Yeon could only gaze at him, her lips tightly pressed together. Tears welled in her eyes and slipped silently down her cheeks. The young emperor, watching her cry, spoke in a gentle voice, trying to comfort her.

“You just entered the palace to be by my side.”

***

“Haah, haah, ahhhh!”

The emperor grabbed her b*ttocks, spreading them wide, before thrusting his p*nis into her. Each time her previously closed opening opened and closed, her knees shook.

Yeon gripped her swaying white br*asts and tightened the muscles in her b*ttocks.

Ryu pressed his lips to her slender spine. The hand stroking her b*ttocks reached her v*gina. Yeon instinctively cupped her gr*in and pleaded.

“Your Majesty, haa… Please don’t do this.”

“Why?”

Yeon turned her head and reached for his arm, her grip uncertain. Ryu looked at her, his expression serious, not smiling. His hand rubbing her cl*toris was gentle, soft and careful.

Yeon trembled as the heat between them steadily intensified, her slender waist arching in response. A soft breath slipped from her lips. Ryu swiftly turned her over, and she swallowed hard, her throat dry, as he guided her waist downward.

Just when she thought he was going to part her legs as she lay beneath him, he suddenly lifted her into his arms. Settling back, he spread his legs and revealed the full extent of his *rousal, dark and rigid with desire.

“Spread.”

He ordered Yeon, who was hesitating. Watching him surreptitiously, she spread her legs wide, exposing her v*gina. He licked his lips at her reddened, s*men-covered v*gina and soon began to rub his p*nis against it.

As he did so, she began to feel a prickly pleasure building up.

Yeon trembled and braced herself against the bed. Their legs became entangled and he thrust his p*nis into her anus. They became so entwined that there was no space between them, lost in a passion neither of them fully understood.

“Your Majesty…”

“Is there anything to hesitate about?”

Ryu’s handsome face twisted slightly, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his expression. Yeon turned her head away, swallowing the tears that threatened to fall.

She had already done everything she could. She had followed his every wish, believing that once his curiosity was satisfied, he would grow tired of her and move on.

But… he hadn’t.

“Ahh, hmph, ahh!”

He aligned his huge p*nis with her tight opening and began to push again. Yeon pulled a face of pain; her n*pples had become *rect from the sensation alone.

Her waist twisted and her br*asts, hanging alluringly, bounced in response.

Ryu just stared calmly at this obscene sight. He thrust into her repeatedly without stopping. Yeon bit her lip, feeling her inner walls stretch.

Being penetrated in this position felt new again. Yeon could feel herself blushing and her toes tingling. Her hair stood on end, and her v*gina trembled with dizziness.

She reached out and circled her cl*toris, glaring at Ryu, who was torturing her. Ryu was simply absorbed in the act.

“Ah, haah, ung, eung! Ahh, ugh!”

Yeon couldn’t suppress a moan as a searing sensation shot through her, even reaching her toes. Unable to stop his touch, her body responded before her mind could resist.

He moved towards her with raw intensity, a crooked smile forming on his lips as he pulled her closer.

Breathless and flushed, Yeon settled onto his thigh, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and clinging to him in silence.

“Ah, Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

Each time he sped up, Yeon tilted her head back and became restless. She dug her nails into his shoulders and bit down in desperation, but Ryu didn’t flinch.

Moving in sync with him, she lifted her hips to meet his. His kiss was deep and consuming; his tongue explored her mouth with serpentine precision. The sensation of him drawing her in, that warm, deliberate pull, sent trembling shivers down her spine.

Her plump br*asts were pressed against his flat chest, her n*pples touching.

Yeon felt dizzy and overwhelmed by the man’s energy. Despite radiating so fiercely, the emperor’s p*nis remained *rect. This was why he had to bring in more concubines.

Even though she held the title of concubine, it was more than she could bear alone. Most of all, unlike the emperor—so full of youth and vigor—she was a woman slowly fading with time.

After all, she had turned thirty. How could a man eight years her junior struggle to contain his energy, needing a woman to satisfy him—and the only one he clung to was her, worn and weary with age?

It was almost laughable… a pity, really, that the seven palaces remained untouched, gathering nothing but dust and cobwebs.

“Ha, ah…”

Yeon, who had somehow endured until the final moments with the emperor, let out a ragged moan before collapsing against his shoulder.

Ryu gently patted her slender back, his touch calm and steady. She was so much smaller than him, and as she exhaled deeply, it felt as though she was melting into his embrace. Despite being drenched in sweat and the remnants of their closeness—surely uncomfortable in every way—Ryu held her tightly, refusing to let her go.

It was always like this after their moments together. While most women longed to be held, clinging to a man’s arms, with Ryu… it was the other way around.

He slept with her, holding her and keeping his p*nis inside her. He would often throw tantrums just to fall asleep in her arms.

Was it because he was still so young? Ryu constantly nagged her, like a child who never wanted to grow up.

‘Are all young men like this?’

Yeon had never known any man other than Ryu. During their time together, she had always been preoccupied with caring for him.

From the age of twelve, Ryu became increasingly capricious and cruel. Yeon often suffered as a result of his bad temper.

When Princess Sukon once took pity on her and tried to arrange a marriage for her, Ryu flew into a rage. He banned Princess Suin from entering the palace and stopped Yeon from visiting her home.

It wasn’t just the princess — he responded to any mention of marriage with fierce glowers and threats, as though he might lash out at any moment.

How could she possibly understand men when her life had been like this? She knew so little about their nature, habits or hearts.

“No matter how I think about it, I believe it’s time to take a concubine.”

“What?”

She hadn’t meant to provoke him. After all, taking a concubine was not the same as taking an empress. Now that he had come of age, he was expected to fill the seven palaces following the state wedding.

The Empress Dowager had compiled a meticulous list of eligible women, and Yeon had planned to oversee the selection process herself as her final duty.

She intended to quietly leave the palace afterwards, assuming the emperor allowed it.

“How could someone as old and worn as swennae possibly handle His Majesty’s boundless energy alone?”
Yeon panted breathlessly, mumbling the words as she struggled under him, unable to deal with his relentless passion.
No matter how she looked at it, continuing like this wasn’t right. Every time they were together, it felt like a piece of her life was being worn away.

On top of that, doing such things with a maid in the house of Lady Suin—his fiancée—was simply improper. Yeon feared people would see her as nothing more than a shameless, immoral woman.

“Ah… Bincheop misspoke. I must be out of my mind…”

She should have referred to herself as bincheop—the proper, respectful term for a concubine—just as Ryu expected. But once again, the word swennae slipped out instead.
It was a humble phrase often used by common women of lower birth—too casual, too coarse for someone in her position.

Ryu’s already rigid expression twisted faintly with displeasure.

Held tightly in his arms, as if he meant to crush her, Yeon averted her gaze, her eyes shifting uneasily in the silence that followed her mistake.

“You really wouldn’t care if I became someone else’s husband, would you?”

“Your Majesty…”

“I don’t feel even a shred of affection from you.”

“Taking a concubine and securing an heir is a duty—to preserve the royal line.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Just shut up.”

Silenced by his harsh rebuke, Yeon clamped her mouth shut. Still, she looked at him, expecting more anger—but instead, there was hurt.

Ryu buried his face in the crook of her neck.

 “Cruel woman…”

He whispered, his voice sounding childish. Yeon said nothing. She didn’t feel the need to comfort him anymore.

The deep hours of dawn had set in. Yeon glanced up at the emperor, who seemed to be fast asleep. Despite her utter exhaustion, sleep didn’t come easily.

Perhaps it was because the bed was unfamiliar. She had dozed off briefly at around 1–3 a.m.—long enough to dream—but after waking, she found it difficult to fall asleep again.

She rose carefully from the bed. A banquet was to be held in honour of Suin and Ryu at daybreak. Yeon was unsure how to conduct herself at the event.

Ryu would probably want her to sit by his side, but with Suin and the envoys from the Western Kingdom in attendance, that simply wasn’t an option.

‘My head hurts…’

Yeon lowered her head briefly, trying to steady her breathing. A dull, heavy pain was throbbing through her skull. Despite the usual weariness that followed an intimate encounter, she was too restless and distracted to sleep. She swallowed dryly and got to her feet.

She missed her mother.

She had told Ryu that she missed her mother and had even asked him to accompany her to her mother’s burial mound. But she knew they wouldn’t be able to manage that in their three-day visit to the western capital.

It was just something she said to tug at his heartstrings — she had known that all along. If she really wanted to go, she would have to do it alone.

Step by step, Yeon began to walk. Her hesitant, creaking footsteps wavered, but she dragged her heavy body forward with determination.

“Hoo…”

Ignoring the pain in her lower body, she stepped out into the courtyard. As she walked along the path towards the low hills, she looked up at the soft blue dawn sky.

Her mother was buried on a small hill not far from the western capital. It was an ideal resting place, chosen by a geomancer recommended by Princess Sukon, known for its solid ground and abundant sunlight.

As she dragged her feet forward, Yeon tried to remember exactly where that spot was.