When he opened his eyes, darkness was staring back at him. He felt a sense of déjà vu, though he could not discern its source. Yunseo simply gazed at "them" as they gazed at him. Strangely, he was not afraid.

As the prolonged staring continued, they swelled their forms. The guardian star in his lower abdomen surged and danced wildly. Yunseo hesitated, then gathered his courage and reached out his hand. The darkness drew near to touch Yunseo's hand, but as though blocked by an invisible wall, it could not reach him.

Yunseo walked to the right in search of a place where there might be no wall. A faint sound of water could be heard and a damp sensation grazed his skin, suggesting this place was near water.

As he moved, he extended his hand several times toward the darkness that followed him. But every attempt failed to make contact. Though he could not see, he could tell that with each accumulated failure, the darkness shook and writhed more fiercely.

"Um, I'm sorry, but……"

At last Yunseo stopped in place and carefully opened his mouth, his expression somewhat awkward.

"This seems difficult."

He understood that the darkness wished to touch him, but if the circumstances would not allow it, what could be done. He could not walk the same path forever, and besides, he had somewhere to return to. So if it could come up with another way……

Yunseo suddenly furrowed his brow and quickly covered his ears. From every direction, the silence was uncanny — not a single sound — yet a soundless torrent swelled and surged toward him in a terrifying flood.

Give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back give it back

The soundless screaming clung densely to Yunseo's skin. He could not breathe properly. As his lips moved wordlessly, the clamor poured into his mouth and filled his insides. His entire body swelled as though it would finally burst, and Yunseo let out a scream.

"……!"

When he snapped his eyes open, Yunseo could not immediately grasp the situation. But a rustling sound came from somewhere and he sharply lifted his head. Jeongjoo was sitting down, untying the rope bound around his ankles. Blinking blankly in bewilderment at the unexpected sight, Jeongjoo finished undoing the rope and turned to look at Yunseo.

"Have you woken up?"

"……What is the meaning of this?"

His head was throbbing painfully. Whether it was from having collapsed or from the lingering effects of the nightmare he had just had, he could not tell. Perhaps both.

Yunseo pressed his bound hands against the floor, raised himself up, and looked around. The house, its floor covered in nothing but straw, was small and dilapidated. Outside the open door, fallen men could be seen, and even in here there was a strange……

"Prince Inchin?"

Prince Inchin was sprawled in one corner. It seemed that, as he had expected, all of this had been the prince's scheme. What he could not understand was why Jeongjoo had become involved, and what exactly the current situation was. As Yunseo recalled his last memory before losing consciousness, his tone sharpened.

"I asked. What is the meaning of this."

But Jeongjoo did not answer that, and instead spoke of something else.

"Your Majesty. If it is now, you can take your freedom. If you entrust yourself to me and we move without rest, you will certainly be able to cross the border."

At the unexpected proposal, Yunseo could not easily find words. It was difficult to understand why on earth Jeongjoo was doing this. Could he perhaps harbor a grudge against Hwi? That seemed unlikely, for Jeongjoo's expression looked, if anything, desperate.

"You entered the palace against your wishes, did you not? If not now, you must give your entire life to that hell."

"What is your reason?"

"Are you troubled by the Emperor? His Majesty intended from the very beginning to send you to wherever you wished to go. It was only that his feelings changed and the situation changed along with them. So he will forgive you."

Yunseo's face went blank all at once. Hwi had wanted to let him go, back on that journey……? He had not done all of those things to keep him, but rather……?

Caught in an unexpected situation and receiving an unforeseen proposal, with new information flooding in on top of it, his headache grew worse. Yunseo squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and fixed Jeongjoo with a sharp look.

"So — it is your pure-hearted wish to give me my freedom? You expect me to believe that?"

"My younger brother was a Yeongchunhwa, and he died. A Yongrin, unable to overcome his own sacred power and desires, violated him and took his life."

"……I am sorry to hear that."

Yunseo's expression clouded instantly. The younger brother Jeongjoo had occasionally mentioned had in fact passed from this world, and to have met such a terrible end — it did not sit well with him.

Recalling the words Jeongjoo had once unexpectedly said to him, the current situation and the lines Jeongjoo had crossed all became cleanly clear. A corner of his chest ached, but Yunseo composed his expression firmly and spoke.

'I have one younger brother, and that child resembles Your Majesty.'

"I sympathize with your feelings and feel a sorrow I cannot put into words, but I, as I am now, do not wish for that path."

"That would be because Your Majesty's feelings have also changed. However, Your Majesty. The feelings of a Yongrin are different. I wished to tear apart and kill the Yongrin who killed my younger brother, and yet I came to partially understand his desire. Do you understand? There is no such thing as a pure heart in a Yongrin. Only the vile desire to take and extort exists."

Jeongjoo's face was stained in ruin with self-contempt and revulsion. Yunseo felt that though Jeongjoo was present in this very place, he was flailing in the swamp of the past. His gaze was directed at him, but it was truly aimed somewhere else. A grown man looked like a boy who had not yet grown up.

"I revere the Emperor, but he is no different."

"Even between parent and child, desire exists — why would any other relationship be any different?"

Answering thus, Yunseo suddenly realized that asking Hwi whether he kept him in his heart merely because he was a Yeongchunhwa had been truly meaningless. If even blood relations — parents — desired things that were too much from him, then to wish for only pure and unblemished love from a beloved was nothing more than an empty ideal.

"Jeongjoo."

Now that he understood the nature of the sad scent Jeongjoo had quietly carried, his heart broke. How desperately must he have felt, to have wanted to send him away in place of his dead younger brother. Doing this…… committing even high treason, which if discovered would cost him his life.

"Everyone possesses desire. Whatever its nature, is it not the question of whether it is acted upon that matters? You are different from him."

Yunseo extended his bound hands and covered the back of Jeongjoo's hand. Jeongjoo's eyes wavered with fragility.

Living as a Yongrin must have been agony for this person. A human sympathy for the Yongrin, who must spend their entire lives yearning even when they do not wish to, welled up. And he hoped that Jeongjoo would not lose everything over a single moment's choice.

He was about to continue speaking to console him. Jeongjoo's head snapped abruptly toward the entrance.

Yunseo turned his gaze as well, but could sense no sign of anyone. As he wondered at this, Jeongjoo suddenly hauled Yunseo to his feet and from behind, hooked one arm around his neck. As though threatening and pressuring him.

"Forgive me."

Jeongjoo murmured low and took Yunseo outside with him.

Yunseo suppressed his breathing so as not to provoke Jeongjoo, and looked around. Yongrin had surrounded them on all sides — he had no idea when they had arrived. And behind them, he could see Hwi walking slowly forward.

He was glad to see Hwi, but being in no position to simply rejoice, he carefully studied the expression on his face. Hwi alternately looked at Jeongjoo and Yunseo with a cold face that seemed to feel no emotion.

"You arrived much sooner than I anticipated. I am sorry, Your Majesty."

"If you were going to babble about being sorry, I utterly fail to understand why you do the things you are sorry for."

His delivery was slower than usual, yet every single word carried a razor-sharp edge. Even Yunseo flinched in fear, yet Jeongjoo remained perfectly calm, as though he had predicted all of this.

All the Yongrin surrounding the house were watching with grave and resolute expressions. Among them, Huije had disbelieving eyes and bit down on his lip.

Was this the end for Jeongjoo? He wanted somehow to find a way out, but this was different from the matter of Wan. Jeongjoo had kidnapped him, and had even joined hands with Prince Inchin. A flash of regret passed through him — had he not stubbornly insisted on going out himself after seeing Wongyeong's letter, this situation would never have come about.

"Your Majesty. What I desire is but one thing. Please release those court nobles who wish to be free from their bonds."

Did this mean there were court nobles in Yeonwiwon who shared Jeongjoo's will? Yunseo swallowed dryly and checked Hwi's reaction. Judging by the fact that he did not even blink, there was no chance of it being accepted. Even Yunseo himself, the very person who had attempted to flee, would find it difficult to accept Jeongjoo's intent.

Though Jeongjoo was restraining and threatening him, he would be no match for Hwi. He would likely be subdued in an instant. And so Yunseo desperately hoped that Jeongjoo would surrender and beg forgiveness.

"If that is not possible, then please at least grant your permission for the Empress, Your Majesty. Is that not something you could do for him?"

Yunseo flinched at the sudden mention of himself.

"Would it not be right to do so, for his happiness?"

Yunseo had assumed Hwi would laugh dismissively at Jeongjoo's appeal, as though it were ridiculous. Or else ignore it, telling him to stop speaking nonsense.

Yet Hwi made no response at all. The razor-sharp edge that had cut coldly across his face briefly shifted into an indistinct light, and his dark eyes turned toward Yunseo.

Yunseo took an involuntary breath. Hwi's silence — this interval — was as good as hesitation. He could hardly believe that he was faltering.