By Zephyria 
As I expected, the moment I burst into tears, the eyes of everyone watching naturally shifted to my wrist. Upon seeing the bruise on my wrist, the Queen Mother’s eyes softened, and she fell silent.
The bruise on my arm was so dark it was impossible to miss, and I could instantly feel the gaze of everyone who noticed it. A murmur began to ripple through the crowd.
“Wait, what is that bruise on the Grand Imperial Concubine’s arm? It looks severe.”
“It looks like someone gripped him tightly. Who would dare lay a hand on the Palace Lord’s body like that?”
“My goodness, was he hit?”
I looked at them with a puzzled expression, then checked my own wrist and pretended to be startled, hurriedly pulling down my sleeve. It was a masterclass in acting, as if I were possessed by the spirit of a fox. I decided to put the finishing touch on a performance that even I found impressive.
With a panicked look on my face, I pulled down my sleeve to hide my wrist and glanced tentatively at Joo Min-hyeok, as if walking on eggshells. When our eyes met, I hurriedly looked away. I had to act completely intimidated. Just then, the Alpha I knew to be the Queen Mother’s eldest brother and his mate clicked their tongues.
“Queen Mother, your words today were far too excessive. We’ve been giving you hints for a while now; how can you not know when to stop?”
“His Majesty the Emperor’s dignity is at stake, yet you’ve gone so far as to make the Palace Lord cry. What does that make us? Tsk.”
I tried to dissuade them from taking my side, trembling with all sorts of misery while pretending to be wary of the Queen Mother. Eventually, Joo Min-hyeok, who had not been hiding his discomfort, abruptly stood up and strode toward me.
With a very stiff expression, Joo Min-hyeok didn’t take his eyes off me as he walked. Did he catch me acting? Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case; Joo Min-hyeok draped the jacket he had been wearing over my shoulders and helped me stand up.
“Please stand. Mother, I will be taking the Palace Lord and leaving first. Everyone, please enjoy the rest of your meal.”
He was clearly smiling, but the voice coming from his mouth was incredibly dry. After staring coldly at the Queen Mother, Joo Min-hyeok barely acknowledged her with a greeting and led me outside. Huh? Did this blow up more than I expected? Perhaps because of me, I could feel a strong chill between mother and son.
Hyun-wook, who had been waiting in the drawing room, was extremely surprised to see me emerge earlier than scheduled, and in such a strange atmosphere with the Emperor, and he hurried toward us. However, Joo Min-hyeok brushed him aside as well and kept walking. He didn’t even pay attention to the footsteps of the court ladies and attendants frantically following behind us. Huh? He’s going to lose Hyun-wook!
In truth, I hadn’t expected this reaction from Joo Min-hyeok, nor did I have any clue what exactly had put him in a bad mood.
Was it because I couldn’t read the room, as the Queen Mother said? Or because I ruined the dining gathering? Or perhaps because I foolishly burst into tears and made him lose face?
I wished he would say something; he was taking me out in such silence that it was almost frightening. I looked back to make sure Hyun-wook was following. Hyun-wook was following us calmly a few steps behind. Seeing him made me feel a bit more stable.
“Why do you keep looking back? What is so concerning about a bodyguard you met only a day ago?”
“Huh? Oh, just because.”
I realized the problem with my behavior from Joo Min-hyeok’s sharp tone. I had to be careful. Since he wouldn’t believe me even if I told him about our relationship, I knew I had to be cautious not to cause misunderstandings. Met only a day ago.
That’s right. To the Emperor and others, Hyun-wook and I had officially known each other for only one day. It was only natural that it looked strange for me to act so unusually toward him.
I needed to be mindful of my actions, but perhaps because of the time I had spent with Hyun-wook, the habits ingrained in me came out too naturally. Joo Min-hyeok led me to a pavilion near the lake. After dismissing the attendants to a distance, Joo Min-hyeok checked my wrist and face and sighed.
Then, he used his hand to wipe away the tears that were still wetting my cheeks. I flinched for a moment at that natural gesture, and Joo Min-hyeok hesitated upon seeing my reaction, but he didn’t mind and continued to wipe the tears from my cheeks.
Why is he acting so sweet? Does this mean he’s really going to overlook the fact that I molested him? This is a man who usually didn’t care if I left the palace or what time I returned.
Unaccustomed to his kind behavior, I couldn’t hide my shaking pupils—so much so that it felt like one could hear them rolling. We had certainly been distant with each other.
Did the incident where my grandfather raised a hand to me change his emotions like this? Or was it after he smelled my pheromones? Whatever it was, it seemed certain that there was a shift in Joo Min-hyeok’s emotional line.
“I’m sorry about earlier.”
Whether my fox-like acting had worked, Joo Min-hyeok offered an apology without hesitation. Not knowing what this apology was for, I just stared at him silently.
“I should have taken better care of you, but because I was lacking, I let you hear such words. Just let your mother’s words slide. She is someone who speaks harshly even to me.”
“…It’s okay.”
“Between the talk of the Empress and concubines, she crossed the line in many ways today.”
“I’m also at fault. I couldn’t handle it gracefully and ended up crying, which was behavior unbecoming of my position. It’s also true that since this was my first time in such a setting, I couldn’t judge how to react properly.”
“The trip… I didn’t pay enough attention to your need for such a rest. I’m sorry. During overseas schedules, I only stayed in the hotel after work, so I didn’t think of it. Next time, it would be good to go sightseeing together after finishing the schedule.”
Ah, so Joo Min-hyeok just stayed inside too. Then again, it would be a nuisance for the Emperor of a country to wander around sightseeing. Even if he traveled quietly, there would be security personnel following him in secret and reporters clinging to him after hearing news somehow. It would be more peaceful to just rest inside.
“But could we go to an amusement park together separately later?”
What popped out of my mouth were words that even I hadn’t expected. No, what am I saying? Was the fox-acting from earlier too fun? I really do want to go to an amusement park, but why did I say that to Joo Min-hyeok? I wanted to cover my mouth, but the words had already escaped.
And this time, it was Joo Min-hyeok whose eyes widened. As he looked into my face in silence, a smile spread across his features. It wasn’t the formal smile he had shown until now. It was a truly warm-looking smile. It’s strange. To think such an emotion could be visible through a single smile.
“Sure. Let’s go. While we’re at it, a theme park tour trip would be nice too.”
I didn’t feel bad about it, but I didn’t know how to navigate this ticklish atmosphere. How do I wrap this up? Am I supposed to keep facing him and smiling like this?
Usually, in novels or movies, it would just cut to the next scene, but this is reality, so we have to figure it out ourselves. Fortunately, Joo Min-hyeok was the first to break the awkwardness.
“Did you feel okay when you woke up this morning?”
“Feel okay?”
“Your pheromones came out for the first time yesterday. I asked because I heard that in such cases, you can run a high fever and your body can ache.”
“…Ah.”
Ah, so that happens. But I felt quite refreshed? In fact, my body felt cooler than usual. I expressed that I was fine and intentionally didn’t bring up the contact from yesterday.
Joo Min-hyeok’s pheromones came to mind again. The scent was truly wonderful. A fresh fragrance that cleared the mind…. I’ll be able to smell it again, right? I wondered if my pheromones had been repulsive to Joo Min-hyeok. I was curious about how he perceived my pheromones.
“The Palace Lord’s physician will teach you how to control your pheromones. Also, I have cautioned the physician to be careful with their words, so they will not open their mouth to anyone without my order. For the time being, it would be best if only we knew about this. I intentionally didn’t tell the Queen Mother. So, you must act as if nothing happened.”
“Is it perhaps because of my grandfather?”
Even without asking, the reason for the secrecy was obvious. It must be because of my grandfather’s atrocities. If he found out, he would disregard the ban on entering the Grand Imperial Concubine’s quarters and rush over to bleed me dry. Telling me to hurry up and give birth to a Crown Prince. Because if that happened, the world would belong to the Prime Minister.
However, I’ve taken so many contraceptives that I don’t even know if I can get pregnant. Not that I have any desire for a child. Regardless, it’s obvious that many complicated things would happen, so from my perspective, it’s more peaceful if it remains unknown. In fact, the fact that he made this proposal first was a great relief to me.
“It’s the Prime Minister, and it’s also my mother. And until I can safely separate the Brigadier General from the Prime Minister, I don’t think we should give the Prime Minister any room to come near the Grand Imperial Concubine.”
It seems Joo Min-hyeok had been continuing to worry about his brother’s situation. That’s a relief. If the relationship is maintained well like this, we’ll be able to leave each other with a smile when the time comes. A clean future is not far off, where I wish for the happiness of Joo Min-hyeok and the Movie Palace, and Joo Min-hyeok lets me go without hating me.