Chapter 162: Bong Hyun-Ki

Imagine my devastation when I found out a while that Yeon was married! With children! She had disappeared after a while, I had assumed it was because of her friend that I barely remembered who started acting weird as soon as I hired them both to give tuitions at my manor. She started...stalking me a lot. I found it really uncomfortable, but I didn't want to say anything in case it scared her off. But that man...that man who soon became the King's closest man seemed to have his eyes on her around the same time I did! Or maybe even longer...they seemed to know each other really well. I was most definitely disheartened by this...Yeon was such a closed book to the people around her but with him...it was like they knew each other off by heart. The amount of times I used to wake up earlier and earlier just to see her in the market spaces before lessons and training started...just to see him watching her every chance he got, hovering over her like her own personal guard...I had to stop when I saw their flirtations in public! The flirtatious eyes, the hand holding, him offering to buy her things I could never afford if accumulated a year's worth of my salary. I looked into that man as much as I could...I learnt that he was practically inseparable from her brother for years, so I had hope. No, I deluded myself into thinking that they were close since childhood so it was ok for them to act...intimate...even though I knew deep down that it wasn't. And then we spent time together at the palace and it was fantastic, even my parents loved having her around and spoiling her...they even wanted us to marry . I, however was just ons step too late as she soon found herself in the army generals clutches as soon as we returned there. He must have assaulted her or something and then blackmail her into marriage, and the was why she cit off contact with me as soon as my mother handed me our family's bridal attire. That bastard didn't let anyone get close to her at all, no mater how hard I tried I knew that he was purposefully keeping her from me.

I was desperate to be around her nevertheless, despite the guard dog she had around her. I wanted to impress her like she impressed me, I wanted to be the fresh air that she blew into my life...yes I know it will not be easy to love a woman who was so intelligent but not cunning. She was kind and not materialistic at all. But she was brave as well; Yeon was ahead of her time...and my family name could definitely give her a sense of protection, I was sure of it...that was until the scenes he would cause in the market when other people tried to get close to her. He would abuse his power by getting into scrapes, or injuring men that tried to flirt with her. And as for the women who tried to harm her; he had enough power to make them her slaves. I...I could not compare to him in any kind of way at all so I...I retreated into the shadows, trying to heal my broken heart with alcohol...even with women for the first time. But not a single one, no matter how noble or high class compared with Yeon who had noble attributes as well as low-class cheek and playfulness. She just...made it work somehow.

My addiction with women started to take a hold of me as I could not help comparing all of them to Yeon. Some of them were too quiet or too loud...Yeo was just perfect. They were either too thin or overweight...Yeon was slender but had curves in the right places. Most of them were illiterate so I couldn't discuss my work with them the way Yeon would casually intervene sometime over my shoulder...with her pale face and scent long hair that would trail after her...

Now imagine my surprise when I accidentally heard her voice coming out of his office. My body was heavy with a hangover as I was once again late to the palace after spending maybe 1/5th of my inheritance in Ihwaru last night. But the minute I heard a female voice coming out of his office I recognised it immediately; only Yeon had a honey sweet voice, it was almost childlike. I opened his door as quietly a is could so I could get a sneak peak into what they were like behind closed doors...I mean no one had the perfect marriage right? That was impossible to achieve for any human beings. maybe...maybe he was forcing her to be with him? But that didn't make any sense, he was the most sought after person in the palace, noble women from different provinces were dying to be connected to him through marriage. She was...a lot lower in social status than he was...so why did he take her as his main wife? Not even his concubine, his main wife that even had a part in his work, made donations to charities on his behalf and provisions to the army...I didn't understand it at all.

I opened the door ever so slightly, just enough so I could see from the corner of my eye how they interacted. And what I saw...it wasn't possible between two people of different classes, different backgrounds, different experiences...right? I had thought my mind was beginning to play tricks on me when I saw once again how synchronised they were. She was serving him food whilst he had one arm around her waist and another one holding official documents that he didn't even bother to hide from her. He...he then burrowed his face into her neck whilst they conversed animatedly about upcoming plans for 'their little vacation' with the children. I had heard all about them; apparently she had pretty smart twin children that he barely let anyone meet. As they talked more about them I could only close my eyes momentarily and imagine what it would be like...if I was their father and not that 6ft brute. Maybe they would be a lot smarter and maybe a lot more sociable if he didn't keep his family locked up like he did.

I opened my eyes again to see her...leaning on his back while he ate with one hand and held hers with the other. It was just the same as when they were in the market...they were connected everywhere they went. He lay on her lap as soon as he was finished with the big portion of food she just made for him and fell asleep for a little while she stroked his hair...before she kept being down to give him lots of kisses while he slept. From what I knew...they were married for about 5-6 years but they still acted like newlyweds despite having children. Overtime; my heartbreak turned into shame as I had started to build up a desire...a desire to take what I wanted...children and all.