Had the guardian star not been the answer after all? Or should he try one more time? If that were to lead the situation toward something even more serious……

Just as Yunseo opened his mouth with a troubled expression, a restless sound seeped in from outside. Hwi sprang to his feet as though he had been waiting.

"They have grown impatient."

"It cannot have even been two hours yet……"

"Try to sleep a little more. Should you not preserve your strength?"

"You know that is not something I can do."

There was no way he could send Hwi to the battlefield and dream sweet dreams alone. When he made a resolute expression in case Hwi might forcibly leave him behind, Hwi studied him for a moment and then extended his hand.

"Yes. In truth, having you guard my back, knowing that you are here — that alone is a great strength."

Taking Hwi's hand and raising himself up, Hwi pressed his lips to Yunseo's forehead. Yunseo pulled him into a tight embrace and then released him, and stepped out resolutely.

The inside of the fortress was already running busily with those doing their work. They hurried up to the top of the fortress wall — in the deep darkness of night combined with the darkness of the caves, the blackness was flooding in once more.

With the joining of Yongrin who had come up from Hwasicheong, the layers of the wall they had built increased. Even in the darkness in the dead of night, the bright-eyed Yongrin were completely unaffected and fought valiantly.

"I will return."

Before heading over the fortress wall, Hwi left Yunseo with a promise. Yunseo looked at Hwi's eyes — solid as though they would not be shaken by any hardship — and nodded with spirit.

He moved away and dived into that hell. Hwi was a man who never broke a promise or went back on his word, so there was no choice but to believe. Yunseo watched his retreating figure with a more steadfast expression than before.

The court nobles who had learned to manage rampaging sacred power came up onto the fortress wall one by one and stood in their places. Yunseo confirmed the senior consort's face, which had grown a little sharper, and asked.

"Were you able to get some sleep?"

"I closed my eyes for a short while. Is Your Majesty well?"

"I am someone whose health leaves nothing to be desired, so you need not worry."

The senior consort lifted the corner of her mouth as though in relief. He was glad to be able to exchange pleasantries with her even in a moment like this. It may have been even gladder precisely because it was such a moment.

"Your Majesty. The Queen Dowager has arrived."

At the imperial guard's approach to inform him, Yunseo had the senior consort keep her post and hurried down.

From the lead of a line of carriages, the Queen Dowager descended. In plain, easy-to-move attire, she stood straight, and with a calm, dignified expression she looked around at her surroundings. From the carriages that followed her, women and men stepped down. They were the senior emperor's court consorts.

The Queen Dowager's gaze reached Yunseo. Meeting her, the shoulders that had been heavy and weighty to the point of almost aching felt as though they had grown considerably lighter.

"Your Majesty……"

"Greetings can be dispensed with."

Hastening to approach and pay his respects, the Queen Dowager raised her hand to stop him and then turned to the lined-up court consorts and court nobles. At her arrival, the atmosphere among the court nobles was felt to solidify and unite more strongly.

"From this point on, in this place, cast aside all rank, bloodline, old resentments, and outdated formalities. The most important thing is survival alone. You must give your all while protecting each person's own life. Understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The court nobles scattered in all directions. The senior emperor's consorts, without anyone commanding them, seemed to know well what they needed to do and found their places. Yunseo exhaled a light breath that had welled up and bowed his head.

"Having the Queen Dowager come in person will be a great encouragement to the court nobles."

"How is your body?"

"This one is fine."

"Good. You must regard your own person as most important above all else. I ask that you not trouble your state of mind by concerns about what lies below."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Queen Dowager looked at Yunseo in silence, then gripped his shoulder softly.

"It will be hard, but please hold on well."

"……Yes, Your Majesty."

She passed by Yunseo and went toward the second consort. Yunseo watched the Queen Dowager receiving a situation report from the second consort, then turned and walked away.

"Your Majesty."

On the way back to the fortress wall, he turned his head at a familiar voice — and saw Jo Sanggung. Yunseo greeted her with a glad yet worried expression.

"You came too."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Please call on this one whenever you need anything."

"I will."

"And…… I told Yeonduk not to return to the palace and to spend time with his grandmother."

"……Ah. You conveyed what I should have said myself. Thank you."

It was fortunate that Yeonduk had happened to be on holiday and was spending time with his grandmother. Jo Sanggung would have told him in a way that kept him from worrying about this place and about himself, so he could set one concern aside.

He had not known it when he was shut away in the family home, but it seemed he had a great deal of good people in his life. Yunseo conveyed his gratitude to Jo Sanggung once more and climbed up to the top of the fortress wall. Beyond it, the same chaos that had always been there was waiting for him.

"Your Majesty. Please be seated and preserve your energy."

Yunseo had been about to decline the imperial guard's suggestion when the armchair was brought, but recalling the Queen Dowager's words to regard his own person as most important, he sat down. To preserve even a little physical strength and share it with Hwi — that was his duty and responsibility.

Time passed — whether quickly or with the slow trudging pace of an ox, he could not tell. The cloud-covered sky still shed no light, and the enemy stormed on without a hint of exhaustion. The only thing he could do was feel the ambiguous flow of time that seemed as though he were confined in this space.

Yunseo was rubbing his face with dry hands and swallowing a deep sigh when he noticed the clenched fist of the imperial guard who had remained steadily by his side after suggesting he sit. He was gripping it so tightly it was shaking and quivering.

"You will hurt yourself like that."

At the quiet words, the guard who had paid attention looked down at his own hand and opened his fist.

"I am sorry."

"It is not something to apologize for. If it is hard, please take a break."

"It is not that…… I feel a sense of powerlessness. I have spent my whole life honing my sword and learning martial arts, and yet in exactly this kind of situation I can only watch with my hands idle…… I am sorry, Your Majesty. This one has dared to speak weak-spirited words to Your Majesty."

The guard knelt on one knee with his brow furrowed. Yunseo could fully see the swelling emotions above the bowed head. Looking back now, all the imperial guards watching the battlefield wore the same expression as this man.

Naturally, he was not the only one feeling powerless. A corner of his chest boiled fiercely. With anger, sorrow, pain. But it was soon transformed into a sense of solidarity, into fighting spirit, into tender affection.

"It is precisely because you guard the rear that they can fight with peace of mind. How could that be called a small strength?"

"……"

"Looking at you, I understand. That kind of heart, one by one — that was what saved this country."

The face of the guard who had briefly looked up gradually grew steadfast. He paid his respects, rose, and stood guard beside Yunseo with his back even straighter than before.

The fact that he had struggled desperately to not be called a Yeongchunhwa, not wanting that name to replace himself, seemed like something from a previous life. What was he standing here as? Was he merely a Yeongchunhwa? No. He was standing as a comrade, and as one member who wished to protect this nation and these people.

So it was important not to crumble. He absolutely had to win.

Before he knew it, dawn had broken. They had fought for one more hour than before. A long battle. A battle so long that with countless enemies whose end could not even be guessed at, there was no way to estimate when it would end.

He was about to swallow down the despair that arose to bring him to his knees every time he forgot to guard against it, making his throat ripple, when — drip, drop — raindrops wet his cheek, and he looked up at the sky. Dense clouds that had only accumulated without any sign of dispersing sent down streams of rain.

"Oh, please……"

Yunseo's desperate voice was swallowed up emptily by the sound of pouring rain. The imperial guards moved in unison and raised umbrellas above the court nobles' heads. The slightly more muffled sound of rain drummed on the umbrella canopies.

When clothing got wet, bodies inevitably grew heavier. The movements of the Yongrin who had been fighting well gradually grew more sluggish as time passed. The number of Yongrin returning to receive treatment kept increasing. Even so, Hwi did not return even once and swept through the chaos.

If you are watching, please do not do this. Please let at least the rain, the weather — at least that — be on our side.

Yunseo chewed the rough prayer inside his mouth. As though mocking him, the rain intensified and obscured what was before his eyes. The Yongrin's formation was being pushed slowly back bit by bit. He was gripping the armrest with his fingernails, his fist clenched, when through the rain he could see Hwi running quickly toward this side.

The moment he leapt up from his seat, Hwi vaulted up. Yunseo parted Hwi's wet collar and placed his hand on his chest. Heat rising like steam scorched his palm hot.

Their lips were immediately taken. Yunseo's breath, saliva, warmth, and touch all wrapped around Hwi to heal him. Hwi greedily drank in everything of Yunseo's like parched sand.

A little faster, a little more efficiently. Yunseo added to the intuition he had gained from treating Hwi and the methods he had rehearsed countless times in his mind while watching the battlefield, and unraveled the poison. Simultaneously, he felt his own vessel, his own seed.

There is still enough. I can give as much as needed. If this was the karma that had brought me to my knees, then from now on, by saving him, it will become the root that saves me, the root that supports my life.

Yunseo recited it again and again and without cease conveyed his strength to Hwi.