He straightened hesitantly, but his gaze stayed nailed to the floor — to the tips of the Crown Prince's shoes, glimpsed between the folds of his long robe.
"Your Highness. If this lowly one has been rude in any way…"
Remembering how he'd called him "Wi-rang," how he'd dared try to match his stride, Hui-seo could not bring himself to go on.
Of course, it was rudeness committed in ignorance of his being the Crown Prince — but he knew well enough that ignorance was no absolution.
"It seems the teacher's revealing this disciple's identity has much startled the teacher's younger brother."
Should he confess his fault? Or beg forgiveness?
While he dithered, a long shadow fell before him. The Crown Prince's shoes came right up to his nose, and—
"I said you may raise your head."
A cool warmth enveloped his cheek.
The hand that had forced Hui-seo's head up withdrew at once, but his gaze stayed pinned to him and would not leave.
"…………"
Eyes appraising something. Or a strange curiosity, as though it might warp at any moment.
Hui-seo tried to read the feeling in those eyes, but it hid behind blinking lids and could not be read.
"When I heard Hui-seo's words last time, I wondered… Are you out on another secret excursion without a single attendant, Your Highness?"
He would have liked to simply stay meek and still, but as Hui-won went on speaking, the Crown Prince withdrew his gaze.
As he started at a strange pang of regret, the Crown Prince gave a light shrug as if in assent. A faint furrow drew itself between Hui-won's brows.
"You seem to have come out alone again today. Please, Your Highness. His Majesty is deeply worried."
Hui-won's wariness deepened as he scanned their surroundings. Watching him swallow, Hui-seo forgot the situation for a moment and stole a sidelong glance at the Crown Prince. He was at ease throughout — he even looked indifferent.
"Munhak."
Just as Hui-won was about to go on, the Crown Prince cut him off.
"Who, where, could harm this disciple?"
It might have sounded arrogant, but through the Crown Prince's lips, strangely, it did not. It was closer to certainty than arrogance.
…………
Hui-won merely let out a low hum, not exactly denying it.
Whether it was irreverence that kept him from denying it, or the truth of the Crown Prince's words, no one could say — but thinking of that night, it seemed closer to the latter.
"Moreover."
The Crown Prince's gaze, which had been on Hui-won, alighted on Hui-seo once more.
"It is thanks to this disciple's obstinacy that the teacher's younger brother is unharmed."
"That is…."
Hui-won's taut, ready-to-snap momentum deflated in an instant.
"No words could hold my gratitude."
Something ambiguous — threat or not — hovered in the Crown Prince's eyes.
"This is the first I've seen my teacher yield so quickly. You must cherish your brother dearly."
"He is my one and only brother in all the world. How could I not cherish him? If anything had happened to my brother that day…."
Hui-won broke off.
"Then I would not have been living, even alive."
His voice trembled faintly, as if the mere imagining were horrible. Watching him, Hui-seo fidgeted with his hands.
He had seen that worried look that day. But he had soon composed himself and thought little of it — and he had been wrong.
Hui-won still worried over everything about Hui-seo, and his younger brother was still in his world. Even though Hui-won had started a family of his own, Hui-seo would never be shut out of that world.
And so he felt ashamed — at having willfully misconstrued his brother's heart and sunk into sorrow.
"Those who know my teacher would be startled to hear it," said the Crown Prince, stroking his chin. "Isn't it so? That my teacher — who would rather break than bend — should treat someone with such tenderness."
Was it the sunlight?
His eyes, gazing at Hui-seo, seemed to shine strangely.
"Since my teacher holds him so dear, this disciple ought to pay him proper attention."
"Your Highness."
Hui-won called to the Crown Prince in a hesitant tone, showing his discomfort. But the prince only curved the corners of his mouth smoothly upward, as if it were nothing.
"…………"
Hui-seo stared blankly at that smile, then hurriedly slid his gaze away.
***
Through the crack of the open window, the scent of flowers drifted faintly in.
Hui-seo gazed beyond the window. The cloudless sky was clear beyond compare.
"Young master. Young master."
It was Su-a's voice that pulled Hui-seo — who had been gazing vacantly outside — back into reality.
"Hm?"
"Um, how did you say this one is read?"
Su-a, sitting close by the low desk, smiled sheepishly and pointed lightly at something so squiggly it was hard to tell writing from drawing.
"This one is read han (寒). It means 'cold.'"
"Ah, ha—, ha—…"
Letting out a gasp of delight, Su-a buried her head back down and devoted herself to writing the character, heedless of the ink blackening her hands — the very picture of zeal.
Remembering how she'd said, when they went to the market, that she was illiterate and couldn't read books, he had started teaching her some time ago as a way to pass the time.
It had been good for passing the time and leaving no room for other thoughts to intrude — but this time it was no use.
For he had spent days since the wedding thinking only of that day.
To be precise — of the Crown Prince.
That day, the Crown Prince had attended the wedding-night feast.
Whether or not Hui-won had sent word ahead, he returned to the palace within the hour — but his attendance caused a great stir.
The wedding being at the Minister of Revenue's house, many high officials were in attendance, and they recognized the Crown Prince.
'His Highness — how…!'
The Minister of Revenue came rushing out in his socks to greet him, and the others were much the same.
If one were to name the feeling most melted into the murmuring voices, it was undoubtedly shock and bewilderment.
Recalling his brother's reaction — insisting there was no way the Crown Prince would come — he supposed it was nothing to be surprised about.
That man — Hyeon-wi — was the Crown Prince….
Too flustered at the time to think, with each passing day the rudeness he had committed grew clearer.
Calling the Crown Prince's name — which he ought never to have uttered — so ignorantly, addressing him as "Wi-rang," walking alongside him, and all the rest.
"Haaah…"
Hui-seo breathed out, deeper than a sigh.
"Young master, is something troubling you?"
Su-a, who had been absorbed in filling the paper densely with characters, looked up at the sound of his sigh.
Troubled.
He dared not speak the Crown Prince's name aloud, so Hui-seo could give no answer.
"Shall I withdraw, then?"
He'd been dazed for days, but today was especially bad — Su-a, concerned, was carefully watching his mood.
"No, no."
Teaching even Su-a was the only way to lighten his thoughts. He shook his head, insistently saying he was fine, and Su-a awkwardly picked up her brush again.
Crooked and wobbly. The child — stroke order all wrong, but trying so hard to write neatly — sparkled without a single care. That innocence made him envious, and he nearly sighed again before swallowing it.
Instead, he too picked up his brush.
He meant to paint an orchid, at least. When his thoughts were this tangled, his lines would waver too — but still, it was better than doing nothing.
"Young master! Young master…!"
Just as he was touching ink to the brush, the steward called Hui-seo from outside. He sounded as urgent as if he might stop breathing at any moment.
"What is it?"
Hui-seo set down his brush, unable to hide his puzzlement.
After the wedding, custom dictated that his brother and his wife stay at the Minister's residence for a few days before returning. So at present, the eldest in the house was his maternal grandfather.
By rights, anything should go to his grandfather first — why seek him?
Tilting his head, Hui-seo went outside all the same.
Whether he had run all the way from the main gate to the inner quarters, the steward's chest heaved roughly. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
"A-beom, what is it? If a guest has come, to Grandfather…."
"Someone has come from the palace."
He really would stop breathing at this rate. Hui-seo, who had been about to step down onto the stone to calm him, froze.
"The person from the palace is asking for you, young master."
"…From the palace? For me?"
The question — why him, and not his brother — was swept aside in an instant.
For there was, in truth, only one person in the palace who would go so far as to seek out Hui-seo.
The Crown Prince. The disciple.
It could be otherwise — but with Hui-won on leave and staying at the Minister's residence, who but the Crown Prince would even know of Hui-seo's existence, let alone seek him out?
"You'd best go quickly, young master."
This was no ordinary caller — someone from the palace. Fearing some rebuke if they kept him waiting, the steward subtly hurried his steps.
Unable to hide his bewilderment, Hui-seo followed the steward for now.
He didn't even have the presence of mind to tell Su-a, peeking out to watch, to just keep at her character practice.
Surely not — no. Why would the Crown Prince be looking for him?
Was he going to call him to account for his rudeness, even now? If not that, there must be some other reason. And if some other reason — what could it be?
One thought chased another.
Even then, he kept moving briskly and passed through the middle gate.
"……"
The one standing in the yard was a stranger. As Hui-seo hesitated before the man in green, the man looked him up and down, then bowed deeply and announced himself.
"I am Won Yu-sang, a eunuch in service to His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness has commanded me to escort Young Master Woo to him."
"……"
The moment he heard those words, Hui-seo's heart dropped like a stone.
What feeling it held, he could not have explained himself.
The carriage sped unhindered through the market streets. Now and then sounds from outside drifted into the carriage, but all of them flowed in one ear and out the other.
Hui-seo fiddled needlessly with the hem of his sleeve. Ever since he had told his grandfather he was going out and boarded the carriage behind the eunuch, he had been in this state. His mind had gone blank as a sheet of white paper.
If any thought surfaced, it was only one.
That he must not commit any discourtesy.
More than that — what could he be summoned for? Not knowing the reason made it all the more bleak.
He would have liked to ask Hui-won for advice, but unfortunately his brother was away from home.
"…Um."
His lips moved, but Hui-seo soon swallowed the words.
What was there to say? 'Do you know why the Crown Prince summons me?' Even if he asked, it was obvious there would be no answer.
Since saying that the Crown Prince sought Hui-seo, the man had remained utterly silent — as though that one message was all he had been permitted.
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