By Zephyria 
Wow, so this incredible figure is the Emperor from that novel, the Dominant Alpha Joo Min-hyeok. The Alpha who ruthlessly betrayed and killed the Grand Imperial Concubine.
No, he wasn’t the Emperor yet at this time, right? Since he becomes Emperor at eighteen, he must still be the Crown Prince now that he’s seventeen. The Joo Min-hyeok standing before my eyes looked a bit more mature than your average seventeen-year-old. Of course, as befitting a protagonist, he was also devastatingly beautiful.
Having received a massive protagonist buff, he possessed an unbelievable beauty—a tall, slender frame, dark hair that shimmered like silk, pitch-black eyes that sparkled like black pearls, and a high, straight bridge to his nose.
Even with a face that still held a hint of youth, I thought he would be truly formidable once he became an adult. He was already tall and solidly built, so I couldn’t even fathom how he would look once he was fully grown.
With that beautiful face, he is going to kill me. Yet, in contrast to that future, he is currently looking at me with a look of deep concern.
“Just where does it hurt? Huh? I heard you haven’t washed, haven’t eaten, and have just been staying in bed? Why are you doing this? Huh?”
“Pardon? No, I mean, well…”
“…What’s with that tone? Do I really need to call a doctor?”
“No, it’s just…”
“I’m asking why you’re like this. Shouldn’t you go to a university hospital for a detailed examination? Why are you using formal speech? Court Lady! Since when has this person been in this state?”
Wait, what’s with this friendly way of speaking? I stared blankly at Joo Min-hyeok as he interrogated my attending court lady in a tone that was surprisingly intimate. Ah, right, at this point in the novel, the two of them must have been very close, like best friends.
It was before the full-scale friction with the Grand Imperial Concubine’s family began, and since they were minors, there was no sexual relationship, so they had a comfortable relationship like pure friends. Of course, as seen from the Palace Lord’s death, it’s unclear if Joo Min-hyeok’s feelings were sincere, but there was a part where the Grand Imperial Concubine reminisced about wanting to return to this time.
In the year the Emperor turned twenty, the eighteen-year-old Grand Imperial Concubine’s Heat began. However, in the story, the Grand Imperial Concubine was not yet an adult, so he spent his Heat taking suppressants, and the official bedding was set for the day the Grand Imperial Concubine reached adulthood.
Then, as time passed and he turned twenty-three, the Imperial Family brought in a Dominant Omega from another family as an official Palace Lord on the grounds that no heir had been produced. That was the main lead, the Yeonghwa Palace Lord.
The appearance of the Yeonghwa Palace was glamorous, and the Emperor grew increasingly fond of him. The Imperial Family announced that whichever of the two Palace Lords conceived first would be invested as Empress. From then on, the competition between the two Palace Lords began, and the downfall of the Grand Imperial Concubine commenced.
The Yeonghwa Palace Lord became Empress after bearing an heir two years after arriving at the Imperial Palace, and the Grand Imperial Concubine died at the age of twenty-five in the year the Yeonghwa Palace became Empress.
But did the Emperor hate the Grand Imperial Concubine enough to kill him so heartlessly? No matter how much he hated him, there must have been some affection over the years; was it really all a lie, as written in the text? I was truly curious about those feelings.
What shocked me while reading the book with Seo-joo was the fact that Emperor Joo Min-hyeok’s plan to oust the Grand Imperial Concubine had been in place for a very long time. It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. The Grand Imperial Concubine’s family, backed by power, grew more arrogant by the day, piling up crimes such as bribery, solicitation, assassination, and insults to the Imperial Family.
The Late Emperor, Joo Min-hyeok’s father, died of stress due to excessive political pressure from the Grand Imperial Concubine’s maternal grandfather. That was when Joo Min-hyeok vowed revenge. After becoming Emperor, he began a full-scale confrontation with the Grand Imperial Concubine’s family, who sought to make the Grand Imperial Concubine the Empress.
It was around the age of sixteen that the Grand Imperial Concubine began taking contraceptives mixed into his food by order of the Queen Dowager. If an imperial grandchild were born from the body of the Grand Imperial Concubine, who was in an adversarial relationship, the Grand Imperial Concubine’s family would gain immense power using the child as a weapon.
The Imperial Family wanted to prevent that. Thus, the Emperor ignored the contraceptives even though he knew about them, and he grew his own strength while keeping a check on the Grand Imperial Concubine’s older brother, whose military power was strengthening daily.
The Emperor grew stronger by the day, and the Grand Imperial Concubine lived his entire life in a process of being betrayed without knowing anything. He was so foolishly deceived by that face and that pure appearance… not even knowing he was in cahoots with the Yeonghwa Palace.
So, if this is reality and the world I must live in from now on, I cannot live and die like that. It’s unfair enough that I died early in Korea; you want me to die unfairly again?
Absolutely not. I will definitely survive and live my own life. So, whether you’re Joo Min-hyeok or the Emperor, you go ahead and have plenty of sons and daughters with your Omega and live a long, happy life.
However, if I suddenly treat Joo Min-hyeok differently, I might arouse suspicion and ruin things. Therefore, I just need to act as I usually would and slowly distance myself from him. The Grand Imperial Concubine loved him too much, but unlike that Palace Lord, I am simply Cha Hae-joo, who does not love him.
A while later, after Joo Min-hyeok left, I entered the bathroom to soak my tense, tired body in warm water. And in the process of washing, I was shocked once more when I looked in the mirror.
“What the… is this me? The face is exactly the same?”
Literally, the appearance of the Grand Imperial Concubine in the novel was identical to my appearance in my previous life—that is, ‘Cha Hae-joo.’ I looked at my reflection in the mirror again and again, and even touched my face. I thought it was strange that my voice sounded the same, and it turns out the Palace Lord in the novel looks just like me…
However, while there was nothing different in a broad sense, the more I looked, the more something seemed subtly different. It felt as if a beauty filter had been applied to my face at about 200%? He was definitely a man, but the masculine feel had completely vanished.
It was definitely my face, but the skin was so smooth it was like a peeled egg, without a single pore or fine hair. The expression was a bit odd, but it was exactly right.
Even in my previous life, I wasn’t the type to have much hair, but since I was born with male hormones, I still had to shave. But now, it wasn’t even at that level; there were no traces of hair at all. Co-could it be… down there too?
Like pre-pubescent skin, my entire body was smooth without a single bump or hair, let alone pores. Only some peach fuzz was visible; was this normal? It was a stretch to call this a man’s skin. The only thing strange wasn’t just the smooth skin.
Overall, the pigmentation of my body had faded. My eyes, which had been close to a deep brown in my previous life, had become a bright, transparent brown, and my hair, which had been close to black, was now a bright brown similar to my eyes.
My eyelashes had grown long enough to be noticeable, and my double eyelids had become thick and deep. My skin was so white it almost looked pink, and although I had the build of a boy, far from having muscles, my skin was simply soft. Ha, what a bolt from the blue; this is a humiliating appearance where all the male hormones have been completely drained from my body.
“Ah, fuck! How is this a guy’s body!”
This is a man, but not a man. Honestly, my height isn’t much different from then or now, but the atmosphere and the slender lines of my body have completely changed. I finally realized exactly what being an Omega in a novel meant.
It’s because I am an Omega here. Fuck, an Omega. If Kang Hyun-wook saw this, I’d be a laughingstock for the rest of my life. And one whose death is already reserved.
The author said that, aside from the fact that the Imperial Family and nobles handle politics and that Alphas and Omegas exist, the setting of the novel was intended to be the same as the real Republic of Korea. That’s why the beginning of the novel stated: ‘The world-view is identical to the real world.’
But my appearance was not the same as the real world. It was completely different. That was because I belonged to the ‘Omega’ part of the ‘except for this’ that the author intended.
I am Cha Hae-joo, but I am no longer the Cha Hae-joo of the past. It felt so unfamiliar. It seemed I would need some time to accept the Omega Cha Hae-joo.
I made an effort to blend into this place where everything was awkward and strange. Above all, I tried to get used to the way people treated me and the titles they called me. Since I was a noble and a member of the Imperial Family here, I had to adapt to that environment. And I lived carefully to ensure I didn’t become the ‘villainous concubine.’ I struggled to grow fond of this world-view and my identity as an Omega.
And the time that seemed like it would move so slowly passed quickly, and five years have gone by since I arrived here. During that time, I lived quietly, holding my breath to avoid catching Joo Min-hyeok’s eye.
Perhaps because I lived without causing trouble, I’ve even managed to obtain a pass allowing me to go outside the Imperial Palace, maintaining a reasonably satisfying life.
If there’s one slightly troublesome thing, it’s the bedding that I’ve been postponing under the pretext of being sick. Now that I’ve become an adult, the pressure to have the bedding is increasing daily. However, since Joo Min-hyeok doesn’t seek me out either, I decided to avoid it for as long as I can.
∗ ∗ ∗
“Where is the Grand Imperial Concubine?”
Joo Min-hyeok, who had been reading a mountain of documents, tossed his fountain pen and stared at Sang-seon. As Joo Min-hyeok’s low voice echoed, a chilly silence fell over the surroundings.
Sang-seon, observing the Emperor who seemed to be in a foul mood, let out a short sigh and answered the question. Hearing this answer would probably make his mood even worse.
“The Palace Lord has currently left the palace to visit the newly opened convenience store.”
Tap, tap, tap.
As soon as Sang-seon finished speaking, Joo Min-hyeok began to slowly tap the desk with his finger. A frown formed between his brows, and he fell into thought, resting his other hand on his forehead.
“…I’m sick and tired of that damn convenience store…”
It’s not like we’re in the Joseon Dynasty where people are locked away, and while entry and exit from the palace are free, a Palace Lord, who is the Emperor’s spouse, wanders out too often. Moreover, he’s just touring all the convenience stores in downtown Seoul around the palace.
Fine, whatever, going out is fine. But it’s not like he goes to the convenience store to buy and eat something; he just looks at the part-timer’s face and comes back. There were times when he repeated this several times a day. What kind of eccentricity is this?
“The Grand Imperial Concubine’s family is currently putting heavy pressure on us, asking how much longer the bedding will be postponed.”
“That’s why I’m asking—am I the one postponing the bedding? The one dodging it left and right is the Grand Imperial Concubine, not me.”
“…It’s just that they don’t believe that.”
That’s why it’s driving me crazy. According to the laws of the Imperial Family, the bedding should have happened long ago. But the twenty-year-old Grand Imperial Concubine, who has now become an adult, has absolutely no intention of doing so.
It’s because his body is weak and, crucially, because his Heat hasn’t come yet—though bedding doesn’t necessarily have to happen during a Heat. However, the Grand Imperial Concubine is using that as an excuse to desperately postpone the bedding with the Emperor.
I had nothing to say to his maternal relatives, who expressed disappointment and discomfort, claiming that the Grand Imperial Concubine was being neglected. I can’t afford to offend them yet… They would be reassured if I showed myself pouring love upon the Palace Lord, but the Grand Imperial Concubine won’t let me near.
From some point on, the Palace Lord has been strangely drawing a line, treating Joo Min-hyeok with utmost courtesy as the Emperor and observing etiquette, but showing no interest in him as an Alpha. Currently, it’s a situation where I have to be mindful of the Grand Imperial Concubine’s family in terms of the country’s political and economic aspects.
However, it’s become frustrating because the Grand Imperial Concubine is hardly within reach. I even suspected if he had found another Alpha, but that wasn’t the case.
“Is my mother still sending contraceptives mixed into the food?”
“Yes. The Palace Lord eats them well without any suspicion.”
That family’s plan was clearly that he wouldn’t have an heir, but in a different sense, it’s become impossible to make a child. And this is subtly scratching the pride of an Alpha.
“I wonder if the convenience store he visited today was interesting; I should go pick him up.”
Slowly rising from his seat, Joo Min-hyeok moved his steps toward the Grand Imperial Concubine’s Imperial Pavilion.