The Foreigner 외국인

Chapter 12

12.

She woke up the next morning in his arms. He looked peaceful as he slept, his breathing soft and regular. She traced the arch of his eyebrow and cheekbone with the tips of her fingers. "I love you, too," she whispered. The king's face split into a large smile, and Lee Ara pulled her hand away. "Were you awake?" she asked, offended.

"I am glad I was." Yi Jin laughed while opening his eyes. Lee Ara sat up and threw a pillow in his face.

"How dare-" he threw the pillow back at her before grabbing her wrists and wrestling her down.

Eunuch Dal stepped back into Gangnyeongjeon Hall, along with two court ladies who were carrying the king's breakfast. He stopped in front of the screen doors.

"Your majesty, your..." he trailed off as he heard commotion inside the room. He thought about the mysterious silver pin that had been thrown at the guards last night. Could the king be in danger? He opened the doors.

Lee Ara quickly pulled the silk blanket over her head and turned away from the entrance as Eunuch Dal walked in, but it was too late; he had seen her clear as day, with no clothes on, in the king's bed. So did the two court ladies accompanying him, through the door opening. Yi Jin scoffed at the servant's stunned expression. Eunuch Dal, embarrassed and shocked, closed the doors as quickly as he had opened them.

"It is not funny," Lee Ara said while reappearing from under the blanket. "The whole court is going to know about this by the end of the day." The Jurchen woman scrambled to gather her clothes, which lay scattered across the room.

Eunuch Dal turned to the two court ladies and warned, "Do not talk about this to anyone," before leaving.

Eun Yang was walking towards the king's quarters with a silver pin in his hand. This pin, which he knew to be Lee Ara's, had apparently been thrown at the guards in front of the king's chamber last night. He surmised that she had probably done so as a way to distract them, but for what reason?

A distraught Eunuch Dal ran up to him as he approached the king's hall.

The court ladies, seeing how the head eunuch whispered in the ear of the royal guard, wondered why they had been ordered to stay silent when he couldn't even hold his own tongue.

Lee Ara walked out of the king's chamber and was trying to pass through the courtyard quickly with her head down so she wouldn't meet anybody's eyes when someone stepped in front of her and cleared his throat. Lee Ara looked up and sighed when she saw Officer Yang.

"I believe this is yours," he said while handing her the silver pin.

"Ah, thank you." She grabbed it and kept walking, but he followed her.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she made her way to the palace gates.

"To the gisaeng house," she said in one breath. Eun Yang grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You are already late for your shift. Please go to the training grounds." Lee Ara shook off his grip. "I-"

"Are you trying to run away?" Officer Yang cut her off.

"Me? Run away?" she scoffed, offended.

The head of the Royal Guard crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine." Lee Ara caved in and turned around to head to the Royal Investigation Bureau.

By the end of her shift, rumors of her affair with the king had started spreading through the palace. Servants peered at her and whispered as she stopped by the well to drink some water on her way out.