Chapter 10

“It appears that the princess from the Seoyeon Kingdom will need about five days to complete her training, while Bin Uihyeon will finish hers in just one day. Since Bin Uihyeon has already undergone her investiture ceremony at the border, she will begin fulfilling her duties as a consort as soon as her training is complete.”

Rye Hoon did not even acknowledge the chief eunuch’s report. He simply opened another memorial and began reading.

Dongseok noticed that the Emperor was growing displeased and watched the chief eunuch anxiously.

“Then I suppose His Majesty’s night with Bin Uihyeon should be postponed until after the Empress’s investiture ceremony?”

It happened in an instant.

The candle flame seemed to flicker in the wind, and a long, gleaming sword shot toward the chief eunuch’s neck without the slightest hesitation.

“Gah!”

Startled by the sharp blade pressed against his neck, the chief eunuch let out a strange scream and collapsed onto the floor.

Trembling, he ran his hand over the spot where the blade had touched his neck. It stung, but fortunately, the wound was not serious.

“Y-Your Majesty! P-Please spare my life!”

Terrified, the chief eunuch pressed himself flat against the floor.

The Emperor stood before him with a sword in his hand. His gaze was sharp, and his imposing figure seemed several times larger than usual.

“Have you forgotten in the meantime?”

“Your Majesty!”

Dongseok hurriedly stepped between the Emperor and the chief eunuch as Rye Hoon slowly drew his sword back.

Seeing the coldness in the Emperor’s eyes, Dongseok instinctively swallowed hard.

“Shall I send you away with him as well?”

“Your Majesty, please calm yourself. He is only carrying out his duties.”

“Carrying out his duties?”

“Please consider carefully that if you draw your sword every time a subordinate displeases you, there will soon be no one left in Dae Bukseong.”

Dongseok spoke deliberately in a loud voice and bowed deeply.

At that moment, he was reminded of the painful incident he had tried to forget.

During the first few years of Rye Hoon’s reign, the palace had been relatively peaceful. Various tribes had continued trying to expand their influence by sending their women into the palace as consorts, but at first, Rye Hoon had not made much of an issue of it.

Then the incident happened.

It began with the sharp sound of a sword slicing through the air.

Shing! Thud!

At the heavy sound of something falling to the floor, Dongseok, who was on night watch, opened his eyes wide.

The eunuch standing watch beside him seemed to have heard it too. He looked at Dongseok with a startled expression.

“Dongseok!”

The Emperor’s shout rang out from his bedchamber.

With a dreadful feeling in his heart, Dongseok bowed his head and entered the Emperor’s chambers. However, he stopped after taking only a few steps.

Bright red blood was splattered across the flowing hem of a woman’s skirt.

When he raised his head, he saw the Emperor standing unsteadily, supporting the tip of a bloodstained sword against the floor.

“Your Majesty!”

Dongseok rushed forward and caught the Emperor by the arm.

The Emperor’s eyes were half unfocused, yet his gaze remained fierce. He pointed at the woman lying drenched in blood.

“Get rid of that.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Now!”

After shouting with the last of his strength, the Emperor collapsed.

“Someone, come here!”

Dongseok barely managed to catch the Emperor in his arms as he sank down. He called out to the eunuchs waiting outside.

The eunuchs rushed in, only to freeze in horror when they saw the woman who had become a corpse.

“Bring the imperial physician immediately, and remove the body at once!”

“Yes!”

Together with the other eunuchs, Dongseok laid the Emperor on his bed and cleaned up the room.

A short while later, the imperial physician arrived in a hurry. After examining the Emperor’s pulse, he spoke with a grave expression.

“It appears that His Majesty was given a poison along with a drug that causes intoxication.”

“What do you mean?”

“We will need to examine the deceased woman and the items she left behind to determine the exact details.”

Dongseok instructed another eunuch to guide the imperial physician through the investigation.

The Emperor took the medicinal decoction prescribed by the imperial physician and regained consciousness two days later. Fortunately, he had recognized that the liquor was poisoned and had stopped drinking it.

The woman who had died by the Emperor’s sword was a consort who had entered the palace only recently.

She had been summoned to spend the night with the Emperor. She had drugged him to cloud his mind and attempted to make him drink poisoned liquor, but he had killed her before she could succeed.

The palace attendants responsible for ensuring the Emperor’s safety, along with the guards on duty, were killed one after another. The family of the deceased consort was also completely wiped out.

Furthermore, the Empress Dowager, using Imperial Consort Jeong as her representative, tightened her control over the consorts, throwing the Emperor’s inner palace into turmoil.

Since that incident, no new consorts had entered the palace for a long time. Perhaps because this was the first time in years that new consorts had arrived, the chief eunuch of the Palace Administration Office had let his guard down.

“Your Majesty! Please calm yourself!”

Dongseok pressed his forehead against the floor once more and pleaded desperately.

The startled chief eunuch was also banging his forehead against the floor, crying and begging for his life.

Rye Hoon had been looking at him with an expression so indifferent that it bordered on cold cruelty. At last, he sheathed his sword.

Only after the blade had disappeared completely into its scabbard could Dongseok secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

“Bring me my cloak.”

At the Emperor’s command, Dongseok hurried to his feet and draped a cloak made of tiger skin and fur over his shoulders.

“Do not follow me.”

Leaving behind that single, stern command, Rye Hoon walked out of the royal audience hall.

Dae Bukseong was in a state of commotion as the city gates prepared to close. The eunuchs were busy changing shifts, while others hurried about, preparing to shut the palace gates one by one.

Rye Hoon’s steps eventually led him to the rear garden that Empress Seonhyeon had once tended with such care.

There, he paused for a moment, trying to calm his restless heart.

After the cold wind had cooled the heat in his heart and head, his thoughts settled on Empress Seonhyeon, who had always looked upon him with kindness and understanding.

He had spent years on the battlefield, but the political battles within the palace were irritating and exhausting.

Unable to withstand the pressure from the Empress Dowager and the ministers, he had agreed to share a bed with his consorts. However, the results had rarely been pleasant.

Perhaps they believed assassination would be easiest in the bedchamber, but most of the consorts had ended up dying by his own hand.

Each time it happened, the palace erupted into chaos as everyone tried to identify the mastermind. The families that had sent those women into the palace often paid for it with their lives.

Rye Hoon could not understand why they continued to take such reckless actions in support of the Imperial Prince’s faction, even knowing what the consequences would be.

In truth, however, his suspicions were not limited to the Imperial Prince’s faction.

There was someone else who coveted the Empress’s position more than anyone and wanted a son by him.

That person was Tae Hwa-jin.

“Haah…”

A long sigh escaped his lips.

Rye Hoon barely had enough time to govern the empire. The thought of having to fight a battle over the imperial throne as well was completely against his nature.

When Empress Seonhyeon was alive, he had not needed to concern himself much with the affairs of the inner palace. Although she appeared delicate and gentle on the outside, she had possessed a strong will and managed the consorts well.

But everything had changed.

Not long after becoming Empress, Seonhyeon had gradually fallen ill and eventually passed away. Since then, the balance of power had shifted toward Tae Hwa-jin.

He needed an Empress who could keep her influence in check.

With the Emperor’s faction and the Imperial Prince’s faction engaged in an invisible war, he had chosen a princess from the Seoyeon Kingdom as his solution.

The Crown Prince of Seoyeon had returned to his homeland without knowing the Emperor’s true intentions.

Whether the princess could take control of the inner palace depended on Princess Uihwa’s abilities.

However, Rye Hoon did not expect much from her. According to the rumors, Princess Uihwa was nothing more than a delicate flower who had grown up sheltered from the world.

Even so, he was not particularly disappointed. At least he would be able to escape the nagging of his mother and the ministers for a while.

There was only one thing he truly wanted from the princess.

He hoped she would not allow the cunning Tae Hwa-jin to win her over.

He could only hope that the princess possessed at least that much pride and determination.

Clang!

The sound of the city gates closing echoed from a distance.

Rye Hoon hurriedly turned back.

Once the palace gates were closed, even the Emperor would have to take a longer route to reach his destination. He could easily climb over a wall if he wanted to, but doing so would be beneath the dignity of an Emperor.

Just as he left the garden, Rye Hoon turned to look back once more.

Perhaps it was because night had fallen, or perhaps it was because the garden had yet to receive a new mistress. Whatever the reason, it looked lonelier and more desolate than usual that evening.

Rye Hoon quietly left the rear garden and headed toward a gate that had not yet been closed.

This route was something of a shortcut.

Just as he hurried through the gate, Rye Hoon came face-to-face with a dark shadow.

Whoosh!

With a chilling hiss, a sword slipped from its scabbard and shot swiftly toward the shadow.

“Oh, my goodness!”

A woman’s scream rang out as the blade flew toward her before she had time to dodge.

Rye Hoon narrowed one eye as he held his sword pointed at the figures before him.

Standing at the tip of his blade was a young woman holding a tray covered with a cloth, along with a middle-aged woman who had positioned herself halfway in front of the younger one, as if to protect her.

What caught his attention was the young woman’s round eyes, reflecting the moonlight that glinted off his sword.

Perhaps it was because she was startled, but he felt as though he had never seen eyes quite so large before.

The young woman’s wide, clear eyes slowly traveled up the length of the blade.

When their gazes met, she firmly closed her lips, which had been slightly parted in surprise.

“Who are you?”

Rye Hoon asked in a flat, emotionless voice.

When she did not answer, he asked again.

“I asked who you are.”

For a moment, she seemed frozen in place, unable to move.

Then the young woman lowered her gaze and spoke quietly.