Those Conquered By Love

“Y-Your Majesty.”

Mugeon was at a loss for words, caught off guard by her unexpected reply. Jin Ye chuckled softly.

“Now, do you comprehend your situation? How astute of you.”

Mugeon forced his scattered thoughts into order.

One conclusion emerged—a terrifying realization.

“Is it then my fate to die here tonight, Your Majesty?”

“What do you think?”

Mugeon couldn’t respond.

He vaguely understood that he had no power whatsoever to make a decision regarding the matter.

If the Emperor wished for his death, as the son of a commoner, he had no alternative.

Sensing Mugeon’s inner turmoil, Jin Ye gently stroked his hair, urging him to answer the question she had posed earlier.

“I asked what you think.”

Mugeon squeezed his eyes shut.

His heart now pounded for a completely different reason.

“...I think... I will die.”

He hadn’t learned how to adorn his words with elegance, so he spoke plainly.

Jin Ye’s laughter rang out once again.

“Do not be concerned, as I value this place dearly and have no intention of tainting it with blood.”

‘Does that mean I’ll live until morning...?’

Mugeon found himself strangely distant from the woman’s threat to kill him, as if it were happening to someone else.

Perhaps it was because the situation felt too surreal to fully grasp.

After speaking, Jin Ye straightened up, her face moving out of his reach, causing Mugeon to lift his head further.

Jin Ye’s eyes narrowed.

“You must have been warned that you shouldn’t stare so intently at my face.”

Despite her warning, Mugeon didn’t lower his gaze.

He didn’t want to back down now.

Though he didn’t understand where the sudden surge of courage had come from, he found himself speaking up.

“But if I am to die soon, does it really matter?”

“That was quite audacious of you.”

“...May I ask one more thing?”

“Speak up.”

“Then why did you bring me into this chamber in the first place?”

He noticed Jin Ye lowering her gaze.

Her expression was neutral, but there was a certain spark in her eyes.

He thought she might be more amused than offended by his sudden change of behavior.

If what Mugeon thought was true, it meant she wasn’t planning to kill him just yet.

Mugeon took it as permission to speak freely, at least for the moment.

“I was taught that bringing a lover into one’s room in the dead of night is unchaste.”

Jin Ye tilted her head, the remnants of a smile still lingering on her lips.

“Then, what is it that you intend to say?”

“If I’m not to die in this chamber, then it means I’ll die once morning comes, outside.”

When morning arrived, he would have to leave the chamber.

Mugeon’s eyes shifted toward the shadow of Seoyeop, visible through the lattice door.

He couldn’t be an ordinary warrior if he was always so close to the Emperor.

Perhaps he had been instructed to wait outside to kill him as soon as he left this place.

If Seoyeop was willing to, he could take Mugeon’s head with ease.

So then...

“In that case...”

Mugeon swallowed hard, making no effort to lower his voice.

A coward, that’s not what he wanted to be.

Even if he was on the verge of death, he wanted to leave like a man.

So, he spoke boldly, even if it meant losing his life right here, right now.

“I desire to possess you.”

If the ultimate outcome of tomorrow morning would be death, then Mugeon wanted to hold this woman, who had been destined as his Soulmate, in his arms.

It was said that when a name appeared somewhere on the body, it was fate.

When her name appeared, as soon as he saw that beautiful name, he fell in love with a woman he had never even seen.

Finally, when he faced her breathtaking beauty, it felt like he would go blind, his heart racing like uncontrollably.

She was the most esteemed, royal person he had ever encountered in his life.

Such a person had been bestowed upon Yeon Mugeon, an ordinary commoner, as a Soulmate by the Heavens.

But since this very person desired his death, he thought she should at least try to fulfill his final wish.

Thump, thump...

His heart pounded violently, as if it would burst out of his chest at any moment.

He had never been so nervous, not even when he uttered a single word.

“....”

A suffocating silence hung in the air.

Even the faintest breeze seemed to resonate loudly in his ears.

How much time had passed?

Like flowers blooming under the brush of a master calligrapher, a gentle smile appeared on Jin Ye’s lips.

It was that moment when a low voice interrupted.

“I will execute him.”

A voice came from outside.

Mugeon, too tense to function properly, forced himself to look outside.

Seoyeop’s shadow grew darker and more distinct.

It meant he had come closer, and Jin Ye surely noticed this as well.

Jin Ye simply called his name in a stern voice.

“Seoyeop.”

They were inside the solemn imperial palace.

Once the door was closed, it was customary to pretend not to hear any noise coming from the emperor’s quarters.

Yet Seoyeop, who should have refrained, intervened.

“For the grave offense of dishonoring Your Majesty, I, Jo Seoyeop, cannot pardon him.”

His voice was calm, but there was a hint of anger.

Jin Ye, finding this amusing, let out a quiet chuckle and approached the door.

As her shadow fell over the door, both sides inched open.

Seoyeop immediately prostrated himself before her.

“Your Majesty.”

Seoyeop is a loyal servant.

But with his head bowed, he looked as though he was ready to kiss the ground at Jin Ye’s feet.

Almost as if he were a desperate man begging for the love of a woman he secretly desired.

Jin Ye, intrigued by the sight, knelt on one knee.

At that moment, everyone in the corridor lowered their heads to the ground.

Among the crowd, Jin Ye slipped a finger under Seoyeop’s chin and gently lifted it.

As their eyes met, a plan formed in her mind.

Jo Seoyeop was the perfect ‘pawn’ to rid herself of Yeon Mugeon.

Even with everyone else’s heads bowed to the ground, she could still feel Mugeon’s piercing gaze from behind.

With both men’s intense stares focused on her, Jin Ye spoke words no one in the room could have predicted.

“Then, will you join me in my bedchamber?”

Seoyeop’s eyes wavered, and so did his voice.

“How such a treasonous and irreverent statement...”

The ever-composed Seoyeop rarely showed such agitation.

But now, Jin Ye caught the flaw in his words.

“I know, you cannot bring yourself to speak it.”

“...”

“But your eyes convey a different message.”

“I, Jo Seoyeop, would never...”

“You would never have NOT thought of it.”

Jin Ye’s tone was definitive, leaving no room for argument, as if she already knew all there was to know.

Cutting off Seoyeop’s attempt to speak, she rose to her feet.

Immediately, she met the defiant gaze of Mugeon, who, still unaware of the gravity of the situation, boldly stared straight at her.

His gaze was oddly irritating.

Jin Ye, who had only ever seen her subjects grovel at her feet, found both his gaze and the entire situation rather awkward.

She looked at Mugeon while speaking to Seoyeop.

Her voice, clear as a bell, echoed through the chamber.

“Jo, my good man, come to my chamber.”