Chapter 149: Seon-Ho/ Seo Yeon

As I predicted; it wasn't long before Chun-Ae had Yeon in her sights as public enemy number one in retaliation to my behaviour towards her and Yeonie, it was clear she didn't like to be ignored. Despite Yeon appreciably attempting to hide most things from me by silencing the servants but I had some who were loyal to me only who kept me informed on everything. It began with Chun-Ae trying to find any reason to go to her wing even though I banned both women from entering each other's wings and had them built-in opposite sides of the home for this very reason. Then she began to undermine her precedent over the home but failed miserably and then impose on the time I spent with Yeon both inside and outside of the mansion and had her own people follow us whenever I took her outside but I wasn't really bothered and just used it to my advantage as I wanted her to get the message loud and clear and stay away from us as much as she could. And it was fairly obvious when she had followed us as she always destroyed something out of anger and left it in plain sight.

I remember when I stayed in Yeon's workroom and witnessed the problems she had that she kept from me; from bullying to jealousy. And I wasn't willing to see her be put through any of that again epically in her current condition. It had been a few months into our marriage and her belly was swelling up to twice the size we thought which Hwi certainly wasn't happy about it so early on but Yeon buttered him up about what kind of uncle he would be and that seemed to do the trick. But it was nothing compared to Chun-Ae's reaction. I knew she was already being hounded by her connections when they were informed of the news but I guess it was the final straw for her. Chun-Ae felt she had been humiliated enough by our marriage to start badmouthing her in public to her social circle and making it difficult for her wherever possible by always keeping the servants busy and eating all the foods Yeon craved in her pregnancy which angered me to no end. But I was kept so busy that I had no choice but to let her eat with her brother a lot more than usual. Hwi was seriously not happy and wanted to confront her himself but we couldn't go against the king's wishes or I wouldn't have married her in the first place. I knew she had already gone through a few tests from my wife and her family including bad food, poor treatment from servants and even eluding her tricks with home necessities such as cleaning water and tampered makeup products. But I chose not to say anything to see how she was handling herself and to be honest I got more and more impressed.

Aside from my marital problems I had another; no matter how much Hwi tried, prince Bang-Won wasn't willing to let him go, making my work much harder than it had to be. This resulted in us always scheming together to look like we were not on good terms since he knew of our friendship and my marriage to his sister. But everyone knew my main goal was to bring down that very same prince who looked like the top candidate for the crown prince position, a prince who hated the birthrights we all lived growing up. And even though we weren't those people anymore we weren't going to let that happen to anyone else again. The sooner we got rid of him the better, and I had the support of all the people who mattered to me including my wife.

My 'partner' was a different story, however. Both women knew of my history with him and I forbade them both to entertain him even if he crossed paths with them. But the more pleased the king was with my accomplishments and my rise through the ranks in less than a year the more jealous the king became, which was a real sight to see. Soon enough he began trying to come up with ways of meeting my wives behind my backs when I was busy at work. He had Chun-Ae come up to the palace to see him wherever we could and have rumours circulate about their relationship. I was actually flattered with the lengths the prince was going out of his way to try to humiliate me out of his father's sight but I couldn't care less. The more this occurred the more time I got to spend with Yeonie. I knew he was going to try to get Hwi to introduce himself to Yeonie sooner or later but I decided to cross that path when we came to it.

I was already upset about not being able to be around Yeon more in her pregnancy, but due to my diligence in my work, I was able to be home a lot more in the later stages. It was both fascinating and worrying to watch, I was really proud of how she handled it and I swear I fell for her even more. Her belly was almost as big as herself which lead me to believe that she had to be carrying twins if not triplets which brought a massive smile to my face much to Yeon's pleasure and annoyance. I knew that carrying the children of an army person couldn't be easy for her, as she liked to constantly remind me. But she loved to point out that I had become the more nervous parent, which I couldn't completely deny. In her last month before she was due I kept her confined to her wing with servants to wait on her hand and foot as they should.

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Despite his obsession with me, I absolutely fell more and more for the dedicated husband who was always at my side especially as my pregnancy symptoms got more severe in the last two months. Whether I was dealing with morning sickness or back pain it seemed like he always had someone ready just outside my bedroom door. Even if he had a bad day at work he would always make his way to me the minute he came home and place both his hands on my belly, welcoming our children first before greeting me.

But I had noticed that no sooner had I taken to bed rest that Chun-Ae had started making moves on my man. I tried my hardest not to feel upset as I could not let my emotions affect my pregnancy.

She started to fulfil her wifely duties to him apart from her nightly ones and he had no choice but to accept since I was indisposed. She started to enquire about his work and follow him, I smiled at her face but I couldn't help but feel suspicious of the food and drink she kept offering me behind our husband's back. And I couldn't help but notice her eyes burn into me whenever the doctor came around for my health visits. I started recording these events just in case she managed to harm me which I had every reason to believe she was capable of. Most tricks she pulled on me she already did in the Nam mansion, such as poisoning my water with hellebore, putting things in my makeup, and messing up my food, I managed to watch in time and make them backfire onto her but I couldn't help getting more scared about what would happen to my baby if myself or my wasn't around. I started to realise why my husband always kept me in his sight but of course, he took advantage of the situation as well; it was as if we were sewn together like a thread that created a masterpiece. He paraded me everywhere he could in front of anyone he wanted whilst keeping a close hold on me. He controlled my pregnancy food, threw out all of my clothing so I had no choice but to keep wearing expensive ones he sent as well as dressed and undressed me himself, having me whenever he wanted in front of pretty much the entire household and never allowing the servants to help him. He was making himself my everything so I would stay by his side and vice versa.