🚨 Warning: This chapter includes depictions of non-consensual sexual actions under unequal power dynamics. Please remain mindful of this as you read. If you feel uncomfortable, do not hesitate to stop reading. 🚨
After changing clothes and freshening up again before dawn had properly broken, I was summoned back to the palace.
General Hunmu took meticulous care of me. Since I couldn’t hide the fresh scratch on my wrist, he told me that if the king asked, I should say I got it while finding my way through the forest.
He seemed very loyal to the king, so the fact that he readily told me to lie made me feel like he cared about me a lot. But if I let myself hope because of that and then got disappointed, I would end up resenting him, so I tried to just accept things as they were.
Though I looked fine on the outside, my body was still weighed down by the aftereffects of jumping into the waterfall the night before.
When I arrived in front of the king’s bedchamber and saw General Hunmu standing there, the muscles that had just begun to relax from tension stiffened again.
Even before seeing his face, just by standing in front of the door, the chill in the air clung to me like barnacles, as if gnawing at my flesh. The king was truly a strange man.
Creak.
The door opened, and just one day after running away, I walked back into the king’s bedchamber. As soon as I entered, I unconsciously looked toward the bed and felt my lower abdomen tense.
After a night I never wanted, being dragged out by the maids before I even had a chance to see my own face felt like the worst kind of humiliation a woman could endure.
To think I would have to come back like this… if I wasn’t careful, a deep sigh would escape me.
“Your Majesty, I apologise for coming so early in the morning. I have brought the woman.”
Even when told that ‘the woman’ had been brought, the king only glanced down briefly and seemed to be merely doing his duty, showing little interest in me.
It felt like he didn’t even look my way. I had to wash up and change clothes despite my unwell body, just to stand before a king like him, and thinking about that made me angry.
But as soon as I heard his voice, that anger quickly sank, and I couldn’t even straighten my posture.
"Where did you find her?"
"She was lost and wandering in the forest."
"In the forest?"
At the king’s deliberately slow repetition of ‘In the forest?’ I tensed slightly because it was a lie. I thought I could sense a similar atmosphere from General Hunmu as well, and I swallowed hard.
“I found her on the hill behind Baekgol Road.”
The king remained silent for a moment without replying.
Not knowing how he would react, I kept silently repeating to myself, ‘hill behind Baekgol Road,’ ‘hill behind Baekgol Road,’ worried that my words might differ from General Hunmu’s.
“You said you’d find her before dawn, yet you've only brought her back now in the morning."
“I apologise, Your Majesty. Due to my lack of ability, I made you wait.”
“It’s fine. If anything, it served as a chance to prove that this is the extent of your ability — so it’s fortunate, isn’t it?”
‘How could anyone say such a thing?!’
But instead, General Hunmu bowed so low at the king’s words that his forehead nearly touched the floor.
Only then did I notice the slight redness and swelling on the side of his neck.
I wondered if it was from trying to save me, and my expression slipped — but when I felt that chilling gaze turn my way, I hurriedly looked away.
But had I let my guard down too much?
In that moment, I heard the sound of the king’s footsteps drawing closer to Hunmu and me.
"Ha!"
The moment his footsteps stopped, my jaw was sharply lifted, and I came face to face with the king, his eyes slightly bloodshot.
Eyes devoid of emotion or warmth.
That’s right. The reason I was tense and breathless as soon as I stood in front of the door was because of those eyes.
"Even with me right in front of you, the way you look at Hunmu beside you is so tender."
"...Uh…"
"I heard General Hunmu came to find you alone, without even his subordinates — did the two of you even share affection?"
"No, Your Majesty! How dare I!"
Tuk!
“!”
When General Hunmu spoke up on my behalf, as I couldn’t say a single word properly, the king swiftly grabbed his sword at his waist and pressed the hilt firmly against General Hunmu’s neck.
Seeing the king suddenly pressing down on the red, swollen spot I had been staring at in surprise, my mouth instinctively fell open in shock.
But although the pain must have been severe, General Hunmu gritted his teeth and held back his groan.
Instead, a groan escaped from my parted lips.
“I’m not asking you, Hunmu. You speak. Did you even share affection?"
“…Uh… ah…”
"Seeing that you can't answer, it seems I'm right."
"Ah... not at all!"
“...”
“Sometimes, I have trouble understanding the language used here... Um... If you are asking whether we shared affection in the sense of feelings between a man and a woman, then... absolutely not... I went out feeling frustrated and got lost in the forest... He came looking for me, and I wondered if that was when he got the wound on his neck... That’s why.”
"So?"
"If it's because of me... I’m sorry for what happened, and that’s why I looked at him apologetically.”
“Then you should feel even more apologetic.”
"Pardon...?"
“He said he would find you before dawn, but since he failed to keep that promise, it is only right that he be punished. So, from now on, the punishment I will give is because of your own wrongdoing."
・・・・・
“Impose sahal.”
At the king’s single command, the attendants outside took General Hunmu away.
Not knowing what ‘sahal’ meant, I stood there dumbfounded and just watched.
Until he left, General Hunmu showed proper respect to the king, and I didn’t dare look at him.
However, from the heavy expressions of the attendants taking him away, I realised that ‘sahal’ was one of the punishments he was to receive.
The muscle pain I still felt with every movement reminded me of the gratitude I owed to General Hunmu, who cared for me the night before.
Left alone with the king, my expression quickly darkened.
“Sahal... what is that?”
Summoning my courage, I asked the king.
Then, the king, who had slightly bent down and was looking at me steadily, lifted the corner of his mouth just a little.
His eyes were far from smiling, but that faint curl of his lips was chilling, like a grim reaper who came to take someone away.
I never thought a person who could smile like that actually existed.
"Sa [死]: to die, Hal [轄]: to govern."
‘To die’ as in death, and ‘to govern’ as in to rule? Did he mean 'to rule over death?'
Unlike the blazing sun yesterday, the king’s bedchamber was as dark as late afternoon on a morning heavy with rain-laden clouds.
"It means the person could die — it's a punishment given to those guilty of a serious crime. Two strong men beat the criminal with a thick wooden plank studded with nails until their flesh tears and bones shatter."
“!”
“General Hunmu is a trusted subordinate of mine, so the punishment probably won’t be too severe.”
“…If… If he hadn’t found me in the forest… I probably would’ve died. So then… why such a terrifying punishment?”
Snap.
"Ah!"
“Didn’t I tell you? Since you have no family here, the one who must be punished in your place is General Hunmu, because he failed to keep the promise he made to me.”
“…But the punishment is too harsh… It was my own fault that I got lost when I went out.”
“It’s amusing that you dare to lecture me.”
“...”
"Go on."
“...I was wrong. I still don’t know this country well, so I acted carelessly… Where I come from, there is no king, but a person called the president rules the country... So... because of that… I didn’t know what I should or shouldn’t say, so... Please release your anger and your frustration."
I mixed in words never used by the people of this country while occasionally biting my trembling lips as I tried to calm myself.
If I hadn’t jumped into the waterfall and had followed him straight to the palace, General Hunmu wouldn’t have faced the dreadful punishment called ‘sahal.’
I closed and opened my eyes, painfully aware of how frightening the consequences of my reckless actions had become a reality.
‘I was too immature and thought only of myself.’
Having dared to ask for the punishment given to General Hunmu to be revoked, I didn’t know what might happen next. Cold sweat broke out as I placed my trembling hands on my thighs and clenched them tightly.
The urge to run away surged up again, but I knew I couldn’t give in now. Even if I managed to return successfully, as long as this king kept searching for me, General Hunmu would hardly avoid death.
I lowered my head, afraid to meet the king’s gaze as he silently watched.
Horrifying images of General Hunmu being beaten with a nail-studded wooden plank swirled through my mind.
Yet, after issuing such an order, the king calmly stood and perched on the edge of the bed.
"Come closer."
As I struggled to rise from my kneeling position, muscle pain seized my legs like a sudden cramp, making it hard to move immediately. But since the one before me was the king, I gritted my teeth and trudged forward with effort, like rain steadily falling. Seeing my awkward posture, the king bluntly spoke up.
“You managed to walk all the way to the forest with your aching body, right after I held you.”
“...”
“You said you felt stifled, but it couldn’t have been easy for a woman’s body to get that far. Were you trying to run away?”
“Absolutely not... It's because I am just so stupid — no, foolish — that the waterfall… Ah, no…”
“...”
“I just wanted to see some water, so I ended up going all the way there.”
Swoosh.
"Oh my gosh!"
“Listen well, woman named Yewon.”
In an instant, the king's hand pulled me close enough that my chest almost touched his shoulder. He was seated while I stood, but because of that, even his gaze looking down at me felt humbling. Now that I had lived in this world, I understood why people said they felt humbled and deferential before the king.
"If you tell lies with that deceitful mouth, just because you were embraced by me."
The king’s finger suddenly brushed over my lips, then slipped inside. My eyes widened as he gently stroked my tongue, meeting my gaze as he spoke softly, almost as if coaxing a child.
“I will pull this tongue out by the root.”
“…Uh…”
“And if you are not before my eyes when I want to see you, I will break both your legs and build a cage for you.”
“!”
“Since I’ve kindly told you this much, you should understand well enough.”
Later, I realised it was a presumptuous act, but I nodded repeatedly. Having been here less than a week, and hearing just a few words about how ruthless this king was, I could only nod like Snow White, who had lost her voice.
Fortunately, the king looked leniently at my terrified face and withdrew his finger.
Then, suddenly but slowly, his hand slid down along the seam of my clothes and slipped inside my chima (skirt).
The hand, still moving without pause, went up the inside of my thigh and boldly touched the dari-sokgot (the innermost underwear in traditional clothing).
When I first arrived here and put on the clothes, I was surprised by how many layers were worn under the hanbok — it felt almost heavy. So this morning, when I came to the palace, I wore a version with many of those layers omitted, which felt somewhat comfortable. But I never expected it would lead to such an awkward situation.
The king’s finger, resting on the dari-sokgot made of white muslin, was clearly felt even through the fabric.
"Hng!"
As his hand boldly touched the most intimate part of my body, my upper body bent forward, and my hips pulled back, but the king’s hand didn’t stop there. It suddenly slipped deeper inside the dari-sokgot. The touch on my dry skin made me shudder, and in the end, I found myself clutching his shoulder.
Swish.
"Heub!"
How could he do something like this in the morning, without even a hint of shame? Not even a guy I'd meet at a club would go this far.
Even if what happened the other day was unavoidable, feeling his hand now while fully alert brought not only a strange sensation but also deep humiliation. Yet the king, who touched my labia minora with the same softness as when he stroked my tongue, looked at my flushed, grimacing face and asked in a light tone:
“Is the pain too much to bear?”
"...Hng."
His fingers didn’t stop as he asked, so all I could do was squeeze out a strained groan — it was hard to answer easily.
Then the finger that had been touching my labia minora slid down to the entrance of my vagina, mercilessly pushing in.
At that moment, my face twisted as if I were about to cry, and a teary voice escaped my lips.
"Ah... it hurts..."
Swish.
“Ha-ugh!”
At the sound of my pain, the king’s finger slipped about halfway inside. As if I could no longer stand, I leaned my head against his shoulder, trembling. In that position, he slowly moved his finger from side to side.
"I only managed to put in a single finger, but seeing you feel pain, it seems like nothing happened last night after all."
“Ugh! ...Uh..."
As soon as the king’s hand withdrew from my dry vagina, my legs lost their strength, and I collapsed to the ground.
He called him a trusted subordinate, yet seeing him impose such a severe punishment called sahal and go so far as to check with his own hand, I realised — he truly didn’t trust anyone.
I desperately prayed that he would finally cast me out, far away from this palace and all its affairs. Every time I was with this king, I found myself unable to adapt to the ruthless cruelty and overwhelming power I had never experienced in my world.
However, as he wiped his fingers, which had been inside me, clean with a cloth neatly arranged beside the bedroom, he soon called in the servants outside and gave one more command.
“Prepare a place in the palace for this woman to stay.”
・・・・・
Unlike the place where I lived, which was mainly divided into apartments, houses, or at most officetels, here, every place had its own name. Even after hearing what the court ladies said, I couldn’t make out which place they were referring to at all.
Even when I tried to recall their conversations about places like Gungsil, Donggung, and Gwonnaegaksa [1], I still couldn’t understand the meanings. So, when they told me to stay, I just sat there blankly in one place.
The place where the king’s hand had touched still felt alive with sensation, and my mind was a chaotic mess, consumed with worry for General Hunmu, who had been sentenced to sahal.
What did I do so wrong in my life? Did I live so poorly that I ended up in a reality like this, all of a sudden?
I wish someone would just tell me plainly.
When I was young, in the legends I watched on TV, the ghosts that appeared always had one recurring line: ‘It’s unjust.’ That was exactly how I felt now.
If General Hunmu hadn’t taken care of me by the waterfall last night, and I had died, the resentment of suddenly falling and dying in an unfamiliar place would have lodged deep in my chest, never allowing me to leave this world.
"I don’t even want to think about this."
The longer I stayed here, the more my way of speaking and thinking kept changing, just like the characters in a historical drama, and I hated it.
But when I opened my eyes, the things I saw and the people who came to mind were only the king and General Hunmu, so I couldn’t help but change.
If the king had been a bit more like an ordinary person, it wouldn't have been this hard.
I closed my eyes tightly, recalling the words about breaking my legs and building a cage.
Until just yesterday, my tears had flowed with pity and sorrow for myself, but now they were different — filled with worry for General Hunmu.
It felt like I had shed all the tears I would ever cry in just a few days. I hadn’t even cried this much when I failed my exams.
Creak.
It was then.
After sitting alone for a long time, unable to do anything, a palace maid suddenly entered, addressing me with the strange title ‘my lady.’ [2]
I had once scolded a six-year-old for calling me ‘miss,’ and now I was being called ‘my lady.’
Instinctively, I looked at her with a wary expression. The woman, with not a single strand of hair out of place, knelt before me and greeted me first.
"My lady, I offer you my greetings. I am the palace maid assigned to serve you from now on."
Assigned to serve me?
Even though it was uncomfortable, I realised how good it was when I was at General Hunmu's house. Especially now with the emergence of a palace maid, I became aware that I would have to live in this palace from now on.
The palace maid, who had a typically Korean face often seen in paintings, without double eyelids, had a youthful appearance. Where I used to live, she would probably be around eighteen or nineteen years old.
Suddenly hearing the title ‘my lady’ and seeing the palace maid’s polite manners made me uncomfortable, so I tightly grasped the hem of my clothes.
"...Please leave."
“My lady! Please speak casually. It is not right for my lady to use formal language with me.”
“…I understand, so please leave. I want to be alone.”
The palace maid assigned to serve me grew restless as I still spoke formally, but when I said I wanted to be alone, she couldn’t stay any longer.
After bowing, she left without turning her back, retreating with a bent posture.
The thought of seeing this many hundreds of times more in this palace already made me feel sick to my stomach.
A hierarchical society. And within this rigid hierarchical society, just by catching the attention of the highest rank — the king — someone like me, who was nothing special, ended up being served by many.
What on earth could the king have seen in me to make him keep me in the palace and even assign a palace maid to me?
Deep down, I wanted to grab anyone and ask what happened to General Hunmu and whether he really received the punishment of sahal.
But knowing that everything that happened in this palace existed for the king, I silently swallowed my words.
Translator's Corner:
[1] "궁실 (gungsil)" refers to a room or chamber in a palace. gung = palace/royal court; sil = room, chamber or hall.
"동궁 (donggung)" refers to the grand (crown) prince's residence (typically known as the 'Eastern Palace'.
"궐내각사 (gwollnaegaksa)" refers to the royal secretariat or officials within the palace.
[2] The actual title used is "Mama" (마마), which, in the Joseon Dynasty, is equivalent to "His/Her Royal Highness." Since Yewon isn't a noble, and for simplicity, I have kept it as "my lady" for now, but if it needs to be updated further down the story, I shall do so.
The title used by the six-year-old girl, Chohee, was: 아씨, which is equivalent to "my lady," but since it's meant to be a lower-ranking honorific of the above "Mama," I have translated it to "miss."
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