GMLS Ch 7

The coughing had certainly subsided. Now, it was just the occasional habitual clearing of his throat. It really was because of me. Reproaching myself, I resolved to speak less from now on, but then the 5th Prince spoke to me.

“Did you suddenly become a mute who’s eaten honey?”

“Pardon?”

“You were chattering away just fine until now, so why the sudden change of heart?”

Is that strange? I tilted my head, then thought it might be. The psychology of a tavern keeper who becomes puzzled when a customer who came for soup and rice every day suddenly orders boiled chicken would be similar.

“My apologies. I was concerned that my talking too much might strain Your Highness’s throat.”

“What does that mean—”

The tavern keeper… no, the prince, who had been drawing out his words, shut his mouth. The brilliant man soon understood my meaning. His expression became complicated.

After pondering for a long while, he turned away from me sharply and said.

“I won’t answer, so just chatter on as you have been. It’s actually more awkward when you suddenly stop after being so noisy and chattering all the time. I think I can understand a little of why nobles keep mynah birds they won’t even eat.”

…So he was saying I was a mynah bird. I walk on two legs, I’m wearing a sword, and I even have a government post, but I’m in the position of a mynah bird. How sorrowful, so sorrowful. There was no one to blame. It was my fault for falling head over heels five years ago.

Why is it that I keep laughing while lamenting my situation?

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I smiled, my eyes crinkling softly. After being so slow, so delayed, it seemed that spring would soon come to my heart as well.

⊹ ࣪ 💮⊹₊

“…I really didn’t want to ask, but.”

The 5th Prince, who was standing upside down, looked at me as if he were seeing something bizarre.

“What in the world are you doing there?”

“I am beholding the great fortune of this nation. Have you awoken? How is your condition?”

“Not well at all. Just answer my question. What on earth is the reason you’re hanging from a tree like a monkey? Can’t you see the court attendants in that corner laughing at you?”

“I was picking Shin Yihwa.”

“Yihwa?”

It seemed he heard it as, ‘I was picking a new Yihwa.’

“It’s Shin Yihwa. It’s what they call the young buds of the magnolia flower. If you dry them and brew them into a tea, it’s good for the bronchial tubes.”

At the words ‘good for the bronchial tubes,’ the 5th Prince’s mouth, which had been about to say something, closed. He, who had been looking up at me, turned his body and went on his way.

I released my legs and dropped down. But alas, a branch caught my foot on the way, and my body swayed greatly. However, my victory in the martial arts competition was not luck, and I quickly twisted my body like a cat. Then I righted my off-balance center and landed softly.

Hoo- I let out a long breath and straightened my bent back.

I saw the 5th Prince standing not too far away. I had clearly seen him turn his back and leave, but he was frozen in a posture as if he were about to run towards me at any moment.

As I brushed the dust from my hair and collar and asked, ‘Why are you standing like that?’, he sharply turned his body again and moved away. Today, he was somehow even colder than usual. It was a chill that would make even the spring that had painstakingly found its way to the Northern Palace retreat.

I followed behind him, carefully holding the handful of Shin Yihwa I had picked.

“Why are you so cross?”

“I’m not cross.”

“Your steps are rough.”

“My steps have always been like this.”

I was impressed. Although it might be natural for an answer to come back for every question asked, when the 5th Prince did it, it felt like a world-changing event. My persistence in talking to him all this time had indeed paid off.

Excited, I was about to say something more when the prince let out a small ‘cough.’ At the same time, my mouth snapped shut. An ambiguous silence descended.

The 5th Prince, who had been heading towards the pond, clicked his tongue, turned sharply, and headed for the palace. The inside of the palace couldn’t be called warm. Still, since there was no wind, it definitely felt warmer than outside. The prince, having returned to his quarters, opened his mouth again.

“I wondered why your name was ‘Yihwa’ when your childhood name was ‘Little Magnolia.’ So it was taken from the magnolia.”

“I must go to the kitchen at once.”

“Why the kitchen all of a sudden?”

“The breakfast must have gone bad.”

“……”

The 5th Prince cursed at me with just his eyes. He looked like he had a lot to say but had no idea where to start. He sat down on the veranda and sighed. A tinge of resignation was mixed in with his long exhale.

“Just answer.”

“Yes. That’s right. When I was still in my mother’s womb, a great white tiger is said to have appeared in her dream and brought her a young magnolia branch.”

“What a grand conception dream.”

“I am grateful for your words. But please, stop talking. It will hurt your throat.”

Watching the 5th Prince drink a cup of water, I ordered the court attendant guarding the door to bring warm tea. Then I went out and stood in the hallway. I was trying to fulfill my duties as Captain of the Guard, as usual.

“Yihwa.”

Just as I was about to close the door behind me, the 5th Prince called me. Surprised, I turned only my head, and my eyes met with his, who looked just as surprised as I was.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Fearing he might change his mind, I quickly went inside and approached the side of the veranda. The 5th Prince’s gaze was on me. His face was still impassive. It was also a face whose thoughts were impossible to read.

“Yihwa-ya.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I also did not know the reason he was calling me like that. But what did that matter? My heart pounded simply because his calling me was so sweet.

“For a man’s name, it is quite pretty and gentle. Do you not dislike it?”

If you are the one to call me it, I like anything.

“I do not dislike it.”

But after answering, I remembered. I had disliked it when I was young. I had cried and thrown tantrums, asking what kind of man’s name had a magnolia in it. How did he see through my inner thoughts like that? The 5th Prince, narrowing his eyes, said.

“You disliked it when you were young.”

With that one simple phrase, I was momentarily transported back to an old veranda.

It was spring. The spots where the sunlight shone were filled with the sprawling young limbs of children. Mother, with the youngest in her belly, caressed the heads of her older children and sang a lullaby.

‘Does spring come when the magnolias bloom? Do magnolias bloom when spring comes? Because of you, spring comes and magnolias bloom. Do not even look at Mount Bukmang, do not even go to the Samdo River, come here. Come hither, come hither. The wild grapes I picked for you are in my arms.’

It was a mother’s song of prayer, wishing for her child to safely become an adult. Because not all children could become adults.

Especially the poor who couldn’t eat or dress well, many died young. That’s why this song did not go under tiled roofs. It was a song that could only be heard under old, thatched roofs, where rain leaked and a corner had collapsed.

Mother, her face obscured by the backlight, reached out her hand. In a daze, I closed my eyes. The cool touch of her hand was vivid on my forehead.

‘Come here. Come hither, come hither. My cute magnolia flower, sleep in my arms.’

Soaked in the fragrance of a day I could never return to, I answered a little slowly.

“…It was because I was compared to my other brothers. My eldest brother was given the name of the largest mountain on the Yeon Continent, my second brother the name of a flowing cloud, and my younger brother the name of a heavy rock.”

“And the youngest?”

“My youngest brother did not receive my mother’s name. Mother passed away before she could give him one. My father also just casually called him ‘youngest.’ That’s why, until the day he was sold into the hands of a merchant, that child, at least, weighed on my mind.”

I spoke calmly. In reality, my heart was extremely tranquil. But the 5th Prince, who was listening, was not. His mouth was shut tight. He feigned nonchalance, but he couldn’t completely hide his look of bewilderment.

“It’s alright. It doesn’t matter to me now.”

It really didn’t matter. The day I was sold off was the last time the child had weighed on my mind.

“After the Sangseoryeong took me in, I became Yeo Yihwa. I am satisfied with that. There is no other Yihwa.”

It was the truth. With the life saved by the 5th Prince, I was able to meet the 5th Prince again like this.

The 5th Prince was still silent. He seemed lost in thought, so I deliberately did not speak to him. I had already said enough. I was already worried about his cough not getting better.

There was no word from the court attendant I had sent for tea. I should have gone myself, I thought, clicking my tongue, when the 5th Prince’s mouth opened.

“You said it’s called ‘Shin Yihwa’.”

His gaze had fallen on the bunch of flowers I was still holding in my hand. I snapped to my senses and said, ‘Yes.’

“The one who named it must have wanted to call out to the less-grown magnolia among the fully grown ones. To give meaning to the young magnolia, to give it an affectionate heart, to say, you are special.”

A colorful thread ball that had rolled from somewhere lightly touched my foot, which was clad in a black leather shoe.

‘Where are you hiding? I can’t seem to find you, so come out now.’

The voice that called out was full of laughter. I had hidden desperately then, but I know now that he already knew where I was.

‘I am at a loss and in trouble. I brought you sweets, but what should I do with them?’

The reason my heart is welling up now is because he gave me meaning back then.

‘Hmm. Should I give them to the servant girl at the door?’

He had given me an affectionate heart and treated me as special.

‘Oh, there you are. Haha, yes. These sweets are yours. Don’t be so impatient, eat slowly. It’s all yours, I said.’

The scenery of that small room, etched more in my heart than in my eyes, still flickered behind my eyelids even now. My grip on the Shin Yihwa tightened. The pressed flowers released their green juice. The scent of young magnolias deepened.

“A name given with such a heart must be so beautiful. Wouldn’t your mother who gave you that name have felt the same way? Don’t say that there is no other Yihwa. Your mother will be sad.”

My throat was choked up, and I couldn’t answer. I nodded my head, heavily but clearly. The 5th Prince smiled faintly, as if to say ‘good job.’ The moment I was captivated by his precious smile—

Cough.

The 5th Prince coughed after finishing his words. I frowned at the empty water cup, when the tardy court attendant announced from the door that he had brought tea. I started to turn, then paused.

I quickly poured the handful of Shin Yihwa onto the table, went back to the door, and received the tea. When I poured it into a cup and held it out, the 5th Prince did not refuse.