Villainous Concubine Has Run Away chapter 18

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Minhyuk returned to his room with unusually quick steps, placing the gift he had been holding down on the table in front of the sofa.

His stomach churned, and a heavy weight pressed on his chest.

He collapsed onto the couch, overwhelmed and tangled in the words he’d inadvertently overheard from Haejoo.

Since when had he been thinking like that?

What?

He wants to leave and live outside?

Ridiculous.

That’s utterly impossible.

As a royal concubine, Haejoo cannot go anywhere without the emperor’s command.

And Minhyuk would never allow it.

Even after toppling the Prime Minister, that wouldn’t change.

“…His Highness seems to be more emotionally hurt than we thought. That’s probably why he said those things. Ever since the incident with the Empress Dowager, his health and nerves have worsened. Perhaps if Your Majesty offered some comfort, he might improve.”

To think Haejoo had to go through that in front of the Empress Dowager after Minhyuk saw what happened with the Prime Minister himself.

He should have been more attentive.

Pain had piled up, layer by layer, until it finally gave way to those words and those thoughts.

Minhyuk closed his eyes without answering the chamberlain.

Other things aside, how did Haejoo know about the empress talk?

Had he heard what Minhyuk said when he visited while Haejoo was feverish?

But Haejoo had been out of it at the time.

Then did he just feel that he wasn’t being considered for the position?

Honestly, with the way Minhyuk treated him, it would’ve been strange not to know.

With all these things stacking up, Haejoo’s self-esteem seemed to have taken a serious hit.

Truthfully, his life could hardly be called normal.

He’d been pushed into the imperial family at a young age.

Thanks to the Prime Minister’s ambitions, he’d been thrown into a place surrounded by enemies.

Surviving with a clear mind in such a setting would be stranger.

Haejoo must have lived his whole life that way.

He’d lived in silence, fighting to survive, in a place where there wasn’t a single person to protect him.

And from Haejoo’s perspective, Minhyuk was no different from the rest.

Cold, dismissive—just another face in the same cruel crowd.

Just as Minhyuk had misunderstood Haejoo, Haejoo had clearly seen Minhyuk the same way for a long time.

Not that things were any different now.

The loneliness Haejoo must have endured made Minhyuk’s chest ache.

‘My grandfather only ever comes to scold and hit me.’

‘Do you know how the royal family looks at me during court events? That look that says they can’t stand the sight of me?’

‘I’m probably the person he finds most annoying. Sure, he protects my dignity… but have you ever looked at his face when he smiles at me? His lips just twitch up, like this—’

“This is driving me insane. Fuck.”

“Your Majesty!”

When a curse escaped Minhyuk’s lips, the chamberlain approached him in alarm.

It was rare for Minhyuk to speak so harshly—proof of how unsettled he truly was.

“After what my family did to the imperial house, would the Emperor really let me live?”

Living outside? Absurd.

And would the Emperor let him live?

What, does Haejoo really think Minhyuk would kill him?

Minhyuk shot up from his seat, unable to bear such a misunderstanding, wiping his face with a hand.

He never once had the slightest thought of killing Haejoo.

He’d been wondering how to keep Haejoo by his side without getting him caught up in political messes.

And yet, Haejoo misunderstood so completely—it hurt.

Though, of course, how would he know, when Minhyuk never said anything?

Haejoo had never once believed that Minhyuk might protect him.

He was just relieved Minhyuk hadn’t tried to kill him.

In short, Haejoo didn’t trust him at all.

Though Minhyuk’s chest had flipped in frustration at the misunderstanding, he forced himself to think carefully.

Lately, he had been paying more attention to Haejoo.

But… was that all?

Had he ever shown Haejoo that he could be trusted?

In truth, it was Minhyuk who had failed to do so. Even by his own judgment.

He had thought only of how to win over Haejoo and Hanbin, how to manipulate them, how to bring them to his side.

He hadn’t once considered truly embracing Haejoo as his own.

That’s why all Haejoo had felt was anxiety.

Though he looked detached, Haejoo was actually highly sensitive and quick-witted.

This current situation was worse than when they had been indifferent to each other.

And then, to hear Haejoo say something as outrageous as wanting to be loved by someone who calls him beautiful—it had really made Minhyuk feel worse.

Haejoo is the Emperor’s concubine.

Only the Emperor has the right to say such things.

So such words, coming from anyone else, were entirely inappropriate for a royal concubine.

If anyone else had heard, it would’ve caused a scandal.

Minhyuk was relieved it had been him who’d heard it.

In truth, Minhyuk was just as desperate.

But Haejoo would never know that. Minhyuk wanted to fully cut ties with the Prime Minister.

But then there was Haejoo’s recent odd behavior and speech, and then Kang Hyunwook too…

There were far too many things Minhyuk still didn’t understand about Haejoo.

And ever since he’d caught a whiff of Haejoo’s pheromones, his obsession had only grown stronger.

And yet Haejoo, oblivious, says he wants to leave?

Live outside? No way.

That can’t be allowed.

Minhyuk rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at the gift on the table, biting his lip.

After a while, he unwrapped the gift box.

Inside was a high-quality, elegant cat plush, enclosed in a clear display case.

It looked exactly like a real Persian cat—its dazzling blue diamond eyes and white fur made it seem almost alive.

Haejoo had gone on and on about cats, so Minhyuk had wanted to give him something.

He wasn’t confident about taking care of a real one, so he’d had this plush custom-made instead.

Even if it was just a toy, he wanted to give it to him.

Minhyuk stared into the cat’s eyes and poked at them for no reason.

“…I think I’ll have this remade.”

“Do you want to add something? Shall we have it remade?”

“Let’s talk about that later. More importantly—have we made sure that Han Heeseong, that lunatic, can’t come near the palace again?”

“Well… about that…”

At Minhyuk’s words, the chamberlain sighed, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

That Han Heeseong could provoke such words from the Emperor—it was impressive, in the worst way.

The man was an entirely unprecedented kind of crazy.

“Your Majesty. As you know, Han Heeseong is a strong candidate for the position of empress Concubine. We need that family’s support to move against the Prime Minister.”

“Of course I know. But that only holds if Han Heeseong is sane. Seriously… what is wrong with him?”

Minhyuk rubbed his forehead, eyes closed, clearly stressed.

That phrase—“head full of flowers”—seemed tailor-made for Han Heeseong.

That lunatic had actually asked to visit Daebin Palace out of the blue.

Minhyuk had thought he’d misheard.

But when even Heeseong’s father had panicked and tried to stop him, Minhyuk knew he’d heard right.

For someone who hadn’t even officially entered the palace, who didn’t even have an imperial decree, to casually speak of visiting a Concubine’s quarters was a punishable insult.

And yet Han Heeseong’s outrageous requests didn’t stop.

He began whining to meet the Grand Concubine, asking why it wasn’t allowed, begging Minhyuk to at least tell him where the residence was.

Flabbergasted, Minhyuk had asked for his reason.

The answer was beyond shocking—it was the kind of answer that could wipe out an entire family.

Without another word, Minhyuk had decided to remove Han Heeseong from the list of candidates altogether.

“I like the one from the Grand Concubine Palace. Why? Am I not allowed to like him? It’s not like Your Majesty has any real interest in him anyway. You’re only forming an alliance with me, and if everything goes well, you won’t need either of us. So give me the one from Grand Concubine. That’s my condition for helping you.”

This went beyond audacity—this was madness.

When the son of a major noble house—an official Crown Princess candidate, no less—dropped a bomb like asking the Emperor for one of his Concubines, the Chief Minister nearly collapsed, and the Empress Dowager dropped her teacup and couldn’t even close her gaping mouth.

Han Heeseong was a dominant Omega, and Cha Haejoo was also an Omega.

An Omega wanting another Omega?

It wasn’t unheard of for Omegas to feel something for each other.

But the person in question was the Emperor’s Omega.

Asking for the Emperor’s Omega—unless one was terminally ill and suicidal—was not something you could dare to say in front of His Majesty.

Minhyuk watched Han Heeseong closely in silence, wondering if he might be mentally unstable.

Even if he wasn’t, Minhyuk had no intention of letting this dangerous person anywhere near Grand Concubine.

Especially not with someone already so frail.

Looking at the Chief Minister fainted on the floor, it didn’t seem like a mental issue.

The Empress Dowager tried to smooth things over, insisting that Heeseong was just a child with a naive crush on Grand Concubine.

But Minhyuk wasn’t buying it.

This kid—wherever he saw Grand Concubine—was serious.

There was no mistaking that expression and those words.

So Minhyuk made it crystal clear.

His household might be essential for the plan, but this?

This was out of the question.

No precedent existed for someone demanding the Emperor’s Concubine.

That was no different from insulting the throne.

If they couldn’t keep their son in line, death wouldn’t just be a vague threat—it would become Minhyuk’s personal execution.

Even the Empress Dowager couldn’t say a word after the Emperor’s cold, lethal warning.

“If you so much as mention Grand Concubine one more time, I’ll kill you—screw the alliance or anything else.”

“Your Majesty. Han Heeseong may be unorthodox, but let’s think about killing him after the job is done.”

At Yul’s calm suggestion, Minhyuk’s face twisted in irritation.

Han Heeseong seemed even more unhinged than expected, and that look in his eyes when he pretended to apologize?

Not sincere at all.

This guy wasn’t just crazy—he was dangerously crazy.

Minhyuk already had enough on his plate with Haejoo, and now he had to deal with this lunatic?

He was close to losing it.

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