IBPC | Chapter 16.1

After shaking off his sleepiness, Heegon took Seoyul for a walk by the pond in their quarters.

“You twisted your ankle and couldn’t leave the room for a while, right?”

Heegon asked, looking at Seoyul’s now almost healed ankle. But Seoyul, looking at Heegon’s slightly gaunt face, showed a more worried expression.

“Shouldn’t Your Highness rest more? You still don’t look well.”

“…I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Heegon quietly smiled and reached back, taking Seoyul’s hand and slowing his pace.

As they walked side by side by the pond, Seoyul kept touching his ear with his free hand. His heart wouldn’t stop fluttering, feeling strangely ticklish inside. He felt embarrassed about crying so much the previous night, and even though it wasn’t the first time holding hands with Heegon, his heart was pounding.

After walking silently with Heegon for a while, something came to Seoyul’s mind, and he looked up. Hesitantly, he opened his mouth, looking at Heegon beside him.

“You said you have an Eumin outside the palace, right?”

“……”

“What are you going to do with that Eumin?”

Seoyul carefully brought up something that had been on his mind. Heegon looked at Seoyul silently. Avoiding his gaze, Seoyul blushed slightly.

“Of course, I’m not planning to stay here forever… I haven’t given up on going back, so I understand if you need another Eumin. It feels a bit awkward asking this without any promises to you…”

Seoyul pressed lightly on the back of Heegon’s hand with his fingertips.

“Please don’t meet that Eumin while I’m here. I hope you don’t bring them to the palace.”

Heegon didn’t answer Seoyul’s somewhat uncertain request for a while. But then he stopped and faced Seoyul. Heegon looked down at Seoyul and answered heavily.

“At first, I did take in that Eumin in case something happened to you. But if I thought that Eumin was necessary… no, if I thought they could replace you, I would have called them to the palace by now.”

Heegon let go of Seoyul’s hand and instead gently caressed Seoyul’s cheek.

“Strangely, I didn’t feel that Eumin was that necessary. Looking back, I think it was because of you. Just because they’re an Eumin doesn’t mean they can replace you.”

“Then…”

“I plan to take that Eumin to His Majesty if they endure the next or the one after that rut.”

“…To His Majesty?”

Heegon glanced at the court ladies standing at a distance behind them and leaned closer to Seoyul, lowering his voice.

“Once you have a child, you won’t be able to hide that you’re an Eumin anymore… Anyway, His Majesty needs to know about an Eumin who safely reached adulthood… It might help to divert some attention.”

Heegon met Seoyul’s eyes closely and then leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“Oh…”

Heegon held Seoyul’s face and rubbed his lips against it a couple more times. Seoyul flinched at the gazes he felt from behind and turned his head to the side.

“Everyone’s watching.”

When Seoyul, with a quickly reddening face, pushed Heegon away, Heegon squinted his eyes and smiled slightly.

“You’re my concubine anyway.”

Heegon kissed Seoyul’s cheek once more before standing up straight. He reached out again to hold Seoyul’s hand.

Seoyul glanced back at the court ladies and then started walking again, led by Heegon.

I must be crazy, why is this…

His flushed face was hard to hide, but his heart kept pounding. Seoyul held onto Heegon’s hand a bit tighter and continued their walk.

⊹₊⟡⋆

Until the quarters were rebuilt, Seoyul and Heegon stayed together in the annex. This led to busy days with many preparations to be made. However, amidst all this, Pacheon, who had a hard time meeting Heegon, had a heavy expression on his face.

Pacheon wasn’t the type to criticize Heegon’s decisions and actions. But this time, he seemed determined to confront Heegon.

“Seoyul, that child was brought to make Your Highness the Crown Prince. Do you realize what has happened because of that child? You almost fell out of His Majesty’s favor.”

“……”

“Even with the Left Minister subtly supporting the First Prince and the nobles aligning with the Fifth Prince—it’s fortunate that His Majesty intervened and ended it like this.”

Despite Pacheon’s presumptuous words, Heegon didn’t respond. He knew it himself.

Leaving the ritual without completing it.

He couldn’t claim ignorance of its significance and weight. He fully realized his own recklessness. But even if he could turn back time, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t make the same choice.

As Heegon remained silent, neither denying nor affirming, Pacheon calmed his excitement.

“That child is going to leave anyway. So, don’t give your heart too much and don’t lose your duty as a prince—”

“—I won’t send him away.”

“…?”

In response to Pacheon’s advice, Heegon spoke words that seemed directed at no one in particular.

“This time, I’ll make it so that that child chooses to stay by my side.”

Heegon’s voice was filled with determination. Feeling this, Pacheon raised his hand to his forehead in astonishment.

He denied it and said it wasn’t so, but it has come to this. I should have stopped his feelings when I sensed them. I guessed he held personal affection for that child, but I didn’t expect him to fall this deeply…

Pacheon swallowed his belated regret, furrowing his brows.

What can be done now? A person’s heart doesn’t move as one wishes.

“However…”

So Pacheon had many things he wanted to say to Heegon but didn’t bring them up. Instead, he left the best advice he could offer.

“This must not happen again.”

“……”

“To protect your people, you must ascend to the position of Crown Prince.”

“You speak as if I’ve given up on the position of Crown Prince.”

“Haven’t you acted almost to that extent?”

Listening to Pacheon’s deep sigh, Heegon found himself at a loss for words again.

⊹₊⟡⋆

After meeting with Heegon, Pacheon sat in the shrine with a troubled face. Thinking of Heegon’s face he had just seen, he felt an inexplicable discomfort.

From the handling of Jeokbin to this incident, Heegon’s actions were uncharacteristic and troubling. It was clear that all of this was because of Seoyul.

Could it be that his feelings for that child have deepened to the point of causing trouble?

Pacheon felt a sudden unease but quickly shook it off.

He was born as a Yangin but was abandoned by his parents for being possessed by spirits from a young age. Thugs picked him up and made him predict the future for people in exchange for small change. But as his spiritual power grew, it became a curse.

Predicting bad futures turned his foresight into a curse. Though he merely saw the future, he became a demon that brought curses to them.

Eventually, he was driven out for being ominous. It was Heegon, still very young, who took him in.

He still remembered that day. Though young, Heegon had just manifested as a Dominant Yangin, exuding an immense Yangin aura.
He had the ability to lead a war to victory and the ambition to shake a nation.

However, despite this, Heegon’s fate did not include the position of Crown Prince, and his lifespan was short. So, he repeatedly offered sacrifices to the God of Seombaek, hoping to change Heegon’s fate. And the answer to that long-held wish was Seoyul, his existence.

Having come here by the oracle of the God of Seombaek, he would surely change Heegon’s fate. He confirmed that Heegon’s imminent death had disappeared. And now, with Heegon’s child conceived—

“……?”

As Pacheon tried to steady his mind, he suddenly realized something and looked up. He focused on one of the many flames he had lit.

A flame flickering precariously as if it would go out at any moment. It was the flame he had set for Seoyul’s unborn child.

Seeing it unable to burn properly and growing thin, Pacheon, with a startled look, rolled up his sleeve. He quickly arranged the items in front of him and began to divine.

Why is the flame, which he was observing more carefully than anything else, so weak?

Pacheon shook the bell symbolizing the God of Seombaek and divined the fates of Heegon and Seoyul. It wasn’t long before the divination appeared before Pacheon’s eyes.

“……”

Looking down at it, Pacheon tightly gripped the bell in his hand.

The divination—

Pacheon moistened his dry mouth with trembling eyes.

⊹₊⟡⋆

One afternoon, Heegon visited Seoyul’s room. With him was Heerang, whom Seoyul hadn’t seen in a while.

Having manifested as an Omega, Heerang hadn’t been able to go out for a while, and she seemed to have grown quite a bit. Moreover, having completed her manifestation, her already beautiful face shone even more.

Seoyul thought that Heerang might be a dominant Omega, unlike himself.

The siblings were so alike in appearance that it was hard to tell them apart.

Seoyul suppressed his inner thoughts and was sharing tea with the two. It seemed Heegon had told Heerang about Seoyul. She didn’t know about the child yet, only that he was an Eumin, but Heerang’s dark eyes were sparkling brightly.

“So, Yul is an Eumin, right? I guessed it when I heard the conversation with Kangmu oppa last time…”

Heerang had asked the same thing several times already. Heegon tried to calm the slightly excited Heerang.

“For now, it’s a secret. I’ve explained the reasons sufficiently, right?”

“Yes. I understand, oppa. But when we’re together, can I show it? I’m curious and amazed.”

Heerang nodded. Seoyul looked at Heerang for a moment and then cautiously lowered his voice.

“I’ve entrusted the suppressants to Your Highness, so take half when the rut comes. There aren’t many doses, but if you endure with them, it might get better.”

Seoyul spoke calmly, trying to hide his concern. But both Heegon and Heerang could feel it. Heerang looked at Seoyul quietly and then smiled brightly.

“Yes, I know it’s thanks to you.”

Heerang held Seoyul’s hand with her small, delicate hand.

“Thank you for giving me the medicine you need. I’ll repay this favor someday.”

Though… I don’t really need it because of that oppa.

Seoyul awkwardly smiled and glanced at Heegon. Then he turned his head to the side.

Anyway, I hope Heerang can endure well. The suppressants seem to work, so she can withstand a few heats with them. If she does, she might grow up healthy, unlike other Omegas. They say most Omegas here die before the third heat…

Thinking of the suppressants as half doses, there was enough for about four times. If she can endure that long… there shouldn’t be any problems, right? The heat cycle is longer at first, so she might overcome it before turning sixteen.

While Seoyul was shaking off his remaining worries with positive thoughts, Heerang lightly shook Seoyul’s hand.

“So, you couldn’t go out much because you were afraid of being discovered as an Eumin? Then you can go out with me now.”

“…What?”

“If you go out with me, I can say it’s my scent if yours comes out… Right, oppa?” Heerang asked, looking at Heegon.

“It’s boring to stay only in oppa’s quarters. Can I play with Yul?”

Heegon frowned slightly, looking a bit troubled at the quickly excited Heerang.

“Let’s think about that gradually.”

“Why? As long as we don’t reveal he’s an Eumin. Don’t try to confine Yul too much.”

“It’s not that…”

“You know, oppa, you’re not very tactful. You won’t be loved that way.”

At Heerang’s bold words, Heegon couldn’t hide his troubled expression.

Seeing this unfamiliar side of Heegon, Seoyul burst into laughter. Pfft— He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, but the laughter couldn’t be hidden, and Heerang and Heegon stopped their conversation to look at Seoyul.

Under their gaze, Seoyul quickly composed his expression. But he couldn’t suppress his shaking breath, and his face suddenly stiffened for another reason.

“……?”

Seoyul squinted one eye and slightly parted his lips.

Seeing that expression, Heegon couldn’t take his eyes off Seoyul. But Seoyul’s eyes squinted a bit more.

“What’s wrong?”

Sensing something unusual, Heegon shifted his body, but Seoyul forced a smile.

“It’s nothing. Just a bit…”

My stomach… feels strange.

Seoyul held his abdomen, trying not to show it.

Is it just a bit of tension?

Seoyul hurriedly hid his expression and picked up the teacup in front of him.

I’ll lie down and rest for a bit after Heerang leaves—thinking that.

⊹₊⟡⋆

“The Imperial Princess Heerang and Your Highness really have different personalities. They look so alike, but it’s fascinating.”

The moon was already high in the sky. After dinner, Seoyul was sitting at a table by the window with Heegon.

Looking at the half-moon high in the night sky, Seoyul thought of Heerang, whom he had seen during the day.