Even before the court ladies conveyed the words, Bipaan took off his wooden shoes on the stepping stones and walked inside. As Bipaan was her superior, he could go in without her approval, but it was the unwritten law for him to inform Kyosul first of his arrival before going in. But who could block his way? The chief court lady opened the door quickly and crossed several inside doors to reach Kyosulâs room quickly while the court ladies in the hall turned pale stricken with fear.
As Ohyulje just scolded him, with the warning that he should not âexpress his feelings easily,â his face was calm as ever. So, the eunuchs and court ladies thought he came because he missed her. When he entered Kyosulâs room finally, he saw her taking off her wig and changing into a nightgown to lie on the bed. Surprised by his sudden and unexpected visit, Kyosul and the nanny looked at him in bewilderment, forgetting to welcome him with greetings.
Bipaan looked at the nanny. âGet out, you!â
âPardon?â
âI just told you to get out.â
Though he didnât shout, the nanny felt his voice was pretty harsh. Though she had to help Kyosul take off her wig and do her hair neatly, she couldnât because of his order. She stepped back out of Kyosulâs.
There were now only Bipaan and Kyosul in the room. Kyosul felt she was already trembling. And she held her right arm with her left while hoping she would stop trembling. He walked up to her and raised herself.
âYour MajestyâŠâ
Her face turned white. Without saying anything, he grabbed her shoulders tightly and pushed her to the bed. As the bed was soft, she didnât feel any pain. When he gave strength to his hands, though, she frowned.
âYour MajestyâŠâ
âStop it.â
Tears dropped from her eyes instantly. She wiped tears, but she could do nothing about them. His facial expression reflected in her tears was pretty calm.
She couldnât read any feelings or sentiment in his face. His grip on her shoulders was tight, but his face was quiet and calm like dawn. Obviously, there was anger in his cold voice, but his facial expression was peaceful.
She was scared beforehand as he suddenly came into her room without any notice and grabbed her. She thought he was angry. Without that, he would not have come to her residence, she thought. She was afraid. She had never faced this kind of man before. When she was curling up her body with fear, he held her by the collar and pulled her toward him. Full of fear, she now saw him face to face up close.
âI already told you clearly that no matter what you did, you should never stand in my way. Did you get it?â
Though he said in a scolding tone, his voice was just plain and common as if he were speaking about the weather.
Too embarrassed to respond, she fixed her scared gaze on him, at a loss for words.
She couldnât figure out why he suddenly reminded her of that again. Standing in his way? In fact, she was confined to her residence and did nothing these days.
âHow come the rumor about you and Prince Ruhae came into the Emperorâs ears? Did you plot with him to spread the rumor?â
âYour MajestyâŠâ
When Bipaan mentioned Prince Ruhae, she turned white with fear. Sensing that she got nervous, Bipaan scolded her more severely. Shaking her head while trying to defend herself, she barely said in a feeble voice, âRumor? Which rumor? I just donât understand what youâre talking aboutâŠâ
What the heck was the rumor about her and Ruhae? She was just dumbfounded at his scolding out of a clear blue sky. She just kept shedding tears as she was trembling in shock. He gazed at her calmly.
She was lying on the bed, with her guard down, and he lay face down on it. After some silence, he turned his mouth up and said, âThe rumor has it that youâre having an affair with Ruhae.â
His voice was flat, with no emotion at all, as if he was talking about some business affairs. But the word he used, âan affair,â was something vulgar that she or he could not dare put on their lips.
An affair with Prince Ruhae?
Kyosul opened her eyes with surprise, and strongly balked, âNo, thatâs not true. I justâŠâ
âIt doesnât matter if itâs true or not. The thing is such a rumor came into the Emperorâs ears.â
He responded as if he wasnât interested in the truth of the rumor, which broke her heart once more. What wounded her heart was not his sharp response, but the atmosphere, attitude and coldness that surrounded his whole body.
âIf you canât be a faithful woman, you should just shut up and be prudent in your conduct. You must have crossed the palace so often up to now that youâre gossiped about, right?â
Her big eyes trembled. She had yet to overcome the shock of having heard the word â affair.â
Without waiting for her answer, he mercilessly demanded, âDidnât you work with Prince Ruhae to pull me down from the seat of the Crown Prince? If you didnât, who is now slandering me?â
âYour MajestyâŠâ
So embarrassed, she didnât know what to say.
His merciless criticism was cruel.
âMy position is not weak enough to be swayed by this kind of rumor. Be careful. If you are once again gossiped about like thisâŠâ
He came near to her bed and lowered his head. She closed her eyes in panic.
Their faces touched. She could feel his breathing up close. She opened her eyes. She expected to face him directly before her eyes, but his face was not seen. Instead, his face was toward her ears now.
He whispered into her ears quietly, âIâm going to be the next Emperor.â
She felt his warm breath and chest. This was the first time she was so close to him. His upper body almost touched hers. His hair braided behind the ears grazed her cheeks.
âAll you have to do is just keep your place.â
Having said that calmly, he stood up. She also raised herself up while trembling. And she stopped him who was about to leave her room hastily.
âYour Majesty! I have never had an affair with Prince Ruhae. Thatâs all groundless rumor! Please trust me. Iâve neverâŠâ
He stopped walking for a moment but didnât turn around to see her.
Turning his back on her, he bluntly said, âYou donât have to make any excuse.â
âItâs not an excuse. Thatâs a fact!â
âI mean, you donât have to take pains to explain whether itâs true or not. I told you already that I didnât care about whether the rumor was true or not.â
âBut Iâm your wife, Your MajestyâŠâ
âI donât care.â
His reply was still cold. She was embarrassed. He rushed into her room, grabbed her shoulders, pushed her to the bed and blamed her for allegedly having had an affair with Ruhae. Now he said he didnât care about it.
What the heck is he talking about?
âIf thatâs the case, why did you get so upset with me?â
âAs the rumor came into the Emperorâs ears, I got blamed because of you.â As if he couldnât calm down now, he emphasized again, âI donât know how many times I told you about this. I donât care no matter what you are doing. Iâm not interested in anything other than the fact that youâre my official wife. I told you I didnât want to waste my time and energy on useless things, didnât I? Iâm pretty busy.â
And then he left her room, and she didnât hold him. While he was leaving, she watched his back until he disappeared.
Kyosul found it hard to understand what she just heard from him and what he was trying to say. She just sat on the bed blankly and looked at the door through which he went out. Though she felt his voice was flat and cold, it was just plain and blunt when she looked back at it. Though he seemed to vent his surging anger at Kyosul who got scared beforehand, it was not a big deal when she pondered over it again.
Oh, I think I understand it now.
After thinking hard about Bipaanâs warning, she realized something anew. His way of speaking, glittering eyes and attitude were far from cold and scary. Sheâd been confused because of his harsh language.
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He just had no feelings about her just like his title âBipaan,â offered by his father Ohyulje, the Emperor.
âBipaan literally means âdonât break your face.â What a title!â
She thought that Bipaan was given to him, so that he should not reveal his feelings to others.
In fact, he didnât seem to show any slightest feeling or emotion to others
âHow can a human being so indifferent to others?â