Your Meaning

Episode 26: Jealousy is My Middle Name II (1)

TL: thursdays 

PR:  altacco

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Chapter 6. Jealousy is My Middle Name II

The maids of the lateral palace carried the news of the emperor’s confession far and wide.

The reactions were varied, but on the whole, it wasn’t as big of a deal than when rumors of their romance first broke out.

What? Weren’t they already dating?

It was because they were generally already perceived as lovers. Everyone but the two involved knew they were passionately in love.

One group even cautiously began to theorize about marriage. Considering the emperor’s age, this relationship was very likely to lead to marriage.

However, this theory was tentative.

The person in question was none other than the emperor of the empire. The empire, with its strong faith and moral laws, was a strictly monogamous state. The one who married the emperor would soon become the empire’s empress.

Dayeon’s status and identity were a little delicate in terms of taking the position of the empress. She appeared through a revelation, but that revelation was rather imperfect. She didn’t know how to do anything, had no possessions, and had no family who claimed her. She literally just appeared and began to exist.

Because of the many volatile parts, people chattered about the two’s love life but talked sparingly on the issue of marriage.

Dayeon, the involved party, was very upset when she first heard this rumor. It was unpleasant.

Whether it was here or there, it seemed that everyone was the same in being nosy and gossiping about other people’s lives.

Dayeon wasn’t the type to get angry often, but there was nobody who would openly run their mouths in front of the one who had the emperor’s favor.

So how did she find out about this rumor?

The crow, who had begun acting like they were best friends after Dayeon gave it some berries, had relayed the news it overheard somewhere. Dayeon didn’t appreciate it at all. This nosiness was very useless.

The emperor once told her not to let people’s words dictate her life.

Obviously, that wasn’t a state of being that everyone could reach. Nevertheless, Dayeon decided to be a little more indifferent to them. It was a world where she knew no one. She didn’t want to get hurt again all the way here. She no longer wanted to waste her life and feelings based on the words of strangers. It was a small change.

And the emotions of the one who led to the change was now very swayed by Dayeon. The emperor, furious as a blaze, couldn’t hold back. In the end, he yelled,

“Are you insane?!”

There was an incident last night.

At the root of the incident was the black horse named Ruri. The horse, which had not eaten properly for a while, lost her strength and couldn’t get up. After that, the prince seemed to lose even more strength than the horse.

Why is this happening? Could a horse have depression, too?

Dayeon, who had taken a liking to the taciturn mare, vowed that she would become friendly with her. That’s why she was going to help.

However, doing so was impossible in front of people. No matter how she thought about it, muttering to animals and trying to get them to talk didn’t look normal.

Several times, Dayeon climbed out the window in the dead of night when everyone was asleep. Like that, she started going to the stables. Dayeon treated the horse kindly to win her favor, and she patted the horse’s neck over and over again.

We met last time, remember? Saying that, she also emphasized how she was acquainted with Asanka.

Things seemed to be going as planned. If only she hadn’t been caught by a soldier patrolling the imperial palace last night.

The soldier was so shocked at seeing a woman in pajamas, with her hair down, muttering to a horse in the stables that he dropped his sword.

“Even though this is the imperial palace, do you think it is completely safe? Are you really crazy?”

The emperor, who had recently become generous in love, exploded after a long time because of Dayeon’s naivete. The emperor was tolerant because of Dayeon these days, but he also got angry because of her.

The emperor’s rage, incited for the first time in a while, was fiercer than she remembered. The courtiers seemed like they would pee in their pants.

Dayeon, who had nothing in particular to say, could only stay still and be scolded.

“Don’t you know that walking alone at night can be a danger in itself? If the soldier did not know your face, he could have mistaken you for an outsider and attacked. Are you that thoughtless?”

As always, there was not a single thing wrong about what the emperor said. And if she tried to refute it, the nagging would just grow longer.

Without hesitating, Dayeon apologized. “I’m sorry.”

The emperor, who had been glaring at her incredulously for a long time, finally lowered his voice and asked,

“Why did you go to the stables when you can’t even ride a horse?”

If it was because she liked horses, it would be easier for him.

He was the emperor. If she liked horses, he could build her a whole course and fill it with dozens of horses.

However, that wasn’t the case. Of course Dayeon liked animals, being a warm and kind person, but why would she pay such attention to a horse when she didn’t know how to ride?

Even worse, it was someone else’s horse. The horse of a foreign prince.

That was the part that made the emperor very uneasy.

Of all horses, why his horse?

At that late hour, too. The two of them couldn’t have been planning to meet up at the stables, right?

A small doubt came and left the emperor’s mind. But Mikhail wisely refrained from saying it.

He couldn’t become the kind of lousy, dreadful man who exposed the private life of the woman he loved.

“If you want to see the horse, can’t you go when the day is bright? What were you thinking, without a knight or maid to escort you?”

Because she couldn’t answer that question, so the conversation kept spinning around the same point.

Dayeon stared at the emperor. The quick-witted emperor immediately realized that she was hesitant about something.

What could it be?

She bit her lips, then lowered her gaze and spoke.

“That horse is hurt. I was about to sleep, but I suddenly wanted to see her. I didn’t want to bother other people, and I thought I could go and come back quickly, but I didn’t think things through.”

It wasn’t that.

The emperor intuitively felt that her hesitation came from something else. However, he just couldn’t figure out what it was.

The emperor sighed. With a heavy heart, he said,

“You have to go around with an escort. If this happens again, I won’t leave the employees of the lateral palace alone, since they cannot take care of their master.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

It was a rather cruel statement. However, since she was guilty, she could only flinch and accept the threat.

As the emperor shut his mouth, the atmosphere became low. After going over her mistakes, the two of them had nothing more to say.

How long had they been like this?

Mikhail soon became very upset.

He had raged because he was angry, but he still didn’t feel at ease.

Rather, his mood only became worse. She had readily admitted her faults and apologized, but he felt bad seeing Dayeon keeping her mouth shut and gaze lowered.

He had ruined the situation and the atmosphere. The emperor was definitely not the one who started this, but he still felt shame.

After staring at Dayeon for a long time, the emperor sighed deeply. Then, he said,

“Were you shocked? I’m sorry for getting angry. I was like that because I was worried.”

Dayeon raised her head at those words, looking surprised.

She smiled a little. That smile relieved the emperor’s heart, which could not be relieved in any other way.

“Your Majesty didn’t do anything wrong, so why are you apologizing? It’s all my fault.”

Dayeon rebuked his words while smiling.

How could a person be so gentle and nice? Why was she so sweet?

The emperor, who had already fallen hard for Dayeon, was easily touched by her simple words.

“You don’t understand why? It’s because I like you more, so I’m conceding even if I did nothing wrong. So don’t make me worry from now on. I can’t get angry and apologize to you every time.”

Dayeon was honestly moved by the emperor’s pure-hearted reply. The more they got involved, the more dangerous a man he was. Mikhail, who was judged as one of the most diligent emperors of all time, was true to his personality in dating as well.

He kept knocking at one’s heart without rest until it opened. Steady pushing his way in.

Dayeon sometimes felt like the brilliant, unruffled heart of the emperor could illuminate her own heart.

“I can’t believe you climbed out the window. I thought you were quiet, but are you actually a hooligan?”

The emperor, feeling somewhat better, started to tease her with his words.

Dayeon, who smiled brightly and unbothered, suddenly spoke.

“You know.”

“Yes?”

When Dayeon impulsively opened her mouth, the emperor responded gently.

His expression was indulgent, as if he was saying, What’s wrong? Speak. Anything you want to say, I’ll listen to it all.

Dayeon frowned.

The emperor looked puzzled as she dithered with a troubled expression. But what came out next was something he had never expected.

“The sound of the cuckoo crying out there. Doesn’t it sound like she’s looking for where her husband went?”

Dayeon kind of didn’t think about saying something. She was just trying her luck, impulsively, as he was curious about how he would react.

However, the emperor looked very serious when he heard her question.

But he had to say something for Dayeon to bring up her next words.

Dayeon waited for the emperor’s response with some embarrassment.

The emperor who had been gentle recently furrowed his brows and reached out his hand. Then, he put it against Dayeon’s forehead.

What is she talking about now? Is her heart feeling unwell again? She doesn’t have a fever, though.

The emperor tilted his head.

The emperor, who looked at Dayeon with a serious expression, turned his gaze to the grand chamberlain with an equally serious expression.

The emperor did not make just anyone his close aide. The grand chamberlain had been keeping pace with the emperor for nine years, and he was the most capable person in this palace after the emperor.

He had almost supernatural instincts. The grand chamberlain, who understood without the emperor’s command, rushed out to call the court doctor.