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Chapter 33
The atmosphere in Huijeongdang was still solemn, but perhaps because it was my second visit, I felt much more at ease.
The head court lady led me not to the inner chambers, but to the garden attached to Huijeongdang.
The king was standing there at one side of the courtyard.
“Your Majesty. Has your royal health been peaceful and prosperous today?”
Oh. I did it!
At last, I had conquered the greatest challenge facing a four-year-old child: pronouncing words ending in the difficult “ng” sound properly.
“So. Your greetings have improved already.”
The king clearly recognized my hard work.
While I basked proudly in my accomplishment, Geumdeok scampered over and rubbed his face against my legs.
“Today, I prepared something new for Geumdeok.”
“What is it?”
Ta-da!
I proudly revealed the secret weapon I had made myself.
A custom fishing rod!
I had tied a string to a persimmon tree branch Sunrye cut for me, then attached a large crow feather I’d picked up in the back garden.
A handmade cat toy.
‘Geumdeok, you better appreciate how spoiled you are thanks to me.’
Geumdeok completely lost his mind.
Bounce! Leap!
Only after both Geumdeok and I were panting for breath did our hunting game finally end.
“That’s enough now. If you keep playing with Geumdeok like this, you’ll wear yourself out.”
Coming from the man who had practically assigned me the duty of entertaining Geumdeok, that was a remarkably shameless thing to say.
Meanwhile, refreshments had already been laid out on the wooden floor.
‘Oh. Wonsobyeong.’
Wonsobyeong was a dessert made of colorful glutinous rice balls floating in honeyed water.
Beside it were neatly arranged pine pollen dasik cookies again.
“Thank you for the food, Your Majesty!”
Munch munch.
As I spooned up the sweet honey water, I suddenly paused at the scent carried by the wind.
That smell… definitely…
“Your Majesty. I smell incense from somewhere.”
“It must be from me. I paid respects at Jongmyo today.”
With Daeboreum approaching, it seemed he had gone to pay respects to the former kings.
“You may not yet know what Jongmyo is. It is the royal shrine where the previous great kings are enshrined.”
“Now that Your Majesty has taught me, I shall remember it well.”
Though it was something even elementary school textbooks covered, I answered with the bright-eyed innocence of a child hearing it for the first time.
Still, hearing the history of Jongmyo explained directly by King Sukjong himself—
that was truly an extraordinary experience.
“But… Your Majesty.”
“Mm?”
I hesitated before finally gathering the courage to speak.
“You seem… somewhat troubled.”
“Do I? Well, that is not entirely wrong.”
He continued.
“Whenever I return from Jongmyo, I find myself burdened with many thoughts.”
“Why is that?”
“Hmm.”
His gaze drifted somewhere beyond the walls of Huijeongdang.
“Because the path of kings lies there. The roads the former kings walked… and the results of those paths remain there as well.”
“…”
I quietly waited for him to continue.
“King Taejong ascended the throne after purging even his own brothers. King Sejo drove his nephew, King Danjong, to his death in order to become king.”
Slowly, he closed his eyes.
“To some, those acts may seem horrifying. Yet kings who were too gentle and generous often led their nations into ruin.”
His voice was low and heavy.
“To be king means precisely that. One must not hesitate to become a villain. And when the time comes to wield the sword, one must not waver.”
Silently, I stroked Geumdeok.
I could tell he wasn’t saying this for my sake anyway.
For a long while, the king’s closed eyes did not open.
Perhaps Geumdeok sensed the depth of the king’s worries. The cat left my side and settled onto the king’s lap.
Awakened from his thoughts, the king smiled faintly.
“To summon a child only to burden them with incomprehensible complaints. Perhaps I truly am getting old.”
“Oh no, Your Majesty is super young!”
“Young? Hah. Little Bongbong, do you even know how old I am?”
I do. Forty.
But this was the perfect moment to put all the social skills I had cultivated to use.
“Hmm…”
Tilting my head, I carefully studied the royal face I had never dared stare at directly before.
“Twenty!”
I meant it as part of my “child too young to understand age” act.
But maybe that was pushing it a little.
“Ho? I do occasionally hear that my age is difficult to guess. Do I truly look that young?”
But apparently, our king had very little shame.
“Yes. Did Bongbong answer correctly, Your Majesty?”
“Hahaha. Very well. Let us say you did.”
…Actually, let me correct myself.
He had absolutely no shame at all.
“Twenty… what a distant time that was. Let me see. What was I doing back then…?”
As though tracing his memories backward, the king suddenly paused.
I thought I knew why.
In the sixth year of King Sukjong’s reign, when he himself was a twenty-year-old king—
he had wielded the merciless blade known as the Gyeongsin Purge.
The king, lost in thought, finally lifted his head.
“If I could return to those days, that would indeed be wonderful. I was overflowing with passion then.”
“What do you think you would like most about it?”
“I had far more dreams than I do now. More things I wished to accomplish. I feared nothing because I did not yet understand the consequences my decisions would bring. And above all…”
Slowly, he looked at me.
“When I was twenty, I had a dear friend by my side.”
“Where is that friend now?”
The king fell silent for a moment.
“He is dead.”
“…I am sowwy, Your Majesty.”
For a long time, he did not take his eyes off me.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“…”
“Perhaps… I am the one who should be sorry.”
I lifted my head and met his gaze.
It was impossible to fully understand what lay in the king’s heart.
A king speaking of the burden of royal duty, of the fate of one who must stain his hands with blood, and of a dead friend—all before a mere four-year-old child…
‘Maybe Sukjong… is actually a very lonely person.’
Someone with absolutely no place to bare his heart.
Someone forced to silently endure the weight of the bloody history created by his own choices.
“Little one.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You said you remember nothing about your parents, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then I think I shall investigate your parents a little.”
“My parents?”
I was genuinely shocked.
I knew the king had an interest in my origins, but I never expected him to become this proactive.
“Yes. There are things I myself am curious about, and surely you miss your parents as well. If this chance allows you to at least learn their names, it would surely mean something to you.”
“Yes. I think it would. Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful.”
Honestly, there was no downside to this.
The king’s cryptic remarks had already made me intensely curious about my own background.
‘And if the king personally investigates, he’ll uncover information in no time.’
It was practically effortless on my part.
‘Well… it’s not like I’ll turn out to be the child of traitors or something, right?’
I’d watched way too many historical dramas.
Enough pointless thoughts.
Just then—
“Your Majesty. It is time for your lecture.”
The head eunuch carefully entered the courtyard and bowed.
It was time for me to return to Chwiseondang as well.
“Your Majesty. What will you do on Daeboreum?”
Before leaving, I asked him.
“I shall receive the officials’ formal greetings. After that, I may stroll through the rear gardens of Changdeok Palace. I intend to visit around Okrucheon.”
Mental note! Mental note!
I had just acquired extremely valuable intelligence regarding the king’s movements.
“Well then, little one.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Until we meet again.”
Yes. We’ll be seeing each other very soon, Your Majesty.
After offering my farewell greeting to the king and giving Geumdeok one last pat, I left Huijeongdang.
Once again, the court lady packed me an armful of dasik cookies.
I’ll give one to Bokhee, and Yonghee…
‘Should I give her one or not?’
As I walked back to Chwiseondang pondering that important dilemma—
two thoroughly unwelcome visitors were waiting for me there.
After Bongbong Left
After Bongbong departed, the king ordered the attendants away and sank into deep thought.
Had he truly spoken so freely of feelings he had never revealed to anyone else… before a mere four-year-old child?
The child surely could not understand his words, yet it was unlike him all the same.
‘Is it because she resembles her…?’
Because she resembled that girl who, during his days as crown prince, had so often disarmed him with her bright, innocent face.
The king suddenly sighed and looked down at his own hands.
Though invisible, they were soaked in blood.
The path of kings.
As he had told the child, some kings personally wielded the blade, killing blood relatives and political enemies alike.
King Yi Sun had never personally raised a sword against anyone—
yet under the name of “political purges,” he had sent far more people to their deaths.
‘And… perhaps I shall have to kill many more before this is over.’
The king quietly closed his eyes.
The faces of those destroyed by his choices flickered through his mind.
Among them…
was someone he had cherished most dearly—
someone once called his “friend.”
“Cheokga…”
In a voice barely above a whisper, he spoke the beloved name.
‘Could that child truly be your blood?’
Yuhwa, the younger sister of his close friend Cheok U-myeong—whom he affectionately called “Cheokga.”
The vivid red birthmark once on Yuhwa’s arm existed on that child as well.
‘If that child truly is Yuhwa’s daughter… could I perhaps atone for my sins through her?’
The king’s eyes, fixed upon the distant sky, were unbearably hollow and grief-stricken.
‘Can I atone… for the sin of killing my friend?’
