The Queen Mother's words were final.
"You will not visit that boy tonight," she said, her eyes sharp with a mother's command, a ruler's control. "The palace is already full of whispers. Lady So-Hwa is here. You are a king, Hwan Seong not a man free to follow whims."
Hwan Seong stood in the garden, his hands clenched behind his back. The moon hung heavy above them, pale and cold. His jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Not now. Not in front of the servants. Not in front of So-Hwa, who stood silently behind the Queen with a modest, unreadable expression.
He turned without a word and left. That night, he did not sleep. In the Eastern Wing, Seo Yul had awakened. He stared at the ceiling in silence, his bandaged wrist tucked against his chest. His throat was dry. His chest ached. The smell of herbal medicine lingered in the air, but he had refused to take it. "Please eat something, Your Highness," Lady Yun hee begged softly. "You haven't touched a single thing since morning."
Seo Yul didn't respond. He kept staring at the shadows crawling across the ceiling.
"Do you want me to call Prince Hwan Jae?" she asked carefully. At the sound of the name, his lashes lifted just slightly. He gave a slow, almost imperceptible nod. When Hwan Jae entered a short while later, Seo Yul finally turned his head. His eyes were sunken but alert. Alive.
"Do you want me to stay here until you eat?" Hwan Jae asked gently, sitting beside him.
Seo Yul nodded again. It was only then he lifted a spoon to his lips. Hwan Jae talked to distract Seo Yul from his state until he finished eating and took the herbs. Later Seo Yul drifted to sleep and Hwan Jae silently left.
For two days, Hwan Seong stayed away.
It was not by choice.
The Queen Mother never left his side, always finding a reason to summon him court matters, So-Hwa's presence, the royal scholars. Lady So-Hwa played her part well. Always near, always kind. But her voice grated on him like wind scraping across stone. He couldn't focus. Not on scrolls. Not on training. Not on governing.
His mind was haunted by the image of Seo Yul bleeding on cold marble. Faint. Fragile. Alone.
Each night, he would stare toward the East Wing through his window. And on the second night, something inside him broke.
He moved silently, draped in a dark cloak.
No guards saw him.
No one stopped him.
It was past midnight when the paper door of Seo Yul's chamber slid open with a whisper.
Seo Yul was seating near the window staring at the moon quietly.
His voice caught in his throat as a tall figure stepped inside.
He gasped, about to scream.
But the man crossed the room swiftly and placed a firm hand over Seo Yul's mouth.
"Shhh," King Hwan Seong whispered, his face close, breath warm. "It's me."
Seo Yul's eyes widened in disbelief, then confusion. His breath shuddered under the king's palm. Slowly, the king removed his hand.
"My lord" Seo Yul breathed. "Why…"
"I had to see you," the king said quietly, crouching infront of him.
Seo Yul turned his head away. His voice trembled. "You didn't have to..."
"I wanted to," Hwan Seong said firmly. "But I got caught up in royal matters."
Seo Yul didn't answer. His fingers clenched his robe.
The king looked down. "Why did you do it?" he asked. "Why would you harm yourself?"
There was a long pause.
Seo Yul's voice came out in a whisper. "Because I thought… if I disappeared, no one would notice."
The king's brows drew together sharply. "That's not true."
Seo Yul looked at him, eyes glossy. "I was never cared for. Not by my stepmother. Not by my father. I thought it was normal. To be forgotten."
He looked away, biting his lip.
"But then… you came," he said softly. "You picked me up in the rain. You stayed beside me." His voice cracked. "And then you were gone again." The king's eyes couldn't meet his. "I thought…" Seo Yul swallowed. "If I got hurt again, maybe… maybe you'd come back. Maybe I wouldn't feel so alone again."
Hwan Seong reached for him gently, fingers curling around Seo Yul's hand.
"You are not going anywhere," he said, voice low. Fierce. "Not while I breathe."
Seo Yul's eyes filled, but he didn't look away this time. "Rest now," the king said, softer.
He sat infront him, back against the wall, No words were exchanged after that.
But neither of them needed them.