felt as though he understood why Hwi had chosen now to confess this long-hidden thought. Yunseo gazed at Hwi for a moment, then curled up the corners of his mouth.

"Those aren't contradictory. I can be both."

As long as Hwi was beside him—only in front of Hwi could he cast aside all shame and pretense and indulge in being spoiled. Yunseo rose without hesitation and climbed into Hwi's lap, nestling into his arms. Hwi's body stiffened for just a moment, then slowly relaxed, and he wrapped his arms around Yunseo in turn.

"Is that so."

"Of course. Beside Your Majesty, I can be anything."

Yunseo patted Hwi's broad back. He had come to know the world through him—and so the love, courage, confidence, generosity, and compassion within himself could not be separated from Hwi. And he wanted to give all of that back to him.

Hwi leaned his head against Yunseo's shoulder. Perhaps this, too, was his way of being spoiled? Thinking so, Yunseo's heart felt as though it would melt—he found Hwi endlessly, overwhelmingly dear. He bit back a smile and slowly ran his hand down Hwi's back.

The two spoke quietly together about the world that was about to change, and the things that would need to change along with it. The finely falling spring rain carried a faint green scent in between their warm, gentle voices.