GMLS Ch 68

I want to hold you.

Those words resurfaced in my mind. I regretted it immediately. Muryun’s gaze swept over my cheek and the nape of my neck. They must have turned as red as the trees surrounding this pond.

“Then let’s make a bet.”

Trying to solve everything with a bet is a bad habit. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. It was because I saw the desire in Muryun’s eyes. If I didn’t accept, my fate was to mix flesh with him under the broad daylight, using the sky as our blanket.

“If I win, now. If you win, at night.”

He meant he was going to do it anyway. It was a robber’s Sophie’s choice, but I couldn’t question him about it.

“Wi Junghyuk.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Go and set up the boards.”

He had even prepared something.

As soon as Muryun’s order was given, the palace guards began to move like swift birds across the lake, setting up wooden boards. Half of the boards were black, and half were white. It looked like a game of Go.

“Choose a color.”

“Then I’ll take black.”

It probably wasn’t Go, but I still couldn’t choose white. Muryun said, ‘Then I’ll be white.’

The rules were simple. I could only step on the black boards, and Muryun only on the white ones, and whoever grabbed the flag that would suddenly rise somewhere on the edge of the pond first, would win.

‘He made it himself…’

It was a game that one had to be at least a first-rate warrior to play. He had clearly created it thinking only of his own capabilities.

The preparations were complete. I moved busily around the deck of the boat. He had said that if a red flag rose from somewhere without a starting signal, that would be the beginning. The one who spotted it first would have a definite advantage.

And, Muryun shot out first.

‘Oops.’

I threw myself after him like a swift bird. In terms of strength and martial skill, I was half a rank higher than Muryun. The same went for my lightness skill. The black and white boards alternately sank and rose lightly. I started late, but we arrived almost at the same time.

I stretched out my hand with all my might. Just as my knuckles were ahead of his hand, my stomach suddenly flared up.

‘Huh?’

I instinctively pulled my hand back. In that instant, Muryun’s hand snatched the flag. He smiled brightly and looked back at me.

“The first round is my victory.”

It was a best-of-three match. I smiled ambiguously and nodded.

“Congratulations.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Muryun handed the flag to a palace guard and returned to the boat first.

It might have been an insignificant moment. The sparkling lake between the boards. The smell of water and grass. The trees nodding their heads as if to say it would soon cool down. The clear sky. The sunlight that was everywhere. And through it all, Muryun’s back as he lightly leaped, stepping on any board he pleased.

My slack hand curled into a fist. The burning in my stomach was now twisting as if being wrung out.

“Is there a problem.”

I snapped back to my senses. Only then did I feel the gazes of the palace guards on me. Pretending to be nonchalant, I smiled and picked a suitable excuse.

“My heart is trembling because I don’t think I can handle the situation if I lose the next round.”

“…”

The palace guard gave me a look of pity. Another palace guard next to him asked if he should bring a calming pill right now. I shook my head.

“I will do my best.”

They sent me their silent encouragement.

I followed Muryun towards the boat. As I stepped on the boards, I thought. The last time I coughed up blood was two days ago. There were definitely two more days left, but I had a bad feeling. I felt like I should be careful, but I couldn’t afford to lose the bet. This is driving me crazy.

The second match, which I faced with tension, was my victory. The tightness in my chest grew, and the ominous feeling grew with it.

The final, third round began. I focused all my senses. I spread my perception as wide as possible to read the movements of the palace guards a step ahead.

Southwest. I threw myself forward before the flag was even raised. I made eye contact with the palace guard holding the red banner. He was surprised and raised his hand. I could feel Muryun hastily following behind me. If I kept running like this, the gap would not close.

I won.

The moment I was sure of victory, something surged up from inside me along with a sharp pain.

“Ah.”

The ground beneath me collapsed. I threw up a mouthful of blood and lost my balance. I plunged down with the same speed I had been running and sank.

Muryun was right. The lake, large enough to float that big boat without difficulty, was as deep as the sea. I sank slowly, facing the sky. When I made my internal energy heavy, my body didn’t rise but stayed at a certain depth. The water surface, shimmering with light, was beautiful.

The pain was already gone. I had also thrown up all the blood in that one go. But I couldn’t go up right away. I had to stay here at least until the bloodied water cleared and faded.

But with a splash, someone came down, creating a spray of water. It was Muryun. Having found me, he shot down through the water, grabbed my waist, and headed up.

“Are you alright?!”

Muryun asked, alarmed. Anyone who saw would think I had been stabbed with a knife.

“Your Majesty, I know how to swim. I was just there, disappointed that I lost.”

“Is that so.”

Muryun, who had been relieved for a long moment, said as if he had remembered something.

“Did you not, by any chance, cough up blood right before falling into the water?”

He saw. My heart sank, but I played dumb.

“What an absurd thing to say. I just missed my footing.”

“I see. Then I must have seen wrong.”

I nodded.

“You must be cold from being all wet. Let’s go up and change our clothes now.”

I came to my senses with a jolt. If Muryun won, I would be held now. Just as I was about to be disappointed, I saw Muryun’s empty hands.

Without realizing, I looked towards where the palace guard with the flag was. He was holding the flag firmly despite the chaos before him. Muryun saw him too. Muryun’s and my eyes met. Without either of us being first, we shot our bodies forward at the same time.

That night. I entered Muryun’s bedchamber with a very peaceful mind.

⊹ ࣪ 💮⊹₊

Muryun toyed with the sleeping Yihwa’s hair. Then he touched his long eyelashes and pressed down on the beautifully swollen red fruit. Still, there was no sign of waking. Was it because he had tormented him so much? Now, he no longer opened his eyes to any ordinary stimulation.

‘Did I really see it wrong?’

Muryun recalled the events of the day. It was the moment he was watching Yihwa’s back, who was running several steps ahead, while focusing all his senses on the red flag. He had suddenly stopped. Muryun had shot past Yihwa.

‘Perhaps I saw it that way because I was so focused on the red flag.’

The front of the collapsing Yihwa’s robe was all red. It looked red.

“Your Majesty.”

It was Monghyul. For him to seek Muryun out knowing he was with Yihwa meant it was quite an urgent matter.

Muryun got down from the bed, wearing only a single-layered robe. After carefully closing the already lowered canopy again, he opened the door himself and went outside.

“What is it.”

“A message came from Tanakhan.”

His voice dropped even lower.

“He contacted me in the same way he did when we were in the North Palace.”

It meant it was an unofficial contact. Muryun waved his hand. The imperial guards bowed and withdrew, and the palace guards all distanced themselves. Muryun’s eyes looked up. The shadow on the ceiling also disappeared.

“He sent this.”

What Monghyul took out from his bosom was a small wooden box. It was something he had seen somewhere before. But he couldn’t remember exactly where.

Muryun’s gaze fell on the fish-shaped lock. A fish resembling a carp. It was the symbol of the Yeo clan. The same crest was engraved on the palanquin that Shangshuling Yeo Yullyeong used to ride. Muryun removed the already broken and opened lock and opened the wooden box.

Inside were a hairpin wrapped in cloth, a folded document, and layers of plain cloth. Something dark red was dried on the cloth. It was blood, no matter how you looked at it. Muryun’s heart began to beat wildly.

“What on earth is this.”

Monghyul was confused. Muryun was just as ignorant as he was, but he had a premonition. A very ominous and sinister one.

Muryun first unfolded the document. It was a contract containing contents that were unbelievable and that he did not want to believe. Muryun tore it up without a second thought. He tore it into tiny pieces.

“To think he would try to drive a wedge between me and Yihwa with such a false document. I should have known when he was spouting nonsense about being a ‘royal concubine candidate’ and making dirty moves on Yihwa.”

However, the handwriting he had glimpsed was definitely Yihwa’s. Fury engulfed his heart. Muryun felt heat spreading throughout his entire body.

Monghyul became even more curious about the contents of the document, but he did not ask. To be precise, he couldn’t ask. With an aura that could kill a couple of people, Muryun checked the hairpin. It was the one Yihwa had.

“This is poison.”

Monghyul said, examining the tip of the hairpin. Muryun’s heart dropped to the floor.

“……Poison?”

“Yes. Judging by the unique material, it seems to be for filtering out poisons that cannot be detected by silver. I’ve never seen a white hairpin like this before, but the contaminated tip is undoubtedly contaminated by poison.”

Muryun’s mind went blank. He cursed his own clever mind for quickly arriving at an answer. Monghyul was horrified, and the imperial guards who had been standing at a distance immediately prostrated themselves on the floor.

“Your Majesty, please have mercy-”

“Shut your mouths.”

It was a voice so heavy it seemed to come from a deep cave. The hand holding the wooden box trembled. He now understood why the hairpin, which could have just been placed inside, was wrapped in cloth.

Tak.

The wooden box dropped from his hand and rolled on the floor. Only the hairpin and one of the numerous plain cloths remained in Muryun’s hand. Muryun wrapped the hairpin with the cloth on which blood had dried dark red. The pure white hairpin was instantly stained black.

A hollow laugh escaped Muryun’s lips.