MOSC 17

Wigyeom confessed earnestly, letting out a thick sigh.

Her two legs, which had been brought down at some point, were still holding onto Wigyeom’s waist, and her swollen breasts were pressed against his broad chest, wet with sweat.

On, pinned beneath Wigyeom who was savoring the pleasure of their lovemaking, could only breathe in short gasps like a deer with its nape bitten.

She had no strength left in her body. It was clear that she had been thoroughly plundered and overworked, yet she could not define it precisely.

The sight of the communal wedding ceremony tables all in disarray, and the messy bedclothes, did not even register in her eyes.

The only things she could feel were the heat of the man’s member occupying her insides and the warmth of the man’s breath as he kissed her cheeks and nose.

One thing was certain.

…Something was going very, very wrong.

But On could not pinpoint the cause and began to sway beneath Wigyeom again.

It was a very long, long night.

*

Previous Life.

About a month after the marriage, Wigyeom.

“M-Young Master!”

“That’s enough, take it away. I can walk on my own.”

The smell of alcohol rose acridly. With every breath, a wave of heat seared through his lungs.

His stomach felt like a blazing fire, and his vision was distorted.

However, the man firmly pushed away the support of his servant, Gyesaeng.

“Go away. I know where I am going.”

The night air seemed cool, but even that was buried in his hazy senses.

It had not even been a month since he had married the princess.

And yet, the man constantly wandered outside the house.

It was a banquet to celebrate Jang Hwi’s promotion to Yeongnakbuyun.

The Yeongnakbuyun was a government position that oversaw the most crucial district in the capital.

…If things had gone as they should have, the one who would have been sitting in that position and exercising his authority would have undoubtedly been Wigyeom.

The king’s son-in-law.

That position was not an honor, but a restraint.

The literary talent that could command the world had become powerless, and the man who once stood shoulder to shoulder with the powerful was pushed out of his official career as if he had fallen.

His peers who had taken the state examination in the same year as him were all appointed to official posts one by one.

Someone became a general in the military, and another took the position of a Jiksa at the Eomunwon.

However, there was no position for Wigyeom to occupy.

It was not that he could not bear all of it.

But this was a world where even someone like Jang Hwi could be appointed to a government post.

He was a man who, leaving aside his lack of talent, was also lacking in magnanimity.

‘If a man so full of greed as he were to encroach on politics and mismanage state affairs, taxes would crush the skeletons of the people, and starvation would become the people’s meal.’

However, Wigyeom was now in a position where he had to face such a man and raise his cup.

Wigyeom ground his teeth.

“Young Master….”

Gyesaeng, who was following behind him, opened his mouth anxiously.

Since the marriage, his master had not once stayed at home for any length of time.

Anyone else, a month into their marriage, would have spent time looking after their newly wed wife.

Especially if that partner was a princess.

However, his master had never once visited Princess Bonghwa’s quarters. He did not even seem to have any intention of doing so.

The man’s indifference made him worried.

“If the servants find out that the master is going from banquet to banquet like this every night, they will surely start to murmur….”

“Do not even bring that up.”

As soon as Princess Bonghwa was mentioned, Wigyeom’s mood visibly sank, becoming chillingly sharp.

“…My apologies.”

Gyesaeng quickly shut his mouth.

The place Wigyeom headed after dismissing the servant was the pavilion.

Ever since this huge, palace-like house had been bestowed upon him, he had not for a single moment considered it his own. The only place he could catch his breath was over there.

In this birdcage-like palace, it was the only space that was open on all sides.

This house was not his. It was not the Shim family’s either.

A gift from the king.

A domain given as the price for the marriage.

He did not call this place home.

To him, a home was a place where he could unfold his aspirations. A place where he could not speak of his aspirations was no different from a prison.

The dazzling silk entangled his feet, and the excessively high roof tiles obscured the sky. The vast halls and red-painted pillars added weight with every step, pressing down on his body.

Here, he was not the master, but an imprisoned being adorned in gold leaf.

He had learned that it was a subject’s duty to uphold the royal command. But now, there was nothing he could do as a subject.

Now, all that was left for him was the empty shell of being the king’s son-in-law.

Wigyeom stretched out his hand. He gripped the railing.

One must observe the proprieties. It is a subject’s duty to follow the king’s command.

He had lived his life embracing those words.

But now, he could not do as he wished with a single page of a book, a single letter.

It was a time when those who did not harbor a grand cause occupied the position of the state’s foundation, and a crowd pursuing private interests were distributing power.

“…Ha.”

If it had been the usual Wigyeom, he would have laughed off something of this level magnanimously.

He was not originally a person who got involved in trivial disputes.

That snobs coveted power, and that those with insufficient caliber rose to official posts, was like the flow of the times.

Water flows to lower places, and the current of the times does not always proceed in the right direction. He knew that.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Wigyeom would have lightly passed them by.

If it was something he could grasp in his hands at any time, there was no reason to be greedy for it.

But the Wigyeom of now could not do that.

Even if he suppressed eons of emotions and built up a mountain of patience, the rage that surged from deep within him did not easily subside.

It was the most miserable moment of his life.

At the moment when he should have been practicing the way of the king, his feet were tied, and at the time when he should have been caring for the people, he was forced into silence.

The most painful thing was that the target he had to fight was his own situation, where he could do nothing at all.

A suffocating feeling that tightened his chest seeped in.

His chest felt heavy, and a sudden fatigue washed over him.

Wigyeom clenched his jaw. It was then that his fingertips turned deathly white.

A clear sound was carried on the night air.

The melody, spreading quietly as if seeping out of the darkness, caressed his ears.

‘The sound of a lute.’

It was a familiar tune.

It was faint yet distinct.

Wigyeom’s steps halted. His eyebrows narrowed slightly.

It was a tune he had heard somewhere. It was not unfamiliar.

At the same time, it was strangely uncomfortable.

Wigyeom’s fingertips twitched as if in a spasm. His gaze naturally turned toward the source of the sound.

And, his eyes found her.

Above the pavilion where a red lantern was hung. Beneath that light, a slender hand was plucking the strings.

The fingertips, drenched in moonlight, moved softly, then momentarily faltered.

She had noticed his gaze too.

The man’s and woman’s eyes met.

The sound of the lute stopped abruptly. Silence descended.

Her hand, lifted from the lute, trembled. Her round eyes widened.

She was his concubine.

A woman who was a person of the Shim family, yet could not belong to the Shim family.

A woman brought to his side according to a royal command.

…Was her name Kim On?

Wigyeom momentarily narrowed his eyes. At the same time, the woman’s face gradually grew pale, and her bloodless lips quivered minutely.

That expression was saying so very much.

It was clear that she wanted to leave the spot, but it seemed that the strict decorum did not permit it.

She was afraid right now. That strangely displeased Wigyeom.

But in that moment, the man did not know what a frightening expression he was making.

His face was different from the lewd greed of mere street ruffians.

It was rough, sharp, deep, and fierce. It was a dreadful and persistent gaze that evoked a woman’s instinctive fear.

…If he had known, he would have been surprised to realize himself that he had such a dreadful side to him.

Wigyeom hardened his jaw and took a step forward.

She flinched. That subtle trembling caught his eye even more.

On’s pupils shook violently. As if a stone had been thrown into a river.

In that moment, Wigyeom’s memory revived sharply.

And also why that woman was frightened.

The first night.

The red curtain.

The faintly swaying lamp.

And, that woman.

The sensation when he had gripped her white wrist. The corners of her eyes, flushed bright red with fear. Her lips, trembling as if they would break. The way she had held her breath and looked up at him.

“The wedding night court lady. Say it with your own mouth. Did the royal family put you forward to deceive the Shim family and trample on the dignity passed down for generations?”

At that time, she had moved her lips and said.

“No. I am by no means trying to deceive you, Master.”

He remembered the moment the terrified court lady’s lips had turned deathly white. The time when her body trembled, and her fingertips convulsed.

From the beginning, Wigyeom knew that the woman before his eyes held no decision-making power whatsoever. He also knew that he was the one confining, cornering, and projecting his anger onto a woman who was just struggling to survive.

What he had lost was not because of her, yet he resented her and reached out his hand.

Even while knowing that it was a cowardly desire.

‘It should have ended with that one day.’

However, that night did not end in one day. After that day, Wigyeom sought the woman out several more times.

He knew that a gentleman should not do so.

Walking the path of scholarship, he had harbored only loyalty, and had never allowed himself a single desire other than to protect his honor. He could proudly say that he had lived a more upright life than anyone and had walked a more righteous path than anyone.

But the moment he was in front of that woman, his heart seemed to forget the way of a gentleman.