Wandering Through Vol. 3 Chapter 69 - Kidnapping 02

“Will His Highness be partaking in this?”

 

The apothecary owner countered Lady Shanggung’s question about the medicinal herbs with his own. 

 

After hesitating, she shook her head.

 

“It’s for another. Someone whose health is… quite frail.”

 

“An elderly person?”

 

Lady Shanggung sighed and shook her head again. 

 

Since she needed the medicine prepared anyway, there was little point in keeping silent. 

 

The fact that the Grand Prince had taken in his crippled former wife was already widespread gossip in the marketplace.

 

“A young person. Have you heard any rumors lately about the Grand Prince’s residence?”

 

“Well, idle talk is always plentiful. But how much of it can you really trust?”

 

The apothecary’s tactful reply wasn’t because he disbelieved the rumors. 

 

It was more a clever way of feigning ignorance while subtly flattering. Lady Shanggung relaxed slightly at his attitude.

 

Perhaps worn out from being constantly questioned about what had happened, she found his lack of further probing reassuring and proceeded with her request without reservation.

 

“It’s for a young lady of delicate and cold constitution. These are the herbs she originally took.”

 

Lady Shanggung took out the prescriptions from the apothecary where Yiseo had previously gotten her medicine. 

 

The owner promptly took them and scanned the notes.

 

“A swift recovery would be ideal, but if anything goes awry, you won’t be spared trouble. So do your best.”

 

“Hmm… It’s not as if there’s a specific illness to treat…”

 

If he could fix an inherently weak constitution rather than an actual disease, he wouldn’t be an apothecary but the legendary physician Hua Tuo.

 

“In any case, I’ll do my utmost. My lady.”

 

“How many days will it take?”

 

“Approximately… Well, about half a month.”

 

“That long?”

 

“Recently, the Shin family’s residence bought up all the rare medicinal herbs, so there’s nothing we can do. I suspect it’s the same everywhere else in the capital.”

 

“Is there someone who suddenly fell ill?”

 

“Their third son returned from making an offering at the temple and suddenly took a turn for the worse. The family has called every physician and tried every medicine, but… We’ve run out of herbs to give, so now we’re just turning people away.”

 

The apothecary clicked his tongue.

 

“Even the physicians can’t do anything, so I hear they’re now looking for shamans or exorcists… Though I doubt any of that will save the young master from his deathbed.”

 

The young master of the Shin family was on the verge of death. 

 

Unaware that it was the doing of the Grand Prince she served, Court Lady Shanggung nodded indifferently and left the apothecary.

 

After all, to Court Lady Shanggung, her own mistress’s suffering mattered far more than some other family’s dying son.

 

In truth, she was certain that if the Grand Prince would just stay still, Yiseo wouldn’t be in such poor health.

 

For ten years after their marriage, Yiseo had lived in the inner quarters—though she only walked around the courtyard—she had moved about well enough. Even when she fell ill with the changing seasons, she had never been as bedridden and weak as she was now.

 

If he truly wished for Yiseo to be well, the Grand Prince ought to leave the house. Because as long as he was home, he would find any excuse to pull her into his arms.

 

Court Lady Shanggung let out a deep sigh, a habit she had developed lately.

 

The Grand Prince was still terrifyingly inhuman, but when he was with Yiseo—how should she put it?

 

…His actions were just too blatant. Every move he made was so obviously calculated to make her fall into his embrace.

 

💫

 

‘I wish he’d stop groping me already.’

That was the thought Yiseo had most often since regaining her senses in the inner quarters.

 

The previous Leegwang would start thrusting at the break of dawn, but now, he would start groping Yiseo as soon as day broke.

 

If she had to choose which was better, the latter was admittedly less draining…

 

But why should she have to choose? She hated both.

 

All Yiseo wanted was to sleep in the early morning.

 

Of course, being touched all over with lips and hands from daybreak would wake anyone up. She desperately wished the Grand Prince would either reduce their nighttime activities or stop fondling her in the mornings—one or the other.

 

Back then, even though she was constantly being taken day and night, she frequently passed out, so instead of feeling tired, all she could think about was how much her body ached. 

 

But now, she was just exhausted.

 

She spent the whole day drifting in and out of sleep, only to be roused time and again by wandering hands.

 

If she dozed off and missed something Leegwang said, she’d suddenly find herself agreeing to undress. If she ignored him and kept sleeping, he’d wake her up anyway, whispering in her ear about what he was doing and how it felt.

 

At first, his shamelessly lewd words shocked her awake, if only for a moment.

 

Now, staying quiet during sex felt stranger.

 

And so, Yiseo learned one crucial difference between the previous Grand Prince and the current one.

 

The current Grand Prince insisted on mixing their bodies while Yiseo was fully awake. He hated it when she dozed off from exhaustion in the middle of sex. 

 

No matter what, he’d find a way to wake her up and finish.

 

On the night he woke Yiseo up six times in a row after she fell asleep during sex, she cried like a child and shouted at him to just take her sleeping body and finish on his own. Before passing out again.

 

…Of course, that night, instead of taking Yiseo’s body as she slept, Leegwang soothed her and simply slept. 

 

Then, the next morning, he pounced on her again the moment she opened her eyes.

 

That morning felt endlessly long…

 

After that, Yiseo had no choice but to let Leegwang’s hands roam freely over her body. If she had to choose, at least this drained less of her energy than being taken.

 

Today was no different.

 

From early morning, Yiseo had been dozing off while sitting on one of Leegwang’s thighs. She was so sleepy she thought she might lose her mind. 

 

The side of her head kept bumping lightly against his chest—thud, thud.

 

“You slept all night, so why are you so drowsy?”

 

Leegwang whispered this near her ear, then lightly bit it as if to wake her. Yiseo shook her head irritably.

 

No conscience at all. Who slept all night?

 

After keeping her awake until midnight, taking her over and over, he had dragged her out of bed in the early morning when she tried to burrow back under the covers to sleep more.

 

“Look at me.”

 

Whether she turned her head or not, his lips found hers and pressed down. 

 

Using the kiss as an excuse to close her eyes, she heard him mutter as he pulled away,

 

“Why are you so drained?”

 

The sheer lack of conscience in his words was enough to make her open her eyes again. 

 

Yiseo stared at him, torn between disbelief and indignation. Leegwang laughed at her expression.

 

Unlike before, there was no shadow in his laughter. 

 

For a moment, Yiseo froze. Just for that instant, the Grand Prince looked his age—like nothing more than a tall, handsome young man.

 

“Awake now?”

 

“No… I want to sleep more…”

 

“If you sleep too much during the day, you won’t sleep well at night.”

 

‘It’s not like you let me sleep at night anyway.’

 

Forgetting the brief impression she’d had, Yiseo stared blankly at the Grand Prince. 

 

Oblivious to his own contradiction, he gazed at her with concern while his hands continued shamelessly exploring her body.

 

“You need proper sleep at night so your body won’t ache as much.”

 

Yiseo quickly placed her hand over the back of the one that had slid down from her waist to her thigh. 

 

Then, leaning her head weakly against his shoulder, she whispered,

 

“I want to rest…”

 

“You should be feeling good.”

 

There was no way she could feel good when she was so drowsy that she could die. Yiseo shook her head. 

 

But he continued coaxing her, “Just lie still, and I’ll do all the moving. If you don’t want to be shaken, hold on tight. Just blink your eyes and rest on the bed—I’ll take care of everything. You don’t have to do a thing.”

Was he seriously saying this right now?

 

“It hurts down there.”

 

“I’ll just suck on it again. Yesterday, it looked like it wasn’t closing properly, so I sucked on it before sleeping. Guess that wasn’t enough.”

 

“…”

 

“Right now, it’s already nice and wet down there. If I suck on it just once more, it won’t hurt at all, and you’ll be able to take me in easily.”

 

What did he do while she was asleep…? No. That wasn’t the important thing right now.

 

“It hurts to spread my legs too…”

 

“Then, should we do it from behind? Just lie on your stomach, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

She didn’t understand what he kept saying about ‘taking care of it.’ 

 

If he was going to handle everything, she wished he’d start by dealing with that stiff, erect thing first. 

 

Yiseo had already noticed the slick, glistening tip of his grotesque member and realized he wouldn’t back down unless she did something about it.

 

He pressed his lips frantically against her cheeks and eyelids, muttering all the while.

 

“Or should I come on top of your hole once?”

 

It was only recently that Yiseo learned this man was so talkative in bed.

 

“Even so, it’ll still get wet, so that might be…”

 

Before he could finish whispering, she grabbed that hideous shaft with her hand. He immediately let out a low moan.

 

The heated flesh pulsed against her palm. 

 

Hesitantly, she moved her hand up and down. The fluid leaking from the tip made the shaft glide smoothly. She had barely stroked it a couple of times when his hand covered hers.

 

Her small hand was completely engulfed in an instant.