Like the First Snow

Prince Hyun-ki is crying again while Wonbeom rocks him in his arms. Maybe he senses the gloomy mood in the room. Or perhaps he senses his mother’s absence as well. Court Lady Choi is still quietly sobbing, and now Hong Yeon has joined in as well. The more whimpers Wonbeom hears, the more irritated he becomes.

“I should have taken better care of her,” Court Lady Choi chokes out between sobs. “I should have protected her.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Wonbeom says in an attempt to quiet her down. “You know how stubborn the Queen can be.”

But he wonders, is that still true? Does he really know his wife enough to say something like that so confidently? He had thought he understood her until one day she came to him with her insane story about a man named Jang Bong Hwan. Since then, Wonbeom had not been sure about anything. But both Court Lady Choi and Hong Yeon nod in agreement at his remark.

Hong Yeon’s sobs have quieted for the time being, and she now fidgets nervously in the Queen’s clothes.

“Straighten your back.” Court Lady Choi can’t help but nag the poor maid as she tries her best to fix her posture.

“You don’t have to worry, alright?” Wonbeom tries not to show his irritation or Hong Yeon would be too scared to properly do the task he asked of her for her Queen’s best interest.

He had decided they needed to buy more time since they could not find the Queen right away. Thus, Wonbeom is sending his “Queen” and her maids to the royal villa to take a rest. Hong Yeon needs to pretend to be the Queen so the eunuchs who see her departure spread the news all over the palace. They need to make sure at least one person sees the Queen after the incident. Once the maids reach the villa, no one is to leave or send any messages there until the real Queen is found. He also plans to send his most trusted men to watch over the villa secretly in case the mysterious assassin makes another appearance to finish his sinister agenda.

“Achoo!” Hong Yeon suddenly sneezes and Wonbeom shields the prince on pure instinct. He had fallen asleep some moments ago, but the loud noise wakes him up again. And of course, he instantly starts crying loudly.

“Hyun-ki-ah, my son, please,” Wonbeom pleads, trying to calm him down again, rocking him in his arms and humming the prince’s favorite song. Wonbeom’s nerves are frayed from this dreadful night, and he’s on the edge of breaking down himself.

Court Lady Choi goes to one of the drawers in the room and retrieves a familiar red scarf. It’s the one the Queen gave him with “CJ” letters embroidered onto it. He remembers how he tied it around her neck before leaving to reclaim his throne, how he promised to return to her soon.

Wonbeom had not seen that scarf since then and had completely forgotten about it. After her confession, everything became complicated again.

“It has her scent,” Court Lady Choi explains, holding out the scarf to him. Wonbeom takes it and places it close to his son’s little face. The scarf engulfs his small body and looks more like a blanket on him.

Like magic, the boy falls asleep, his face growing calm and serene. He is only seven months old and still looks so small in his father’s arms, but to Wonbeom, he is growing too fast.

“Thank you,” Wonbeom acknowledges Court Lady Choi, feeling ashamed for being annoyed with the older woman before.

“Are you ready to go?” he then asks Hong Yeon. “Do not worry, I don’t bite,” he attempts to ease the tension, but his awkward joke doesn’t seem to help at all.

They head outside toward a covered palanquin. Hong Yeon is visibly shaking from her nerves. Wonbeom puts a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, but it is a huge mistake. Hong Yeon jerks to the side away from his touch as if his hand burned her skin, but after a moment she composes herself and continues to walk by his side, keeping her back as straight as she can.

“Achoo!” she sneezes again, the sound echoing through the empty courtyard.

It’s not perfect, but this is the best plan Wonbeom could come up with. He kisses his son’s forehead before carefully placing him in Court Lady Choi’s waiting arms. Once the procession has left the palace, Wonbeom goes back to his study with Prince Yeongpyeong and Du Il to brainstorm what to do next.

“Do you think the Queen was the target or it was a warning meant to intimidate you?” Hong Byeolgam asks.

“It is hard to tell right now, but if the Queen was the target, it must be her clan,” Wonbeom concludes. Her clan was betrayed by their own blood – they must hate her even more than the King who chased them out. She didn’t have any other enemies to speak of.

“But they all live in exile,” Prince Yeongpyeong notes.

“They might still have some connections. They were very powerful after all,” Wonbeom argues.

“Could it be the Grand Queen Dowager?” Hong Byeolgam suggests.

Wonbeom shakes his head.

“Her brother was her only connection with the outside world. Furthermore, all her letters are inspected.”

“Then what do we do now?” Prince Yeongpyeong asks.

“Let’s pay a visit to all of the Kim and Jo clan members who were banished and see what we can find out,” Wonbeom decides.

And with that, Wonbeom wears his black outfit again, riding a horse through the night to question the one person he wishes to personally interrogate. When he reaches his destination, it is the early hours of the morning and the sky is colored with red and purple.

He finds the man in a little village near the sea, under home arrest with guards watching over his every move. When Wonbeom sees the weak old man, it is hard to recognize the former Training Commander Kim Jwa Geun. He is hunched over, tending to his plants just outside the house.

Wonbeom jumps from his horse and in a few large strides he appears before Kim Jwa Geun. Wonbeom grabs him by his collar and forces him to get up with ease. The old man is like a puppet doll in Wonbeom’s hands. He has lost some weight, the once well-groomed beard has not been cut for a long time and his head has more gray hairs than Wonbeom remembers. But Kim Jwa Geun’s gaze is still calculating and ruthless.

“Was it your doing?” Wonbeom doesn’t bother to explain anything and asks right away. Kim Jwa Geun narrows his eyes and the corner of his mouth twitches into a smirk for a second before he puts on a neutral expression again.

“What do you think, Your Majesty the King?” he answers.

“Tell me what you know!” Wonbeom shouts in rage, pushing him back.

The old man had the audacity to smirk but walk back under the King’s pressure until he pushed against the wall of his new, or rather old and almost falling apart, hanok¹Hanok – a house..

“I was wondering, how is my niece living these days?” Kim Jwa Geun asks with a mocking smile on his face.

Wonbeom looks suspiciously into his former enemy’s eyes. The sudden realization hits him: “It wasn’t you. You know nothing.”

Wonbeom loosens his hold on Kim Jwa Geun with disgust and he falls to the King’s feet.

The old man laughs cruelly: “Only an incident related to the Queen could bring out such fury from you.”

Wonbeom ignores the bait: “I won’t give you the punishment you so desperately want.”

Wonbeom looks down on the man who once instilled so much fear into him. Now he’s a frail old man dreaming about his own death. He no longer has the power or the connections to try to assassinate the Queen.

“From this day forward, you won’t receive any letters from your sister.” Wonbeom doesn’t want him to share what transpired today with the Grand Queen Dowager. Even though she is cast away in the West Palace, she might try to make the situation worse.

Leaving Kim Jwa Geun behind, Wonbeom gives his orders to the guards and departs. But he decides to make a small stop before he heads back toward the city.

It has been years since he last saw the sea and waves furiously falling on the shore. A salty morning breeze invigorates him and it feels like home. On Ganghwa Island, he was not merely an ordinary boy working as a common woodcutter. He had training sessions with his older brother and a few lessons from old books they managed to find. But more than all, he remembers being the boy who liked having fun with his brother and Du Il, dreaming big dreams of doing something meaningful in his life.

Breathing in the scent of the waves, Wonbeom strips from his clothes and shoes, leaving only his trousers and wades into the water. The waves crash against his body, but he stubbornly goes forward and dives in. He swims underwater for a minute before he rises to the surface again.

Relaxing, he spreads his arms and legs, floating gently on the surface.

“Where are you, my Queen?” he wonders to himself, looking at the bright blue morning sky. “Please, be alright. I beg you, wait for me. I’ll figure out everything soon and find you.”

Exhaling air from his lungs, Wonbeom lets his body sink underwater again.

Please, find your way home and we’ll meet halfway.

Just take one step forward.

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  Hanok – a house.