“It seems that the accumulated fatigue has put strain on the *terus. Fortunately, the baby remains unharmed, but if possible…”

The court physician’s slow but clear words echoed in his ears.

Suddenly, the resounding voices of the eunuchs announcing the arrival of the Grand Empress Dowager rang out.

Ryu slowly rose from his seat.

His grandmother called him Hwangsang — ‘Your Majesty’.

He turned around. One by one, the physicians who had finished diagnosing and treating the patients were leaving Yanmyeong.

“How is Lady Sukbi?”

The Grand Empress Dowager asked. Ryu glanced at the woman, who had only just fallen asleep.

Although she seemed to be asleep, she had stirred a great deal during the journey from Hwain Palace to Yanmyeong.

As absurd as it was, when she had begged him to put her down, he had refused. She was barely over twenty. She was a woman who couldn’t even manage her own health, resulting in a succession of royal physicians being summoned to the palace.

He couldn’t let her go. In fact, he wouldn’t even let her leave the bed.

Amidst it all, the physician advised minimising her movements. Even walks through the garden — especially long ones to distant areas such as Eohwa Garden — were not recommended.

He looked at the woman sleeping like the dead, then turned his gaze to his grandmother.

“She’ll be fine.”

“Hwangsang…”

“They say her womb is weak and prone to bleeding easily.”

Said Ryu coolly, staring at the delicate face of the Grand Empress Dowager.

Irregular menstruation. Spotting occurred with the slightest strain. She often said that the first sign of her exhaustion was pain in her womb.

Yeon hadn’t always been this fragile. Yes, she had always been delicate, but not this weak. And Ryu knew. He knew what had happened to her.

The thing she refused to speak of, no matter what. He knew what it was.

“Lady Suk will soon rise from her bed.”

“She must be.”

“In the meantime, Princess Sukon and I will stay here in Yanmyeong. As for the Empress…”

“That’s enough. You may go now.”

“Your Majesty, you can’t just leave Suin like this! What happened last night?”

“How could I leave, knowing what might happen to Sukbi and the child while I’m away?”

“What are you saying?”

The Grand Empress Dowager’s expression twisted slightly. Ryu raised his chin slightly and studied the woman glaring at him with a steady gaze.

“My first child, Your Highness.”

“…”

“He died at your hands.”

Ryu spoke without a flicker of emotion on his face. At his quiet words, both Princess Sukon and the Grand Empress Dowager froze like stone.

Did they really think he didn’t know? Or worse — did they believe he would never find out? Did they think that if they simply pretended it had never happened, it would cease to exist?

But he knew everything. And he hadn’t forgotten.

The first child Yeon had carried was his.

Before her belly could even begin to swell, the child was born, nothing more than a lump of blood. But it had been his child. If the child had been born safely, he might have held it, swaddled in cloth, and watched it sleep peacefully.

By now, he might already have heard the word ‘father’. He could have become a father much earlier.

“This old woman has no idea what Your Majesty is talking about. Are you saying that Lady Sukbi was ever pregnant?’

At last, the Grand Empress Dowager opened her mouth to speak, her tone light and dismissive. She even smiled slightly.

Ryu looked down at that revolting expression. Just because he hadn’t spoken of it, did she truly think it had ceased to exist?

His own grandmother was treating it as though it were nothing. He quietly clenched his fist.

“If the child had lived, he’d be about four years old now.”

“Your Majesty.”

“I would have become a father long ago.”

“Lady Sukbi was never pregnant.”

Her voice was calm and resolute. Ryu forced himself not to contort his face in anger. At the very least, he had to maintain formality.

After all, she was his blood relative — the mother of the late emperor.

No matter how bitterly he opposed her, he still owed her respect.

But—

“Did you truly think I knew nothing? That if I chose not to speak of it, it would be as if it never happened?”

Ryu’s voice turned cold.

The Grand Empress Dowager said no more. She merely stared at him, her expression pale and hardened.

Suddenly, a faint moan came from the bed. Ryu took this as an opportunity to quietly dismiss both his grandmother and aunt.

“Please leave now.”

***

Yeon shivered. Perhaps it was because the cold sweat had dried and she was now feeling the chill.

As her dry lips parted slightly, a large hand helped her sit up. Leaning against his arm, she took a few small sips of water. Then, instinctively, she curled up and burrowed into his chest.

“Huh…”

“Sukbi.”

The low voice echoed in her ear.

Yeon held her breath. Hearing Ryu call her ‘Sukbi’ felt strange and unfamiliar.

Suddenly, strong arms completely surrounded her.

Her nose tingled. She kept her eyes shut and clenched her lips tightly as tears began to fall.

The steady rhythm of his breathing brushed against the crown of her head.

“Look at me.”

At Ryu’s deep voice, Yeon opened her eyes. His sharp features came into focus through her blurred vision. Her lips parted, but she bit down on them again.

His large hand gently wiped the tears from her eyes. Her nose kept tingling.

There was no reason to cry — no reason at all.

Yeon instinctively rested her hand on her lower belly.

Ryu spoke.

“The baby is okay.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Our child is safe. So you don’t need to cry.”

Ryu’s voice was kind.

Yeon couldn’t nod. She only stared down at her belly.

The baby was okay. And yet, she didn’t understand why the tears kept coming.

Was it relief?

She had thought she was going to lose the baby. She had thought she was going to lose it again.

“I thought I was going to lose the baby.”

Yeon had felt that emptiness before. That hollow void.

Back then, it had felt like she was bleeding endlessly. Even the slightest movement would leave her underwear soaked in blood. At the time, she had left the imperial palace to stay with her maternal relatives, the Hamun Yi family.

Yi Hyeong-yeol, the former governor of Haeju and a powerful nobleman, was the Grand Empress Dowager’s elder brother and was close to her.

So even if Yeon said nothing, she believed that he must have known what had happened to her.

Glancing at Ryu’s expressionless face, she instantly regretted speaking. She tried to push herself away from his chest and move out of his embrace, but he held her firmly in place.

“That won’t happen. You won’t lose our child again.”

“Your Majesty, what do you mean?”

Yeon’s eyes widened in shock. She didn’t know what to say; her lips moved, but no sound came out.

A dull ache spread through her like a cold wave crashing over her.

How did Ryu know? She had never told him a word. Even Princess Sukon, who felt deeply sympathetic towards her, had kept the secret completely to herself.

Yeon’s tightly shut lips trembled faintly.

“I don’t know what Your Majesty is talking about.”

“Do you think I know nothing?”

“Your Majesty…”

“I’m not a fool, Sukbi.”

His dry voice scraped against her eardrums.

Yeon shook her head quickly. She wanted to deny it; she wanted to say that it wasn’t true.

That nothing like that had ever happened. She wanted to tell him that he had misunderstood and that he should let go of such thoughts.

But Ryu wasn’t a fool. He could never be deceived so easily.

If he had found out, she wondered, when had it happened? When had he learned the truth?

Yeon’s eyelids trembled before she finally opened her mouth.

“That’s not… not what it is.”

“How long were you planning to keep lying to me?”

“Your Majesty…”

Yeon looked up at him with fearful eyes.

The man holding her had a terrifyingly expressionless face. The chills returned. She forced herself not to faint.

She was reminded of her first pregnancy. She recalled climbing into the palanquin despite having a high fever. She had bled steadily and continuously on the way to Haeju.

The dead child had been with them all day. Yeon had told herself that she wouldn’t cry. She told herself that it was for the best. She told herself that everything would turn out all right in the end. She would sacrifice anything for Ryu.

And yet…

“Huh…”

Her face was wet with tears. Holding onto her reddening underskirt, she cried as though she were in unbearable pain. She had thought it was nothing. Princess Sukon had once told her that she would realise in time that letting go was the right choice.

“Even if you do become Ryu’s concubine, there’s a time for everything, and that includes pregnancy.”

Princess Sukon’s voice was quiet yet resolute. Yeon nodded. She believed both women who had spoken to her were right: pregnancy should happen according to plan.