Tap. At the strange feeling of Raon leaning on his shoulder, Young lowered his head. Raon's figure entered his chilly eyes. Like a young bird's soft feathers, it felt like she was tickling his shoulder.
Instinctively, Young was about to throw Raon off his shoulder. Truly, he thought to do so in his head and told himself that it was what he should do. However, his body froze at the warm feeling that felt like sunlight and betrayed his reasoning.
"You dare......"
In the end, the only thing that left Young's mouth were those empty words. Having been unable to shake off the sleeping Raon, Young continued to sit stiffly and tilted the liquor into his mouth. It might have been due to the soft moonlight. It might have been due to the heady intoxication of the Fragrant Jade Liquor. He had an exhaustive temperament that brought fear to all of the court ladies. He dangerously carried an unapproachable aura, but he tolerated this tiny brat for some unknown reason. Surely, it was because he was drunk on this night's languid atmosphere.
Trying to comfort himself of this unfamiliar feeling, ByungYun approached the two. He was about to take the sleeping Raon and return to their residence. But before ByungYun could even lay a hand on Raon, Young's cold voice stopped him.
"Just leave him be."
"But, sir......"
"It's fine. Nothing's going to happen just because I'm lending him my shoulder."
"......"
Suddenly, ByungYun raised his eyes and looked at Young. This side of Young was unfamiliar to him. It was strange as if he was seeing someone for the first time.
"Aren't you uncomfortable, sir?"
At ByungYun's question, Young slowly shook his head.
"Aren't you the one who is uncomfortable spending your days with him?"
"It is troublesome and annoying, but......"
ByungYun stopped speaking and looked at the sleeping Raon, then replied.
"It's not exactly uncomfortable, sir."
"Really?"
The expression that ByungYun had was now on Young's face. Young looked at ByungYun with surprise. Then he poured more liquor into the cup and asked him a question.
"Anyways, when are you going to stop that?"
"What do you mean, sir?"
"It's just the two of us here now. When are you going to stop speaking to me in that awkward tone? Didn't I clearly tell you before? You are the one and only person that I have acknowledged as my friend."
A long time ago, these two promised each other that they would treat each other candidly. They were each other's only friend. Therefore, they decided to disregard their statuses when no one else was present. At Young's accusation, ByungYun began to grin.
"It looks like I'm no longer your only friend."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think you've made another friend today."
At ByungYun's words, Young looked at Raon, who was leaning on his left shoulder, and let out a laugh.
"Insolent punk."
However, he didn't hate the punk's insolence. No, actually he liked it. He thought it was cute like a younger brother's whining.
This must be what it feels like to have a younger brother.
He added another reason as to why he only seemed to tolerate Raon and had a pleased expression on his face. He then asked ByungYun a question.
"When are you leaving this time?"
"I don't know."
Young thought that ByungYun was going say that he would leave immediately, but ByungYun replied otherwise.
"You're surprising a lot of people tonight."
"I'm thinking that it won't be bad to just rest for a while in the Palace."
"Didn't you tell me that the Palace was extremely boring? Didn't you say it was a pain to endure each passing day in the Palace?"
"After coming back this time, it feels like it isn't as boring as I thought."
"Not as boring?"
"Well, it just happened that way. There's something I want to figure out as well."
"Don't tell me... Do you want to find out why that woman was crying too?"
It was just a joke. However, Young had hit the mark. ByungYun silently drank a cup of liquor. Then he asked another question as if defending himself.
"Don't you think that brat might actually find out her identity?"
"That won't happen. How can he find someone he only saw for a moment?"
"Like that brat said, he might find someone that knows who she is."
"He will never talk to someone that will know who that woman is from hundreds of court ladies. Never......!"
---
"What did you say she looked like?"
The next morning, as always, Eunuch Jang and Raon squatted next to one another in front of the tall gate of JaSunDang. Every morning, Eunuch Jang came to find Raon and give her the orders from the eunuch work room as well as any daily necessities she'd need.
Usually, Eunuch Jang had to call for her in order for her to appear. But this time, Raon was already waiting for him in front of the gate before he got there. In order to find out the identity of the woman she had seen before, she had hoped that she could ask the self-proclaimed Palace social butterfly Eunuch Jang. Before Eunuch Jang could finish his question, Raon began to explain the woman's looks and clothing.
"It was during the night, so I couldn't get a good look, but her height might have come up to my shoulders, I think? Maybe up to here? Her eyes were especially clear and large, almost taking up half of her face. And her nose was quite strong, and her lips were cute like cherries......"
As she was explaining, she had a discouraging thought. Big eyes, strong nose, cherry-like lips. The girl was definitely an eye-catching beauty. But that would only be useful outside the Palace. Inside the Palace, there were so many beauties that all her fingers and toes wouldn't be enough to count them. There was no way she was going to find this girl using such generic descriptions.
Raon let out a sigh. However, before she had finished sighing, Eunuch Jang spoke in a trivial manner.
"That sounds like the medicine lady WolHee."
Raon's eyes popped out. The breath she was letting out stopped short and got stuck in her throat. She hurriedly asked another question.
"Who?"
"The court lady you were just describing. It's the medicine lady WolHee of the NaeUiWon.
(T/N: "NaeUiWon" = where the physicians of the Palace are, like a palace hospital/pharmacy)
"Really?"
No way. How could he have guessed who she was immediately just from my generic descriptions?
"Big eyes, a strong nose like this... there's no doubt that you're describing medicine lady WolHee."
Eunuch Jang suddenly got up from his seat.
"Coincidentally, I have some business to attend to in the NaeUiWon. Why don't you come with me? That child WolHee should be there at this time."
Raon moved her feet, trying to quickly follow Eunuch Jang, who had a refreshed expression as he talked in a loud voice.
And how much time had passed like that? As they got closer to the NaeUiWon, Raon couldn't stop thinking that this was all a futile effort. Still, because of Eunuch Jang's confident guarantee, she had a bit of hope. However, on the journey from the JaSunDang to the NaeUiWon, Raon's half hopeful and half doubtful heart leaned towards the doubtful half. This was because she had seen so many court ladies with big eyes and strong noses like WolHee's in the Palace.
Flower Scholar's words were right. In the wide Palace, among the many court ladies, this was a harder job than the one she did for HanYang's Young Master Kim. If she had known it would be like this, she would have done anything she could to catch the woman and ask her. Ask her what made her cry so sadly. But regrets were always made too late. Regretting wouldn't help Raon meet the woman from last night.
There's no way for me to meet that woman, right? Meeting her again was...... huh? What? I guess I could meet her!
Raon opened her mouth in shock. In the middle of the NaeUiWon lawn, walking while carrying a basket of dried medicinal herbs, was undoubtedly the young woman that was crying sadly in the pavilion east of the JaSunDang last night.
"Is that the woman you were looking for, Eunuch Hong?"
"Yes, it is."
Raon replied without taking her eyes off of the medicine lady WolHee. There was no doubt. The big eyes, the dainty facial features. No matter what angle one looked, it was definitely the crying woman from last night. Raon turned to look at Eunuch Jang with surprised eyes.
"Just what kind of person are you?"
Eunuch Jang answered pompously.
"A eunuch of Chosun."
I already knew that.
"Not all eunuchs of Chosun have a good eye like Eunuch Jang, right? Just how did you do it? How did you manage to find her so accurately with just a few generic descriptions? I heard that the number of court ladies here is over five hundred..."
"The number is precisely five hundred ninety six."
"Among that many court ladies, how did you know that the woman I was talking about was medicine lady WolHee so accurately?"
"Didn't you tell me that the woman had unusually big and clear eyes?"
"Yes, I did. But on our way from JaSunDang to the NaeUiWon, we passed by countless court ladies that also had big eyes."
At Raon's words, Eunuch Jang shook his index finger left and right.
"No, no. Just because someone has big eyes doesn't mean they all look the same. Especially when you said she had unusually clear eyes, I thought of YoonDuk of the dowager empress' residence, HangGeum of the empress' residence, and medicine lady WolHee. Then the woman must be around Eunuch Hong's age and have a height up to about here... that could only leave us with WolHee. Isn't it obvious?"
"Eunuch Jang, sir."
"What, is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Surely...... You didn't memorize all five hundred ninety six court ladies, right?"
"Why not?"
"Then are you telling me you memorized every single person in the Palace?"
"No, I haven't done that."
Some of the stiffness left Eunuch Jang's neck.
"I did more or less memorize all the people within the Palace, but the servants are changed frequently, so I can only remember half of them."
"......!"
Raon couldn't close her mouth shut when Eunuch Jang hung his shoulders as he said that he could only remember half of the servants.
What the hell? Don't be depressed just because you can't remember a few more people. Basically you're saying that you have memorized everyone that stays in the Palace.
No, he didn't just remember them. He was someone that had unusual skill of knowing who someone was just from a few descriptions. Was Eunuch Jang the hidden talent of the Palace? No, if it wasn't that, did it mean that all eunuchs more or less had this kind of skill? With her imagination running wild, Raon put up both of her thumbs at Eunuch Jang.
"You're amazing."
"Oh, it's nothing."
"No. You're truly amazing."
"Anyways, Eunuch Hong. Why were you looking for WolHee? By any chance......"
Eunuch Jang gave Raon a meaningful look.
By any chance, do you have feelings for WolHee?
At the ridiculous misunderstanding, Raon hastily shook her head.
"Haha, it's nothing like that."
"I know there are instances where a eunuch falls in love with a court lady in the Palace, so don't be embarrassed. How else are we to survive this tedious life in the Palace?"
"That's definitely not the reason I was looking for WolHee."
"Then what is it?"
"I had something I wanted to ask her."
"Something to ask her?"
"I wanted to ask her why she was crying so sadly last night at the JaSunDang."
"WolHee was crying? At the JaSunDang?"
"Yes, she was crying at the pavilion east of the JaSunDang last night."
"The pavilion in the east... Do you happen to mean the pavilion at the pond?"
"Yes, she was crying with her hair undone inside the pavilion at the pond."
"With her hair undone...... crying......!"
"What's wrong?"
"So that was it."
"What?"
"There was definitely a ghost there. A ghost that looked just like WolHee."
"A ghost?"
Raon remembered Eunuch Jang's behavior. Ever since Raon entered the Palace, Eunuch Jang always came to look for her everyday at the JaSunDang. However, he never stepped one foot into the JaSunDang. She now felt like she knew the reason why.
"Eunuch Jang. Is the reason why you've been avoiding me because you thought there was a ghost in the JaSunDang?"
"And there was. Just as I expected......"
"Eunuch Jang."
"Just as I thought...... There really was one. There was...... a ghost."
"Eunuch Jang, there isn't anything like a ghost at the JaSunDang."
"Didn't you just tell me a moment ago, Eunuch Hong? A ghost that looked like WolHee was in a pavilion of the JaSunDang."
Eunuch Jang began to slowly walk backwards.
"No, Eunuch Jang. It wasn't a ghost the looked like medicine lady WolHee. It
was
the medicine lady WolHee that was crying."
Raon spoke, but it didn't matter. Eunuch Jang had a ghastly pale face and had already run far away. It seemed that inside of the heads of every person in the Palace, especially inside Eunuch Jang's head, they believed that the people that appeared in the JaSunDang were all ghosts.
At this rate, they're going to think I'm a ghost too, even though I'm alive.
Raon clicked her tongue at this thought and turned her gaze on to the medicine lady WolHee. Was it because she had cried last night? Wolhee's round face was haggard and pale. Maybe because she was shorter than most people of her age and had a delicate body, the basket full of dried medicinal herbs looked like it was too much for her to handle. Looking at the precarious situation and wanting to help, Raon took a step towards WolHee.
"There you are."
A large young man went in front of Raon and entered the NaeUiWon. He was such a burly young man that his entrance drew the attention of everyone at the NaeUiWon. Wearing the blue uniform of a military officer, the young man walked across the NaeUiWon yard and approached WolHee.
"What are you doing over here?"
The young man's sonorous voice fell on top of WolHee's head.
"......!"
The medicinal herbs in WolHee's arms fell down at her surprise. Her eyes began to fill with tears as if she had been frightened. Without any regard for the situation, the young man brought his rough face closer to WolHee's face.
"Didn't you receive the notice to be in front of the DonHwa Gate by nine in the morning?"
"Th-that is...... so much work had been piled up, so..."
WolHee began to walk backwards as she responded in a faint voice. Her shoulders were hunched and trembling. It seemed like she was receiving a threat. Maybe because of the young man's intimidating expression and gigantic physique, everyone in the NaeUiWon didn't intervene between the two and just observed quietly. Among the spectators, the young man's actions became more bold. After looking around, the young man grabbed the trembling WolHee's arm.
"Ouch!"
A soft exclamation left WolHee's mouth.
"That guy!"
Raon suddenly tightened her hands into fists.
Was that man the reason why WolHee was crying last night? The court lady that was threatened by that intimidating man. All a frightened young lady in that situation could do to console herself was to cry.
Raon's beautiful forehead contorted. She immediately wanted to march over there and separate WolHee from the young man. Raon began to approach the two, but she suddenly stopped walking.
"What's with that guy?"
The glowering young man slipped something into WolHee's hand. Then his face as he crossed the NaeUiWon yard like he was running away... That rough face was blushing.
Raon's eyes narrowed. Having seen that moment between the young man and WolHee, Raon began to figure things out.
"What? So it was like that?"
She could roughly guess what was going on.
"As expected of young men......"
She muttered to herself and was about to approach WolHee.
"Hey, you there!"
The piercing voice came from behind Raon. Raon reflexively turned. What she saw made her catch her breath.