“Why are you in such haste to leave?”
The curtain was drawn back, and Wolhwa slowly poked her head out.
Her brows subtly furrowed as she looked at Yunseo, who was fully dressed.
He had already tightened his belt, and the hilt of his sword was arranged at an angle easy for his hand to reach. It was the posture of a man ready to move.
“Am I… a burden to you?”
The words were tossed out lightly, yet within them seeped the anxiety of a woman, not a sovereign.
Without hesitation, Yunseo shook his head, turned, and took a step closer.
Faint dawn light seeped into the bedchamber. Beneath it, Wolhwa’s face looked unusually delicate.
For a moment, the chamber fell silent.
When their gazes met, Wolhwa’s cheeks flushed faintly.
“Protecting Your Majesty is my role.”
He spoke in a low voice.
“Today at court, they watched Your Majesty’s reaction and seemed quite triumphant. But it will not last long.”
Wolhwa’s hand caught his arm.
It was not a simple attempt to stop him. It was a touch warning him against recklessness.
“Do not move rashly.”
Her gaze wavered for a moment.
It seemed the subtle pressure poured upon her in court today had yet to fade.
“I am indignant as well. But we must not give them a pretext.”
Yunseo looked at her for a moment, then smiled quietly.
“I do not intend to clash with them head-on.”
“They show no openings in court. But will they be able to do the same outside of court?”
Wolhwa’s gaze gradually sank.
Meeting that gaze, Yunseo continued in a low voice.
“How would it be to move in plain clothes?”
“The day has not yet brightened. If we are not seen, they will be the first to grow shaken.”
His true intention ran deep.
It was a calculation to see what choices those who swore loyalty would make when the Empress disappeared.
But Wolhwa’s thoughts were different.
To her, this was a chance to seize their weakness.
With that single opening, the board might overturn.
She slowly nodded.
Around daybreak.
A palace maid entered the bedchamber.
“Your Majesty, it is time to attend court.”
After bowing, she stepped inside and drew back the curtain, only to find the chamber empty.
For an instant, the palace maid’s face turned white as if her breath had stopped.
“Your Majesty…?”
Her fingertips froze in midair.
Her voice was almost a sob.
The Empress had disappeared.
It was not something that could be dismissed as a mere absence. For the sovereign’s seat to be empty meant the very center of order might begin to shake.
In truth, Wolhwa and Yunseo had not left the palace.
Leaving the palace at such an early hour would only magnify the commotion.
The two hid themselves in the shadow of an inconspicuous rock behind the garden.
Wolhwa looked toward the bedchamber, imagining the turmoil that would unfold within.
On the surface, it seemed as if she had taken a step back, but in reality, it was a meticulous test meant to reveal the nails driven deep into the palace.
The news soon reached Jang Munyeon and the State Duke.
The two rushed into the palace in haste.
Inside the bedchamber, the ministers held their breath, watching one another’s expressions.
Jang Munyeon’s gaze fixed on the palace maid.
“What happened?”
“Are you saying you lost Her Majesty?”
The palace maid burst into tears as she lay prostrate.
“This lowly one guarded outside the door all night, but I dare not know when Her Majesty left.”
Jang Munyeon’s lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyes chilled coldly.
“Useless thing.”
He drew the sword at his waist.
“To regard the sovereign’s safety so lightly—repay it with your life.”
At that moment—
A short, sharp sound tore through the air.
Something flashed and knocked the sword aside.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward it.
From behind the rock, Wolhwa and Yunseo revealed themselves.
Jang Munyeon’s eyes narrowed.
“Your Majesty… had not left the palace?”
Wolhwa walked out without expression.
“The Chancellor’s authority is impressive indeed.”
“I had said nothing, yet you moved to cut off a head first.”
Jang Munyeon immediately dropped to his knees.
The sound of swallowed breaths spread among the ministers.
“This subject was startled and acted rashly.”
Wolhwa did not bid him rise.
She approached the palace maid and slowly lifted her trembling chin.
“You must have been frightened.”
The palace maid could not continue speaking.
Wolhwa spoke slowly.
“From today onward, you are no longer a palace maid.”
“I will make you one of my people.”
“No one in court may lay a hand on you lightly.”
The center of the palace sank into a suffocating silence.
Jang Munyeon’s eyes shook openly.
Wolhwa looked at him.
“This is still my palace.”
It was a brief declaration.
Yet the moment those words fell, the texture of the air changed.
Yunseo stood half a step behind her.
The board had begun to move.
This move clearly belonged to the Empress.
Jang Munyeon snapped his head up.
“Your Majesty, by that you mean…”
Before he could finish, Wolhwa’s sharpened gaze pierced through him.
As if sneering, she lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Has the Chancellor’s hand reached so deep into the palace?”
“Must I receive your permission, then?”
After briefly steadying her breath, she added coldly,
“If it displeases you so much, shall I step down and yield my seat?”
Jang Munyeon immediately prostrated himself on the floor.
“This subject would never dare. Your Majesty, forgive me.”
The force he had shown moments ago had already broken, and his arrogance had vanished without a trace.
Only now did he realize it.
The Empress he had believed he could control was no longer the person she had once been.
The move just now had been exquisite.
It was a method even the seasoned Jang Munyeon had not anticipated.
Wolhwa no longer paid any attention to his reaction.
Brushing back her sleeves once more, she swept her gaze over the ministers gathered before the bedchamber.
“I am the sovereign of the realm.”
“Where I go, and when I move, are not matters for you to command.”
Her gaze chilled.
“If there is ever another discourtesy like today’s, I will not tolerate it.”
“There will be no forgiveness, and no exceptions.”
As soon as her words fell, the State Duke hurriedly led the ministers in prostrating themselves as well.
Wolhwa briefly met Yunseo’s gaze, then raised her hand.
“All of you, withdraw.”
“There will be no further court today. If you have something to say, put it off until tomorrow.”
“If anyone disturbs my bedchamber again, then do not blame me for my ruthlessness.”
She turned her head.
“Yuk Yunseo, follow me.”
Yunseo clasped his fist and raised it before his chest.
“I shall obey your command.”
Only after Wolhwa withdrew with the palace maid and Yunseo did the ministers rise from their places.
The air before the bedchamber remained stretched taut.
Worry gathered on the State Duke’s face.
The wrinkles on his forehead did not easily smooth out.
“Chancellor, is Her Majesty not trying to take back our authority?”
Jang Munyeon’s gaze sank coldly.
For a moment, he stared at the place where the Empress had stood just before.
“It will not be so easy.”
“Returning safely does not mean she can keep her seat for long.”
His words were calm, but unease remained within them.
Today’s move had clearly been calculated.
It had been too precise to call a coincidence.
He added in a low voice,
“If only a chance comes to seize Her Majesty’s weakness, the end is still uncertain.”
At those words, the State Duke also nodded.
“Yes. That one person alone will not be able to shake us.”
Jang Munyeon straightened his sleeves and said,
“Do not grow impatient. The Empress, too, is human in the end.”
Somehow, those words flowed out softly like an incantation meant to steady himself.
Inside the bedchamber.
Wolhwa was looking at the palace maid together with Yunseo.
After threats and coaxing, the palace maid finally put on the imperial yellow dragon robe.
The palace maid’s hands trembled as they clutched the hem of the robe.
The dragon pattern embroidered in gold thread flashed as it caught the light.
The imperial yellow dragon robe was merely a single garment, yet its weight was not something an ordinary human could dare bear.
The palace maid drew in a breath.
But her trembling did not easily subside.
Cold sweat ran down her spine.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
Wolhwa shot her a glare.
“How do you intend to deceive the ministers while trembling like that?”
“I will not hold you guilty. You need only sit in my place for a few hours.”
“When the time comes, I will return.”
Yunseo quietly approached and straightened the collar of the imperial yellow dragon robe.
His touch was calm, without any unnecessary contact.
The palace maid’s face was still filled with fear.
“What if the Chancellor notices…”
Wolhwa sighed.
“Do not worry.”
Then she spoke a little more gently.
“When this matter is over, I will send silver to your family every month.”
At those words, the palace maid’s eyes flew wide open.
She immediately knelt.
“I will repay Your Majesty’s grace.”
Wolhwa nodded.
“No matter who comes, do not open the door.”
“Unless I personally command it, respond to no one.”
Yunseo held the palace maid’s shoulders and helped her steady her breathing.
“If you do not step outside the bedchamber, even the ministers will not be able to barge in carelessly.”
“We will return without fail before noon.”
Only then did the palace maid lower her head, looking somewhat relieved.
“I will do as Her Majesty and Warrior Yuk intend.”