The king held a sip of chrysanthemum-scented tea in his mouth.
“What’s this sudden talk about?”
Hong Woo Geon, sitting before the king, placed a chrysanthemum flower in his teacup and poured hot water.
The tightly closed chrysanthemum slowly bloomed, revealing its elegant form. Watching this scene, the king spoke.
“Isn’t it time you had a fox-like wife and rabbit-like children?”
“I have no interest in fox-like women.”
Towards Hong Woo Geon, who answered indifferently as if talking about someone else, the king spoke again.
“Why? Are you interested in manly women?”
Hong Woo Geon, who was lifting his teacup, froze in place.
“Where did you hear such talk?”
“Are you trying to deny it?”
The king continued as if he could see right through Hong Woo Geon.
“How can you expect people not to know when you’re spilling your emotions everywhere?”
“Was I doing that?”
Hong Woo Geon, who had been caressing the edge of his teacup, opened his palm.
His palm, once blistered, was now full of newly formed calluses.
He thought about Jwa Woo as many times as the number and thickness of those calluses.
When he realized that his feelings for Jwa Woo were love, the confusion he felt then came rushing back.
He spent countless sleepless nights in the chaos of emotions that no one had taught him about.
And when he finally understood the nature of his feelings, he made up his mind.
He wanted to make that woman his own.
Moreover, he wished.
To become the only man that woman desired.
“Since when?”
Stories of others’ love are always interesting.
Curiosity sparkled in the king’s eyes as he rested his chin on his hand, looking at Hong Woo Geon.
“Why would one who should be a wise ruler be interested in the love of a common man?”
“Even a king is human. How can a king who has no interest in human affairs be a good king? So tell me. Since when did you start loving that woman?”
“Well…”
Since when had it been?
Was it from that moment when he accidentally kissed Jwa Woo?
Or was it when she mistakenly came to his room?
If not then… was it that night when he kidnapped her, who was Hwa Seop Ja of Myeongye-bang?
The moments he had met Jwa Woo quickly flashed through Hong Woo Geon’s mind.
All of those felt like a dream he was having with his eyes open.
A smile naturally formed on Hong Woo Geon’s lips, as it was a happy dream he didn’t want to wake up from.
“My, my, my kin has fallen hard.”
“Can’t Your Majesty pretend not to see?”
“At first, I was going to do that. But if I left it alone, it seemed like only time would be wasted.”
“Why are you going this far? Your Majesty, don’t you have mountains of other things to do?”
“What many things does a figurehead king have to do.”
“There you go again with that bad habit of self-deprecation. Didn’t you hear? The people are praising Your Majesty highly for the recent incident in Yaseong County.”
“It was something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. If I had been a proper king, such a thing wouldn’t have occurred.”
“Is becoming a good king so easy? How about it? If it’s too hard now…”
The king quickly caught the middle of Hong Woo Geon’s sentence.
“If it’s hard, what, are you going to play king in my place?”
“If you wish, why not.”
“Forget it. Let’s be satisfied with just one person living as a fool. So you, live smartly and find your own happiness.”
“I feel like I’m being too selfish.”
“It’s okay to be selfish sometimes.”
“Your Majesty…”
“This is a royal command. From now on, Inspector Hong Woo Geon shall only think about being happy.”
“…”
“So catch that woman, before someone else does.”
The king drank the remaining tea in one gulp.
Then he stood up.
“Are you leaving?”
“I’ve enlightened one foolish subject, now I must go check on other subjects.”
“Wait. I’ll soon make Your Majesty a true king.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“Even if it costs me my life, I’ll make Your Majesty an absolute king.”
“Why does everyone make such bloody vows before me? Is that what being a king is? Is it a position one climbs to by stepping on others’ blood?”
“It’s because you’re a precious being who must stand in the highest place.”
“Then I should now return to that most noble place.”
The king turned and descended the pavilion steps.
But suddenly he came back to his spot.
“I just remembered something I had forgotten…”
“…?”
“This.”
The king handed a book to Hong Woo Geon.
“Give this to that woman. You’ll probably see her smiling face.”
With those final words, the king left the pavilion and disappeared into the distance of the mansion.
Hong Woo Geon bowed deeply towards the king’s retreating figure.
The weight of life that those small shoulders had to bear was truly heavy.
It’s hard, it’s tough, as a child he used to throw tantrums quite a bit.
But as he grew older, no more childish whining came from the king’s mouth.
Every time Hong Woo Geon saw the back of the king silently walking the path of his given fate, his heart grew heavy.
At age 8, on the day the previous king passed away, if it had been himself who entered the palace, it would have been Hong Woo Geon, not the king, disappearing with such a lonely back.
“I’m sorry.”
Hong Woo Geon muttered the words he had repeated thousands, tens of thousands of times to himself.
Then he turned his gaze to the book the king had left behind. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
The book the king had handed to Hong Woo Geon was…
The 1836 diary of the Office of the Inspector-General.
It was the very book Jwa Woo had been looking for.
[This is the timeline separator]Cho Byung Doo frowned at the servant bowing his head before him.
He was displeased with the news the servant had brought.
“Say it again. What happened?”
“It is said that His Majesty the King, who went on a secret journey to Paju, caught an evil criminal who had poisoned the villagers.”
“How can a king do such a thing?”
“Although we haven’t grasped the detailed situation yet, voices praising His Majesty can be heard everywhere among the people.”
“Oh no…”
Deep wrinkles formed on Cho Byung Doo’s forehead.
This was not what he wanted.
The king Cho Byung Doo wanted was not a being to be praised and to rule, but a puppet that would move according to his will.
When the 8-year-old young king ascended to the throne, the Queen Dowager acted as regent on behalf of the young king. At that time, the power of the Andong Kim clan, the maternal relatives of the Queen Dowager, was sky-high.
But in the year when the king turned 16, he began to rule personally, and by extensively employing his mother’s family, the Pungyang Cho clan, he checked the power of the Andong Kim clan.
As a result, Joseon, which had been the country of the Andong Kim clan, was divided into the country of the Pungyang Cho clan and the Andong Kim clan.
However, the Queen Dowager was the setting sun, and the king’s mother was the rising sun. The filial king gave more power to the Pungyang Cho clan following his mother’s advice.
It was largely due to the influence of the king’s mother that Cho Byung Doo had been able to commit many tyrannical acts and remain unharmed. The king’s filial piety, not wanting to upset his mother’s mood, also played a big role.
But lately, the king’s movements have been unusual.
It reminded him of that time 8 years ago.
The king of that time, who was appointing new figures to weaken the power of not only the Andong Kim clan but also the Pungyang Cho clan and to become a true monarch.
If the treason incident hadn’t occurred then, this Joseon would have become the king’s country, not the country of the maternal relatives.
But a treason incident occurred at that time, and using it as an excuse, the power of the maternal relatives was able to prevail again.
Cho Byung Doo asked his servant.
“Who was involved in this incident?”
“I hear that the secret royal inspectors were involved in the incident.”
“The secret royal inspectors?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Is the king trying to gather them again?”
Cho Byung Doo stared into the void beyond the window.
After being lost in thought for a moment, he turned his head back to the servant.
“Send someone to Tamra.”
“By Tamra, you mean?”
“Tell them to report every single move of his without exception.”
“I will do so.”
Even after the servant left, Cho Byung Doo couldn’t move easily.
Like grains of sand slipping through his fingers, the king was gradually escaping from their grasp.
He needed to know who was behind the king.
Surely… they haven’t started their activities again, have they?
[This is the timeline separator]The first day of the vacation was spent just sleeping.
She didn’t think so herself, but it seems Jwa Woo’s body had been quite tense all this time.
The moment she entered her room after returning home, sleep came crashing down.
Eon Nyeon woke her up in between, telling her to eat and sleep, but her eyelids were so heavy she couldn’t get up at all.
After sleeping off all that accumulated fatigue, she woke up to find it was already the second day of her vacation.
She couldn’t waste the five-day vacation so fruitlessly.
Jwa Woo went out to the streets to read the books she hadn’t been able to read.
When she visited the rental bookstore, the owner recognized her. He asked why she hadn’t come by often and recited a list of newly arrived books to her.
She chose the most popular book among them and started reading it right there on the spot.
When she suddenly came to her senses, purple twilight was already settling in the sky.
“I’ll get scolded by the old lady again.”
Jwa Woo, tucking the unfinished book into her bosom, hurriedly left the bookstore and headed home.
She passed through the bustling market streets and entered an alley leading to Namchon.
Suddenly, she stopped and looked back.
She couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone had been following her since she left the bookstore.
Instead of going straight home, Jwa Woo changed direction to a nearby alley.
Hiding in a corner of a dead-end alley, sure enough, she saw a shadow following her.
The shadow looked around, seemingly searching for her who had suddenly disappeared.
Jwa Woo waited for the shadow to let its guard down and approached from behind. She held the book from her bosom rolled up like a stick.
One step, two steps…
Jwa Woo advanced towards the shadow silently.
__________
Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up! (Female-dominant)
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead