(Hyunhui Mansion, Songak)
~Yo's POV~
This morning, my brothers and I were supposed to be having tea with Queen Hwangbo at the Damiwon. But of course, the wolf dog had to ruin the occasion by saying stupid things, like we shouldn't be having tea when there was a drought. Apparently the painful rebuke I had given him last time did not suffice, but as I was not eager to let my grumpy side show when Queen Hwangbo was around — after all I was still plotting to marry her daughter — I decided to just roll my eyes and leave.
I wanted to drink tea. It was simple as that. It's not as if my desire to drink tea was causing the drought. For goodness' sake, I was a Prince of Goryeo. If I wanted tea, tea I would get. What did this wolf dog think he was?!
I could go home and drink tea to my heart's content. Nobody could stop me from doing as I please when I was in Gyeongchun Palace. But I had a better idea.
I headed to Hyunhui Mansion and was received by Lady Hyeong's handmaiden. While waiting for the lady herself, I was seated in the Side Hall of Hyunhui Mansion and yes, I was given tea. Tea, glorious tea. The simple pleasures of life. It was so refreshing! Now Hyeong wouldn't have to see my grouchy side.
When she showed up, all of my dissatisfaction went out the window. "Hyeong-ah, you don't mind me coming over unannounced, do you?"
"I do mind. Your Highness should've given me time to get ready and look my best for you," she pouted.
I grinned pompously. "It's always flattering when a lady wants to look nice for me. How fares my Lady today?"
"I thought it was just going to be an uneventful day until Your Highness came along," she smiled and approached me, about to take her seat across the table, but I stopped her.
"Wouldn't you prefer to sit next to me instead?" I smirked.
"Well, since it's just the two of us..." she smiled mischievously and sat down beside me, snuggling up to me. "I like to be close to Your Highness."
She smelled so nice that I was taking deeper breaths. It must be the same kind of perfume she wore when we went to the Peak the other day. I could recognize the fragrance, that intoxicating blend of creamy florals that made me want to get rid of any distance between us.
Steadily and gently, I grabbed her hands, stroking her delicate and smooth skin with my thumbs. Like last time, I placed a kiss on the back of her hands.
"What are you doing?" She asked innocently, but didn't seem to mind. After last time, if she wanted me to stop, she sure would've made that very clear.
"Is it wrong to touch what's mine?" I asked proudly. "I've won your hands fair and square from our chess game last time." I leaned in naturally to get a whiff of her heavenly scent, our fingers intertwined.
"This time, Prince Yo, I'm going to win," she declared boldly, wriggling away from me to fetch the chessboard.
"Are you?" I asked in amusement. "I'd like to see that. In fact, I'll even tell you one of my secrets if you win a round. But if you lose, then, well, you know how it goes."
"Challenge accepted," she replied spiritedly, and the game began.
~Hyeong's POV~
"Are you sure that's the move you want to make?" He questioned for the third time, eyeing me skeptically.
I knew I was losing, but I didn't want to look as if I was ready to lose to him. "I know what I'm doing, Your Highness," I protested.
"If you're too eager to make advances, you're bound to lose more than you might gain," he said insightfully, pointing at my (largely unsuccessful) attempts to expand my territory.
"Who's eager to make advances now, huh?" I glowered at him then at the chessboard. Really, was I hopelessly bad at chess? I really didn't see any way I could turn the tables and win...and yet I sound so sure of myself when I agreed to play with him.
He leaned back casually. "We can take things slow if you want, but life is short, Hyeong-ah."
"No, my Prince. Life is the longest thing we'll ever experience," I replied smoothly.
"Time flies," he reiterated.
"Slow it down, then, Your Highness."
Intrigued, he asked, "how do you propose I do that?"
"I'm sure you'd be able to figure something out, my Prince," I replied mysteriously. I actually didn't have anything in mind. I was counting on him to come up with something creative and fun.
Gradually, a smirk was drawn on his face. His signature smirk. I gulped lightly. Every time he smirked, I knew he was going to tease me and make me blush. He could find a million reasons to do that to me. It got on my nerves at times, but it also made me think that he was only doing it because he was willing to pay attention to me and spend time with me, both of which I craved from him and only him.
"I think I know exactly how," he drawled.
"How, Your Highness?" I inquired urgently.
"I'm sure you'd be able to figure something out, Hyeong-ah," he replied wittily, and made his move on the chessboard. Whoa, how was he able to even concentrate on the game? I knew, I was always losing because all I could think about was him and his criminally handsome face that was driving me up the wall. I gritted my teeth and decided to dish out some retribution of my own.
"Your tea is cold, my Prince," I stated, grabbing his cup. "Let me go get Woljin to fetch some warm tea."
"No, stay," he commanded authoritatively and snapped up to look at me, as if he was trying to lock me in with his stare. If that was what he wanted to do, he didn't even need to try. At the same time he very deftly curled his hand around mine when I was still holding his cup. Clearly, he could have just instructed me to stay, but he just had to find an excuse to touch my hand, because my hands were his. Not that I didn't like it, but whenever he touched me, my senses were so heightened I suspected I was on fire, and the butterflies in my stomach were trying to kill me. He just made me feel...aroused.
"I'll be quick, Your Highness. Woljin is just right outside," I said coolly and blinked innocently, as if his touch wasn't doing illegal things to me.
"Then just call out for your maid loudly and she'll hear you," he uttered.
Taken aback, I said, "a lady isn't supposed to raise her voice, my Prince."
"I don't care. It's your turn," he said brusquely, only lifting his sharp stare from me to glance at the chessboard, which I hadn't been thinking about. Oops.
"Ugh! I've never suffered such a crushing defeat before!" I threw my hands up in the air once the game was over. Obviously, His Highness won again! He was too good at this.
"Victory is almost as sweet as you," he whistled triumphantly. "Now come here, Hyeong-ah."
"It's not fair," I whined but still went over to his side.
"It's very fair," he said calmly.
"No, it's not, Your Highness," I growled.
"Are you going to argue with your Prince and lose at that too?" He asked lightheartedly, looking entertained. "We can have a re-match, if you want, but I don't think the result is going to be any different."
I huffed and could hold back no longer. I was a volcano ready to erupt. "How was I supposed to make each move carefully when Your Highness was deliberately distracting me throughout the game?! From beginning to end, every glance that you send my way was intended to prevent me from concentrating on the game. You just wanted so badly for me to lose, you needed me to lose, and you'd make that happen at all costs. I don't know why you keep doing it to me, with the way you look at me, or whatever tricks you're playing on my mind, and I don't know why it's having such an effect on me. I can't focus and it's all because of you, my Prince. It's your fault. There's no way I can think clearly when all my thoughts are on you and what you might do to me. I don't know what you're going to do, but I know, oh, trust me, I know, that there's something you have in mind. I know it just by the way you're looking at me. Nobody ever looks at me that way; it's only ever you, Your Highness. Do you have any idea what it does to me?" I demanded, and he opened his mouth as if he was about to answer, but I just had to continue with my rant. "No, you don't, because you can play it cool but I can't do it anymore. It's the winter; it's supposed to be cold, yet I'm yards away from the fireplace and I'm sweating," I glared at him hotly and fanned myself, mentally calculating how many minutes I'd need to take off as many layers of clothes as decency allowed. "The only possible explanation is that you, Prince Yo, are making me feel this way, and it's all that I can think about. It's infuriating, and I insist it's not fair because you aren't as affected as I am. You don't think about me as often as I think about you, and even when you do, you don't feel the way I feel about you. I don't want to play chess anymore," I groused, and pushed the chessboard aside.
As I panted, he studied my facial expression for a moment, and he looked dead serious. I began to worry if I had spoken out of turn. Perhaps it wasn't proper for me to speak to a Prince that way.
But then he broke into a lighthearted chuckle. Why was he so entertained? I wasn't amused or impressed. It only made me even more frustrated.
"Hyeong-ah," he said, making a lazy attempt to stifle his laughter. "I'm not deliberately doing any of those things to you."
"Liar," I blurted, and instantly regretted it. I shouldn't be running my mouth like this.
His eyes widened, but he wasn't angry, just fascinated. "You're the one who's been spouting lies," he replied naturally.
"What…?" I spluttered. I was caught off guard and he took this chance to hold my hand once more.
"How do you know I don't think about you all the time?" He challenged.
"Because...because...you're not showing it?" I said hesitantly. "If you really feel that way, why do you keep it to yourself? Why won't you let it show? Or at least you'd have a hard time trying to keep it in, like I am, but you're not even struggling, Your Highness."
He nodded slightly, but probably more in acknowledgement than in agreement. "Won't you be scared by how strongly I feel for you, if I let you in on it?"
I looked into his eyes and found that there, the intensity of his feelings did show. It even felt like a reflection of my own feelings. I saw attraction and liking and yearning, but also something deeper, something like...delight, devotion, desire. All these that I saw and felt from him had invoked and awakened something in me: passion.
I began to realize that time was slowing down, just like he said he knew how to. Was it that simple? Just for me to look into his eyes and see for myself the extent of his affections for me? Had his feelings ever led him to...fantasize, like I'd been doing?
He didn't say anything else. It wasn't his words that I was looking for. With every heartbeat I thought about which part of my body he wanted to claim this time. I sat absolutely still but closed my eyes when he leaned in closer and closer to me. It wasn't that I didn't want to lock gazes with him and divulge in it. It's just that whatever he was about to do to me, I wanted to feel it with my heart.
My eyes were shut but that only made me more sensitive and responsive to his breath on my jaw. It had sent tingling sensations to every part of my body. I felt as if I was floating. I almost shuddered as I soaked myself entirely in this infinitely rapturous feeling.
"Hyeong-ah," he whispered softly and sensually, so close to me, just so close. "I just can't resist you."
He brushed his lips against my earlobe, instantly sending shivers down my spine. A light gasp of bliss had escaped my lips, and involuntarily I reached up with my free hand to clutch his arm. I was floating and I needed to hold on to him to not drift away from him. My ecstatic sensation was cemented when he nibbled on my earlobe gently. It was intoxicating, especially when he had the mind to entwine his fingers in mine. Really, I could stay in this state of euphoria forever.
My eyes fluttered open slowly, as if I was still in a trance, when he pulled away from me. I had been holding my breath without knowing it.
"Your ears are mine now," he murmured lovingly. "How's that for showing you how I feel?"
"My Prince…" I mumbled. I didn't know what else to say. I was glad I made the conscious decision to be with him.
"This is what I've been wanting to do to you," he revealed. "Does it fall short of your expectations?"
I shook my head. "There's nothing better that I could ask for."
"There's so much more I'm prepared to give you though," he said tantalizingly. "I just need to make sure that I'm expressing my affections in a way that you can understand and be receptive to."
"Are you always this gentle to everybody, Prince Yo?" I asked aloud.
"Most certainly not. I'd only bother with the one person that I care for, and that's you," he answered.
"But…" I frowned slightly. "What about your wives?"
He sighed. "This isn't the first time you've brought them up when I just want to be with you."
"I just can't help but wonder what they're going to think of...us. Especially Lady Sinye; Her Ladyship has been so nice to me," I said seriously.
He scratched his head and for once looked tentative. He never hesitated, but this time he did, a little. "Hyeong-ah, I'm not sure how to make you understand this but...the relationship between me and Sinye...it's not like that. It's not like what we have. Trust me; she's too much of a friend to be upset that I'm with you."
He was being so cryptic. I was perplexed. "Is this one of the secrets you were planning to tell me if I had won the game just now?"
"No," he replied calmly, no longer hesitant.
"Then...Your Highness has a lot of secrets," I said blankly. It wasn't a complaint, but I just couldn't comprehend how a person could live with the burden of keeping so much to himself.
"Haven't you any?" He enquired, but not defensively.
"I've none," I shrugged. "Truly, I'm an open book, Your Highness."
He pursed his lips. "Being a Prince is more complicated than you think it is, Hyeong-ah."
"What about loving a Prince? Does that have to be complicated too?" I asked boldly. "Because I don't want it to be. It should be simple. We should be able to share our thoughts with each other, shouldn't we?" I squeezed his hand as if prompting his agreement.
He considered my words for a moment and said, finally, "you're right. I'll tell you about me and Sinye. I will, but not now. In due course, when I find the right moment."
I nodded then. "I'll hold you to your word, my Prince. But what about Lady Moongong?"
He looked away. "There's nothing to tell. It was a marriage of convenience."
I was a bit let down, as I sensed that there was something he was keeping from me. Not that he shouldn't be entitled to his privacy and I'd never want to overstep my boundaries. I would not like to make him think that I was being presumptuous. I was just under the impression that if we were going to be lovers, we shouldn't be keeping things from each other.
"I don't have feelings for her the way I do for you," he added in reassurance. "But I make sure she has everything she needs. She's the mother of my two children after all."
That was better than how Geolha treated Nangyung. "I've been wanting to meet your children actually," I replied.
He nodded and gave my hand a squeeze. "Let's do that next week, after the exorcism ritual."
A/n:
That's right; the next chapter will be about the exorcism rite. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right? :P
And I really like where their little game is going. Do you guys feel the same? Do tell me in the reviews below~! ;D
