Chapter 152: Seo Yeon/ Seon-Ho

Although Seon-Ho's love for me was evident and he had begun to let go of his abandonment issues from me but his jealousy was still terrible. I remember not long after our first kiss he had gotten jealous over a servant in his father's house that I helped out and he took my things away in anger. But that was nothing compared to what happened after that; he cut the hand off of one of my old employer's son who liked me a bit too much from the start and tried to get close to me as much as he could. Seon-Ho also ruined the life of another employer of mine to wanted to keep me as his concubine in all ways possible and had a few male colleges of mine fired if he felt they had ill intentions toward me.

As Chun-Ae naturally tortured the servants of course they became more loyal to me in time. But as our servants were mostly male, my husband really didn't like it. He would in fact create random punishments for those if he thought something else was going on, even I couldn't say anything to protect them or he would turn his anger onto me. So imagine our surprise when the prince's tricks to upset my husband fail, he took it up to a whole new level when he started to request to meet me on his and my brother's behalf. They were both furious but not even my brother knew the dark side my husband had concealed from him about his insecurities and he took it out on me as soon as he got home.

He barked at some servants to take the children to his wing. He cornered me in the kitchen and asked me if I had any contact with the prince after the banquet. I answered him honestly and when I did he just told me to behave appropriately when he forced me to visit him and warned me if anything more happened he would find out...and kill us all. The look on his face scared me before he took my hand and dragged me to my wing...He was angry all week and kept taking it out on everyone in the house. I even had to keep his own son away from him with our children. I tried to comfort him but he wasn't having it. I tried to leave him alone and he wasn't having it either. I couldn't even leave the room to attend to the children, he had the servants bring them to me. It went on like this until I was called into the palace barely two days later.

****************

That bastard had the nerve to send a royal sedan for her to make her way into the palace, leaving me to take Chun-Ae in our own one to follow being them. I was told to bring her as well so I had no choice, as well as Bong-Ju. She was all over me as usual but I had my sight set on Yeon who kept looking at me from behind her in worry. As soon as we arrived I shot out of my seat so fast before the servants had time to help her out, leaving Chun-Ae furiously humiliated. My son broke free of her grip and ran to Yeonnie who immediately scooped him into her arms for courage. We made our way into the grand hall and I had both women reluctantly sent into my office until they were called upon. Yeonnie made sure my son stuck with me though when he met the king for the first time. As if I wasn't stressed out enough about my wife I was also worried for my son. I know she tutored him herself a lot of the time when she wasn't at work herself which I was eternally grateful for but I hadn't had the time yet to check out his progress for myself.

The royal assembly had started with all of the court officials stating their businesses before the prince walked in at the last minute with his eyes on my son and a small smirk on his face that I wanted nothing more to wipe off myself with Hwi in tow, giving my son an affectionate look that only eased my anger slightly.

Before the assembly finished, Prince Bang-Won called me and my son to the centre of the room. My son dragged me towards them both and we both faced the prince. He made his way to my son, kneeling to his level, and started asking him 'innocent questions' about our family and my work. My son held my hand tightly, looked me in my eyes, and starting giving such eloquent answers that seemed to shock everyone for such a young child, even myself. The look on the prince's face was worth it, I could tell he was angry at not catching onto any mistakes that could embarrass me. I couldn't help but to feel proud, especially since Bang-Won had no choice but to start praising his Chun-Ae's teachings until Bong-Ju interrupted at told everyone proudly that it was Yeon who helped him and not his own mother. In that exact moment, both of my wives were called to the assembly; an awkward silence fell upon Chun-Ae who even got angry looks from her father looked so embarrassed that she kept her eyes stuck on the floor. Yeonnie on the other hand received whispered praises.

It was a satisfactory sight to see as she wasn't well-received by society when I married her after Chun-Ae. But she was the cause of her own undoing. Even if the king hadn't restored our bloodlines, I would have made us both work just as hard to prove that they should no longer matter. It was time to raise Yeon up to the position of my main wife now that even the king's court has witnessed themselves my first wife's in capabilities as a mother and wife.

It was all going so well until that corrupt mongrel laid his eyes on her; I saw a look on his face I had never seen before despite watching him drink in many gibang's since I started to work at the palace. My mouth twisted in fury and I could hear her brother's blood boiling as well, but we couldn't react in public.

The prince extended his hand to help Yeonnie make her way to the king to pay her respects but she just walked past him without so much as a glance. For someone who was used to concealing his emotions, it was a pleasant surprise to see how shocked he was at being ignored for probably the first time in his life. His eyes followed her lecherously as she introduced herself to the court before walking to my side and receiving praises from the king and the court. If Yeonnie hadn't placed my hands in his I would have marched over and punched him square in the face in front of everyone without a care for my life. She saw how upset I was getting and tried to do everything to restrain me. He kept looking at her whilst she laid her head lightly on my shoulders. Even husband and wife were not really supposed to touch each other in public but she did what she could get away with. The more he looked at her with fascination the more she ignored him, the angrier he got and the more stifled I became. At least the assembly was over and Chun-Ae was surrounded by her angry and humiliated backers. The prince was busy with his father so I took my son and Yeonnie home before Chun-Ae could join us. The prince saw us leaving and tried to intercede but thankfully Hwi stopped him in his tracks. I smirked angrily; he needed Hwi and wouldn't dare to upset him any more than he did in the past. Our investigation into Seo-Gom's death had come to a pause a long time ago so we had no choice but to continue our cold interactions as usual with him.