Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 4

“Why are you so late? Did the fabric shop owner give you a lot of work?”

Hongyo’s house was near the foot of the mountain, surrounded by trees. The trees, just beginning to sprout green leaves after winter, still looked desolate. Perhaps because of this, Hongyo always came to meet Gamyoung. His reason was that the mountain path was dangerous, especially for someone unfamiliar with it. However, Gamyoung, who had been visiting Hongyo’s house for six years, knew it was an excuse. Hongyo simply wanted to spend time with him sooner, but was too embarrassed to say so directly.

“Yeah, there’s more to do than you’d think. I have to organize the fabrics that come in every day, write in the ledger…”

“Ugh… Just thinking about ledger entries gives me a headache.”

Hongyo, unfortunately not good with numbers, grumbled, then suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Ah, but you should be nice to the owner. He gave me cotton cloth for free when I bought the silk.”

Unaware of whose pocket the free cotton cloth came from, Hongyo was talking about something else entirely, despite the person he should be thanking being right in front of him.

“You’re right. I’m grateful that he entrusted a young, clueless kid who just wanted to learn the ropes with the shop.”

“What kind of talk is that? You pick things up quickly. And even if you were to get fired, which won’t happen, you have me, so what’s there to worry about?”

Hongyo held up the rabbit he had been dangling. He looked quite proud, showing off his hunting prize.

“Do you think I can’t feed my friend? Just focus on your studies.”

Gamyoung quickly turned his head, but couldn’t suppress his laughter. And Hongyo, who never missed such things, glared at Gamyoung.

“What? Young master, do you not trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. If I didn’t trust you, who in the world would I trust? By the way, why did you buy silk today?”

Gamyoung deliberately changed the subject, and Hongyo, his mood somewhat improved, answered as usual,

“My adoptive mother gave me a job.”

Gamyoung nodded. Hongyo’s grandmother, a skilled seamstress, was particularly known for making the ceremonial robes worn by the priestesses who officiated the rituals dedicated to the dragon.

In this land that revered the dragon, there were women born with the power of the guardian deity. People called them “priestesses.” Though faint, they were born with a trace of the dragon’s power. No men, except those of the imperial family, possessed this power. Therefore, regardless of their background, all women born as priestesses belonged to the Hyunjingwan. They were fundamentally different from the numerous charlatans who imitated them.

Therefore, priestesses existed solely for the imperial family. They performed rituals and divinations for the dragon, solely for the benefit of the imperial family. Mohyun, who had adopted Hongyo, was the High Priestess, the head of the Hyunjingwan. It wasn’t uncommon for priestesses, who were forbidden from marrying, to adopt children, so it wasn’t unusual. However, Gamyoung was bothered by the fact that Mohyun, the High Priestess, allowed her adopted son, Hongyo, to live in these mountains. A priestess of Mohyun’s stature could easily afford a house in the capital.

However, because Hongyo had never mentioned his “adoptive mother’s” true identity, Gamyoung couldn’t easily inquire about the reason. Hongyo had always simply referred to Mohyun as a priestess in the Hyunjingwan, so he had no way of knowing. If he weren’t a prince, he wouldn’t even know that Mohyun had adopted Hongyo. If Kyungrak hadn’t investigated Hongyo’s background after he saved Gamyoung’s life, he wouldn’t have even imagined that Hongyo was connected to the High Priestess of the Hyunjingwan.

In any case, Hongyo lived with his grandmother. Around the time Gamyoung felt they had become close, he asked Hongyo about his parents, but the answer he received was that he didn’t know their faces or names. He said he had been with his grandmother since he could remember, so he had never seen his mother or father.

Instead, he said his adoptive mother visited occasionally to check on him. When Gamyoung asked how he came to be adopted, he only knew that his grandmother was acquainted with the priestess from the Hyunjingwan. Mohyun herself, when Gamyoung visited her once, only said that she knew Hongyo’s grandmother and had adopted her grandson.

Looking at Hongyo walking briskly along the mountain path, Gamyoung said,

“It’s cold, being in the mountains.”

“Huh? Is it? I don’t feel it. Well, I guess it’s different since you live in the village. You weakling. Should I skin this and make you a fur coat?”

Hongyo held up the dead rabbit again. The rabbit, an arrow precisely lodged in its neck, dangled from his hand. Gamyoung grimaced at the rabbit and waved his hand dismissively.

“No thanks. You’d have to catch at least ten to make a fur coat.”

“Then I’ll catch ten. I’ll make you a fur coat this winter.”

“Thanks.”

Fur coats were plentiful in the palace, but Gamyoung didn’t bother refusing. Just as he had slipped in the cotton cloth, Hongyo wanted to do the same.

It’s a bit embarrassing between men, isn’t it? Gamyoung shuddered, feeling a chill. It was all Kyungrak’s fault for saying those strange things about marriage earlier.

Meanwhile, they arrived at Hongyo’s thatched-roof house. A fire crackled beneath a large pot, presumably for cooking rice, and Hongyo’s grandmother was making soup in front of it.

“Grandma! Gamyoung’s here too!”

Hongyo shouted, dangling the rabbit by its ears.

“Hello.”

At the familiar voice, Hongyo’s grandmother looked at Gamyoung.

“Hello, you’ve come to eat again, I see.”

“Grandma, why are you so mean to Gamyoung?”

“Why? Because we’re running out of rice, that’s why.”

Gamyoung just chuckled awkwardly. Despite her words, a table piled high with food was set before him. Still, he had to earn his keep. Gamyoung rolled up his sleeves and approached the grandmother.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“No need. What can a boy who can’t even skin a rabbit properly do? If you insist, go chop some firewood.”

That much was easy. He thought so, but when he looked around the yard, a pile of unsplit logs lay stacked high. Suppressing a sigh, Gamyoung picked up an axe. Beside him, Hongyo was already cleaning the dead rabbit. Gamyoung was always amazed whenever he saw this. Hongyo, with his delicate features, looked like he wouldn’t be able to harm a fly, yet he skinned animals without a second thought. Hunting and cleaning game were different matters. As Gamyoung watched him with fascination, Hongyo asked,

“Are you staying the night?”

“Probably?”

Hongyo nodded as if he understood.

“I’ll lay out another blanket on the warm side of the floor.”

Then he continued cleaning the game. Gamyoung watched him, then quickly picked up the axe again at his grandmother’s call from behind, asking what he was doing instead of chopping wood. Soon, as the sun began to set, a table was set in the yard, the rice cooked. As always, a mountain of rice was placed before Gamyoung.

“Isn’t this too much?”

“This much for a young man? Eat heartily. That’s why you’re so skinny.”

He didn’t think he was particularly skinny. He had never heard such a thing, even from his own mother, but Gamyoung liked this place all the more for it. He stuffed his face with the rice that seemed never-ending and looked at Hongyo, who had already finished his bowl.

He’s the skinny one. His slender wrists and thin frame made him smaller and seemed less developed than other boys his age.

‘It’s amazing. He eats so much.’

Gamyoung subtly pushed some vegetables towards him. Since the rabbit meat couldn’t be eaten right away, he thought it would be nice for Hongyo to eat more, but Hongyo raised an eyebrow.

“Grandma, Gamyoung is a picky eater.”

“No, it’s not that…”

But it was too late. Branded as a picky eater, Gamyoung was punished with cleaning up.

Gamyoung lay sprawled on the blanket in the remaining back room. This was the same ceiling he had seen when he woke up after losing consciousness while being chased by the tiger. Looking at the now familiar ceiling, Gamyoung turned his head at the sound of the door opening. Hongyo, freshly washed, entered the room, drying his hair with a cloth.

“Hongyo, water’s dripping.”

“Shut up. If you’re staying at our house, you have to put up with these things.”

Hongyo plopped down next to Gamyoung and roughly dried his hair. Gamyoung thought he looked like a puppy, to put it nicely, but didn’t say it out loud. Calling a grown man a puppy… Instead, he sat up and took the cloth from Hongyo’s hand.

“Give it here.”

“Huh?”

Gamyoung chuckled at Hongyo’s slightly open-mouthed, foolish expression, which quickly turned sulky. As he reached for the cloth, saying he would do it himself, Gamyoung, deciding not to tease him further, dried his short hair. Hongyo, seemingly pleased, quieted down. Gamyoung spoke casually as he dried his hair.

“Even if it gets warmer, you’ll catch a cold if you don’t dry your hair properly.”

“A cold? That’s something weaklings like you catch.”

Scoffing as if he was confident in his health was typical Yeo Hongyo. Still, annoyed, Gamyoung ruffled his hair, just like Hongyo had done earlier.

“You always have to argue, even when your friend is worried about you!”

“What! Did I say anything wrong? Stop it, if you’re going to do that. You’ll pull out all my hair!”

When Hongyo yelled and tried to snatch the cloth back, Gamyoung raised his hands high. Hongyo stretched his arms, but unable to reach, he eventually gave up and let Gamyoung dry his hair. Although it felt strangely intimate, Gamyoung couldn’t help but take care of Hongyo, who couldn’t even dry his hair properly despite his hunting prowess.

It wasn’t like he did this for others. It was strangely comforting to care for Yeo Hongyo. Perhaps because he was the one who saved his life, he felt a special connection to him. Even besides that, there was something endearing about him. Gamyoung, taking advantage of Hongyo’s quiet demeanor, spoke,

“Will you come back to the school after the hunting season ends?”

It had been five years since he brought Hongyo to the martial arts school. Five years since he persuaded Hongyo, who had initially dismissed it, saying hunting was enough, and five years since Hongyo, who seemed to have a natural aptitude for martial arts, had been consistently attending. It had been a fortnight since he suddenly stopped coming.

He said he would return after the hunting season, but Gamyoung was worried there might be another reason. When Hongyo didn’t answer again, Gamyoung asked once more,

“Is there something going on? Is someone still bothering you at the school?”

Commoners couldn’t normally learn martial arts unless they were from noble families or wealthy merchant households. Under normal circumstances, someone of Hongyo’s status wouldn’t even be allowed near the school’s entrance. But Hongyo was the boy who had saved his life. Gamyoung, himself trained in martial arts since childhood, realized during a hunting trip with Hongyo that his skills were too good to be wasted on just hunting.

So he persuaded Kyungrak. Fortunately, Kyungrak, who cared for him deeply, listened to the situation and, using his authority as Crown Prince, arranged a special scholarship to support Hongyo. However, Hongyo’s stubbornness was also considerable, and his refusal to accept the expensive silk training uniform provided by the school had been a source of trouble.

Hongyo didn’t say anything, but the memory of seeing those who not only gossiped behind his back about the poor boy in cotton clothes but also bullied him whenever Gamyoung wasn’t around still stung. It had been a long time since he expelled those bullies from the school, but thinking about it still upset him. So he wondered if Hongyo was staying away under some other pretext.

When Gamyoung asked with concern, Hongyo, silent for a moment, finally spoke.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it?”

When Hongyo fell silent again, Gamyoung stopped drying his hair and waited for a reply. After a moment, Hongyo turned and stared intently at Gamyoung. Wondering what he wanted to say, Gamyoung met his gaze. Hongyo’s already bright eyes flickered in the lamplight, taking on a golden hue. Gamyoung was momentarily captivated by his gaze.

Just as a subtly sweet scent, unusual for a boy his age, tickled his nose, an unexpected name came from between Hongyo’s parted lips.

“…Senior Brother Kyungrak… is getting married?”