He Lost His Family in the Snow, He Returned to Save Them novel · Chapter 14 of 24
Chapter 14: The Night Tonic
Seo-jun walked him to the end of the King's corridor and would go no further.
"I'll be at the stair," he said. "If you call, I come."
"I won't need to call."
"Then I'll stand there and be useless." His thumb pressed once against the inside of Min-jun's wrist, where the pulse beat. "Go."
The King's bedchamber was hot and dim and smelled of camphor.
The old man lay propped against a heap of pillows with a brazier burning beside the bed.
He was awake, and his eyes were clear.
"Close the door," the Southern King said. "Bolt it. Then stand behind the screen and keep still."
"Majesty?"
"My eldest son brings me a cup every night at this hour. I want you to watch him pour it."
Min-jun did not ask a single question.
He went behind the painted screen and found a gap in the paper where the light came through.
The King coughed until his shoulders shook, and lay back, and waited.
Ten minutes later the door opened.
Han Jae-won came in alone with a covered tray and set it on the table beside the bed.
"Father. You're awake."
"I'm always awake. It's the only thing the cough has left me."
"Then you'll want your tonic." Jae-won lifted a small silver jug and poured a dark, steaming liquid into a cup. "The new physician says three doses a day, and you've been stubborn about the third."
"Where is the old physician?"
"Dead, Father. Last spring. You went to his funeral."
"So I did."
Jae-won turned his back to the bed and held his hands over the brazier.
His right hand passed over the cup.
Through the gap in the screen, Min-jun saw the silver ring turn on the finger.
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