MOSC 12

The space where On would henceforth live as Sim Wigyeom’s concubine and the mistress of the detached chamber.

‘…It looks like a ghost is going to appear.’

In the dark room, where not a single candle was lit, On thought forlornly as she waited for the sound of the wedding trumpet, announcing the groom’s arrival.

‘Still, isn’t this built too far away?’

At this rate, even if a thief broke into the house, they would think this was a barn and just pass by.

On grumbled slightly to herself.

…Of course, this was not the space where On was meant to live.

To Wigyeom, the term ‘detached chamber’ was no different from a nightmare that came to mind with every breath he took.

It was because it reminded him of On, who had waited for him her entire life in that very place.

Wigyeom planned to demolish the detached chamber as soon as the wedding was over. He intended to pull out the very foundation stones and completely plow over the site.

However, On was not yet even dreaming of that fact.

‘The chinyeong, the ceremony where the groom comes to greet the bride, must be in full swing right about now…’

Here at the newlywed home, On had to wait until the dongroe, where they would actually share the nuptial wine, was held.

In the room where the princess and the Prince Consort’s consummation would take place, there would be a lavishly decorated table prepared.

The first night, which he would spend again with the princess, several times more grandly, just as he had done with her.

Throb.

For some reason, her chest had been stinging since a while ago.

She thought she had neatly folded away the night she had spent with Sim Wigyeom and locked it deep in her heart, but her imagination ran wild, one thought leading to another, clouding her mind like unfiltered rice wine.

‘What is wrong with me.’

She remembered the man’s fingers that had touched her cheek, the temperature of his body that felt like a brand. And the heat of her lips, stolen for the first time. It felt as if the traces left by his unrestrained movements, which had filled her entire body, were still engraved on On’s skin.

But today, the man who had torn her body in two long ago, making it never the same as it was in the beginning, was the same man who would hold the princess after a ceremony that was several times more splendid.

What is wrong with me.

‘Is there something wrong with my heart…’

She rubbed the area near her heart. Then, she slapped her cheeks, smack, smack, to drive away the base and indecent stray thoughts.

Just then, the door opened.

Like a faded lotus flower blooming anew, a person’s figure slowly revealed itself. A magnificent formal jacket, delicately embroidered with gold leaf, shimmered brilliantly under the candlelight.

And in that moment, On saw the face of the person who would completely change the rest of her life in the next half-quarter of an hour.

It was Princess Bonghwa, the one On served, the king’s one and only precious daughter, and the one who was supposed to be the bride of the Prince Consort Sim Wigyeom.

*

“You do it. The princess.”

The precious daughter of the Hwanjo Kingdom, the protagonist of legends, and a person of interest who appears at the scene of every incident.

Beyond being a simple royal, she was a renowned troublemaker both inside and outside the palace, spoken of on the same level as a natural disaster.

The beautiful princess, Bonghwa, who appeared in her wedding attire, had a very simple and clear line of reasoning.

“I’m telling you to be Princess Bonghwa, His Majesty the King’s precious daughter and the lawful wife of the Prince Consort Sim Wigyeom.”

“Y-Your Highness the Princess…?”

“And from now on, I am the palace maid, Kim On.”

“Y-You must not do this…”

“The decision has been made by me, so you just have to follow. I will accept your words of thanks separately later.”

“What do you mean, thanks…! More importantly, how dare I impersonate Your Highness the Princess…!”

“Impersonation? This is a type of stand-in, or a temporary position.”

“Your Highness the Princess…! I would rather you kill me…!”

“That is not difficult. But it is not too late to die later, so first, take off those clothes.”

On clutched the back of her neck, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly like a crucian carp on the verge of death.

Threats, persuasion, appeasement, negotiation, and even crying and begging were all ineffective.

It was only natural.

Her opponent was that Princess Bonghwa.

Everything happened in an instant.

“You must not do this!”

“There are fewer things in this world that one must not do than you think.”

And exactly half a quarter of an hour later, On was sitting straight before the dongroe table, draped in the princess’s wedding attire that shone like Goryeo celadon.

The large jade ornamental hairpin was heavy, and a lotus pattern embroidered with gold thread rested quietly at the end of the fine silk collar.

Princess Bonghwa, who had seated On in the new bride’s place, gave a mischievous, impish smile with her eyes.

“I’m only asking until the day my love arrives in the land of the Hwanjo Kingdom. On, I’m counting on you.”

While the jade-white teacup placed in the center of the dongroe table quietly steamed, On slowly composed her breathing.

Her fingertips, gently hidden beneath her skirt, were trembling, but her outward appearance was that of a perfect new bride, without a single flaw.

‘I’m going to die…!’

Of course, On’s heart was swaying wildly, like a paper boat dancing in a gale.

On thought, trembling.

‘This time, I’m really going to die! This is high treason…!’

Unaware that all of this was part of Sim Wigyeom’s plan, On had no choice but to think so.

She had been through many crises, but the crises before were not crises at all.

This time, there was no escaping it.

‘At the very least, it will be posthumous dismemberment…!’

On’s face was deathly pale.

It was an act so outrageous it was an atrocity that would anger both heaven and humanity.

To dare to be seated in a corner of the bridal chamber, draped in the princess’s formal robes.

The crime of impersonating a royal, the crime of insulting a state marriage, and the crime of conspiracy to disrupt order. These were charges for which even taking out a decapitated corpse, burning it at the stake, and grinding it to ashes would not be enough.

On’s insides were churning as if in a boiling stew.

She wondered what sins she must have committed in her past life to end up serving Princess Bonghwa, to the point where she suspected she might have been a traitor who sold out the country.

‘Your Highness the Princess…! What will you do about this later…!’

What sin have I committed?

On wailed internally. The princess who had created this whole mess had made it so On could not even budge, abandoned her in the middle of the bridal chamber, and fled after stealing and putting on the clothes she had been wearing.

‘This betrayal…! Mmph…!’

Unable to utter vicious words about the princess she served, On’s mouth only let out muffled groans.

However, an even bigger problem awaited On.

It was not just a case of one mountain after another; a whole mountain range, layered one upon the other, was personally guiding On to the path of the afterlife.

“Humbly celebrating the wedding of Her Highness the Princess and the Prince Consort Sim Wigyeom, we pray that heaven may bestow upon you both the blessing of harmony.”

The firmly shut door slid open, and the other protagonist of the dongroe ceremony had arrived.

A man wearing a red robe with a jade belt around his waist entered the bridal chamber.

It was the Prince Consort, Sim Wigyeom.

‘Ah…’

On held her breath, staring in shock at the man who had appeared.

In that moment, On realized for the first time.

That even though they had spent a night together, this was actually the first time she was facing this man.

“I have made you wait a long time. My wife.”

The man, Wigyeom—the culprit, the origin, the root of all this trouble, and the variable that was utterly impossible to predict—smiled brightly at On.

With his trembling eyes full of a fiery, viscous desire.

*

…Sim Wigyeom’s face, revealed under the light, was truly shocking.

The moment she confirmed Sim Wigyeom’s features, On froze like an icicle under the eaves.

It was because of the excessive splendor of his face, which could potentially blind her.

When she had only seen him as a shadow before, she had thought he had quite a handsome appearance.

However, the man’s face, met under the bright light, was like looking at a magnificent, picturesque landscape.

The bridge of his nose, resembling a mountain ridge, was sharp, and his pomegranate-colored lips looked redder than her own. His jawline was as smooth as a blade, and the broad curve of his forehead was as perfect as a masterpiece sculpted by a stonemason.

He was the very picture of a man with a face as beautiful as flowers and a moonlit grace.

Gulp.

On’s mouth fell open on its own.

‘…Is this what they mean by founding a nation with one’s face.’

It was a face good enough to be engraved on the royal seal.

Had this been a state examination hall, he would have passed with the highest honors, without any need for the first or second rounds.

Before the handsomest man she had ever seen in her life, On’s heart rioted, unable to get a grip on itself.

For that moment, the reality of greeting him in this bridal chamber felt like a luxury.

On thought, captivated by astonishment.

‘I shouldn’t have taken the silver ingots.’

The cost-benefit analysis was not adding up.

This was a sight one should pay silver ingots to see.

And at a premium, no less.

Without realizing it, she tried to awkwardly stand up towards him, but then she remembered her own attire, and her face turned pale as she lowered her head.

On had always been extremely weak when it came to people of extraordinary beauty.

If someone was handsome or pretty, she would unknowingly soften up and treat them well.

In fact, her life as Princess Bonghwa’s lady-in-waiting was the price she paid for being bewitched by that very glossy face of hers.

Her eyes had feasted, but the rest of On’s body had suffered immensely.

On vaguely sensed that those days of suffering were beginning again at this very moment.

Sim Wigyeom’s eyes, too, were fixed directly on On without a hint of hesitation.

He approached On with a smile that looked as if it were painted on and sat cross-legged in front of her. With every step the man took, she had the illusion that the air around them was changing.

On had no idea how to deal with the shock delivered by the Prince Consort’s violent good looks, which made her lose her senses even when facing death.

‘W-With someone like this, I spent last night…’

On swallowed a dry gulp.

She could not tell if this was a dream or reality.

On the one hand, On realized that the description of Sim Wigyeom she had given to the Queen was merely a foretaste.

‘My vocabulary was too lacking.’

It was to the point that she felt a belated regret.

That was how excessively handsome Sim Wigyeom was.