HUFF, HAAH... HUFF....

Fleeing the soldiers, Chor Yeon realized she had somehow ended up inside a building.

Here is...

She had ducked into the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

It stood behind the exploded Central Harmony Hall, a pavilion where small banquets were held.

“Ma’am, someone says they saw that court physician come in here.”

“Out of my way!”

THUMP. THUMP. After heavy boots struck the ground, a door banged open.

Chor Yeon, hidden behind a pillar, flinched and pressed herself deeper into the shadow.

Her breath was still ragged; she had not yet steadied herself.

“...”

The one who threw open the doors of the banquet hall was Consort Suk.

In Consort Suk’s line of sight, a human silhouette trailed behind a pillar.

From where she stood, Chor Yeon’s figure was not concealed.

Consort Suk’s lips curled in a deep arc.

TAP—

She shut the banquet hall doors and began to walk slowly.

SWISH— SWISH—

The hem of her skirt brushed the floor in the silent banquet hall of the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

“At last I live to see your face again.”

SWISH— SWISH—

Chor Yeon stilled her breath even more.

Afraid to be seen, she could not even risk a glance.

“Chor Yeon.”

“!”

“When all called you Blood-King Poison, I did not forget your name. How could I forget the name of the enemy who drove my son to his death?”

Her low murmur was filled with resentment and wrath.

“I sought to kill you.”

A hatred deep enough to remember a name no one had spoken in over twenty years.

“I petitioned His Majesty; I hired men; I even commissioned the Flesh Curtain....”

SWISH— SWISH—

“No means could kill you.”

The Emperor’s lukewarm response gave her no strength; those she sent took her money and never returned; the Flesh Curtain would not move.

“It was as if the world itself hid you. As if the heavens aided you.”

Who was this woman with no powerful backing?

A capital offender who slew the Emperor’s child—yet the Emperor’s own woman could not kill her.

A shadow fell behind the pillar.

Chor Yeon reflexively clapped a hand over her mouth.

THUMP, THUMP-THUMP....

Her heart raced.

Her breath threatened to burst out of her chest.

“But seeing you thus today, the heavens must be on my side.”

The lilting laughter raised the small hairs on Chor Yeon’s skin.

Run... I have to run...

She flicked a glance toward the inner doors of the banquet hall.

Beyond lay a corridor of the Hall of Preserving Harmony where attendants passed.

While there are no soldiers...

I have to... run....

My legs... won’t...

SLLIDE—

“!”

The shadow drew a step closer.

Chor Yeon’s body began to shake.

SLLIDE—

Just to the side of the pillar.

She could feel Consort Suk’s presence on her skin.

She could feel the sharp gaze aimed at her.

At the instant their eyes might meet if she turned her head—

“Consort Suk!”

“!”

The door burst open and Brocade Guard soldiers rushed into the banquet hall.

TAT—

Not missing that moment, Chor Yeon sprinted out through the rear door of the hall.

Consort Suk cast a sidelong glance that way, then turned to the soldiers.

“Sh-shall we pursue?” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Leave it.”

She faced the soldiers.

“Did you do as I ordered?”

“Yes. As Your Ladyship commanded, we cleared out everyone remaining in the Hall of Preserving Harmony.”

“Good.”

Instead of chasing Chor Yeon, Consort Suk turned toward the doors.

So different from the woman who moments ago seemed eager to kill a single court physician, the soldiers traded bewildered looks.

But soon they left the banquet hall behind Consort Suk, leaving the woman who had fled deeper inside the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Hall of Preserving Harmony.

****

TATAT, TAT—

“Ha... haa....”

Chor Yeon ran with everything she had.

When the soldiers entered, she barely slipped away in the instant Consort Suk’s attention split.

Truth be told, she hadn’t believed she could even get out of the banquet hall.

Uneasy, she kept glancing back as she ran and ran.

She was sprinting on pure panic, not even knowing where she was headed, when—

GRAB—!

“...!!”

Someone seized her wrist and stopped her.

A scream almost burst out, but the hand that had her caught also covered her mouth faster.

Eyes wide, she stared at the person before her.

“What the— you. Why are you here? Why do you look like this? Are you hurt?”

It was Seop Mugwang.

Seeing the grave concern on his face, her tension loosened all at once.

“Hey—!”

Seop Mugwang caught her as she staggered.

“What is it! What happened? Who’s chasing you??”

“M-Master....”

A ragged sob broke out.

Chor Yeon buried her face in his chest and wept.

Relief had come so fast she could not hold back the flood of tears.

Seop Mugwang stared down, startled, then carefully wrapped his arms around her trembling frame.

“Right. It’s all right. You’re safe now....”

Damn it.

Emperor or rebellion—I should have seen to this girl first.

To save her, I let that eunuch’s talk of stopping traitors turn my head, and I missed what mattered most.

And in the meantime, it blew up.

“I’m sorry I’m late....”

Chor Yeon shook her head where it lay against his chest.

Then she realized the hand braced on his chest was wet and lifted her face.

“...!”

What stained her hand was blood.

“Master...!”

She hurriedly looked him over.

“Y-you’re hurt? Where? Where is it?”

Now that she looked, he was in no shape.

No single grievous wound showed to the eye, but his martial coat was torn in places and smeared with blood here and there.

Worst of all—though he seemed to have wiped it—there were signs of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Chor Yeon took his wrist and felt his pulse.

He moved to pull away, then felt the firmness of her grip and scratched the back of his neck, letting her hold on.

“...Your internal injuries are severe.”

“That so.”

“What on earth....”

What on earth had happened for him to appear with damage like this inside?

Chor Yeon, forgetting that Consort Suk had been chasing her moments ago, looked at him with worried eyes.

But the man she knew would not spend strength on foolish things.

Knowing that, she asked no more.

“We have to treat you quickly. If we get back to my room, I have medicinal stock for internal trauma—”

“Before that.”

Seop Mugwang caught her arm as she turned to hurry back.

“Who was chasing you?”

“...Consort Suk. And... I think Brocade Guard soldiers. Come to think of it....”

Why aren’t they following?

Chor Yeon looked back the way she had fled.

Neither soldiers nor the sound of pursuit was anywhere to be seen.

“There’s no one in this pavilion.”

Seop Mugwang, reading the presences around them, spoke.

Chor Yeon turned to him, puzzled.

“No one...?”

Why?

Wasn’t that Consort Suk, who only moments ago seemed frantic to kill her?

No—even if Consort Suk and the soldiers were set aside, she had distinctly seen attendants moving about when she entered.

“Why....”

Just then—

“!”

Chor Yeon stopped abruptly.

She sniffed the air, quick and short.

Her face went white in an instant.

“What is it?”

She looked back at Seop Mugwang.

Her lips quivered.

“...The smell of Explosives....”

“What?”

Seop Mugwang frowned.

The smell of Explosives?

He sniffed.

But the Central Harmony Hall was not far, and the air was already thick with the smell of burning.

Still, Chor Yeon would not speak idly.

“Let’s go.”

He took her hand to move—

CRRRK....

“!”

In the corner of his eye, a small spark slipped into the side room off the corridor where they stood.

“...Damn it....”

This one they could not dodge.

With that thought, Seop Mugwang wrapped her in his arms on the spot.

The instant Chor Yeon sank against his chest—

KRA-KA-BOOM—!!

The second explosion went off.

****

KUUUUUUM—

The ground shuddered, a massive blast erupted.

Holding Chor Yeon tight, Seop Mugwang drew up every last bit of qi he had and unfurled a Protective Force Aura.

But perhaps because he had already spent so much inner qi in the fight with the Brocade-Guard Commander—

“Ghh....”

A line of red blood trailed from his lips.

Driving his qi to the limit with such severe internal injuries made the strain immediate.

We’re going to die.

He knew the qi he had left could not block the full force of the blast.

Damn it.

CRASH—!

A furious wall of fire surged to swallow them both.

With the last strength he had raised, Seop Mugwang swept his qi around Chor Yeon.

Somehow—at least her....

Then—

WHOOOONG—

“!”

As he stared at the onrushing flames, everything before his eyes went black.

Something pitch-black coiled swiftly around them both.

BANG— KRA-BOOM—!

Beyond the dense darkness, things shattered one after another with thunderous blasts.

How long did it last?

Moments later, the darkness peeled away and daylight leaked in.

Seop Mugwang squinted and looked up through the receding black at the sky unfolding beyond.

As his sight slowly adjusted—

He let out a breathless, incredulous sigh.

High over the imperial palace, his one and only disciple, Namgoong Seolhwa, was looking down at him.