Chapter 28: Restraints & Complaints

Myungseok widened his eyes and gasped. “What the hell happened to you?!” he exclaimed as he rushed over to help his aching friend.

Hwayang shook his head and winced when Myungseok took one of his arms to hang his neck. “I tripped,” he managed to speak.

Myungseok scoffed. “Tripped my . What happened, really? Why did you run away so quickly before at the market?” He gently laid the farmboy sitting down in the table in his family restaurant. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

Hwayang didn’t say anything and let his friend go back to the kitchen to grab something. It didn’t even take Myungseok a minute to grab a wet cloth and come back to the injured guy. “Here,” he gave the cloth to him. “This might help.”

“Thanks.” Hwayang took it and gently wiped the excess of blood from his lips.

Myungseok sighed heavily as he took a seat beside him. “So… What happened after you met her?”

Hwayang kept his eyes away, staring at the ground as he dabbed the cloth on his face. He knew very well of who Myungseok was talking about, but he was still in the process of finalizing what happened an hour ago. “Who?”

“Don’t ‘who’ me, alright? I know. So you might as well just spill the beans to me.”

Hwayang took a heavy breath, putting the cloth on the table. “Nothing happened,” he quietly said, giving Myungseok a stiff grin. “Like I said… I tripped…”

“Hwayang-”

“I saw her, alright? That was it. We saw each other…”

Myungseok kept staring at his friend as silence hung in the air. He waited to hear more from the farmboy, but nothing came along. Ever since their childhood days, Myungseok knew very well of how defensive Hwayang was - verbally and physically. And he knew now that Hwayang wasn’t going to talk to him about it anytime soon.

“Alright then,” Myungseok breathed. “If that is all that happened, then I’ll stop there.” He sighed. “There are some dishes in the back that I have to clean. You can stay here as long as you like.” Patting the young lad’s head, he stood up and walked away into the back of the kitchen.

Hwayang drove his eyes back down again as his thoughts wandered. The echoing words he heard from before kept going on in his head.

“Believe me,” Queen Shim said as she stood in front of him, “this is only a minor warning.”

He breathed deeply as he slowly limped from the ground and stood to face the Queen, too. However, he remained silent.

“Your pretty fierce for a poor commer. I like that.” The Queen smirked. “But there’s just one problem in the picture. Do you know what that is?”

He panted quietly while holding his wounded stomach. “That I… I am just that,” he said. “A poor commoner…”

“Very smart, Mr. Yoon Hwayang. You are a poor commoner… You’re just basically… nothing.” The Queen laughed lightly as she shrugged. “So tell me why I should let my daughter - the Crowned Princess of Joseon - keep seeing a lowly, filthy, poor, useless commoner like you? Hm? Tell me why.”

As if a guard was still there to strangle his throat, Hwayang in a small breath of air and looked down at the ground. His eyes burned with tears as Her Highness’ words made him feel just as how she described him - lowly, filthy, poor, and useless. Again, he was quiet.

Once she knew she had hit a sensitive spot in him, Queen Shim smirked and glared at him. “I want you to stop seeing Yeonhwa,” she said sternly. “I don’t care if she sneaks out of the palace to come meet you again, you just need to stop. She is a princess, and you? You are nothing but the dirt that lies beneath my feet. So understand this, Hwayang. You and Yeonhwa will never be together. I will not let it happen. Because it can’t and it won’t… On the other hand, I already have someone in mind for my daughter to be with for the rest of her life.”

Hwayang instantly caught her words and looked up at her with his painful eyes.

Queen Shim chuckled evilly. “That’s right,” she said. “Yeonhwa is and will be getting married. To someone who is very noble and proper, too… Unlike someone like you… So if you want her to be happy, if you want her to have a bright future and wonderful life, then you will consider my words and leave her alone…”

Hwayang shut his eyes, letting some tears fall on his lap. Not because of the pain in body, but because of the pain in his heart. “Yeonhwa,” he whispered. “What do I do?”

“How could you do that?!” Yeonhwa bursted as she stood in the Queen’s room, practically angry at her mother. “Hwayang didn’t do anything! It was I who snuck out of the palace! You didn’t have to order the guards to beat him so badly!”

“Be quiet!” Queen Shim exclaimed as she threw her cup of tea away, hitting the screen wall. Yeonhwa flinched at the older woman. “Do you know how upset I am right now?! I strictly ordered you to not go out and see that dirty commoner again! Did my words just go in your ear and out the other?! I raised you better than this!”

Yeonhwa cried softly as she listened to her mother. “He didn’t do anything wrong,” she repeated more calmly. “He hasn’t done anything, Mother… Please… Forgive him. It was my fault for going out to see him. Forgive me please…”

“Forgive you?” Queen Shim scoffed. “You want me to forgive you after you deliberately disobeyed my orders? No way. I am keeping my eyes on you more now, and I am going to order more guards and maids to watch you, just in case you sneak off again.”

Yeonhwa shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I already have Dongil and Jungseol by my side.”

“And that is exactly why I am not letting them work with you anymore.”

“What?” Yeonhwa gaped at her mother. “No, you can’t do that. They haven’t-”

“I can do anything anytime and anywhere. I am the Queen, and most importantly, I am your mother, Yeonhwa.”

The Princess exhaled lightly and looked at the ground as her tears painted her cheeks. She never wanted any of this to happen. All she wanted was to see the farmboy quickly before returning home. She didn’t mean for him to get hurt in the end.

“Oh, stop your tears, would you?” her mother cut in. “That is not how a princess should act or look.”

Obediently, Yeonhwa stopped crying, but her eyes remained on the ground as she stayed quiet.

“Good. Now, go back to your room and think about the worthless mistakes you just made today. Maybe you will get your act together. Tomorrow, you must put on your very best attitude because there is someone you have to meet.”

As if the Queen was speaking in a foreign language, Yeonhwa looked at her with eyes of confusion. “What?” she asked. “W-Who?”

Queen Shim sighed deeply then looked elsewhere. “Just go get ready if you still want to see me be nice to you.”

Despite the fact she was still feeling worried, distressed, upset, and overly sad at the moment, she followed her mother to the lobby of the palace. Unlike most days, the maids and guards weren’t present around as much. It made Yeonhwa wondered where they all went.

Queen Shim lead Yeonhwa inside the room, and Yeonhwa quickly furrowed her brows when she saw an old man and a young guy sitting next to him. Both of them were well dressed, too.

Yeonhwa felt as though she might have seen the old guy before. Judging by the way he sat in his seat with his head held high, healthy yet wrinkled skin, and little beard that was well brushed, she knew he was a king. She didn’t remember what his name was, though. All she recalled was how her parents and him would talk together during the Royal reunions.

As she turned her head to look at the young male beside the King, she didn’t know if she should have felt confused or surprised. He was the guy she bumped into a few days before in the palace - the guy she assumed to be a friend of her Chanwol’s. Now, she wondered what he was doing here. And why he was with the old King.

“Greetings, Queen Shim,” the King said as he stood giving a short bow. The young male beside him did the same.

Queen Shim smiled genuinely and bowed in response. “Hello, King Lee,” she replied.

‘King Lee,’ Yeonhwa repeated in her head. Now, she remembered who he was. Knowing he was a king, she quickly realized the son was the prince. She lightly hitched a breath when she felt her mother nudge her elbow, signalling her to make a gesture back. Yeonhwa respectfully got out of her thoughts and bowed back to the two royal men. “Nice to meet you both,” she greeted.

King Lee smiled. “Why, loo