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Chapter 106 - 120

Chapter 106

"I wrote Red Enemy based on the letters that Prince Myeong-Hwan exchanged with his friends, as well as the opinions of the people around him and the materials I obtained by combing through records and visiting historians. I didn't write the script randomly." Director Yoon Seon explained.

The director gave Woo-Jin a detailed explanation about the amount of effort and process he had went through in order to gather materials about Prince Myeong-Hwan. His face was filled with passion as he recounted his story and it was obvious that he genuinely adored and admired Prince Myeong-Hwan.

"Some say that Prince Myeong-Hwan enjoyed the arts and found pleasure in spending time with courtesans, but he actually had a mild case of mysophobia, so I'm suspicious about if he really embraced the courtesans," he said.

Woo-Jin stopped eating and asked, "How do you know that?" He couldn't help but be surprised because Director Yoon Seon pointed out a specific detail that wasn't mentioned anywhere.

"Ha, that's nothing! Seol Ha was a courtesan who was close to Prince Myeong-Hwan and there were records that stated that she taught the other courtesans. Since the prince didn't like drinking from wine glasses that others had used, they had to prepare a separate wine glass, and they would throw away the cloth that he used to wipe himself. Since Prince Myeong-Hwan didn't allow a single stain on his clothes, the courtesans were also warned to be extra careful while serving him," the director explained.

Woo-Jin recalled the past while listening to his explanation. Thinking back, the courtesans whom Seol Ha had trained pleased him and were quick on their feet, making him feel comfortable.

"Everyone said that it was only natural since he was the prince, but it was then when I realized that he had a case of mysophobia. Prince Myeong-Hwan enjoyed the courtesans' artistic skills and didn't hesitate to support those with skills, but I'm certain that he didn't embrace any of them because our prince is definitely not that type of person. I also found out that Prince Myeong-Hwan became angry when people asked him why didn't he take Seol Ha, who was his close friend, as his concubine," added Director Yoon Seon.

Prince Myeong-Hwan had adored the courtesan Seol Ha the most and people had been suspicious of the love triangle between him, Seol Ha, and Queen Yoon. However, Yoon Seon couldn't find any evidence that Prince Myeong-Hwan and Seol Ha were in a romantic relationship.

"It's not just me, but other historians also believed that Seol Ha was Prince Myeong-Hwan's soulmate. We also believe that when she died at a young age, Prince Myeong-Hwan murmured to himself, 'Now I don't have any friends under this sky who'll genuinely understand me,' but it wasn't the sadness that one felt when sending away their lover," he told Woo-Jin.

Woo-Jin nodded unknowingly after hearing Director Yoon Seon's explanation and continued the conversation.

"Seol Ha was the best dancer at the time and supposedly, she expressed her tough and strong spirit through her dance despite being a woman. Honestly, her advice played a big part when Prince Myeong-Hwan sublimated his swordsmanship into a sword dance. No, I think that's what happened."

When Woo-Jin unintentionally revealed the truth of what happened, he quickly changed the subject because the story about how Prince Myeong-Hwan took Seol Ha's advice when practicing the sword dance wasn't recorded anywhere.

Woo-Jin suddenly recalled Seol Ha who was a friend from his past life. If he had to make a comparison, then she was like Hyun-Min, his current friend. Their friendship was a pure and honest relationship that went beyond gender and status. There was even a time when they had talked throughout the night and it had become dawn without them realizing it; they continued to exchange poems as the morning sunlight shone through the window.

Even though the poem now appeared in Korean textbooks and gave students a headache, Prince Myeong-Hwan had been able to express all of his worries and sorrow when he was with Seol Ha. He had once offered to get her out of the brothel, but Seol Ha declined because no matter where she went, it didn't change the fact that she was Seol Ha, the courtesan. She smiled sadly while saying that the brothel was the only place where she was able to dance freely as a woman.

"I'm certain Prince Myeong-Hwan was very shocked by Seol Ha's death and thoughts of death and the fear of not being able to be with her again influenced him a lot," Woo-Jin said.

"You're right, and that's probably why he made that decision in the end," the director said.

"To Prince Myeong-Hwan, Queen Yoon was an important person, but I'm sure Seol Ha was the one who exerted the greatest influence on him throughout his life," Woo-Jin added.

"We share the same thoughts," Director Yoon Seon commented.

After hearing what Woo-Jin said, the director didn't find his words to be absurd. In fact, he deeply sympathized with Woo-Jin and was moved. When he imagined how Prince Myeong-Hwan's sword dance came to be, Director Yoon Seon could only conclude that it was because of Seol Ha. However, people ignored him saying that it wasn't possible for a prince of a nation to learn a ferocious and energetic sword dance from a courtesan.