Consort Hwa’s face flushed red with shame and rage. He shot venomous glances back and forth between Ha-hyeon and the uninvited man who had so suddenly appeared.
If the intruder had arrived even a moment later, Orang’s fangs would have already torn through Sa Ha-hyeon’s neck. The humiliation of being thwarted churned Consort Hwa’s insides.
“Consort Hwa, it would be wise to stop making a scene you cannot handle.”
Ha-hyeon’s Martial Arts Instructor drove the point home, glaring steadily at Consort Hwa.
“Don’t you dare expect me to stop here! You — if you breathe a single word to His Majesty…….”
Consort Hwa drew a finger across his own throat in a slicing gesture. Then, without even collecting Orang, he turned tail and fled. The way his silk robes billowed behind him in his desperate haste was almost enough to make Ha-hyeon laugh despite himself. He watched the direction Consort Hwa had disappeared in, then slowly turned his head to look up at the Instructor.
“Instructor, is His Majesty really on his way?”
“No. What I said about His Majesty coming was a lie.”
“You had us completely fooled. But — since when could you speak? You never said a single word until now.”
“Please do not ask about that.”
“Telling me not to ask only makes me want to ask more. Well — alright. But why are you here instead of at His Majesty’s side?”
“Something felt off, so I followed along. Sure enough, Consort Hwa had planned something foul. I’m glad I wasn’t too late.”
Consort Hwa himself, along with his attendants, the horse that had pulled Ha-hyeon’s carriage, and the coachman — all of them had vanished without a trace. Only the shattered carriage remained, bearing witness that the chaos of moments ago had been real.
“It’s good that things didn’t get any louder than this…… But wait, why didn’t he take the wolf with him? Hey — Orang. Your owner abandoned you and ran. Does that make any sense to you?”
The hungry wolf was still tethered by the neck, whimpering miserably. Sa Ha-hyeon moved to approach Orang with the intention of at least undoing the leash.
“Be careful. He is agitated and could be dangerous.”
The man stepped in front of Ha-hyeon to block him.
“It’s fine. He probably just seems aggressive because he’s hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”
“Hmm……. If this will do.”
What he held out were two small strips of dried meat, each about the size of a palm.
“Perfect.”
Sa Ha-hyeon approached Orang and held out one strip. That the wolf’s aggression had indeed been hunger was clear — Orang began wagging his thick-furred tail and drooling heavily.
“You have to chew slowly.”
Ha-hyeon handed the dried meat over himself, ignoring the Martial Arts Instructor’s warning. The clever beast took the end of the strip carefully with his teeth. It vanished in an instant.
“You finished it already? What a good eater! I’ll give you one more, but you have to promise not to be aggressive, alright? Understood?”
Ha-hyeon coaxed him like he was soothing a small child, and Orang wagged his tail vigorously and gave a loud bark. For a wolf rather than a dog, he’s awfully affectionate.
In the meantime, the Instructor pulled the arrow free from the tree trunk. He gave a light tug on the leather handle attached to the leash, and Orang moved along with him obediently.
“I really can’t believe it. No matter how panicked you are, how do you just leave your own animal behind?”
“He was probably keeping it in secret. If it were discovered, it would be difficult to avoid a great deal of trouble.”
“Is it even possible to hide something like that?”
“……You may not know yet, my lady, but Consort Hwa’s palace is ten times the size of Byeoksong Palace. If he set his mind to hiding something, he could hide anything. Animals and people alike.”
“That last part is a little frightening. But what do we do with Orang? Should we bring him back to Consort Hwa’s palace? Orang, you little rascal — was that tasty? Do you miss your owner? Should I take you back to them?”
“Leave him in the forest. Consort Hwa will not care about losing one animal.”
“That can’t be right. He even gave him a name.”
“Every animal Consort Hwa keeps is named Orang.”
“……That man really is something else.”
Ha-hyeon stroked Orang’s head. The wolf seemed to enjoy it — he pushed his head in, demanding more, then lifted his snout and sniffed Ha-hyeon’s hand with deep interest. As if that still wasn’t enough, he began rubbing his large head against Ha-hyeon’s thigh. There wasn’t a trace of menace left in him — he was the spitting image of a friendly village dog.
“Alright, that’s it. I’m taking him with me. Want to come home with me?”
Orang barked loudly again.
“That is not possible. His Majesty will not permit it.”
“Why not? He’s so gentle.”
“He is a dangerous wild beast. No matter how accustomed to people he may be, he was trying to tear out your throat just moments ago. Have you already forgotten?”
“Oh, come on — he was just irritable because he was hungry.”
“My lady.”
“I’ll try talking to His Majesty myself. I’ll just say I found a poor stray dog in the forest. If he really says no…… could you look after him, Instructor? I’ll cover all the food costs.”
“Let’s get out of here first. If we delay any longer, His Majesty may actually come.”
Ha-hyeon gave a nod.
“Get on.”
“Get on? Where? Oh—”
Without hesitation, the man wrapped both arms firmly around Ha-hyeon’s waist and lifted him clean off the ground. In the span of a single blink, Ha-hyeon was seated atop a horse. The Instructor swung up behind him without a word. A broad, solid chest pressed against Ha-hyeon’s back. An arm reached around from behind and took hold of the reins.
“Hold on tight.”
A low voice resonated from just above his head. Close enough to make his ear tingle. The Instructor deftly looped Orang’s leash through the ring on the side of the saddle and tied it securely.
“Woof!”
Whether Orang understood his situation or not, he barked excitedly. Ha-hyeon rubbed the back of his neck, which had grown strangely warm, and had no choice but to sit quietly, enclosed within the Instructor’s arms.
The steady rhythm of hoofbeats filled the silence of the forest path. Enveloped in the warmth radiating from the back against him and the weight of that low voice, Ha-hyeon found himself gradually piecing together the Instructor’s hidden side, one piece at a time.
Baek Seojin. That was his name, and he was also the commander of the imperial guard — the Emperor’s personal elite force. What was surprising was that he was not a native of the Daehyeon Empire. He had once been a military commander of a foreign nation — one that had contested the Daehyeon Empire for supremacy over the continent, and had since fallen, leaving not even its name behind.
By all rights, a captured enemy commander was meant to have his head taken and displayed at the gates as a trophy of victory. But Wei Wuyuan, who was Emperor at the time, had kept Baek Seojin alive, a bloodied sword still in hand. The reason was simple. His skills were too valuable to waste on death.
Even poison has its uses, depending on how you handle it.
With those arrogant words, Wei Wuyuan had made the enemy commander his own hunting dog. Instead of execution, Baek Seojin was given a new life, and with his exceptional abilities he had quickly risen to the position of commander of the imperial guard.
“Don’t you want revenge? He destroyed your homeland.”
“Please watch what you say. We cannot know who might be listening.”
“I’m only speaking my thoughts out loud. Besides, there are only the two of us here.”
“Please refrain from entertaining such thoughts or questions as much as possible. Words held in the heart have a way of slipping out of the mouth without one realizing it.”
He had no interest in revenge. Others might point fingers and call it cowardice, but his own homeland had already been rotting from within — that was his account of it.
A nation destined to fall simply fell. That terse, cynical reflection somehow felt more human to Ha-hyeon than anything else could have.
“When will I be able to see the memoir?”
“I will show it to you one volume at a time, as the opportunity arises. But under no circumstances must you show it to anyone else.”
There was no need to elaborate on the reason — it was obvious. Baek Seojin was the commander of a fallen nation, and Ha-hyeon was equally a stranger who wore the shell of someone from Seoran, a vassal state. If the two of them were to secretly exchange a book written in a strange cipher that no one in the Daehyeon Empire could read — it would appear to be, beyond any doubt, the plotting of treason.
When they arrived at the main camp, the atmosphere was heavy and tense. The hunt had already been called off. A grim silence hung around the Emperor’s tent. And there, somehow already having relocated to his side, was Consort Hwa, wearing the most brazen expression imaginable.
“Yeong-ui!”
Before Ha-hyeon had even dismounted, Wei Wuyuan came sprinting over. The face that had been twisted with fury melted the instant he spotted Ha-hyeon, flooding with relief. He pulled Ha-hyeon down from Baek Seojin’s arms in a motion that was almost like snatching.
“Where on earth did you disappear to?! The entire hunting ground was turned upside down looking for you — I nearly……!”
Wei Wuyuan’s hands moved roughly over Ha-hyeon’s shoulders and arms, searching. His hands were trembling.
“Your Majesty, please calm yourself.”
Ha-hyeon took the Emperor’s hands in his and whispered softly.
“I was terrified something terrible had happened to you. You have no idea how close to the edge I was…….”
Was it really such an extreme reaction just for someone getting lost?
“The weather turned suddenly — a blizzard came in with a violent gust. A fallen tree came from somewhere and crushed the carriage, the startled horse bolted and fled, and the coachman went missing in all of it.”
Ha-hyeon rattled off the lies without so much as blinking. Wei Wuyuan’s eyes went white with cold rage. It was not relief but fury, redirected in an entirely new direction.
“Bring me every official who selected the date for today’s hunt, and every craftsman who built the carriage that Yeong-ui’s Songbaek rode in. I will personally take their heads and hang them at the city gates!”
Ha-hyeon’s jaw nearly dropped. He had merely blamed it on the weather, and now the Emperor wanted to execute everyone involved. The scale of the consequences of his lie was spiraling completely out of control. A horrified Ha-hyeon grabbed at Wei Wuyuan’s sleeve with desperate hands.
“Your — Your Majesty! What fault do they bear?!”
“What fault?! Yeong-ui nearly lost her life!”
“I am standing right here, completely unharmed, without a scratch on me. The weather is not at fault, and neither is the carriage.”
Wei Wuyuan’s bloodshot eyes raked over Sa Ha-hyeon with relentless intensity. After a prolonged standoff, Wei Wuyuan ground his teeth with an audible sound and looked away.
“I will not take their heads immediately. But a separate punishment will be handed down — have them all thrown in prison for now.”
Just as Ha-hyeon was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the spark jumped to Baek Seojin and Orang standing behind him. Sa Ha-hyeon urgently stepped in front of Wei Wuyuan.
“Your Majesty! They bear no fault whatsoever.”
“Step aside!”
“Please hear me out. This animal kept me warm with its body heat when I was freezing, and the commander of the imperial guard risked himself to find me and bring me to safety. If there is any fault in this affair, it lies with…… none other than this consort’s own misfortune. That the weather turned at that very moment, that the carriage was destroyed — it was all my own carelessness and my own bad luck. So please, do not place blame on them.”
Wei Wuyuan’s hand traveled gently down Ha-hyeon’s cheek. The murderous intent that had been looking for someone to kill moments ago had vanished entirely, and the gaze that settled on Ha-hyeon was nothing but aching tenderness. Wei Wuyuan slowly swept his thumb beneath Ha-hyeon’s eye.
“To say it was simply bad luck that brought this about. Do not say such sad things. Your misfortune is my misfortune as well…….”
Why would it be the Emperor’s misfortune? He couldn’t understand it — but if things could just be wrapped up like this, it didn’t matter.
“I am ashamed.”
Ha-hyeon lowered his head with a shy, demure look.
“But how is it that you know this man is the commander of the imperial guard?”
In that instant, Ha-hyeon’s heart dropped. Wei Wuyuan’s eyes were not smiling. Relentless suspicion bore through Ha-hyeon’s wavering pupils.
