Among the well-informed, it was widely believed that Prince Ye, Yoon San-gyeong, had gone into seclusion and sealed off his household due to severe injuries sustained during the war.

But this was nothing more than a rumour invented to carry out a covert mission.

San-gyeong, perfectly healthy and strong, casually tossed the face of ‘Cheong-un’ – now just a leather mask – towards Iho.

“Soak him in the solution.”

“Yes, sir.”

The finely crafted leather mask sank into a medicinal solution designed to prevent decay.

Staring at the mask, Iho murmured with renewed admiration.

“This one is so well made, it’s almost uncanny. We should give Old Gam a bonus.”

Old Gam was a master mask maker associated with the House of Prince Ye.

His leather masks were far more sophisticated than the ordinary human skin disguises used in the martial world. Even in broad daylight, they looked completely natural.

But like all intricate tools, these leather masks required a great deal of maintenance.

“It’s a bit of a hassle to have to soak them every time they’re not in use.”

Maximum use was six sijin (about 12 hours). Any longer and the mask would deteriorate rapidly.

Of course, they could always make a new one.

But for now, they were undercover in Doha, hiding from the eyes of the world – and it was a long-term mission.

Given the size and complexity of Prince Ye’s household, it was likely that spies from rival factions – eager to exploit any weakness in San-gyeong – were already embedded within.

If they carelessly contacted Old Gam and the operation was leaked, it wouldn’t just disgrace San-gyeong and his followers – it would reach the emperor himself.

Posing as the fake husband of a blind woman…

Had the emperor not given such a firm and direct order, San-gyeong would never have accepted the mission.

It was contrary to the behaviour of a nobleman and could easily become a weakness for the emperor.

But the operation had already begun.

‘There is no choice now but to move quickly and erase all traces.’

San-gyeong, his eyes cold and calm, looked out of the window.

He saw Woo-hye enter her room with Hyang-eum.

Once known as the most beautiful home in Doha, the house now looked pitiful—dilapidated and impoverished.

Woo-hye, the owner of the house, was no exception.

Her appearance was worse than that of a commoner.

And from what San-gyeong had observed since yesterday, the only maid who took care of her was Hyang-eum.

As for the so-called nanny, all she seemed to care about was whether her mistress had returned dead or alive.

‘Pitiful.’

That one word was enough to describe the situation.

“I haven’t seen Gye-ri’s husband or children since yesterday.”

San-gyeong remarked.

Gye-ri was Nanny Gye’s real name.

Samho replied to his observation.

“Gye-ri’s husband, Gilsang, goes from one gambling den to another every day. Their daughter, Choeul, is following in the footsteps of the nobility, and their son, Yeopchil, has set up his own household elsewhere and rarely visits Yeonmowon.”

It was literally a mess.

Iho dabbed at the corner of his eye with his sleeve in mock sorrow.

“Poor Lady Dan. As if her misfortune wasn’t enough, her husband is a complete scoundrel…”

Samho scoffed.

“Thanks to our Lord, she was spared from ending up with a real scoundrel. That’s divine luck, if you ask me.”

“Yes, Samho. You’re absolutely right.”

He glanced over at San-gyeong, who was discreetly wiping the remaining glue from his face.

“Tsk.”

There were mountains of things Iho wanted to ask him.

But since the beginning of the mission, San-gyeong had given off such a cold aura that Iho hadn’t dared to open his mouth.

‘Still, I am curious to know what he thinks of the lady.’

San-gyeong was handsome.

Not just handsome, but so strikingly strong and beautiful that one would be hard pressed to find a match in the entire nation of Cheonhae.

His features were perfectly balanced, not relying on one attractive element to carry the rest.

He had porcelain skin, a flawless physique – so flawless that it would be more believable to say he wasn’t human.

‘Actually, there’s a part of him that’s even more perfect.’

Iho grinned mischievously.

Her master, this flawlessly created being, never showed his face in public.

He never had women around him either – wasting that breathtaking beauty in solitude.

And then one day, just like that, he ended up with a breathtaking bride.

Considering San-gyeong’s unique situation – where he had to take a woman to consummate a marriage – there couldn’t have been a more ideal setup.

Iho, hoping that Dan Woo-hye’s breathtaking beauty had at least melted San-gyeong’s icy heart into a thin layer of slush, asked subtly.

“Sir, what do you think of Lady Dan herself? Isn’t she really beautiful?”

San-gyeong didn’t answer, but Iho didn’t give up.

“You’ve heard about Lady Dan a hundred times from her Brother Joo-hyuk, haven’t you? I used to think he was just blinded by sibling prejudice every time he said his sister was the most beautiful woman in the world. But now I know he wasn’t exaggerating!”

At the mention of Joo-hyuk, San-gyeong’s hand that had been wiping his face stopped for a moment.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he resumed his task.

The moment was so fleeting that no one noticed any change in him.

Iho, who had just been chattering away happily, suddenly felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Who would have thought that I would meet the Lady Dan I had only heard about under these circumstances… And to think that she lived like this…”

Dan Joo-hyuk, the eldest son of the Dan family, had served in Prince Ye’s house until his death.

He had also shared many hardships with San-gyeong.

Although they weren’t close enough to be called best friends, he was one of the few people San-gyeong trusted deeply.

Had he lived, he might have become one of the few lifelong companions San-gyeong ever had.

San-gyeong cut through the sentiment coldly, as if to reject such senseless emotions.

“She is a woman with many secrets. Don’t let your guard down just because of her circumstances – she’s no easy opponent.

Samho, who had just returned with a neatly folded set of black martial robes, nodded in agreement.

“She is definitely not an ordinary woman. She almost died after being kidnapped, and yet today she acted as if nothing had happened.”

San-gyeong had rushed to Doha as soon as he received the information about the kidnapping attempt.

By the time he found Woo-hye, she was already in the water.

Driven by the sole determination to save Joo-hyuk’s sister, San-gyeong didn’t hesitate – he fired his arrow without a second thought.

Since he would soon have to impersonate Cheong-un in front of her, he never revealed his identity.

But then he noticed something strange.

On the boat, she had almost seemed to be able to see.

Of course, it could have been a trick of the moment. From her past and even her present behaviour, there was no doubt that she was blind.

His assumption wasn’t just based on what he’d seen in the reception room.

Earlier that morning, while walking around Yeonmowon, he’d seen Woo-hye reaching out of the window.

She was desperately trying to grasp a single flowering branch.

As if she didn’t care if she fell out of the window, she leaned out dangerously.

Watching her, his body moved instinctively. When he came to his senses, he pulled down the flowering branch for her.

He immediately regretted it, thinking it was a foolish impulse –

But then Woo-hye, who had finally managed to touch the peach blossom, beamed with joy.

With a bright, innocent smile like a child’s, San-gyeong stood there in silence, holding the branch and watching her.

The way she touched the flower was so careful and delicate that it made the onlooker feel ticklish inside.

Watching the look of concentration on her face, he absentmindedly reached out and wiped a bead of sweat from her cheek. It really was a mistake.

Realising what he had done, he clenched the hand that had touched her and held his breath to make sure she didn’t notice him.

Fortunately, she soon let her guard down and went back to touching the flower.

Then, perhaps chilled by the wind, she sneezed so hard that her body swayed slightly. With a look of regret, she closed the window.

That fleeting moment had left a strangely deep impression on him.

‘But yesterday, on the pleasure boat, I’m sure our eyes met.’

It was too vivid a look to dismiss as coincidence.

Her eyes had looked like black flames.

Eyes that held a fire so intense that anyone foolish enough to reach out would surely be reduced to ashes.

‘And she’s someone who doesn’t hesitate to hurt others.’

There was another wound on the back of the man San-gyeong had shot.

One made by thrusting a sword downwards with the blade pointing inwards. That’s how people stab when they want to kill without question.

The man’s body was thoroughly soaked.

Most likely, after stabbing the man, she decided that he couldn’t be subdued by force alone and threw him into the river.

When San-gyeong’s subordinates assessed the scene, they clucked their tongues and said that Lady Dan was far more ruthless than she looked.

But San-gyeong disagreed.

To call her ruthless was to underestimate her.

In his eyes, Dan Woo-hye was mad.

At least that’s how he saw her.

‘Maybe she’s not as blind as the rumours say.’

Among the blind, total blindness – or complete darkness – is rare.

More often, they retain some ability to see light or the outlines of objects.

Dan Woo-hye may be pretending to be completely blind in order to deceive Seol Mi-hee.

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door –

Just then a messenger pigeon tapped on the window.

San-gyeong checked the note tied to his leg.

Cheong-un was locked up in the cattle shed in Okseo Valley.

The real Cheong-un was to live there like cattle until the day San-gyeong left Doha.

Samho asked.

“Wouldn’t it be cleaner to kill the real Cheong-un and use the double we created when needed?”

It was a logical suggestion – but it wasn’t San-gyeong’s intention.

“No matter how well trained a double is, it won’t be as merciless or cruel as someone who has been truly wronged.”

Later, Cheong-un is released from Okseo Valley and making him believe that Woo-Hye was behind his suffering – would easily lead him to seek revenge.

That was the crux of the whole plan: to plunge Dan Woo-Hye into a real crisis.

And to bring out all the hidden forces in Doha that would surface to protect her.

Among those forces, there was one person San-gyeong had his eye on.

“We must not miss the moment when Pungwoo shows his tail.

Pungwoo was the head of Pungwoo-gak, the wealthiest group in Doha and a rapidly growing power in Akyang.

This person was the main target of this mission – someone to be taken alive.

“If Pungwoo shows up while we’re hiding in Doha, Cheong-un will be useless. Get rid of him.”

Everything San-gyeong had set in motion was a decoy.

A carefully laid trap to lure out the elusive, ghostly figure known as Pungwoo.