In the morning, Hongjoong awoke to an entire bunch of neatly clipped roses propped up in a vase by his bedside table. He couldn't recall waking up to receive them, but he also didn't mind if Seonghwa or Jongho brought them while he slept. Now that he had no secret to keep anymore, he trusted their presence at night.

When Hongjoong sat up in bed, he couldn't believe the charades were over. Naturally, his eyes went to his closet first and searched for his wig in the room, but there was no need. Seonghwa knew the truth, and he had accepted it. Last night's shared pleasure was evidence that the earl was well aware.

Giddy with excitement, Hongjoong crawled out of bed and slipped into his two-pieced nightgown so he wouldn't be naked on his way over into Seonghwa's room. He smelled the flowers before he left and their scent lingered in his nose as he knocked on Seonghwa's door. The earl called him in from inside.

Hongjoong peered into the room to find Seonghwa seated at his table. He only wore pants and a half-unbuttoned shirt. The exposed part of his chest was kissed by the sparse light falling through the curtains.

"Working so early?" Hongjoong asked as he entered the room. Seonghwa's eyes swiped down his body as he set his documents aside.

"An important letter from my parents called for my immediate attention. Have you slept well?" Seonghwa closed his shirt until only the top button was still open. When he stood to give Hongjoong a good-morning hug, Hongjoong leaned against the other man.

"I did. I believe the quality of my sleep was marred by the fear of being found out ever since I came here. Tonight, I slept soundly."

Seonghwa parted from Hongjoong to study his face full of worry. Then he nodded and stepped away from him.

"You'll have to tell me your story. Despite living with you all this time, I can't fathom how you succeeded in your lie." Seonghwa opened his closet and shifted through the suits lined up in there. He hummed from time to time as he considered fabrics and patterns. While he was occupied, Hongjoong sat on the loveseat at the bottom of Seonghwa's bed and watched the earl.

"Honestly, it was Yeosang's fault. I thought I could be a man around you and pretend to be a woman only at the soirees, but Yeosang insisted you would have trouble acting accordingly then. Or shun me, perhaps."

Seonghwa hummed. He couldn't deny it, knew perfectly well of how rocky their path here had been. Glad that he knew of his involvement in the ploy, Hongjoong continued.

"I wasn't sure when to tell you. We fought so much I didn't dare disrupt our brittle peace further. I got more confident as we got closer and yet I dreaded it more, knowing you assumed to be courting a lady. From a certain point onwards, I was in disbelief at how you hadn't caught me yet. Some aspects of me were conspicuous right in front of your eyes. Like these." Hongjoong cupped his chest with a frown. Seonghwa chuckled after throwing a glance over his shoulder.

"Perhaps I knew deep in my subconscious but didn't want to accept it because I was occupied with insulting your very being."

Hongjoong laughed humourlessly.

"As we know, you need a woman for that, or else you can't feel superior."

This time, he got a sharp glare.

"Watch your mouth. I am still the ruling party here," he threatened, but his voice carried no malice. Hongjoong looked at the plaid pants Seonghwa dropped on Hongjoong's side before he picked out a shirt.

"I couldn't lie to you anymore after everything that happened with Yunho. San slipped, too."

Seonghwa perked up.

"San knew? Ah, perhaps because it made the most sense to confide in Wooyoung?"

"To be quite frank, everybody but you knew, dear earl. The servants, Yongguk, even Yunho. He took one glance at me and pointed it out. Your ignorance was quite astonishing."

Hongjoong saw him blush, but Seonghwa wisely didn't turn around.

"Nonsense. You didn't tell me because you feared me and I was too polite to point it out," he insisted. Hongjoong didn't remind him that Seonghwa had never been too polite to point anything out, so he just rolled his eyes.

When Seonghwa returned to Hongjoong, he carried a shirt and a bow in his hands. He helped Hongjoong get dressed despite these clothes being far easier to figure out than the female alternative. The soft tweed was foreign on Hongjoong's skin. He had forgotten how spectacular having entire leg freedom felt. As they buttoned up his shirt together, Seonghwa's eyes lingered on the love marks on Hongjoong's skin.

Seonghwa knotted his bow for him, and Hongjoong stared at the ceiling while he continued talking.

"It was the sole reason I could survive the run-in with Yunho. He was set on who he believed to be your real fiancée to pay back the trouble you and San got him into with your investigations. When he found out, he lost his interest."

Gentle fingers brushed Hongjoong's skin as Seonghwa tied the bow shut. The long, red ends came to lie on the shirt, matching the red and blue lines that created the pattern of the brown pants. Hongjoong didn't need a waistcoat or jacket for a day in, so they forewent those as he slipped back inside his slippers. He put the nightgown over his arm.

"We played our roles so perfectly, even a serial killer in the distance was convinced. How impressive. Though I believe the real actor was you, for fooling people not only about your status but also about your very being," Seonghwa praised him. When Hongjoong got shy, Seonghwa pushed the hair from his forehead with a chuckle.

"Then how many of the things you said were true? You still have been embraced by a man before me?"

Hongjoong nodded as they rose. He brought the gown to his room and Seonghwa smiled about the flowers before they descended the stairs together.

"Yes. And many dangers you warned me of never applied to me because I never was a woman. I couldn't get snatched by the Ripper in the streets, and I also had no uterus to lose from running around."

Seonghwa looked equal parts upset and astonished that he had missed all that. Smug to be the triumphant one for the first time since being put into this house, Hongjoong grinned to himself.

When the couple arrived downstairs, Jongho's eyes bulged out of his head.

"L-Lady Hongjoong! What-?"

"So he knew, recognising you so easily," Seonghwa grumbled. When Hongjoong patted his arm with a giggle, the earl went to sit down first and brooded over his silliness. The scent of burnt almonds wafted around the living room, inviting Hongjoong to eat more of the treats.

Jongho skidded up next to Hongjoong and looked between the two men with shock and awe. Every so often, his eyes flicked down to Hongjoong's suit, as he was foreign to the concept of Hongjoong in anything but dresses.

Wordlessly, Jongho gestured and mouthed words as he tried to get his dread that Hongjoong might have decided to dress as a man spontaneously across. Hongjoong chuckled, endeared by his distress.

"It's fine, Jongho, he knows."

Hongjoong put his hand in his pocket when Jongho's mouth dropped open. The commotion had attracted Emily and Mingi, and they observed the showdown with their heads peering over the door frame.

"How... How did he find out?"

A hundred horrible guesses flashed in Jongho's eyes. To calm himself, he offered Hongjoong to sit down with a beckon of his hand, mindful of the throbbing injuries.

"I told him," Hongjoong soothed once more. "After everything that happened, I didn't want to keep the secret." With a smile, Hongjoong lifted his hand as Jongho distractedly placed a napkin in his lap. The routine distracted the bewildered butler.

"And it's all fine now? I am so glad. You held out well and you look dashing like this," Jongho breathed.

Seonghwa cleared his throat before Hongjoong could reply.

"This doesn't sound as if any of you had faith in me as a gentleman," he noted. His brow had risen at them while he prepared his breakfast. "I feel left out. Was I that much of a worse party to confide in compared to my servants?"

Hongjoong couldn't help his chuckle.

"You were. I could have kept my secret to myself, but while I lived here, I felt trapped by the charades I had to play at any minute. Thus, I trusted them to uphold the mystery."

With a huff, Seonghwa focused on his food.

"I am proud of their sense of right and wrong, even if that makes me question their loyalty. Perhaps, I can be glad you felt safe enough to open up to me, rather than me having to find out myself."

Hongjoong wondered if the earl ever would have if he hadn't revealed the truth.

"I am sure your relationship helped Hongjoong relax," Jongho indicated as he filled their mugs.

"It certainly did. Thank you, Jongho. If Seonghwa and I wouldn't have got as close as we are now, I wouldn't have seen a reason to confess. Perhaps, I would have stayed hidden behind my mask until it was time for me to leave this place."

While he looked uncomfortable with the imagination, Seonghwa nodded. Most likely he understood Hongjoong's hesitation.

Jongho backed off to stand at the wall, but he remained part of their conversation. From time to time, Hongjoong glanced at his straight posture with his hands crossed behind his back.

"Listening to me must have been a significant source of amusement. I said many things that carried no weight for you. Now that you brought it up, I wonder how differently this arrangement would have been had you told me about being a man." Thoughtful, Seonghwa dug around in his food.

Hongjoong was about to deliver a witty reply when the earl suddenly buried his face in his hands. Amused, Hongjoong watched his embarrassed groan.

"Which was the first you remembered, dear earl?"

"How often I mentioned your chest," Seonghwa groaned. When Jongho chuckled into his fist, he garnered a withering glare, but his gummy smile remained on his features. Seonghwa massaged his temples. Despite how far the prior evening got the couple, the weight of Hongjoong's confession just caught up with him.

"Oh yes, that was one of your best character traits. Though even as a man, I was disappointed with your obsession with the female breast. I share your investment; who wouldn't? But it was such a major concern to you. I wouldn't be surprised if you made many females around you uncomfortable with your fixation."

Seonghwa sighed and tried to concentrate on his food like on any other morning. His embarrassment showed in the draw of his shoulders.

"For male standards, you have a spectacular chest. Breasts come in all sizes, so your flat torso never triggered suspicion with me. Now that the perspective has changed, I can't help but find it more than most men could offer."

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, but he wasn't mad. Finally, his chest got the attention it deserved.

Jongho's grin was mischievous when he addressed them again.

"Judging by these... rather private conversation topics, I can presume you two are closer than you ever were?"

Hongjoong shyly rubbed his feet together under the desk. He didn't mind Jongho hearing about this.

Seonghwa threw his hair out of his face with a brusque movement of his head.

"So what?"

Mightily amused, Jongho shook his head. It was apparent he had never expected his master to be attracted to a man or to become this close to one. Especially to a rat catcher from the slums. The scrunch around his eyes gave away how Jongho held back a teasing remark.

In the kitchen, Emily and Mingi giggled to each other, listening to every word.

"Nothing in particular, master. You received another invitation earlier, a peculiar one. Our dear Lady Culpepper much aggressively invited you and your fiancée to her birthday party." With a meaningful glance at Hongjoong's relaxed form as he sat as comfortably as he wanted without a corset killing him, Jongho carried the message across.

A smirk played around the corners of Seonghwa's mouth.

"Ah, what convenient timing. Perhaps this is the best day she could have picked. When could we ever play this charade as successful as now?"

Hongjoong chuckled.

"We will be fine as long as you don't give away my gender. I can't wait to meet her and make my own impressions. My loyalty to you depends on her, earl. If you turned out to be a liar about your relationship with her, I see no reason to be exclusive as well," Hongjoong chuckled. He put his hand holding the knife under his chin when he batted his lashes at Seonghwa.

Gulping, the man looked between Hongjoong and the knife. Nervous laughter trickled from his parched throat.

"Lucky for me then that there is nothing to hide." Seonghwa pulled on his collar, suddenly pale.

Hongjoong smiled with the grace of an angel.

"Of course not."