She opened her eyes when sunlight began to fill the room.

Hearing her stirring, Yeori entered with cold water.

“Please drink this. Your throat must be dry from sleeping so long.”

“Why am I like this lately? I’m still tired even after sleeping. You should have woken me up.”

“The master told us not to wake you. You’ve been overexerting yourself lately, and you don’t look well.”

“I have been feeling rather weak recently.”

“Please take a break from horseback riding for a while. You might get seriously ill.”

For some time now, she had lost her appetite, felt tired, and only wanted to sleep. She may have indeed been pushing herself too hard.

The prince had told her to take it slowly, but she couldn’t help being ambitious.

She wanted to learn quickly and ride a horse on her own.

“Is there anything you’d like to eat? I can make it for you.”

Yeori asked carefully as she tidied up the bedding.

“Well, I don’t particularly want anything. Oh, dried vegetables? Suddenly I’m craving dried vegetable chips.”

“Please wait a moment. I’ll prepare some food you might like.”

Yeori hurried out to prepare the food.

It was the end of summer, but it had been raining frequently.

Eun Seol always fell ill once the summer rainy season began.

It was partly due to her childhood memory of being trapped in a storehouse, but according to the head servant, it was also because it had rained heavily like this when her mother gave birth to her.

They said her mother fell ill for days after giving birth to her, unable to even breastfeed her child before passing away.

Perhaps that’s why she gets so sick in the summer.

This summer, it’s been raining especially often.

The rain that started in the morning continued endlessly, as if intending to create a lake in the courtyard.

Sitting by the window and smelling the earthy scent carried by the rain, she realized something.

At some point, rainy days had stopped being frightening. On rainy days, the prince was always by her side.

Perhaps that’s why she could sleep peacefully even on rainy days now.

As the rain began to subside, Eom Sang Gung entered carrying something.

“The rainy season is lasting quite long, even though summer is ending.”

“Indeed. I wish autumn would come soon.”

“Don’t stay by the window too long. It would be terrible if you caught a cold when you’re already feeling weak.”

Eom Sang Gung closed the window. Then she held out the small tray she was carrying.

“Here are some dried vegetable chips. Yeori worked hard to make them for you. Please try some.”

She unconsciously licked her lips at the sight of various dried vegetables arranged on the tray.

Why, of all foods, did she suddenly crave dried vegetable chips?

“I heard you often fall ill around this time every year. Shall I prepare some medicine for you?”

“It’s not serious enough for medicine, just a lack of appetite.”

“If there’s anything you want to eat, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“I will.”

She picked up a piece of dried vegetable but couldn’t bring herself to eat it, just staring at it.

Why were tears suddenly welling up?

She didn’t understand why her heart ached so much and she felt suffocated.

Tears fell for no apparent reason.

The dried vegetable fell weakly from her hand.

She covered her mouth with both hands and sobbed.

She missed her.

She missed the mother who had given birth to her alone on a rainy day.

When she was very young, people told her that her mother had died from complications during childbirth, so that’s what she believed.

As she grew older, she realized the truth from Soon Young’s curses and harsh words.

Her mother hadn’t died giving birth to her, but had taken her own life after being driven out by her father.

How unjust it must have been.

It was already heartbreaking to live unloved by her husband, but how miserable must she have felt being driven from her home because of another woman?

She couldn’t even begin to imagine.

She desperately missed the mother she had never seen, who never even appeared in her dreams.

Once, when she was young, the head servant had muttered to herself:

Her mother, who couldn’t even keep water down due to severe morning sickness, could only eat dried vegetable chips.

Even then, on days when she couldn’t eat because of her father’s scrutiny, the head servant would secretly bring them to her room.

When she heard that, she cried all night.

Her poor mother must have cried all night too.

Eun Seol suddenly burst into tears while eating a perilla leaf chip, sobbing as if overcome with sorrow.

Her summers were always so painful and difficult.

Startled, Eom Sang Gung quickly approached and embraced her, patting her back.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I just… I just started crying.”

Eom Sang Gung asked no more questions and simply held her until she stopped crying.

A memory from when she was five years old came to mind.

Then too, the head servant had held the child who was exhausted from crying.

The child who had stopped crying was happy holding the dried vegetable chips the head servant had given her.

With a perilla leaf chip in her mouth, the child was sensitive to even the slightest sound, constantly watching her surroundings.

The child was always lonely and hungry.

The head servant would secretly bring her food, avoiding the eyes of her stepmother who didn’t feed her properly.

– Young miss, is it delicious?

– Yes. Do you want to try some too?

– No, thank you. Please eat a lot, young miss.

The head servant handed a small pouch to the child who was munching on the chips.

Inside were various types of dried vegetable chips.

The child happily received the pouch from the head servant.

“Keep these in your room and eat them with your meals. And remember, this is our secret.”

“Okay!”

“Your birth mother used to make dried vegetable chips often. She loved them so much when she was pregnant with you… My dear child, how you resemble your mother.”

“But why did mother leave me? Did she hate me?”

“No, not at all. Your mother loved you so much. I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have let her go that day… *sob*”

At that time, the child couldn’t understand what the head servant was saying.

She didn’t hate the mother who had abandoned her.

She simply wondered why her mother had left her behind if she loved her.

As she grew older, she learned that she shouldn’t speak about her mother, and that what she knew wasn’t the whole truth.

Her mother hadn’t left of her own accord, but had been driven out and met her death in an unavoidable situation.

* * *

Upon arriving at Eun Wol Gwan, Lee Woon saw Kim Hee Gyeom coming out with a young man.

Hee Gyeom greeted him first, then turned to the man beside him to excuse himself.

“Jung Gyori. I’m sorry, but you go ahead.”

“Yes, Vice Minister. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The young man bowed and walked away.

“I thought you were decent, but you visit pleasure houses too. You’re just like any other man after all.”

“I didn’t come here with the intention you’re thinking of, Your Highness.”

“What am I thinking?”

“I’m not in the mood for wordplay. Isn’t it time for you to change, Your Highness? Aren’t you ashamed to face Eun Seol while still indulging in wine and women?”

Eun Seol. Kim Hee Gyeom had just mentioned Eun Seol’s name.

How dare he speak the name of the prince’s wife, and in front of the prince himself.

He didn’t mind Hee Gyeom speaking carelessly to him, but the moment Eun Seol’s name left Hee Gyeom’s lips, anger boiled inside him.

He knew this was exactly the reaction Hee Gyeom wanted.

Seeing through his intentions, Lee Woon managed to feign ignorance and let out a hollow laugh.

“I, too, didn’t come here with the meaning you’re thinking of, so don’t worry.”

“Please don’t hurt that child. She’s a delicate person.”

“Ha, why are there so many people who don’t know their place? Whether I hurt or love that person is none of your business, Vice Minister.”

His eyes were cold as he looked at Hee Gyeom. He stopped walking and turned back.

“Let me warn you, don’t casually speak that person’s name. It disgusts me.”

He walked past Kim Hee Gyeom and entered the private quarters deep inside Eun Wol Gwan.

Seated in the inner room of the private quarters, Lee Woon emptied cup after cup of alcohol.

The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he felt.

Vice Minister Kim Hee Gyeom, he had disliked him from the start.

He was displeased when he heard he was Eun Seol’s painting teacher, and annoyed by his pretense of familiarity.

He had been anxious that Hee Gyeom might reveal his true intentions and ask Yoon Tae Soo for Eun Seol’s hand.

That was why he had rushed the wedding.

He couldn’t bear to let Eun Seol go to Hee Gyeom.

“Ha, how dare he casually speak her name in front of me. I really can’t stand him.”

Lee Woon muttered to himself as he roughly set down his cup.

“My lord, has something upset you? Or have you perhaps forgotten that I’m here?”

Kim Woo Seop, the manager of Tae Seong trading company sitting across from him, emptied his cup and stared at him.

Seeing him continually emptying his cup like an angry person, Woo Seop changed the subject.

“By the way, did the madam like the gift I sent?”

“Gift? Ah… I haven’t given it to her yet.”

“Why are you still holding onto it? Could it be that you like such things?”

There was a faint hint of amusement in Woo Seop’s voice.

“What do you mean ‘like such things’? I’ve just been busy and forgot.”

“I went to great lengths to obtain that for you, my lord. It’s something only used in the Qing imperial court.”

“If it’s that precious, why don’t you give it to your own wife?”

“How can you say such a frightening thing? She’s already overflowing with affection, I’d be dead.”

Woo Seop shook his head and waved his hands dismissively.

When the wine bottle was half empty, So Hyang entered carrying a chicken dish.

“If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared in advance. Please enjoy.”

“Such a delicacy, indeed So Hyang is the only one who thinks of us.”

Woo Seop picked up a piece of the chicken dish placed on the table and licked his lips.

As So Hyang, who had been sitting quietly, moved to pour wine into the empty cup, he picked up the bottle first and filled the empty cup.

Whenever he came to Eun Wol Gwan, he always drank in the private inner room.

Though he often had drinking parties, he never had courtesans sit beside him to pour drinks.

So Hyang picking up the wine bottle meant she had something urgent to say.

“Seong Won Gun and Minister Lee are here.”

As expected, his guess was not wrong.