By Zephyria 
I also had things I was curious about regarding Han Hee-sung, so I wanted to try having a proper conversation with him. I quickly grabbed the arm of Joo Min-hyeok as he approached Han Hee-sung.
“Your Majesty, didn’t you come here to see the Queen Mother?”
“I did. After I deal with that.”
“And how exactly do you plan to deal with him?”
I asked softly, wrapping my arm around Joo Min-hyeok’s. I mean, with so many eyes watching, what on earth was he planning to do? He was determined to fuel the rumors. People were already saying he had fallen so deeply for his concubine that he had lost all reason whenever it came to him.
“I have it all figured out. So, the Grand Imperial Concubine doesn’t need to worry.”
I almost fell for the attack of Joo Min-hyeok’s bright, beaming smile, but right now, my curiosity was more urgent than his anger management. I had to hear the reason why Han Hee-sung was acting this way toward me.
“I’ll take Han Hee-sung and talk some sense into him. You three please speak comfortably.”
“What? Are you crazy? He’s acting like that even here with people watching; where do you think you’re going, just the two of you?!”
Joo Min-hyeok grit his teeth and grabbed my waist. Ha, you’re doing the same thing despite all the eyes watching. Who just grabs a waist like that? I soothed him and managed to pry the hand off my waist.
“Your Majesty. I will make sure he understands clearly. So please, calm your anger…”
The Chief Prosecutor’s handkerchief must never be dry with his son running wild like this. The Queen Mother, who had caused this mess, seemed awkward in the middle and was simply watching the situation quietly. She probably thought she had caused this disaster by calling me here for no reason. I quickly went to Han Hee-sung’s side, pulled his arm, and bowed.
Hey, why are your cheeks turning red in this situation? Han Hee-sung, who had been sitting with a lukewarm expression, suddenly became a mess, his cheeks flushing red the moment I approached and grabbed his arm. This time, it was Joo Min-hyeok whose mouth began to pout. Seriously… am I a nanny? They’re taking turns sulking.
“Your Majesty. I’m sorry for letting things turn out like this. The Grand Imperial Concubine is trying so hard, so you should consider the Palace Lord’s dignity as well.”
“Is the person who considers the Palace Lord’s dignity so much the one who summoned the Grand Imperial Concubine here?”
Again… it’s a broken record. Biting her lip, the Queen Mother raised her hand toward the door.
“The guests Your Majesty brought are waiting, so let’s just let it slide this time. The Grand Imperial Concubine also looks very exhausted. Let’s stop for now, cool your heads, and talk with your mother again.”
At the Queen Mother’s comment that I looked exhausted, Joo Min-hyeok stopped his anger and stared at me. So, I gave him a smile with the most tired and worn-out expression I could muster. Look, I look this pitiful; are you still going to keep this up?
“I won’t go far; I’ll talk at the table outside the drawing room. My court lady will be with me.”
“If I knew it would be like this, I should have brought Kang Hyun-wook. There’s a mountain of paperwork to process.”
Our Hyun-wook must be diligently hammering away at his keyboard right now. I answered softly that I would wait for him, recalling his words that he would come to my quarters in a bit. Then, taking Han Hee-sung with me, I bowed to the Queen Mother and turned toward the door. In front of the door were several men the Queen Mother had referred to as guests.
Bowing to me, they were Joo Min-hyeok’s aides whom I remembered seeing a few times. They were nobles from prestigious families and quite close friends of Joo Min-hyeok. I believe they were all Alphas, but today, there was one person among them I didn’t recognize.
If he was a friend of Joo Min-hyeok, I should have seen him passing by, but I had no memory of him. Was it because he stood out since he was a stranger to me? I felt his gaze staring at me blatantly. A man who was quite handsome was staring openly. And when our eyes met, he bowed his head while looking at me with a smile.
Ah… I think I know what this chilly feeling is. The kind of feeling where someone checks you and acts cold only toward you. Checking me? Right. Rivalry. When did we even meet for him to be like that? Anyway, that person is conscious of me and is treating me as a rival. Why? Is it because he’s on the Emperor’s side and I’m of the Prime Minister’s bloodline? Even so, why look at me like that? It’s unpleasant.
“Ah, I don’t know why recessive Omegas are acting so bold these days.”
“A recessive Omega?”
Why is he suddenly insulting recessives?
“Yes. I wish they’d know their place.”
As he spoke, Hee-sung’s gaze pierced the man I suspected was treating me as a rival. Ah, is that person a recessive? Perhaps because Han Hee-sung is a Dominant Omega, he can sense such things.
“Don’t mind him and let’s go over there to talk. I have a lot of things I’m curious about.”
“You can speak informally. Please, feel free. User.”
As if the irritated tone toward that man had never happened, Han Hee-sung stuck close to my side with the brightest smile in the world. Good grief. I don’t know why this sight makes me laugh. Looking at Han Hee-sung reminds me of a cute puppy. We sat on the chairs at the waiting table before people entered the Queen Mother’s drawing room.
From here, through the open drawing room door, I could see Joo Min-hyeok, the Queen Mother, and Han Hee-sung’s father. It felt like we were being monitored by Joo Min-hyeok, but since we were in a place where the conversation couldn’t be heard, I felt we could talk comfortably.
After sitting down, Han Hee-sung turned his head and stared intently into the drawing room. Thinking he might be uncomfortable with Joo Min-hyeok, I looked that way too, but it wasn’t him Hee-sung was looking at. He was glaring at that Omega who had been looking at me earlier.
“That recessive Omega you were conscious of, Palace Lord User.”
A recessive Omega? It seems certain that the man is a recessive. I followed Han Hee-sung’s lead and looked at him. From here, I could see his profile, and from a distance, he almost gave off a Beta vibe. I hadn’t noticed when I saw him up close, but he had some bulk to him.
“I’m telling you, he’s pretending to be modest while trying to cling to His Majesty. He’s trying his best to become another concubine of His Majesty, gasp…!”
Chattering away like he was tattle-telling, Hee-sung suddenly covered his mouth in shock, as if he had said something he shouldn’t have. He can be surprised like that? How refreshing. The part he shouldn’t have mentioned was probably this: ‘trying to become another concubine of His Majesty.’ But I already knew, so it wasn’t surprising.
You probably don’t know, current you, that the one who was originally supposed to be that other concubine was you, Han Hee-sung. And no matter how much you pretend to be nice in front of Joo Min-hyeok… there’s no way a fox like Joo Min-hyeok wouldn’t know. He’s the kind of human who can see through a person’s heart ten—no, a hundred fathoms deep.
The fact that he leaves him alone means either he’s uninterested or he has a use for him. Either way, that’s for Joo Min-hyeok to handle. Right now, it was more important for me to know why Han Hee-sung, who was supposed to be that other concubine, was acting this way toward me. There had been no deep connection or exchange between us. Then what on earth did he see in me? My beauty? My personality? My wealth?
“I told you that you saw me. When I saw you walking back and forth on the street, I doubted my eyes at first, thinking it couldn’t be.”
“Yes, that’s right. User.”
“Then that means you already knew what my face looked like?”
Since he grew up receiving education for the Emperor’s official consort, he would have known the face of the current Emperor’s only concubine. Even if my face wasn’t public, it wouldn’t be difficult to find out. I am the grandchild of a nation’s Prime Minister and the Emperor’s Omega.
It would have been a piece of cake for Han Hee-sung’s family to identify me. I wondered how they had educated Han Hee-sung while showing him my picture. As a love rival to be eliminated?
“I saw photos, and I’ve seen you at the palace before.”
Han Hee-sung’s posture became very calm as he answered. It seemed he took my question seriously. Good, he’s in the mood for a conversation. My guess was correct. To recognize my current self instantly, he must have seen a wide variety of photos.
“I think I developed a sense of intimacy on my own because I kept seeing those photos.”
Dear, instead of vigilance, he developed intimacy; a major bug occurred in the education process. When I looked at Hee-sung with a bewildered expression, he beamed again. Perhaps he didn’t have a sexual attraction to me, but a human one. Regardless, it was a fact that he had developed positive feelings.
“That’s why I doubted my eyes when I saw you running around the street. I couldn’t believe it. It felt like someone I had watched from afar suddenly appeared before my eyes, and it was fascinating. That someone of your status was running around the street like that.”
Hmm. Well, I was indeed too careless. But Han Hee-sung was impressive for recognizing me. I listened quietly to his story.
“You usually came out during the time I attended the academy. So I started waiting. My parents are very controlling—they tell me I shouldn’t be friends with just anyone, shouldn’t date just anyone. So I don’t have any friends. The people my parents want me to be with are too two-faced.”
The more I listened, the more I began to understand Han Hee-sung’s eccentric and unpredictable behavior.
“But you were different, User. So different from what I imagined. I was surprised because you seemed like such a good person. You adored stray cats, gave snacks to children passing by, and even ate snacks on the street. And I really wanted to try that ice cream.”
Han Hee-sung says I am different from what he thought. And Han Hee-sung, too, was completely different from the image of the Movie Palace I had expected.
“I was so happy to meet you that day. I kept thinking about that time. So I wanted to meet you again. I wanted to talk again, and I wanted to eat ice cream again.”
The cautious smile of Han Hee-sung, telling me he missed me, looked complex. I could almost see him agonizing over me within the context of his relationship with the Imperial Family.