I Found a Fellow Korean in the Imperial Palace

Summoning a “lovely nephew” to the palace just to place him by the side of another concubine’s son—and not even her own? Anyone who believes that is either a fool, an idiot, or, well, definitely lacking somewhere. Regardless, the complicated affairs of the adults weren’t for a ten-year-old like me to worry about. If I had said no, my father and brothers would never have sent me, but it was difficult to ignore a request from Lady Annette, a woman who held the Emperor’s absolute favor and gripped power rivaling that of the Empress. If this were a trivial matter, they would have handled it themselves before even bringing it to me.

In the end, the only choice I had was to smile as brightly as possible and say, “The Imperial Capital? I’d love to! Then I’ll get to see my brothers more often, right?”

Contrary to my fears, Lady Annette didn’t demand anything of me. Honestly, it would be insane to ask a child this small to spy for her. She was indeed beautiful enough to captivate the Emperor, hugging me and kissing my cheek without a care for her trailing dress as she met my eyes. Faced with her gentle voice saying, “So you’re Llewellyn. I’ve really wanted to see you,” I was so tense that I could only nod mindlessly before belatedly adding, “Me too.”

To be honest, she terrified me. It was the first time I had felt this kind of tension since waking up as Llewellyn Edwill. Her neck, revealed by her high-swept silver hair, was elegant, and her brightly shining green eyes were mild—but if she were truly just a mild and kind person, she wouldn’t have been able to seize power in the palace. I knew I couldn’t live in Edwill Castle forever, but I wanted to stay there as long as possible. Even though I had complained about the fuss, I now realized how warm the protection surrounding me had been.

I walked down the hallway, enjoying the honor of holding her hand.

The 4th Prince, Erkel, was a gentle child with brown hair and hazel eyes. I could tell Annette was satisfied seeing him, as he hadn’t inherited a single imperial trait. Her own son, the 5th Prince, had reddish-gold hair just like the Emperor’s. There was no way the 4th Prince didn’t notice this, but he merely greeted everyone with polite etiquette.

Befriending the 4th Prince wasn’t hard. He was as gentle as he looked, and he didn’t act out by throwing his status around. The other playmates who had arrived before me weren’t bad either. Since they were a group of young noble sons, fights could have easily broken out, but perhaps because they took after the master of the palace, they were all quite cute, even if they had occasional streaks of arrogance. I was spending my busy days learning magic, history, politics, and math with them.

“You… who are you?”

Erkel cornered me with a stiff face, unlike his usual self. From his tightly tensed shoulders and trembling eyes, I could tell he wasn’t angry—he was terrified.

…And who exactly are you?

Erkel—or rather, Kim Min-ji, who was possessing Erkel—clung to me and sobbed for a long while.

“Ah, seriously… hic, are you really Korean?” “Yes.”

It was already the seventh time I had given the same answer to the same question. As if he couldn’t believe it even after hearing it, he asked over and over. The handkerchief, which usually smelled like sunlight, was already so soaked it couldn’t even wipe away tears. Though I was reluctant, I handed him mine. Kim Min-ji—no, Erkel—took it with a “Thank you” and let out a loud, wet snort as he blew his nose.

“I… I had a suspicion.”

His eyes and nose were so red that they were bound to be swollen tomorrow. Was this okay? Even if there was a Korean inside, that body still belonged to a Prince. Am I going to get blamed for making a Prince cry? However, I understood how he felt, so I couldn’t bring myself to tell him to stop crying.

Erkel had started to suspect me because of the Korean idioms that slipped out of my mouth like a habit. I suppose if I heard someone in this empire say something like “I’ll bet my life on it” or “It’s enough to make a ghost wail,” I’d find it strange too. The deciding factor was a Korean curse word that had popped out of me inadvertently.

Even though I thought I was being careful, it seemed my tension had loosened because no one at home ever pointed it out. On the other hand, Erkel, who had been struggling in the high-stakes Imperial Palace, lived with his wits sharpened. Thanks to his caution from the moment he woke up to ensure his original personality didn’t show, no one had suspected him.

The difference between him, who was wailing at the thought of meeting an ally, and me, who was just bewildered, was likely the difference in how much we had suffered since the possession. There was no way the situation of Erkel—who lived a life of tension, worrying about poison even when drinking tea—was the same as Llewellyn, who was held in his brothers’ arms and fed nothing but sweet things. I felt a pang of unnecessary guilt and comforted him. Since we were in this together, I suggested we speak casually; seeing Erkel cover his mouth in moved silence made my conscience sting even more.

Of course, I was happy to meet a Korean in a place like this, too. But I didn’t expect him to be this happy. After dismissing everyone nearby, Kim Min-ji began to chatter away, pouring out all the sorrow he had bottled up while living as the 4th Prince.

“Rowena is driving me crazy, and Annette is making me lose my mind. I’m living as low as possible, so why do they keep pressuring me?” “Yeah. That lady is definitely something else.”

To Lady Annette, Count Edwill was one of her important allies, so she tended not to treat me poorly if only to maintain a smooth relationship. Even so, I became tense whenever I stood before her. In contrast, Erkel was the son of Rowena, who acted like Annette’s puppet in exchange for protection, and he was the 4th Prince—higher in the line of succession than Annette’s son, the 5th Prince. It was obvious how Annette would treat a vulnerable and bothersome obstacle.

“Come to think of it, it was a bit strange when I first saw you. Llewellyn isn’t originally like that.”

It was while the now-soothed Erkel was chattering away that he caught on to something strange. “Originally”?

“You know Llewellyn Edwill?” “Uh…”

His brown eyes darted around. Seeing him just gaping with a pale face, he looked like he was thinking something along the lines of, “I’m screwed.”

I sensed that whatever he knew was very important to me. The flustered Erkel squeezed and released his hands, not knowing what to do. I put a hand on his shoulder and pretended to be kind.

“If you know something, explain it to me. That way we can solve it. Together.” “Together…”

Erkel, who looked ready to bolt out of the room at any second, reacted to that word. As expected. Having lived under constant scrutiny in the palace, there was no way he would let go of a comrade he could finally feel comfortable with. I didn’t miss the chance and pushed further.

“In this world, the only people we can trust are you and me.” “T-that’s true.” “I don’t know much about this place. You know that the time we can meet like this without others watching is limited. I want you to help me.”

I could see him swaying as I coaxed him. I didn’t press him further as he bit his lip in hesitation. Those lips were bound to open anyway.

“Promise… that you won’t get mad.” “Why would I be mad at you?” “…And that you won’t curse at me.” “Of course.”

Erkel hooked his pinky with mine and said once more, “It’s a promise, okay?” I was getting curious about what could possibly warrant such a reaction. Until I heard the words that came out of his tightly shut eyes, my curiosity remained light.

“Actually, this place is… inside a novel I wrote… no, well, I think it is.”

Erkel, checking my reaction, quickly added that he might be wrong before continuing.

“The thing is, well. Actually. It’s a BL novel.” “Huh?” “BL… Boys’ Love… that thing where guys… do it.”

As if he couldn’t bring himself to explain it in words, he made a circle with his left hand and mimicked the gesture of putting his right index finger through it. Ah, uh, well. I was flustered, but I understood the gist. I knew that girls had hobbies like that.

“And…?”

But why bring that up now? A sense of unease seemed to rise and swallow my body. My heart hammered an alarm. Sure. That’s possible. A BL novel. It’s flustering, but it happens. I can even accept that this isn’t just a fantasy world, but the inside of a book.

But why did Erkel ask me not to be mad while telling me this? Why was he walking on such eggshells? I had a rough grasp of the situation, but a siren wailed loudly in my head, wanting to deny reality.

“The… protagonist.” “…Yeah. Go on.” “…The protagonist… is you.”

Erkel squeezed his eyes shut and blurted it out.

It took time for that sentence to travel from my ears to my brain. So. This is a book, and that book is about guys having s*x. And the protagonist is me? I hoped even then that Erkel would say it was a joke, but he couldn’t even lift his head.

I felt faint, as if the ground beneath my feet had vanished. I even had a meaningless hope that if I lost consciousness right now, I would wake up in my own bed. That maybe Erkel being Korean was just a product of my poor imagination, and I had simply gone to bed early after returning from the palace. And that the eldest or second brother would wake me up, worrying about what kind of dream I was having to make me toss and turn so much.

But no matter how tightly I shut my eyes and denied reality, the floor didn’t collapse. No hand shook me awake. In the end, I had to accept that this goddamn situation was reality.