He was aware of Jeongju's actions — going around sounding out the noble concubines. But the purpose was vague. Had the fire in his cart been lit? Was there only an ember left, enough that he was satisfied simply stirring the ashes?

Gauging what effect it would have on Jeongju if Yunseo were sent away — even in this moment, Hwi felt a revulsion at himself for never ceasing to calculate.

"What do you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I were to send that young man away."

Understanding Hwi's intent from those few words alone, Jeongju raised his wavering eyes.

"Have you checked the protective star?"

"No."

"…Your Majesty. If the noble concubine's protective star is even slightly more suitable to Your Majesty, then you must think of your body."

Among the current concubines, Noble Consort Hyeon, who had the protective star most suited to Hwi, could restore three-tenths of his constitution — so if Yunseo's protective star was even slightly higher than hers, it was a situation in which he could not afford to let him go.

Jeongju's reaction was expected and natural. Hwi let pass the fissure opening in one corner of that impassive face and gave his order.

"Look into a sailing passage from Yehang to Araksa."

* * *

Something cold touched his cheek, and when he raised his head, snow was falling from an overcast sky. Grainy snow pellets fell pat, pat, pat.

What kind of face would Yunseo have made, seeing snow fall? They had never spent a winter together, but he could well imagine. He would have urged him to quickly look at the sky, eager to share something good — with flushed reddened cheeks, mouth open, looking up at the sky in a daze.

Three months.

Already three months. The season had changed its clothes, and still Yunseo remained at Geumju Fortress, standing at the crossroads between life and death. Hwi stared blankly at the snowflakes settling, then melting away without a trace.

"Your Majesty."

Sangji came leading Gangbaek. Hwi pulled his gaze from the air and turned to look at them. With Sangji's prompting glance, Gangbaek cautiously opened his mouth.

"Your Majesty. My sacred energy seems to be… losing its strength."

Hwi looked over Sangji's and Gangbaek's faces. Both were serious, and they would never speak nonsense in the Emperor's presence in the first place.

Turning Gangbaek's admission over carefully in his mind, he recalled the hypothesis Yunseo had first put forward. That the poison of the Yongrin and the nature of the monsters were the same.

Just as the first dragon-descendant had undergone the awakening rite when the Hell's Gate opened, it was not strange to suppose that with the Hell's Gate closed and the path severed, the sacred energy would also disappear. It was just that — thinking of this power, called sacred energy as if it were a holy force bestowed by the Dragon God, as something that had in the end merely been borrowed from that hell — a rueful laugh escaped him.

"Are there other Yongrin showing the same symptoms?"

"At present it is only Gangbaek — but there may be those concealing it. Only Sangji and I know of this phenomenon."

Surmising that it was because Gangbaek was the most recently awakened Yongrin that he was losing his power earliest, Hwi slowly closed and opened his eyes.

"Keep silence on this matter. The Yongrin Guard is no exception."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Discreetly confirm whether there are others showing the same symptoms and check on it continuously."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The collapse of the Hell's Gate, followed by the disappearance of sacred energy. If, beginning with Gangbaek, the disappearance of sacred energy became visible, there would clearly be great turmoil within the Yongrin Guard. It would cause great ripples externally as well — so he had to deliberate carefully on how to manage it.

He gestured and Sangji immediately turned to go, but Gangbaek hesitated. Meeting his eyes, Gangbaek wavered and opened his mouth.

"Your Majesty. I…"

"Even if you lose your power, the fact that you are a Yongrin does not change."

The young face, which had been clouding in confusion, soon found its composure and steadied. Gangbaek pressed his lips together firmly and nodded vigorously.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Gangbaek departed, Hwi looked down at his own hands. A snowflake landing on his palm melted, dampening his skin with cold.

Would this power also disappear someday? For a moment, a burning pain blazed up and seized one arm. Hwi slowly curled and uncurled his fingers.

Now that he had told himself that the fire that had driven him into agony like hell for nearly twenty years would disappear without a trace like this snowflake, an indescribable emotion stacked up layer by layer and pressed down heavily on his entire body. It was certainly not joy. There was not a single positive emotion among them.

Could this truly be called liberation?

A fierce fury blazed up and his sacred energy surged. The moment the sacred energy dancing outrageously stoked the burning pain even hotter, a snowflake touched his cheek and melted.

Hwi tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.

Would you like this?

You would like it, I think.

That was enough. Hwi let out a smile like a sigh and took a step. With each step the familiar pain softly stepped on his skin — but each time a snowflake softly touched his cheek, he thought of Yunseo. Simply thinking of him was enough for the pain to grow distant.

He arrived at Junan Palace, and the snowfall had stopped. How good it would be if snow kept falling over Geumju — he thought, and in that moment a eunuch guided him inside.

"You have come."

"You have not lit the brazier. You must take care of your health."

"Your concern is appreciated, but the cool air clears the mind, so I prefer it this way."

A court lady poured tea into his cup. Hwi took a sip out of courtesy and set it down. The Empress Dowager's posture was straight as she calmly drank her tea.

The only time she had faltered was the brief moment when she had come face to face with his father's death. The atmosphere between mother and son was on the cold and distant side, yet between them ran something like a mutual understanding — a shared thing that could not be severed, crawling along the floor.

"How is the Empress's condition?"

It was the nature of conversations between the Empress Dowager and Hwi not to go around unnecessarily. Since returning to the palace, this was the first time the Empress Dowager had asked about Yunseo.

"He is the same as before, but his energy is growing stronger compared to the beginning."

"If."

The Empress Dowager, unusually, could not follow the word immediately and hesitated. In that pause, Hwi read the question circling inside her mouth.

"If the Empress cannot wake — what do you intend to do?"

The Empress Dowager's eyes carefully and sharply traced Hwi's face. Hwi reached for the teacup calmly, but did not lift it.

"I have no hobby of idling over things that cannot be."

Even at the decisive, cold dismissal, the Empress Dowager did not withdraw her gaze. The cold, impassive shell she always wore was suddenly stripped away, and a murky light gathered in her dark pupils.

"Loss is not the same as the end."

"And is that why you are somewhere that is not the end?"

At the indifferent yet sharp question thrown at her, the corner of the Empress Dowager's lips rose faintly. In the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, the fleeting years and the weariness born of them had settled and pooled.

"We have much we must protect — so we can only extend that end, and extend it again."

Just as it was for Hwi — when the Empress Dowager lost her husband, she had no time to drown in anger and grief. She had to protect the young Hwi, who had nothing but an uncontrollable sacred energy, and a nation that had just lost its Son of Heaven in an instant. One of the reasons the court had not been completely seized by Gonghwan-cheol was the Empress Dowager's family. It was because she had worked countless efforts below the surface.

In a sense, in this imperial palace, Hwi and the Empress Dowager were the people who knew each other best. And so the eyes with which they faced each other could not hold a complete and unshadowed affection.

The Empress Dowager lowered her eyelids as if to conceal the emotion that had appeared without warning. Hwi drained his teacup in one go and rose from his seat.

Snow seemed to have fallen on Geumju as well — a fine white powder was scattered across the ground. Against the hazy sky, the grey stone walls looked darker and more desolate than ever.

Entering the fortress walls, a brief vision flashed past him. The collapsed Yongrin and Eternal Spring Flowers, and between them his own past self heading toward death with Yunseo's hand clutched tightly — and when returning, the fading warmth held against his chest, bloodstained clothes, and from somewhere, the sound of sobbing.

The blue veins on the back of his hand rose. Hwi exhaled a long breath and made his way toward Yunseo. Entering the sleeping quarters, Yi Sowon, who had been keeping watch by Yunseo's side, sprang to her feet.

"I greet Your Majesty."

After Yeondeok, Yi Sowon was the one who had attended to Yunseo the most. Even as the concubines who had remained at Geumju Fortress regained their stability and returned to the palace one by one, she had declared she would stay here to the end and had nursed Yunseo. Looking back on the fact that Yi Sowon had given Yunseo the most grief among all the inner palace — it could be said that Yunseo's generous tolerance had fortunately been well repaid.

Court Lady Jo entered carrying rice porridge. Just as Hwi received the bowl from her and was raising Yunseo's upper body—

"I — will do it!"

Hwi ignored Yi Sowon's words and scooped a spoonful of porridge to check the temperature. At that, Yi Sowon drew a trembling breath and opened her mouth once more.

"I attend well to Her Majesty the Empress's needs."

"I do not recall having permitted this one a private concubine's chamber."

With a cool glance and a cutting response, Yi Sowon's face went white. He had previously never uttered a single word in his presence, but every time the subject of nursing Yunseo came up, she couldn't help but chime in — and it was no small annoyance.