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So Yong longed to express tenderness and affection to the beloved whose feelings she had yearned for, but when she followed the call of her heart, Cheoljong regarded her with a peculiar expression, questioning her well-being. After all, Bong Hwan was not that sentimental — what was with these blushing, shyness, and pondering over every small gesture? "My queen would not behave this way."
In fact, she now frequently found herself wondering how the chef would react in various situations, based on memories of his final months in this world. She felt like she was merely pretending to be someone else. And to a certain extent, that was indeed the case.
Not immediately, but the king noticed it. Of course, he could not directly say, "You seem to have stopped being yourself," and she still retained all of the memories, so there was no opportunity to catch her forgetting something important.
But she, too, grew tired with time. She noticed that Cheoljong kept trying to find traces of Bong Hwan within her — the very traits he had fallen in love with — and his disappointment was evident when he could not. So Yong was angry with this situation, angry that she could not become a replacement, that ultimately, Cheoljong did not love her… yet her heart ached when she witnessed her husband’s torment. So, after a while, she decided to confess to him.
"It's the spirit of a person from another world," she said, "most likely from a distant future. It was him from the moment I fell into the lake and until I was shot during the coup."
Cheoljong believed her. Even though the story sounded like utter absurdity, he believed it because the missing piece of his soul fell into place, still pricking but now within his sight. To So Yeon, it seemed like she managed to ease his suffering, even if he now perceived her as a mere shadow. More precisely, a shadow of Bong Hwan.
So Yong knew the king would leaf through the "Queen's Dictionary" every evening and visit the lake. At some point, she even feared that he might try to drown her in hopes that the spirit would return. Of course, that never happened, and she could no longer understand what was on his mind.
He distanced himself. Yet, he continued to act as resolute as ever, as if not burdened by deep sorrow. Only in the evenings did the facade falter. He would approach Cheorin solely to ask questions.
Reluctantly, she shared the fragments of Bong Hwan's life that she had seen, revealing what she knew. It pained her to see that her beloved no longer tried to connect with her; instead, he immersed himself in the thoughts of ‘his queen.’ Of course, Cheoljong never treated So Yong disrespectfully, but to him, she was just "the queen" and never his.
As the years passed, she regretted her confession more and more. But she knew their marriage would fall apart regardless. It was a lose-lose situation from the very start.
There was one thing Bong Hwan did not think of when he excitedly read history textbooks in his own world. He probably assumed that everything had turned out well with Cheoljong thanks to his harmonious relationship with the queen and wise advice.
In reality, the king worked twice as hard, hoping that his true queen would read about him hundreds of years later—and smile.