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Chapter 39 – The Protagonist’s Part
Heebin’s steps came to a halt. It was obvious that she had spotted the King as well.
The King stood with his back turned.
The crimson hem of his robe fluttered gently in the mountain breeze.
‘…Even though I knew he would be here, I’m unbelievably nervous.’
I swallowed dryly.
The reason was none other than Heebin’s reaction.
She did not move an inch.
Her steps, her gaze, even her breathing.
Everything seemed frozen as she simply stared at the King’s back.
‘What is she thinking?’
I couldn’t suppress my curiosity.
The first thing I noticed on Heebin’s face was a joyful smile.
Delight. Happiness. The kind of excitement that made it seem as though she might run to him barefoot at any moment.
But the smile quickly faded.
The corners of her lips lowered, and the sparkle in her eyes dimmed into something heavy.
Her face was tangled with emotions too complicated to define in a single word.
Joy and anticipation. Regret and lingering attachment.
And sorrow and fear…
She could not take even a single step forward.
Nor could she dare call out to him or make her presence known.
‘How heartbreaking.’
A sense of pity rose within me.
Her fingertips fidgeted restlessly, and her lips trembled, unable to part.
Though the person stood only a few paces away, she was longing for him as if he were impossibly distant.
“…”
I silently watched Heebin.
I knew nothing about love.
Having absolutely no dating experience, there was no way I could understand feelings this profound.
Because of that, I felt helpless about how I could possibly help her, but…
‘This isn’t my place.’
The certainty came to me clearly.
What I knew of Heebin’s life was only a few dramatized lines preserved in history.
Jang Heebin and Sukjong.
I knew nothing about the love shared by those two people over twenty years.
‘From here on, it’s Heebin’s part.’
This was Heebin’s story.
A tragic love story in which she was the protagonist.
Therefore, this reunion belonged solely to her.
I quickly realized what my role was.
As I quietly moved aside, Heebin lowered her gaze toward me.
Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something.
I raised a finger to my lips, telling her, “Shh.”
“…”
No further words were necessary.
I carefully distanced myself from Heebin.
Tiptoeing so that no sound would escape my footsteps.
Just then, I spotted a pavilion nestled among fully blossomed plum trees.
‘That place will do.’
Quietly, yet swiftly, I slipped away from their stage and concealed myself.
Perhaps it was because he sensed the subtle change in the air.
The King, who had been gazing at the clear stream of Oknyucheon, slowly turned around.
The moment he saw the figure of a woman, his eyes trembled slightly.
‘Heebin.’
It was Heebin.
The King’s eyesight was terribly poor, yet he recognized her immediately.
In truth, it had always been that way.
Even had she been standing much farther away, it would have made no difference.
Bathed in sunlight pouring down around Oknyucheon, Heebin’s figure stood elegant and proud.
“…”
The King did not speak.
Heebin simply gazed back at him in silence.
‘Why do you wear such an expression, Heebin?’
Within her eyes, the King read regret and sorrow.
She seemed desperate, resentful, trembling with love and hatred all at once.
Yet the first thing he recognized was longing.
The King repeated to himself a question he had carried for a very long time.
‘Is it truly me whom you long for?’
Do you truly long for Yi Sun, the man himself?
Or do you yearn for that glorious era when you possessed my heart?
A past brilliant as sunlight slipping through one’s fingers—
Radiant, yet ultimately fleeting.
He wanted to know.
He wanted to ask.
And yet the King maintained his silence.
Because no one knew better than he did that he was the one who had broken Heebin.
Countless years passed between their gazes.
Their youth, made even more beautiful by its impermanence.
The fragile promises that they would never change.
The days when they had been mad with desire for one another…
‘Jang Okjeong.’
Even now, he vividly remembered the first moment he saw her as a court lady in Queen Dowager Jangryeol’s residence.
It felt as though his breath had stopped.
Her beauty had nearly blinded him.
There had once been a time when he opposed everyone in order to possess her.
He opposed his mother.
He made powerful ministers his enemies.
He cast aside his Queen.
In the end, he even ignored the will of the people.
He wagered everything on loving Jang Okjeong.
…And his love failed.
‘Was that truly Heebin’s crime?’
No matter how many times he reconsidered it, he could not answer with certainty.
He was the King.
The faction that stood behind her grew more arrogant by the day.
They became so conceited that they mistook the King’s glory for their own.
Punishing them had been his rightful duty as ruler.
It was not because he loved someone else that he cast her aside.
His love…
Had remained in one place for a very long time.
It was simply that the love had grown too excessive.
Before it consumed him like poison, he had to sever its roots.
“Ha…”
The King let out a low sigh.
Even in silence, he never stopped looking at her.
Because he was curious.
He wanted to know whether something genuine still remained in her eyes for him—
Beyond love and hatred, beyond regret.
‘…Your Majesty.’
Heebin did not know what words she should say.
This was the meeting she had longed for more than anything.
Yet the moment she faced the King, her mind went completely blank.
She should have properly greeted him.
But her body and lips felt frozen.
No.
There was another reason she could not move.
If she moved, she feared she might run away.
That love which had already turned to ashes.
That heart which had once belonged only to her.
She was afraid it might disappear forever—
And that she would never see him again.
‘I met him when I was twenty-one.’
The moment she faced the young King, shining like the sun, she had sensed that they were destined to become one.
Everything about him captivated her.
His courage and boldness.
His fearlessness and strength.
She even loved the limitless power he possessed.
The knowledge that the most powerful man in the kingdom yearned for her love was an intoxicating ecstasy.
‘Back then… I was foolish.’
Because she had never imagined that a vow of eternal love could change.
The boldness that had captivated her became the sword that cut down her supporters.
The power that had once granted her every wish dragged her entire family into ruin.
And the heart of the man who had claimed to desire only her…
Easily lingered in the residences of other women.
Even so, she still loved the King.
The heart that held the man who had left her was stained like a dark bruise.
Yet she could not stop loving him.
Longing, resentment, jealousy, regret.
Even if they shattered and destroyed her day after day.
He was still her everything.
Because Jang Okjeong could only become whole by obtaining his love.
‘…Your Majesty.’
Tears welled in her eyes.
She wanted to hate him.
If she could, perhaps she might survive.
…And yet he remained the person she longed for most.
Only a few steps away.
Close enough to touch.
But she could not reach out first.
Could not embrace him.
Could not kiss him.
Because their love was over.
Because he had abandoned her.
“…”
Through her tear-filled vision, the crimson dragon robe blurred like the dying flames of a fire.
A futile love.
One that had blazed brightly for a moment before fading away…
And then—
The King began walking toward her.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The clear murmur of Oknyucheon’s waters.
The damp air veiled in a faint mist.
Even the rustling of fabric sounded distinct in the silence.
Before she realized it, the King had stopped in front of her.
Then he spoke.
“Okjeong.”
“…”
He called her Okjeong.
A name that had not been spoken in so very long.
“Your Majesty…”
Drip.
A tear that had gathered in Heebin’s eye finally fell.
The cold King.
The extraordinary King.
The cruel monarch said to possess neither blood nor tears.
His hand twitched faintly, as though restraint demanded it.
But in the end, he lost.
The King reached out and pulled Heebin into his embrace.
A powerful embrace.
A firm and unwavering touch.
“…It has been a long time.”
Since I last spoke your name.
“Okjeong.”
At that moment, a gentle breeze swept through.
Plum blossoms carried by the wind drifted around them like a shower of pale pink petals.
“Huff…! Haa…! Huuuff…!”
I was getting dizzy.
The world spun before my eyes, but I absolutely could not stop this grand undertaking.
“Huff! Huu…!”
Scooping up a handful of plum blossom petals scattered across the ground, I blew with all my strength and sent them flying.
Most of the petals simply fell back to the ground.
Still, by sheer luck, some were caught by the wind and drifted all the way to where the King and Heebin stood.
Heebin in Sukjong’s embrace.
Flower petals swirling around them.
‘Woooow…!’
It was a legendary scene of history—
Created by the two protagonists and one extra tagging along.
