◆◆
Gowon silently looked down at the man.
His gaze was cold. With that single glance alone, he overwhelmed the other man without saying a word.
President Kang, who had been so drunk he could barely stand moments ago, straightened himself awkwardly onto both feet and rubbed the back of his head.
"It seems this maid hasn't been here very long. She's clumsy at her work… Ah, don't misunderstand. I was only trying to change my jacket."
Gowon didn't turn his head. He merely shifted his eyes briefly toward me before looking back at the man.
"Bring him the jacket he was trying to change into."
Right. This was the kind of person he was. A cold man who understood exactly what kind of situation this was, yet still prioritized President Kang's comfort first.
The hope I had felt the moment the door opened lasted only for that instant.
My elbow, bruised from trying to escape President Kang, and my knee from when I fell, throbbed painfully. But neither of them looked at me anymore. They simply waited for the jacket to be brought over.
What did injuries like these matter to people like them?
I gathered my clothes together and stood up, simply grateful that the situation hadn't become worse.
As I approached President Kang with the jacket, he snatched it from my hands as if yanking it away. I met his spiteful expression.
"Don't even touch me!"
He glared at me sharply.
When I looked at him in disbelief, President Kang went even further, speaking as though reporting me to Gowon.
"These kinds of girls all think they can get whatever they want by throwing themselves at people. For Your Highness's sake, I think the palace staff should really be screened more carefully. I've seen girls like this plenty of times…"
As his words dragged on, Gowon placed a hand on his shoulder. The grip must have tightened, because President Kang let out a short groan.
Without changing his expression, Gowon lowered his eyes slightly toward him and spoke in a low voice that echoed through the room despite its quietness.
"I will deal with my palace servants myself."
The cold expression on Gowon's face froze President Kang instantly.
"Ah… I only meant it out of concern. I hope Your Highness won't misunderstand."
Gowon looked at him calmly.
"I hope it's only a misunderstanding as well. President Kang, I prefer people who know how to behave properly."
"..."
"There won't be a next time."
Fear spread clearly across President Kang's stiffened face. He stood there speechless.
I could even hear the sound of him nervously swallowing.
Gowon shifted slightly to the side. A gap opened near the door.
"You should leave now."
"Haha… I suppose I really was enjoying myself too much. I'll be going first then, Your Highness."
Watching the man awkwardly gather his clothes and leave made me feel strangely relieved.
Because of that, the terror of the situation from moments ago faded slightly.
Even while I bent down to pick up the ribbon that had fallen onto the floor, Gowon still remained standing there. As though he were waiting to see whether I was alright.
When I tied the ribbon back and walked toward the exit, our eyes met naturally.
His gaze quickly moved away, but the concern hidden within that brief moment lingered in my mind.
Without saying anything further, he turned toward the door.
Before he could open it, my hand reached out to him first.
"Your… Your Highness."
I only wanted to thank him. Not out of reverence—just gratitude in that moment. But in my haste to stop him, my hand touched his body first.
"Ah…"
I quickly pulled my hand back.
He turned back toward me. Only then did I realize how close we were standing.
If I lifted my head, I could see his eyes. If I lowered it, I could see his lips.
Within that narrow distance, I grew even more nervous.
"Speak."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"..."
"Well… perhaps it was coincidence, but if Your Highness hadn't opened that door, I might have gone through something truly terrible."
"If you get ruined, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially if you're ruined by someone else's hands."
"I appreciate your help, but… I do not belong to anyone."
"Even now, you stubbornly try to resist."
"That's not what I meant. I hope something like this never happens again… but honestly, I'm angry too. Angry that things like this keep happening to me."
"It's natural to target the easiest prey."
"..."
"Choosing someone naive and weak carries the least risk."
His words twisted directly into my weakness.
That was why they hurt so naturally.
Everything he said always pierced straight into my chest—into the weakest, easiest part to wound.
I wanted to collapse quietly.
I'm not naive. I'm not weak.
I looked up at him.
"I… am not naive or weak."
"..."
"Isn't it simply because I'm a woman who has nothing?"
The moment those words left me, the room fell silent.
The air sank heavily once more.
I stared at him without being able to look away.
The words I had just spoken still rang in my ears.
Even though I immediately regretted saying them, I couldn't take them back.
He remained standing there exactly as before.
Expressionless.
Neither his lips nor his eyes moved at all.
And yet—
something was different from before.
His gaze lowered ever so slightly.
As I quietly looked into his eyes, I suddenly felt infinitely pathetic.
I looked away.
"That's right… a woman with nothing."
Unlike usual, Gowon hesitated midway through speaking.
"Then why… am I shaken by someone who has nothing?"
I inhaled sharply.
Slowly, I turned my head back toward him.
Everything I was hearing now—the look in Gowon's eyes as he stared at me—it all felt unreal.
I couldn't understand any of it anymore.
What these words meant.
Why he was acting this way.
Why I…
wasn't pushing him away.
We were close enough for our breaths to touch.
I could have stepped back.
If I had only taken one step backward…
But my body refused to move.
His eyes held me in place.
Gowon's large hand gently cupped my face, and he kissed me.
Like dancing a waltz, we became one body, slowly undressing each other as we explored each other's lips.
Every now and then when our eyes met, his gaze strangely felt sincere—as though he genuinely worried for my wellbeing.
And yet I kept searching for hidden intentions behind it all.
Could this really be genuine?
Or was I once again just someone's toy… another trap prepared for me?
"Don't think about anything else. Focus on me."
His hand tilted my chin slightly higher.
So I couldn't run away.
No…
as if he was telling me not to run.
And in that moment, I realized something.
This was no longer a situation I hadn't chosen.
It was one I was falling into willingly.
Gowon.
If you act like this toward me…
what am I supposed to do?
◆
She was sleeping deeply.
Her breathing rose and fell evenly. The ragged breaths from earlier had settled completely, as though they had never existed.
I stood there quietly watching her.
The room was silent.
What kind of tension had she lived under all this time?
Even the smallest warmth was enough to make her sleep so peacefully.
It was my first time seeing her asleep like this.
Every other time, she had looked pale enough that I couldn't tell whether she was alive or dead.
The tension she always carried around me.
The cautious way she measured every breath.
The eyes that always seemed to hide something.
None of that existed now.
That felt strange.
A few strands of her hair had fallen across her forehead, and my fingers twitched instinctively.
There was no reason to fix it.
No reason to touch her at all.
I knew that.
And yet my hand still moved toward her for a brief moment.
Only to stop just before touching her.
Then lower again.
My gaze wouldn't leave her face.
A woman who held my attention simply by existing there quietly.
I closed my eyes briefly.
Then opened them again.
She was still asleep.
What I once convinced myself was merely obligation had already become something that could no longer be hidden behind excuses.
Leaving her asleep, I stepped outside the room.
The senior maid I encountered in the corridor seemed to be searching for someone. When I told her that Seonmi had been instructed to clean my room, she simply bowed and walked away. It seemed she really had been looking for her.
I continued down the corridor.
Hearing that the man who should have been at the banquet hall had already gone to his room heavily drunk, I headed there.
When I opened the door, I found Go Chaeha sprawled lazily across the sofa, holding a glass of strong whiskey.
He looked unmistakably like an artist.
An artist suffering from the gap between excessive ideals and reality.
I remained standing several steps away from the door.
I didn't move.
Go Chaeha let out a faint laugh.
"As expected… Your Highness looks far more natural standing."
Tilting his head back, he looked up at me.
"You left the banquet hall unusually early."
Go Chaeha took a sip of whiskey before replying.
"Ah… it became boring."
He rolled the ice around inside the glass.
"I wanted to show others that even my little toy could be entertaining… but that toy suddenly disappeared."
For once, before I could even smooth out my emotions, they burst out first.
"Stop that nonsense."
Go Chaeha lowered his head with a laugh before looking back up at me.
"Why?"
His eyes, half-lidded with drunkenness, curved into a smile.
"Why are you so concerned about that girl?"
"..."
"Do you want to become her savior or something?"
Go Chaeha took another sip of whiskey and continued.
"When I first entered the palace, Her Majesty once told me she would become my savior. But instead of salvation, it became little more than confinement. Isn't abandoning things once they're no longer useful one of the royal family's specialties?"
"You seem to forget that you are part of the royal family as well."
"So I'm only considered royal when it's convenient for you. Truly… I'm honored."
I had no desire to continue speaking with someone too drunk to think rationally.
But there was one answer I wanted to hear.
I wanted to hear what truth might spill from lips stripped bare by emotion.
"Why do you chase after that girl so obsessively?"
As though he had been waiting for the question, Go Chaeha smiled faintly.
"Because I like her. When I like something, I want to share it… But strangely, whenever the person I have to share her with becomes Your Highness, my mood sinks endlessly."
He slammed the whiskey glass down onto the table.
"I finally found a toy I truly liked, only to have someone who already possesses everything take it away from me. It feels incredibly… filthy."
The corners of his lips twisted into a faint sneer.
"That's an honest reaction. Interesting."
Go Chaeha muttered quietly.
"But I'm relieved… because now you finally seem human."
Our eyes met briefly.
Memories of the first time I met him in the palace crossed through my mind.
I said nothing.
Looking at me one last time, he spoke.
"You're someone who can be consumed by emotion too."
The room was silent.
Go Chaeha sitting on the sofa.
Me standing before him.
Neither of us moved—
and yet we were already aiming at each other completely.