Only You

Court Lady Noh's Concern

With efficient gestures, a palace maid brought in a covered tray and set it down on the sitting room table.

"Congratulations on your pregnancy, Your Highness." Court Lady Noh's serious expression belied the twinkle in her deep brown eyes.

Tae-Eul hadn't yet informed Court Lady Noh of her newfound motherhood, yet she had known about the news.

Does news really travel that fast?

Given that she herself had only known about her condition just a few days prior (and the fact that the news was revealed to the King yesterday due to her 2nd faint of the week!), she didn't think anyone other than a handful of people knew about it.

The surprise must have shown on her face as the elderly Court Lady explained with a wry smile, "There's not many things that I don't know about in the palace. Rest assured, the news is safe with me until you decide to release it, Your Highness."

"Guess I must be more careful when cutting out of etiquette classes, then.", Tae-Eul teased, feeling a bit more relieved. She and the King had been discussing their options on announcing the pregnancy this morning, and agreed on sharing the news only once Tae-Eul was past the first trimester.

Being from a parallel universe meant that most of the people that she was close with or cared about, were only reachable through a portal. Despite not being in Court Lady's Noh's good books when she initially came to the palace, she had managed to build up a warm relationship with the elderly lady who was like a mother to the King. If they had to entrust anyone with keeping everything under wraps, it would be Court Lady Noh.

Court Lady Noh tsked in response to the Queen Consort's cheeky reply and gracefully poured the contents of a porcelain teapot into two cups. "I consulted with the Royal Kitchen and Royal Physician to brew something nutritious to help with the iron deficiency and also the morning sickness. The first trimester can be quite tiring on the body."

The aroma wafting from the gilded cup was slightly herbal, but not overpowering. Cupping her hands over the steaming cup, Tae-Eul took a careful sip. It didn't taste as bitter or medicinal as she had expected from an herbal concoction, but it still made her wary - her sensitivity to certain tastes and smells flared up at odd occasions recently.

Whoever had named it morning sickness clearly hadn't looked at the time of day. Morning, noon or night - time was inconsequential to the misnamed "morning sickness". Thankfully, the symptoms she had experienced so far seemed milder than some of the horror stories she had read about.

She peered over the rim at Court Lady Noh, who was studying her with an inscrutable expression on her wizened face.

Concern, perhaps?

"Is there something wrong, Court Lady Noh?" Tae-Eul couldn't shake off the feeling that something else was bothering the Court Lady.

"Nothing's wrong...but... now that you are carrying the Royal Heir, you must be more careful, Your Highness." Though her tone was gentle, she sensed it carried an undertone of caution.

The Queen Consort now understood why this meeting had been scheduled. It was rare for Court Lady Noh to arrange for a meeting unless it was of utmost importance.

A chill went through her body as the elderly Court Lady words brought up a new fear that she hadn't thought about before. In fact, she hadn't even had time to think much about the pregnancy or the baby yet. It was all still new to her.

Court Lady Noh was right - both her life and that of her baby were at stake.

She put a hand over her still-flat abdomen, where she carried the future heir of the throne.

-------

Following her tea session with the Queen Consort, Court Lady Noh called for an emergency meeting with the Captain Park of the Queen's Guards.

She had many things to discuss - the safety of the throne and its future heir was one of them. At this moment, the less who knew about the pregnancy, the better.

Too many people were vying for a seat at the throne, and would do anything to see the current monarch fall. The first candidate being Lee Lim - the illegitimate brother of the King's father, and half-uncle to the King.

As he was not considered a legitimate heir to the monarchy, Lee Lim had decided to stage a coup d'état and kill his half-brother to claim the manpasikjeok - a mythical flute believed to be able to grant its owner eternity.

Such a tragic and fateful day that was...

The young Prince Lee Gon had been unfortunate to witness the cruelty of his half-uncle Lee Lim upon his father. In the young boy's attempts to attain revenge, his attempt to strike Lee Lim with the Four Tiger Sword failed upon its contact with the manpasikjeok.

Splitting into two halves, the enraged Lee Lim had tried to end the boy's life by strangling him to death.

Fortunately, that attempt failed, but it had left scars seen and unseen on the boy's mind and body. In that moment, he was forced to ascend the throne and become King - thrust by fate to take over the reins from his late father at a young age. Childhood had come and gone for him.

Knowing all that he had gone through, Court Lady Noh had watched him grow up in the palace and tried to provide him with the best that she could under the circumstances - to make sure that young King would flourish with love and righteousness, rather than with hate and vengeance.

She knew firsthand what the cold, indifferent world would do to a lost soul, just like it did with Lee Lim. Had the manpasikjeok fallen fully into his grasp, she was sure he would have become a tyrant ruler instead of the benevolent King that Lee Gon's father was.

I hope you know that I'll always be here for you, Your Highness.

-------

"You called for me, Court Lady Noh?" The smartly suited Captain Park, recently promoted to Captain of the Queen's Guards, was waiting patiently in the hallway for her response.

Almost embarrassed to be caught unawares, the elderly Court Lady continued with her request quickly, "I want you to step up security for Her Highness - her safety and that of the Royal Heir is at stake. Ensure no one harms even a hair on her head, do you understand?"

"Oh. Make sure you do it quietly." She beckoned Captain Park to come closer and said her last request in a hushed voice, with an expression that assured that there would be hell to pay if it wasn't met.

"There are many eyes watching."