* * *
So, this amazing person standing before me is the very same Emperor from the novel—Joo Minhyuk, a dominant Alpha.
The one who ruthlessly betrayed the Grand concubine and abandoned him to die.
Wait—he’s not Emperor yet, is he?
He becomes Emperor at eighteen, so at seventeen, he’s still the Crown Prince.
Joo Minhyuk, standing before me now, looks a bit more mature than the average seventeen-year-old.
And of course, as the protagonist, he’s stunningly beautiful.
With the full benefit of protagonist buffs, he had a tall, lean frame, lustrous dark hair that shone like silk, deep black eyes that glistened like black pearls, and a high, straight nose.
His beauty was almost unbelievable.
His face still bore hints of youth, but it was clear that once he became an adult, he’d be on a whole different level.
He was already tall and well-built—how much more impressive would he become with time?
‘And with that beautiful face, he’s going to kill me.’
But right now, that brutal future felt distant, because he was looking at me with sincere concern.
“What’s wrong with you? Huh? I heard you haven’t bathed or eaten and just stay in bed all day. What’s going on? Huh?”
“Uh? No, I mean, I…”
“…What’s with the way you’re talking? Should I call a real doctor?”
“No, it’s just that…”
“What’s going on? Should we go to a university hospital for a full exam? And why are you being so formal? Court lady! How long has he been like this?”
Wait—what’s with that familiar way of speaking?
I stared blankly at Joo Minhyuk, who was pressing my attendant with a tone far more intimate than I expected.
Oh, right.
In the novel, around this time, the two were very close—like best friends.
This was before Daebin’s family clashed with the imperial court.
They were still minors, so there had been no sexual relationship yet.
Just a pure, comfortable friendship. Of course, based on how the Grand concubine eventually died, I couldn’t be sure if Joo Minhyuk’s feelings were genuine—but I remembered the novel mentioning that Daebin wished he could go back to this time.
When the Emperor turned twenty and Daebin turned eighteen, Daebin experienced his first heat.
But since he wasn’t yet an adult, he suppressed it with inhibitors, and their official union was scheduled for the day Daebin came of age.
As time passed and the Emperor turned twenty-three, the royal court, frustrated by the lack of an heir, brought in a dominant Omega from another noble family as an official concubine.
That was the main protagonist, concubine Yeong Hwagung.
Concubine Yeong Hwagung arrived in a dazzling entrance, and the Emperor began favoring him more and more.
The court declared that whichever concubine conceived first would be crowned Empress.
That announcement triggered a fierce rivalry and marked the beginning of Daebin’s downfall.
Concubine Yeong Hwagung gave birth to a child within two years of entering the palace and was crowned Empress.
Daebin, on the other hand, died at twenty-five—the same year Yeong Hwagung became Empress.
But did the Emperor truly hate Daebin enough to kill him so mercilessly?
No matter how he felt, surely their past bond meant something?
Could it really have all been fake, like the novel said? I was genuinely curious.
What shocked Seojoo and me the most when reading the novel was how long the Emperor had been planning Daebin’s downfall.
It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible—Daebin’s powerful family had grown increasingly arrogant, and they amassed crimes like bribery, corruption, assassination, and even slander against the royal family.
The late Emperor—Joo Minhyuk’s father—had died from stress after enduring severe political pressure from Daebin’s grandfather.
That’s when Joo Minhyuk vowed revenge.
After becoming Emperor, he clashed head-on with Daebin’s family, who tried to make Daebin Empress.
Around age sixteen, under the Empress Dowager’s orders, Daebin began taking birth control pills secretly added to his food.
If a royal heir had been born from Daebin’s body, his family would have gained tremendous power.
The royal family wanted to prevent that at all costs.
So, even though the Emperor knew about the birth control, he allowed it.
He kept Daebin’s powerful brother in check and steadily built his own influence.
While the Emperor grew stronger, Daebin—completely unaware—lived his whole life being betrayed.
Deceived by that face and that innocence, like a fool… not even realizing he was being used alongside concubine Yeong Hwagung.
If this is reality, and the world I now have to live in, then I refuse to live and die the same way again.
Dying young in Korea was already unfair—am I supposed to die unjustly here too?
‘Absolutely not. I will survive and live a life of my own. So whether you’re Joo Minhyuk or the Emperor, go on—have lots of kids with your Omega and live happily ever after.’
But I can’t suddenly act differently around Joo Minhyuk, or he’ll get suspicious and everything might fall apart.
I need to act as usual and slowly distance myself.
The former Daebin may have loved him dearly, but I’m not that concubine.
I’m Cha Haejoo—and I don’t love him.
After Joo Minhyuk left, I went into the bathroom to soak my tense, exhausted body in warm water.
And while washing, I happened to look in the mirror—and was stunned all over again.
“What the—this is me? The face is exactly the same?”
Literally—the Grand concubine from the novel had the same face as me when I was alive, as Cha Haejoo.
I stared at my reflection again and again, touching my face.
No wonder my voice felt oddly familiar—the concubine from the novel looked exactly like me…
But the more I looked, the more something felt strangely off.
While the features were the same, it was like a 200% beauty filter had been applied.
It was clearly a male face, and yet, all masculine impressions had been softened or erased.
It was definitely my face, but it was so smooth—like a peeled egg—without a single pore or tiny hair.
It sounded like a strange expression, but honestly, it was the most accurate one.
Even in my past life, I wasn’t particularly hairy, but being born with male hormones meant I at least needed to shave.
But now, it wasn’t just that level—there was no trace of hair growth at all.
Wh–What about… down there?
Like prepubescent skin, there wasn’t a single bump, pore, or hair on my entire body.
Only a faint fuzz was visible.
Is this… normal? It’s hard to call this a man’s skin.
And it wasn’t just the smoothness that was odd.
Overall, the pigmentation of my body had lightened.
My eyes, which used to be a deep dark brown, were now a bright and clear hazel, and my nearly black hair had also turned a similar shade of light brown.
My eyelashes had grown long enough to be noticeable, and my double eyelids had become deep and pronounced.
My skin wasn’t just pale—it had a rosy tint, and while my body was still that of a boy, there wasn’t even a hint of muscle.
My skin felt unnervingly soft.
Ugh, what kind of cruel joke is this?
It’s a humiliating appearance that’s been completely drained of male hormones.
“Ah, fuck! How is this supposed to be a man’s body?!”
This is a man, but not really a man.
Honestly, my height isn’t much different from before, but the overall vibe and the slender lines of my body are completely different.
Now I finally understood what an “omega” in this novel world truly meant.
Because that’s what I am here—an omega.
Fuck.
If Kang Hyunwook saw me like this, I’d become a lifetime joke to him.
And I’m living as a character destined to die.
The author had said that aside from the imperial family and nobility running the government, and the existence of alphas and omegas, the setting of this novel was intended to mirror modern-day South Korea.
That’s why the prologue clearly stated: “The worldview is exactly the same as the real world.”
But my body wasn’t like anything from the real world.
It was entirely different.
Because I was part of the “except this part” clause the author had included—and that “part” was being an omega.
I was still Cha Haejoo, but I wasn’t the Cha Haejoo I used to be.
That was deeply unfamiliar to me.
I’d need some time to fully accept this omega version of myself.
In this place, where everything was strange and unfamiliar, I tried to blend in.
Above all, I tried to get used to the way people treated me and the titles they used to address me.
Here, I was a noble—part of the imperial family—so I had to adapt to that environment.
And I took care to behave in a way that wouldn’t turn me into the “villainous concubine.”
I made an effort to grow attached—to this world, and to this omega version of myself.
And then, time, which I thought would crawl by, passed faster than expected.
It’s been five years since I arrived here.
During that time, I kept a low profile, staying quiet and avoiding Joo Minhyuk’s attention.
Maybe because I avoided trouble, I even managed to get permission to leave the palace—a kind of travel pass.
I’ve been maintaining a relatively satisfying life.
The only thing that’s a bit troublesome is the matter of consummating the marriage, which I’ve been delaying with the excuse of being sick.
Now that I’m officially an adult, the pressure to consummate is getting stronger every day.
But since Joo Minhyuk hasn’t come looking for me either, I’ve decided to avoid it for as long as I can.
“Where’s the Grand concubine’s palace?”
Joo Minhyuk, buried under a mountain of documents, tossed his fountain pen aside and stared at his chief attendant.
As his low voice echoed through the room, a cold silence fell.
The chief attendant, watching the emperor’s displeased expression, let out a short sigh and responded, though the answer would likely make the emperor even more annoyed.
“His Highness the concubine has gone outside the palace to visit a newly opened convenience store.”
Tap, tap, tap.
No sooner had the attendant finished speaking than Joo Minhyuk began slowly tapping the desk with his fingers.
A crease formed between his brows, and he pressed his other hand to his forehead, lost in thought.
“…That damn convenience store is driving me crazy…”
It’s not like this is the Joseon era, where one is confined to the palace.
Leaving the palace is allowed, but still, as the emperor’s concubine, he’s been going out far too often.
And always to convenience stores around the city.
Fine, going out is one thing.
But he doesn’t even buy anything—just stares at the part-time clerk’s face and comes back.
Sometimes he repeats that several times a day.
What kind of bizarre behavior is that?
“The Grand concubine’s family is pressing hard, asking how long the consummation will be delayed.”
“And you think I’m the one postponing it? It’s the Grand concubine who keeps dodging, not me.”
“…They don’t believe that on their end.”
Which is exactly why this is driving him insane.
By imperial law, the consummation should’ve happened already.
But now that the Grand concubine is twenty, he’s showing absolutely no intention of going through with it.
He’s been claiming it’s because of his frail health—and more importantly, because his heat hasn’t arrived yet.
Though it’s not mandatory to be in heat to consummate, the Grand concubine is using it as an excuse to desperately avoid sleeping with the emperor.
There wasn’t much to say to his maternal relatives, who kept complaining that the concubine was being neglected.
Right now, upsetting them would be unwise…
Joo Minhyuk needed to show them that he was devoted to their grandson.
But the Grand concubine wouldn’t let him get close.
At some point, the concubine had started drawing a clear line, treating Joo Minhyuk with formal deference as an emperor—but showing no interest in him as an alpha.
Politically and economically, the concubine’s family held too much power right now.
But the Grand concubine was slipping further out of his grasp.
Joo Minhyuk had even considered whether there was another alpha involved, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Is my mother still mixing contraceptives into the food?”
“Yes. His Highness consumes them without suspicion.”
Their family clearly never intended to produce an heir—and now they’d ensured he literally couldn’t.
Somehow, that left a scratch on Joo Minhyuk’s alpha pride.
“Guess I’d better go greet him. I wonder if today’s trip to the convenience store was fun.”
With that, Joo Minhyuk rose slowly from his seat and began heading toward the Grand concubine’s palace.
* * *
Muito bom