Secret of the Red Lotus Flower (빨간 연꽃의 비밀)

Chapter 28

The soft sliding sound of the bedroom door opening and closing woke Soo-yun up. As she stared up at the ceiling of her childhood room in a waking stupor, she briefly thought that the past few months had all been a bizarre dream and she was trapped in her father's house again. She shook her head to clear her mind of the morning fog and looked around to see if Ha-neul was around.

The room was as sparse as it was the night before with her luggage stacked against the far wall. Her husband was nowhere to be seen and, for a moment, she wondered if the Crown Prince had stayed out all night with her father and brother. However, she saw that the trunks that Ha-neul had contained the extra bedroll had been moved and the Crown Prince's blue robes were hanging on a wooden frame.

Ha-neul really must have come back shortly after I fell asleep, she thought. Soo-yun had thought to stay up for Ha-neul's return but ultimately decided to honor the Crown Prince's wishes by turning in early. As she looked out the window to see sun starting to crest the horizon, it dawned on her that the sound of the door had probably been the Crown Prince leaving after Ha-neul had quietly gotten up early in order to get dressed and repack the spare bedroll before she woke.

Soo-yun rose from the bed and wandered over to look at her husband's things. She knew that she should probably leave Ha-neul's belongings alone, but this was a rare opportunity and curiosity got the best of her. Most of it was still within one of the many pieces of luggage brought from the palace and she felt it was too much of a gamble to open any of them. Oddly enough, the only thing left out in the open for anyone to see was a shaving kit. For someone so clean-shaven compared to everyone else I've seen, the razor is certainly in pristine condition, she idly thought.

She heard the door open and she guiltily put down the razor, only to see that it was Yeo-jin entering with a tray of breakfast. She was unusually quiet with her eyes downcast and Soo-yun assumed that her maid was still thinking over the proposition from the night before. Soo-yun had promised not to pressure her friend and did not remark upon her uncharacteristic silence.

After Soo-yun had finished eating, a couple more maids came in to help their mistress get dressed and apply her make-up. By the time Soo-yun slid on a peach dangui topcoat, Yeo-jin had still not said a single word. Soo-yun dismissed the other maids and decided that she would have to be the first to speak since her friend seemed determined to stay reticent.

"Was the Crown Prince going somewhere, Yeo-jin?" Soo-yun asked. "I was wondering because the royal gonryongpo robe is still here."

"Yes, mistress," Yeo-jin faintly replied. "I saw his Royal Highness heading out to the courtyard where his uncle and his men were gathered. He was carrying a wooden sword and I assumed he was going to go to practice. Shall I check for you?"

"No, that's okay. I need to get some air. I will go there out there myself," Soo-yun said.

Out in the courtyard, Soo-yun saw a small crowd of servants and guards gathered off to one side. As she approached, she saw that the black-clad Saheonbu soldiers were doing fighting drills. Their leader, Han Tae-hyeong, walked among the half dozen men and admonished them if they made the slightest wrong movement. Soo-yun couldn't see whatever flaws the older man did and thought they all looked incredibly dangerous.

Soo-yun saw her husband standing at the edge of the gathering. Wearing a deep-blue military-style cheollik topcoat with gold embroidered dragons along the shoulders and cuffs as well as darker blue baji trousers, she couldn't help but admire Ha-neul's beauty once again. The Crown Prince's hair was tied back by a manggeon headband that was the same color and design as the topcoat and the topknot was capped with a golden sangtugwan crown.