Wandering Through Vol. 2 Chapter 39 - Karma

The sun had nearly set, staining a dim indigo sky when the visitor arrived.  

 

The grand prince’s residence, usually deathly silent after the servants had all retired for the day, received an unexpected guest. 

 

Old Lady Shanggung, who had assumed it was yet another eunuch sent from the palace to nag, hastily bowed her head upon recognizing the visitor’s face.  

 

Flustered, she guided the guest to the main hall and was about to summon Ban to fetch the grand prince—only to freeze when she saw the grand prince already seated there.  

 

Draped carelessly in an outer robe with the collar loose enough to reveal bare skin beneath, the grand prince made no move to adjust his attire. 

 

Instead, he lazily gestured for the guest to take the seat across from him with a tilt of his chin.  

 

The king frowned at his brazen disrespect.  

 

“You don’t even rise to greet your guest?”  

 

“I never invited one. You’ll have to endure this much rudeness, Brother.”  

 

“Yet here you are, seated as if you already knew I was coming.”  

 

“If I hadn’t shown myself, you would’ve barged straight into the inner quarters. I couldn’t possibly allow Your Majesty to violate propriety like that. Could I?”  

 

Leegwang’s gaze swept over the king, cold, and sharp—a silent warning that had the king stiffening, though he tried not to show it.  

 

“…Even if you hadn’t come out, I wouldn’t have gone that far.”  

 

The king spoke with forced dignity, but it was little more than backing down. A smirk curled Leegwang’s lips.  

 

“So, why have you come?”  

 

“Are you truly asking, or do you want me to recite just how furious the Queen Dowager is?”  

 

“And that warranted a personal visit from Your Majesty?”  

 

The more deferential his words sounded, the more they dripped with mockery. The king dropped heavily into the seat opposite him, sneering.  

 

“You refused every summons. I came to see just how busy you were with your whoring.”  

 

“Whoring…”  

 

Rather than refute the accusation of dallying with women other than his wife, Leegwang simply rolled the word in his mouth.  

 

A petty satisfaction curled inside him at the thought of Yiseo being spoken of that way. Their positions had reversed from their past lives.  

 

Yet at the same time, disgust churned in his gut at the same idea.  

 

The clash of opposing thoughts turned his brain to mush. His head throbbed slightly. As he pressed his fingers to his temple in silence, the king spoke again.  

 

“Is the woman you’ve hidden in the inner quarters your former wife?”

 

“Who else would it be?”  

 

“And why? If this was going to happen anyway, why humiliate her with a divorce? Why take a new wife? What exactly do you plan to do now?”  

 

The king sighed before adding, “You should at least tell me what you intend to do so I can decide whether to side with you or not. Causing this mess and then just shutting yourself away at home—”  

 

“How long has it been? Since I’ve been holed up in the inner quarters.”  

 

“Do you expect me to know better than you? At the very least, it’s been ten days since the Queen Dowager came to me lamenting about it.”  

 

“That long already.”  

 

“‘That long’? What do you mean ‘that long’? Do you even know your new wife visits the Queen Dowager almost daily? Her family is in an uproar, begging me to do something about their daughter, who was sent back before even completing the wedding night. Don’t you feel even a shred of pity for her?”  

 

“That’s her karma.”  

 

Leegwang’s words fell like a blade, sharp and unyielding. His usually languid gaze had hardened to steel.  

 

The king paused at his immediate response. Exchanging words with someone who could tear his soul apart at any moment was exhausting.  

 

Heaving a slow sigh, the king averted his eyes.  

 

At least one thing was clear, the grand prince despised his new wife to an extreme degree. Even if worse befell her, he wouldn’t pity her—he might even rejoice.  

 

Perhaps he had married her precisely because he knew this would happen. No—knowing the grand prince’s capabilities, that was almost certainly the case.  

 

“What did she do to deserve—”  

 

“Just because she hasn’t wronged anyone in this life doesn’t erase her karma.”  

 

Leegwang rose smoothly from his seat, “If you came here to plead her case, you’re wasting your time. I’ll take my leave now.”  

 

Without hesitation, he strode out of the hall. The king scrambled to his feet and called after him,  

 

“So you plan to cast out your new wife and reinstate your former one? Have you thought about the consequences?”  

 

Leegwang spun around and seized the king by the collar. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.  

 

“The consequences, the fallout—all those troublesome things are for ‘you’ to deal with, Brother.”

 

The eerie tone that sent chills down one’s spine—more than the collar tightening around his neck—turned the king pale.  

 

“I’ve been far more tolerant of you than you think, Brother.”  

 

The king occasionally tested the boundaries Leegwang had drawn, probing to see how far he could push and manipulate. It was an excellent strategy for a ruler, but to Leegwang, it was nothing but irritating.  

 

Normally, he tolerated the king’s words—replacing him would be more trouble than it was worth. But this time, the annoyance was so overwhelming that he was willing to endure the hassle just to depose him.  

 

Hadn’t he warned him repeatedly?  

 

— “If you just leave the bride in that chamber untouched, I will never covet your throne.”  

 

— “If I truly wanted your position, would you still be alive right now?”  

 

Leegwang delivered his final warning.  

 

“No matter what the Queen Dowager says, no matter how much that woman’s family kicks up a fuss—that’s your problem to handle, not mine to fix. Understood?”  

 

Crushed under the weight of his presence, the king couldn’t utter a word.

 

Leegwang released his collar, then turned away without another glance as the king swayed, his legs giving out. He wanted to believe the king had finally understood.  

 

Right now, he was sick of dealing with the outside world.  

 

Whether Ban had truly become Ban after playing the role for so long, all he could think about was holding Yiseo and rolling around with her.  

 

He still had past grudges to settle, people around Yiseo to remove, and anyone who might dare steal her away to crush—  

 

But the moment he had her in his arms, he didn’t want to move. He just wanted to stay like this a little longer. 

 

Letting go made him uneasy, holding her made him never want to let go.  

 

His steps were impatient as he entered the inner quarters.  

 

Through the open window, he saw Yiseo blankly gazing at the moon. Bundled under blankets against the chilly night air, she turned her head when she noticed him.  

 

“You’re here.”  

 

The whispered words, as if she had been waiting for him, sent a tremor through his chest.  

 

“I thought you’d be asleep.”  

 

“I just woke up.”

 

Leegwang entered the room, pulled Yiseo out from under the blankets, and sat her on his lap. 

 

As the warmth of the bedding faded, her body instinctively nestled closer to him.

 

“Why are you still awake? You should be sleeping.”

 

“I napped too long, so I couldn’t fall asleep… And you weren’t beside me…”

 

“Were you waiting up for me?”

 

“…”

 

The answer was already obvious. At first, Yiseo looked puzzled, but when her eyes met his, she bit her lip awkwardly before nodding.

 

“Yes… I was waiting for you.”

 

He lowered his head approvingly and brushed his lips against her cheek. 

 

Hesitant hands gripped his shoulders, then moved to the nape of his neck and back. Her touch was so faint it was less of a caress and more like her hands simply resting there before slipping away—but even that was enough.

 

He had considered taking her the moment he returned, but this was nice, too.

 

When he buried his face in the crook of her neck, Yiseo’s hands carefully stroked his back. Holding each other like this made his stomach churn even more.

 

“I’ll close the window.”

 

The window was only a few steps away from where they sat. 

 

After a brief hesitation, Leegwang let her go. Yiseo’s eyes widened—he had never done that before. She glanced back at him several times before shutting the window and returning to his embrace.

 

He wrapped his arms around her so tightly it almost hurt.

 

Letting her walk back into his arms on her own was worth taking a few steps back. Anything more than that, however, was impossible.

 

Perhaps he held her too tightly—Yiseo let out a faint whimper before hugging him back. The feel of her hands on his back satisfied him.

 

Being with Yiseo made his usually uncontrollable desires just bearable enough to endure, if only for a little while.

 

He didn’t particularly trust her behavior. 

 

Yiseo had already lost his faith completely. She had broken every promise she made to him, and the betrayal cut deep.

 

Affection and hatred stood uncomfortably close.

 

Perhaps he would never trust her again, always striving to control every part of her—but who knew?

 

Once he dealt with all the people who needed to be removed, things might change.

 

If she remained as obedient as she was now, even if he never fully trusted her, he might treat her a little more gently—just as she had asked.