Iho muttered sceptically,

“Is there really a connection between Pungwoo and Lady Dan? She’s been living in poverty for seven years – it just doesn’t add up.”

Not long ago, Prince Ye’s house had received information that Dan Woo-hye had once been Pungwoo’s longtime lover.

There was no hard evidence, but a witness had testified, and as they investigated Woo-hye’s past based on this account, strange inconsistencies began to emerge.

The deeper they dug, the more things about Dan Woo-hye didn’t add up.

It was as if the details had been selectively edited to fit a particular narrative.

It was very similar to the way high-ranking officials hide secrets.

The kind of sophisticated cover-up that only experts in this kind of investigation could uncover.

To the local authorities, she seemed completely above suspicion.

A clear example of this was her behaviour this morning.

She had displayed courtly manners – something she couldn’t possibly have learned, having been exiled to Doha at the age of thirteen.

“We’ll know soon enough.”

San-gyeong replied as he changed into his black uniform behind a translucent screen.

As he dressed, Samho asked.

“When should we deal with Madam Seol’s dogs?”

Except for Hyang-eum, everyone who worked at Yeonmowon belonged to Seol Mi-hee.

As long as they remained embedded in the household, San-gyeong and his team would have to be careful with every move.

If the mission hadn’t come so suddenly, they would have replaced the entire staff with personnel from Prince Ye’s house.

Unfortunately, there had been too little time for more than the bare minimum.

Any further delay and they might not have been able to save Woo-hye at all.

“For now, just order surveillance. We’ll watch for a while and avoid any suspicious actions that might cause unnecessary alarms.”

“Understood.”

Iho glanced between the two men, their faces serious, and silently thumped his chest in frustration.

Capturing Pungwoo, uncovering Woo-hye’s secrets –

That wasn’t the real core of the mission.

The most important part was San-gyeong playing the role of a husband.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Like lord, like vassal, as the saying goes.

“If His Majesty the Emperor saw them behaving like this, he’d probably tear his hair out!”

They’d used the mission as an excuse to give San-gyeong a wife.

But anyone watching would think they were out to put down a rebellion.

Iho let out a heavy sigh and patted his perfectly fine lower back for no reason.

“Ugh… I thought I’d get some rest after the war, but here we are on another mission…”

While he was subtly hinting that they might want to take it a little easier, a couple of agents disguised as low-ranking servants came in with luggage and scolded him.

“Don’t be such a baby. You’re still a senior attendant, you don’t have to do the grunt work. I’m an old man playing the role of a junior servant, you brat.”

“What can I say, Sa-ho Hyung? Just look at me. Someone with my looks clearly doesn’t fit the role of a lowly servant.”

The man called Sa-ho snorted.

“As if. Honestly, Sa-ho is better looking than your weasel-faced self.”

“Whoa-okay, I’m a little offended. I always thought I was second best to the master.”

“Keep dreaming.”

These men were all elite soldiers from the House of Prince Ye, specialists in covert operations.

While overwhelming force and firepower were crucial in war, there was something even more important – intelligence.

San-gyeong, who had studied warfare and tactics from the time he first held a sword, had formed a covert unit known as the Heuk-ui Dae (Black Cloak Corps) to carry out specialised missions.

This ‘false husband’ mission was one such operation.

By this time, San-gyeong had already finished changing behind the screen and stepped out.

“Has Yeonmowon been thoroughly checked?”

Sa-ho nodded.

“Yes. There are no hidden rooms. There is a small hole in the wall, but only a child could fit through it. To be honest, if Lady Dan wanted to contact Pungwoo, this house wouldn’t work. The surrounding neighbours have all been brought over to Seol Mi-hee’s side.”

“Seol Mi-hee again.”

It had been seven years since Woo-hye had been abandoned in Doha.

And yet, Seol Mi-hee’s network of eyes and ears was still planted throughout the area.

This made the mission unnecessarily complicated.

San-gyeong couldn’t understand why Seol Mi-hee was so suspicious of Woo-hye.

“Surely she doesn’t know about the possible connection between Dan Woo-hye and Pungwoo…”

Iho, who intuitively understood Seol Mi-hee’s thinking in a way San-gyeong didn’t, offered an explanation.

“Because Lady Dan is too beautiful.”

San-gyeong frowned.

“Nonsense.”

“What? I’m serious! Don’t you trust someone with five older sisters?”

San-gyeong was about to dismiss it as nonsense, but everyone else agreed with Iho.

“He has a point. And she is a legitimate daughter. She must feel like a big obstacle to her own daughters.”

To help San-gyeong understand, Iho explained further.

“Madam Seol’s eldest daughter is currently in negotiations to marry the First Prince. Her second daughter is engaged to the Gyeon family – the same match originally intended for Lady Dan.”

Meanwhile, the portrait of Woo-hye – renowned for her beauty – had begun to spread, arousing curiosity as to her whereabouts.

This, in turn, revealed that she had been banished to Doha seven years earlier – a place where no one was willing to care for a blind girl who had lost both her mother and brother.

The Dan family’s shameful abandonment of a useless legitimate daughter was once again on display.

“She is now the most praised woman in Akyang. This alone gives Madam Seol enough reason to resort to evil schemes.

And so the kidnapping attempt had been a deliberate move to ruin Dan Woo-hye’s life completely.

The more San-gyeong heard, the more ridiculous it all sounded.

He let out a long sigh, tired of being forced to listen to this nonsense.

The chaos caused by one beautiful woman wasn’t over yet.

In fact, the reason San-gyeong had even taken on the role of Cheong-un’s “false husband” in this mission was because Dan Woo-hye was a beautiful blind woman.

No matter how upright and scholarly a man might appear, if he was assigned to be the husband of a stunning woman, chances were slim that he would insist on preserving his chastity.

After all, the failure of a married couple to consummate their relationship was a serious matter.

Under strict law, it was grounds for divorce.

A husband was obliged to visit his wife’s bed every night.

Failure to do so was considered disloyal, unfilial and unjust.

With such strong justification, even the emperor – who had raised San-gyeong as his own son – had assumed that San-gyeong would eventually give in and take Woo-hye to bed.

Even the emperor…

Even he, who was well aware of how San-gyeong’s parents met, deceived each other, and eventually died.

Even he…

“Kh…!”

Like a tiny boat caught in a raging storm, San-gyeong felt his composure slip away.

He clutched at his chest, where a tearing pain flared up near his heart.

“My lord!”

“Are you alright?!”

He raised a hand, stopping his men from approaching.

The veins in his neck were bulging and the blood vessels in his eyes had burst.

At the same time, a violent impulse surged through him –

to destroy everything he could get his hands on.

To see blood.

His ugliest, basest instincts took over.

He felt like vomiting.

With trembling hands, San-gyeong hastily pulled a vial of medicine from his sleeve.

“Damn.”

The pills spilled onto the floor.

A curse – something he normally never uttered – escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

He shoved a handful into his mouth and chewed, grinding them between his molars before swallowing.

Those watching him couldn’t hide their concern.

“Is it your neurosis again? This mission is practically a long-term convalescence, but you’ve been pushing yourself too hard the last few days… Wouldn’t it be all right to slow things down?”

“Enough.”

San-gyeong’s sharp tone, so unlike his usual self, caused Sa-ho to fall silent, a sombre look on his face.

As the atmosphere grew heavy, Iho forced a grin and tried to lighten the mood.

“Come on, everyone, why the long faces? It’s not like this is the first time our lord has had one of these episodes. We all know it’s just a mild condition that will go away with some medicine.”

“Well, it’s just… he’s needed the medicine more often lately.”

“You worry too much. He’ll be fine once he gets some fresh air and a bit of rest. It’s all from overwork, I tell you. Come on, come on – everybody out and back to work. There’s still cleaning to be done inside, remember?”

Pushed out by Iho’s cheerful persistence, the others left the room until only the three of them remained.

Iho’s carefree expression had changed to something far more serious.

Samho looked equally grim.

“Even Sa-ho has noticed that your attacks are becoming more frequent. This can no longer be brushed aside, my lord.”

“Iho is right.”

By now, San-gyeong had regained his composure as if nothing had happened.

He looked as cold and controlled as ever, almost devoid of emotion. That was the effect of the medicine.

“This isn’t the first time. No need to make a fuss.”

The drug suppressed his impulses.

It violently dulled his senses, calmed the nerves that had flared up like a wild stallion.

It was called the Unshaken Heart Pill.

Samho spoke with a hardened expression.

“Still, we can’t be sure. Let me check your back.”

San-gyeong, although slightly furrowing his brow, obediently lowered the top of his robe, exposing his back.

His broad back was covered with dense muscles and scarred with wounds large and small.

They were all wounds from training and battle.

But aside from these scars, there were other strange marks on his otherwise smooth skin –

Red spots resembling plum blossoms.

This unusual phenomenon was widely known to the general public as a side effect of a certain elixir.

The name of the elixir was Twenty-Four Flower Dream (Isipsahwamong).

It was a notorious elixir, known to be consumed only by the leader of the Demon Cult and his direct bloodline.

Therefore, if news ever leaked out that San-gyeong was addicted to Twenty-Four Flower Dream, not only the House of Prince Ye, but even the Emperor himself would be in grave danger.

It would serve as damning evidence of collusion with the demon cult.

A basis for accusing the Emperor of consorting with heretics.

That alone would be more than enough justification to start a civil war.

“Damned Elixir.”

San-gyeong did not deny that he was the direct descendant of monsters who had consumed the Twenty-Four Flower Dream for generations.

Nor did he deny that by consuming the elixir himself, he had been born into a state close to that of a new kind of human being.

There were certainly benefits –

Incredible regenerative powers, monstrous strength, enhanced reflexes and vision.

But it was also a deadly poison.

As its name suggested, once twenty red flower-like spots bloomed on the back, the user’s energy would spiral into chaos, driving them mad…

And they would soon die.

The side effects were terrifying,

But the antidote… was surprisingly simple.

The antidote was s*xual intercourse.

But not just any intercourse – it had to be supreme, accompanied by intense mental and emotional pleasure.

It didn’t matter if that pleasure came from drugs or bizarre acts, as long as it reached that euphoric peak.

It was because of this obscene method of detoxification that the Emperor had orchestrated the entire operation in the hope of saving San-gyeong.

San-gyeong detested the vulgar and dirty nature of the treatment.

Just thinking about it made him sick.

But the emperor had issued a royal decree forcing him to undertake the mission.

If the emperor had not threatened him so coldly and mercilessly, San-gyeong would never have obeyed.

“There are still fifteen blossoms – no change since last time,” Samho reported.

San-gyeong nodded, straightened his clothes and put on a black face veil.

The long cloth draped over his entire upper body, hiding his features.

Now dressed like a suspicious martial artist, he strapped his sword to his waist.

His hand trembled slightly as he checked the knot.

Before anyone could notice, he clenched his fist tightly to suppress the trembling.

When he was ready, San-gyeong gave his orders.

“Iho, stay behind and watch Dan Woo-hye’s every move. Samho, come with me – we’ll go after Pungwoo.”

“We understand your order.”