The Wedding Rite (9)
The moment we stepped into the imperial palace, I found myself left all alone with a beast of prey. With the mindset of a man thrown to the tigers, I racked my brain for a way out.
Right. It wasn't as if we were here for an afternoon drink, and surely she wouldn't want to join our bodies in broad daylight. That much, at least, I chose to believe.
I opened my mouth.
"Your Majesty."
"What is it?"
"Well, there's still plenty of time before nightfall, so in the meantime—"
"No."
Before I could even finish, the Emperor cut clean through my sentence.
She went on in a perfectly casual voice.
"The earlier we begin, the better."
"..."
"Do you have any idea how long I have waited for this day?"
With that, the Emperor leaned in close and ran her slender, pale fingers along my face.
"If you insist on showing me such a timid side, then I shall have no choice but to do as I please."
"Your Majesty?"
"Choose."
The Emperor, still caressing my cheek, looked into my eyes and let a bewitching smile bloom across her lips.
"Will you lie with me here and now? Or shall we carry out the deed properly, in the bridal chamber?"
How was I supposed to describe that smile she wore for me? Quite literally, it was the look of a beast eyeing its prey.
Realizing there was no longer any escape, I let out a sigh.
"First, let's get ourselves cleaned up."
Our condition could hardly be called clean, even as a figure of speech. Dust was still smeared across our clothes here and there—cleanliness was the last thing we could claim. And just moments ago, Her Majesty had caressed my face not with the hand she'd used to brush off that dust, but with the other one.
At my suggestion, the Emperor's eyes curved into a smile.
"There is a bathing room in the bridal chamber. We can wash there."
"...I see."
Well, at least the palace staff were thorough with their work. Come to think of it, cleansing oneself before the deed was only proper. But wait—what if there had been no bath nearby? The longer the walk, the more the mood would have soured. If the deed were done in some awkward, half-hearted atmosphere, the Emperor would naturally fly into a rage, and beneath the blade of her wrath, countless heads would go thwack, thwack, thwack... Just imagining it made my whole body shiver.
When the imperial palace was first built in Luoyang, the sovereign ruling the realm had been none other than Emperor Guangwu, so his talented subordinates must have strained every nerve to impress him. This palace was the fruit of that effort, and there was hardly a flaw to be found in it.
Led along by the Emperor, who kept a tight grip on my hand, we soon arrived at the bridal chamber the imperial officials had prepared.
"..."
The sight that greeted me could be summed up in a single word.
Red.
From the ceiling to the floor, there was not a single spot that wasn't red.
I knew red was regarded as an auspicious color, but wasn't this going a bit far? Not that I meant it looked ugly. The artisans who served the palace would have decorated the room with meticulous care—if it didn't look beautiful, that would be the strange part. As I'd noted before, the craftsmanship of this world was suspiciously superb. Or rather, perhaps it was precisely because they were such artisans that they had gone all out and papered the room entirely in crimson. Truly great craftsmen possess an artistic sense that ordinary people can scarce begin to fathom.
"Hooh... This isn't bad at all."
The Emperor nodded, clearly pleased with the bridal chamber.
"The bath is this way."
Having guided me to the door, she favored me with a smile.
"You shall bathe first, General-in-Chief."
"...What subject would dare keep the lord he serves waiting?"
An argument that was obvious, if nothing else. As if she had expected exactly that, the Emperor answered in a cheerful voice.
"You truly never stray from my expectations, not even by an inch."
"Your Majesty."
"I have ways of my own, so worry not."
"...And what ways might those be?"
At my question, the Emperor's expression turned mischievous.
"Do you truly wish to know?"
A question that promised something ominous would unfold the moment I agreed. Naturally, I had no choice but to take a small step back, and the Emperor smiled serenely at my retreat.
She leaned in and whispered at my ear.
"I should think we are no longer so distant that we must cling to such trivial formalities."
"..."
"Now, off you go."
Ushered along by the smiling Emperor's hand at my back, I walked on with an uneasy feeling I couldn't quite shake.
Whatever that uneasy feeling had been, the bath itself turned out to be perfectly ordinary. As if the imperial officials had anticipated every possibility, warm water had already been drawn, and even the various supplies for washing were laid out in full. So this was what they meant by the difference experience makes. Their thorough preparation drew a small breath of admiration from me.
Rustle.
"..."
I had been surveying the bath when a suspicious sound made me freeze on the spot. It was not a sound I had made. I had only been turning my head this way and that—when would I have produced a noise? Which meant... surely not.
The moment I arrived at that conclusion, a familiar voice drifted over from behind me.
"Hwahyeon, are you in there?"
A voice far too familiar—and one that had been speaking with me mere moments ago. Right. Why on earth hadn't I foreseen this? The bridal chamber where the wedding night would be consummated. The bath inside that bridal chamber. Put those two elements together, and there was only one thing that could possibly happen between a wedded couple, wasn't there? People of old had minds that worked overtime when it came to matters of the flesh, so situations like this must have existed since time immemorial. I had no idea whose idea it was, but one thing was certain: whoever thought of it was a true prophet of the flesh.
Scanning the bath in a flash, I snatched the towel hanging on the wall and wrapped it around my waist in a heartbeat. The instant I did, the door behind me slid open.
"Washing up well?"
What would be the point of explaining in any detail? Her Majesty the Emperor, revealed in the open doorway, addressed me in a voice altogether too cheerful—and even I could hear the trace of heat simmering beneath that cheer.
I took a deep breath inward, then turned around.
"Your Majesty, what brings you all the way here?"
Just as I had predicted, Her Majesty was wearing only a light robe. Phew—thank goodness. I'd been half afraid my prediction would miss the mark. ...Of course, that did nothing to change the fact that her outfit was so precarious it would slip right off the moment a single string came undone. I desperately reined in my gaze, which kept trying to sneak downward. Not yet. This is not the time. Calm yourself. To think she had even prepared clothes like that—she had been dead set on this from the very beginning. It was frankly terrifying to realize that even the dust on her clothes had been part of the calculation.
"Hmm? Quite composed, aren't you?"
The Emperor looked faintly surprised at my behavior.
"I was certain you would be too flustered even to look back, letting out nothing but bewildered stammers."
"As you yourself said, Your Majesty, we are hardly at the stage where we would fumble about in a panic over a situation like this. Are we?"
When I answered while holding the calmest expression I could manage, the Emperor gave a short laugh.
"I see. So that is how it is."
"..."
"Then you will not be flustered if I make this request of you."
At that ominous tone, every nerve in my body went taut. The Emperor spoke.
"I have always bathed without the help of my palace maids."
"...Is that so?"
For a sovereign, being attended while bathing would have been the norm—this was yet another unexpected revelation. The Emperor answered my question in a calm, even voice.
"This is a body I mean to give, one day, to someone precious. How could I let another lay hands on it so carelessly?"
"..."
That unthinkable answer jolted me. Her sense of chastity was truly staggering.
"And so, for the first time in my life, I make this request of you."
Still in that gossamer-thin robe, the Emperor nestled into my arms as she spoke.
"Could you wash my body clean for me?"
"Your Majesty."
"And of course... I shall attend to your bath in return."
Feeling the warm, supple skin that came through the thin fabric, I fell deep into thought. ...I had never attended anyone's bath in my life, so my confidence was shaky at best. The closest thing to experience I had was scrubbing a friend's back at a bathhouse. I voiced my worry.
"I fear my skills may fall short, and that I might instead rouse Your Majesty's displeasure."
"Hehe. It goes both ways—what is there to worry about?"
To my concern, the Emperor replied as though it were no trouble at all. Pulling away at this point would look stranger still. If I flinched back in a situation like this, I would deserve every finger pointed at me as a coward. The proposal was one she had surely worked up her own courage to make, so I accepted it calmly.
"If that is your will, then I shall serve you to the best of my ability."
"Good. I am in your hands."
Hearing my answer, the Emperor entrusted her body to me entirely, and I set about the task in earnest.
...So I would live to attend a beauty's bath after all. Truly, live long enough and you will see everything.