Chapter Text
Yi Heon collapsed to the ground, his face drenched in tears. The golden light in the air has dissipated, along with Yeon Jiyoung, the former chief royal cook.
"Wherever you are.... I will find you." He spoke, the closed Mangunrok right next to him, as if mocking him. His own journal, in the end, brought his love away from him. He held a singular page of it tightly, the second to last page he illustrated and wrote, the page where he wrote about the Hwanseban. He had torn it while desperately trying to close the book, to stop whatever madness was happening. He didn't want Jiyoung to leave. No, he didn't give permission for it.
Now that Jiyoung was dead, and sucked away into the distant future by that accursed book, his life, truly, had no meaning anymore. What does becoming king matter, when she isn't by his side, giving, feeding dishes for him to try? She was supposed to be Queen along with him...
The last thought before Deposed King Yi Heon went into unconsciousness, was the sheer emptiness he felt without her, even if it's just been mere seconds. He will go to her, even if it means travelling to a time he didn't know. Even if it means abandoning his own timeline. As his eyes began to close, the torn page began to glow a golden hue...
---
"Your... Majesty?" Shin soo-hyuk, Yi Heons's trusted swordsman, spoke out, his voice cutting through the air. He simply thought the king had zoned out, but unbeknownst to him, something much harder to imagine happened.
Yi Heon looked around him. This was the Salgoji Forest.. and he had his yunbok on.. Did he succeed in travelling in time? He must have. But, this isn't the future. Its... the past.
He glanced towards the sky. It was a solar eclipse. Was it the day when he met Yeon Jiyoung?
'Hah.. this isn't what I expected.. but it will still do. I must prevent everything that happened to Jiyoung and the palace to happen this time.'
This time.. he knew everything he needed to.
Just on cue, the sillouette of a fox quickly goes by..
---
yunbok: a military uniform Joseon kings wore when hunting or military training.