Chapter 3

His face was hidden behind a mask, giving him an eerie and ominous presence.

The Fourth Prince of the Rye Empire.

The Ink King, Seoheon.

Beneath the black myeokri, his head tilted slightly to one side.

Although his eyes could not be seen, it seemed as though his gaze toward Mokyeon was shining sharply.

Everyone knew.

That mute prince never spoke a word.

But his murderous silence was his language.

He heard everything we were saying outside the gate.

Soa quietly bowed her head before the silent man.

“I-I…”

Meanwhile, Mokyeon, her face deathly pale, opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

Her eyes darted around, desperately searching for an excuse to escape the situation.

Then her gaze landed on the black horse standing outside the main gate.

I have to compliment it somehow.

Mokyeon hurried over to his side and chose her words carefully.

“W-What a fine steed, worthy of displaying Your Highness the Ink King’s dignity! A horse like that must be rare even in the Imperial Palace…”

The glossy black warhorse was so tall that even its shoulder height surpassed Mokyeon’s own height.

“It truly suits Your Highness the Ink King.”

The moment Mokyeon approached the horse with a smile—

“Neighhh!”

The horse let out a long cry and raised its front legs.

【Get your filthy hands away before I smash your skull!】

“Eek!”

Mokyeon stumbled backward and eventually fell hard on her backside.

The horse reared and thrashed about as though it were about to trample Mokyeon at any moment.

“Whoa, whoa!”

The flustered coachman desperately tried to calm the horse, but it was useless.

“Eek!”

The startled people screamed and scattered in every direction.

Perhaps the loud noises and sudden movements only aggravated it further, because the horse became even more violent.

Just as the Ink King was about to seize the reins—

A small, slender hand fearlessly caught hold of them.

In an instant, the small figure climbed onto the rampaging horse and lowered herself onto its back.

The brow hidden beneath the myeokri furrowed.

“My goodness! It’s dangerous…!”

The coachman was horrified when he saw her.

The Ink King’s horse, Pungryu, had originally been a wild horse.

Even among wild horses, it was exceptionally fierce, and even experienced horse trainers had struggled to handle it.

The only person it allowed on its back was the Ink King.

If the Jin family’s daughter falls and gets injured…!

Just as a chill ran down the coachman’s spine—

“Easy…”

Soa skillfully stroked Pungryu’s neck.

“Yes, I know.”

As Soa quietly whispered and soothed him, Pungryu snorted and gradually calmed down.

Soa gently ran her hand through Pungryu’s mane and smiled.

“What a magnificent horse.”

She lightly touched the cheek of the now-docile horse, and Pungryu happily stamped one hoof against the ground.

The coachman’s jaw dropped at the sight.

“N-No way, that…?”

Does the damn horse have a thing for women?

No.

That couldn’t be it. Even at the Ink King’s Residence, the horse had been so rough with the women that the maids had more than once been frightened out of their wits.

While the coachman wondered in confusion, Soa skillfully dismounted Pungryu.

【Ahem. She seems to be a human I can actually communicate with!】

Pungryu grumbled irritably, but even so, he lowered his body so that she could dismount safely.

The ability to communicate with animals.

That ability, which had helped make her an Empress in her previous life, was still useful.

Animals, in particular, tended to be quite lenient toward humans they could communicate with.

Perhaps it was only natural.

Even a person would stop and listen if a dog suddenly spoke to them.

And if it were a friendly dog approaching them, they would find it even more adorable.

After getting off the horse, Soa straightened her disheveled clothes, and the coachman hurried over.

“My goodness, how did you tame Pungryu in an instant? Even the most skilled horse trainers gave up on him! I’ve known him for years, and even I can’t treat him carelessly. This is the first time I’ve ever felt jealous of a horse!”

The coachman patted his rapidly beating chest as he took hold of the reins.

The guards accompanying the Ink King also exchanged glances.

“How could such a delicate woman…”

“That beast would go wild the moment I even touched the reins.”

Not one of them had ever managed to handle Pungryu.

Soa dismounted and respectfully bowed her head before the Ink King.

“I was in a hurry, so I presumptuously mounted Your Highness’s horse.”

“……”

It was merely an apology made out of courtesy.

There was no way an answer could come from the Ink King, who could not speak anyway…

【You have no fear.】

A low, calm voice echoed in her ears.

Soa looked at him in surprise.

The black myeokri fluttered at length in the wind.

Beyond the black veil—

The man remained silent, without moving even his lips.

【I will take the Jin family’s daughter with me now.】

Yet it was unmistakably his voice.

At the same time, a large hand firmly grasped her wrist.

The force was strong, but not rough, as it guided her along.

Soa followed him.

Yanghwa Pavilion, the most splendid pleasure house in the Imperial Capital.

On the top floor, said to be accessible only to the most distinguished guests, delicacies from land and sea and fragrant wine had been laid out.

“By the way, I heard His Majesty the Emperor ordered the Ink King to take a Jae-in.”

Amid the heavy scent of alcohol, a burly military man with a thick beard spoke.

To force a concubine upon the Ink King, of all people.

His Majesty must be rather embarrassed that a prince who had already reached adulthood still hadn’t taken a single woman.

The Emperor had always regarded his Fourth Prince, the Ink King Seoheon, as a troublesome matter.

“I heard he eventually decided to take a daughter from the Jin family.”

“If it’s a daughter of the Jin family, was it Jin Mokyeon? I heard she’s quite beautiful.”

“No. Jin Mokyeon was originally supposed to go, but apparently that suddenly changed today.”

A man sitting slightly to one side, leisurely sipping his wine, faintly furrowed his brow.

“Changed?”

His gentle and refined voice caused everyone enjoying their drinks to turn their eyes toward him.

“Oh, now that you mention it, Your Highness the Ink King has a deep connection with the Jin family.”

The thick-bearded man smiled.

The Third Prince, the Wei King, Seogon.

The Emperor’s favored prince after the Crown Prince, and a son of the Empress.

When he was young, his teacher had been none other than the current head of the Jin family, Master Jin.

Because of this, he had frequently visited the Jin family since childhood and maintained close relations with them.

“I heard that the Jin family suddenly decided to change which daughter would be sent today.”

For an instant, Wei King Seogon’s expression turned cold.

But the nobles were too busy chattering among themselves to notice.

“Did that family have another daughter?”

“Of course. You know, that illegitimate daughter who works like a servant!”

At the words of one nobleman, everyone nodded as though they had just remembered.

They might not have known her name, but everyone knew about the Jin family’s ‘illegitimate daughter who worked like a servant.’

Washing clothes at the well, carrying trays, sweeping the courtyard, scrubbing floors…

Even the Jin family’s own maids looked down on the illegitimate daughter and ordered her around.

“I suppose even the Jin family must have felt rather uneasy about forming a connection with the Ink King.”

“I heard His Majesty approved it as well, so I suppose as far as the Ink King is concerned, they can simply attach any woman to him.”

They whispered among themselves as they thought of the cursed prince.

“Come to think of it, wasn’t that illegitimate daughter infatuated with Your Highness?”

The nobles’ gazes turned toward Seogon once more.

Seogon quietly took a sip of wine.

The fact that the Jin family’s illegitimate daughter admired the Wei King was also something everyone who mattered knew.

“Whenever Your Highness visited the Jin family, she would come running out even though she knew she’d be scolded.”

“Didn’t she even pick flowers and give them to Your Highness when she was young?”

“I wonder whether to call it innocence or foolishness. Tsk, tsk.”

The nobles laughed.

Wei King Seogon was a prince favored by the Emperor.

A mere illegitimate daughter who worked like a servant had no place looking up at someone like him.

And yet—

Clack.

Seogon coldly set down his wine cup.

“Everyone seems to be having a good time.”

Seogon smiled, narrowing his eyes.

But the corners of his mouth remained stiff.

The nobles immediately fell silent and exchanged uneasy glances.

Could that rumor have been true? That His Highness the Wei King intended to take that illegitimate daughter as his Jae-in?

Wasn’t he merely playing with her because she was pretty?

The gazes exchanged across the drinking table became increasingly frantic.

Meanwhile, Seogon lazily rubbed the rim of his wine cup.

The Ink King’s Jae-in…

He remembered the girl who used to look at him with shining eyes.

“Are you all right?”

The touch that had helped her up after she fell, the way her face had flushed.

The illegitimate daughter who had grown up surrounded by contempt had helplessly melted at the sight of a single kind smile.

“How dare the servants in your household speak to you like that?”

Unable to stand watching the servants mistreat her, he had stepped in.

Soa had swallowed her tears and lowered her head deeply.

“Thank you, Your Highness…”

The illegitimate daughter, who possessed nothing, was quick to give her heart away even over the smallest kindness.

He found that rather cute.

It was amusing, too, how she seemed to be utterly captivated by a single word from him.

“Besides, that illegitimate daughter will probably spend the entire journey to the Ink King’s Residence crying her eyes out. She’s been looking at a handsome prince like Your Highness all this time, only to be dragged away by the Ink King.”

The nobles burst into hearty laughter.

Wei King Seogon and the Ink King Seoheon were half-brothers, and Seogon had disliked Seoheon from an early age.

No, was it only Seogon?

Even the Imperial Family openly treated him like a watchdog.

“I wonder if that monster even knows how to handle a woman. It’ll be fortunate if he doesn’t pass his curse on to her.”

The nobles drank deeply, using the Ink King as their drinking entertainment.

Seogon rested his chin on his hand, turning their words over in his mind.

Soa has become the Jae-in of my Fourth Brother…

Once again, he raised his wine cup to his lips.