* * *
I also had things I was curious about regarding Han Heeseong, and I wanted to have a proper conversation with him.
I quickly grabbed Joo Minhyuk’s arm as he was approaching Han Heeseong.
“Your Majesty, didn’t you come here to see the Queen Mother?”
“I did. Right after I deal with that.”
“How are you going to deal with him?”
I asked softly, wrapping my arms around Joo Minhyuk’s arm.
I mean, with so many eyes watching, what was he planning to do?
He seemed determined to set the rumors on fire.
People were already saying he was so obsessed with his concubine that he lost his reason whenever it concerned me.
“I have it all figured out. So, Great Consort, do not worry.”
I almost fell for the “face attack” of Joo Minhyuk’s bright, refreshing smile, but my curiosity was more urgent than managing his anger right now.
I had to hear why Han Heeseong was acting like this toward me.
“I’ll take Han Heeseong and talk to him. The three of you should have your conversation comfortably.”
“What? Are you crazy? He acts like that even here with eyes watching—where on earth are the two of you going to go alone!”
Joo Minhyuk gritted his teeth and grabbed my waist.
‘Ha, you’re doing the same thing with all these eyes watching.’
Holding my waist so boldly… I soothed him and barely managed to pry his hand off.
“Your Majesty. I will speak to him firmly so he understands. So please, let go of your anger…”
It seemed the Chief Prosecutor’s handkerchief would never stay dry because of his son’s outbursts.
The Queen Mother, who had created this situation, was watching silently from the middle, looking quite troubled.
She probably realized she shouldn’t have called me and caused this mess.
I quickly went to Han Heeseong’s side, pulled his arm, and greeted them.
‘Hey, why are your cheeks turning red in this situation?’
Han Heeseong, who had been sitting with an indifferent expression, started blushing furiously the moment I approached and grabbed his arm.
This time, seeing that, Joo Minhyuk pouted.
‘Good grief… am I a nanny? They’re taking turns being sulky.’
“Your Majesty. I am sorry for making things like this. The Great Consort is trying so hard, so you should at least consider the Consort’s dignity.”
“Is the person who considers the Consort’s dignity the one who called the Great Consort here?”
And… we’re back to square one. The Queen Mother bit her lip and raised her hand toward the door.
“The guests Your Majesty brought are waiting, so let’s let it slide this time. The Great Consort looks very exhausted as well. Let’s stop for now, cool our heads, and talk with your mother again.”
At the Queen Mother’s comment that I looked exhausted, Joo Minhyuk stopped his anger and stared at me.
So, I gave him a smile with the most tired and weary expression I could manage.
‘See? I look so pitiful, are you really going to keep this up?’
“I won’t go far; I’ll just talk at the table outside the drawing room. My court lady will be with us.”
“If I knew this would happen, I would have brought Kang Hyunwook. I have a mountain of documents to process.”
‘Our Hyunwook must be typing away on his keyboard right now.’
I whispered back that I would wait for him after he said he’d come to my quarters later.
Then, I took care of Han Heeseong, bowed to the Queen Mother, and turned toward the door.
In front of the door were several men the Queen Mother had mentioned as guests.
Greeting me were Joo Minhyuk’s inner circle, whom I remembered seeing a few times.
They were his close friends, nobles from prestigious families.
I knew them all to be Alphas, but today there was one person among them I didn’t recognize.
If he was Joo Minhyuk’s friend, I should have seen him passing by, but I had no memory of him.
Was it because he was a stranger that he stood out?
I felt his gaze staring at me quite bluntly.
A man with a remarkably beautiful face was staring openly.
When our eyes met, he bowed his head while looking at me with a smiling face.
‘Ah… I think I know what this chilly feeling is.’
The kind of vibe where someone keeps you in check so only you can feel it, acting cold only toward you. Keeping me in check?
Yes, that’s it.
We just met—why is he acting like that?
Anyway, that man is conscious of me and is wary of me.
Why? What’s the reason?
Because he’s on the Emperor’s side and I’m the Prime Minister’s blood?
Even so, why look at me like that? It feels gross.
“Ah, I really don’t know why recessive Omegas are acting out so much lately.”
“Recessive Omegas?”
Why is he suddenly insulting recessives out of nowhere?
“Yes. I wish they knew their place.”
Heeseong’s gaze as he said that was fixed on the man I suspected was wary of me.
‘Ah, is that man a recessive?’
Since Han Heeseong is a dominant Omega, I suppose he can sense those things.
“Don’t mind him, let’s go over there and talk. I have a lot of questions.”
“You can speak casually to me. Please be comfortable, Your Highness.”
The irritation in his voice toward that man vanished instantly.
Han Heeseong gave me a world-class bright smile and stuck right to my side.
‘Goodness.’
Why does this make me laugh?
Looking at Han Heeseong reminds me of a cute little puppy.
We sat in the chairs at the waiting table outside the Queen Mother’s drawing room.
From here, through the open drawing room doors, we could see Joo Minhyuk, the Queen Mother, and Han Heeseong’s father.
It felt a bit like being monitored by Joo Minhyuk, but since it was a spot where they couldn’t hear us, I felt we could talk comfortably.
Sitting down, Han Heeseong turned his head and stared intently into the drawing room.
I thought he might be uncomfortable with Joo Minhyuk and looked that way too, but it wasn’t him Heeseong was looking at.
He was glaring at the Omega who had been staring at me earlier.
“That recessive Omega who was being conscious of you, Your Highness.”
Recessive Omega?
It seemed certain that the man was recessive.
I followed Han Heeseong’s gaze and looked at him.
From here, I could see his profile; from a distance, he almost felt like a Beta.
I didn’t realize when I saw him up close, but he has a fairly large frame.
“He’s pretending to be all well-behaved while trying to stick to His Majesty, you know? He’s trying his best to become His Majesty’s other concubine, hmph…!”
Heeseong, who had been chattering away like he was tating, suddenly looked shocked and covered his mouth as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have.
‘He can actually be surprised like that?’
How fresh.
The part he shouldn’t have mentioned was probably this: “to become His Majesty’s other concubine.” But I already knew that, so it wasn’t surprising.
The current you probably doesn’t know that the “other concubine” of the Emperor was originally supposed to be you, Han Heeseong.
And no matter how much that guy pretends to be nice in front of Joo Minhyuk, there’s no way the fox-like Joo Minhyuk doesn’t know.
He’s a man who can see through a person’s heart even if it’s a hundred fathoms deep.
If he’s leaving him alone, it’s either because he’s not interested or because he has a use for him. Anyway, that’s something Joo Minhyuk will handle.
For me right now, it was more important to know why Han Heeseong, who was destined to be that other concubine, was acting like this toward me.
We had no deep connection or history.
So exactly what part of me?
My looks? My personality? My wealth?
“You said you saw me. You saw me walking around on the street and at first, you doubted your eyes, thinking it wasn’t me.”
“Yes, that’s right, Your Highness.”
“Then that means you already knew what I looked like?”
Since he was raised receiving education to be the Emperor’s spouse, he must have known the face of the Emperor’s only current concubine.
Even if my face isn’t made public, it wouldn’t be hard to find out.
I am the grandchild of the nation’s Prime Minister and the Emperor’s Omega.
It wouldn’t have been a task at all for Han Heeseong’s family to recognize me.
I wonder how they educated Han Heeseong while showing him my face.
A rival that must be removed?
“I’ve seen you in photos, and I’ve seen you when I came to the palace.”
Han Heeseong’s posture as he answered became very calm.
It seemed he was taking my question seriously.
Good, he’s in a position to talk.
My guess was right.
If he could recognize my current appearance instantly, he must have seen quite a variety of photos.
“Because I kept seeing you in photos like that, I think I developed a sense of closeness on my own.”
‘Oh boy.’
Instead of wariness, he developed a sense of closeness—a major bug occurred during his education.
When I looked at Heeseong with an absurd expression, he giggled again.
Perhaps he didn’t feel a sexual attraction to me, but rather a human attraction.
Regardless, it was true that he had developed good feelings.
“So when I saw you running around on the street, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I couldn’t even trust it. It felt like someone I had been watching from afar suddenly appeared in front of me, and it was fascinating. Especially because someone of your status was running around the streets like that.”
‘Well. Yes, I was quite careless.’
But Han Heeseong was also impressive for recognizing me. I stayed quiet and listened to his story.
“You mostly came out during the time I was going to my academy. So I started waiting for you. My parents… they control me so much, telling me I shouldn’t be friends with just anyone, or date just anyone. So I don’t even have friends. The people my parents want me to be with are too two-faced.”
The more I listened, the more I began to understand Han Heeseong’s eccentric and unpredictable behavior.
“But Your Highness was different. So much more than I expected. I was surprised because you seemed like such a good person. You were so sweet to the stray cats, you gave snacks to passing children, and you even ate snacks right there on the street. And that ice cream… I really wanted to try that.”
Han Heeseong says I was different from what he thought.
And Han Heeseong was also completely different from the “Yeonghwa Palace” I had expected.
“I was so happy to meet you that day. I kept thinking about it during that time. So I wanted to see you again. I wanted to talk more, and I wanted to eat ice cream again.”
Han Heeseong’s cautious smile as he says he missed me looks complicated.
I felt like I could see him struggling, placing me in the middle of his relationship with the Imperial Family.
* * *
