The blossom season, which had embraced the world so warmly, had come to an end and a fierce storm swept through in its wake.

Like a wild, unruly colt, it rampaged through the land, shattering roofs, suffocating trapped livestock, and obliterating every trace of the flowers’ scent.

Even as night fell, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Only thick, black clouds loomed in the sky. A slender crescent moon peeped through and cast its dim, hazy light on a woman.

Her face was as pale as a sheet, and she was running frantically. Judging by her desperate, reckless pace, it was clearly a matter of grave urgency.

Her hair, which had been neatly pinned up that afternoon, had come loose and now tumbled halfway down her back. The delicate rouge on her cheeks had been washed away by the rain, leaving her skin the same colour. Her once bright blue silk shoes were now caked in mud and looked no better than straw sandals.

She coughed dryly over and over again, as if there was burning sand lodged in her throat.

She considered stopping for a moment to catch her breath, but dismissed the idea immediately. There was no time to pause now.

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

“Your Majesty! Please, compose yourself!”

The court ladies who had been following behind called out loudly to the woman. But she didn’t so much as flinch. She simply ran, eyes fixed forward.

After what felt like an eternity of running and being chased, the woman finally stopped.

She took three deep breaths, then looked towards the eunuchs standing at the entrance.

Recognising her, one of them instantly threw himself to the ground.

“Your Majesty, the Empress!”

The others quickly followed suit, pressing their foreheads to the floor.

They had thought whoever was running through the night without a lantern or an umbrella must be mad — or perhaps a ghost.

But it turned out to be the most exalted woman in the nation.

After catching her breath a few more times, the Empress gave a command.

“Open the door.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The eunuch standing closest to the door sprang up and hurriedly pulled the latch.

As soon as the Empress stepped inside, he promptly closed the door again.

Inside, the palace maids and young eunuchs standing by immediately fell prostrate upon seeing her, foreheads pressed to the floor. The chief court ladies and eunuchs of higher rank knelt and bowed deeply.

“We pay our respects to Your Majesty the Empress.”

The dozen or so people offering greetings looked as pale as if they were mourning a death.

The Empress found this strange.

Hadn’t Prince Yeon, who had gone missing, just returned?

She had run here the moment she heard the news, without stopping to think.

And yet—why weren’t any of them smiling?

Suddenly, a chill swept across the Empress’s chest as if she had a premonition.

As if to confirm her instincts, a cry, almost a wail, rang out.

“Wu-ya… Gok-wu-ya!”

It came from the direction of the bedchamber.

The Empress furrowed her brow slightly, and one of the court ladies quickly stepped forward to explain.

“Lady Go, Her Ladyship the Noble Consort, is inside. And His Highness Prince Yeon, he…”

She trailed off, unable to finish — a clear sign that something had gone terribly wrong.

Without saying a word, the Empress strode over and flung open the door to the bedchamber.

The first thing she saw upon entering was Noble Consort Go, lying on the floor and sobbing.

With her eyes fixed on the woman’s trembling back, the Empress asked urgently,

“What has happened to Prince Yeon? Has the royal physician seen him?”

Lady Go’s small shoulders quivered before she slowly rose to her feet.

She then turned and glared at the Empress, her eyes red and swollen.

The Empress swallowed dryly, taken aback by the unfamiliar intensity of Lady Go’s gaze.

It was nothing like her usual demeanor—her eyes were wild, savage, like a feral cat locking onto its prey.

“How dare you show your face here?! You’re worse than a beast!”

Lady Go screamed, hurling insults at the Empress and pointing a shaking finger in accusation.

It was a blatant act of insubordination that could not be forgiven.

However, instead of reprimanding her immediately, the Empress turned her gaze, trying to grasp what had actually happened.

On the bed lay a young boy, utterly motionless.

His complexion was whiter than paper, and his lips were bluer than the light-blue bedding beneath him. He looked completely devoid of life.

‘No — surely not! It can’t be. The court lady said that Prince Yeon had returned alive. He must have collapsed from exhaustion. Yes, that must be it.’

Just as the Empress began to step closer to examine Prince Yeon more carefully, Lady Go suddenly blocked her path and shoved her hard with both hands.

Caught off guard, the Empress stumbled and fell straight to the ground.

Though she was known for her gentleness, even the Empress could not ignore such behavior any longer.

“Lady Go! What is the meaning of this disgraceful conduct!”

Startled by the stern voice of the Empress, which was something she had never heard before, Lady Go flinched.

But only for a moment. Overwhelmed by her emotions, she broke down and began to sob uncontrollably.

At that moment, a deep sigh sounded from somewhere in the room.

The Empress turned towards the sound.

There stood a tall man in a black dragon robe facing the closed window.

Only his broad shoulders and back were visible, and although his expression was hidden, the way he held one hand to his forehead clearly showed the weight of his torment.

“Your Majesty.”

At the Empress’s voice, the man slowly lowered his hand and clenched his fist.

His nails dug into his palm, drawing blood, but still, he couldn’t release the tension in his hand. If he didn’t restrain himself this way, he didn’t know what cruel thing he might do.

“Your Majesty, this situation is beyond my understanding, I—”

“Enough!”

Under different circumstances, the Empress’s voice would have been music to the Emperor’s ears — perhaps even a source of comfort. Now, however, it was unbearable.

Even the sound of her breathing disgusted him.

He wanted to poison her, strangle her with a white cloth and behead her.

He wanted to tear her limbs apart with a rope. What would be the most fitting punishment for her?

Unable to decide, the Emperor turned around. The sight of the Empress, collapsed on the floor, was truly wretched.

Rainwater streaked down her face, her mud-soaked skirt clung to the ground like it had been glued there.

Even a sewer-drenched rat would have looked cleaner.

Clearly, she had come running without even a parasol, soaking herself in the storm.

What had driven her to rush here so desperately?

To see if Prince Yeon was truly alive? And if he was—was it to plot some vile scheme once more?

The Empress, unable to comprehend any of it, could only look up at the Emperor’s face.

Meeting her large, unblinking eyes, the Emperor let out a short sigh.

It was a sigh of bitter self-mockery.

‘Why… why did I never once question the emotions behind those eyes?’

All of it—everything—had been his own mistake.

No longer able to bear looking into the Empress’s gaze, the Emperor shifted his eyes upward, above her head.

That jet-black hair—he had brushed it himself just last night.

And the golden phoenix hairpin nestled within it—he had gifted it to her with his own hands, along with a confession of love.

What was the throne of the phoenix, really, that it was worth stealing innocent lives just to protect it?

At first, he hadn’t believed it.

Not when her royal token was found atop the city wall.
Not when a handwritten letter, undeniably hers, was discovered in Prince Yeon’s chambers.
Not even when a court lady came forward, claiming she had witnessed the Empress pushing Prince Yeon with her own hands.

Through it all, he had believed only in one thing. The Empress’s innocence.

At least… until today.

Until the moment Prince Yeon returned alive.

A massive palace wall, ten jang high (one jang approximately 3.03 meters).

Prince Yeon had fallen from that height. But by sheer luck, his body had been caught on branches several times on the way down, and it was only thanks to that he had narrowly escaped death.

Nevertheless, his bones had been crushed, leaving him immobile.

Helpless and at the mercy of wild beasts, he was found on the verge of death by a travelling herbalist.

He returned to the palace, clinging to life, and recounted what had happened that day.

The palace maids and eunuchs, who were listening to him in front of the throne, could not hide their shock, even in the presence of their sovereign.

Lady Go burst into tears, exclaiming that she could never have imagined Her Majesty the Empress capable of such a thing.

Even the Emperor, unmoved by most things, crumbled in despair at that moment.

His eyes, heavy with bitterness, fixed upon the phoenix hairpin.

‘If only… If only I had never placed that thing into her hands, this tragedy would never have happened.’

As his gaze returned to the Empress’s eyes, a cold shiver ran down her spine. Her mind went blank.

It was the first time in her life she had felt such murderous intent—and to think that gaze came from her own husband.

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

At the sound of her name, the Empress whipped her head around.

Lady Go curled one corner of her mouth, then slowly parted her red-painted lips.

“Do you know what Gok-woo said?”

Before the Empress could answer, Lady Go shouted:

“…It was Lady Bu-yeong who did it! She feared that I, the only legitimate heir by blood, might covet the throne—and that she might lose her position as Empress because of it! That’s why she pushed me off the palace wall!”

“I never said such a thing, and I certainly never did such a thing!”

“You pushed Gok-woo!”

Lady Go’s voice grew louder and more hysterical by the second.

Frustration was driving the Empress mad. Instead of arguing further, however, she abruptly stood up and walked towards the Emperor.

“Your Majesty. This is absolutely not true. You must believe me.”

Her trembling hands reached out and grasped the tips of his strong fingers.

Without hesitating for a moment, the Emperor pulled his hand away.

The Empress fell to one side, landing heavily on her hip and losing a silk shoe in the process.

She tried to get up, but the pain shooting up her back caused her to collapse again.

The Emperor’s lips twisted with bitterness.

“Prince Yeon… Gok-woo turned out exactly as the empress had hoped.”

“What do you mean by that?! Your Majesty, this is all slander!”

The Empress could not stop her jaw from trembling. Upon hearing the news of Prince Yeon’s return, she fled wildly.

In that moment, her status and appearance were irrelevant.

The only thing that mattered was seeing for herself that he was safe.

Prince Yeon had been like a younger brother to her and was someone she had truly cherished.

But what on earth was going on?

“How could I possibly do such a thing to Prince Yeon? Of all people, how could I—!”

The moment the Empress’s gaze met the Emperor’s, she was rendered speechless.

He was renowned for his cold severity, which was so harsh that even his most senior officials trembled at it.

He had always been gentle with her, though.

But now, his expression held nothing but disdain.

It was as if he were looking not at his wife, but at something filthy.

Something less than human.

The Empress dragged herself across the floor on her knees until she reached the bedside, inch by inch.

There, with his eyes gently shut, lay a boy with a familiar face.

His expression was so peaceful that it seemed as though he might start breathing softly at any moment.

However, the blue silk garments he wore were torn to shreds and barely recognisable.

The bandages wrapped around his body were stained dark red with blood.

With trembling hands, the Empress held her fingers beneath his nose.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

She switched hands and tried again.

But not even the faintest breath brushed her fingertips.

He wasn’t breathing.

His long lashes didn’t so much as flutter.

“No… No, this can’t be. This isn’t real. It’s not true…”

Her eyes reddened and tears began to fall like pearls.

As sobs she couldn’t swallow back began to escape her lips—

A sharp voice struck the back of her skull like a blade.

“Are you satisfied now?”

Startled, the Empress whipped around. She didn’t even have time to see what kind of expression the Emperor wore.

“I did not push Prince Yeon! I swear it—I could never! You know this better than anyone, Your Majesty! He was like a younger brother to me. You know that, you—”

“Silence!”

The Emperor’s voice boomed through the chamber like a beast.

Lady Go, who had been sobbing uncontrollably, flinched and fell silent immediately.

The Emperor clenched his jaw tightly, his muscles twitching visibly.

Rage rippled through him visibly.

“Seol Bu-yeong. From this moment on, you are forbidden to speak in my presence. That is an imperial decree.”

Without hesitating, he took the phoenix hairpin out of her hair. It tumbled to the floor with a hollow clatter.

Her once-graceful hair fell in tangled waves over her cheeks and shoulders.

The Empress’s eyes trembled like a flame in the wind.

“Send the Empress to the Cold Palace.”

“We receive Your Majesty’s command.”

Two eunuchs standing nearby stepped forward and seized her by the arms.

“Let go! Let me go!”

She struggled and twisted, crying out, as her last remaining shoe fell off and skidded across the floor.

As she was dragged away, the last things she saw were Lady Go’s smirking lips and the Emperor’s cold, unflinching back…

And then it was all black.

It was a night of roaring wind and rain. The Empress was cast aside.