“Why is Your Majesty so enraged?”
Jang Munyeon stepped forward.
Then, clasping his hands in formal salute, he slowly opened his mouth.
“The Duke, too, merely spoke out of concern for Your Majesty’s safety.”
“Yuk Yunseo is the one who guards Your Majesty from closest at hand. If he failed to make more thorough preparations, the consequences could only fall upon Your Majesty. At worst… might Your Majesty’s life not have been endangered?”
His final words trailed on.
A tone meant to sow unease.
Jang Munyeon knew well how to drive a person into a corner without ever drawing a blade himself.
He subtly shifted his gaze and looked around at the court officials.
“Do the honored ministers also believe my words are wrong?”
Among those lined up beside the bedchamber, several who had been about to defend Yunseo just moments earlier quietly shut their mouths.
The Chancellor and the Duke.
The moment those two great figures spoke with one voice, the air changed.
Wolhwa’s eyes flashed.
“How absurd.”
Her voice rang low.
“Yuk Yunseo was drenched in blood just now while protecting me.”
“And yet you would accuse him of neglecting his duty?”
Her gaze swept across them sharply.
“When I was in danger, where were all of you?”
Just as Jang Munyeon was about to bring out the words he had prepared,
urgent footsteps sounded from outside.
The door opened, and Yunseol entered, leading armed soldiers.
The sound of armor clashing echoed through the bedchamber.
Jang Munyeon’s face hardened.
“General So. Leading troops into the palace without permission is a grave crime. Are you aware of that?”
Yunseol smiled calmly.
“If I had not come.”
Her gaze turned straight toward the Duke.
“By now, the master of this realm might already have changed.”
In an instant, the bedchamber froze over.
Even Yunseo, who rarely revealed his expression, shifted his brows ever so slightly.
Wolhwa, too, could not hide her surprise.
For Yunseol, who was always so restrained, to speak so bluntly.
With one hand resting on the hilt at her waist, Yunseol said,
“Your Majesty. Today’s assassins were no coincidence.”
“I have already confirmed it.”
Her voice lowered.
“The assassins were former private soldiers raised by a government office.”
“Their swords bore markings used by that office.”
Jang Munyeon’s breath caught for a moment, and at the same time, the Duke’s eyes wavered.
Could it be that they had not removed the markings?
They had underestimated Yunseo’s martial prowess.
They truly had not known he would sever an arm on the spot and grasp the situation in an instant.
Wolhwa’s gaze slowly grew cold.
Only now did the board become clear.
Yunseol’s report had come at precisely the right moment.
Not only had it saved Yunseo, it had also given her a chance to catch her breath.
Wolhwa flicked her sleeve and let out a cold laugh.
“How truly laughable.”
“Those who failed to protect me are the first to try and make a loyal subject into a criminal.”
Her gaze moved coldly. It passed from the Duke to Jang Munyeon and then to the ministers, but not one of them could meet her eyes.
“Did you think those shallow calculations of yours would escape my notice?”
“Your Majesty, we—”
“Shut your mouths.”
At that brief command, everyone dropped to their knees.
The bedchamber fell silent.
Then the Duke suddenly crawled forward.
Holding a whip in his hand, he knelt just as he was.
“Your Majesty. This old subject was rash.”
“I hastily judged and suspected Warrior Yuk, so I deserve punishment.”
He laid the whip on the floor.
The gesture seemed humble, but it was not without ulterior motive.
Wolhwa gave a faint laugh.
“Duke. Are you not a minister of great renown?”
“Throwing down a whip and acting so extreme—could it be that you mean to pressure me?”
The Duke’s face stiffened.
“How could I dare do such a thing?”
Wolhwa’s eyes turned icy.
“Very well.”
“Today’s assassins are all dead.”
“I will not pursue the matter further.”
She took one step forward.
“But remember this.”
“Yuk Yunseo is the one who protected me.”
“To threaten him is the same as threatening me.”
Her words were not a simple warning.
They were a declaration that she would protect Yunseo, and at the same time, an order drawing a line.
The air settled heavily.
“All of you, withdraw.”
The command was given, but no one moved at once.
Jang Munyeon and the Duke exchanged glances.
Their expressions were respectful, but their eyes were filled with calculation.
They seemed to withdraw with proper courtesy, but as they left the bedchamber, they whispered softly.
“To think His Majesty would shield him to that extent.”
“What could a mere bodyguard be…”
They still did not know.
That Yunseo was not merely a bodyguard.
And.
That Wolhwa, too, was no longer the ruler she had once been.
Inside the bedchamber.
Amid the lingering scent of blood, the gazes of Wolhwa, Yunseo, and Yunseol crossed.
This night had ended, but the war was only just beginning.
At the same time.
Having left the palace, Jang Munyeon laughed lowly.
“His Majesty truly is…”
Keeping his gaze ahead, he added calmly,
“To think she would bring up a debt of gratitude to hold a person at her side.”
“That is not the way of a ruler.”
The Duke snorted.
“When gratitude is used as a tool, resentment is bound to arise one day.”
“For now, everyone remains quiet.”
“But the moment sparks fly onto their own interests—”
He tilted his head.
“The board will change then.”
Jang Munyeon narrowed his eyes and said,
“The attitude you showed at court today.”
“It was somewhat too blatant.”
The Duke sneered.
“You think she would cut me down?”
“Would she dare?”
“Would the ministers stand by and do nothing? In the end, the court will move according to us.”
“Recklessness is forbidden.”
Jang Munyeon warned in a low voice.
“You saw him too, did you not?”
“Yuk Yunseo, at that empress’s side.”
“Outwardly, he seems like a simple warrior, but—”
His eyes narrowed.
“That man makes me deeply uneasy.”
The Duke stroked down his beard.
The assassins they had sent this time were first-rate.
And yet they had been subdued in an instant.
Worse, even the circumstances had been read.
“Let this matter remain between the two of us.”
“We must be even more cautious from now on.”
Jang Munyeon added quietly,
“Outwardly, it may seem His Majesty has forgiven us.”
“But we cannot know what lies within.”
“Especially Yuk Yunseo.”
“If his martial arts are at that level, we must not leave him be lightly.”
The footsteps of the two men vanished into the darkness.
Inside the bedchamber.
Yunseo spoke quietly.
“Your Majesty.”
“It was my failure that allowed today’s assassin to kill himself.”
“In the end, I caused trouble for Your Majesty.”
Wolhwa narrowed her eyes.
“It is not your fault.”
“Today’s matter was made by the Chancellor and the Duke.”
Her hand clenched around the teacup on the table.
“The two of them conspired and drove me into a corner.”
“There was not a single person in court to help me.”
Beneath her sunken gaze, the anger she had suppressed boiled up.
In the end, she hurled the teacup to the floor.
Crash—!
Shards flew in every direction.
“I will endure no longer.”
It was not only the teacup that had shattered.
The time she had endured again and again. The anger she had forced down to preserve balance.
Her gaze turned toward Yunseo.
“You always told me to wait, to watch for the right time.”
Her lips pressed firmly together.
“But now it is different.”
“When a person is too kind, they are looked down upon.”
“If we postpone things again in this current flow, there is no telling what will happen.”
Yunseo took one step forward.
“Your Majesty.”
“Please give me just one more day.”
His voice was low, yet it carried unmistakable resolve.
“Within a day.”
“I will give Your Majesty an answer you can accept.”
Wolhwa’s eyes slowly narrowed.
She looked Yunseo up and down.
“Are you planning to do something dangerous behind my back again?”
“Remember this, Yuk Yunseo.”
“Your life belongs to me.”
As the words fell, the air in the room sank heavily.
At that moment.
Yunseol stepped forward.
“Your Majesty.”
“Those words go too far.”
Wolhwa’s coldly flashing gaze fixed directly on her.
“So Yunseol.”
“Do you mean to defy me?”
Yunseol did not back down.
“Yuk Yunseo risked his life for Your Majesty.”
“Yet instead of offering comfort, you would bind even his life and death?”
“There is no such principle under heaven.”
The bedchamber froze so thoroughly that no one could easily draw breath.
Wolhwa’s voice sank low.
“So Yunseol.”
“I do not wish to strike you down.”
“But do not cross the line.”
“Otherwise—”
Her eyes cooled chillingly.
“I do not know what I may do.”
Silence descended for a long moment.
The candle flames trembled faintly, casting the shadows of the three long across the wall.
Between the two of them, Yunseo lowered his gaze.
He clearly felt that, standing in the midst of this taut confrontation, he must not lean toward either side.
This night was perhaps more dangerous than the assassins had been.
Enemies outside the palace could simply be cut down, but fractures forming within the palace could not be severed even with a blade.
There was not much time left now.
It was time to draw the sword.