[To the point where I can't understand it... To the point where I wonder if it's really the person I knew...]
On the way to the restaurant
Looking at his reflection in the mirror in the hallway, Youngmin smiled without realizing it, remembering what Woojin had said to him.
'I see... I've really changed a lot.'
__________________________________________
Drumroll drumroll-
The only sound that could be heard throughout the room was the sound of dishes clinking against each other.
Youngmin found this sound more enjoyable than any other song.
Youngmin ate with mixed emotions as he reminisced about the precious memories he had with the people he had lost.
happiness.....
yearning.......
delight................
sorrow......................
"Crown Prince... You don't look very well..."
"It's okay. Oh my god."
At the word "Oh my gosh", Youngmin cried again.
Youngmin's mother ordered the servants to step aside.
As the servants stepped aside
The Empress looked at Yeongmin with worried eyes and held his hand tightly.
"Honey... does it hurt anywhere?"
Youngmin smiled brightly but with slightly sad eyes.
"That's impossible"
The time when Youngmin came here
After Yeongmin fell into the pond in the palace
That's why Yeongmin's mother and father, the Empress and the Emperor, worried even when their son seemed even slightly ill.
I really thought I was losing my own child...
__________________________________________
After the meal
The Empress called Yeongmin quietly.
"Oh my god?"
"Come here, baby."
The Empress hugged Yeongmin tightly and said
"Now you should have a wife too.......
I wish you could pair up with the child you want..."
"Isn't that Harin Youngae? The candidate for crown princess?"
"Yeah... I'm sorry, honey......."
Yeongmin smiled brightly, holding the Empress's hand.
"I'm fine... Can I meet Harin Youngae?"
The Empress looked at Yeongmin with sad eyes and said
"Okay... I'll make a place for you."
She looks like she's about to burst into tears
Youngmin smiled and repeated that it was okay.
'Empress... no, Young-ae...
I hope you are happy in this life.......
Then... I shouldn't get engaged to you, right?'
Youngmin's chest hurt like crazy.
The thought of her smiling and whispering sweet nothings to another man, not me, made me want to tear that other man apart.
'But........ the reason I came here........
I hope she doesn't get unhappy again.........'
The Empress hesitated and said, seeing Yeongmin's serious expression.
"This mother is...
I hope you make the choice you want to make.......
I hope my son doesn't have any regrets."
Youngmin replayed the choice he made without regrets in his head over and over again.
And Youngmin made a decision
Putting that child next to you again
This time he said he would protect the child.
No one will be able to protect that child.
No one can get that child
A new emotion, possessiveness, was ignited in Youngmin's eyes.