Chapter 1

A fierce wind blew along the high, solemn walls of the Imperial Palace. Even the rough gale could not surmount the tall, solid rampart; instead, it became a swirling vortex, beating against the stone and confined within the wide passage.

Yeon-oh walked through that wind.

Behind him, eight high-ranking eunuchs and twenty-four court ladies followed. They were the monitors assigned by the Emperor. Yet, Yeon-oh did not care how many eyes were upon him.

The eunuchs and court ladies following Yeon-oh were all his people. When he moved, they moved; when he stopped, they stopped. Having traversed the silent, guarded path, when Yeon-oh halted, his retinue collectively came to a standstill.

Seokhyangjae⁽¹⁾.

Yeon-oh stopped before the pavilion, which embodied a graceful beauty.

Though located within the Imperial Palace, it was far from the concubines’ quarters, easily accessible by external visitors, yet isolated and tranquil. It was a detached palace the Emperor had built to honor the late Empress Man, for whom he held such profound respect.

The elegant and neat door of the detached palace was firmly shut.

“Open it.”

The guards protecting the entrance paid their respects to the Empress and opened the heavy doors. As the gates swung inward, the sound of the late Empress Man’s relatives chatting harmoniously in the courtyard of the detached palace drifted out.

They were strengthening their familial ties by composing verses lamenting the fading spring. Following the faint scent of ink, the rustle of paper, weighted down by luxurious paperweights, could be heard fluttering.

“Drag the Man clan out.”

Yeon-oh commanded, taking a step inside Seokhyangjae.

“We obey your command, Your Imperial Majesty.”

The head eunuch following him replied, signaling his attendants to carry out the order.

Crash!

A heavy inkstone struck the pavilion’s noble stone pavement and shattered. Following the inkstone, brushes flew, and paper scattered.

“Who is it…!”

Selected individuals were dragged out, forced to their knees, and restrained on one side.

“Let go of me!”

“How dare you not release me!”

The once-genial courtyard of the detached palace instantly turned into utter pandemonium. Some who resisted had their arms twisted by the powerful hands of the eunuchs, while others, moving hastily to escape, tripped over their own feet and fell.

Yeon-oh strolled leisurely through the chaos.

“Your Imperial, Imperial Majesty! What manner of conduct is this! Even as Empress, you cannot act so rashly!”

Yeon-oh could not tell if the person who recognized him and spoke up was a member of the Man clan or the Dam clan. Perhaps they were a relative who had intermarried with the Man or Dam family.

It did not matter who he was.

As Yeon-oh strode across the chaotic courtyard and ascended the high platform, a eunuch followed him like a shadow. The eunuchs brought a seat of honor, one reserved only for the Empress, and gestured for their master to sit.

“Bring Consort Dam here.”

Yeon-oh quietly ordered, taking his seat.

“As you command.”

The eunuch guarding his side withdrew to follow the order. Sitting in the seat of honor and looking down upon the appalling spectacle unfolding in the courtyard, Yeon-oh’s face was devoid of emotion.

His eyes were indifferent as he watched those whose flesh was torn, whose bones were broken from resisting, and those who screamed insults.

“Release me! Do you not know who I am! No matter that you are the Empress’s eunuchs, you dare oppress an Imperial Concubine and think there will be no consequences…!”

A slight smile touched Yeon-oh’s indifferent eyes.

He could not help but feel a little amused seeing Consort Dam—who, having received the Emperor’s favor since entering the palace, must have never known hardship—attempt to intimidate the eunuchs with his status.

It seemed that even people who were always polite and generous to everyone would, when suddenly threatened, panic and desperately bring forth whatever power they possessed.

“Your, Your Imperial Majesty…!”

Consort Dam, Dam Seo-jun, recognized Yeon-oh, and his innocent, puppy-like face crumpled with shock and surprise. His gently downturned eyes and mild features seemed unable to comprehend what was happening.

“Your Imperial Majesty, what is the meaning of this…”

The kind-looking face hesitated before uttering his words in a soft tone. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] His low voice, which had intended to gently protest the Empress’s outrage, quickly stiffened with fear.

Shing.

Yeon-oh, who had been sitting on the seat of honor, had risen without anyone noticing, drawing the sword carried by a nearby guard and bringing it to Consort Dam’s throat. The guard’s sword was not a long sword for battle, but one of intermediate length used as a sidearm.

However, Gyo Yeon-oh, who held the blade, was the legitimate son of the General’s Household.

His body, wrapped in silk fluttering in the wind, appeared fragile, and his face was spoken of as the essence of refined beauty.

Even now, Yeon-oh’s slender hand gripping the sword looked as though it could snap at any moment, yet the high-status Gyo Clan was a house that had produced excellent generals for generations. To look no further, Gyo Yeon-oh’s second elder brother was one of the Emperor’s most highly regarded military officers.

“Consort Dam, did you not expect a day like this?”

Yeon-oh’s lips curled into a smile as he spoke softly.

“Your, Your Imperial Majesty. If you do this…”

Consort Dam, who was trying to persuade Yeon-oh with any words he could muster, closed his mouth as the cold blade pressed against his neck. His cheeks trembled uncontrollably with fear. His kind and benevolent-looking face became drenched in tears.

As he looked at that face, Yeon-oh’s expression quietly settled back into indifference.

“Drag him to the front.”

His words, unlike his placid expression, were filled with force.

“Empress, Your Imperial Majesty…”

Consort Dam, held by the eunuchs and shedding tears, looked bewildered by the situation unfolding in the courtyard and tearfully tried to dissuade Yeon-oh again.

Yeon-oh withdrew his attention from the sobbing Consort Dam and returned to the seat of honor.

“Fire.”

The head eunuch, having received the command, signaled with a nod to the guards who were ready. Consort Dam’s eyes widened with terror as he alternated between looking at the Empress seated on the luxurious dais and his immediate family and relatives dragged to the front.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

The arrows, shot indifferently by the few guards, flew toward the people dragged out in front.

“…!”

Petrified, Consort Dam could not even scream and violently shook his head. A few people in the courtyard were lucky enough to dodge the arrows while struggling in confusion, but a few standing close to the guards were struck in the ankle or shoulder.

Yeon-oh’s gaze was captured by the movement of the arrows trembling in the fierce spring wind. The arrows, having lost their target and wavering in the air, brought a certain day to mind.

“The Dam family are distinguished gentlemen. I hear there are many master calligraphers among those close to them. Offer them the supplies.”

At Yeon-oh’s command, a eunuch prepared paper and brushes before the captives. A large, clean sheet of paper and a brush were also provided to Consort Dam.

Yeon-oh smiled faintly, looking around at those who seemed perplexed by the blank paper.

“You do not know what you must write?”

The face that had worn an innocent smile instantly withered, and he cast his gaze toward his eunuchs and the guards holding bows.

“I, I will write! [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] I must write! Father, please write quickly…!”

Consort Dam cried out tearfully toward his father, who was fortunately not seriously injured, only grazed by an arrow.

“That is not possible, Your Majesty!”

Glances of caution were exchanged across the courtyard. The Dam clan refused, but several others began to pick up brushes and write. The Man clan, confined in one corner, and other relatives also readied their brushes, though they did not know what they were supposed to write.

Yeon-oh picked up the sword leaning against the seat of honor and walked toward Consort Dam.

“Empress, please…”

Yeon-oh did not dislike the sight of Consort Dam pleading for mercy, even though he did not truly know what wrong he had committed.

“Why do you not write?”

“Your Majesty. Why are you doing this? Have you not become the noble Empress…”

Consort Dam spoke forlornly, casting a glance toward his injured relatives. His voice, hoarse with fear, cracked horribly. Even that sight made him appear kind and docile.

He was, as always, a picture of a good person.

“Consort Dam, do you truly not know how to write?”

Yeon-oh spoke with a pleasant, teasing air. Consort Dam’s face, which had been shrunken by fear and shock, flushed instantly with shame.

Consort Dam was a kind and virtuous man, though born of a concubine.

The noble Empress, Gyo Yeon-oh, was the legitimate son of the high-status Gyo Clan, a young lord of a great noble house who had grown up without hardship his entire life.

It was only natural that the Empress should torment Consort Dam. Yeon-oh lightly moved the tip of the sword.

“Agh!”

The blade grazed the back of Consort Dam’s left hand. Red blood stained the pristine courtyard stones of the detached palace.

“Your Majesty!”

One of the Dam Clan watching Consort Dam cried out anxiously.

“Write, even if you do not know the characters, Consort Dam.”

Yeon-oh spoke to Consort Dam, who was weeping with a sorrowful expression, and turned away. As he turned, his head eunuch gave him a questioning look.

However, the eunuch’s gaze soon shifted to the people who had already filled their white sheets with dense writing.

The eunuch looked up at Yeon-oh again.

Yeon-oh nodded. Though less than half a sik-gyeong⁽²⁾ had passed since he had turned the pavilion upside down, it was about time for the true master of this place to arrive.

The Imperial Palace was vast, but to this man, it was home.

As Yeon-oh watched the eunuch collect the densely written papers, he looked to his side and saw the pitiful Consort Dam, tearfully and hesitantly writing.

He did not think of him as a pathetic person.

Because the most pathetic person here, in the Imperial Palace, was himself.

Sighing, Yeon-oh was walking toward the seat of honor when he suddenly stopped. A short dagger was deeply embedded in his abdomen. A burning heat and an excruciating pain descended into his lower belly.

He had believed his will was strong, and that he had not let down his guard.

“Empress…”

Even at this moment, Consort Dam burst into tears, as if to prove he was a good person. Yeon-oh hated the sound of his sobbing.

A loud noise echoed from the entrance of the detached palace.

“Gyo Yeon-oh!”

The pain of the stabbing was utterly different from what he had anticipated. The wound, oozing blood, was hot as if touched by fire, and the entire area was throbbing with a pain so intense it felt as though the flesh would tear away. His whole body became stiff, and he could take no action to defend himself.

“…”

Yeon-oh felt an unfamiliar dizziness and collapsed. He wondered if the voice calling his name, which brushed past his ears, truly belonged to the man he thought it did.

“Gyo Yeon-oh! Yeon-oh…”

The courtyard of the detached palace was not large, but that was by the standard of the Imperial Palace. The man who had instantly rushed across the space, wide enough to house a whole other building, cried out toward the fallen Yeon-oh.

That man was the culprit who had made Yeon-oh the most pathetic creature in the Imperial Palace.

The man who feared nothing in the world looked down at Yeon-oh, his face utterly pale. He looked like a terrified child.

The arrogant and ruthless man, who knew no fear, used his trembling hand to cover Yeon-oh’s wound.

The man was the ruler of the world. Born into the Imperial Family, this man had never knelt directly upon the stone pavement without anything beneath him.

Even when seeking forgiveness for a crime or receiving punishment before he became Emperor, he would have knelt upon a silk cushion brought by eunuchs and court ladies.

It was strange to see that man now kneeling beside him, his face etched with terror.

The Emperor, whose expression would turn cold and haughty if he let down his guard even for a moment, scrutinized Yeon-oh with a distorted face.

“Yeon-oh, Gyo Yeon-oh! Can you hear me?”

His eyes, glistening as if they would burst into tears at any moment, appeared in Yeon-oh’s fading consciousness.

The Emperor blocked the wound with one hand and gently stroked Yeon-oh’s face with the other. Yeon-oh could not understand the actions of this man, who behaved as though his own face would shatter if he touched it carelessly.

Yeon-oh’s eyes widened as he tried to shake his head. The blood-stained blade was flying toward him again.

“…!”

Just when he thought he would inevitably breathe his last, the Emperor blocked the flying blade with his own body. Yeon-oh was more shocked to see the man stabbed than he was surprised not to have died.

The most bewildering thing was his own state, worrying about the man being hurt. He had expected to feel triumphant and happy if the Emperor, the man who had treated him with such bitter coldness, were wounded and faced a crisis.

‘You fool, you foolish Gyo Yeon-oh.’

The venomous remark the Emperor had once hurled at him was true. He was foolish, utterly foolish. That was why he still liked the man.

The man he hated fiercely, but still loved.

As the man was struck by the sword, Yeon-oh’s vision completely blurred. The dull, ringing sounds drifted away, and the thoughts that mocked him also faded into the distance.