“Your Highness.” 

“It seems that I’ve been too lenient with you and Sowol just because you followed me here from Song. The special treatment you received must have caused a lapse in discipline.” 

“Your Highness, it’s my fault. But how could I leave the palace and abandon you?” 

Seon, confused and desperate, spoke with tears in her eyes, making her look pitiful. 

“From now on, I won’t consider myself one of Your Highness’s close attendants. I’ll behave like any other maid in the palace. I won’t claim seniority over the others. So please don’t ask me to leave the palace.” 

How can you be so devoted? Yeocheong watched her bow and plead, biting his lip hard as he tried to control his emotions. 

“No. Even if you say so, I won’t change my mind. Out of consideration for the time we shared, I’ll give you some money. Whether you return to Song or settle down here is your choice.” 

“Your Highness, I have no family and no place to go. I don’t care if I have to do menial work; please, just let me stay by your side.” 

“I have nothing more to say. You may go now.” 

Yeocheong coldly turned his head away from Seon. After sobbing for a while, Seon finally accepted that Yeocheong’s decision would not change and stood up. Yeocheong bit his lip and bowed his head so as not to look at her as she left. 

—

“I heard there was an unfortunate incident.” 

Late that night, Jihyuk came to visit Yeocheong as if he had gotten wind of the situation. Seeing that Yeocheong was drinking – a rare occurrence – Jihyuk sat across from him. 

“It must have hurt your heart very much.” 

“……” 

To hear these words from Jihyuk of all people. Yeocheong let out a weak laugh and took a sip from the glass in front of him. 

“I should be used to it by now, but it seems I’m not the kind of person who can remain unaffected.” 

The realisation that someone he had once cherished and depended on was only precious to him and not the other way around – even if he had already known it – was not something he could simply brush off. 

The people who had betrayed and abandoned him without hesitation carried on as if nothing had happened, while Yeocheong blamed his own weakness and downed another glass of liquor, unsure of how much he had consumed. 

“Drinking such strong liquor without even a snack will only harm your stomach.” 

“Leave it. I don’t want to think about anything tonight.” 

Ignoring Jihyuk’s attempt to stop him, Yeocheong poured himself another drink. He wanted to get drunk, even if it meant suffering the next day. If he ended up bedridden, at least he wouldn’t have to think for a while. 

“What kind of servants let their master behave like this?” 

“We apologise, Your Highness.” 

The palace servants, who had been watching Yeocheong nervously, all bowed their heads at Jihyuk’s sharp rebuke. Yeocheong, however, paid no attention to the exchange and continued to drink. 

Unable to watch any longer, Jihyuk stepped behind Yeocheong and gently but firmly took the glass from his hand. 

“I heard that the royal physician visited you earlier. They said that your energy is very low. I don’t want to forbid you to drink altogether, but shouldn’t your health take priority right now?” 

Jihyuk’s voice was calm but firm, tinged with concern as he looked down at Yeocheong.

“My heart is so heavy that I can’t bear it. Your Majesty, I’m sure you can remain unaffected no matter what happens. But I am pathetic and ignorant, and this is the only way to ease my grief.”

As the alcohol took effect, the usual tension he felt in Jihyuk’s presence vanished. Yeocheong smiled warmly and looked at Jihyuk with an almost childlike expression. 

“Isn’t that right? I can’t even handle a single confidant properly.” 

“That is not true. It’s not Your Highness’s fault. The fault lies with the one who tried to deceive you, not with you. The only thing you didn’t do was to be as cruel as they were.”

“No, even the one who was deceived is to blame. To be foolish is a fault. And not being cruel… that’s my own pathetic fault.”

He couldn’t understand why, knowing he had been betrayed, he still thought of the good times. Why was it so difficult to let go? 

He despised his own powerlessness and weakness. All he could do now was rely on the numbness the alcohol provided, allowing him to temporarily let go of everything. 

“I hear you haven’t decided on the punishment yet.”

Jihyuk said after a moment of silence, his voice calm but searching.

“I didn’t say it out loud, but I’ve already decided on the punishment. Since the matter hasn’t left my palace yet, I can carry it out myself, can’t I?” 

“Even if it goes beyond Eunpyeong Palace, it would still fall under Your Highness’s authority.”

Yeocheong’s gaze shifted to the glass of liquor in Jihyuk’s hand, the liquid rippling gently. In its reflection he could see his own face, slightly flushed from the alcohol. 

“My authority, you say.”

How much could he really control? He let out a small chuckle and lowered his head. Jihyuk watched the silence and studied Yeocheong’s bowed figure. After a moment, he placed the glass far out of Yeocheong’s reach and sat down across from him. 

“You once said, Your Highness, that you too had lost something precious through your own powerlessness.” 

“Yes, I did.” 

“What did it feel like?” 

Jihyuk’s question hung in the air, carrying both curiosity and a quiet understanding.

Yeocheong asked Jihyuk, his tone softer than before. He didn’t expect Jihyuk to have experienced even a fraction of the emotions he had gone through, but hearing about the pain the dignified man had gone through might bring him some comfort. 

“…….” 

There was no reply for a long time. Did he not want to talk about it? Yeocheong pressed his flushed face lightly with his hand and spoke softly. 

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” 

“No, it’s not that. I was just… thinking about how to put it into words.” 

Jihyuk’s voice, when he finally answered, was deep and sombre. There was an almost palpable heaviness to it, as if it were saturated with grief. 

“It was something I could never undo, no matter how much I regretted it. I looked back over my choices and regretted them endlessly, but even if I died and disappeared, it wouldn’t change anything. All I could do was blame myself. 

“…….” 

“Everywhere I looked, there were only traces of guilt. But what hurt most were the few remnants of the past that remained around me. They were the hardest to face, and yet I clung to those meaningless objects and wasted my time.” 

Jihyuk’s words hung in the room, carrying the weight of a grief that was all too familiar to Yeocheong.

Yeocheong looked at Jihyuk’s expression and thought that he still hadn’t escaped his past. It wasn’t the face of someone recounting a distant memory, it was the face of someone who hadn’t taken a single step forward. 

Yes, it was a face that faintly resembled the one reflected in the brandy glass – his own. 

“I’ve said something unnecessary. It’s not even something I have the right to feel sorry for.”

‘Who’s pitying who here?’ 

Yeocheong, who had thought for a moment that Jihyuk’s expression looked pained, quickly shook his head slightly. Whatever was bothering him was none of Yeocheong’s business. If Jihyuk was suffering, it should have been something to celebrate. 

And yet there was a trace of something in his words that reflected Yeocheong’s own feelings and made him feel even more melancholy. The intoxication creeping through his body dulled his control over his scent, and a faintly sweet aroma began to spread throughout the room. 

“…!” 

Jihyuk noticed the scent, but didn’t let it show. Instead, he silently lifted the glass of liquor in front of him and drank it down. It was his own small effort to lose himself in something other than the scent, to drown in the effects of the alcohol instead of the pull of the aroma filling the air. 

“I have no intention of forgiving Sowol. If it had been someone else… then maybe I could show some leniency.”

Yeocheong murmured, his face turning a deep red from the alcohol. 

“If it had been someone I didn’t know… then maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so much.” 

Was the problem that he trusted her, gave her his heart? Or was it his stupidity to give her his heart without really knowing what kind of person she was? Yeocheong smiled bitterly. 

“The memories I cherished… they were just my own delusions, and that makes me feel ashamed. The happy times we shared – realising they were all lies – is what hurts the most.” 

Yeocheong had no plans to go public with what Sowol had done to him. After all, nothing had really hurt him, and as long as he kept quiet, no one would know. 

To others, his actions might seem excessive, even cold-hearted. Perhaps even his words would now be seen as nothing more than the sensitive ramblings of a fragile spouse. 

“Maybe it would have been better if I hadn’t known. Maybe I was wrong to uncover this truth at all. I won’t forgive her… but even if I don’t, I don’t think it will bring me any peace. In the end, I’m not even sure who it’s all for.”

But it didn’t matter if no one could understand his words. Tears streamed down Yeocheong’s cheeks as he bit his lips. His uncontrolled scent, like his turbulent emotions, wavered and spread uncertainly throughout the room. 

One by one, tears fell on Yeocheong’s clothes as he bowed his head. Watching him, Jihyuk swallowed the rest of his drink in one gulp and then spoke. 

“Don’t forgive.” 

“Forgive?” 

“Because your heart is tender. But you must not forgive someone who has sinned against you, someone who has hurt you. No matter how great their reasons may have been, it does not erase the pain you have suffered”. 

Maybe it was the strong alcohol that finally hit him, but Jihyuk’s voice wavered slightly as he spoke. Yeocheong, who still had his head down, couldn’t see Jihyuk’s expression. But somehow he felt like he already knew what kind of face Jihyuk was making, even without looking up. 

“Don’t forgive. You don’t need to wonder about their reasons or listen to their excuses.” 

“……” 

Jihyuk’s words hung heavily in the air and struck a chord deep inside Yeocheong’s conflicted heart.

“A sinner is nothing but a sinner.” 

Amidst Yeocheong’s scent, another scent began to waft in. It wasn’t a sweet scent meant to seduce, but it was enough to cloud the judgement of both individuals.