“Juju?”

“Are you all right?”

At that worried voice, the tears Gayu had been desperately holding back threatened to spill over. She forced herself to suppress them and slowly nodded.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

“I knew you’d say that. Miss Gahee is a strong person.”

‘Strong? Me?’

At this moment, Gayu was grateful that her eyes were covered, hiding how shaken she truly was.

“It’s just the courtesans being spiteful. I heard the kitchen staff talking. Whenever a beautiful new courtesan arrives, they’re always jealous and make things difficult for her.”

“…”

“Try not to let it trouble you. I overheard the women in the kitchen talking. They said that the head of the Garyong Merchant Guild — the person who arranged for your hair to be done today — had personally ordered that only the finest preparations be made for you. That’s why they’re all so jealous.”

Despite Juju’s endless attempts to comfort her, Gayu could only force a faint smile.

The young girl had no idea that her words only served to make Gayu more uneasy.

Juju knew nothing about the man who had paid an outrageous sum for a single night with Gayu, despite never having met her. Nor did she know the reason behind the lavish gifts he had sent.

How could Gayu possibly be pleased by any of it?

No.

If anything, it terrified her even more.

“Oh, right.”

As though suddenly remembering something, Juju spoke again.

“Earlier, didn’t you say that there was someone you absolutely had to see before you died, so you decided you had to live?”

Apparently, Juju had understood the words Gayu had been unable to finish.

The child was quick-witted, after all.

“…Yes.”

“Who is it? Was there someone you loved?”

“…”

Perhaps Juju felt sorry for Gayu because she couldn’t respond.

As the girl moved closer and reached out to take her hand, Gayu sensed her flinch and pull away suddenly.

A moment later, a cool breeze brushed against the thin fabric covering her body.

Someone had entered the room.

“P-Please rest comfortably, my lord.”

Juju’s voice was quiet and trembled with tension.

A moment later, her hurried footsteps echoed through the room, followed by the soft click of the door closing behind her.

Silence descended, heavy and suffocating.

Gayu swallowed hard and clenched her trembling hands into fists.

She ground her teeth together and tried to calm her racing heart, which felt as though it might burst from her chest.

Then she sensed someone drawing near.

A large shadow fell across the cloth covering her eyes.

“The scent of musk is overwhelming.”

The voice was languid, almost indifferent.

“I was merely bored and thought I’d amuse myself with a little entertainment, so don’t attach any special meaning to it. And don’t dare covet me with that lowly body of yours.”

The moment Gayu heard that low, smooth yet icy voice, her heart stopped beating.

Her slender body froze like stone.

The voice was far too familiar.

Beneath the man’s lazy tone, another voice echoed painfully in her heart, not her ears.

“It was nothing more than a fleeting distraction to ease my boredom. I never imagined you’d attach such significance to it. How audacious of someone of your standing to think they could desire me.”

That cruel voice—was her own.

The very words she had memorized over and over, intending to throw at him, were now piercing her heart through that familiar voice.

“Ha… ha…”

Her heart began hammering wildly.

‘No way…’

“Y-Your Majesty…?”

Gayu’s voice burst from her lips in a desperate cry.

Before she could register what was happening, her hand, clutching at her clothes, reached out into the empty air.

But the towering figure stepped back as if refusing to be touched.

Her outstretched hand grasped nothing.

It hovered there, trembling painfully.

Only then did Gayu realize that she had instinctively reached for him.

Slowly, she curled her fingers into a tight fist. Blue veins stood out across her forehead as she struggled to control herself.

Silence settled between them once more.

With no response from him, she became acutely focused on the man standing before her.

It was as though she wanted to catch even the faintest sound of his breathing.

But—

“Take it off.”

The unfamiliar words cut into the heightened awareness focused solely on him.

For a moment, she could not even comprehend what he meant.

“W-What…?”

“I said take it off. Everything you’re wearing on that precious body of yours.”

At those unimaginable words, her heart seemed to plummet to the floor.

“Why? Is that sort of thing beneath someone who was supposed to become queen?”

The man’s lazy voice was laced with mockery.

A chill crawled down Gayu’s spine.

It was unmistakably a voice she knew, yet it also felt completely foreign.

And terrifying.

This contradiction was so overwhelming that it left her dizzy with confusion.

Perhaps he found her reaction amusing.

Although the cloth covering her eyes prevented her from seeing him, she could almost sense the faint curve of a smile playing on his lips.

“And what should I do? I paid quite a price for tonight.”

His voice remained light, but something dark lurked beneath it.

“I spent a great deal of money, so naturally I should receive something in return.”

Beneath the man’s mocking tone, the faint sound of teeth grinding could be heard.

The air around him felt unstable, as though something violent might erupt at any moment. The tension radiating from him was impossible to ignore.

Gayu was afraid.

She didn’t know exactly why, but it was a far deeper fear than the terror she had felt when she was first dragged here as a government slave.

No.

The true source of her fear was the thought that the man standing before her might disappear again.

She couldn’t even bring herself to question whether he was who she thought he was.

Her mind had gone completely blank.

The only urge she had left was to hold on to that familiar voice.

Unable to think or make a choice, her slender hand drifted like a ghost towards the ties of her jacket.

Her fingers trembled so violently that they looked as though they might shatter at any moment as she slowly loosened the knot.

The thin, translucent fabric slipped apart helplessly.

Unaware that her pale chest was exposed beneath the parted collar, she stood frozen to the spot.

“You’d better hurry. I don’t have much patience.”

The man’s rough voice broke the silence once more.

Focusing on the sound, Gayu gritted her teeth and slowly took off her jacket.

The cool air brushed against her exposed skin, sending shivers through her body and raising goosebumps on her arms.

In the room where even breathing seemed muted, only the faint rustle of fabric disturbed the silence.

Time stretched endlessly.

Finally, the skirt wrapped around her slender frame slipped away, leaving her in her undergarments only.

The women of the pleasure house had dressed her in little more than thin layers to begin with.

Despite having prepared herself for this moment, Gayu could not bring herself to stand completely exposed before a man.

Clutching the discarded skirt tightly around her like a shield, she held her breath.

The man had not spoken for a long time.

Only the steady sound of his breathing reassured her that he was still there.

An uneasy silence settled between them.

Then—

“Now, that’s strange. I believe I told you to take off everything.”

Her breath caught.

When had he got so close?

Startled by his hot breath brushing her ear, Gayu recoiled instinctively.

At that very moment, the last thing covering her was seized and torn away.

Mocking her small, blindly reaching hands, the fabric slipped mercilessly from her body.

She was left completely exposed.

“Stop pretending to be innocent with that lowly body of yours.”

His hot breath brushed across her face, accompanied by a mocking voice.

Gayu’s cheeks flushed deep red.

In that moment, she understood with painful clarity.

This man would not accept refusal.

Drawing a shaky breath, she bit down hard on her lip.

She bit so fiercely that the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, but she barely felt the pain.

Still biting her lip, she lifted her trembling hands and slowly untied the cloth wrapped around her chest.

Just as her shaking fingers reached for the last garment she had left, a large, burning hand suddenly closed around her slender wrist.

The grip was so hot and powerful that it felt as though her skin would blister and her bones would break.

Dragged by that overwhelming force, she fell backwards onto the bed.

A sharp pain shot through her neck.

“Ah—!”

She let out a cry before she could stop herself.

The man had sunk his teeth into the nape of her neck.

He held her wrist firmly in one hand while encircling her slender waist with the other, as though it might break under his grip.

Then he bit down again.

And again.

There was no mercy in the way his lips moved against her skin — he was like a predator claiming its prey.

Desperate to escape the pain and strange, unfamiliar sensations overwhelming her, Gayu reached out with her free hand and grabbed his shoulder.

Perhaps her resistance displeased him.

The man, who had been relentlessly marking her neck, finally lifted his head.

Thump.

Thump.

The sound of a heartbeat echoed between them.

But Gayu’s mind had gone completely blank.

She could no longer tell whose heart was pounding so violently.

Feeling lost and uncertain, she placed her hand on his chest as if searching for something to hold on to.

The large body beneath her touch suddenly went rigid.

Although he was impeccably dressed in pristine silk robes, remained untouched, and was perfectly composed, the powerful heartbeat hammering beneath the fabric could not be hidden.

Her fingers moved slowly across his broad chest, feeling his powerful heartbeat thudding beneath her touch.

As though searching for something she could not name, she cautiously wandered her fingertips over his body, gradually drifting upwards towards his face.

Then she felt it.

A rough texture brushed against her fingertips.

Carefully, she traced the sharp line of his jaw, moving her hand higher and higher.

Suddenly, she was caught in his grasp.

Without warning, his hand closed around hers.

It was burning hot, as though it had been pulled straight from a blazing fire.

“Are you curious about me?”

“…”

Hearing his low, tightly restrained voice, Gayu held her breath.

She wanted to say yes.

She was desperate to know the answer and could barely breathe.

But she was afraid.

No matter whether he was the man she thought he was or someone else entirely, it would only bring her pain.

“Why?”

The man’s voice dropped even lower.

“Because you think I’m Wi Jeha?”

At that moment, the man’s lips claimed Gayu’s parted mouth, frozen wide with shock.