131 – VCR

Side Story Episode 1

Exhausted, I lay sprawled on the sofa like a corpse, unable to move a muscle, staring blankly at the ceiling. Just then, I heard the sound of the door closing softly, followed by Joo Min-hyeok’s footsteps. I could tell he was walking very carefully. Ha, he actually succeeded in one go.

I lifted my upper body slightly and waited for him to arrive; soon, he appeared in the living room. For some reason, he had the expression of a general who had just saved the country. I don’t know why that proud, triumphant look and the eyes craving praise were so funny.

But since he did a good job, I should praise him. Bathing the baby and putting him to sleep at night is always Joo Min-hyeok’s responsibility. At first, he couldn’t even hold the baby for fear of dropping him, but now he’s quite proficient. At some point, he became the person in this palace who handles the baby best.

“You worked hard. It’s tiring, isn’t it? Still, Tae-yul sleeps so well without crying when you’re the one putting him down.”

“What’s tiring about putting my own crazy brat to sleep? All I need is for you to praise me.”

At the words “worked hard,” the corners of Joo Min-hyeok’s mouth curled up as he naturally lay down beside me. Because my body had not yet fully recovered from childbirth, Joo Min-hyeok always treated me with extreme care. He must be exhausted from working all day and then putting the baby to sleep, but he never lets it show. Thankfully, he was fulfilling the duties of a father on my behalf very well.

“Did he sleep well without fussing?”

“Of course. He’s all fresh and fluffy from the bath, his belly is full of formula, and his daddy held him and sang to him—what reason would he have to fuss?”

As soon as he lay down beside me, Joo Min-hyeok hugged me tight. I stroked his hair while watching the baby sleep through my phone. So cute. I could hear the baby’s characteristic pretty breathing; he seemed to be fast asleep. I understood Joo Min-hyeok’s confidence that the baby wouldn’t wake up. I hugged Joo Min-hyeok tightly as he diligently kissed my neck.

“Honey, you should sleep too.”

“You go ahead and sleep first. I’ve been resting all day, so I’m not sleepy at all. I’ll handle the midnight feedings tonight.”

Midnight feedings. This is the hardest part for all novice parents, but I’ve never actually done it. Even though I’m not a heavy sleeper, I was always one step slower than Joo Min-hyeok. Joo Min-hyeok endured with sheer willpower, acting as if waking up first to prepare the baby’s formula was naturally his job. Perhaps that’s why he knew exactly what time the baby would wake up, how much he would eat, and what time he would fall back asleep. He has now become more of a parenting expert than I am.

He now supports the baby’s neck well and holds him comfortably. He changes diapers skillfully and mixes the formula perfectly every time. Every time I see that, I feel sorry yet truly grateful. His appearance grows more haggard by the day, which makes me feel pity…

“You’ll be exhausted again tomorrow with the baby all day, so go to sleep. Even if you’re awake, Tae-yul only looks for me anyway. And now he doesn’t wake up constantly at night and only needs one feeding, so I’m not even tired. Compared to the newborn stage, this is truly heaven.”

Yes. Just as Joo Min-hyeok said, our baby is a very filial son in that he only looks for Joo Min-hyeok at night, not me. At night it’s Joo Min-hyeok, and during the day, he won’t leave my side. During the day, I had to be next to him no matter what, and when night fell, he would instinctively seek out Joo Min-hyeok. Because of this, Joo Min-hyeok couldn’t work late.

Now, he does go to Han-bin hyung and Seo Ju-na’s father, but until he was three months old, he would burst into tears if anyone other than Joo Min-hyeok or myself touched him. Surprisingly, the only person other than us who could touch the baby was the Queen Mother. Perhaps because they share blood, the baby would hold out for about an hour when the Queen Mother came to hold him. Quite unexpectedly, that haughty woman would rush over and take decent care of the baby whenever we were collapsing from exhaustion.

In any case, the baby appropriately chose and utilized his fathers according to day and night, and for that reason, we couldn’t use a nanny, let alone a court lady nanny. That is still an ongoing situation. This little scrap of a human still wails hysterically if people other than Joo Min-hyeok or I touch or hold him, and that “waah” sound is so pitiful that we simply cannot let him go.

And Joo Min-hyeok, who insisted that since he is the son who will ascend the next throne, he must be raised strongly, was even more obsessive. He’d say things like, “How scary is the world that he’s acting like this?” and “I will protect our son no matter what,” while kissing, cuddling, and never putting him down. As if the baby knows who protects him, he always seeks out Joo Min-hyeok when it gets dark.

Since I love him just as much, the baby’s rejection was very confusing and shocking at first. Even though he’s just a baby, I felt sad that he rejected me every night. However, as I gradually accepted reality, that sadness turned into gratitude.

Thanks to that, I was able to get a good night’s sleep. I felt infinite gratitude toward the baby for giving me this golden opportunity. Whenever I saw Joo Min-hyeok becoming more drenched in fatigue by the day, I felt sorry, but I also feared the baby might look for me in the middle of the night.

The medical staff said the baby was born with a constitution sensitive to pheromones and seemed to reject the scents of others. Upon hearing that, we quickly hired court lady nannies who were primarily Betas, but that was useless too. [unauthorized copy]The reason was that the baby became anxious when [visit our site]he couldn’t smell his parents’ pheromones. He was truly difficult to please. We hired Betas because he was sensitive to pheromone scents, but now he cries because the fathers’ scents are missing.

They said such children are common among babies under a hundred days old. The medical staff added that this behavior is also an instinct of newborns. It’s an instinct for fragile and weak newborns to seek their parents to protect themselves from danger. It was truly amazing how he knew his parents’ pheromones and found stability.

Our baby, Ju Tae-yul, who suffered while adjusting to his clumsy fathers. After being safe in a warm father’s womb, the baby must have also tried hard to adjust to the world he was born into.

Still, these days, he seems to be clearly realizing who we are and what we mean to him. He couldn’t smile so beautifully if he didn’t. Even though it’s hard because he doesn’t take well to other people’s hands, when he smiles once in a while, all the accumulated fatigue vanishes. I suppose I’ve become an inevitable father too.

“Still, we succeeded.”

“Succeeded? In what?”

“The ‘100-Day Miracle’ we’ve been waiting for. The meaning is a bit different from others, but at least Tae-yul doesn’t cry anymore when he’s with other people.”

We waited for the hundredth day every single day. Since they said pheromone sensitivity decreases after a hundred days, we had no choice but to wait. And indeed, as the baby grew, he began to stabilize noticeably. He could stay away from his fathers for a while and was gradually adjusting to the touch of others.

“That’s improving, but he’s only four months old. We still have a long way to go. Hang in there.”

True. This is just the beginning, and there are still mountains of challenges ahead. I know we have a long way to go. But I take comfort in the fact that he’s not a total cling-on like he was as a newborn.

“I’ll give those words right back to you, Mr. Midnight-Feeding-In-Charge Joo Min-hyeok.”

“Still, I feel like I can breathe these days. If he wakes up once at dawn to eat formula, he sleeps straight [unauthorized copy]through until 7 AM. That [visit our site]means I can get a full night’s sleep too. When he had to eat [stolen content]every two hours, it was really… Of course, I was fine. I could endure it all.”

Two hours might be a short time for a baby, but for adults, it means staying awake all night. Mixing the formula, feeding, burping, cleaning up everything he ate, and preparing the next bottle. By then, an hour has already passed. Even if he got help with mixing the formula, he would reject it for some reason, so Joo Min-hyeok absolutely had to mix it himself. It felt like the world was filming a prank show at our expense.

“…Of course, I know. I know you were sincerely struggling and sincerely endured it.”

“And these days, he even holds the bottle himself to eat. He’s all grown up. So admirable.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re getting enough sleep. I know how much work the Emperor has.”

He must be exhausted trying to handle childcare and his main job at the same time. Everyone raises children this way, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Well, thanks to that, the ministers pushed the meeting back to ten o’clock, and there’s also the afternoon nap. I love it when the three of us—the baby, you, and I—sleep together then.”

It was almost tear-inducing to see how diligently the man who used to spend his nap time looking at overdue documents was now making sure to get some sleep. It was a time when I realized how important sleep is to a person. During the afternoon nap, both I and the baby sleep, so it’s the only time our family can sleep together, even if just for a bit.

“Everything is fine, but it breaks my heart the most that you can’t even hold him however you want because you’re walking on eggshells around the little scrap. Partly because you haven’t fully recovered yet, but…”

“It can’t be helped. Right now, it’s not Your Majesty, but Tae-yul who is the master of the house.”

Yes, the master, indeed. As a newborn, he just lay still and cried whenever he needed something, and that was it. But now, if he flails, he moves and attempts to roll over. Once he rolls over and pushes himself along with his belly, there will be a different set of hardships. We really have a long way to go. Parenting is a long-term war. I shouldn’t wish for it to end quickly. Because he’s too cute right now.

“I’m worried if we can do Tae-yul’s Crown Prince investiture [unauthorized copy]at the same time as unauthorized copythe Imperial Consort Investiture Ceremony. He’ll cry because the clothes are uncomfortable. Should we just do it separately when he’s a bit older?”

“…No. If Tae-yul cries, we’ll just soothe and coax him however we can to finish it quickly. We can put the Crown Prince investiture at the end of the Imperial Consort Investiture Ceremony and finish it as fast as possible. If we do them separately, both will become huge events. That’s just a waste of budget, manpower, and time. It’s better for everyone to finish it all at once.”

Since both are major national events, they cost a lot of money. Things are different from before. If we spend a lot of money and time twice on events just for the Imperial family, people will definitely say we’re being excessive. There’s no reason to make the investiture of a young Crown Prince a grand affair. We just need to follow the procedures and formalities and finish it. I also don’t intend to have a separate Empress parade.

Since there are likely people who still view me unfavorably because of what my grandfather did, I want to act as cautiously as possible. Once that event is over, I will officially become the Empress of the country. Even now, I am performing the duties of the Empress. However, once I officially use the title of Empress, things will be completely different from now. Therefore, I wanted to enjoy this time while there are still few restrictions.