WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT AHEAD

Boom, boom, boom!

The drumbeats began to ring in the air, signaling the hour of Myo (5-7AM). The emperor coughed*.

When his bulky body sat up, a line of palace maids holding trays entered the room. The trays were filled with the things the emperor would need to start his day.

He brushed his teeth, washed his face, trimmed his beard, applied some fragrant oil, and changed his clothes in somber silence.

Today was the day after the evening banquet. He was suffering from a bad hangover, and his body was sore and tired, but that was no excuse. He still needed to fulfill his duties.

“This act of being an emperor… It’s tedious.”

The emperor murmured as he looked in the mirror.

Dawn was breaking. The four main gates of YeonSung were opened. It was time for the officials to start filing in for the first royal court of the year.

Unlike the usual royal court, this was merely a formality, much like the morning ceremony. While he could go through the motions absentmindedly, the new year was different.

After finishing all the necessary preparations, he stood in front of the mirror. One year had passed by already? The man in the mirror was growing older and more obese.

Where did the young man who could race through the plains on top of his horse go? Even if he was the master of the nation, he still could not stop time.

The emperor gazed at his reflection with old, droopy eyes.

In the past, his heart was filled with yearning and regret. Suddenly, an official entered the room.

“Your Majesty.”

“Hm? Why are you here so early?”

“That is… The Red King requests your audience due to something urgent.”

Garan?

That crazy rascal must have come because of the mess he had made last night. Out of all the women he could have had, why did he have to take his cousin’s wife? Concern and worry filled his face.

They would soon ally with the SangSuh official and begin to move forward with their plan. However, he went and created such a serious problem like this. The emperor’s face was terrifying.

Was it about that incident?

While he did seem carefree and easygoing, that child never stepped out of line. He couldn’t believe he went and did something like this so close to the promised time.

“Let him in.”

At his command, the official exited the room. Very soon, the Red King entered followed by a woman in blue. No way… Did he bring Duke MoonYeo’s wife with him this early in the morning?! He was just about to yell out when he saw a woman in a black veiled hat follow behind them.

Everyone in the room paled as they stared at them.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The emperor’s angry voice grew louder.

“Your Majesty, there is something I must tell you.”

Suddenly, Duke MoonYeo’s wife, Dan SoYeon, stepped forward and bowed her head.

“I am Yujo, the younger sister of the chief of Yeha and a descendant of Mergan. Greetings, Your Majesty, Emperor of the Silver Nation.”

Both the emperor and the Red King were shocked by this information. However, the Red King was the only one who couldn’t hide his astonishment.

Yeha’s Yujo? Then didn’t that mean she was that woman? The woman who had shot him with an arrow from the hill. He had almost lost his life because of her.

As the Red King closed his open mouth and massaged his forehead, the emperor gave Yujo a fierce glare.

“What did you say? You dared to fool me and marry into the imperial family?”

“My apologies, Your Majesty. However, this was all done according to the Crown Prince’s wishes.”

What?

This was even more shocking. Realizing that this was more serious than he thought, the emperor gestured to the eunuchs with his eyes. The eunuchs quickly exited the room and stationed palace guards in front of the door.

“The Crown Prince’s wishes? Do you know what that means?”

Yujo didn’t back down. As the emperor, his authority filled this room and pierced the heavens. If she couldn’t successfully negotiate with him today, Yeha would continue to suffer in the dangerous war.

She wanted the emperor’s royal letter.

She no longer needed the Crown Prince’s thinly veiled trickery. Even if she couldn’t save her brother, she would obtain this royal decree no matter what.

“Why would I lie about something like this? The Crown Prince definitely told me that he would end the war and promised us peace. In return, he asked that I come here and find this person and kill her. In order to keep my promise, I received help from Duke MoonYeo and performed a fake wedding. I did my best to find this person and obtain the peace treaty. However, two problems arose.”

“What problems?”

“First, the person I was looking for was connected to Your Majesty as well as the Red King. Second, the Crown Prince did not want to keep his end of the bargain. Therefore, he captured my brother, Yeha’s chief, and is currently keeping him detained.”

Her frosty voice rang clearly in the room.

The emperor’s eyes widened. The Crown Prince had given her his word. Even if he was an imperial prince that could do whatever he wanted, his word held the weight of the nation. Therefore, it was incredibly important and valuable.

“Is this true?”

“Please check for yourself.”

Yujo took out the Crown Prince’s letter from her chest pocket and showed it to the emperor. The emperor glanced at the letter and groaned in his heart.

“All right, and is the person you were looking for that woman? Who is she?”

At the emperor’s question, both Yujo and the Red King swallowed back a groan. Neither of them knew if everything would go according to Yujo’s plan.

Yujo approached the woman and dragged her forward by her hand. Then she took off her veiled hat.

Suddenly, the emperor and the Red King’s faces paled. The emperor staggered back and sat down in his seat.

The woman didn’t speak and merely stood in her spot.

“No.”

The emperor finally spoke. He looked as if he’d lost half of his mind. His forehead was dripping with sweat.

“There’s no way.”

There was no way. She was dead. Engulfed in a dirty scandal, she died by drinking the poison he had given her. So who was this woman standing before him? Who was this woman who was blankly staring at him?

Her pale and thin face resembled that woman. However, her starry eyes were now empty. Those lips that had kissed him countless times as they whispered her love were now twisted. One cheek was now covered by a dark scar.

She had been a peerless beauty who could steal the heart of any man.

Her standing there and smiling at him… That image was stamped in his head forever.

That woman… That woman was standing before him.

Blank. As if her soul had been sucked out of her body.

Her face was definitely that woman’s face. Her bony body made her seem as if she had just risen from the grave.

That’s right. This wasn’t a human being. This was a ghost.

“……Nok Yeo.”

He couldn’t help but call out that name.

The name he had hated for seven years. The name that had brought him pain for seven years. The name filled with regret and yearning…

“How can you…”

He couldn’t say any more.

Although the emperor was speaking, the woman didn’t look at him. She didn’t even look at the Red King as he approached her. She merely stared blankly at some unknown object.

She was surrounded by a strange and melancholic energy. A sad rage flowed out. A cold and powerful hatred that had been sealed up in the deepest depths of her heart!

Suddenly, the emperor returned to his senses. He finally realized the terrifying consequences that would come from this. His hardened face turned and gazed at his son, who was staring at his mother.

This can’t be.

This mustn’t happen. What did this woman’s return mean?

This would kill the one who had already died. Garan would die, and even Muyeo would lose her life.

“That damned fool!”

Is this what the Crown Prince wanted in the end?

The emperor burst out of his seat. He grabbed a sword from a palace guard and began to charge at Yujo. He would slash this woman and slash the other one as well. What did these bitches think they were doing?!

“Your Majesty!”

Suddenly, Garan protected Yujo with a pale face.

“You… What do you think you’re doing?”

“Please calm down, Father Emperor.”

“Move.”

“Please listen until the end!”

“I said move!”

He needed to kill them as soon as possible. For your sake! Why don’t you understand?!

“Your Majesty!”

Suddenly, Yujo’s determined voice rang out. She slipped out from behind Garan.

“I have one more thing to tell you.”

“Shut that wicked mouth!”

“Please take a look at this.”

Yujo took off the guibin’s waistband and held it up to the emperor.

“What is this?”

“Please look closely.”

The emperor snatched the waistband and observed it. It was an average waistband. The kind that the empress or the guibin would…

However, one thing was strange. The women of the imperial family had sapphires embedded on their waistbands. The men’s waistbands had rubies.

“This is…”

This wasn’t the guibin’s waistband.

He took another close look. The pattern was covered by a patch, so it looked like a woman’s waistband from afar. However, it was definitely not the guibin’s waistband.

The emperor cut off the patch with his sword. Once the waistband was cut, he could see small words embroidered into the fabric.

It was the guibin’s writing. It was her handiwork.

As he read the words, the emperor’s eyes grew bigger. An animalistic roar burst out of his throat.

When the palace soldiers attacked the Crown Prince’s bedchamber, the Crown Prince was asleep and naked in his bed. Due to the evening banquet and the other nightly activities, he didn’t wake up from his slumber.

The soldiers grabbed the naked Crown Prince, and the fleshy fat hung loose like the meat at a butcher’s shop.

“F-Father Emperor!”

Panting for breath, the Crown Prince lowered his head.

Then he noticed the presence of the Red King and that bitch from Yeha and……

His face froze.

The guibin. The guibin who had disappeared was now standing before him.

Wh-What happened?

If it was according to his plan, he would have received the guibin from Jewol and cut off his tongue. Then he would have showed her to his Father Emperor. No, that’s not it. This woman was now deranged, and she couldn’t remember anything nor speak.

“Wh-What brings you here?”

“Oh, just some trifling matters.”

The emperor’s spoke as if nothing was wrong. However, the Crown Prince knew very well that his Father Emperor was the most dangerous when he spoke like this.

“Father Emperor, let me explain……”

“No need to explain. Just answer me one thing.”

“……?”

“Seven years ago, you went to the western provinces with your troops. Do you remember?”

“Huh? Ah, it’s been too long, so…”

“Why can’t you remember? The number of troops and the amount of campaign funds you took with you are all recorded…”

Why was he asking about this? Something didn’t feel right. The Crown Prince finally lowered his head. If he remembered correctly, he didn’t go to the western provinces seven years ago. Instead, he……

“But when I questioned all the soldiers you had taken with you back then, they all said that you didn’t participate. Where were you?”

A shiver ran down the Crown Prince’s spine. Seven years ago, he wasn’t at the battlefield. He had left the soldiers to take care of the war and made his way to the royal villa where the guibin lived. He could no longer endure her dismissive attitude towards him and decided to teach her a lesson.

That day, what was the guibin like?

He had bought off her palace maids and turned the palace guards away. The royal villa was empty, and no one would be there to hear her screams.

The soft, pale body twisted underneath him. The cries coming out of those bloody lips. The bruise on her cheek from his fist.

“I……was at the battlefield. I don’t know why the soldiers are slandering me……”

Suddenly, a wail pierced the silence. Like a savage beast that had burst out of a cave, the gubin charged at the Crown Prince. The woman had never reacted to anything until now. However, she was currently screaming like a demon as she attacked the Crown Prince.

The shocked palace guards raced over, but it was no use. It was as if she was filled with a supernatural strength. She scratched at the Crown Prince’s face and almost clawed his eyes out.

“Mother!”

Garan ran over and wound his arms around her waist.

“Aaagh, aaahhh, aaaaagh!”

She screamed and struggled as she wept. Yujo’s eyes filled with tears as she watched the scene unfolding before her.

The full-grown man, the man who seemed unmovable like a mountain, was tightly embracing his mother as he cried.

“Please calm down, Mother! Mother!”

After a long while, the woman’s cries died down. She returned to her blank state as she stared out into the distance. The Crown Prince was trembling on the ground.

“Y-Your Majesty, this is all a lie. The Red King is trying to slander me……”

“Take the Crown Prince out and confine him in his residence. If he takes so much as one step out of the building, kill his entire family.”

The emperor’s command caused another commotion as the Crown Prince was dragged away.

A silence settled once more. The emperor anxiously stared at the three people standing before him. This was a disgrace. It was humiliating. If this became known, the imperial family’s honor would hit rock bottom. Or had it always been there?

All of YeonSung already knew about the Crown Prince’s gluttony. However, if they found out about what had happened to the guibin……

He looked at the guibin. Her existence would become a thorn in his throat. If he kept her by his side, she would be a major obstacle in the Red King’s life.

“Take her away.”

At his words, Yujo and Garan looked at each other before turning their eyes to the emperor. They didn’t understand what he meant.

“Father Emperor.”

“I will release the chief of Yeha to you.”

The emperor was looking at Yujo.

“I will also give you the peace treaty you wanted. In return, take the guibin with you and treat her like your own mother. Can you do that?”

Yujo lowered her head. Her heart was racing. Peace. They were going back with a peace treaty.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will keep my promise.”

“And another thing.”

The emperor spoke in a cold voice.

“You must never come back to the Silver Nation.”

As if they were doused in ice water, Yujo and Garan froze.

“Over here, you are Dan SoYeon. A member of the imperial family. However, you created such a disgraceful scandal yesterday.”

The emperor gazed at Garan. This was for his future. The future of the Silver Nation. This was what he had wanted for so long. Their path was now clear. This was good. They were already planning on dethroning the Crown Prince anyway.

After today’s events, the Crown Prince would never return to the political world. He wouldn’t be able to keep his own life.

In order to give Garan a peaceful reign, he needed to remove this girl. As far away as possible.

“The moment you return to this land, I will send my soldiers to Yeha. I will leave this as my dying wish, so my order will still be valid after my death.”

Garan gazed at her. Yujo didn’t look back at him.

She merely clenched her fists. She had expected something like this to happen. This was for the best. This was what she had chosen.

She was sorry, but she wanted Yeha more than the Red King.