The Eunuch Who Guards the Crown Prince's Bed novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: Dawn Court
All night Seok-woo had told Min's steward the cup must wait, because forty soldiers watched the coffin and the prince would not be alone.
The steward had gone off with his lip curled to carry that to his master.
They let Seok-woo back into the Hall of Quiet Dawn an hour before the bells.
The guards at the door looked at the floor.
He walked in with Min's knife strapped to his thigh and the oiled bundle inside his robe.
The lamp was lit.
Hyeon stood at the washstand in his shirt with his back to the door.
He did not turn.
"Is it you?"
"Yes."
"Then lock the door."
Seok-woo locked it.
Bae had told Hyeon everything in the corridor of the Hall of Mourning.
Seok-woo could see it in how his shoulders sat, tight, with the whole night's decision laid across them.
"So you said yes," Hyeon said to the basin.
"You told me not to."
"I'm not asking." Hyeon turned. His face was composed and white, and he had shaved. "I couldn't tie my hair last night, my hands were shaking. I'm doing it now to see if they've stopped."
He sat on the edge of the sleeping mat and gathered the black length of it over his shoulder.
His hands were steady.
He combed it up, twisted it into a knot, and drove the jade pin through.
The white lock fell loose at his temple, as it always did.
Then he looked at Seok-woo over his shoulder.
"In an hour I have to go in there and say something that will end me."
"Before I do, I want you to mark me again."
Seok-woo crossed the room.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Eunuch Who Guards the Crown Prince's Bed are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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