Not long after, a court lady brought in a tray piled high with preserved peaches and handed one to each of the boys. Yul and Chahyeong bowed and thanked her—“Thank you, Your Majesty!”—before happily digging in. But for some reason, Myeong-hyeon only picked up the preserved peach and set it down again, repeating the motion over and over.

“Do you dislike peaches?”

“No, Your Majesty. I love them very much, but my mother told me that eating too many sweets will quickly ruin my teeth. So we agreed that I would only have treats once every five days. It hasn’t been five days yet. I believe keeping myself healthy is the best way to honor my mother. If I eat this now, wouldn’t I be an unfilial son? But if I don’t eat what Your Majesty has given me, then wouldn’t that be disloyal…?”

Bu-yeong burst into laughter at the sight of Myeong-hyeon, who looked so glum over a single piece of preserved peach. To think he was weighing both filial piety and loyalty over a simple treat!

“You’ll surely grow up to be both a devoted son and a loyal subject. Let’s do this: after you eat the preserved peach, I’ll have a court lady clean your teeth thoroughly for you. That way, your teeth won’t go bad, so you’re not being unfilial—and since you ate the treat I gave you, you’re not being disloyal either.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Only then did Myeong-hyeon finally eat the preserved peach, and Bu-yeong watched him with a pleased smile.

Once the children had finished their peaches, Gok-heon said.

“You are all dismissed.”

The three boys bowed again to Bu-yeong and Gok-heon, then left the room.

“Bring in the tea set.”

Gok-heon placed his order as he took his seat at the table at the edge of the reception hall. Bu-yeong knew what was required of her and took her seat opposite him.

Soon, a court lady placed a teapot and cups on the table. Seeing the two of them together again after such a long time, the attendants exchanged knowing looks and quietly left the room.

Bu-yeong brewed the tea as usual, pouring it into Gok-heon’s cup first. Gok-heon was the first to speak.

“You seem to like Myeong-hyeon.”

“He’s so clever for his age—it’s endearing.”

Without realizing it, Bu-yeong found herself smiling again.

Staring at the brimming teacup, Gok-heon murmured.

“Today marks the tenth day. As promised, Lady Yang will be allowed to leave the palace.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Gok-heon lifted the full cup but held it for a long time without drinking.

“Why aren’t you drinking, Your Majesty? Are you sad that this will be the last cup of tea I serve you? Should I pour you another?”

For some reason, a bitter smile flickered on Gok-heon’s lips at that moment. Bu-yeong sensed something was off, but dismissed it as her imagination.

Without answering, Gok-heon finally downed the tea in one gulp. Then Bu-yeong took another cup, poured tea for herself, and was about to lift it to her lips when—

“Don’t!”

Gok-heon shouted, snatching the cup from Bu-yeong’s hand and hiding it in his palm.

Bu-yeong frowned. He was always so willing to give her everything—why be so sensitive over a single cup of tea?

A strange feeling crept over her.

‘Now that I think about it, His Majesty has always seemed reluctant to drink tea with me.’

A tea with a scent she had never encountered in her life, and Gok-heon’s uneasy expression.

“If Your Majesty can drink it while I cannot, then these must be no ordinary tea leaves. Am I right?”

“This is…”

Gok-heon was silent for a moment before finally speaking again.

“It cools the body. The royal physician said you have a chill inside you, so you mustn’t drink it.”

“One cup won’t do any harm.”

As Bu-yeong reached for the teapot again, Gok-heon pressed her hand firmly with his own.

“I told you not to drink it. That’s an imperial command.”

“If I disobey an imperial command, will you have me beheaded? Or flogged?”

Bu-yeong knew all too well that, no matter what she did, Gok-heon would never lay a finger on her.

“What sort of tea could possibly make Your Majesty act this way?”

Bu-yeong suddenly stopped speaking, clenching and then relaxing her jaw. It wasn’t because of Gok-heon’s hand on hers.

“I won’t drink it, so take your hand away.”

At her words, Gok-heon hastily let go. Bu-yeong opened the teapot lid and, using wooden tongs, picked out the tea leaves inside. The damp, blue-green leaves looked strange—unlike any tea leaves she had ever seen in her life.

‘So it’s not really tea.’

Bu-yeong removed one of the silver rings from her finger and dipped it into the teapot with the wooden tongs.

“Now, this is…”

The color of the silver ring darkened instantly. It was poison. Someone had put poison in the emperor’s tea.

While Bu-yeong stared in shock, Gok-heon’s expression remained unreadable.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

Bu-yeong’s hands began to tremble as she held the tongs.

“Did you ask me to poison you instead of making you tea? So your health has failed not because of barley rice or cleaning chamber pots, but because you’ve been poisoned?”

Even as the tongs and the discoloured silver ring slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor, Gok-heon remained silent.

“Say something! Why? Why would you do this? Have you truly decided to die?”

“I won’t die right away. I’ll last at least another year.”

“Was eating barley rice, cleaning chamber pots—was it really so humiliating and unbearable that you’d rather die?”

Gok-heon shook his head instead of answering.

“Then what?”

“You’ll find out when the time comes.”

“So you mean, if I want to know, I have to stay by your side for a year?”

“Could you not grant me just one year?”

Bu-yeong let out a brief, mocking laugh before her expression hardened.

‘Does he really think I’ll quietly stay by his side for a year?’

Everything had already been discussed with Seo-oh. During the banquet, Sahol would ask Seo-oh to perform a sword dance and request that I play the zither—those would be the signs to set everything in motion. As Seo-oh danced with her sword and passed near me, she would seize me and take me hostage. Seo-oh and I would then escape the imperial palace together.

Not long after, Seo-oh would pretend to lose me, then go before Gok-heon to beg for forgiveness. And if they needed someone to blame, they’d put all the blame on the Crown Princess. Whether Gok-heon would actually believe it was another matter, but since the Crown Princess of Susa truly had been involved, Sahol would have no choice but to betray her if he wanted to survive.

“It would be so satisfying to see my sister brought down, even like this. She’s always been the sort of person who’d rush in with fire in her eyes, ready to tear me apart at the slightest provocation.”

“But isn’t Paro being held hostage? Are you truly all right with this?”

“Cheong-eum will rescue Paro. And even if he can’t, My sister won’t be able to kill him so easily. Paro is her only leverage against me.”

Bu-yeong had no intention of waiting around for a year, watching Gok-heon wither away. Tonight, she would escape from the palace with Seo-oh’s help.

She’d considered running away before. The only thing holding her back was the fear that Mu-won or Chu-chu might get caught up in the aftermath, as they had last time. However, Chu-chu was leaving the palace today, and Mu-won had become a hero by protecting Gok-heon at the banquet. This meant that Gok-heon had no reason to go after the Yang siblings.

Moreover, Bu-yeong had already warned Mu-won, so he could prepare for what was about to happen.

“So, General Yang, you must do everything you can to prevent the Sui tribe and Susa’s delegation from harming His Majesty. But don’t send too many troops to rescue me. You must keep your forces as undivided as possible.”

“Have you prepared an escape route? It won’t be easy to get outside the capital.”

“I only need to hide for a few days. There’s already a cart ready to carry out bodies. The corpses will be covered with straw mats. Normally, bodies are taken out through one of the smaller gates, and the security there isn’t so strict.”

“But if they lift the mat, you’ll be discovered.”

“There’s a way.”

She didn’t go into detail with Mu-won, but Bu-yeong planned to destroy her own face so that no man would ever chase after her again. That way, even if Gok-heon managed to find her later, the sight of her ruined face would surely drive him away.

Whether she had to sear her cheeks with a branding iron or slice them with a knife, she was ready to do whatever it took.