How many times did I vomit what was inside? After throwing up violently for a while, fortunately my stomach felt a bit better.

However, my mind was not at all at ease. Although my disciple quickly removed his hand when he saw me vomiting, I had already spilled the first bout of vomit on his hand.

I’ve gone mad. I’m crazy. When I should be trying my best to make a good impression, I end up vomiting on his hand!

“Why did you suddenly grab my chin…”

A feeble protest escapes involuntarily out of indignation. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and curled up like a snail.

Then when I looked at my disciple, fortunately his expression had cooled. He clearly seemed about to ask me if I ‘had any memories’, but seeing the vomit spilled on his hand, even that intention seemed to have disappeared.

The unfortunate thing is that he had a very annoyed look on his face.

I stuttered and hurriedly tried to resolve this situation.

“I’ll clean it up. I’m so sorry. This was absolutely not on purpose. I felt like vomiting since earlier and couldn’t open my mouth, but then Your Highness grabbed my chin…”

After attributing my inability to immediately respond to my disciple’s words to nausea, I put strength in my legs to try to stand up.

But this time too, my body floated up.

“Your Highness?”

My disciple lifted me up and laid me back down on the long chair.

Not only that, he took out a handkerchief to wipe his hand, then took out another handkerchief, dampened it with tea water, and even wiped around my mouth.

Why is he doing this? Did he put poison on the handkerchief?

As I froze at that unpredictable attentiveness, my disciple looked at my mouth and said,

“This disciple was wrong.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t realize you were feeling unwell and stiff. I almost made a big misunderstanding.”

Is this… fortunate? It is fortunate. He may not have misunderstood, but it seems the misunderstanding has been cleared up.

It seems my disciple believes that my inability to speak and trembling was due to nausea rising up.

Fearing that showing an ambiguous attitude here might undo that cleared up misunderstanding, I quickly responded confidently.

“In the future, please don’t grab my chin when I’m not feeling well.”

“I won’t.”

My disciple spoke indifferently, but I felt like I could fly. Thankfully, I’ve overcome the crisis!

The poison that had come so close receded into the distance again.

However, just as I felt relieved, my disciple pressed down on my shoulder to make me lie down and covered me with a blanket, shocking me even more.

‘Is he telling me to sleep here!’

“Why, why are you covering me with a blanket?”

“You can’t even walk properly.”

At my disciple’s matter-of-fact words, I was left speechless. Towards me in that state, my disciple even asked with a light smile,

“Were you planning to crawl?”

“If you could call a carriage for me… I suppose not.”

I’m not a member of the royal family, so even if I ride in a carriage, I would have to walk out to the palace gates. But in my current state, even that would be difficult.

As I hugged the blanket dejectedly, my disciple silently turned and left. Yes, I guess he doesn’t want to call one for me.

After that, my disciple didn’t return, and I tried to stand up a couple times, but my disciple was right. My body wouldn’t move. With this body, I absolutely could not walk to the palace gates.

But since there was no eunuch in Wolmugung who would carry me on their back, I had no choice but to lie back down on the bed.

Even in this situation, drowsiness quickly began to overtake me. In the end, I fell asleep there as if passing out.

[This is the timeline separator]

‘What’s that smell?’

A savory aroma instantly pulled me out of my deep sleep. I quickly sat up as soon as I opened my eyes.

When I turned my head, I saw a small, elongated table next to the chair that wasn’t there yesterday, and a steaming bowl of porridge placed on that table.

And in front of the porridge bowl…

“Your Highness.”

My disciple is looking down at me. Right. Damn it. I fell asleep in Wolmugung yesterday! My groggy mind snaps back to alertness as if doused with cold water.

“I was about to wake you up. Have you risen?”

When I heard my disciple’s indifferent voice, it was as if ice had been pressed against my mind.

Remembering yesterday’s events, I was so shocked I nearly fainted again.

I must have actually lost half my senses, because when I came to, I found myself lying sideways on the chair again.

Since it wasn’t intentional, I quickly sat up, and the 13th Prince looked at me strangely before asking,

“What were you just doing?”

“It’s because of your halo. Seeing you first thing in the morning is dazzling. It seems Your Highness rose with the sun.”

The 13th Prince looked at me as if I were insane, then seriously placed his hand lightly on my forehead.

[This is the timeline separator]

I worried there might be poison in the porridge the 13th Prince gave me, but fortunately it was just normal pine nut porridge.

Since I hadn’t eaten dinner last night and slept the whole time, as soon as the first spoonful entered my mouth, I felt a mad hunger.

After I quickly emptied the whole bowl of porridge, the 13th Prince, sitting in a chair far away, said,

“I’ve called for Sim Haga, so a carriage should be waiting. You’ll only need to go as far as the outer gate.”

Thankfully, it seems he’s not telling me to stay another day. I quickly bowed in relief.

“I’m deeply grateful, Your Highness.”

The 13th Prince looked at me with a subtle gaze, but I didn’t have the energy to figure out my disciple’s mood right now.

I obediently put down the bowl and stood up, leaning against the wall.

This is tough. But at least it’s not like yesterday where I couldn’t walk at all. Let’s try to make it to the outer gate even if it’s difficult. Once I get home, the servants will come out to help me in.

But as I was walking, trembling and leaning against the wall, my body suddenly floated up again. Why does this keep happening yesterday and today!

Startled, I raised my head to find my disciple holding me.

“Your Highness?”

I was surprised yesterday too, but today I was even more shocked because my mind was clear. When I called out in alarm, my disciple coldly replied,

“At that speed, you won’t arrive even by sunset.”

“I, I, no, then please call a eunuch. How can I be carried by Your Highness?”

“Aren’t you going to be betrothed to me anyway, Master?”

“We haven’t yet!”

“We will soon, so what’s the difference?”

“But we still haven’t yet! Even if betrothed, the law states we should keep our distance until the wedding ceremony is complete. Don’t you know that?”

I tried to refuse logically, but my disciple, not knowing I was a woman, didn’t even blink.

“You’re a man and this disciple is a man, so why keep our distance?”

“!”

“You truly are a strange person. You accepted the imperial order to be betrothed to another man relatively calmly. Yet you make such a fuss about this disciple moving his injured master?”

Why do I feel so wronged? I almost glared at my disciple while biting my lip, but realizing he held my lifeline in his grasp, I eventually meekly put my arms around his neck.

“!”

But… again. Before, he told me to hold his hand but flinched when I actually did. This time too, my disciple told me to be carried, but as soon as I put my arms around his neck, he flinched.

He flinched so hard, he almost dropped me.

Of course, I didn’t want to fall, so I held onto his neck even tighter.

As I clung on desperately, my disciple’s small sigh tickled my hair.

I looked up curiously, and my disciple sighed again before saying,

“You don’t need to hold on so tightly. I’ll carry you safely even if you stay still.”

“!”

Embarrassed by those words, I hurriedly lowered my hands. But once I became aware of my hand position, the posture felt very awkward and I didn’t know how I should be positioned.

I couldn’t even remember what position I was in when I asked my disciple to put me down.

I tried folding my hands on my stomach, stretching them out in the air, and letting them dangle, but I still didn’t know what to do.

But my disciple, as if inwardly mocking my awkwardness, just stared at me without telling me what to do.

Finally, after fumbling around, I cautiously suggested a compromise to my disciple.

“Your Highness. How about carrying me on your back instead?”

I thought I had used my brain well, but my disciple’s expression returned to that look of seeing a madman.

Seeing he didn’t seem to like the idea, I ended up folding my hands on my stomach.

[This is the timeline separator]

“When on earth are they coming out?”

Sim Haga, who had been drinking until last night, grumbled as he loitered around the side gate.

Although he was a eunuch of Wolmugung, he had never thought he would dedicate his life serving Wolmugung or the 13th Prince. Naturally, he didn’t offer his loyalty either.

Fortunately, the 13th Prince was like thawed mud inside despite his cold exterior, so he was easy enough that he couldn’t even scold Sim Haga no matter how much he slacked off.

Such a 13th Prince suddenly called for him at dawn, instructing him to wait with a palanquin at the side gate, saying the foreign teacher Yo Yohwa was injured.

Sim Haga wanted to make excuses and refuse, but he was concerned that the injured person was the young master of the Yo family, so he finally decided to follow orders for once in a while.

But…

“How many hours are they dawdling already!”

He never expected them to be this late! Sim Haga was about to die of frustration after waiting since dawn with neither Yo Yohwa nor the 13th Prince coming out.

Meanwhile, the large, fierce-looking coachman standing nearby kept urging him.

“Is it still not time? Are they really coming out?”

“We’re waiting together, aren’t we? His Highness the Prince needs to come out!”

“Damn it! If it wasn’t the Prince who called, I would’ve left long ago!”

Just then. Finally, the 13th Prince could be seen walking on the narrow stone path beyond the gate.

“There he comes.”

Sim Haga grumbled as he approached the Prince, then noticed he was carrying someone.

As he got closer, he saw that the one the Prince was carrying was Yo Yohwa in a strange posture.

Yo Yohwa was being carried by the Prince in a stiff posture, with one hand around the Prince’s neck and the other on his own stomach, in an odd position.

It was already an unprecedented sight to see the Prince carrying his master, but with the master’s posture being so awkward, the two looked very strange and eye-catching.

“Your Highness? What on earth? Is Master Yo very ill?”

Sim Haga asked in surprise at the sight, forgetting his earlier anxiety.

Instead of answering, the 13th Prince signaled the coachman to open the carriage door.

As the coachman hurriedly opened the door, the 13th Prince put Yo Yohwa inside and brusquely instructed,

“Take him to the Yo family’s main residence.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Sim Haga.”

“Yes? Yes, Your Highness.”

“You go with them too.”

“Yes, yes!”

Though Sim Haga had no idea what was going on, he quickly got into the carriage.

Sim Haga tilted his head as he watched the 13th Prince’s figure growing distant through the carriage window.

‘What’s gotten into that Prince? Even though he handles everything alone, he never wants to keep anyone by his side?’

[This is the timeline separator]

“Oh my goodness! Yo Hwa!”

As soon as I entered the courtyard, supported by Eunuch Sim, my mother cried out as she came out supported by her maids.

“What on earth happened!”

Lin Hwa also came with my mother, unusually worried that I hadn’t come home.

My mother hurriedly came to my side and asked, then naturally turned to Eunuch Sim and asked,

“What happened? Why has our Yo Hwa come back like this?”

Since Eunuch Sim didn’t know anything, he looked at me flustered.

Since I didn’t want Eunuch Sim to say nonsense either, I quickly stepped in to answer.

“I was slightly injured. I received treatment and came back.”

“Injured?”

As soon as those words ended, Eunuch Sim, feeling he should add something too, immediately chimed in.

“His Highness the 13th Prince took care of Master Yo all night, and when it was time to leave, he personally carried him out.”

At those words, my mother, who knows I’m a woman, immediately turned pale. Meanwhile, Lin Hwa snorted and muttered,

“How frivolous.”

“Lin Hwa!”

My mother hurriedly covered Lin Hwa’s mouth.

“I was talking about my brother.”

But Lin Hwa pushed away my mother’s hand and deliberately added one more comment before turning on her heel and leaving.

Eunuch Sim looked back and forth between me, my mother, and Lin Hwa with an expression that said ‘what a mess of a household’, then smiled awkwardly and got back on the carriage he came in.

Before even seeing him off, I went straight to my room because my head hurt. Fortunately, my mother didn’t follow me in, probably to see off Sim Haga.

However, before I could even change all my clothes, she came to my room and asked in a worried voice,

“What on earth happened? Even if you’re betrothed, how could you stay with His Highness the 13th Prince all night? Hmm?”

“You heard already. I was injured and he took care of me. It’s not like he stayed by my side all night. He just gave me a room.”

“At your age, others would keep their distance when going out together. What nonsense is this!”

As a mother, she had reason to worry. If I were going to live disguised as a man my whole life it would be different, but if I end up betrothed to the 13th Prince, I’ll have to take off my male disguise later.

But my injured head was hurting too much, and nausea was rising again after riding in the carriage, so it was very hard to listen to my mother shouting next to me.

I tried to endure it a few times, but when my mother wouldn’t stop nagging, I finally couldn’t hold back and shouted back,

“If keeping distance was so important, you shouldn’t have made me dress as a man in the first place! Can’t you see I was hit on the head with an inkstone?! How was I supposed to leave His Highness in this situation!”

Making me dress as a man was a sore spot for my parents, so blaming them for this was a topic I usually never brought up.

As soon as I mentioned it in anger, I immediately regretted it. My mother’s expression had turned pale.