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The only wish you have prayed for with all your heart for a long time will surely come true. So if there is something you desire, pray for it earnestly and consistently. It will surely be granted.

Those were the last words his mother left him as she gently caressed Yoo Hyun-jin’s cheek.

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With that final message, his mother, a devout follower of Hanaram, returned to His embrace.

His father had passed away when he was twelve. His mother followed when he was seventeen. Left orphaned without any relatives to rely on, his younger sibling, whom he now had to take care of, clung to his arm and wept uncontrollably.

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Yoo Hyun-jin recalled the misfortunes that had struck him one by one.

His father had died after enlisting in the war that broke out in the borderlands.

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No matter how desperately he had prayed, crying until his eyes burned red, his father never returned.

However, when their fatherless family of three suddenly found themselves out on the streets, a brigadier general—who had been his father’s superior—took pity on them and allowed them to stay at his family home.

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His mother, who lived there doing menial work for the prestigious household, eventually fell ill and collapsed.

Besides his younger sibling, who wailed until they could no longer breathe, Yoo Hyun-jin had also prayed with such anguish that it felt as if he would cough up blood. But in the end, his mother breathed her last.

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Once again, however, the brigadier general—by then already a major general—took pity on them and allowed the two siblings to continue living there. With the insurance money their mother had left behind, they at least didn’t have to worry about tuition or daily expenses for the time being.

His only blood relative, his younger sibling, was a natural troublemaker, endlessly testing his patience and giving him constant anxiety. On top of the already exhausting life of an orphan, he also had to deal with a reckless, immature burden. There were times he wanted to just die—or perhaps, kill.

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And yet, how many times had this sibling’s unshaken cheerfulness and unique charm managed to hold his heart together?

Yes, looking back, even though he couldn’t undo each misfortune, there had always been a way out when the time came.

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Even when misfortunes struck back-to-back, small lifelines had always appeared one by one. It seemed that the One above had never completely abandoned Yoo Hyun-jin.

So then, what should he pray for now?

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Yoo Hyun-jin thought about what he truly desired or, perhaps, what final misfortune remained in his life. And then, he tilted his head slightly.

There was now only one misfortune left.

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But unlike all the other misfortunes that had come from external forces, this one had sprouted from within him. That was why it showed no signs of subsiding. No lifeline appeared. It simply remained, festering inside him, tormenting him.

Then, there was no choice.

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If he couldn’t suppress it or erase it from his heart, then the only option was to resign himself to it and carry this misfortune with him.

It was no surprise, then, that Yoo Hyun-jin, who had no other desires, decided to follow his devout mother’s faith and enter the seminary—to walk the path of priesthood, as a means to control the one and only desire he had left.

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Nevertheless,

“Nine years of training, all for nothing… utterly useless…”

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Muttering under his breath, Yoo Hyun-jin stared down at the man sleeping in front of him.

Nine years. From the time he had entered the seminary, it had been nine years. In just another year or two, he would be ordained as a full-fledged priest.

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The man before him seemed to be dreaming. No—he must be dreaming. In reality, this man would never be lying there, completely defenseless, in a cramped backroom of a restaurant, right in front of Yoo Hyun-jin’s eyes.

The stifling stench of alcohol lingered heavily in the air. The winter wind, cutting sharply through the slightly open window—left ajar in a futile attempt to ventilate the room—bit at his exposed skin, forcing some clarity back into his mind. And yet, this had to be a dream.

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Or perhaps, he was simply too cold, his mind dazed to the point of hallucinating.

Whether it was a dream or a delusion, it didn’t matter.

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Because, in any case, he was right there, fast asleep.

Even with the thick blanket covering him, the freezing air crept in through the gaps at his nape and feet. Yoo Hyun-jin shivered violently. And yet, despite being just as bare as him—without a single thread of clothing—this man remained sprawled out, carelessly covered by the blanket, his broad shoulders and feet exposed to the cold. He showed no signs of discomfort. If anything, he looked perfectly at ease, his tall, lean frame filling the small room.

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It was almost impossible to believe. The man who was always so flawless, never once revealing a single moment of weakness—who would have thought he could end up completely wasted, sprawled out in a drunken stupor like this?

Then again, considering the circumstances, it wasn’t entirely surprising.

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To celebrate his brief return to the capital, his subordinates, comrades, and even prominent figures from various circles had gathered in this restaurant’s largest room, all determined to get him drunk. He had endured every round, holding his liquor as man after man dropped out of the game.

Even his tenacious adjutant, the last one stubbornly clinging on, had finally blacked out—flipping the table in the process. Only then, after confirming he was the last one standing, had the man finally closed his eyes.

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And at that very moment, Yoo Hyun-jin had arrived at the restaurant, intending only to retrieve his younger sibling—who had long since passed out in a corner of the room. Instead, he had walked straight into the chaos, blinking in stunned silence as he watched the drunken collapse unfold.

Caught in the aftermath, he had been buried beneath the overturned table, drenched in the remnants of spilled alcohol and food.

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The restaurant owner, terrified of offending someone of high status, had hurriedly ushered them into a small backroom at the rear of the establishment. And so, Yoo Hyun-jin had ended up here, wrapped in a blanket, waiting for his soiled clothes to be cleaned—trapped in this room with him.

Even in the dead of night, the restaurant owner had miraculously managed to wash their clothes at an almost supernatural speed and had neatly hung them just outside the door. Now, all that was left was to get dressed and leave before dawn fully broke. Judging by the owner’s experience, his younger sibling was likely nestled among the unconscious drinkers, at least with a blanket thrown over them.

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Slipping into dawn.

He should be leaving now, but he remained seated, hesitant. He had no desire to leave the warmth of the blanket.

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No—actually, that wasn’t it.

To be completely honest, he hadn’t even thought about putting on his clothes.

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His gaze had been entirely locked onto the man before him, unable to stray.

Because this moment—this fleeting moment that would never come again—was something he could not bear to look away from.

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The man before him—Hyun Tae-oh, the very source of the misfortune rooted deep in Yoo Hyun-jin’s heart—was someone who belonged in the heavens.

Though fate had led him to live under this man’s roof for seven years, the number of times they had truly spoken could be counted on one hand.

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A direct descendant of the Hyun family—a lineage that had wielded power for centuries—he was a man so formidable that even the elders of his own household tread carefully around him. From a young age, he had swept through battlefields with terrifying momentum, and by his twenties, he had risen to the rank of provincial governor. Even within the illustrious Hyun family, renowned for producing prodigies, he was an exceptional outlier—an unrivaled genius.

So this scene before him was utterly surreal.

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A man who had always been as sharp as a honed blade, never allowing a single speck of vulnerability, now lay unconscious, sprawled out in front of someone he barely knew.

The likelihood of such an event occurring was about as high as his deceased parents returning to life.

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Yes.

This had to be a dream.

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No matter how sharply the cold wind gnawed at his skin, this could not be reality.

Yoo Hyun-jin buried his chin into the blanket and gazed down at the man.

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How long had it been since he last saw him?

Seven years had passed since the historic event when he had led a decisive victory against Songal-guk and was appointed as the governor of the border region.

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No—wait. Three years.

During a missionary expedition to that region, he had briefly seen him again, accompanied by Je Sang-ah. There had been a few other occasions when he returned to the capital for major events, but they had never spoken. So, it was fair to say they hadn’t truly met in all this time.

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“……”

The thought of her brought a tinge of melancholy to Yoo Hyun-jin’s expression.

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‘Hey, you take him. If I could give him away, I really would.’

Je Sang-ah had waved her pale hand dismissively, a faint crease forming between her brows.

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Her response had been immediate, almost reflexive, as soon as he had muttered something about being envious. That was how he knew she truly meant it.

The world was unfair.

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What one person longed for desperately, another wanted to cast aside.

The woman who had been engaged to him since infancy—whom everyone admired and envied for it—wanted nothing to do with him.

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…No, actually, that wasn’t surprising at all.

She was an exceptionally wise woman.

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‘I get why people idolize him. I understand why they say he’s the perfect man, that there’s no one else who compares.’

‘But,’ she had continued, ‘if you’re going to spend your life with someone, there are things that matter more.’

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‘Like what?’

‘Kindness. Warmth. Gentleness. Basic human decency—all of which he completely lacks.’

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‘…What’s with that disrespectful look? You look like you’re about to argue with me. Are you upset because I didn’t sing praises about the man you like? Fine, then be honest—am I wrong?’

‘…. Under Hanaram’s blessing, no matter how cold a person may seem on the outside, there is no one whose blood runs cold within.’

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Je Sang-ah scoffed at Yoo Hyun-jin, who could only offer a feeble defense, unable to lie outright as a priest. But as much as she mocked him, she wasn’t so heartless as to press him further.

The beloved youngest princess of this great Je-yang nation, with its thousand-year history and tradition, was not the type to be completely without mercy.

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And in truth, she wasn’t wrong.

Though he didn’t show it openly, Hyun Tae-oh was the kind of man who could smile—laugh, even—while keeping his composure perfectly intact, only to suddenly snap a person’s neck in the very next moment without so much as a change in expression.

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Even though they had never been particularly close, Yoo Hyun-jin had lived within the same walls as him for seven years. He knew at least that much.

‘But honestly, knowing all that, why do you even like him?’

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‘…, …, …He’s handsome….’

He had known her gaze would turn ice-cold in an instant.

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He had known she would lash out at him in a completely unprincess-like manner, calling him a hopeless idiot, a brain-dead fool with no cure for his affliction.

He had known he would end up mumbling some pathetic excuse like, ‘Hey, at least I don’t make it obvious in front of him, so that’s fine…….’

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And yet, he couldn’t help it.

If simply knowing it was wrong had been enough for his heart to follow suit, then he wouldn’t have needed to take the path of priesthood to suppress his emotions.

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At least with effort, he had managed not to sink any deeper into the pit—stuck in place, perhaps, but not falling further.

Yoo Hyun-jin was doing his best to walk the devout path of a priest, keeping his impure feelings locked away where no one could see.

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Of course, Je Sang-ah, with her uncanny ability to read people, had seen right through him from the start.

TL/N: Hello lovelies! Picked up another novel and this novel’s author is the same as ‘Passion’ also this novel is historical/modern like yk that webtoon ‘Whispers Through the Willows’ idk if you guys read it but its similar to that story setting it has like old names but has phones so I was confused too. just so you guys know I really did my research and its more or less like that drama where lee minho was the emperor in a timeline so basically its old era but still modern. Please believe me

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