She touched Bipaanâs wedding dress on the wall. She made it a habit of touching it as she couldnât hug him warmly every day. The silk of the wedding dress was soft. Touching the soft silk, she recalled another manâs soft touch she experienced in the past.
No, I shouldnât think about him. Never.
Although she did her best to forget him, Ruhaeâs face lingered in her mind on and off. She stared at Bipaanâs wedding dress, as if it was the only thing she could see.
And then she reminded herself harshly by saying, âOpen your eyes wide and look at this. This is your husband. What you can hug now is only this.â
***
Finally, the summer came to the Mok Kingdom.
While the seasons changed, Kyosul kept sending letters to Bipaan containing dried flowers. Her letters were piled under the small table right next to his desk. When there was no more space for the letters, the eunuch put a small basket beside it.
He saw the basket as he lay on his back on the bed earlier than usual.
âEven though I donât reply, she still keeps sending them.â
By now he couldnât resist the urge to open them.
Obviously, her determination was even stronger that the pine trees growing on rocks, though he was not sure if it reflected her stubbornness.
âLet me pick one since I finished my work early todayâŚ.â
Murmuring to himself, he picked up her latest letter. The silk wrap was as soft as a butterflyâs wing. When he opened it gently, he noticed a dried flower in the middle of the letter. With a curious look, he picked it up awkwardly.
âA letter with a flowerâŚâ
He had never received such a letter. He didnât think anyone could send a letter with a flower inside. It was the first love letter he received in his life. The crisp fragrance of the dried flower touched his heart mysteriously. Her small and neat writing filled almost half the page.
âOh, how could she write such a long letter about a trifling topic like summer.â
Not only her words but also her writing embarrassed him.
He hadnât expected that the letters piled up every day contained this kind of content.
âWhy does she feel good about giving flowers to me?â
The other letters had similar content. Bipaan thought that she sent the letters to gain his favor, but he couldnât understand why she wrote mainly about such stuff. As he tended to look at everything logically, he couldnât understand the illogical world of oneâs emotions.
âWhat the heck are you trying to convey with your feelings about heat, rain and flowers, etc?â
He couldnât find any practical benefits on her side. He carefully examined the letters again in order to find any hidden contents or purpose, but there was nothing significant he could find there. What was in the letters was what he saw, no more or less.
âThese letters are an exact replica of this little woman.â
After carefully reviewing the letters, he lost interest. He noticed a red stamp at the end of the letter. It was a stamp she put along with her signature. At first he ignored it because it was just a stamp with her name inscribed on it, but he felt strange about the writing on the stamp.
The letters inscribed on her stamp were not in block letters. They were like a code as if it was drawn like a picture. Inside the circle stamped in red ink were drawn two letters. Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the letters.
âDoesnât this letter âbiâ mean ârainâ?â
He could read one letter âbiâ easily. When he confirmed it, his eyes trembled.
That was the letter she wrote so many times in her letters. âBiâ meant ârainâ but it could also mean âwifeâ. If she meant the second, then it had the power to penetrate Bipaanâs cold heart.
Bipaan casually put the letter at the end of the bed with his trembling hand. He rarely showed his nervousness. He quickly went to the small bookshelf in the corner of his room. It was a place for rare books, important documents and other precious stuff.
âI think I put it somewhere here.â
As the Crown Prince, it was a precious thing, but as an individual, it was not. It took some time for him to find it. Besides, as he was impatient, he found it hard to locate it.
He opened and closed the drawer of the small desk several times, and even overturned it. While browsing through books, his fingers suddenly trembled when he found it.
He could find the document at the lower end of the bookshelf that he had been looking for.
The document he took out was wrapped in a golden silk and sealed with a red string. On both ends of the document scroll was inscribed a dragonâs face. It looked precious at a glance.
It was none other than their marriage certificate. It was a document officially declaring the marriage of the Crown and the Crown Princess and the crowing of Bipaan. On the wedding day, the emperorâs document was delivered to Bipaan, while the Queenâs document was delivered to Kyosul.
âIâve found it!â
He hastily untied the red string. It was a document he threw into the corner without opening it after he received it on the wedding day, for his marriage to the crown princess was just a meaningless event to him as a person. But now he was examining each word of the writing in the document.
The writing was composed of old-fashioned and standard letters, but when he read half the contents of the document, he found some about Kyosul. In the document was written Kyosulâs child name clearly. That name was not used any more after she was given the official title Kyosul.
During her days in the Hwa Kingdom the name she used to use was Woorum Mokhwa. Blinking his eyes several times, he looked at the Chinese characters of âWoorum.â
âDoesnât it mean âwooâ meaning ârain,â and ârumâ meaning âcoldâ?â
He was familiar with her name âWoorumâ as he heard of it before, but little did he think the Chinese characters of her name were ârainâ and âcold.â
Cold rain, cold rain, cold rain, cold rain.
Bipaanâs eyes became hollow and dark. It looked as if some fresh flares were burning in his hollow eyes.
âWoorum?â
He felt as if he was hit in the back of his neck by somebody. He once again recited her name, unbelieving. When he spoke her name, his body shivered when her name came off the tip of his tongue.
***
The next day Bipaan couldnât concentrate on his work. After he handled petitions, he hosted a classical reading session but couldnât focus.
Obviously he was preoccupied with other stuff.
âYour Majesty!â Losing his patience, his master put down the book, while Bipaan closed the book. âAre you distracted, Your Majesty?â
âNot at all.â
âYou are just repeating the first chapter of the book.â
âI was pondering over its meaning deeply.â
âI think thatâs enough, Your Majesty. You can move on to the next chapter.â
Only then did Bipaan discover that his master closed the book and put his hand on it.
âHow much time is left until the closing of this classical reading?â
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âIâve spent more than a decade studying with you.â
The old master smiled gently at him. Though he humbled himself before him, using honorifics, Bipaan respected him as his master. So, he quietly waited when his master said something unexpectedly.
âI know you were always sincere in studying, and I can testify that you are the best prince of all the royal members that I have trained so far.â
Then the master closed his eyes briefly.
He looked back at those days when he taught Bipaan, and said, âWhen you turned 30, the emperor ordered you to tour a foreign country, as you remember.â