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Chapter 48. Warmth
“Your hand slipped.”
“……”
“Some porridge splashed onto your face. Wipe it off with this.”
“……”
“Bongbong?”
Tap.
At the touch of a hand on my shoulder, I lifted my head.
Yeoninggun was looking at me with a startled expression.
The silk handkerchief he was offering had been brought right up to my face.
“Yes. Thank you, Jaga.”
I accepted the handkerchief, but I couldn’t immediately wipe my face.
My mind was in turmoil.
It definitely tasted like honey.
I didn’t doubt my own sense of taste.
In the palace, sweetness came from only two ingredients.
Rice syrup and honey.
Those were the only options.
Sugar was an incredibly precious ingredient and was rarely used.
There was no way I could have mistaken the flavor.
Honey was something babies were not supposed to eat.
Especially in the case of a child like Ihwon, who wasn’t even one year old yet—it was absolutely forbidden.
If I remember correctly, feeding honey to a baby could actually kill them…
Honey, which was practically poison to infants, had been mixed into the milk porridge.
And Ihwon…
He had been crying unusually often, enough to make everyone worry.
Then there were only two possibilities.
Someone had added honey without knowing it was dangerous.
Or someone had added it deliberately, knowing exactly what it could do.
“Kkauu!”
Even then, Ihwon’s cheerful laughter pulled me back to reality.
I swallowed hard and looked up.
The Crown Prince was staring at me with worried eyes.
“Bongbong. Are you truly all right?”
“Ah, well…”
“The porridge couldn’t possibly have been hot. Why do you look so serious? Is something troubling you?”
“……”
I couldn’t say no.
But I couldn’t say yes, either.
Get a hold of yourself.
Only then did I take in my surroundings.
A court maid had just entered the room with a fresh spoon after Yeoninggun had accidentally dropped his.
A wave of confusion swept over me.
If the honey had been added by mistake, then all I had to do was explain the danger to the palace servants.
But if someone intentionally fed it to him…
There had been two people present while Ihwon was being fed.
The young court maid and Court Lady Yun.
Naturally, my gaze shifted to them.
Court Lady Yun looked completely captivated by the sight of Ihwon smiling at me.
The young court maid was respectfully offering the spoon to Yeoninggun.
Was one of them the one who added the honey? Or both? Did people in this era simply not know that honey was dangerous for babies?
I couldn’t trust anyone.
“Hm… Bongbong. You must truly be feeling unwell.”
At the Crown Prince’s words, I remembered the promise he had made as the future sovereign.
That’s right. If both the court lady and the maid are suspicious, it’s better to reveal the truth in front of the Crown Prince.
Having made my decision, I didn’t hesitate.
“Um, Court Lady Yun.”
I addressed her calmly.
“What is it, Bongbong?”
“Does milk porridge usually contain honey?”
“Honey? In the young master’s porridge?”
Instantly, Court Lady Yun’s eyebrows shot up.
“Absolutely not! Honey is one of the greatest taboos for infants. If a baby who hasn’t even turned one eats honey, they could suffer convulsions or something far worse.”
She waved her hands emphatically.
There was no fear or nervousness visible on her face.
Tilting my head, I asked,
“Really? Because I can taste honey in this porridge.”
At that moment—
Clang!
A spoon fell to the floor.
But I wasn’t looking at the spoon.
I was looking at the maid’s face, drained completely of color.
Court Lady Yun shook her head in disbelief.
“You taste honey? That’s impossible. How could that be?”
“But I really did taste honey. If it tasted like honey, then of course I’d say it tasted like honey.”
Then the Crown Prince, who had been listening with a grave expression, spoke.
“If Bongbong is mistaken, or if she is telling the truth, then all we need do is verify it ourselves. I shall taste it.”
He wasted no time on formalities.
Picking up the spoon from the floor, he immediately scooped up a spoonful of porridge.
No.
I quickly grabbed his sleeve.
“You mustn’t eat it. We don’t know what’s in it.”
“…Ah.”
If someone was willing to feed honey to a baby despite knowing the danger…
Then perhaps they had mixed something even more deadly into the food.
The Crown Prince understood what I meant and lowered the spoon.
“I-I shall test it myself.”
Court Lady Yun hurried forward.
“……”
Gasp!
After taking a bite of the porridge, a strange sound escaped her lips.
Her eyes shook violently.
Then her hands began trembling as well.
“No! H-how can this be…!”
“So Bongbong was telling the truth.”
At the Crown Prince’s words, Court Lady Yun immediately prostrated herself.
“Your Highness! I truly do not understand how this happened. How could anyone dare put honey into the young master’s porridge…”
Turning around, she shouted sharply,
“Gwon-ga! Explain yourself at once! Weren’t you the one who prepared this porridge?”
“I-I… know nothing about this!”
The maid’s entire body was trembling.
She stubbornly denied everything, but her behavior had been suspicious from the start.
The way she had remained tense the entire time.
The way she had dropped the spoon in panic the moment I mentioned honey.
But right now, the most urgent issue isn’t simply that honey was added.
As though reading my thoughts, the Crown Prince suddenly rose to his feet and shouted,
“Then that means Ihwon has eaten honey! Court Lady Yun, summon the royal physician immediately. At once!”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”
Court Lady Yun rushed out.
The sounds of her hurriedly issuing orders to the palace maids echoed from outside.
When she returned, her face had turned completely pale.
“Court Lady Yun.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I do not wish to suspect you. However, you are undeniably responsible for what has happened.”
“Yes… Your Highness. That is true…”
As she trembled, the Crown Prince delivered a cold warning.
“Let me make this clear. If you conceal even the slightest detail, or attempt to protect any servant involved, my royal father will not forgive you.”
“I shall remember it! I swear it!”
After issuing his warning, the Crown Prince immediately stood.
“Court Lady Yun, inform Sukui Mama of the situation. I shall go directly to the main hall and report this matter to Father.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The Crown Prince strode out of the room.
Court Lady Yun hurried after him.
It felt as though a storm had swept through.
In an instant, both Court Lady Yun and the Crown Prince had left, leaving only Yeoninggun, the trembling maid, and me inside the room.
Well, there was one more person.
Ihwon, who seemed completely unconcerned about everything that had happened and was still smiling brightly at me.
“……”
I looked at him with a heavy heart.
I wanted to know who had tried to harm him.
Or was this truly nothing more than a mistake born of ignorance?
Ihwon might have been fed honey for much longer than anyone realized.
What worried me most was whether he would recover without suffering any lasting effects.
Could the honey he consumed as a baby have contributed to his early death?
“Hiyung. Uuuu.”
Perhaps disappointed that I wasn’t reacting, Ihwon let out a sulky little babble.
“…You’ll be okay.”
I spoke informally without realizing it.
Startled, I quickly corrected myself.
“You’ll be fine, Agissi. Everything will be all right now—”
At that moment, the squirming Ihwon stretched both arms toward me.
As I leaned closer—
“Uu!”
He wrapped his arms around my neck and clung to me.
“……”
A strange feeling stirred inside my chest.
A soft baby scent drifted from him.
His warmth spread through my body.
Such a tiny child who could do nothing for himself.
A baby who could only babble, unable even to properly express his thoughts.
How frightened he must have been all this time. How much pain he must have endured…
Something deep inside my heart ached.
Without realizing it, I hugged Ihwon tightly.
Then—
“Put that down immediately!”
Yeoninggun’s stern voice rang through the room.
Still holding Ihwon, I turned around.
“To attempt to remove evidence before the eyes of a royal prince! Do you truly wish to lose your head?”
At Yeoninggun’s thunderous rebuke, the maid flinched violently.
In her hands was the very bowl of milk porridge that had been fed to Ihwon.
