Warmth
“My hand slipped.”
“……”
“Porridge splattered on your face. Wipe it off with this.”
“……”
“Bong-bong?”
A gentle tap on my shoulder jolted me upright. I looked up to find Prince Yeoning staring down at me, looking flustered, holding a silk cloth right in front of my nose.
“Y-Yes. Thank you, Jaga.”
I took the cloth, but I couldn't bring myself to wipe my face just yet. My mind was in complete disarray.
That was definitely the taste of honey.
I had no reason to doubt my own palate. In the royal palace, sweetness came from only two ingredients: grain syrup and honey. Sugar was far too exorbitantly precious to be used here. There was simply no way I had mistaken the flavor.
Honey was something an infant should never consume. For a baby under one year of age like Prince Lee Hwon, it was an absolute taboo.
From what I remember hearing, feeding honey recklessly to an infant can kill them... can't it?
Honey, which was practically poison to an infant, had been mixed into his tarakjuk. And Lee Hwon...
Everyone was worried sick because he had been crying unnaturally, day and night.
In that case, there were only two possibilities: either someone had added it out of pure ignorance, unaware of the danger, or someone had deliberately slipped it in knowing full well it was toxic.
“Ggahoo!”
In the midst of the tension, Lee Hwon’s bubbly gurgle broke through my racing thoughts. Swallowing dryly, I lifted my eyes. The Crown Prince was looking down at me with deep concern.
“Bong-bong. Are you truly all right?”
“Ah, well...”
“The porridge meant for a baby could hardly have been hot. Why such a grave expression? Has something weighed on your mind?”
“……”
It was a situation where I could neither confirm nor deny anything.
Keep your wits about you.
Only then did my surroundings register. Because Prince Yeoning had dropped his spoon, a court maid was just stepping back into the room carrying a clean one.
A wave of intense turmoil rushed over me. If the honey had been added merely by mistake without knowing its danger, all I had to do was explain the peril and convince the palace staff.
But if someone has been deliberately poisoning him with honey all along...
Two people had been present when feeding Lee Hwon the tarakjuk: the young court maid and Court Lady Yoon. Naturally, my gaze shifted between the two of them. Court Lady Yoon wore a face completely enchanted by Lee Hwon as he beamed at me, while the young maid was bowing respectfully, extending the clean spoon toward Prince Yeoning.
Did one of them put the honey in? Or both? Or did people in this era simply not know honey was lethal to babies?
I couldn't afford to trust anyone blindly.
“Hmm... Bong-bong. Surely you must be feeling unwell.”
The moment the Crown Prince spoke again, I recalled what he had promised earlier—his vow as the foundation of the state.
Right. If both the court lady and the maid are under suspicion, it is far safer to bring the truth to light before the Crown Prince.
Having made my choice, I did not hesitate.
“Um, Court Lady Yoon-mamanim.”
I called out to Court Lady Yoon with feigned innocence.
“What is it, Bong-bong?”
“Does tarakjuk usually have honey in it?”
“Honey? In the young prince's tarakjuk?”
In an instant, Court Lady Yoon’s eyebrows shot up.
“That is strictly forbidden! Honey is the taboo of taboos for an infant. If a baby who hasn't even reached his first birthday eats honey, it could bring on paralysis or even lead to unthinkable disaster!”
Not a trace of fear or deceit showed on Court Lady Yoon's face as she waved her hands in heated denial. Tilting my head, I pressed on.
“Really? But this tarakjuk tastes sweet, just like honey.”
Right then.
Clatter!
It was the sound of the spoon slipping from the maid’s grasp and crashing onto the floor. Yet my eyes were not on the fallen spoon. What I was looking at was the court maid's deathly pale face.
Court Lady Yoon waved her hand dismissively, finding the very notion absurd.
“Honey in tarakjuk? Nonsense. How could such a thing be possible?”
“B-But it truly tasted like honey. When it tastes like honey, I can only say it tastes like honey; if you ask me why it tastes like honey, what am I to say...?”
Just then, the Crown Prince, who had been listening with a solemn countenance, interjected.
“We can easily determine whether Bong-bong is mistaken or speaking the truth by verifying it ourselves. I shall taste it.”
The Crown Prince did not waste precious time on rigid protocol. Reaching down, he picked up a spoon and prepared to scoop up a mouthful of the porridge.
No!
In a panic, I grabbed the Crown Prince’s sleeve.
“You mustn't eat it! We don't know what else might be inside!”
“...Ah.”
If someone was vile enough to feed honey—essentially poison to an infant—who knew what other toxins might have been slipped into that bowl? Grasping my implication, the Crown Prince set the spoon down.
“T-This humble servant shall perform the gimi!”
Court Lady Yoon rushed forward urgently.
“……”
Gasp!
The moment she tasted a spoonful of the tarakjuk, an unnatural gasp choked in Court Lady Yoon's throat. Her eyes trembled like stormy waves, and soon her very hands shook uncontrollably.
“Heavens! H-How could this be...!”
“Then Bong-bong spoke the truth.”
At the Crown Prince's grim deduction, Court Lady Yoon threw herself prostrate onto the floor.
“Your Highness! This servant cannot fathom what has happened. How... who dared put honey into the young prince's porridge...!”
Whirling around, the court lady shrieked fiercely.
“Gwon! Speak this instant! Were you not the one who boiled this tarakjuk?!”
“I-I know nothing of this, mamanim!”
Court Maid Gwon's entire frame quaked like an aspen leaf. Though she adamantly denied it, her demeanor had been suspicious from the very start—standing frozen in nervous terror the entire time, and dropping the spoon in stark panic the second I mentioned honey.
Yet finding out about the honey isn't the most urgent matter right now.
As if reading my thoughts, the Crown Prince sprang to his feet with a thunderous shout.
“Then that means Hwon has already ingested it! Court Lady Yoon, summon the royal physician this instant! Quickly!”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”
Court Lady Yoon scrambled out the door, and the sound of her shouting hurried orders to the maids echoed down the corridor. When she returned to the chamber, her face was drained of all color.
“Court Lady Yoon.”
“Yes, Crown Prince-jeoha.”
“I do not wish to suspect you, but there is no denying that you bear direct responsibility for this hall.”
“Yes... Your Highness. T-That is so...”
Toward the trembling court lady, the Crown Prince delivered a frost-sharp command.
“Heed my warning. If you conceal even the slightest detail or attempt to shield any palace maid under your charge, Royal Father will never forgive you.”
“I shall engrave it upon my bones, Your Highness!”
After laying down his stern warning, the Crown Prince rose immediately.
“Court Lady Yoon, inform Consort Suk-ui of the situation. I shall proceed straight to the Daejeon to inform Royal Father at once.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
With brisk strides, the Crown Prince departed the bedchamber. Court Lady Yoon hurried out after him.
It felt as though a tempest had torn through the room. In the blink of an eye, both Court Lady Yoon and the Crown Prince were gone, leaving only Prince Yeoning, the quivering court maid, and me behind.
Ah, and one more.
Prince Lee Hwon, who remained completely oblivious to the commotion swirling around him, still giggling brightly as he looked at me.
“……”
A heavy, complicated knot tightened in my chest as I watched him. Just who was trying to harm Lee Hwon? Or was it truly a careless mistake born of pure ignorance?
Lee Hwon might have been fed honey for far longer than anyone realized. A wave of dread washed over me at whether he could recover without lasting harm.
Could it be that honey consumed in his infancy was what cut his life short in the history I knew?
“Heeyoong. Oowoo.”
Pouting because I hadn't responded, Lee Hwon let out a sulky little whimper.
“...You'll be fine.”
The informal words slipped out before I could catch myself. I hastily corrected my phrasing.
“You will be all right, young prince. Everything is going to be all right now...”
At that moment, Lee Hwon wriggled and stretched both chubby arms toward me. As I leaned closer to him—
“Ewoo!”
Lee Hwon threw his little arms around my neck, clinging tightly.
“……”
A strange, quiet tremor rippled through my heart. The gentle, powdery scent of a sweet infant enveloped me. His tender warmth seeped deeply into my body.
A frail, tiny body that could do nothing on its own. A mere toddler who could only babble a few clumsy syllables, unable to voice his own distress.
How frightened he must have been all this time, all alone. How much must he have hurt...?
An ache twinged deep in my chest. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around Lee Hwon, holding him close.
Just then.
“Put that down this instant!”
Prince Yeoning’s stern, thunderous voice cracked across the room. Still cradling Lee Hwon, I turned around.
“How dare you attempt to spirit away evidence right before a royal prince! Do you truly wish to lose your head?!”
Struck by Prince Yeoning’s furious reprimand, the maid flinched, shuddering violently. Held tightly in Court Maid Gwon's hands was the very bowl of tarakjuk she had been feeding to Prince Lee Hwon.