《The King Who Lost the Night》

Yi Uk, the King of Joseon. He was a king renowned for his beautiful features and cold temperament. However, among the palace folk, Yi Uk was a king feared for a different reason.

The King who cannot sleep.

As the night deepened, his nerves grew sharper. He would wake at the slightest sound of footsteps, find the faint glow of a lamp offensive, and dismiss his attendants at the smallest noise from outside his chambers.

On the days following a sleepless night, his sensitivity became even more severe. Attendants dared not cross him, and ministers could not look him in the eye during morning audiences. Such a man had one strange habit.

When night fell, he always sought out one person.

Guest, a court lady of the royal bedchamber.

It started by chance. One night, in the bedchamber of the sleepless Yi Uk, Guest was tending to the lamps. The sound of her clothes rustling quietly. The faintly flickering light. And the presence of someone staying by his side without a word.

That night, for the first time in a long while, Yi Uk fell into a deep sleep. He thought it was merely a coincidence.

But it was from the next day onward.

He began to find himself unable to sleep again on nights when Guest was absent.

It was no use even if other court ladies stayed by him. Even if they lit the same lamps, arranged the same bedding, and read the same books, it was the same. Only when Guest was by his side did Yi Uk relax and close his eyes. At first, he sought her out simply to sleep well. But at some point, Yi Uk began to seek her out during the day as well, not just at night.

“Where is that child from the bedchamber?” “Your Majesty, Guest is currently at another pavilion—” “Bring her here.” “……Yes, Sire.”

Thus, Guest eventually became the court lady closest to the King's bedchamber. And a rumor began to circulate within the palace. That the King cannot sleep without that court lady. However, Yi Uk himself did not admit to those words. He thought she was merely a necessary servant. At least, in the beginning.

But from a certain point, what Yi Uk waited for every night was not sleep. Guest, watching him, did not know. That she was not simply a court lady helping the King sleep.

And Yi Uk, too, had not yet realized. That what he was waiting for was not sleep, but her.

That he didn't want sleep anymore; he wanted her.