Struggle Chapter 11

The warmth was unpleasant. Unpleasant, yet strange. Taerok furrowed his brow before ultimately letting out only a long sigh this time as well. When teaching Nanyoung, he found himself doing this sort of pathetic thing countless times.

“Let us stop here for today.”

Taerok finally detached Nanyoung and spoke.

“From the looks of it, nephew, you seem to have no intention of concentrating at all.”

“…That’s not true.”

Not true, indeed. The sight of him avoiding his gaze, as if struck to the core, was like a guilty little puppy looking away after doing something wrong.

Taerok gestured for the wooden sword and his bow lying on the floor to be cleared away. He untied the cord that had bound his sleeves for convenience and dropped it to the floor. That too was swiftly taken away by someone.

Watching his uncle’s back as if he were about to leave the palace at any moment, Nanyoung mustered a bit more courage. With a childish belief, he thought that since uncle had embraced him and he had hugged uncle in return, they had grown closer. Then the next step must surely be an invitation. Sharing something you like to eat, or sharing an experience.

Nanyoung quietly tugged at his uncle’s hem. Without looking at Nanyoung, Taerok untied the cord on his opposite wrist and murmured.

“Don’t tug like that; look at my face and speak.”

“Uncle, fresh cucumbers have arrived at the royal kitchen. They say the cucumbers are very sweet and delicious.”

Even knowing it was a shy invitation to eat together, Taerok pretended not to notice and played dumb.

“And so?”

If Saon, who could not accompany them today for some reason, had seen this, he would have remarked, ‘Your Highness, why are you so childish only towards your nephew?’

“And so…? Uh….”

Nanyoung was flustered by the unexpected response. Nanyoung, who had only ever been loved and spoiled, found this elder relative—who was in the same situation as a son of the king yet of such a vastly different disposition—difficult to deal with.

“Uh… a watermelon arrived too. It’s sweeter than the cucumber.”

“A watermelon would naturally be sweeter than a cucumber. And so. And so what are you proposing, nephew?”

Taerok still did not look at Nanyoung. He stubbornly kept his gaze forward. The eunuch behind him grumbled inwardly, What a petty and childish man, while the court ladies standing before Taerok quietly laughed, thinking, Oh my. It was because Taerok was smirking crookedly, yet ever so faintly.

“Uncle… sir…”

“If there is something you want, say it properly.”

“…Please come visit. Me. Visit me.”

The invitation, finally burst out, melted and became an entreaty close to a plea. Only then did Taerok let out a very faint laugh, Haah… He lowered his hand and took hold of the warm, damp child’s hand gripping his garment.

“Let us do that.”

Even a curt acceptance was still an acceptance, and Nanyoung’s expression blossomed fully.

∞ ∞ ∞

After inviting Taerok once, Nanyoung often urged him to come to his residence for tea or to stop by and taste something that had arrived at the royal kitchen. Out of ten invitations, Taerok would come about twice. What arrived at the royal kitchen generally also arrived at the Grand Prince’s residence. Though it was presumably the leftover portion, it was more than enough for one Grand Prince living alone to eat and still have plenty to spare.

This day was also one where Taerok had come to Nanyoung’s residence after the usual ten persistent requests. Nanyoung was scooping out melon seeds with a small metal spoon.

“If you eat melon seeds, your stomach will hurt.”

He stated it firmly on his own, unprompted. Taerok was seated quite comfortably, leaning his arm against the windowsill. He watched the movement of Nanyoung’s spoon and then casually retorted.

“That is because the melon seeds sprout inside your stomach, nephew.”

Nanyoung’s spoon halted abruptly. The expression on his face as he lifted his head to look at him was one of sheer dismay. At the reaction taking his offhand remark—thrown out thinking Surely he won’t fall for this—as sincere belief, Taerok was both dumbfounded and amused, and let out a hollow laugh, Huh…

“Then… then once they fully grow, won’t I die? My stomach… because my stomach will burst…”

“Your stomach probably won’t burst. Though a vine might emerge from your mouth.”

Good heavens, Your Highness the Grand Prince. Please, please stop making such jokes. For you, sir, it’s a simple matter to tease and then return to your palace, but if our young master cries at night, it is we who suffer! Sim Eung closed his eyes and screamed only internally, his face expressionless.

Pale with fear, Nanyoung stammered out a reply.

“Th-then, a melon is a monster?”

A monster? Taerok wondered what kind of nonsense this was before realizing Nanyoung was talking about the monster stories he had taught him.

Taerok smoothly pulled himself forward to come before Nanyoung. Then he picked up the fallen spoon and scraped out the seeds from the remaining melon. As he did so, he replied indifferently.

“Did I not tell you that monsters look like us?”

He brought the hollowed-out melon, resembling a small boat, to Nanyoung’s lips.

“Does this look like a person?”

“But if it grew out of my mouth, wouldn’t I die? Then it’s a monster, isn’t it… Isn’t something a monster if it’s scary?”

Terrified even of the seedless melon, Nanyoung kept his lips tightly shut and shook his head. Taerok bit into the melon with a crisp crunch.

“It’s delicious. I suppose monsters are delicious?”

“…”

Chewing the rest, he scraped the seeds from another one. Then he licked the spoon clean. The very sweet seeds went into Taerok’s stomach. So shocked his mouth fell open, Nanyoung leaned in, his gaze slowly traveling down from Taerok’s lips to his neck and stomach.

“U-uncle… uncle, at this rate, you might pass away…!”

“Pass away? Shall I pass away back to my princely residence?”

“No! No, that’s not what I meant…!”

“I told you to speak properly. Nephew.”

Taerok scraped out the remaining melon. He cut the white, boat-shaped piece and brought it to Nanyoung’s mouth. Again, Nanyoung kept his lips firmly shut and shook his head. Taerok added another jab.

“If you don’t eat this, a melon vine will truly grow inside my stomach and force its way out through my eyes, nose, and mouth.”

“What does me eating it have to do with that…”

“You believe that a melon seed grows inside your stomach, but you don’t believe my words?”

“…”

“Hurry now. Ah, open your mouth.”

The hesitant Nanyoung’s head kept drooping timidly and without confidence. Taerok’s head tilted along with his. The voice urging him on, Come on, also became a bit quieter, gentler, and more seductive. It was fun to tease him. He had to admit it now. Taerok genuinely enjoyed teasing Nanyoung.

“Do you not wish to save your uncle? Are you perfectly fine with your uncle dying, nephew?”

“Why… why would you say such a thing…”

Nanyoung seemed nearly on the verge of tears. He should stop here. An ordinary person would, but Taerok did not fall within that ordinary category. He was deeply twisted in nature. Taerok leaned his body to the side almost as if lying down and uttered an exaggerated complaint stiffly.

“Ah… because of Nanyoung, uncle is dying.”

Finally, tears dripped from Nanyoung’s eyes. Sobbing, Heu-eung, heung, he parted his lips. His eyebrows were drawn down as far as they could go, his eyes nearly closed, and only the large teardrops characteristic of a child streamed down.

The melon, which had been two bites for Taerok when shared, disappeared in four bites from Nanyoung’s mouth. Had the eunuch attending Nanyoung witnessed it, he would have thrown a fit, crying that our young master would get indigestion.

Watching Nanyoung eat, Taerok used the spoon to cut the melon into suitable pieces. Over a long span, the plate emptied. All the seeds went into Taerok’s mouth. Watching this scene, Nanyoung fluttered his damp lashes to look at Taerok, took a bite of melon, looked again, took another bite, and repeated this.

When the plate was empty without a trace, Taerok withdrew his deeply bent waist and straightened his crumpled back. Then he murmured gently.

“Nanyoung ate it all and saved uncle too.”

“R-really?”

Nanyoung asked, his breath still hitching with lingering tears. Only then did Taerok offer warm tea to Nanyoung. At the instruction to drink it slowly by sharing, Nanyoung grasped the tea with both hands and, just as told, drank it in shared sips.

Taerok summoned someone and ordered a soft cloth soaked in warm water to be brought. The eunuchs and court ladies would surely be gossiping soon about how the white-eyed Grand Prince made their young master cry. Taerok also found that rather amusing and entertaining in its own way. Since it is said that people even curse the king behind his back, he couldn’t fault them for gossiping. This was an unexpected side of Taerok. While he was endlessly stubborn and strict towards the meritorious elite families, he had an unpretentious side with those beneath him.

Soon, a eunuch entered directly. Taerok wrung out the cloth himself and wiped Nanyoung’s face.

“Is there any plum tea?”

“There should be. Shall I bring it up?”