The boy had originally meant to refuse at once.
But before he could even speak, Yunseo vanished from before his eyes.
In the span of a single blink, he was already standing by the door.
That was not movement. It was a leap across space without a single footstep.
In all the realm, there were at most fewer than a hundred people who could reach such a level.
If he joined hands with the imperial guard who protected the Emperor, it was undoubtedly an opportunity.
In recent years, Cheongugak had drawn the attention of powerful great clans and stood at the center of the struggle for power.
As Yunseo had said, if a true master did not stand firm there, it would one day surely become a scapegoat.
The boy made his decision.
To make that choice a reality, he had to meet the owner of Cheongugak.
At that hour.
Wolhwa stood by the window of her bedchamber, gazing at the round moon.
The moonlight settled quietly, yet her heart was far from at ease.
A day had passed, but there had been no word from Yunseo.
She could not tell whether this silence was good or bad.
In the past.
In the days before Yunseol existed, she had felt that Yunseo’s gaze was directed wholly at her alone.
But now—
“Your Majesty, have you still not retired at this hour?”
A gentle voice sounded from behind her.
The corners of Wolhwa’s mouth rose despite herself.
But she did not turn around.
Instead, she let out a light snort.
“How could I be as calm as you? Even today alone, my head throbs from dealing with the ministers’ quibbling.”
Yunseo read the complaint in her words.
He approached quietly, raised his hands, and pressed them to her shoulders.
Then, as though applying acupressure, he slowly put strength into his fingers.
The muscles where tension had gathered began to loosen little by little.
“Your Majesty has endured much hardship. This humble subject was late today because I was gathering information. That is why I could not make a separate report.”
Wolhwa immediately turned around.
Her eyes flashed.
“Then you should speak now. Since you have returned to the palace, is it not time to inform me?”
Yunseo looked at her for a moment.
It was not yet time to bring up Cheongugak.
Wolhwa harbored the great ambition of setting the nation right, but she was poor at waiting.
If she were provoked in the wrong way, the entire board could be ruined.
He slowly shook his head.
“Your Majesty.”
“For Your Majesty’s safety, the less you know, the better. However, there is one thing I can say with certainty. This humble subject is Your Majesty’s most reliable ally.”
Wolhwa’s heart beat uneasily.
This man—
Surely he was not trying to manipulate her like the others now that he had obtained her.
Suspicion flashed through her.
Yunseo did not miss that subtle change.
More explanation was needed.
He untied the jade token from his waist.
And without the slightest hesitation, fastened it at Wolhwa’s waist.
“This is the family jade token passed down to me by my late father. It is an object that only those who inherit the blood of the Yuk family may possess, and I have never once entrusted it to another.”
His eyes looked at her without wavering.
“Now I give it to Your Majesty. Will this put your mind at ease?”
Wolhwa could not continue speaking.
The Yuk family.
A house that had shed blood for the imperial family for generations.
The last bloodline of that house was once again walking into danger for her sake.
Perhaps she had been too suspicious.
She immediately tried to untie the jade token.
But Yunseo spoke in a low voice.
“Once this humble subject gives away his jade token, he does not take it back. If one day Your Majesty abandons me, I will retrieve it then.”
Wolhwa’s hand stopped.
“Who said I would abandon you?”
Her voice lowered.
“I still need you.”
“Both to cure the poison in my body and to set this nation right. None of it can be accomplished without you.”
A brief silence.
Then she added,
“I am tired today. If you are not by my side, I cannot feel at ease.”
“Sit there.”
After she finished speaking, silence flowed once more.
It was a violation of etiquette.
But Wolhwa no longer had the composure to concern herself with such things.
Yunseo took a seat beside the bed.
But sleep did not come.
The boy he had met today at Cheongugak—
No, the girl.
She seemed to be around his age.
Though she was dressed as a man, beneath the forcibly constructed image of a boy, her original nature subtly seeped through.
She was certainly no simple clerk.
There was even a possibility that she held the true authority of Cheongugak.
Myeongwollu.
Who was behind that place?
By whose hand had Cheongugak been built?
Yunseo’s eyes slowly gleamed in the darkness.
Then.
Beyond the silk curtain, Wolhwa’s gaze was turned toward him.
She realized it.
That it was impossible to keep this man tied down.
He was someone who moved like a blade.
And that blade was already advancing toward somewhere deeper.
Wolhwa let out a sigh and rose.
Just as she was about to draw back the curtain.
A sharp scream burst from outside.
“Aaagh—!”
Yunseo’s gaze changed in an instant.
Almost by reflex, he rose and drew his sword.
A shadow flashed outside the window, and the light was briefly obscured.
A black figure burst through the chamber door and leaped inside.
It was an intrusion that left no time even to catch one’s breath.
The metallic ring of sword against sword split the night.
The opponent was no ordinary assassin.
Without an instant of hesitation, he aimed only for Yunseo’s vital points.
The neck, the heart, the lower abdomen.
The movements of one who had learned slaughter.
But Yunseo’s sword did not waver.
After meeting the enemy’s attack head-on and forcing him back, he stepped forward and launched himself into the air.
In midair, his blade plunged down like lightning.
Crack—!
Blood sprayed as the assassin’s arm was severed.
Wolhwa shouted from where she was.
“Yuk Yunseo, keep him alive!”
But.
Before her words had even ended, the assassin gripped his sword with his remaining hand and slit his own throat without hesitation.
Blood splattered across the curtain.
For an instant, the chamber fell silent.
Yunseo slowly lowered the bloodstained tip of his sword.
Falling drops of blood left marks on the floor.
He looked down for a moment at the spreading red stains.
This was not a spontaneous act.
It was a layered move, prepared in advance.
A plan in which even if it failed, the next move would follow.
Wolhwa’s brow furrowed deeply.
“What a pity.”
“If only we had been a little faster, we could have made him speak.”
Then.
“Your Majesty, get down!”
Yunseo seized her wrist and pulled her down.
At the same time, the window shattered into pieces and an arrow flew in.
Crash—!
Yunseo shoved Wolhwa behind the curtain and covered her with his body.
The arrow pierced straight through the place where she had been standing moments before.
“Enemy!”
“Protect His Majesty!”
At Yunseo’s shout, the soldiers moved, surrounding the palace in an instant.
Before even thirty minutes had passed, the outside of the bedchamber was swarming with people.
The entire palace heaved with tension.
Jang Munyeon and the Duke came running with disheveled hair.
The two knelt almost at the same time.
“Your Majesty! We failed to protect you in time, and deserve death!”
“That someone dared attempt to assassinate Your Majesty makes us all sinners!”
Yunseo quietly watched the scene, then opened his mouth.
“Who is responsible for security within the palace?”
Jang Munyeon froze.
“What do you mean by that, Guard Yuk?”
The Duke let out a cold sneer.
“Did His Majesty not personally keep you at his side and entrust you with his protection?”
“Since such a thing occurred today, this duke cannot say that you bear no responsibility.”
Unlike his calm tone, unconcealed killing intent lay within.
Yunseo did not miss his true intent.
If the assassin succeeded, it ended there.
If the assassin failed, they planned to remove him on the grounds of dereliction of duty.
From the beginning, they had set down two moves at once.
Cunning.
Yunseo’s eyes slowly grew cold.
“An assassin who crossed a palace as bright as daylight and approached the very front of the bedchamber.”
He slowly turned around.
“If there had not been someone inside opening the way,”
“his head would have fallen before he ever crossed the threshold of the chamber.”
The Duke’s face stiffened for an instant.
“Guard Yuk.”
“You are merely making excuses now.”
“It is true that you failed to protect His Majesty completely. That fact cannot change.”
A faint sneer spread across Yunseo’s lips.
“So.”
“What does Your Grace intend to do?”
The Duke was silent for a moment before speaking.
“What is there to do?”
“Everyone knows that you are one who receives His Majesty’s favor.”
“I cannot make an unnecessary commotion and risk upsetting His Majesty’s heart, now can I?”
His words seemed to be a retreat, but they were an unmistakable provocation.
Wolhwa’s eyes settled coldly.
“Duke.”
Her voice lowered.
“Are you now trying to say that I favor Yuk Yunseo too greatly and violate the rules for his sake?”
The air froze.
The Duke took a moment to steady his breath, then bowed his head.
Outwardly, he seemed to submit, but his eyes had not yielded in the slightest.
Within the bedchamber, together with the smell of blood, sinister schemes for power lay tangled.
Yunseo was certain.
Someone was testing both him and Wolhwa at the same time.
Not with a blade—
But by shaking the board within the palace.