Feeling perplexed, I stared blankly at the ornament for a moment.

“Do you not like it?”

The Emperor asked as if that couldn’t possibly be the case. His tone showed he had no idea why I was unable to answer.

Hoping not to appear rude, I carefully extended the ornament towards the Emperor.

“It is too much for me, Your Majesty.”

It’s difficult to refuse a gift from the Emperor. But if it were a gift for doing a good job or for being a favorite of the Emperor, that would be different.

Receiving a woman’s ornament out of nowhere and being told “I thought of you” felt rather uncomfortable.

“Too much?”

The Emperor asked with a smile similar to the 13th Prince’s.

Because he stood too close, I couldn’t see his face without lifting my head.

But looking up at the Emperor right in front of me would be disrespectful, so I looked down at his feet as I answered.

“I am a man, am I not? And what Your Majesty has given is an ornament women often wear.”

I refrained from suggesting he give it to one of the concubines, or better yet, my sister. That would be too presumptuous.

When the Emperor didn’t respond, I glanced up to see him raising one corner of his mouth.

Is he amused that I’m insisting I’m a man when he knows I’m a woman?

Wondering why he was smiling, I stared for a moment until the Emperor spoke.

“This foreign envoy has strong prejudices.”

His tone was teasing.

“Pardon?”

Finding it difficult to understand his meaning, I asked again, but the Emperor took back the ornament from my hand, placed it beside his own head, and spread his arms.

“How is it?”

To be honest, it really suited him well.

My disciple’s face is praised as the most beautiful in the world, and the Emperor’s face is almost identical to my disciple’s.

I heard that his nickname as a prince was actually “National Beauty.”

But is it okay to praise the Emperor for looking good with dangling ornaments?

“It suits you well.”

As I hesitated, the Emperor spoke as if he knew everything, removing the ornament and handing it back to me.

“I gave you this ornament because I thought it would suit you well. Our ‘male’ Yo Yohwa.”

Then he uttered words clearly teasing me and grinned before walking back to sit at his desk.

So he’s saying it wasn’t given because I’m a woman, so don’t use that excuse to refuse.

‘Ah… damn. What should I do?’

[This is the timeline separator]

The Emperor gave me the hair ornament, but since he didn’t provide a box or cloth to carry it in, I had to hold it with both hands as I went to Wolmugung.

I must have looked quite ridiculous. Walking around cradling a hair ornament with both hands.

But in this imperial palace where the Emperor’s eyes and ears are everywhere, carrying a gift from the Emperor dangling from one hand would be like sticking my head out in front of the Emperor and asking for another inkstone to be thrown, so I had no choice.

Arriving at Wolmugung looking like this, my disciple naturally frowned upon seeing the ornament in my hands.

I placed the ornament on the desk while watching his reaction.

It was clear he was debating whether to ask about the ornament or about encountering me in the tea house district yesterday.

As I was taking out the book we study from the drawer, my disciple finished deliberating and opened his mouth.

“Why are you carrying an ornament in your hands?”

Knowing the answer would upset my disciple, but also that lying would be easy to catch, I honestly confessed.

“His Majesty the Emperor gave it to me.”

But seeing how my disciple would dislike it, I quickly added,

“He, he had extra.”

My disciple’s expression, which had already darkened at the mention of the Emperor, grew even more sullen at hearing I had received leftovers.

I casually knocked the ornament with the back of my hand as if it were nothing, sending it to the far edge of the desk.

Then, trying not to glance at my disciple, I opened the book and said,

“Today we’ll look at page 90, Your Highness…”

“I don’t want to.”

But to my surprise, my disciple openly refused. Said he didn’t want to.

Startled by the blunt rejection, I looked up from the book I was opening.

My disciple was staring at me intently without even touching the book.

“Pardon? Why not?”

Too dumbfounded to respond at first, I finally managed to ask belatedly, and my disciple raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

“I’m angry with you, teacher.”

“Because I accepted His Majesty’s gift…?”

How unfair.

“But Your Highness. You know it’s difficult for me to refuse a gift from His Majesty, don’t you?”

I tried to let it go but couldn’t help complaining. My disciple didn’t even blink, though.

“This disciple is angry at your light lie, teacher.”

“What lie did I tell…”

My disciple looked at me as if I should know, then stood up from his chair completely.

He walked out, leaving me alone and momentarily dazed.

What? Did he just refuse the lesson and run away?

I gaped at the closed door, stunned by something that had never happened before the regression.

‘That brat. Some of us don’t refuse lessons because we don’t want to.’

[This is the timeline separator]

To be treated so coldly just for receiving an unwanted gift from the Emperor. I couldn’t leave and waited a long time for my disciple to return.

It felt like I waited for about an hour. But no matter how long I waited, my disciple didn’t come back.

−Your Highness. I’m leaving since you didn’t return despite waiting.

When my disciple truly didn’t show up even after the full lesson time had passed, I had no choice but to leave a note on his desk and exit the room.

As I came out, Gi Yang, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, smiled brightly at me.

“Greetings to Lord Yo. It’s been a long time since you’ve come.”

No. I’ve been coming regularly… You’re the one who hasn’t come to work in a while.

I only answered inwardly and smiled back, but then sensed a gloomy aura somewhere and turned serious.

Wondering if it might be my disciple, I looked towards where I felt it, but my disciple wasn’t visible.

“My lord?”

Gi Yang called out to me, puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

I ended up brushing it off and left Wolmugung.

How far had I walked like that? As if today was some special day, when I was still halfway to the side gate of the palace, a drop or two of rain began to fall from the sky.

When I looked up, streaks of water like bird droppings were falling, and a drop went into my eye.

I rubbed my eye and quickly ran home.

[This is the timeline separator]

Maybe it was because I got soaked in the rain all the way from the palace to home and was worried sick.

As soon as I arrived home and changed clothes, I started feeling feverish from that evening, and by nighttime, I felt so weak in my limbs that it seemed like the bed was pulling my body.

Surely I won’t die like this after even regressing.

Even with two layers of blankets, my body kept shivering, to the point where such weak thoughts crossed my mind.

In the end, the next day, I had absolutely no strength to go teach, so I asked my father who came to check on me.

“Father. Please stop by Wolmugung and let them know I’m too ill to teach today.”

“Are you alright? Your lips are blue. What about a doctor?”

“I called for one, so they should be here soon…”

Father looked very uneasy but agreed and left.

As I heard the door closing, I was caught by sleep like a person trapped in a fishing net.

[This is the timeline separator]

Hwa Ryeo sat at his desk, staring at the empty seat across from him.

His teacher, as if taking revenge for what he had suffered yesterday, hadn’t shown up even though it was past the time to enter the palace.

“…”

Hwa Ryeo stood up and picked up the magnolia hair ornament his teacher had left on the desk.

He wanted to throw and smash it, but as his teacher had said, dealing with the aftermath of destroying something given by the Emperor would be difficult.

Hwa Ryeo clutched the ornament tightly in his hand.

In his twenty-fifth life, his teacher had once become the Emperor’s concubine.

Back then too, the Emperor had given this hair ornament to his teacher.

His teacher had worn it in her hair, passing by him as if she didn’t know him, never looking back even once.

When his teacher brushed past, he remembered vividly how he had unconsciously turned to look, seeing these jewel strings swaying above her hair.

“Your Highness.”

Only upon hearing the eunuch’s voice from outside did Hwa Ryeo put down the ornament.

“Tell them to enter.”

Hwa Ryeo naturally thought the person who appeared would be his teacher.

But the one who carefully entered when the door opened wasn’t his teacher, but his teacher’s father, Yi Haeng-wi-seo. (Yi Haeng-wi-seo is one of the positions in the Ministry of Personnel)

“I pay my respects to Prince Hwa Ryeo.”

The head of the Yo family approached, stopped at a slight distance, bowed in greeting, and then spoke.

“I apologize, Your Highness. Yo Hwa’s body has not been well since last evening, and this morning her condition worsened further. I couldn’t stay to see the doctor’s examination, but even at a glance her illness seems severe, so she likely needs to rest for two or three days.”

Hwa Ryeo only looked down at the crown of the Yo family head’s head without answering.

Hwa Ryeo didn’t believe the words of the Yo family head. His teacher must be pretending to be sick to skip the lesson after seeing his anger yesterday. That person was more than capable of such trickery.

“I see. I understand.”

At Hwa Ryeo’s cold voice, the features of the Yo family head twitched. He seemed to sense his disbelief.

Hwa Ryeo walked to the desk, looked down at the magnolia ornament again, and added.

“But tell her to come without fail tomorrow.”

“But Your Highness, Yo Hwa’s body is…”

“She’s already missed several lessons recently claiming to be ill. Yet she seems to be going out to play here and there just fine.”

“!”

“I can’t believe she’s sick. Tell her to come tomorrow.”

[This is the timeline separator]

This disciple brat. Mean and heartless. Someone says they’re sick and he doesn’t believe it, ordering them to come!

The day after hearing my disciple’s words relayed by my father, I forcibly got ready and entered the palace.

But my limbs were still too heavy and I kept getting chills. With each step forward, it felt like the ground was pulling at my legs.

Even after drinking two bowls of medicine, there was no improvement at all.

Still, when I finally managed to arrive at Wolmugung, Gi Yang, who was carrying laundry, saw me and exclaimed with wide eyes,

“Lord Yo, are you alright?!”

“Haha… Of course, of course.”

I smiled at Gi Yang, pretending to be fine as best I could, and entered the room where my disciple and I have lessons.

But this ill-mannered disciple brat, after telling me to come even when sick, wasn’t in his seat himself.

Receiving one magnolia ornament and getting such severe retaliation!

I walked to the desk with difficulty, grumbling.

Fortunately, the magnolia hair ornament I had accidentally left behind in my haste was still on the desk.

‘At least he didn’t throw it away.’

I put the ornament in my bosom with relief. Then I opened the book and waited for my disciple to return, even if late, but no matter how long I waited, he didn’t come.

Instead, it became increasingly difficult to breathe and my eyelids kept drooping.

Then I felt the world flip sideways, and when I came to my senses, I had fallen to the side.

After that, my consciousness quickly faded away.

[This is the timeline separator]

As the lesson time was nearly over, Hwa Ryeo closed his book and slowly walked to the study room.

He could clearly imagine his teacher sitting at the desk with a disgruntled face.

Fuming that his feigned illness had been exposed, then trying to use those pretty eyes as a weapon to smooth over the situation when Hwa Ryeo looked down at him.

However, when he opened the door, what was revealed was the sight of his teacher collapsed in the chair.

“!”