Unknown
When he tried to suppress it alone, the fear only grew larger and larger — yet a few words exchanged with his wife were enough to make it fade and blur away.
I just wanted to eat something delicious together.
The image of the girl who had marched all the way to the Crown Prince's residence, a peach clutched firmly in hand, flashed through his mind.
That had been Seruhwa's true heart. So why had he taken what just happened so gravely? Why had he been so terrified?
Seeing him smile, Seruhwa suddenly put on a serious expression and said, "And Your Highness — being able to live without eating, and whether you can grow well without eating, are two separate matters, aren't they?"
"Pardon? What do you mean by that……?"
"You need to eat to grow tall. If you keep skipping meals, I might overtake you. I'm going to eat well and shoot right up!"
Seruhwa puffed out her chest with pride.
Cheon Gyeol-woo flinched at a possibility he had never once considered.
To be precise, he had never had the luxury of imagining the future at all — but even so. What if, ten years from now, his wife had grown up into a full-grown woman while he remained a shrunken little boy, having not grown an inch?
Absolutely not!
He hated the very idea. The boy wanted to become a tall, strong man — one who could sweep his wife up into his arms with ease.
Cheon Gyeol-woo replied with a face gone grave. "No, I will be the taller one, my lady."
"How can you promise that? I might grow so much that I end up carrying Your Highness around in my arms like a doll."
"Then I will eat even more than I do now and train in the martial arts. That way I can carry you about, my lady, high in the air."
"Hmm. Shall we make a wager, then? Whichever of us is taller by the time of the coming-of-age ceremony?"
Seruhwa said it with a teasing grin, as though she didn't believe a word of it.
The boy resolved that he would absolutely shoot up in height, until his wife's feet never touched the ground, carried along in his arms.
"Let's make that wager. What will you stake?"
"The winner gets to ask one favor of the loser."
"Very well. Though I must say, the odds seem heavily in my favor. You will regret it."
"You only know once you try, don't you? Your coming-of-age ceremony comes first, Your Highness, so the contest will be decided on the day of mine. Just wait and see."
Seruhwa was triumphant, brimming with a confidence that seemed to rest on something she knew.
Cheon Gyeol-woo stared at his wife, a full head shorter than he was, with bewildered disbelief — then found himself laughing despite it all.
She's adorable.
He felt so good it was hard to believe he had ever been afraid. Whenever he was with his wife, it always turned out this way. His heart pounded and fluttered, and yet he felt at ease.
Seruhwa took his arm and pulled him along. "Now then, let's go meet the others! I'll introduce you to everyone at Unyeondang first!"
Cheon Gyeol-woo let himself be led along as though bewitched.
Unyeondang, which had once been as bleak and desolate as Jamryongdang, had somehow become a place that exuded the warmth of people living well within it. Every corner was spotless, and everything bore the care of attentive hands.
And just as Seruhwa had promised, the maids of Unyeondang did not flee from the Crown Prince or tremble at the sight of him — they merely seemed a little awkward.
Her explanations certainly helped…… but this, I suspect, is because my wife is by my side.
The sight of Seruhwa holding the Crown Prince's hand without the slightest hesitation, linking arms with him, had softened everyone's wariness.
"If Her Ladyship says he's fine, then he must be fine."
Everyone who met them said some version of the same thing.
In barely a month, Seruhwa had already won the trust and affection of the women of Unyeondang.
How she had managed it was plain enough from a single turn around the residence at her side.
"Court Lady Jung, you worked late into the night yesterday — rest early today."
"You hurt your hand, didn't you? I left a salve with Court Lady Kim for you, so go fetch it."
"Court Lady Park, how is your back? Have you taken your tonic? Keep taking it without fail and you'll be better in no time."
"Oh, Court Lady Song — go to Court Lady Kim and collect your reward. If you did good work, of course you should be paid for it."
"Court Lady Choi, how is your little sister? Is she feeling any better?"
Every time she crossed paths with a maid or a court lady, she remembered each of them, one by one, and looked after them — as naturally as if she had always done so.
The Crown Prince asked in astonishment, "My lady — do you remember every single person who works at Unyeondang?"
"They're my people. How could I call someone my own if I can't even remember them?"
At the answer, delivered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, the Crown Prince quietly reproached himself.
Have I…… ever looked after my own servants with such care?
If he had made the effort his wife did, might more people have remained at Jamryongdang even after the Black Wine incident?
Over the past two years, instead of cowering in fear of the dark — if only he had watched Eunuch Jang that closely, might he have been able to win the man over and truly make him his own person?
Or at the very least, he might have uncovered the betrayal in advance.
……From now on, then. I'll make the effort — just like she does.
After a full circuit of Unyeondang, they sat across from Kim Suk-hyang, the head court lady of the private quarters.
"You are asking me to touch the Crown Prince's hand, Your Ladyship?"
A faint flicker of fear showed in Kim Suk-hyang's face as she asked the question back.
Cheon Gyeol-woo expected her to refuse. A court lady of her years would surely have been present in the palace during the Black Wine affair. She would have heard the rumors about the Crown Prince all this time.
"Of course."
But Court Lady Kim answered without hesitation, and at once gently covered the boy's hand with her own.
The Crown Prince went rigid.
Unbidden, memories surfaced of the incidents just after the Black Wine — back when there were still servants left working at Jamryongdang.
Along with them came Eunuch Jang's words.
"Your Highness must never again touch another person. You must not even press your face to theirs — unless you intend to become a murderer."
Fear surged up with the memory.
In that instant, Cheon Gyeol-woo thought of Seruhwa — of the words she had whispered to him moments ago, forehead pressed to his.
"Your Highness already knows the way. You've practiced so earnestly, every single day, haven't you?"
That was right. They had practiced together every day. He had kept trying, again and again. How did it go again?
Instead of the frightening past, the Crown Prince recalled those hours spent practicing hand in hand with his wife.
And then — nothing happened. His darkness stayed curled within his shadow like a docile beast.
The boy looked down quietly at his own hand, touched by another person's warmth.
His wife was beyond extraordinary, so that was only to be expected from her — but this woman was someone he had met for the very first time today.
And a stranger could touch him and remain unharmed.
Is this real? Not a dream?
The dreamlike things his wife had spoken of were truly becoming reality.
As the Crown Prince sat lost in a daze, Court Lady Kim withdrew her hand and smiled warmly. "Just as Her Ladyship said, Your Highness — you can now control the curse."
"See? You're perfectly fine. I did ask Court Lady Kim because you seemed to lack confidence in yourself, though."
Seruhwa shrugged, then beamed at Court Lady Kim. "Thank you, Court Lady Kim."
"Not at all, my lady."
After answering her mistress, the middle-aged woman bowed her head toward the Crown Prince. "My sincerest congratulations, Your Highness of the East Palace."
"……My thanks."
Once Court Lady Kim withdrew, Seruhwa turned back to Cheon Gyeol-woo with shining eyes.
"You did it, Your Highness!"
"Am I truly well now?"
"I told you, you're fine! I always believed you would manage it — I just never guessed you'd be this fast."
Seruhwa broke into a wide, radiant smile, looking even happier than he was.
"Congratulations!"
Cheon Gyeol-woo stared blankly at his young wife.
Watching the girl's smile, his ears and cheeks tingled. His heart skipped and fluttered again — and this time, he didn't think it was from fear.
For the darkness beneath his feet was quieter than it had ever been.
After dining together that evening, Seruhwa left for the Queen's Palace.
"I will wake Her Majesty the Queen, so don't you worry — just wait for me."
She departed with those confident words, not a trace of nerves on her face — but Cheon Gyeol-woo could not sleep a wink.
There was not a single eunuch left at Jamryongdang, so it was arranged that the maids of Unyeondang would bring him word as soon as there was news.
He stayed awake through the entire night, waiting.
The longest night of the boy's short life passed at last, and dawn began to break.
If there's still no news…… does that mean something has gone wrong?
Surely the King hadn't punished his wife for failing to wake the Queen?
Dreadful imaginings took root and flourished. The darkness began to grow alongside them, and the Crown Prince clenched his teeth.
No. Think positive thoughts. Positive……
Needless to say, it didn't work.
The boy was staring in despair at the darkness creeping slowly out of his shadow when he suddenly remembered something his wife had said during their practice.
Even when you don't feel like smiling, if you force yourself to smile anyway, sometimes you actually start to feel better.
Cheon Gyeol-woo sprang up from his seat and stood before the mirror. He forced the corners of his trembling mouth upward. In the glass, an awkwardly smiling face stared back at him.
Hideous.
So pronounced the Crown Prince, delivering upon himself exactly the verdict Seruhwa would have found absurd — and then he called his wife's smile to mind.
My lady's smile is truly beautiful.
The moment he recalled the girl's laughter, his own smile turned natural.
The Crown Prince gazed intently at the face in the mirror — a face smiling softly, at ease.
Without even looking down, he could feel the darkness that had been crawling out shrinking back into itself.
Ah.
The boy laughed, touching the corner of his own smiling mouth.
Now I truly understand the trick of it.
He had learned how to smile even when he felt no joy at all. It felt as though a layer of something heavy had been stripped away.
Just then, from beyond the door, came the clatter of hurried footsteps and an urgent voice.
"Your Highness! They say Her Majesty the Queen has awakened!"