Fake Concubine 1

1. Opening

It ​was ​a ​bitterly ​cold ​winter.

“Hoo…”

Moon Hae-min hated ​the ​cold. ​Not ​that ​many people liked the ​cold, ​but Moon Hae-min ​was particularly susceptible ​to ​it. ​Every ​year, ​he ​would tense up ​around ​the ​time of the ​Cold Dew and shiver ​when winter ​began.

Whether it ​was the ​cold itself ​he ​hated, ​or whether he ​just felt ​lonelier in winter, he ​didn’t know. Moon Hae-min ​had no one to ​share warmth ​with. ​Gathering all the clothes he owned ​and shivering alone was ​his ​only ​way ​of ​getting through the ​winter.

“Hoo, hoo…”

But ​not ​anymore. Hae-min blew ​on ​the baby in his arms. ​He, an ​adult, ​was exhausted after ​this ​forced ​march, ​so ​how much ​harder ​must it ​be for a newborn not even half ​a month old? ​Yet the baby ​didn’t cry and just ​smiled, making ​Moon Hae-min feel ​both ​fond and sorry, ​and he gently ​stroked the ​tiny ​hand.

The baby ​moved ​its lips. ​Was ​it trying ​to ​babble? ​He wondered, but ​no ​sound came ​out. ​Was ​it ​too early to speak? He didn’t know, as this was his first time giving birth to and raising a baby. Instead, Moon Hae-min opened his mouth.

“Bok-ddeong.”

Regardless of the circumstances, it was a pet name given in the hope that the baby would bring him luck, and that the child’s life would be blessed. Moon Hae-min reaffirmed that wish.

“Just bear with it a little longer. This father has secured a ship to the Wild field. We’ll be able to live much more comfortably there. Once we escape Dawn…”

Dawn… The country where Moon Hae-min was born and raised, where he had lived his entire life. And now he had to leave his homeland, something he had never once considered.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid. But Moon Hae-min, and Bok-ddeong, had to leave. In Dawn, they couldn’t escape Song Seol, that man’s eyes.

“…Don’t worry. I have a plan. The Wild field is a place where merchants come and go, so people skilled in accounting are valued. If I work diligently, we’ll be able to make a living. Even if things don’t go as well as I hope, we won’t starve.”

He had somehow endured in Hanseong and Songdo. There was no way he couldn’t survive in the Wild field.

“So we’ll be able to live happily.”

The moment he quietly spoke to Bok-ddeong in his arms.

Bang!

A deafening sound rang out. The door burst open, and a blizzard rushed in.

“We’ve found him, Grand Prince!”

An armed soldier shouted. He couldn’t even defeat that one soldier, and when he looked outside, there were dozens of them. Hae-min, realizing the situation, trembled.

Had he been discovered…? Could he really have been discovered? Please, no…

As he repeated the futile wish, the soldiers stepped back one by one. Someone walked through them. A cold and imposing man, as if wearing the north wind.

It was Song Seol.

“…Ah…”

As soon as he met his eyes, his strength drained away. He wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. The best he could do was barely manage to stand up and stumble back. Even that only lasted two steps before his back hit the wall.

“So this is where you ran off to.”

The lamplight cast a somber shadow on Song Seol’s face. His tone was calm, but a frosty Scent burst from him. He looked every bit like a man who had come to find a concubine who had run away.

Thinking that wasn’t far from the truth, he smiled, and a breath escaped his pale lips. Seeing the amount, Song Seol frowned deeply.

“Who is that child?”

“…”

“Am I the father of the child?”

Moon Hae-min held Bok-ddeong tightly.

It was true that Song Seol was the father of the child. But Hae-min didn’t want to reveal this. It wasn’t just because he feared Song Seol’s anger.

He was just a concubine, so no matter how noble Song Seol’s status was, Bok-ddeong would only be an illegitimate child. He should be passing on only good things, but he couldn’t pass on the status of an illegitimate child. That was the sole reason he had decided to flee.

“No. I am the father of the child.”

“You seem to have some mystical talent for giving birth to a child alone. Come to think of it…”

Song Seol stopped speaking. Just as Moon Hae-min had smelled Song Seol’s Scent, Song Seol had also smelled Hae-min’s Scent.

Moon Hae-min tried to suppress his Scent even now, but he couldn’t. It was inherently difficult to control one’s Scent immediately after childbirth.

“You, you knew how to emit a Scent?”

This wasn’t something he had intentionally hidden. He had lived as an ordinary person until he was twenty, who would have known he would suddenly manifest as a Yin person?

As this wasn’t a situation he wanted to explain to Song Seol, Moon Hae-min simply hung his head low. Then, a cold voice fell.

“I will ask. You must answer this Lower question.”

“…Speak.”

“Is your name Moon Hee-yul?”

At the unexpected question, Hae-min raised his head sharply.

But thinking about it, it was something that would be discovered someday. It was just that the day had come sooner than expected.

“No.”

“Then.”

“…As the Grand Prince says, I am not Moon Hee-yul. I will gladly accept the punishment for deceiving the Grand Prince all this time, so please punish me.”

“That is not what I asked.”

Perhaps frustrated by Moon Hae-min’s inability to understand, Song Seol frowned slightly.

“What is your name?”

“…My name is Moon Hae-min.”

“Moon Hae-min.”

Song Seol, as if learning a new word, repeated Moon Hae-min’s name and asked.

“Moon Hee-yul is also a lie, and being a Scentless Yin person is also a lie.”

“…”

“Then is it also a lie that you do not love me?”

“…That alone is the truth.”

There were moments when he felt affection for Song Seol. He had even hoped that they could maintain a good relationship, however precarious.

But now, it was all in the past. He had committed a sin against Song Seol, and that sin was unforgivable.

“Take him away.”

Song Seol gave a short command. At that, two soldiers who had burst into the room grabbed Moon Hae-min’s arms, one on each side. Hae-min struggled desperately to escape their strong grip.

“Let go!”

He couldn’t be captured so easily. It wouldn’t matter if it was just him being captured, but Bok-ddeong was with him. He tensed his entire body to avoid being dragged out, and then Bok-ddeong burst into tears.

Hee, hee… He felt sorry for the baby, who couldn’t even cry properly due to lack of strength. Seeing this, the soldiers couldn’t bring themselves to be harsh.

In the end, Song Seol stepped forward. He took Bok-ddeong from Moon Hae-min. After handing the baby to a soldier, Song Seol dragged Moon Hae-min away with a strong grip.

“Please let me go!”

Moon Hae-min resisted with all his might. His Bok-ddeong, a child who should grow up happily, receiving only love unlike his father. He was going crazy with worry about how Song Seol would treat such a child.

“Grand Prince! Your Highness, please…”

But Song Seol ignored Moon Hae-min’s pleas. He forcibly Read on Read BL Novelsput Moon Hae-min on a horse and pulled the reins. The horse, Read on Read BL Novelsresembling its owner, began to run mercilessly.

“No…!”

The fierce wind swallowed his cries. He turned his head, but even that was blocked by Song Seol, and he couldn’t see anything. Moon Hae-min trembled with grief and thought.

How did things end up like this? Why…?

He couldn’t know the answer. Not because there was nothing he could think of, but because there were too many things.

He should have run away more thoroughly. He shouldn’t have spent the night with Song Seol. Even if it was the Lord’s command, he shouldn’t have become Song Seol’s concubine instead of Moon Hee-yul. As he pondered, he had a regret.

He should have just died rather than live as an illegitimate child.

Moon Hae-min cried silently. Snow fell like the sorrowful teardrops.