A Sweet Taboo
A promise made as the Heir Apparent.
It carried far too much weight to be dismissed as mere polite pleasantry offered to a child.
The Crown Prince's sincerity resonated through every word.
“Yes. Thank you, Your Highness. I will be sure to remember your offer to help me.”
While it was true that the Crown Prince and I had grown quite comfortable with one another, he was still the man destined to become king one day. For someone like him to make an oath as the Heir Apparent of Joseon... Someday, without fail, it would prove to be an enormous shield.
As we were chatting back and forth, a familiar and welcome face approached.
“Seol-hyang-hamanim!”
“Yes, Bong-bong.”
Seol-hyang beamed down at me. After offering a polite, respectful bow to the Crown Prince, she set down the small lacquer tray she had been carrying. Upon it rested an array of beautifully shaped confections, from delicate stuffed rice cakes to glossy, deep-fried confections.
“Your Highness, these have just arrived from Sunggyeongdang. A court maid who previously served in the Saenggwabang is stationed there now, and she shapes sweets with extraordinary skill. Please, have a taste.”
“Is that so? Very well.”
The Crown Prince gently nudged one of the confections toward me. I popped it into my mouth, chewing contentedly as a burst of grain syrup exploded across my tongue...
“......?”
I blinked, staring at Seol-hyang in mild bewilderment. Was it just my imagination, or was she trying to signal something to me with her eyes? Why hadn't she stepped away yet, lingering there with such an awkward, restless posture?
“Court Maid Kim. Do you have business with us? Why do you keep glancing sideways at Bong-bong?”
Even the Crown Prince seemed puzzled by her suspicious hesitation.
Seol-hyang let out an embarrassed little chuckle and finally spoke up.
“The truth is, Your Highness... the maids of Sunggyeongdang have been waiting for Bong-bong for some time now.”
“The Sunggyeongdang maids? Whatever for?”
“They are hoping Bong-bong might pay a visit to their quarters. You see... the young prince has been weeping incessantly as of late, yet strangely enough, the moment he lays eyes on Bong-bong, his tears stop at once.”
“Truly? What a curious marvel. Is this true, Bong-bong?”
“Ah. Yes...”
It was an undeniable fact that Prince Lee Hwon went silent the moment he saw me. The trouble was, I hadn't the faintest idea why he stopped crying. It wasn't something I did intentionally, nor did I possess any secret knack for soothing babies. It wasn't a difficult chore by any means—all I had to do was show up and stick my face in front of him—yet truth be told, seeing Prince Lee Hwon was never an easy thing for my heart.
Even thinking of the Crown Prince's death—an event lying roughly twenty years in the distant future—weighed heavily enough on my chest. Knowing that the bright, chubby toddler who giggled hysterically whenever he saw me would meet his demise almost immediately upon reaching adulthood made facing him deeply uncomfortable.
Right then, the Crown Prince lightly clapped his hands together.
“Then that settles it.”
“Pardon? What does, Your Highness?”
“Bong-bong, let us go to Sunggyeongdang together.”
“Your Highness intends to visit Sunggyeongdang as well?”
“Indeed. Quite a few days have passed since I last saw Hwon. Besides, if our little crybaby Hwon truly ceases weeping the second he sees you, I cannot possibly pass up such a wondrous spectacle.”
I was in no position to refuse royal whims, but seeing the gentle prince look so genuinely excited left me with no choice but to nod in agreement.
Well, it makes sense. The Crown Prince always held deep affection for Prince Lee Hwon.
In the future, after Prince Lee Hwon passed away, the Crown Prince personally penned a memorial eulogy for his deceased little brother. Recalling the profound sorrow etched into the historical records of that eulogy cast another heavy shadow over my heart.
...Why was the world so utterly unfair?
The lives of this kindhearted Crown Prince and the innocent, sunny Prince Lee Hwon would both flicker out in the prime of their youth, while a certain stubborn, insufferably pedantic, and hyper-logical boy would end up living well past the age of eighty...
As those gloomy thoughts ran through my mind, the Crown Prince spoke up out of nowhere.
“In that case, it would be wonderful if Geum-i joined us. It is nearly time for him to visit my quarters anyway.”
“......”
Oh. Uh. Wow...
I had been trying my best not to hold any unfair prejudices against Prince Yeoning. Even if he had a knack for exhausting everyone around him in ways entirely unnatural for his years, he was still just a seven-year-old child. But right now? On this day, of all days...?
Honestly, the prospect made me squirm.
It wasn't that I harbored personal ill will toward Prince Yeoning himself. If anything, I felt somewhat grateful to him. Not only had he gifted me a fine slingshot, but he had also shown clear goodwill toward me on multiple occasions. However, thinking of his birth mother, Suk-bin Choe, made everything complicated. Suk-bin and I were now unmistakably positioned as adversaries.
By exposing Yong-hee's treachery and backing Suk-bin into a corner, my actions had been deliberate. There was no way a woman as shrewd and calculating as Suk-bin wouldn't realize that it had been no mere accident. With circumstances standing as they were, meeting Prince Yeoning felt acutely uncomfortable.
“Let us make our way, then. We can meet Geum-i at Jeoseungjeon and proceed to Sunggyeongdang together.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes...”
I couldn't exactly turn around and announce that I wasn't going. In the end, sandwiched squarely between two royal princes, I found myself toddling along toward Sunggyeongdang.
Prince Yeoning was entirely unchanged.
Which was to say, he talked an absolute, unending storm.
Naturally, he seemed completely oblivious to the blood-spattered clash that had just unfolded between Jang Hui-bin and his mother, Suk-bin Choe.
Well, obviously. If he knew anything about that, he wouldn't be sauntering over to visit the Crown Prince with such casual ease.
And blood was on the verge of spurting from my ears, too. Because his mouth did not rest for a single solitary second.
“I hear a court maid of Chwiseondang caused a fire by mistake? It is a thought I have long harbored, but I intend to petition Royal Father to enact a law forbidding the game of jwibulnori altogether.”
Well... on that point, I actually agreed.
“During the Japanese invasions, and once again during the reign of Great King Injo, the Eastern Palace compound was reduced to ashes. Do you have any idea how many years were required to rebuild a scorched palace?”
“No, Prince.”
“It took well over a decade.”
“Ohhh.”
“Then do you happen to know when the Myeolhwagun, the royal firefighters tasked with suppressing blazes, was first established?”
“No, Prince.”
“That occurred during the reign of Great King Seongjong, when...”
“Ahhh.”
Could someone please, by the grace of the heavens, gag Prince Yeoning's mouth?
From the very second our paths crossed, he had been firing off rhetorical question after rhetorical question solely to show off his erudition.
“Haha. Geum-i's brilliance is truly remarkable. To have already mastered the intricate history of the royal palaces at such a tender age.”
“Compared to Your Highness the Crown Prince, my meager knowledge is merely an embarrassment.”
Even amidst his showing off, he never forgot to put on a show of dutiful humility. Frankly speaking, Prince Yeoning was excessively conscious of how others perceived him. The way his eyes darted constantly between me and the Crown Prince, reading our reactions, laid that bare.
“......”
Suddenly, the image of Suk-bin flashed in my mind. That unshakeable, flawless mask of hers that hadn't cracked an inch until Consort Jang slapped her across the cheek. Had that very trait been passed down directly to her son?
“Furthermore, during the years Changdeokgung was being reconstructed after the flames...”
Just as I felt an overpowering urge to swat Prince Yeoning right across the lips—
“Waaahhh!”
A baby's shrill wail echoed through the air—and never had crying sounded so utterly divine. I felt a pang of guilt toward Prince Lee Hwon for feeling relieved at his distress, but thanks to his outburst, Prince Yeoning finally shut his mouth.
“Hwon appears to be weeping again. It weighs heavily on my mind,” the Crown Prince remarked with a troubled frown. “Unless an ailment torments him, there is no reason for a babe to wail so bitterly.”
...That, I had to agree with. Prince Lee Hwon truly broke into tears far too frequently.
Could there be some other reason behind it?
The suspicion briefly crossed my mind, but I shook my head to dispel it. Having just survived Suk-bin's covert espionage schemes, I had developed the paranoid habit of second-guessing every little thing. Prince Lee Hwon would leave this world at the youthful age of twenty-one. From his infancy until his final breath, he had always been a frail and sickly prince in historical records.
“Oh, Bong-bong has arrived!”
In any case, I was received at Sunggyeongdang with far more lavish hospitality than either the Crown Prince or Prince Yeoning. With the infant bawling round the clock, the court maids looked thoroughly exhausted.
“I am told Hwon ceases his weeping the moment he catches sight of Bong-bong,” the Crown Prince said. “Let us go in at once and soothe him.”
And so, following behind the Crown Prince and Prince Yeoning, I entered Prince Lee Hwon's bedchamber. Inside, a young court maid was frantically attempting to spoon-feed tarakjuk into Prince Lee Hwon's mouth while the toddler screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Bong-bong. Hurry, go soothe the royal prince.”
“Yes, Lady Yoon.”
Following the instructions of Sunggyeongdang's Head Court Lady Yoon, I padded over to the distressed infant. The Crown Prince and Prince Yeoning both watched me with expectant, curious eyes.
Good grief. How embarrassing. It feels far too modest a trick to perform before such an exalted audience...
I leaned down and locked eyes steadily with Prince Lee Hwon. Then, I gave the command:
“Hush!”
Instantly, Prince Lee Hwon paused his screeching, cocking his tiny head to the side with an inquisitive oong?
Hiccup. Hiccup.
His rhythmic hiccups gradually quieted his tears. A heartbeat later, he let out a joyful squeal—kyaa!—and reached both chubby arms out toward me.
“He truly stopped weeping on the spot! What a marvelous thing to witness!”
The Crown Prince burst into delighted laughter. Court Lady Yoon beamed, clapping her hands in sheer relief.
That was when Prince Yeoning stepped forward.
“Is that tarakjuk? I should like to feed my little brother some porridge myself.”
It seemed he wanted to play the role of the devoted second elder brother this time around. The young maid hesitated for a second, but at a discreet nod from Court Lady Yoon, she quickly offered him the bowl and spoon. Prince Yeoning carefully scooped up a spoonful of the white milk porridge. And then...
“Whoa!”
Clatter!
The spoon slipped from Prince Yeoning's fingers and struck the floorboards. In the process, a splash of warm porridge flew straight up—and landed squarely on my face.
You really do find every possible way to cause trouble, don't you?
Just as I was thinking that today was simply not my day with Prince Yeoning...
Drip.
A drop of tarakjuk splattered near my lip trickled into my mouth. I expected the rich, savory taste of cow's milk porridge that I had sampled a few times before, but...
Hm?
Something was off. Tilting my head, I lifted a fingertip, dabbed a fleck of porridge from my cheek, and touched it to my tongue.
...It's sweet?
A distinct sweetness. And it wasn't the mild, mellow sweetness of grain syrup or malt.
Honey...!
The tarakjuk carried the unmistakable, fragrant richness of honey.
...Wait. Wasn't feeding honey to an infant a strict, lethal taboo?