The drizzle wetting his shoulders gradually subsided and then stopped altogether. As though heaven and the abyss were connected, the flood of monsters also visibly came to a halt. The storm of the chaos also gradually calmed. The movements of the Yongrin who had been swinging their swords without rest came to a stop.

And in the middle of the storm-swept swamp, Hwi was standing. From head to toe — even the sword in his hand — covered in everything so thoroughly that their original forms were unrecognizable. What stained him was not only the mud.

"Your Majesty."

"……I'm alright."

The thick dark clouds that had been packed densely across the sky split apart as though bestowing a favor. Sunlight flowed in through the gap. At the entrance, Yongrin were finishing off the remaining stragglers, and court nobles who had completed their initial treatment came back together with the injured.

Whether Hwi had given an order, the Yongrin blocking the entrance dispersed. He finished off the monsters, now much reduced in number, alone. With the composure of one who had walked bearing a long yoke. As though it were only natural.

His heart crumbled, strand by strand. Though the rain had stopped and the storm had stilled, a fierce whirlpool raged within his chest.

At last the black maw spewed out nothing. The silence that descended again stretched on endlessly, like a final dying breath.

Hwi shook his arms to flick off the mud and turned around. He took one step — and his knee suddenly collapsed. The Yongrin rushed toward him at the same moment Yunseo barely suppressed his own body from surging forward.

Hwi waved them off and quickly rose, walking with heavy, plodding steps. From his not running over using sacred power, the extent of his pain could be guessed. He desperately wanted to leap over and take him into his arms right then and there, but Yunseo composed himself and met the court nobles coming up first.

"How are they?"

"The rest are fine, but this one's condition…… is precarious."

At the senior consort's report, Yunseo looked down and placed his hand on the Yongrin whose lips had turned completely violet and whose pallor was strikingly sickly. A deep furrow formed between Yunseo's brows. Only a faint sacred power could be felt from him, and even that was not alive.

Just as his own strength had not reached the others, Yunseo's power was no different. Yunseo suppressed the heartbreaking feeling and said.

"For now it would be best to take him away and watch how things develop."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Yongrin returned one by one after that. The inside of the fortress became even busier to treat them. It was only when he reached the fortress wall that Yunseo approached Hwi, who had leapt up using his sacred power. He extended his hand, but Hwi stepped back.

"I am filthy."

Yunseo paid no mind to his words and wiped the mud from around his eyes. Hwi looked down at Yunseo in silence and then spoke.

"I am back."

"Welcome…… back. You have gotten quite grubby."

"That really is an expression that does not suit me at all."

When Hwi broke into a wide smile, Yunseo drew a matching arc with his own lips. Grief was boiling up in his throat, but he swallowed it down and smiled. It was a smile born of stubbornness and fighting spirit.

"You look like a grubby little stray pup."

"Have you ever seen such a large pup?"

"I merely said what I saw."

The corners of Hwi's eyes crumbled. He tried to touch Yunseo's cheek with his finger, but checked his dirty hand and pulled it back.

"I should wash up first. While I do, it would be good if you went to see to the court nobles."

"Yes. I will do that."

"I will wait."

Even after saying that, Yunseo and Hwi stood facing each other for a long time before separating. Coming down into the fortress, Yunseo called for Jo Sanggung first.

"The Emperor is looking for something sweet. Could you prepare it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Some going inside to wash their bodies first; some putting rice balls — simply prepared by the palace servants — in their mouths first to stave off their hunger; some lying down in the barracks to make up for lost sleep. The Yongrin scattered in all directions for their respective purposes.

The atmosphere was far more subdued than after the first battle. With the number of injured increasing, it was only natural. Yunseo went to the physician and asked about the Yongrin's condition.

"I am sorry to report, but it is difficult to guarantee whether this officer will be able to recover."

The physician bowed his head and reported in a deeply sorrowful voice. Yunseo blinked blankly, swallowing the rising grief. Just imagining how those who learned of their comrade's condition would feel was heartbreaking in itself. Yunseo left word to see to him to the very end, and headed to the barracks where the court nobles had gathered.

"What if we…… cannot manage it in the end?"

At the anxious voice of a young court noble, Yunseo, who had been about to lift the curtain and enter, faltered. From the very young voice, it seemed to be a Yeongchunhwa who had not yet bloomed. They were helping with miscellaneous tasks but could not use their guardian star, so they would be even more afraid and helpless. While wondering how best to console them, a familiar voice seeped out.

"Hmph, what utter nonsense. Those things are lowly creatures. Understand? Compared to them, we are the humans chosen by the Dragon God. How could the likes of us possibly lose?"

The arrogant tone instantly changed the air inside the barracks. He could not know what that person truly felt inside, but the court noble's confident and clear-cut words seemed to be more effective than a complicated speech. He swallowed a silent laugh when a presence approached.

"The saying that even dog droppings can be medicine is not wrong."

At the second consort's unsparing remark, Yunseo was rather taken aback. If the court noble had heard it, they would probably have thrown a fit asking if they were being called dog droppings.

Yunseo silently brought the second consort to a spot away from the barracks. The second consort handed Yunseo the register she had been holding.

"I tried to represent the court nobles' conditions in numbers."

Yunseo's expression clouded as he checked the names and the numbers written beside them. Just like the Yongrin, the Yeongchunhwa's strength was also being depleted. A full day of comfortable rest would be needed to replenish the spent strength, but there was no way of knowing when the next attack would come.

"We will have to manage things even more tightly."

"Yes, Your Majesty. But with the Queen Dowager assisting, and when the personnel arriving from Hwasicheong are supplemented, I believe we can hold on sufficiently."

The second consort finished her words and parted her lips. The sentence pooling at the tip of her tongue was clear without even hearing it.

For now, we can hold on.

But for how long.

Once that thought arose, it was the kind of doubt that made one simply want to fall to one's knees. Yunseo forced that question away and examined the second consort's complexion.

"Did you manage to sleep?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"The second consort is also a pillar for the court nobles, so you must take care of yourself. Your color is not good right now, so it would be better to go see the physician."

"No. This one is simply…… now that I have arrived here, I foolishly find many regrets passing through me……"

The second consort's eyes, staring somewhere in the air, were blurred. Yunseo reflected on the circumstances the second consort had shared with him and gripped the cuff of her sleeve. Only then did the second consort's gaze return to Yunseo.

"You are here. We are, together. And this place is not yet the end."

The second consort blinked slowly. Her long eyelashes fluttered down like settling wings along her narrow eyelids. A faint smile suffused the second consort's lips.

"I desperately wanted to become 'us' my entire life — I could not let go of that — and now I find it was something so easy and so close all along."

"The world is just…… a wretched place like that, it seems."

Thinking back on how he had come to form the family he had yearned for so desperately in the very palace he had so desperately wanted to escape. First there had been Yeonduk, and then Hwi, Jo Sanggung, the senior and second consort and this court noble, the Queen Dowager, and everyone striving alone in this place. They were here.

"Then I shall hold on even more wretchedly."

"Very well. When all this is over…… will you choose the color of attire that suits this person best? I am not very good at such things."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Let us dress splendidly and go on an outing."

When he exaggeratedly shuddered, saying he could not bear being shut inside these gloomy walls any longer, the second consort laughed softly. Yunseo felt relieved at her smile and went to see to the remaining court nobles before returning to Hwi.

Carrying the plate of confections Jo Sanggung had given him, Yunseo stepped into the bathing room. In a tub from which warm steam was rising, Hwi was soaking and warming his body. He turned his head and looked at Yunseo.

"Come in."

At the low voice that reached him, Yunseo removed his clothing one piece at a time and stepped into the tub unclothed. The hot water wrapped around him and his muscles, which had been tense throughout, loosened languidly. Yunseo immediately sat on top of Hwi and caught his lips.

A wet sound floated through the moisture suspended in the air. When Yunseo raised his lower body, Hwi's member pushed its way between them.

Yunseo continuously poured his guardian star into Hwi while stroking his body wherever his hands could reach. The solid frame and muscles twitching beneath his hands, the heat radiating outward, and the vigorously beating pulse. Him, alive.