Bu-yeong pressed herself close to the wooden bars. Seol Ik-jin didn’t even try to stand—he crawled across the floor using his arms and gripped the bars.

“Your Majesty… the Empress…”

His faint voice cracked at the end. It was even weaker than it had been two days prior.

“Father, please eat.”

“That I, as your father, am reduced to this wretched state—locked away in prison and relying solely on Your Majesty’s care—brings me such shame, I can hardly bear to show you my face.”

“Don’t say that. You’re the only father I have.”

Bu-yeong opened the lunchbox, took out a bowl of rice just small enough to fit through the bars, and placed a grilled chicken leg on top. Then she carefully pushed it through the bars.

The smell of the rich, savory meat was enough to stir anyone’s appetite, but Seol Ik-jin didn’t even glance at it. Instead, he immediately grasped Bu-yeong’s hand tightly.

“Your Majesty…”

There was so much he wanted to say—but he couldn’t bring himself to speak. The future was too bleak to offer kind words, and to speak of his own misery… he feared Bu-yeong wouldn’t be able to endure it.

Sweat poured from Seol Ik-jin’s forehead as his mouth stayed closed.

Bu-yeong looked down at Seol Ik-jin’s legs. The wounds that had once festered only on his calves had now crept up to his thighs.
His hands, too—how burning hot they must be. The infection had worsened, and the fever had spread through his entire body. If they didn’t treat the wounds soon and bring the fever down, he truly might not make it.

She couldn’t let it come to that.

Suppressing the fear rising in her chest with a forced smile, Bu-yeong urged her father to eat.

“Please, before it gets cold.”

Seol Ik-jin bit into the chicken leg with great difficulty, chewing dozens of times before finally managing to swallow.
Even that one swallow seemed to take his breath away—his breathing grew slightly more labored.

“Does it suit your taste?”

“How could it not, when Your Majesty has brought it to me?”

Seol Ik-jin grasped Bu-yeong’s hand tightly once more, gazing at her intently.

“Your mother was just as beautiful.”

“Truly?”

“Her brows were neat and even, and her eyes shone… Mere words like ‘beautiful’ could never do her justice.”

Seol Ik-jin seemed lost in thought, as though staring into a distant memory of his late wife. Then, as if snapping back to reality, he gripped Bu-yeong’s hand even harder.

“Your Majesty… If ever something beyond your power should happen, go to the Empress Dowager.”

Bu-yeong recalled what had happened just days ago and shook her head.

“But Her Majesty the Dowager’s mind is no longer sound. She didn’t even know who I was.”

“There are times when her clarity returns, however.”

“Even so, she would not help me. No matter how falsely I was accused, to her, I am nothing more than the witch who killed her son.”

“I once told you that your mother died of postpartum fever following a difficult labor. Do you remember?”

“I do.”

“Do you know why her labor became so difficult?”

Bu-yeong couldn’t tell why her father was suddenly bringing this up, but she quietly shook her head.

“At the time, your mother had gone to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager. She misspoke and was punished for it. I was told the punishment wasn’t severe—but what punishment is ever light for a pregnant woman? Her body couldn’t endure it, and labor pains began far too soon.”

“What?! How could anyone do such a thing to a woman carrying a child?”

“A physician was called in a hurry and managed to rouse her, but it was her first child and she was still a long way from delivering. Since she wasn’t of royal blood, giving birth inside the palace went against protocol. She was therefore immediately placed in a carriage and sent outside the palace.

“No matter how sacred the law may be, how can it take precedence over a life?”

Seol Ik-jin gently tapped the back of Bu-yeong’s hand a few times with one hand to comfort her before continuing.

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager attended the funeral herself. She shed tears even in the jade tower, crying out in anguish. She said that trying to uphold court discipline in front of all had led to such a wretched result.”

“So that’s why Her Majesty has always treated me with unusual softness. It was because of guilt over my mother.”

“I am not sharing this with Your Majesty today to stir up resentment over your mother’s death or to make you hate Her Majesty the Dowager. I speak only as a father, because I want you to hold onto your life. It seems that the time has now come for me to go and join the woman I lost.”

At those final words, Bu-yeong snapped to attention.

“Father! I can’t let you go to Mother like this. I won’t. I’m going to do everything I can—anything within my power!”

“What do you mean?”

Seol Ik-jin noticed something in Bu-yeong’s voice and looked at her worriedly. Bu-yeong let go of her father’s hand and stood up slowly.

“Please receive my bow.”

She knelt and bowed deeply before her father. Tears streamed down her face as it touched the ground.

When she rose again, Seol Ik-jin’s complexion had turned deathly pale.

“You must survive.”

Bu-yeong didn’t wait for a reply. She turned at once and quickly left the cell.

“Your Majesty! Ma—Bu-yeong! No! Bu-yeong—don’t do it!”

Seol Ik-jin cried out desperately, staring after his daughter’s retreating figure.

♛༺═════༻♛

The banquet, which began in the late afternoon, reached its peak as night fell. With wine flowing freely and the royal orchestra playing, the guests enjoyed the graceful dance performances and music, and laughter filled the air.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager was lucid enough to remember her current status as Empress Dowager, rather than Empress. The only problem was that she thought it was five years ago.

Against the backdrop of a bright moon floating behind thin clouds, brilliant bursts of fireworks illuminated the outdoor banquet. The guests’ eyes sparkled as they gazed upwards.

Boom— boom—!

As the last of the dozens of fireworks lit the night, the Empress Dowager suddenly flinched at the sight of someone’s face.

“Isn’t that General Yang?”

She looked at Grand General Yang Mu-won with eyes full of pity, then leaned close to whisper into Lady Hong’s ear.

“Didn’t they say General Yang is twenty-three? Then why does he look so much older than his peers? He looks at least twenty-eight.”

“Y-yes. I thought so too. It must be all the hardship he’s endured on the battlefield.”

“Well, even so, with looks like that, I doubt he’ll have any trouble.”

“There are rumors, Your Majesty, that every time General Yang returns to the capital, he receives dozens of marriage proposals through matchmakers.”

“I’d imagine so.”

The Empress Dowager nodded, eyes fixed on General Yang’s striking side profile. Lady Hong, thinking she had just narrowly averted disaster, turned her head slightly and let out a tiny sigh.

‘If Her Majesty finds out it’s not five years ago, she may have another episode. I mustn’t let her strain her mind.’

But then the Empress Dowager suddenly frowned and clicked her tongue.

“Look at other people’s sons—so healthy and handsome. And yet Prince Yeon…”

“Y-Your Majesty… It seems the fireworks have come to an end.”

Lady Hong quickly interjected, trying to shift the topic before the Empress Dowager could delve too deeply into Prince Yeon.

But her efforts were in vain.

“Why isn’t Prince Yeon here? It’s his mother’s birthday celebration, and yet he’s too busy to even show his face?!”

The zither’s melody came to an abrupt halt, and the dancers stepped back from the stage.
In an instant, the entire atmosphere of the banquet sank like lead.

Lady Hong anxiously tried to calm the Empress Dowager.

“His Highness Prince Yeon went to inspect the military supplies, did he not? It was an urgent matter, so he must be quite occupied.”

“But didn’t the war with Sosa just end not long ago? What could be so urgent now?”

Lady Hong flinched and shut her eyes tightly.

‘I forgot she thinks it’s five years ago. I’ve misspoken. What do I do now…’

While Lady Hong trembled, scrambling for an excuse, the Empress Dowager tilted her head and asked,

“Lady Hong… who is that woman sitting beside His Majesty, bold as brass?”

At the far end of the banquet hall was a raised platform with three seats on it. The centre seat was reserved for the Empress Dowager, the guest of honour. To the left was the Emperor’s seat, for the sovereign himself. The Empress’s seat, to the right, was still empty.

However, an unknown woman had dragged a chair over to the Emperor’s side and was sitting there proudly.

“How could he seat a concubine before an empress has even been chosen? The blood doesn’t lie—he takes after his father in full. Just like that man, he can’t seem to control what’s between his legs.”

The Empress Dowager clicked her tongue loud enough for all to hear, throwing a sharp glare toward the Emperor.

But the Emperor didn’t react.

It wasn’t the first time she had cursed him.

The Empress Dowager had always nitpicked at everything he did. His mother, Lady Ryeo, monopolised the former emperor’s affection, and the Empress Dowager spent her life consumed by the delusion that Lady Ryeo had tried to poison her. How could her bitterness not run deep?

However, the current emperor harboured little resentment towards the Empress Dowager. Although she constantly hurled harsh words at him — perhaps out of deference to the former emperor — she had never laid a hand on him nor resorted to underhand schemes.

Compared to what he had endured on the battlefield, the Dowager’s biting remarks were nothing more than a child’s tantrum.

The emperor thought little of it, but the chief eunuch, for no apparent reason, signalled subtly to the musicians.

Before long, the sounds of jade pipes, zithers and drums mingled and filled the hall, while the silk sleeves of the dancers fluttered through the air like flower petals.

The imperial consort picked the flesh off a fish delicately and brought it to the emperor’s lips. He opened his mouth and accepted the morsel, then drank the wine she poured for him without a word.

As the drumbeat quickened and the performance reached its crescendo, an uninvited guest stepped into the hall.

Grand General Yang Mu-won, who had spotted her first, stood up in shock and murmured in a low voice:

“Her Majesty the Empress.”