No, did I make such an outrageous request? The 13th Prince looked at me with a subtle gaze. Judging by his expression, it was as if I had asked him to rip out the throne and give it to me.

“I’ll do so too.”

I rolled the paperweight in my hand and added quietly.

Come to think of it, while my disciple is my enemy, I am also an enemy to my disciple. Let’s be kind to each other. To each other.

However, my disciple silently returned to his desk.

“Did you say page 110?”

He doesn’t even answer halfheartedly.

‘It seems he doesn’t want to treat me kindly. Not even willing to say empty words…’

[This is the timeline separator]

It was on the way home after class ended.

“Lady Yo.”

As I was walking in a half-dazed state, a familiar voice called out to me. When I turned around, as expected, Song Taegam was standing at the inner fork of the road.

As our eyes met, he approached with quick steps and said,

“His Majesty summons Lady Yo. Let’s go.”

His Majesty calls for Lady Yo too often.

With no choice in the matter, I reluctantly followed Song Taegam.

Entering the Emperor’s study, which had become somewhat familiar after several visits, I saw the Emperor standing in front of a bookshelf. He was standing and reading a book he was holding.

‘Why standing when there’s a chair?’

“I pay my respects to Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Not knowing the reason, I first paid my respects and then politely waited with my hands clasped for the Emperor to acknowledge me.

“…”

But was he reading some important part? The Emperor didn’t respond even after finishing a whole page. After calling me here himself.

He only raised his head after turning to the next page and folding the corner of the book.

“You’ve come.”

The Emperor looked at me as he placed the book with the folded corner on the edge of the desk.

I alternated between blankly receiving his gaze, looking at the floor, and then back at the Emperor again.

After a few breaths like this, the Emperor seemed to approach me, then looked down directly at my head and asked,

“Is it true?”

“Pardon?”

“Why aren’t you wearing the hair ornament I gave you? I thought you liked dressing up.”

How did you know that I like dressing up…?

“As it’s an item given by Your Majesty, I should treasure it carefully.”

Though highly doubtful, I answered with a bit of flattery mixed in.

The truth is that my disciple openly dislikes that hair ornament, it’s too ornate to wear casually, and I don’t know why the Emperor gave it, so it’s burdensome to use. But there’s no need to explain all this in detail.

Afterwards, I waited with my hands clasped for the Emperor to speak next. I thought he must have another reason for calling me, beyond just asking about the hair ornament.

But the Emperor didn’t continue speaking.

Finding this strange, I looked up to see the Emperor wearing an expression of clear dissatisfaction.

What? Don’t tell me he called me all the way here just to see if I was wearing the hair ornament?

My expression control must have slipped momentarily due to surprise.

The Emperor’s lips seemed to curl up as he walked towards the desk and said,

“The 9th Princess came to pay her respects and brought up the topic of you. That’s how I found out you weren’t wearing the hair ornament.”

Wait, how did the 9th Princess know about my hair ornament and report it to Your Majesty?

Forcibly suppressing the rising questions, I simply replied,

“I see.”

But my mind was in turmoil. The Emperor had sent a New Year’s gift in my name and given me a beautiful hair ornament. He even checks if I’m wearing it.

Does an emperor normally take such interest in his subject’s attire? Besides, how close of a relationship do we have…?

But I couldn’t voice these doubts out loud. Just then, a shadow appeared at my feet, and I saw that the Emperor, who I thought was going to his desk, had approached me again.

He stared at my face intently and said,

“I’d like to see you wearing it. Do you have class tomorrow as well?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Then, whether on your way to class or on your way back after finishing, wear the ornament and show it to me.”

The Emperor instructed me to withdraw.

I quickly paid my respects and descended the low steps, passing through several doors.

My heart was fluttering.

‘Doesn’t His Majesty seem to be showing too much interest in my hair? Is this okay?’

[This is the timeline separator]

The Empress scattered food to the large carp opening and closing their mouths.

Go Sanggung, holding the sack of carp food, watched the Empress’s expression carefully, and when the Empress sighed, she cautiously asked,

“Is it because of Gyobi-mama?”

Gyobi, the birth mother of the 1st Prince and 4th Princess, held a very stable position within the palace. The Emperor didn’t love her like a burning fire, but he consistently favored her.

Even with many younger and more beautiful concubines, the lustful Emperor periodically visited her with bouquets. People said she was the Emperor’s first love.

Even in the past fortnight, the Emperor had gone to her for four of those days.

“No.”

The Empress scattered the remaining carp food, dusted off her hands, and turned around.

A court lady standing next to Go Sanggung quickly wiped the Empress’s hands with a clean cloth she was holding.

“It’s because of Yo Lin Hwa.”

At the Empress’s words, Go Sanggung and the court lady looked at each other.

Go Sanggung asked,

“His Majesty did go to Lady Yo first among the new concubines. But is it enough for Your Majesty to be concerned about?”

“It’s not just Yo Lin Hwa alone that this Empress is concerned about. It’s the combination of Yo Lin Hwa, Yo Yohwa standing behind her, and the 13th Prince.”

What the Empress needed to be wary of in order to put her own daughter on the throne wasn’t just the most outstanding prince. It was ‘all’ the princes.

The 3rd Prince was sickly and would soon die, so there was no need to worry about him. She had managed to create a flaw in the 13th Prince’s marriage, so she could shake him off.

The Empress muttered as she walked towards her chambers,

“His Majesty is not yet of advanced age. Even if Yo Lin Hwa bears a prince and raises him fully, he will still be in his prime. If Yo Lin Hwa bears a prince, the 13th Prince and the Yo family will surely support that prince. It’s useless that I’ve pushed aside the 13th Prince.”

Go Sanggung brought warm tea to the Empress who had returned to her chambers.

The Empress continued her thoughts while warming her cold hands on the teacup.

Just then, a eunuch entered and informed the Empress with a strange expression,

“You know that magnolia hair ornament sent to His Majesty from Taewol? The one made of white jade that several ladies coveted.”

“Yes. His Majesty didn’t distribute it among the concubines but kept it aside. What about it?”

“It seems His Majesty gave it to Foreign Instructor Yo. Foreign Instructor Yo came to see His Majesty wearing it.”

Go Sanggung burst into laughter.

“His Majesty really likes to see that face a lot.”

In the past, the Emperor had also playfully given various accessories to handsome ministers and teased them to wear them.

The eunuch and court ladies laughed along.

However, the Empress, knowing that Yo Yohwa was actually a woman, did not laugh. The Empress recalled the time when the Emperor tried to match Yo Yohwa with Yo Lin Hwa instead of marrying her to the 13th Prince.

“Your Majesty?”

Go Sanggung, noticing the Empress’s expression, called out.

“What’s wrong?”

The Empress put down her teacup on the side table and said,

“We need to drive a wedge between Yo Yohwa and Yo Lin Hwa.”

“Pardon?”

The Empress curled her lips and instructed Go Sanggung.

“Take two suitable treasures and visit Yo Lin Hwa. Give one to Yo Lin Hwa and say it’s a gift from this Empress. The other is a gift for Yo Yohwa, so ask her to pass it on. While conveying the message, casually drop the story about His Majesty’s magnolia hair ornament.”

[This is the timeline separator]

When I visited him wearing the magnolia hair ornament, the Emperor smiled, raising both corners of his mouth crookedly. His dragon robe, draped diagonally over his shoulders, swayed precariously.

“It suits you well.”

The Emperor approached me step by step, then stood about two steps away and looked me over from various angles.

“It really suits you well.”

“I’m honored.”

I awkwardly paid my respects, but he didn’t seem to be listening to my words.

The Emperor slowly circled around me.

“You’re truly beautiful, Foreign Instructor Yo. I’ve never seen such a round head as yours.”

“I’m… honored?”

…Do you like the shape of my head?

As I stood there bewildered, the Emperor burst into laughter.

“It’s a jest.”

Ah.

“If I come across another ornament, I must give it to you again.”

“Is that a jest too?”

“No, this part is sincere.”

The Emperor seemed delighted. For reasons unknown to me.

But far from being delighted, I felt like I was walking a tightrope, so I bowed my head and refused as politely as possible so as not to offend the Emperor.

“This humble one is fine, Your Majesty. I already have many ornaments. My parents always scold me to stop adorning my hair so much.”

“Then I must give you more. The head of the Yo family surely can’t interfere with items given by me.”

After that, the Emperor praised a few more times about how well this ornament suited me, then said he was busy and told me to leave. His dismissal was so clean it was almost startling.

‘Did he really call me here just to see this?’

I bowed deeply and left the Emperor’s study.

[This is the timeline separator]

With every step I take, I can feel the strings of my hair ornament swaying freely. Perhaps due to the excessively ornate hair ornament, several passersby looked at my head.

I suppressed the urge to immediately remove the hair ornament and put it in my pocket.

The Emperor’s eyes and ears were all over the palace. I had to keep this damned ornament on my head at least until I reached the secluded area near Wolmugung.

The Emperor had told me to come see him wearing this. If I removed the ornament right after parting with him, he would be displeased.

‘But if I go to Wolmugung wearing this, my disciple will be displeased. He already disliked that I received this from the Emperor.’

I’ll take it off before entering Wolmugung.

I quickened my pace and walked on.

‘Is it because it’s midwinter? The path to Wolmugung isn’t properly landscaped to begin with, but it seems particularly desolate.’

But it was while I was walking briskly with determination.

When I had passed about half the front path to Wolmugung, I heard a voice calling, “Master.”

‘My disciple?’

Surprised, I turned around to see my disciple standing motionless in the shadows at the bottom of the wall. He was holding a long pipe that wasn’t even lit, staring at me with wide eyes.

“Your Highness? Why are you there?”

I called out in confusion, but my disciple didn’t answer.

Instead, he slowly approached me and alternately looked at the hair ornament and me with a strange gaze.

My disciple was sometimes strange to begin with, but now he was even stranger.

“Your Highness?”

Seeing that, I became frightened and lightly grasped my disciple’s arm.

My disciple quickly stepped back as if burned.

“?”

A cold wind blew, and the strings attached to the ornament swayed freely. Even the hair I had half-tied to attach the ornament blocked my vision at will.

I couldn’t even see my disciple’s expression clearly, so I raised my hand and brushed all the stray hairs back. When I looked up after doing so, my disciple’s expression had darkened even more.