Kim Taehyung and Seorin left Lee Jonghyeok's manor in the horse carriage.
Seorin noticed Kim Taehyung looked a little deflated. "Tae Tae, what did you talk to him about?"
Kim Taehyung stretched his back. "About imperial court duties."
Seorin didn't force Taehyung to tell her the truth. Besides, she could guess there was nothing else for them to talk about apart from Chae Young and stealing the throne.
The night sky was dark like black ink when they returned to Kim Taehyung's manor.
Seorin was tired from a tense day. A maid prepared a warm bath for her and she immediately walked to the chamber.
Taehyung walked in the direction of Yoongi's chamber.
Yoongi was about to take off his clothes to sleep but he heard someone barged into his chamber. He turned around and his outer robe was grabbed by Taehyung's hand.
"Hyung, You delivered the note!" Taehyung said coldly.
Yoongi heard Lee Jonghyeok's messenger request Taehyung and Seorin to attend a banquet and he knew he couldn't deny the truth and anticipated Taehyung's temper.
Yoongi pushed Kim Taehyung's hand away from his outer robe and straightened his outer robe. "What's the point of asking if you know?"
Kim Taehyung saw Yoongi's calm state even after behaving recklessly, it made him angry enough to laugh. He sat on a chair and silently looked at Yoongi.
"It's your fault for being slow," Yoongi said. "I could only borrow someone else's hand."
Out of Lee Jonghyeok's children, Lee Jonghyeok loved Consort Lee most. If Lee Jonghyeok knew the empress killed Consort Lee, it was certain Lee Jonghyeok would avenge his daughter's death."
"You're a good schemer," Kim Taehyung praised. "It's a pity you need to walk a wide circle. When you want to borrow a dagger to kill a person, someone else would also want to borrow a dagger to kill a person. Hyung, you gave Lee Jonghyeok an opportunity to force me to cooperate with him to deal with the empress."
Yoongi suppressed a little guilt. "That's good. You should cooperate with Lee Jonghyeok to deal with the empress."
Kim Taehyung rubbed his temples. "In the past when you wanted me to cooperate with Lee Jonghyeok you didn't know about his scheme. But now you know about the Seasonless poison, you still want me to cooperate with them... also, you should know my personality. I hate other people forcing me to do something. I'll avenge Consort Lee's death, but I'll not allow anyone to cause trouble for me!"
Yoongi took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter if Lee Jonghyeok uses you. Can't you use him? Don't you care that he sees you as a puppet? With your brilliant strategic mind even if Lee Jonghyeok is intelligent, he wouldn't know who'll scare him to death."
"You want me to risk being exposed by association?" Taehyung asked.
"Why not?" Yoongi asked.
"I hate taking any risks," Kim Taehyung said.
"Honestly?" Yoongi asked. "If you hate taking any risks then in the past why did you save me?"
The atmosphere in the chamber became tense.
That year Yoongi's family property was taken and his family members were killed. Taehyung saved him from an assassination attempt and hid his existence by changing the message that had reached the empress. After that incident, Yoongi always wanted to oppose the imperial court to avenge his family.
"You say you don't care about being emperor," Yoongi shouted with a furious expression. "But why did you save a man like me who was already convicted as a criminal by his own state? Kim Taehyung, you're too cautious, you wouldn't save me because I saved your life. You saved me because of the gold and silver coins that my household hid. If you have them in your hands then you can steal the throne. Isn't it??"
Yoongi kept those thoughts in his heart for a long time. He truly wanted Taehyung to answer his questions directly.
"Even if you saved me because of Min's riches I'm willing to give them to you with my own hands," Yoongi said. "As long as you help me deal with the empress' people."
The chamber was eerily silent. Yoongi couldn't see through Taehyung's thoughts.
Suddenly the sounds of raindrops pitter-pattered on the outside.
A gust of wind blew rain into the chamber through the window and onto Taehyung's face. He gently wiped it off his face, stood, and closed the window.
"What if I say that I truly saved you because you saved me?" Taehyung asked.
Yoongi wasted his energy to decipher if Kim Taehyung was sincere. Taehyung was one of the rare people he knew who was an expert at concealing their true thoughts.
"Also, everyone in your household died," Taehyung said. "Don't forget, you're Min Yoongi, whose family even able to terrorize the empress."
Yoongi stood still in the same spot for a long time. Taehyung's tone and expression were gentle, but he didn't know why it made him feel pressured to concede.
"I have something else I want to tell you," Yoongi said and coughed.
"What is it?" Taehyung asked.
"I examined the Blue lotus seed poison in the incense sticks more carefully," Yoongi said. "I discovered the blue lotus seed poison in your wife's body doesn't need half a month to be released. Seven days is enough."
Taehyung slit his eyes, grabbed Yoongi's collar, and punched Yoongi's chest. "You purposely lied to me!"
Yoongi rubbed his sore chest. "Indeed your wife is someone special to you."
Taehyung smiled sincerely. "Of course."
"It explains why you schemed against Lady Bo-ah that year," Yoongi said. "Honestly, I want to know how she died."
"Wait until you die, hyung" Taehyung said. "You can meet her in hell and ask her how she died."
Kim Taehyung pushed the door and left the chamber.
Eight years ago the emperor arranged an engagement between Kim Taehyung and Bo-ah.
After Taehyung and Bo-ah's betrothal news was announced a celebratory banquet was held in the palace. Kim Taehyung initiated a conversation with Bo-ah but she was cold toward him. After a brief period of interactions with her, he realized why she was always cold toward him – she wanted to be empress and she couldn't be empress if she married to an unfavored prince.
After Taehyung understood the situation, he happily kept his distance from Bo-ah. Then one day while he and her father were discussing imperial court matters in the palace, they saw Bo-ah trying to seduce Hoseok... a few days later Bo-ah died of a mysterious illness.
Taehyung remembered what Bo-ah's father said to him at Bo-ah's funeral, "Thank you fifth prince for not exposing Bo-ah in front of the emperor, in the future fifth prince can ask for my help if needed."
Taehyung walked on the wet and muddy path to his and Seorin's chamber. He didn't tell his Yoongi hyung that he honestly wasn't involved in Bo-ah's death and didn't know what happened to her until her father said those words to him at the funeral. Initially, he wanted to amicably break the betrothal. He didn't expect her father would force her to kill herself.
Taehyung thought about his Third brother. His third brother, who was once a little sunshine, gradually darkens after a traumatic incident and because of his mother's ill nature, only sees two kinds of women in the world. One is women that could be used and the other are women that couldn't be used. It was a pity Bo-ah in his third brother's eyes couldn't be used. The third brother's heart never grieved Bo-ah's death.
Taehyung pushed the chamber door open, stepped to the bed, and hugged Seorin who was laying on the bed.
Taehyung was happy he only needed to wait another four days to consummate their marriage.
Kim Taehyung kissed Seorin's cheek. "Rinnie, if you washed your face then why is there makeup on your face?"
Seorin poked her tongue out and laughed playfully.
Taehyung understood the reason why Seorin wore makeup to bed.
Taehyung pulled her closer to him and whispered in her ear. "Rinnie, if you haven't washed your face then let's bathe together."
Seorin's face immediately paled, she grabbed the side pole of her bed.
"Ah!" Seorin cried out.
Seorin would rather die than let go of a pole of the bed.
Taehyung saw Seorin pitifully bite her lips and he let go of her. "It's alright if we don't bathe together, but you need to be good and wash the makeup off your face."
Seorin jumped off the bed and ran to wash her face.
Taehyung shook his head and smiled happily after seeing her childishness, then he stood and stepped to the vanity table. He got rid of all the makeup to make it hard for his wife to wear makeup in the future.
Seorin returned to the bed, laid down, and rolled over so she couldn't see the face of someone who deserved a beating.
"Rinnie, if you sleep in that position," Taehyung said teasingly. "Your chest will be flattened."
Seorin played dead and slips into dreamland.
That night she dreamt a beautiful dream. But a day passed then another day passed and she noticed Taehyung's eyes gradually became more devious as though... soon she couldn't escape.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taehyung understood the saying a day equals a year.
During the nights Taehyung fisted his hands and during the early mornings, his intuition warned him Yoongi was omitting something from him.
"Yoongi hyung, is today is that day?" Taehyung asked.
Yoongi glared and silently cursed Taehyung. Taehyung woke him up too early in the mornings.
Taehyung smiled cheekily, he had never seen Yoongi silently holding back words to that extent.
Yoongi passed Taehyung a small bottle.
"What is this?" Taehyung asked.
"Prevents pregnancy," Yoongi said.
Suddenly the small bottle felt too heavy in Taehyung's hand and his face darkened.
"If you don't care about the throne then you're not impatient to have children," Yoongi said.
They both knew Seorin's life would be endangered if she was pregnant with his child. Taehyung put the small bottle in a pouch.
"I forgot to tell you the remedy will be harmful to the body if used over a long period," Yoongi said.
"You've been playing with me!" Taehyung said.
Yoongi didn't care about Taehyung's resentful eyes of daggers.
Taehyung left Yoongi's chamber in an angry state. When he returned to his and Seorin's chamber, he saw Seorin rubbing her neck and his anger disappeared. he remembered he was too excited in the middle of the night and give her a hickey.
"Tae Tae, you dare smile!" Seorin said. "Tonight is the harvest festival banquet. What am I going to wear to hide this?"
Seorin picked up a spoonful of chicken soup and ate it but she was too angry to taste anything.
"Wear a dress with a high collar," Taehyung said.
Taehyung then sat next to Seorin at the table and he ate half of her bowl of chicken soup.
"Taehyung!! that's my bowl of chicken soup," Seorin said angrily.
Taehyung licked his lips and smiled like a demon. "So What?"
Taehyung's gesture reminds her about him kissing her and she blushed. What gentle prince? If Taehyung was a prince, how could he shamelessly eat her half-eaten bowl of chicken soup?
"Fifth prince, mistress, Lady Han's messenger delivered a chest," a maid said from outside the chamber.
Taehyung accepted the chest from the maid and showed it to Seorin. Lady Han was the best dressmaker in the imperial city. He asked Lady Han to make a heavenly dress for Seorin. He opened the chest and the hanbok inside satisfied his request.
"Rinnie, come here and see if this hanbok fits," Taehyung said.
"Is this for me?" Seorin asked.
Taehyung laughed. "Do you think it's for me?"
Seorin's shaky hands picked up the light blue hanbok that shone like stars. She was overwhelmed by awe, she had never seen such a beautiful hanbok like it before.
"This is the first dress from me," Taehyung said. "In the future, I'll give you many dresses."
Seorin raised her head and looked at Taehyung suspiciously.
"Quickly go change," Taehyung said. "You're wearing this hanbok to tonight's harvest festival banquet."
Seorin happily ran to the screen to change into the hanbok and the warmth from her happiness itched Taehyung's heart.
"In the past didn't I promise you one day I would give you the most beautiful dress in the world?" Taehyung asked.
The twelve-year-old Seorin wasn't the same as the six-year-old Seorin who only knew how to eat, play and sleep. The twelve-year-old Seorin slowly pass by the dressmaker's shop in Daegu and admired the beautiful hanbok fabrics. But her mother never accepted her father's silver coins so all her hanboks could only be ordinary.
At that time Taehyung was only given a small monthly allowance from the palace, but it was used to build good connections. He didn't have enough money to buy Seorin beautiful hanboks and he could only promise her, "one day I'll give you the most beautiful dress in the world."
Of course, Seorin would deny she loved beautiful dresses, "who would want a beautiful dress?"
Seorin couldn't believe she finally wore a heavenly dress. She turned around and saw Taehyung behind her.
"Tae Tae, why are you standing here?" Seorin asked.
"You don't need to be shy," Taehyung said. "You look like a fairy".
Goosebumps surfaced on Seorin's whole body. "Tae Tae, did you ask a dressmaker to make this dress, especially for me?"
Taehyung nodded his head, and show his puppy eyes.
"Tae Tae, then how did you know my body measurements?" Seorin asked.
Taehyung waved his hands. "It is my intuition, besides that, I'm your husband, Why wouldn't I know your body measurements?"
"Go to your grave!" Seorin immediately shouted.
Taehyung laughed shamelessly. Of course, he would know Seorin's body measurements after measuring one of her dresses.
Seorin calmed her temper, stepped in front of the screen, and sat next to Taehyung.
"Tae Tae, why did you give me a dress?" Seorin asked.
"I was scared you would throw away all your ugly dresses," He said.
"Tae Tae, you're too generous," Seorin mocked.
"Of course, your husband is always generous," Taehyung said with his cheeky boxy smile.
"But... this hanbok must be expensive," Seorin said.
Seorin knew Lady Han's dresses were the most expensive dresses in the imperial city. At the banquet in the palace more than a month ago, Sang-Hee wore a hanbok made by Lady Han and it was almost expensive as half of the prime minister's yearly allowance. She only needed to glance at the hanbok she wore to know that it was more expensive than the hanbok Sang-Hee wore that day.
"Rinnie, are you sad for your husband's lost gold coins?" Taehyung asked. "You don't need to be sad. As long as you're happy, your husband is willing to lose all his property."
Seorin suspected Taehyung was secretly rich. She shook her head. What property? Taehyung had little property to lose.