Brand of the Desert

The Monarch's Secret

The heavy, suffocating scent of burning incense and the bitter medicinal odor of herbal decoctions filled the vast imperial bedchamber. The chamber was dimly lit by only a few wavering beeswax candles, casting long, dusky shadows over the folding screen carved with golden dragons. Beyond the doors, the entire imperial palace had fallen into a frenzy of whispered terror. It was because, barely three months after we arrived in the capital, His Majesty the elderly emperor had suddenly taken critically ill. As His Majesty’s lung function rapidly collapsed beyond control, the court had no choice but to declare an emergency and appoint Xhenjin as the official regent to rule the empire while the sovereign slowly faded away.

I knelt quietly beside the enormous throne bed, gently wiping the cold sweat from the old emperor’s pale forehead with a damp silk cloth. I was a stranger who had drifted into this court without warning, so the rotten factions had wanted me to stay hidden in the dark and die, but I utterly refused to leave the only man who had granted me freedom in his final moments alone.

The old emperor slowly opened his tired eyes and blinked. His weakened gaze followed the careful movement of my hand before settling on my face. The moment he caught the intense focus in my eyes, a faint, unbelievably tender smile bloomed at the corner of his cracked lips, and a low, breathy sound tinged with metal slipped out.

I carefully checked that the surrounding folding screens formed a sealed space to completely block the ears of the court’s hidden informants, then leaned my upper body close into His Majesty’s space. I lowered my voice to just a hair’s breadth from his ear, and the quiet, husky rasp of my tone cut clearly through the room’s heavy silence, carrying the most fatal political secret.

"Your Majesty," I whispered smoothly. My fingertips trembled ever so slightly as I pressed my palm flat against the silk sheet beside him. "The succession is secure. This empire will never fall into the hands of those rotten factions. I... I’m carrying Xhenjin’s child. The heir who will inherit the empire’s future is already here."

The old emperor went completely still against his pillow. In the sudden flood of pure, unrestrained joy, his widened eyes shone sharp and bright. The crushing burden that had weighed on him—the burden of having to leave the empire without leaving behind his bloodline—vanished in an instant from his delicate, handsome features. Letting out a trembling breath of relief, he reached out with his weakened, shaking hand, firmly covering my fingers with the last burst of his remaining strength.

"A blessing..." the emperor murmured. His voice resonated grandly in the still space, a faint, subdued whisper full of metallic rasp. As if trying to squeeze out the final remnant of a ruler’s authority and bestow his last imperial grace, he fixed his eyes on mine. "Name the child Yunseo (尹瑞). It will be a radiant and blessed omen toward the throne... whether prince or princess, the child will inherit this empire’s strength in full."

He drew his last peaceful breath, and as his hand loosened weakly over mine, his eyes slowly closed. The old emperor passed away with absolute peace in his heart, and the throne of the ruler was officially left empty.

-----

The vast, magnificent main hall was being washed clean by brilliant, razor-sharp morning sunlight pouring in through massive archways open on all sides. The light perfectly illuminated the hundreds of ministers and elite shield soldiers kneeling and prostrate below. The atmosphere inside was thick with a heavy, electric tension. At the top of the high jade steps stood Xhenjin, fully robed in the clean, weighty imperial garments of the crown prince turned emperor. Bathed in the fading morning light, the black-and-gold silk robes were breathtakingly beautiful, and the heavy imperial crown sat firmly atop his long black hair. He had officially ascended the throne.

Once the court’s formal abdication seals were finally complete and all the ministers had left to prepare the new administrative ledgers on the front lines, the enormous wooden doors slowly closed, leaving only silence for the two of us in this vast, still hall.

I stepped soundlessly out from behind the heavy dragon-draped curtain in the rear corridor, and the layered folds of my structured imperial silk hanbok brushed softly over the smooth black-jade flooring as I completely closed the distance between us.

Xhenjin turned on the raised dais. The brief instant when his sharp, dark eyes fully met mine caused the tension in his taut frame to relax at once. The cold, commanding aura unique to a newly crowned emperor vanished without a trace in an instant, replaced by his exhausted, breathless longing as he walked down the jade steps to face me. He reached out. His large, warm hand wrapped firmly around my shoulder with intense, resolute pressure, pulling me tightly behind his broad, hard body and holding me there.

"The court is safe now, Chaewon," he whispered heavily. His deep voice carried a low, rolling murmur that filled the vast, quiet hall. He lowered his head further and used the overwhelming difference in our height to press closer over me, his dark eyes tracing my face with a gaze of complete devotion. "But now that I’ve taken this crown fully into my hands, those vipers are going to watch every move I make with ferocity."

I met his intense eyes head-on. The self-assured, languid smile I had worn at last night’s banquet slowly tugged at the corners of my lips, and I raised my hand to press my palm steadily and calmly over the thick golden silk covering his broad chest.

"Let them watch," I whispered smoothly, shaping my lips clearly in the bright morning sun on purpose so he could read every syllable. I slid my fingers downward, gently removing his large, warm hand from my shoulder with a lingering touch before guiding it to the place where my womb rested, then firmly placing his long fingers over my hanbok. "They’ve already lost, Your Majesty. Just before His Late Majesty breathed his last, he bestowed a perfect blessing upon our hidden bloodline. I’m carrying your child, Xhenjin. Yunseo, the heir who will inherit our future, is already growing inside me."

Xhenjin went completely still in my arms. The unbelievable reality of my confession shook his chest so hard that his breath caught in his throat. The legendary commander who had inherited the entire empire was looking utterly weak and flustered under my touch. A vivid, dazzling crimson flush burst across his handsome high cheekbones, and while his long fingers trembled faintly over my stomach, his dark eyes widened even more in sheer, breathless awe. In the empty hall, he was utterly captivated by the sudden, violent wave of love and protective longing that bound us together as one.