The emperor was dressed lightly for hunting. Instead of the heavy imperial dragon robe he had worn in the main hall, he was wearing clothes suitable for movement.

“You are here, Crown Prince.”

“Yes, yes, Your Majesty.”

Taeryeong hurriedly lowered his head. The emperor’s gaze swept him up and down. He had come in such haste that he had not even properly dressed for hunting, so there was no way the emperor would look kindly on him.

“You are not even properly dressed. Go inside at once and get yourself in order.”

“……Yes.”

Taeryeong could not bring himself to ask how the earlier rite had ended. It was not that he was not curious. But if he were to bring up that question now, it would feel as if he himself were dragging up the earlier humiliation.

With his head quietly lowered, Taeryeong passed the emperor and entered the tent. But at the very moment he brushed past him, he heard a tsk, a very low and short click of the tongue.

Taeryeong’s steps halted for an instant. He did not need to ask who had made it. The emperor did not add a single word, but that one short sound carried all his disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Taeryeong closed his eyes tightly, then opened them. And slowly, he inhaled.

It was fine. Nothing was wrong.

He steeled himself like that, but his fingertips were still trembling. Perhaps because he had not properly eaten or drunk anything since vomiting in the main hall, there was no strength moving through his body. His stomach still hurt, and his legs felt heavy even just standing on the ground.

If he met a beast in this condition, he would surely be eaten. But even so, he could not refuse to go out.

A horse whinnied from outside. Soon after, the sound of several sets of hooves kicking at the dirt followed. It seemed the emperor was departing first. Hearing that, Taeryeong hurried to put on his hunting clothes.

Normally, the collar of the clothes would have been fastened snugly to fit his body, but today it felt awkward somehow. Kang Taegam adjusted his clothes over and over, but Taeryeong could not bear even the time it took. His mind kept running farther and farther into the forest.

Before long, Taeryeong came back out of the tent. Kang Taegam was looking at him with worried eyes. His face was full of concern he could not bring himself to put into words. Taeryeong lightly patted Kang Taegam’s shoulder as if to reassure him.

“Do not worry too much. I will just move around slowly in places that are not dangerous.”

“Please be careful. Prince Deokchin is inside, so you may join him.”

Taeryeong looked at Kang Taegam for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Prince Deokchin. It was the title referring to his uncle.

At that name, he felt a little more at ease. At the very least, it would be better than wandering alone through the woods. Moreover, his uncle was used to hunting, and he was not the sort of man who would pretend not to know Taeryeong in a place like this.

But he could not delay for long.

Taeryeong soon gripped the reins and got on his horse. His fingertips tingled because the strength had not yet fully returned to his grip, but he forced his expression to remain unchanged as he stepped into the stirrup and straightened his posture. He braced his swaying body firmly with the strength of his thighs and waist.

Soon, Taeryeong slowly rode into the hunting grounds, following the hoofprints left behind on the dirt road by those who had gone ahead.

The hunting grounds had already been swept by quite a stir. Trained soldiers and various nobles were mixed together and scattered in all directions, and the sounds of hooves, bowstrings being drawn, laughter, and shouts echoed chaotically along the edge of the woods. One person was already riding around proudly with a small wild animal they had caught, having the prey carried by a nearby servant.

Taeryeong passed through them and slowly looked around.

Had he gone far?

But there was no sign of his uncle anywhere.

Taeryeong sat a little straighter on the horse and looked left and right. His uncle usually stayed fairly close whenever there was an event like this. He was more the type to keep up appearances at a suitable distance where people could see him, rather than to go too deep into the forest in pursuit of results.

So it was a little strange not to see him now.

He did not seem to be all that late.

Or had he perhaps gone the other way?

Taeryeong peered toward the other hunting path for no reason, then let out a low sigh.

He was in a situation where he had to catch the great tiger. To be exact, it was a situation the emperor had ordered. But honestly, he had no confidence. Especially not in a condition where the qi inside him seemed drained away.

Still, he could not stand there blankly like this. As Kang Taegam had said, he had intended to move with Prince Deokchin at least for form’s sake, but since Prince Deokchin could not be seen, there was nothing to be done.

Just then, a familiar face passed along a nearby path.

Taeryeong stopped him and asked whether he had seen Prince Deokchin. The man tilted his head for a moment, then said he had, and pointed toward a direction deeper inside the forest.

“He went that way.”

Taeryeong looked where the man pointed.

It was not one of the hunting paths with many people passing through. Rather, it was a place slightly off the path, with trees growing thickly. It did not look very suitable for horses to pass through.

There?

Though it was strange, he had to check first. Taeryeong tugged the reins and rode in that direction. But he had not gone far before the trees became too dense, and the branches hung too low for the horse to go farther.

In the end, Taeryeong tied the horse to a thick tree nearby and dismounted.

“……”

The moment his feet touched the ground, the earth sank a little damply. After checking that the reins were tied securely, Taeryeong carefully walked into the forest.

The forest was deeper and darker than he had expected. Though the back mountain of the imperial palace was originally a broad and dense place, this area took in almost no sunlight even at midday. The branches and leaves tangled overhead were tearing the light into tiny pieces and swallowing it, and below his feet, old fallen leaves and wet soil were being pressed down without a sound.

Taeryeong gradually slowed his steps.

It was strange that his uncle had come this far inside. The path was too rough for him to have stumbled in here while chasing prey, and it was even more suspicious to think he had deliberately hidden himself.

Could he have heard wrong?

Taeryeong stopped the foot that had been moving farther in. Perhaps he was only making a pointless trip. His body was not in good condition either, so there was no reason to waste time in a place like this.

After checking his surroundings for a moment, he turned to go back.

Right then.

A small voice, like a whisper, brushed his ear on the breeze.

“……Your Highness.”

Taeryeong’s steps stopped.

It was a voice that sounded mixed with breath, somehow damp and stretched out. It was so small he wondered if he had heard wrong, but the low voice that followed was clear.

“Alright, alright, it’s fine. No one will come here.”

Prince Deokchin’s voice, as though soothing someone. And in response, the faint voice of a young woman could also be heard.

But the latter voice was not that of Prince Deokchin’s wife.

The moment he realized that, Taeryeong’s eyes narrowed. A strange sense of discomfort slid down his spine. He unconsciously held his breath and moved forward with his footsteps as silent as possible. The grass had grown up to near his knees as if no one had walked here for a long time, and the ground was thickly covered with dry branches and fallen leaves. It was such a quiet forest that even the slightest carelessness would make a rustling sound.

Taeryeong took each step carefully. As he went farther in, the terrain began to slope gently downward. Using the exposed rocks as footing, he slowly lowered himself down.

Right then. Below, among the trees, a human shape vaguely came into view.

Taeryeong casually shifted his gaze and froze in place. A man and woman were tightly entwined, their bodies pressed close together. Shocked by the unexpected sight, he almost instinctively hid behind the nearest tree. His heart suddenly started pounding hard.

No way.

Unable to believe it, Taeryeong caught his breath for a moment, then carefully peeked his face out from behind the tree.

This time it was even clearer. Hidden deep in the forest from everyone’s eyes, Prince Deokchin was secretly having a tryst with a palace maid.

To dare with one of the emperor’s women…….

Taeryeong almost let out a groan. Thanks to urgently covering his mouth with both hands, he barely swallowed the sound.

Prince Deokchin and the palace maid were entangled like snakes. In particular, the palace maid’s collar was already completely undone, leaving her almost bare, and Prince Deokchin had taken off all of his trousers.

Prince Deokchin’s dark red member was thrusting repeatedly between the maid’s white buttocks. Each time, a gasp of “Ahn, ahn” escaped, and Taeryeong could not keep his mouth closed from how blatantly exposed the sight was.

Taeryeong could neither turn his eyes away nor continue looking, and could only swallow his breath in panic. His mind went completely blank. In a hunting ground that was practically the middle of the imperial palace, and during an event directly overseen by the emperor, to be doing something like this, it was an unbelievable sight.