SNF | Chapter 4.5

Yeon-oh turned to see Yeshin approaching with a faint smile. His expression stiffened slightly. Having declared just yesterday that they should sever ties, this unexpected encounter only made him uncomfortable.

“With a prince as lively as that, I can see why.”

Yeshin spoke as if he completely understood Yeon-oh’s weariness. Yeon-oh forced himself to smooth his expression, barely managing to suppress his discomfort.

“…I’m not sure whether you’re neglecting your duties or if you simply have nothing better to do.”

“Well, saying I have nothing to do would probably make for a better excuse, wouldn’t it?”

“As the one assigned to guard His Highness the Crown Prince, you should hardly have the luxury of idleness.”

Yeshin’s smile deepened. He took a step toward Yeon-oh. Then another. The distance between them, once over ten paces, narrowed. Yeon-oh instinctively took a step back to maintain it.

“Well, that’s true. I’m ashamed to be caught slacking, but what can I do? His Highness dislikes being confined, so he sometimes disappears without a word. And it’s my job to find him.”

“…Can the heir to the empire really afford to act that way?” Yeon-oh hesitated before asking.

“Even so, he does not neglect his duties.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“……”

“If he wanders alone like that, wouldn’t that put him at risk?”

“What risk? In a palace enclosed by towering walls, what could possibly be dangerous?”

Yeon-oh found himself unable to respond. He bit his lip, hesitating, when suddenly, Yeshin closed the gap between them and pressed his fingers against Yeon-oh’s lips.

“Uigwi!”

“You’ll hurt your lips if you keep doing that.”

“…That is none of your concern.”

“Must our relationship vanish completely just because we’ve stopped exchanging letters? If that’s the case, I would be quite hurt, young master.”

“……”

“Of course, it’s not my place to interfere. My hand simply moved on its own when I saw you harming yourself.”

“…The more I see you, the less I understand you, Uigwi.”

Regardless of personal feelings, Yeshin was a difficult person to grasp. If anyone should have been offended by Yeon-oh’s rejection of their friendship, it should have been Yeshin himself. By all rights, he should have been ignoring Yeon-oh, pushing him away. And yet, he approached as if nothing had changed, touching Yeon-oh’s lips with familiarity, smiling at him with concern.

“Sometimes, it’s better not to understand. When that happens, just close your eyes. One day, you’ll have no choice but to open them and see the truth, whether you want to or not.”

His ambiguous words, spoken with a smile that hid all emotions, left Yeon-oh unsettled. Then, as easily as he had approached, Yeshin stepped back.

“You should hurry back. The prince will be looking for you. I seem to have detained you for too long.”

The mention of the prince jolted Yeon-oh’s memory. He nodded. By now, the prince had likely reached Inkyung Palace and was probably bouncing impatiently, waiting for him. Just thinking about it gave Yeon-oh a headache.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.” Yeshin simply nodded. Yeon-oh hesitated for a moment before turning away.

“Oh, young master.” Yeshin’s voice stopped him mid-step.

“You may not want this, but it seems fate has decided otherwise.”

Fate. Yeshin had called this the third coincidence between them. Yeon-oh faltered for a moment before striding forward as if he hadn’t heard him.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

When the sky turned red with the setting sun, the Empress opened the bottom drawer of the mother-of-pearl chest. Inside, neatly folded, was a baenaet jeogori—a newborn’s jacket.

The year she carried her second child, she had personally sewn this piece, praying for a prince this time. And on the day the prince was born, it was the very first garment he had worn.

Afraid it might wither away at the slightest touch, the Empress had only ever looked at it from a distance. But now, she carefully picked it up and placed it in her hands. The tiny sleeves, barely the length of her palm, made her smile despite herself.

“Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is here.”

As the Empress gently stroked the tiny garment as if it were the prince himself, reminiscing about the day he was born, she lifted her gaze at the court lady’s words announcing the Prime Minister’s arrival.

“Let him in.”

At her command, the doors opened. Though time had streaked his hair with silver, the Prime Minister still carried the same dignified presence as before. Step by step, he entered, and the Empress greeted him with a warm smile.

“Welcome, Father.”

“I was delayed due to a state affairs meeting.”

“It’s quite alright. With the Spring Festival approaching, I expected you to be busy. If things were as they should be, you should have been enjoying your later years as the Gukgu, but because of your unworthy daughter, you’ve been burdened with this heavy responsibility.”

Her words, filled with understanding, brought a faint smile to the Prime Minister’s face. His gaze lowered slightly, settling on the baenaet jeogori the Empress had been looking at.

“I see you were reminiscing about when His Highness, the Prince, wore that.”

“Every time I see this, I’m reminded of how fast time flies. That tiny baby who couldn’t even walk is now standing on his own two feet, walking, running…”

The Empress spoke, lost in memories. The child who had grown under her protection was now slowly trying to step beyond the boundaries she had built around him. One day, when he was fully grown and capable, he would protect her in turn. Until then, it was her duty to keep him safe—completely, without a single scratch.

“Not to mention, Yeon-oh, who I always remembered as a child, has grown so much too. Watching Hwan and Yeon-oh talk earlier reminded me of this, all of a sudden.”

Pushing the baenaet jeogori back into the chest, the Empress turned to the Prime Minister.

“Did Yeon-oh meet both Their Highnesses well?”

“Yes, indeed. The children adore him. Given the current state of the imperial family, there aren’t many close relatives for them to interact with. So naturally, they become more attached to their uncle.”

However…

The Empress’s expression darkened. The Prime Minister seemed to sense what she was about to say, his hand tapping lightly on his knee—a meaningless gesture.

“Yeon-oh was raised almost like an only child. He’s probably not used to having younger cousins around.”

“It’s not just that.”

The Empress hesitated, as if searching for the right words. The Prime Minister did not rush her.

“Court Lady Han.”

Upon hearing the Empress call her name, the court lady standing at a distance immediately withdrew. She was quick-witted and would surely send away the rest of the palace attendants as well. Even after Court Lady Han left, the Empress remained silent for a long while. Only after enough time had passed did she finally speak.

“…You mentioned that you spoke to Yeon-oh.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Did he… not wish for it?”

The Prime Minister frowned. It wasn’t because he didn’t understand her words.

“He did not seem to favor the will of the family.”

The Empress spoke candidly of what she had sensed today. Yeon-oh, who rarely displayed his emotions, usually remained either expressionless or smiling. But after spending over a decade in the imperial palace, the Empress had learned to read her younger brother’s heart to some extent. And she was certain—Yeon-oh did not favor the will of the family, nor did he favor the prince.

“If Yeon-oh truly does not wish for this, what will you do?”

“He was raised in Hanam, but he was taught the ways of our family. So what is there to worry about?”

The Prime Minister’s response made the Empress tap her fingers against the armrest of her chair. The sound of her gold-covered fingernails striking the wood rang out, heavy and firm. The concern on her face had long since faded.

“…Ah, yes. The family ways.”

“…”

“The noble tradition that prioritizes the family above all else. Yeon-oh, too, was raised within that tradition, as a rightful member of our family. I had momentarily forgotten.”

Her murmured words were soft, as if she didn’t expect a response. An unreadable emotion flickered across her eyes—one the Prime Minister could not decipher. He studied her closely, but by then, it had already been buried away. The Empress had put on an expression befitting the mistress of the inner palace.

“If you are still concerned…”

“No, it’s nothing. It’s just that I’ve grown overly cautious from spending so much time in the palace. With you here, Father, it seems I was worrying over nothing.”

The Empress waved her hand dismissively. But as she did, her expression hardened without a single crack, leaving no room for the Prime Minister to pry into whatever emotions she had hidden beneath.

“He doesn’t seem to be outright rejecting the family’s will, but neither is he fully accepting it. The most important thing now is to help him build a bond with the prince as soon as possible.”

“You’re right, Father. Still, it would be best to keep them apart until the Spring Festival.”

“Why is that?”

“For now, since Yeon-oh isn’t genuinely attached yet, forcing things could backfire. Give him time. If he’s to become the prince’s teacher anyway, he’ll naturally end up spending a great deal of time with him.”

As she spoke, the Empress glanced at the chest containing the baenaet jeogori.

“He’s already outgrown the clothes inside that box, yet he still has a long way to go before he’s fully grown. The road ahead is far.”

“Are you feeling impatient?”

The Empress, who had been tilting her head slightly, curved her eyes into a smile.

“With you and Hanam standing behind me, what would I have to be impatient about?”

To the Empress, her maternal family, the Hanam Hye family, was like an unshakable mountain, standing tall and unyielding against even the harshest winds. For centuries, this family had basked in wealth and honor, and they would continue to do so for generations to come. The Empress and the Prime Minister would make sure of it.

“Brilliant glory shall be—”

The Empress began.

“Ours.”

The Prime Minister finished.

It was the same words he had spoken to her on the day she turned her back on the future she had once desired, when she donned the phoenix crown and grasped the jade tablet for the sake of the family. The Empress had never once forgotten those words.

And she never would.

A past she had buried away, unable to sever, threatened to resurface. But she pushed it back, locking it deep within the fortress of her heart. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then reopened them.

The only thing left on her face was a perfectly smooth smile.