“It did feel off to me. But he is the kind of man who appears out of nowhere without warning, impossible to predict.”

A few years back, he had shown up at this Pyongan Provincial Office without notice, stayed a few days, and left. Wonchul had kept a close watch on him throughout, but Baek Seungjo had never shown any suspicious behavior or any sign of searching for Han Seollyeon.

“I do find it suspicious that Baek Seungjo accepted that woman so readily, but…”

“That alone is not enough to be certain of what he is thinking. He has always had a weakness for women. Looking at his behavior yesterday, he did not seem to recognize that the girl was Han Sangheon’s daughter, but then again, Baek Seungjo ought to be more cunning than that.”

“That is why I cannot tell whether this was truly a coincidence or something he engineered.”

“Neither can I. That is precisely why I put Han Sangheon’s daughter in front of him.”

The dark pupils between his wrinkled eyes gleamed with an unsettling light.

“To draw out Baek Seungjo’s true nature.”

Five years had passed since he had taken that man in. Throughout that time, Baek Seungjo had served him with absolute loyalty, yet Ikseon did not trust him.

Was he not a turncoat who had abandoned his own master? If a man betrays once, would a second time be so difficult? That was why Ikseon had never let his guard down and had kept watching.

That said, while Baek Seungjo carried himself with arrogance, relying on his own considerable talents and the king’s favor, he would step forward and handle Ikseon’s dirty work as though it were his own business whenever trouble came. He was like the sharpest blade in Ikseon’s hand, or a loyal hunting dog.

Ikseon had found that pleasing and satisfying enough that he had been on the verge of gradually loosening his guard…

“But his conduct yesterday struck me as deeply suspicious.”

All this time, the man had not spared a single glance at Han Sangheon’s daughter, whether she lived or died, whether she became a lowly courtesan. He had never once tried to spirit her away, nor had he sent her a secret message. There had even been a time when he was drunk and let slip that he was relieved the traitor’s daughter had disappeared from his bright future.

So it could truly have been a coincidence, yet Ikseon’s instincts kept telling him otherwise.

“He may have been carrying Han Sangheon’s daughter in his heart all this time.”

That would not mean he still held loyalty to Han Sangheon, who was already dead and gone, but Ikseon could not keep a man with divided loyalties by his side.

“He may have been quietly watching over her wellbeing in ways we never noticed, and then come running when he heard we were about to take his woman.”

At Ikseon’s conjecture, Wonchul’s face cycled through shades of red and white.

“If he came here knowing, then there is someone inside this provincial office feeding him information.”

That the affairs inside his own provincial office were leaking to the outside. This was not a matter of simply losing a woman. One misstep and all their heads could roll.

“I will root out whoever it is and tear out their tongue.”

Ikseon nodded in agreement at Wonchul’s murderous resolve.

“One more thing. Do not breathe a word to Baek Seungjo about that woman’s identity. We need to determine whether he already knows and is hiding it from us.”

That too would serve as a clue.

“Use that woman as bait to determine whether Baek Seungjo is truly our man.”

“Understood.”

Wonchul broke into a sly smile, the look of a man who had seized his chance to pull out a thorn from his eye, then his expression suddenly soured.

“But that means I have to be the one to keep that tiger cub trapped in my own yard.”

“You will not need to go that far.”

“What do you mean…”

Just as he was about to ask, a servant announced from outside.

“My lord, the Chief Royal Secretary has arrived.”

Speak of the devil, and Baek Seungjo appeared of his own accord.

“Chief Royal Secretary, he calls him, when the man has already surrendered his post.”

Wonchul muttered irritably and snapped toward the door.

“Tell him to enter!”

Soon the sliding door opened and a tall man stepped inside with a confident stride. Wonchul’s eyes twisted into a scowl. The man’s face practically gleamed, as though he had fed well on the female Wonchul had so carefully raised and restored his strength in full.

The sight of that face brought a sudden surge of the same defeat he had felt against Han Sangheon rising all the way to his throat.

“I trust you both rested well last night.”

Baek Seungjo greeted the two elders with courteous formality, as though yesterday’s rudeness had been committed by someone else entirely. When he took his seat, Ikseon was the first to cast his line.

“You look even more radiant than yesterday. It seems last night was quite satisfying.”

“It is all thanks to your consideration, my lord.”

“Indeed. Nagyeong, that girl. How was she? Was she sufficient to ease a man’s desires?”

One might speak freely of a courtesan, but a man would naturally hesitate to put into words how a woman of his own household had been in bed. Ikseon waited for Baek Seungjo to show surprise or deflect, to take the bait by still thinking of that woman as his wife…

“Do not even ask. I had heard the government courtesans of Pyongan Province were so skilled and had my expectations, but compared to the courtesans of Hanyang, they are simply… That girl lay there like a log all night, so instead of easing my desires, she only drained me.”

He rattled off complaints as though he had been waiting to be asked. The deflation of watching a taut fishing line return with an empty hook made Ikseon let out a hollow laugh.

“For a man in his prime, you certainly have the face of someone who only had his energy drained.”

“I am glad you see it that way, but…”

Baek Seungjo suddenly let his words trail off, his expression clouding, and he smiled bitterly.

“The truth is, the claim that I surrendered my post due to illness is not entirely without basis.”

Not a trace of sickness could be found on that clean and healthy face. Both men’s eyes went wide.

“What ails you?”

“It is rather embarrassing to say.”

He gave an awkward cough and changed the subject.

“In any case, I was foolish enough to go wandering about while my body was not well, and now it has caught up with me.”

He said that falling dead asleep right after the night’s activities, with elders waiting just outside the door, was entirely due to his depleted strength.

“I ought to take better care of myself, lest I die young in a strange land before I even have children.”

When he finished speaking, Baek Seungjo’s gaze turned to Wonchul.

“So I intend to stay in Pyongyang for the time being.”

Wonchul finally understood why Minister Kwon had said there was no need for him to go out of his way to keep that tiger cub in place. It was because he had foreseen that Baek Seungjo would volunteer to stay on his own.

Well, well. He walks right into the trap himself.

Wonchul cast his net to catch the slippery fish, putting on a show of generosity.

“The annex of this provincial office happens to be empty. You may recuperate there.”

The annex stood well apart from the inner quarters where he resided and the Seonhwadang where he conducted official business, so there was little risk of his own affairs being exposed. And on the other hand, it sat within the walls of the provincial office, making it perfect for keeping the man within reach and watching his every move.

Baek Seungjo, without the faintest suspicion of his intentions, expressed his gratitude.

“I am simply grateful that you would be so generous, my lord. I will never forget this kindness.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“Then may I be shameless and ask one more favor?”

“Speak freely.”

“I brought only one guard with me from Hanyang, so I would appreciate it if you could assign someone to attend to my needs.”

Wonchul could tell who the man was angling for, but played ignorant without missing a beat.

“Then I will send over a few capable servants.”

“If possible, please also send a chamber courtesan to keep me company on the long nights.”

He was asking for a courtesan to play the role of a wife. The man was showing his true intentions. Wonchul continued to feign indifference, luring the slippery fish to swim into the net on its own.

“Then I will look into whether there is a suitable girl among the government courtesans.”

“There is no need to go to that trouble. Just give me the girl I was with last night.”

Wonchul held down the corner of his mouth that threatened to curl up and put on a show of puzzlement.

“Did you not just say she was like a log and you were disappointed?”

“Even so, she is the one whose coming-of-age ceremony I performed. I feel a pang of guilt for making her cry last night. This is a connection of fate, and I will teach her well and return her to you, my lord.”

No matter how many excuses that silver tongue produced, the man’s intent to get that woman into his hands was impossible to hide.

The fish has entered the net.

Ikseon concealed the gleam in his eyes behind a composed smile, while Wonchul could not hide the glare of a predator with its prey’s neck within reach.

Meanwhile, Baek Seungjo appeared entirely unaware of the suspicious eyes trained on him. No one could have known that behind his guileless smile, the cunning man was turning over the same words in his mind.

不入虎穴 不得虎子. (Bù rù hǔ xué, bù dé hǔ zǐ.)

You cannot catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den.

화기소장.

And disaster rises from within one’s own walls.

—

T/N: I decided to keep both the sayings in their original languages. (with the explanation right below, as is in the raws)