When had he fallen asleep again. Sa Ha-hyeon lifted his heavy eyelids and waited for his bleary vision to clear. Gradually, Wol came into focus — eyes swollen from crying.
He had a brief thought that he had somehow made it back to Byeoksong Palace, but then he noticed that the room around him looked very different from Byeoksong Palace.
“……Where is this?”
Ha-hyeon had been here only once before. It was Hyeongeuk Hall — the Emperor’s sleeping chambers.
“My lady, I am the physician who came to attend to you before. Your injuries are deep, and you will not yet be comfortable moving about — please do not force yourself to rise, and rest where you lie.”
Before the words had even finished, pain surged from his right leg.
“Ugh.”
“My lady, please don’t move. If you strain yourself, the blood may start flowing again. Sob. How did something like this……”
Wol wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She cried in a way that was genuinely heartbreaking.
“When you cry, Wol, it makes my leg hurt worse somehow. Stop.”
“Hic. I’m sorry. My lady……. We should have followed you.”
“No. I was the one who told you not to come.”
If anything, it may have ended here precisely because she had been alone. If Wol and the maidservants had been with her, those innocent girls might have suffered something terrible too. Imagining it sent a chill crawling up Ha-hyeon’s spine.
“My lady, if you move the wound will open.”
“Oh — my lady!”
Ha-hyeon pressed his palm against the bed and pushed himself upright. Despite the physician and Wol going pale with alarm trying to stop him, he forced his upper body to sit up regardless. From below the knee of his right leg down to the ankle was wrapped tightly in plain white cloth. Red had soaked through the white bandaging.
“……It’s broken, isn’t it.”
At Ha-hyeon’s question, the physician shook her head. Wol wiped away tears the size of rice grains with her sleeve and answered in her stead.
“No. My lady, mercifully the bone did not break. They said it held because it was as hard as an ox’s horn — that with an ordinary person it would have snapped clean in two. Hic, even so…… the skin……”
“Stop crying. It’s fine. At least the leg didn’t break.”
The physician, who had been quietly observing Ha-hyeon’s condition at his side, set a steaming bowl of medicinal broth on the table and spoke.
“This is a medicinal broth to help the wound heal quickly. And my lady, I will not be administering the fertility medicine for the time being. Right now, restoring your strength and treating your leg is the most pressing matter. Please move as little as possible and remain in bed.”
With that, the physician reached into her clothing and produced a small medicinal packet, which she handed to Wol.
“If the pain becomes too severe to bear, give her this pill. It will help manage the pain. I will take my leave now.”
The physician gave a deep bow and withdrew. Through the open door, imperial guards in full helmets and armor were visible outside. Even with the Emperor absent, the security of Hyeongeuk Hall was formidable. Noticing that Ha-hyeon’s gaze had drifted toward the imperial guards, Wol whispered carefully.
“Ordinarily, a maidservant like myself would not be permitted to enter here so freely — but His Majesty gave special permission.”
“His Majesty?”
“Yes. He said the others could not be trusted, so it would be best for me to be at your side and tend to you personally. The other girls are all at Byeoksong Palace.”
Sa Ha-hyeon nodded quietly. Then, belatedly, he remembered that it had been Baek Seojin who had saved him.
“The instructor saved me. No matter how hard my bones might be — if he had been even slightly later, my leg would truly have been broken.”
Wol, who had just barely managed to stop crying, pressed a hand to her chest and began to tear up again.
“That’s right. Truly. What would we have done if it weren’t for Commander Baek? We had actually just been about to go out and look for you ourselves when you didn’t come back — and at just that moment, Commander Baek arrived at Byeoksong Palace. The moment I told him that the martial arts lessons had been discontinued but you had stepped out briefly and were not coming back — he ran straight outside. He must have felt instinctively that something had gone wrong. I’m so relieved he wasn’t too late.”
Ha-hyeon nodded slowly. That was right. It was truly something to be grateful for. If it hadn’t been for him, his leg would have been crushed beyond recognition by now.
“Where is he now? I wasn’t in my right mind — I didn’t even get to thank him.”
“Actually, he came by briefly while you were sleeping earlier. I’ll try to find an opportunity to let you see him and speak to him in person. And also……”
Wol hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“His Majesty is also very worried about you, my lady. The fact that he has allowed you to rest here rather than at Byeoksong Palace alone is proof of that. So before Commander Baek — it would be more proper to express gratitude to His Majesty first. Oh dear, I’ve gone and overstepped again.”
Ha-hyeon nodded.
“You haven’t overstepped at all…… You’re right.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“But more than that.”
Ha-hyeon beckoned to Wol, suppressing the throbbing pain. When she leaned her ear close, Ha-hyeon lowered his voice to a whisper.
“The ones who did this to my leg were the Grand Empress Dowager and Consort Hwa. Have you heard anything about what became of them?”
The people responsible for putting him in this state — what had happened to them was Ha-hyeon’s greatest fear. Wol glanced around, then spoke with a troubled expression.
“I don’t know the details of that either. From what I’ve heard, His Majesty was furious beyond measure — but I don’t know anything more. Consort Hwa is one thing, but the Grand Empress Dowager is His Majesty’s own grandmother, is she not. Even for an Emperor, one cannot simply punish her as one pleases without going against the bonds of blood.”
A shadow fell across Ha-hyeon’s face at Wol’s words.
“I’ve almost died twice already.”
“My lady.”
“It seems I’ve made myself thoroughly hated here. Just breathing seems to make someone want to kill me.”
“My lady…… Is that not simply the nature of the imperial palace. What’s more, there are over a hundred concubines here alone. It is the way of this place — if you do not hold power, you become a sacrifice to power. So is it not natural that people would try to strike first before being struck? On top of that, my lady…… you receive so much of His Majesty’s affection — of course there are many who are jealous.”
“Receive so much of his affection…… it’s not like that. But Wol — until now, Commander Baek has saved me and I’ve barely made it through. Will I really be so lucky a third time?”
“Please don’t say such things. It’s bad luck.”
“Even if I die — what about you?”
“Please don’t say that, my lady.”
“If I’m gone, what happens to you? Can you make it back alive? Isn’t my being here putting your life in danger too?”
Wol gripped Ha-hyeon’s hand tightly and shook her head with firm resolve.
“I don’t mind dying.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Just as you said, my lady — from the very beginning, we came here ready to die. The moment we crossed the border, our lives were as good as forfeit already. It seems that things went surprisingly well for a while, and eating warm meals and wearing fine clothing, living in comfort — we forgot for a time what our situation truly was.”
The tears that had been brimming at the corners of Wol’s eyes finally spilled down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry, Wol. No matter what happens, I’ll make sure you keep eating warm meals and wearing fine clothes and living well for as long as you live. Alright?”
“My lady……”
The two of them were facing each other as though on the verge of throwing their arms around one another.
“My, what a touching sight.”
A low, flat voice cut through between them like cold water. Ha-hyeon and Wol turned their heads at the same time. Without anyone noticing when he had entered, Wei Wuyuan was standing at the entrance to the chamber, hands clasped behind his back. Not even the sound of his approach had reached them.
“Your Majesty!”
Wol startled violently and pressed herself flat against the floor. Ha-hyeon also tried to sit upright.
“Stay lying down.”
But Ha-hyeon ignored the throbbing pain and forced his upper body up regardless.
“Ugh……”
In doing so, he accidentally put the wrong kind of strain on his leg. The wound that had been tightly bound with plain cloth split open, and blood spread in an instant. Wei Wuyuan’s brow furrowed sharply and without mercy.
“Foolish thing!”
Wei Wuyuan spoke to Wol, who was prostrated on the floor. His gaze was so cold that even Ha-hyeon, watching from the side, felt a chill run through him.
“You — return to Byeoksong Palace.”
“Yes. Your Majesty.”
As Wol began to back away to leave, Ha-hyeon spoke urgently.
“I — I will go as well. I will return to my own quarters.”
“No.”
Wei Wuyuan said it flatly, leaving no room for argument.
“Until you can move about properly — you are not going anywhere.”
“But Your Majesty——”
“I said no more words.”
Wei Wuyuan ignored Ha-hyeon’s protest and settled himself on the edge of the bed. He picked up the bowl of medicinal broth that had been cooling on the table. The way he stirred the dark liquid with the spoon was so deliberate and controlled that it only made Ha-hyeon more uneasy.
He brought the spoon to Ha-hyeon’s lips. But rather than opening his mouth, Ha-hyeon let out the question that had been circling in his mind.
“Where is Commander Baek?”
The spoon in Wei Wuyuan’s hand struck the bowl with a sharp clink.
“Why are you looking for him.”
“I wish to pay my respects. He saved me, did he not. I should at least convey my gratitude……”
Before Ha-hyeon’s words could finish, a sharp, crashing sound shook the chamber. Wei Wuyuan had hurled the medicinal broth bowl against the wall. The dark liquid ran down the wall like black blood, and ceramic shards scattered across the black obsidian floor.
“Your Majesty……”
Only then did Ha-hyeon realize he had made some terrible mistake. But it was already spilled water. Wei Wuyuan was not listening to Ha-hyeon. No — it was as though he could not hear him at all.
“Yeong-ui. Your wounds are deep — it seems your mind has gone a little astray as well. You should rest now.”
“My mind is perfectly clear.”
“I said lie down.”
Wei Wuyuan shoved Ha-hyeon’s shoulder roughly. He climbed over the Ha-hyeon who had fallen back, and took hold of his jaw in one large hand. As if the leg weren’t enough — now his jaw felt as though it might crumble too.
“Ah……”
As Ha-hyeon moaned in pain, Wei Wuyuan forced his head to turn and meet his eyes. Ha-hyeon found it difficult to hold his gaze. Because in Wei Wuyuan’s gleaming eyes, the only things he could feel were very dark emotions — displeasure, fury, something like bloodlust.
“Listen carefully.”
“Your Majesty……”
“It is I who holds the thread of your life. I am the one who keeps you alive, and I am the one who can end it. So your gratitude — give it to me and me alone. The name of another man — do not let it leave your lips in front of me.”
