The Wedding (12)
I was deep in deliberation, seated before an Emperor who had lost consciousness.
It was only natural. Had night fallen, I could have handled the cleanup and simply drifted off to sleep the same way she had. But at an hour when the sun was still loudly making its presence known, there was nothing to pass the time with.
Force her back to wakefulness and keep going? Hmm... Wouldn't that be a touch too cruel for the Emperor, who had only just been relieved of her maidenhood? Unless she were someone with monstrous stamina like Seo Yeo or Lü Bu, I couldn't quite bring myself to consider it.
"...Hwahyeon."
"Hm?"
"Unless you intend to love your partner to death, you would do well to learn some restraint."
A memory of a conversation with Cao Cao in Shuchun—specifically, what she had said to me the day after I resolved to push her hard, right before we left the city.
"It's only because I'm me that I survived. Any ordinary woman would have been arranging her own funeral by now."
"..."
"Hmm... though given that I was the one underneath, 'loved to death from below' might be the more fitting term."
Cao Cao said this with a mischievous grin.
"At the very least, no one will ever call you lacking in the bedroom. My congratulations."
Of course, there was only one response I could give upon hearing that.
"Then shall we put it to the test and see just how long you can truly hold out?"
"...?"
"This time, I won't go easy on you even if you pass out."
"To think you're still this raring to go...?"
...In any case, unless I wanted to send the Emperor of Han ascending to heaven between the sheets, pushing her too hard was to be avoided. Who knew—someday, once the Emperor had stockpiled enough experience, she might just be able to hold her own against me.
"Mmmgh..."
Today was not that day, though. I had already pulled back one step, so I could endure. After tidying the room and tucking the blanket over the Emperor, I stared blankly for a moment, then flung open the door of the bridal chamber.
I had, of course, put my clothes back on first.
"..."
No sooner had I opened the door than I found Seo Yeo standing guard mere steps away.
She really does move like a ghost. I nearly jumped out of my skin.
When the door swung open and I appeared, Seo Yeo flinched for an instant. The reason... I could pretty well guess. She was probably worried I might drag her into the room again, the way I always did. Seeing her like that, I did wonder if I'd perhaps overdone it.
"Seo Yeo."
"Yes."
"Where did Lü Bu go?"
When I voiced my puzzlement at not finding a single familiar face, Seo Yeo answered in her flat, even voice.
"She is standing watch elsewhere on the grounds."
Since this area was safe thanks to Seo Yeo, Lü Bu was apparently off patrolling somewhere else. They really do work hard.
...Or had she fled for fear of being hauled off like last time? For a moment, pride and puzzlement welled up in me together, and I turned my head toward a palace maid standing nearby in much the same posture as Seo Yeo.
The maid was staring at me with her eyes stretched wide, as if beholding something astonishing. Was she shocked that I'd already come out of the room? Fair enough—if a couple who had gone in to consummate their marriage emerged with one side already knocked out cold, I'd be startled too. I had no idea how much time had passed, but surely no more than an hour or two. I could only hope no strange rumors took root inside the palace.
I addressed the maid in my usual voice.
"Did Her Majesty say she means to spend the entire day in the bridal chamber?"
"Th-that is correct."
"Hmm..."
Flustered as she was, the maid answered my question honestly. Apparently, the original plan had been to latch onto me and never let go. I had my doubts that was even possible, but that's how plans are, isn't it? What's the phrase again—there's that saying, isn't there? Everyone has a plan.
Anyway. What to do now. Leaving Her Majesty the Emperor lying here didn't sit quite right either. Having heard the maid's report, I deliberated a moment and then made my decision.
...Nothing for it, then. I decided to think of today as a true day of rest. Rest while rest was to be had, and steel myself for everything the future held—if things unfolded the way I expected, I'd be drowning in work from tomorrow on.
"Then I'll be inside as well. Call if anything comes up."
"Yes."
At my words, Seo Yeo gave a single nod. ...Or was it my imagination, or did she seem just the slightest bit disappointed?
"Ah..."
I gave the head of Seo Yeo—who was radiating an air unlike her usual self—a single stroke, then turned away. The Emperor was, after all, my superior, so I couldn't help but mind her feelings. And with possessiveness that fierce, I would have to choose my moments carefully.
So I returned to the room and sprawled out for a few minutes, until a familiar cry sounded from nearby.
"Ae-ong."
"Hm?"
Ae-ongi... no, Yaongi poked her head out from a secluded crevice. The pet I had gifted Her Majesty, who grew anxious whenever we were apart for too long. The merchant who'd brought the cat had held forth at length about its bloodline—this ancestor, that pedigree, and so on—but I understood none of it, so I had simply picked the cutest little one of the bunch. I'd very nearly impulse-bought several more cats on top of the gift. With that many servants working the household, keeping them wouldn't have been a problem, but... that's not the sort of decision one makes on a passing whim. Even now I remembered the crestfallen look on the merchant's face. I am rather a big spender, after all.
I stroked Ae-ongi's fur—no longer delivering the heart-stopping cuteness of her kittenhood, perhaps, but still radiating a charm every bit as lethal. ...Ah, right. Yaongi. I keep mixing up the name.
"You're five years old now, huh."
"Ae-ong."
The year 195 was fast approaching, and I had brought Yaongi home in 190, the year of the Battle of Hulao Pass. Seen that way, the years truly did fly. It felt like only yesterday I was wrestling with the foreign tribes in Bing Province. The Yellow Turban Rebellion had broken out, Dong Zhuo had run rampant, the coalition had come marching. Warlords had reared their heads in every corner of the land, and how many years had it taken to bring down Liu Biao and Yuan Shu, men whose names had once thundered across the realm? Now the only ones left were Liu Yan in Yi Province and Gongsun Zan in You Province. Yuan Shao... was a slightly ambiguous matter, especially with Cao Cao having brought her up. Just what ending would I arrive at, I wondered.
"Ae-ong."
Just as my thoughts sank deep, Yaongi—who had been expertly nuzzling her head into my palm—hopped up onto the blanket and settled into place. Sensing a warm ball of fur arrive beside her, the Emperor regained consciousness.
"Mm... mmh? Is that you, Yaongi?"
"Ae-ong."
"There, now. Rest with Us a while..."
Murmuring in a voice caught between dream and waking, the Emperor laid a hand atop Yaongi and slipped back into sleep. Yaongi, apparently finding the hand no inconvenience at all, flopped down flat in her spot and began to doze. Every time I saw the two of them getting along like this, I thought that giving her that pet had been the right choice.
"...Hm."
I gazed for a moment at the silk-fine black hair strewn across the blanket, then lay down beside the Emperor. For an instant her body seemed to flinch, but I pretended not to notice. Too much time had passed to reignite the flames, and above all, if Her Majesty lost consciousness again, I wouldn't be able to manage the aftermath. Things had already ended once with her coming up short—was it really going to happen twice? Either I'd be dragging Seo Yeo in from outside, or tormenting the Emperor further. A hundred times out of a hundred, one of the two was bound to occur.
A flicker of mischief seized me, and I whispered softly by the Emperor's ear.
"Baekryeon."
"...!"
No sooner had her courtesy name left my lips than the Emperor shuddered, just as before. This is more fun than I expected. I'll have to make frequent use of it whenever we're alone from now on.
I spoke, laughter threaded through my voice.
"Sleep well, Your Majesty."
"Y-you sleep well as well..."
With that voice, brimming over with embarrassment, as the last thing I heard, I closed my eyes. It had been a very long time since I'd last napped in the middle of the day.
Jeong Reung's residence, after the storm had passed. Jeong Won, who was staying there, cut a rather bewildered figure thanks to the guests who had come calling on her.
Staring at the object before her, Jeong Won asked,
"...Um, and what might this one be?"
"Ah, you mean the glasswork," replied the woman whose striking blue-silver hair set off her lovely features to perfection. "It's a piece sold on rare occasion by fortunate merchants who manage to cross the western routes without a single encounter with the Xiongnu."
"..."
"A fragile treasure—so precious that its price is whatever you care to name."
Those beautiful eyes, clear as cut diamonds. Ma Chao Mengqi extended the precious piece toward Jeong Won with a graceful sweep of her hand.
"It is a humble gift, but it is mine to give. Please accept it."
"...And might I ask the reason you're giving me this?"
At Jeong Won's question, a faint smile curved the corner of Ma Chao's mouth.
"It means nothing at all. Nothing whatsoever."
"..."
Somehow I doubt that.
Jeong Won turned her head briefly to look outside.
"Wow, this stuff looks expensive. How much is all of it worth?"
"So this is the wealth of the imperial house..."
The betrothal gifts the Emperor had left behind were still piled high across the courtyard, and the servants were hard at work hauling them off to the storehouse. What would happen if this gift carried the same meaning as all of that?
This is... a little unsettling.
The image of herself, buried beneath a swarm of young children. Picturing it, Jeong Won felt unease steal over her of its own accord.
That said, declining a treasure of this caliber had never once been in Jeong Won's nature.