Villainous Concubine Has Run Away chapter 40

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“No, it’s fine. Don’t say it. You don’t have to. What could you possibly have to hide from me anyway?”

‘Huh? Actually, there’s a lot…’

First he tells me to talk, then he tells me not to; what is he playing at?

I hadn’t intended to reveal everything in detail, but Joo Minhyuk, suddenly cutting me off as if he didn’t want to hear it, started rambling like a flustered man.

“Right. You guessed correctly—it’s true I was avoiding you. But it’s not what you think. I don’t know what you heard, but it’s absolutely not because I’m bored of you or only like your body. That’s complete nonsense.”

Joo Minhyuk seemed so urgent that it felt like he was desperately trying to block my words.

Why is he acting so pathetic?

It makes me feel guilty for even wanting to ask if he has an intermittent explosive disorder.

Joo Minhyuk is the one who messed up, so why am I the one feeling sorry?

“The reason I… did that was… I was just upset.”

“Upset? About what?”

“…Because you seem closer to the bodyguard, Kang Hyunwook, than to me.”

“What?”

Words I never expected came out of Joo Minhyuk’s mouth.

Why would he think that?

What did he see that made him think Hyunwook and I were close?

I couldn’t understand it.

Hyunwook and I strictly separated professional and private matters; we didn’t even exchange a word in front of Joo Minhyuk, let alone anyone else.

I have no idea what he saw to reach that conclusion.

But if it’s Joo Minhyuk—who has exceptionally sharp instincts and intuition—he might have sensed something from the tiniest detail.

Now that he had said it, I couldn’t just brush it off.

“Why did you think that?”

“Because you look close.”

The gaze he looked down at me with was full of hurt.

If he’s this upset, he must have definitely seen something.

He might have accidentally witnessed us joking around.

Damn.

That’s a big problem.

No, wait.

If he had seen that, he wouldn’t have stopped at just sulking like this.

When the two of us are alone, we aren’t in a superior-subordinate relationship; we are exactly like friends.

Given Joo Minhyuk’s personality, if he had seen that, he wouldn’t have stopped at just smashing the palace doors.

Then what is it?

Maybe he didn’t see us joking around himself, but heard it through someone else?

Ah, this is hard. Marriage is hard. Being a husband is really difficult.

“Your Majesty, did you see something?”

At my question, Joo Minhyuk’s pupils shook violently.

“…Not directly. Through someone…”

“Through whom?”

So he did hear something.

Anyway, I don’t know why I find Joo Minhyuk sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a sullen face so funny and cute.

I’ve felt this for a while, but I’m a madman too—feeling this way even after watching him smash up the whole house while radiating murderous intent.

In response to my question, Joo Minhyuk fell silent, unable to speak.

It must be hard to say who it was.

I wanted to know what he had heard, what it was that made him hurt enough to avoid me, and if there had been a misunderstanding during the process of the information being passed along.

“So, were you very hurt?”

“It wasn’t an environment where we could easily open our hearts to each other, but it took a long time for me and you. It took a long time just to speak or to know your inner thoughts… I hated that Kang Hyunwook became close to the Grand Royal Concubine so easily.”

Joo Minhyuk used the word “hated” quite openly.

Ah, so he hated Hyunwook. He must have been bothered the whole time.

I can infer that this disciplinary action was heavily mixed with personal feelings.

Poor guy.

“I hated that you acted so freely and had a comfortable face with Kang Hyunwook—a face you never showed me. It was like that from the beginning. I still remember the way the two of you looked at each other.”

I remember that too.

That was the day I first recognized Joo Minhyuk’s pheromones and my own pheromones exploded.

That, too, might have been influenced by Hyunwook.

From Joo Minhyuk’s perspective, not knowing our deep history, it could be quite hurtful.

I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

That’s because I had always believed Joo Minhyuk would naturally keep Han Heeseong by his side and soon fall in love.

I never expected our relationship to get this deep or for Han Heeseong to lunge at me, so I thought things would go according to the flow of the novel.

It’s absurd how much the story has changed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even guess you’d be hurt. Because Kang Hyunwook and I are just pure friends. We’re just the same age. And, Your Majesty.”

Having made a decision, I took Joo Minhyuk’s hand.

“It’s a bit embarrassing because it sounds grand, but… um… When the right time comes, I’ll definitely tell you how I became close with Kang Hyunwook.”

I couldn’t say anything else.

It’s true that it’s a burden to promise to explain the situation between Hyunwook and me.

Since the emotions between Joo Minhyuk and me are still jumping around like this, I want to tell him when a time comes where we are stable enough to have at least a minimum level of mutual loyalty.

Though I don’t know when that will be.

Joo Minhyuk, who had been staring at me, lowered his gaze.

His face as he held my hand looked complex, mixed with many emotions.

I don’t know if he’ll believe me, or if there’s another reason I don’t know, or if his hurt is just that deep.

Joo Minhyuk avoided me and only came to see my face at night because he was hurt by the relationship between me and Kang Hyunwook, and I, hurt by that, slept in another room for a day, which led to this situation.

Joo Minhyuk couldn’t stand it and smashed my quarters, and I cried and threw a fit—I’m worried about what the servants will think.

They’ll probably think we’re a nightmare of a couple. Listing it out like this, we really are young.

Both of us have had to learn imperial etiquette from childhood and do our assigned jobs in our respective positions, so our speech and behavior couldn’t help but be different from our peers.

But looking at this incident, both of our ways of dealing with things were quite childish.

“And you know what?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t do ‘this’ with anyone else, not just Kang Hyunwook. This is something I can only do with Your Majesty.”

I moved closer to Joo Minhyuk and kissed his cheek and then his lips.

I wanted to make it deeper, but I held back for fear of breaking the mood.

But apparently, that clumsy charm pushed Joo Minhyuk’s excitement button.

“It would be a disaster if you did this with another guy.”

Of course it would be.

But I have a certainty.

The certainty that I won’t be included in that “disaster.” Joo Minhyuk probably won’t attack me no matter what happens.

It’s just a vague belief of mine, but I decided to just think that way for my own peace of mind.

Joo Minhyuk cupped the back of my head, his face drew closer, and his warm, soft tongue entered my mouth.

His lips, which had been sweeping and sucking the roof of my mouth and my inner cheeks, pulled away after a long moment.

Then, Joo Minhyuk pulled off my pajamas, lifted me up, and sat me on his lap.

“Your Majesty, I think our emotional lines are a bit too extreme.”

“Then we just have to manage them now.”

As if he had been waiting, Joo Minhyuk took my cheek into his mouth and sucked on it.

I guess a lovers’ quarrel really is like cutting water with a knife?

After smashing everything and fighting, it ends like this.

“Shall we skip the middle steps today?”

Joo Minhyuk lifted me by the waist, helping me stand.

The bathroom was already filled with the scent of grass that Joo Minhyuk emitted.

Excited by the pheromone scent, I wrapped my arms tightly around Joo Minhyuk’s neck and hair to support myself.

His lips, now level with my chest, sucked on me while he rubbed his cheek and face against my nipples.

At that suggestive sight, my pheromones released wildly, and a sticky fluid poured from my heat.

Not missing the timing, Joo Minhyuk’s finger slid smoothly inside.

“Ah, hng… It’s cold. Why are your hands so cold…!”

“It’s okay, wait. My finger and your inside will both get hot soon.”

His finger, after sweeping once over my smooth, hairless genitals, pushed back into my opening, frantically thrusting and sweeping against the inner walls.

I tightened my insides at the sudden invasion, and Joo Minhyuk’s hand movements became even faster, further excited by the sensation.

Joo Minhyuk laid me down on the bathrobe he had spread on the bathroom floor.

Then, after stroking his imposing member a few times, he spread my legs and entered immediately.

This was the first time he had gone inside so quickly.

“Ah! Ha-ah. Your… Majesty.”

“Ha… Haejoo.”

Without hesitation, Joo Minhyuk pushed all the way in at once.

The fluid inside me was pushed out simultaneously.

The sound of that liquid escaping was always lewd.

Joo Minhyuk pulled out and then thrust back up deeply.

His movements, which had tamed my insides with strong strokes, began to quicken.

His eyes, blurred with excitement, flickered with desire as he looked at me.

While being shaken frantically, I felt relieved that Joo Minhyuk was this excited by me.

“Grand Royal Concubine… Haejoo. Don’t… go… anywhere else without a word again.”

I almost fell backward from the unusually rough and strong thrusting over a short period, but Joo Minhyuk would not allow me to faint.

My body trembled and I ejaculated from the deep, rapid pounding.

My semen unexpectedly flew toward Joo Minhyuk’s face, and he caught it, smeared it on the back of his hand, and licked it with his mouth.

“It’s strange. Your semen always smells sweet.”

Joo Minhyuk, whispering sweet words, grabbed my legs, spread them wide, and went even deeper inside.

Soon, the rapid hip movements continued.

A smile spread across his face, drenched in pleasure.

The moment I saw that smile, I realized I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

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