By Zephyria 
I turned around, pulled by a strong arm shaking my body. The moment I confirmed who the owner of the arm was, my pupils trembled. The healthy, glowing skin, the lustrous hair, the straight bridge of the nose, and the eyes brimming with tears—it was a face so identical to his that there was no mistaking who it was. It was a young, vibrant face I had never seen in my entire life.
“Hae-joo, you’re our Hae-joo, right?”
A voice of blood relation that I could never forget, no matter how much time passed. This young man, who was as prone to tears now as he had been then, was definitely my father. I was speechless as I looked at my father weeping before my eyes. I thought I would burst into loud sobs the moment I saw him, but strangely, my heart settled the moment the person I had kept locked in my chest appeared before me.
I couldn’t believe it. This encounter felt surreal. Even though I was looking directly at the healthy image of my father I had dreamed of, I simply couldn’t believe it. Is it really Dad? Is this not a dream? Unable to believe in my father’s existence, I raised my hand and tentatively felt his face.
Skin with a warm touch, blood flowing through it. The vividness of being alive. My father had truly come back to life before me. My father, who tightly gripped the hand groping his face, also couldn’t stop crying. Contrary to his tall frame, he wailed sorrowfully like a small child.
“Isn’t it amazing? Out of all those people, I only saw you, Hae-joo. You were surprised because I grabbed you suddenly, right? I did it because I couldn’t believe it. I was afraid you’d disappear somewhere again.”
My father held me tight, stuttering as he wailed like a child. Only then did the reality sink in for me, who had felt as if this entire situation were a dream, and I threw my arms around him. Since coming here, I had endured loneliness and solitude for a long time. I burst into tears in my father’s arms for as long as those sorrowful times had lasted. Without even being able to thank my brother and Hyun-wook for blocking the gaze of others, we simply clung to each other and cried for a long while.
∗ ∗ ∗
With swollen eyes, we moved into the car. Even while exchanging news about our well-being, I clung to my father and refused to let go. It felt unfamiliar that he had become younger and, above all, looked healthy and no longer sick, but because he looked like the father I remembered from my childhood, I felt psychologically relieved.
My father was currently the CEO of a travel agency whose name everyone knew, running a fairly large business. He had said in his previous life that if he got better, he wanted to take us on free travels, and I never imagined he would be doing work related to that here.
“I woke up here with my memories intact. My heart ached so much thinking of you all that I couldn’t adjust for a while and suffered. There were no photos, no traces, nothing left, so I just kept bringing up the images of you from my memories. I tried my best to recall as much as possible, fearing I might even forget those. But how could something like this happen…”
He said that in this place, which was like the Korea of his previous life, he had even visited the place where we used to live. However, it seemed that not every detail was the same; while the neighborhood existed, the villa we lived in and its previous appearance did not.
I thought so too. This place was certainly like the Korea I lived in, but it wasn’t exactly identical. So, it was only natural that the place we lived wasn’t there even if we searched for it. Because that was a place the author who set up this world’s lore didn’t know about.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to that tourist who showed me your photo. If I hadn’t seen it, I would have spent my time just longing for you. You’re a concubine, so your status isn’t ordinary, but the hope that I could meet you has brought vitality back to my life.”
“Dad, don’t I seem a bit strange? I’m different from before. I’m an Omega.”
I’ve experienced Heats, and because of that, I conceived a child and lost it. I’m very different from the son Dad used to have. Would I still seem like a complete son to him? I couldn’t bring myself to say these words and only looked at my father. My father probably already knew my situation through the news and the internet.
Currently, the media is indiscriminately flooding with speculative articles about me. From the moment he realized I was a member of the Imperial Family, my father would have been very interested in that. So, naturally, he would have looked up articles about me; in fact, it would be stranger if he didn’t know. And as I expected, there was a lot contained in the look my father gave me. It was an expression that allowed me to understand everything without him having to say a word.
“So what? That’s natural here. Dad is an Alpha too. I can understand everything. More than that, it breaks my heart that you suffered such terrible abuse from that old man. I was under the same sky for all that time, yet I couldn’t protect you. It’s so frustrating and heartbreaking. That son of a bitch, my baby…”
My father hugged me tight and began to sob again.
“I had nothing to leave you but that damn disease, which turned your young life into hell, and to hear you suffered such things here too… it felt like my insides were being torn apart. I’m sorry. Dad is so sorry.”
I could feel from my father’s tone how devastated he was. Since he seemed so upset, it was urgent to reassure him quickly. I hadn’t always been unhappy since coming here. Except for when that damn grandfather came, it was a relatively peaceful daily life.
Because I lived with extreme caution, I didn’t have major problems with Joo Min-hyeok, unlike in the original work, and I felt small happinesses by living quietly and becoming close with the pavilion’s court ladies and maids. Furthermore, before I met Hyun-wook, my brother protected me reliably, so I had someone to lean on and a place to put my heart. Since I thought of it, I decided to introduce my brother to my father. While soothing my crying father, I called my brother and Hyun-wook, who were standing outside. My brother entered and sat beside me with a slightly awkward expression.
“Dad, this is my brother. He’s the reason I was able to endure it here and my only family. What he suffered from Grandfather was even worse than what I did, and he went through so much trouble to protect me. And he knows everything about my situation. So please, feel comfortable with him.”
My father, who had been crying against my shoulder, lifted his head to look at Han-bin and smiled with an embarrassed expression.
“Actually, while hearing the situation from Hyun-wook, I heard a lot about the Brigadier General as well. I’m truly grateful. Truly. You’ve suffered a lot. Don’t worry about anything anymore.”
“Suffered? Hae-joo is my younger brother. It’s only natural for me as an older brother to protect him, and in the future, if I don’t have our Hae-joo…”
The polite tone of Han-bin, who was greeting my father with courtesy, trailed off. My father, realizing there was a misunderstanding in his words, quickly corrected himself.
“Ah, no. When I say don’t worry, I don’t mean I’m going to just snatch Hae-joo away. I have no intention of separating the two of you. Naturally, the Brigadier General’s opinion is important too… What I mean by ‘don’t worry’ is that I will take care of both of you now.”
“Pardon?”
At the mention of taking care of him, my brother looked back at me with an expression I had never seen before, seemingly flustered. Indeed, he wasn’t the type of person to be cared for by someone until now. He is an independent and strong person who overcame everything alone. So, how foreign that word must sound to him.
Especially hearing such words from someone around his own age… Come to think of it, let’s see. What is the age difference between the two of them now? Huh? A four-year difference? Oh boy. How do I organize this relationship? While I couldn’t hide my flustered state, my father began to organize things as if he had read my mind.
“Since Hae-joo is my son, the Brigadier General is also my son.”
Uh…
“What?”
The question marks filling my brother’s face represented his heart. No, isn’t that too much of a stretch? But my father’s expression is so serious. With a face devoid of any laughter, he’s proclaiming that you are also my son, so what am I supposed to do?
“Father? We look like we’re around the same age…”
“The Brigadier General is in his twenties and I’m in my thirties, so I’m sufficiently qualified to be a father. Anyway, I’m glad I’m older. Your shoulders must have been heavy with responsibility all this time, so from now on, lean on me, take a breath, and live comfortably.”
“Ah… yes.”
Ah, yes? He said yes? What? Did he accept it? That Cha Han-bin is swayed by someone’s words that easily? It was a completely ridiculous claim, but because my father was serious, my brother became serious as well and nodded. Perhaps because he knew my past, he accepted everything with an open heart.
Normally, even if someone knew, they would doubt it once before moving on. Is he more naive than I thought because he’s done nothing but train in the military? While I was wondering at the smooth, flowing organization of the relationship, Hyun-wook, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around.
“I’m sorry to break the mood while everyone is catching up, but we don’t have much time right now. First, let’s discuss the most important thing: the plan for the future.”
Right. Hyun-wook is right. I’m so happy because it’s a reunion after such a long time, but we can’t just spend our time leisurely crying and hugging. Now that I’ve met my father, I have no intention of parting again. It seems the same for my father. If so, what should we do?
“Hae-joo needs to get out of the palace. At a time when talk of the Grand Imperial Concubine’s deposition is constantly coming up, His Majesty is firmly stating he has no intention of divorcing, so there’s a high possibility of deposition.”
“Exactly. If I’m deposed, the situation becomes difficult. They say I’ll live outside the palace, but it’s basically forced confinement, living under surveillance for the rest of my life. I have to get a divorce somehow.”
At the words of Hyun-wook and me, my father’s expression grew heavy.
“You can’t just live without doing either? Just…”
“Dad, even if His Majesty insists on not divorcing, the possibility of that happening is zero. The ministers won’t stay quiet. I’m the grandson of the Prime Minister, the main culprit of the civil war. Just being in that position is absurd. They will definitely drag me down. That’s why the ministers are saying they’ll let it be a divorce instead of making me a stripped commoner, considering my situation, but His Majesty is immovable. If the deposition is passed, I’ll be in real trouble.”
“First, we must definitely divorce, and Hae-joo and I must go outside. Meeting the family will come after that. So, we need to devise a safe divorce plan.”
A safe divorce. Now it’s not a matter of whether Joo Min-hyeok is liked or disliked. If I become a stripped commoner, everything is over, so we can’t delay any longer.