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He was true to his word.  Dan Se returned to her room a short while later with a tray laden with tempting foods.

“What’s your favorite?” he queried as he set the tray down on her table.

“What?” she quizzed him as she rolled onto her right side to gaze up at him.

“Food.  What’s your favorite food?”

“I love fruit.  Pretty much anything.  Mangoes.  Clementines.  Grapes.  Apples.”

“Mmm.”  He glanced down at the tray.  And grimaced.  He noted the bowls of rice, kimchi, and vegetables.  And the thinly sliced beef the cook had prepared for them.  “I will be right back.  I’m pretty sure that I saw some clementines and mangoes in the kitchen.”

She glanced up in alarm.  “Oh, no!  Dan Se, that’s all right.  I’m not used to eating fruit for breakfast.  It’s just that I rarely enjoyed it at my father’s house.  He is not partial to sweets, and fruit was rarely served.  This breakfast is just fine,” she murmured as she gazed at the tray laden with savory foods.

“No, darling, we have fruit to spare.  You shall have as much as you desire this morning.”

She looked up at him sharply as she noted the tenderness in his tone and his use of the fond appellation darling.  Her heart tumbled around in her chest.  Could it be that she hadn’t put him off yesterday?  But how was that possible?

She was now looking forward to eating breakfast with him. 

She watched as he slipped from her room.  A couple of minutes later, a knock sounded on her door. 

“Come in,” she called.  Assuming he had reverted to some semblance of formality, she was disappointed a moment later when a young maid entered the room, carrying a bowl full of various fruits.

Mi Sook’s eyes grew wide as she took in that great bounty.  “Good Lord!  Does Dan Se think I can eat that entire bowl for breakfast?”

The girl’s eyes were twinkling.  “No, ma’am.  He asked me to set it on your table.  And told me to leave it here.  So that you may enjoy fruit – and I’m quoting him, ma’am – ‘whenever her dear heart desires.’”  The girl sighed, “So romantic.”

Mi Sook glanced up at her in surprise.  “You think he’s being romantic?”

“Do you like fruit, ma’am?” the girl asked instead of answering her question.

Mi Sook nodded.  “I love fruit.  It’s my favorite food.”

“Does he know that?”

“Yes.  I just told him so.”

“Ah, then yes, I find him very romantic.”  The girl glanced around the room.  “Can I bring you anything else, ma’am?”

Mi Sook frowned.  “Is not Dan Se returning soon?”

“I don’t know, ma’am.  He headed out the front door as I was coming your way.”

“What?”  Disappointed, Mi Sook frowned.

“Ma’am?”

“Oh.  Um, can you bring me a glass of water?”

“Yes, ma’am.”  The girl bowed to her before leaving.

And Mi Sook had to face her disillusionment alone.  She had thought that she and Dan Se were getting along again.  But he had just left the house without speaking to her.  She stifled her sigh and scooted over to reach for some bulgogi.  It smelled delicious.  She would solace herself with some food.  Though, really, she seemed to have little appetite now.  She wondered when her delightful husband would return.

––

Yesterday, she had withdrawn from him.  And he had felt certain that she didn’t wish for his presence any longer.  However, she had allowed him to touch her today.  Twice.  And to fetch her breakfast.

And he had an entire month to kill. 

He recalled Jung Sook’s words.  And his original intent.  To give Mi Sook a reason to live.  By assisting her in finding her life’s passion.  If he couldn’t be that passion, then he would help her find happiness elsewhere. 

Armed with Jung Sook’s information, he headed out to visit a friend who was a scribe. 

A couple of hours later, Dan Se stood outside of Mi Sook’s bedroom door.  Wondering in which room he would discover his wife.  Was she still in the bed in which she’d slept last night?  Or had she moved back to her original room?

He took a chance and knocked on the door of the room in which he had planned to sleep last night.

But no sound emanated from behind that door.  He eased it open quietly and was disappointed to discover that his wife was sleeping.  He set his burdens down on the floor and crossed the room to gaze down at her.  The sheet was covering her body again.  All the way to her shoulders.  But he could see the unbruised side of her face.  He reached out to smooth her hair away from her cheek. 

How he longed to touch her again!

More than just this transitory caress of her ear. 

He knelt next to her bed and studied her slumbering face.  Her deep and even breathing alerted him to her unconscious state.  He was suffering from some disappointment.  He had been eager to bestow his gifts upon her.  Now he would have to bide his time while he waited for her to awake. 

Perhaps he would take this opportunity to set everything up.  He stood up and crossed the room to pick his purchases up off the floor.  He spent the next few minutes preparing her gift.  But soon, he found himself at a loss.  Everything was ready, and she was still sleeping.

He slipped out of his robes and approached the bed.  He was going to take advantage of this moment to lie next to her.  Her behavior this morning had confused him.  And encouraged him. 

Had he misunderstood her presence in his bed last night? 

Did she not despise him?

He settled himself in the bed and turned onto his side so that he could watch her while she slept.  But he could see only the gleaming masses of her dark hair as they tumbled down over the sheet covering her back.  He now knew what that sheet hid, and he yearned to reach under it and slide his fingers across that soft skin.  But he held back.  Refusing to trespass there while she slept.  Vulnerable to his whims.

He cleared his throat and leaned his head against his pillow.  For a few minutes, his eyes caressed her beautiful, midnight tresses.  Following their length all the way down past her waist.  His fingers itching to touch them.  Still, he refrained.

After a while, he closed his eyes and slipped into a light slumber himself.  But a few minutes later, he was awakened by a deep moan.  His eyes flew open, and his lips parted as he gasped, “Mi Sook!  Are you all right?”

“No,” she groaned.  “It feels worse than it did yesterday.”

He reached for the jar of cream.  His heart leaping at the prospect of touching her again.

“Can I rub some more cream into your back?” he breathed.

“Yes.”

He drew the sheet back to display that bruised back once more.  It appeared even angrier than it had a few hours ago.

“Oh, darling,” he sighed before his fingers began to smear that healing balm onto her skin once more.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the tips of his fingers gliding along her skin.

“Thank you, Dan Se,” she whispered after a while.

“My pleasure, darling,” his soft voice rumbled in her ear.

And, inexplicably, she felt a tear forming in her eye.  When she blinked, it rolled down her face.

“When you feel better, I have something to show you,” he declared mildly.

She turned her head towards him and glanced at him over her shoulder.  “You have something to show me?  Where?”

“Here.  In that corner.”  He tipped his head towards the corner opposite their bed.

She started to move her head, but he interrupted her.  “It’s covered right now.  Let me know when you’re ready, and I will unveil it.” 

She could hear the excitement in his voice.  And it made her curious. 

“I am ready now.  Shall I climb out of bed?”

“Can you?”

“Yes.”  A pause.  “Oh!” as she realized that she wasn’t wearing her shirt.

He seemed to read her mind.  “Can I get you your robe?”

“Oh,” she brightened.  “Yes.”

He picked it up off the chair and crossed to her side of the bed.  He held it up so that he could wrap it around her.  She grabbed her shirt and held it up against her chest as she climbed out of bed backwards.  Inwardly, he chuckled at her modesty.  He had, after all, already caught a glimpse of her goods.  He thought that she might as well show them to him again.

But he refrained from saying so.  Instead, he remained respectful of her and wrapped her robe around her.  Perhaps lingering a little too long as his arms embraced her from behind.

She noticed how he held her a little longer than necessary as she tied her robe shut.  And she wondered at his familiarity.  Could he be craving her touch as she was yearning for his?

Too timid to ask, she turned towards him, glancing toward the corner curiously.  “What is it, sir?” she queried.

“Sir?” he quizzed her.  “Why so formal?”

She shrugged.  Then winced.  And his brow furrowed.

Without thinking, he reached for her hand, his fingers sliding along hers before curling around them.  She glanced down in surprise at his hand covering hers, but in the next instant he distracted her as he tugged her towards the other corner of the room.

“I am hoping to help you find something to distract yourself from the pain.  And to occupy your time,” he murmured sheepishly.

Then he stepped forward and pulled lightly upward on the sheet covering her surprise.  She found it hard to contain her excitement.  What had Dan Se done?

She felt her heart beginning to beat faster.  His sentiments were so sweet.  Seeking a distraction from her pain.  Hoping to fill her days with something pleasing.  She glanced his way as he lifted the square of fabric to unveil his present.

She was watching his face when he bared the gift.  His eyes slid her way to gauge her reaction, instead catching her gaze on him.  She had an inscrutable light in her eyes, but she smiled faintly at him a moment later.  However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been suffering from something akin to shock.

Was she so surprised that he would wish to bless her?

“Are you going to look at it?” he finally prodded her.

So she did.  Reluctantly, her eyes left his to seek out his surprise.  And she gasped as her eyes took in the bounty of his heart.

“What is this?” she breathed as her gaze slid over the easel. 

A block of flat wood rested against it.  And the square was covered by a sheet of white silk.  On the tray of the easel rested several rolled-up scrolls of parchment, a couple of quills, a block of ink, and several tiny jars full of colored powder.  She spied a dark red, a deep yellow, a vibrant green, a rich purple, and midnight black.

“Dan Se?  What is all this?”

“Fodder for your imagination, I hope,” he whispered.

She stepped forward, and he released her hand as she reached up to pick up one of the tiny jars.

“Mineral pigments,” he explained.  “You just add a little water to each to create a paint.”  He reached up to slide his finger along the sheet creating her canvas.  “This is a piece of silk.  You can paint it.  And the parchment is for sketching.  So are the quills and the ink.”

Shocked, she stared in wonder first at her gifts and then up at the man standing next to her.  “You bought all of this for me?” she breathed in wonder.

He nodded.

“But…I thought I married a pauper.”

He sighed.  “I might have been just a mite dramatic when I claimed that.  I’m not a pauper precisely.  The king has rewarded me handsomely several times.”

“Dan Se!” she rebuked him lightly, but that awed smile was still lighting up her features, and he was fairly certain that he had done well today.

“Do you like them?” he queried, holding his breath.

Her eyes slid along those beautiful supplies again, and she nodded.  “Very much,” she murmured as her eyes danced with his again.  “Dan Se, this is the most thoughtful present anyone has ever given me.  But…how did you know?”

A tremor of unease passed across his face.  “I have a confession to make.”

His fear invaded her heart.  “What?” she asked apprehensively.

“I sent a friend to spy out the land.”

“What?”  She was lost.

“A little birdie told me that you enjoy sketching.  I thought perhaps you’d like to paint too.”

She stared at him.  Then her lips curved into a smile. 

Jung Sook.

“And just whose idea was it to find out what interests me?” she quizzed him curiously.

Had her new friend taken it upon herself to encourage a reconciliation between her and Dan Se?

“Mine,” he admitted bashfully.

Surprised, she widened her eyes.  “You?”  She hadn’t been able to keep her astonishment out of her voice.

He blinked.  “Is it really so hard to imagine that I wish to make you happy?” he queried with a shade of sadness coloring his tone.

Her face fell.  “I…no.  I,” she found herself at a loss for words.  And sent her gaze towards her feet.  How could she look at him again?

To ask her such a question, he must think that she hated him.

He took a chance.  He reached out and tentatively touched her cheek.  The one which her father had not bruised.  When she didn’t flinch away from his touch, he cupped her jawline softly and brushed his thumb across her cheek.

“You…you really want to make me happy, Dan Se?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Even after the way I treated you yesterday?”  Recalling his coldness of the previous afternoon, she almost couldn’t believe it.

Perplexed, he frowned.  “The way you treated me yesterday?” he questioned uncertainly.

The confusion in his voice drew her eyes to his.  “When I told you that I wished to sleep alone.”

“Oh.”  His expression grew guarded.  And his gaze slid away from hers.

Here was her chance.  To clear the air between them.  Did she possess the courage to take it?

She recalled Jung Sook’s advice and cleared her throat.  As her heart began to beat frenetically.

“I was afraid,” she forced the words out between stiff lips.

He glanced up at her in bewilderment.  “What?  Why?”

“Because you said that your brother’s death was not an accident.  That you were trying to save him from your grandfather’s plans.”

He nodded.  Then he frowned, furrowing his brow.  “But…why would that have made you fear me?” 

He didn’t understand.  How could she explain her crazy thought process?

Before she found an answer, a knock sounded on the door.

“Dan Se?” called a soft masculine voice.

Stunned, her husband turned for the door.  “It’s Yeo Wool.  What is he doing here?  Excuse me, darling.” 

And then he was gone.  And so was her opportunity to fix things between them.  She sighed in disappointment and stared at the wonderful gifts which he’d brought her today. 

And felt an odd hope tugging at her heart.  Perhaps things weren’t as bad between them as she had believed.