Chapter 20

But Young-young didn’t know. Embarrassed, she reached out and touched Sa Heon-yeong’s mask. Sa Heon-yeong leaned his back and laid his face down.

“I will. No, just because they came to see me, I was wondering if they had something to say.”

“Then you’ll be meeting me from time to time? Now you’re breaking your promise.”

“No, I won’t do that. Hmm?”

Young-young shook her head again and again. Did she do that? It seems like it was for a while. She faltered, but Sa Heon-yeong never said anything wrong. So he would be right.

“You’re not going to do that now?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going to see them again, are you promising that?”

“Huh.”

Song Geun-ryang was surprised. That idiot was almost speaking casually, but the demon king was respectful. It wasn’t just the conversation. The king was very polite. When the sick emperor resigns from the front line, the powerful ruler of the main court, who divided the prince and the royal court, complains in a tone that seems to drip with honey. Then the idiot said she couldn’t help it, and promised him over and over that she wouldn’t do it, and he comforted her.

“Are you going to go in right away then?”

……She hasn’t heard a word yet?

Young-young was in trouble. Even so, her father must have had a purpose in coming this far, and since they will never see each other again, she will have to listen to it…….

“…… I must have troubled the wife. Well, the father who gave birth to you must have been more precious than me. If you had said that from the beginning, I wouldn’t have been so greedy.”

Young-young was surprised by Sa Heon-yeong’s lonely words, and immediately denied it by saying, “No, no!” How could her father be more important than Sa Heon-yeong? Who is more precious than Sa Heon-yeong? His Majesty the Emperor was the highest person in the world, but Sa Heon-yeong was the highest and most precious to Young-young. How can he say that?

“No, it’s really not.”

“…….”

“I won’t listen. I’ll go in now. I’ll never see them again. I’ll make a promise. I did it because I didn’t know. I didn’t know if it was okay if they came to meet me. I’m going in now. I will go in.”

Young-young comforted Sa Heon-yeong telling him continuously that she’ll  go in.

Sa Heon-young smiled bitterly. Of course he wasn’t angry and he wasn’t upset either. But it was nice to hear Young-young, who thought he was upset, comforted him by surprise. What’s good about a husband who can’t even let the wife’s biological father meet? But Young-young kept telling him to not be upset because she’ll never see them again.

Sa Heon-yeong slowly tilted his head to the side and asked, “Will it be okay?” At those words, Young-young nodded her head several times, saying yes, yes, without thinking twice. Father must have come because of a business, but she has no choice but to do it. Whatever the case, she didn’t want to upset Sa Heon-yeong.

“Instead, I will listen to my in-law’s affairs.”

Sa Heon-young said as if he knew what Young-young was thinking. Young-young’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s Young-ah’s father’s affairs. For some reason.”

Sa Heon-yeong looked at the two pairs of men and women standing behind Young-young’s back and looked at Song Geun-ryang.

“I will listen carefully to why they have visited at such a time and let the wife know. Don’t worry, Young-ah.”

The voice towards the queen was friendly, but the gaze towards Song Geun-ryang was terrifying.

Song Geun-ryang was amazed. The idiot laughed, saying that it was a relief, and walked down the road and disappeared. It was an instant. The maids also hurriedly left with the idiot. They seemed to have noticed that the owner’s anger was uncommon. It was only the idiot who didn’t know that.

But it’s strange. At first, he wondered why that idiot seemed to be useful, but his attitude is so sweet. Rumor has it that the demon king loves his queen very much and will do anything for her, was it true? Song Geun-ryang thought to himself if this might be of any help to him.

“Soye.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Wife has no guests.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Sa Heon-young walked at a pace that was neither fast nor slow, and sat down at Young-young’s seat. The handle, which was carved from ivory, was smooth. Caressing the handle on which a lily was carved, he thought of Young-young for a moment. To be precise, Young-Young’s body. A body as smooth as this, but more moist than this. Even though he held her every night, he thought of her suddenly during the day. The pleasure that had been engraved on his body all night long, the warmth and kindness, sizzled on his skin in an instant. Every time he wanted to have it, it became difficult to bear. What comes with sexual desire is loneliness. The feelings, which had never felt so great before meeting her, were now deeply ingrained in his heart just by looking at the sunset.

He was just working while putting up with those feelings. But, because of these dumb things he had to stop his job and leave . Sa Heon-yeong couldn’t have been in a good mood to see these.

Sa Heon-yeong wiggled his finger and the escorts approached and removed the chairs of the uninvited guests.

“Sit down.”

If there is no place to sit, how can they sit?

“Sit down.”

In the end, the four of them knelt down on their knees at the abstract-like command. I’m sorry, Your Majesty King Moon. Song Geun-ryang said in a trembling voice.

***

Naturally, Song Geun-ryang had to turn around without any income.

‘What’s the purpose?’

All he could do was say that he just wanted to see if the girl was doing well while trembling under the demon king’s presence. The demon king, of course, didn’t seem to believe it. He laughed.

‘Song Geun-ryang.’

‘Yes, yes, Your Highness.’

‘Never set foot in my palace again. Not even a letter. If any traces of you are discovered in the future.’

And for a moment, the king was silent.

Tap, tap, tap. It was just a sound. The demon king’s fingernails were tapping the ivory handle. The sound of tapping without a word gradually increased, then slowed down, and then quickly again, repeatedly. The demon king was thinking about something. In his thoughts, he imagined how he would have disposed of Song Geun-ryang. Would he be dead or alive?

Tap. The knocking stopped.

‘…… I am trying to show mercy to you. Please don’t waste my efforts. Do you know what I mean?’

That was the end.

The demon king elegantly waved his hand outward. It was a movement like kicking a fly away. Then the escorts who had removed the chairs approached. Let’s go. Their voice was low and firm, like that of a reaper. He didn’t even have time to put a single word on it.

“Then why did you ask me to come here?”

The disgraced wife was angry with a blushing face. His daughter, who seemed to be more angry than the wife, said nothing. She seemed to have been deeply shocked by the fact that the illegitimate child, whom she had neglected for the rest of her life, was living a noble life more than anyone else. The child was jealous, so there is a possibility that she will be completely obsessed with her food for the time being. Normally he would have worried about his cherished daughter, but now he has to catch the fire at his feet first.

The herbs, what to do with the herbs.

He failed to keep her mouth shut. Besides, he can’t even access her anymore. What to do?

Would he rather run at night? Song Geun-ryang’s mind wandered in confusion. The idiot, like an idiot, was not very talkative. So, she won’t tell unless asked, but when he thinks about how long this secret will be kept, he is devastated.

Yes, he’ll have to slowly organize his fortune from now on. It would be difficult to survive in Yangan

―That’s when Song Geun-ryang made up his mind.

***

Sa Heon-yeong, who had chased Young-young’s family members as if chasing bugs in the audience room of Hyeonseon Hall, turned his back on thinking that someday, when the time comes, he will also have to organize them slowly. In front of the door, Sa Heon-yeong’s shadowy escorts were waiting for him, and he had to pass by them and leave the audience room. However, he did not try to pass by and stopped in front of an officer. The commander, who had bowed his head in discipline, raised his head curiously.

“Your Highness?”

“It’s similar, isn’t it?”

Sa Heon-yeong asked without asking anyone. The shadow of Sa Heon-yeong was cast over the body of the officer. Ha So-ye, who was walking behind Sa Heon-yeong, glanced at the military commander and muttered, “Ah!”

“The son-in-law and General Joo looked alike. If you see them in the dark, you will be mistaken.”

Mistaken.

At that moment, a scene popped into Sa Heon-yeong’s mind.

It’s the day after the first night. She had disappeared from his bed and screamed from a few feet away.

‘Don’t come!’

that desperate scream.

The one who had apparently found her.

“It is you.”

“Yes?”

The general did not understand and asked, but Sa Heon-yeong was lost in thought without answering.

Young-young couldn’t see at night because she did not eat properly. Seeing someone who could easily be mistaken in the dark, she screamed. Don’t come. There was only one person who that bashful, smiling Young-Young showed such sharp vigilance to. And that one person.

Come to think of it, the night he went to meet Young-young, the guy and the girl named his wife had a quarrel.

‘Do I look like I have a mind to let that happen?! The Demon King, it’s the Demon King! Oh my God. You were aiming for that crazy bitch and now I look like a crazy bitch?’

‘Oh, why are you saying that again? When did I ever have a heart to that bitch?’

‘On the subject of swallowing saliva just looking at her breakable legs.’

That bitch.

That crazy bitch.

Who are they talking about?

Aaaaaaak Aaak Aaaaaaaakkkkkkkk

That night, Yeong-yeong’s scream, who had mistaken General Joo for ‘someone’, still echoed in his ears. The screams of her who can’t see anything. Young-young is not that kind of person. She bears even pain well, she is a woman who can go through hardship, he cannot even gauge what it was like if she goes through something painful. Such a woman, to be so terrified, what happened?

“Fill the prison with water.”

At Sa Heon-yeong’s low voice, the officers faced each other. To fill the prison with water means to put a criminal in it. A prison filled with water. It’s not just for imprisoning criminals.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

General Joo lowered his eyes. It’s still late afternoon. He has a feeling that tonight will be very long.