As the murmurs and scattered voices in the surrounding area grew louder, Chancellor Go finally steadied his trembling legs and made his way towards Garan Palace.

Garan, meaning ‘Beautiful Orchid’, was a name that the Emperor had personally bestowed upon the palace in honour of the Noble Consort’s exceptional beauty. But that wasn’t all. The palace’s name plaque had been carved in the Emperor’s own handwriting, and it had taken the sculptor over a month to complete it.

Such was the Emperor’s deep affection for the Noble Consort. Therefore, what had occurred today was something that Chancellor Go truly hadn’t foreseen. He had thought that the Emperor would welcome the idea of deposing the Empress as soon as it was suggested.

“Chancellor, you’ve arrived.”

“Haeya, is that you.”

Haeya, the Noble Consort’s close maid, approached Chancellor Go. She had served the Noble Consort since their days in the Chancellor’s household. Back when the Noble Consort was still just a gwi-in, Haeya had hardly been noticed—but now, with the Consort’s rising power, she flaunted a presence greater than most senior court ladies.

“What is that you’re holding?”

Chancellor Go asked, glancing at the wooden basket in Haeya’s arms. The basket was filled to the brim with dried rose petals.

“These are the flower petals to be placed in Her Ladyship’s bath. Since we never know when His Majesty may summon her, everything must be prepared in advance.”

“Where is Her Ladyship now?”

“She is in her bedchamber.”

Haeya led Chancellor Go into the inner chamber. The Noble Consort didn’t show any particular affection at the sight of her father, but sensing something unusual, she immediately dismissed the maids and eunuchs, leaving only Haeya inside.

“Father, what happened? Will Seol Bu-yeong be deposed?”

Chancellor Go silently shook his head.

“Then what do we do now! If things keep getting delayed like this—honestly!”

“Deposing the Empress is not the end of it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Chancellor Go let out a hollow laugh, as if in a daze, then clenched his teeth in frustration.

“He said he would select a new Empress.”

“What…?”

The Noble Consort’s voice rose in a sharp, metallic pitch from sheer shock.

“He said, ‘If the Noble Consort bears a dragon heir, then I can give her a higher position. That would make Chancellor Go my father-in-law.’ In other words, if you conceive, you could be made Empress.”

“Which also means that if I don’t conceive, he won’t give me the Empress’s title… Are you certain that’s what His Majesty said? You didn’t mishear? His Majesty… His Majesty cherishes me so deeply…”

Her voice trembled violently.

Chancellor Go clicked his tongue in irritation.

“Tsk. The most important thing in the palace is legitimacy. You weren’t officially chosen through the proper selection process. No matter how favored you are, no matter how high your rank as Noble Consort—without a child, you have no grounds to become Empress. And what’s more, your mother’s lowly origins—everyone who matters knows about it…”

He stopped himself mid-sentence and closed his mouth.

Before entering the palace as a consort, the Noble Consort had been officially registered as the daughter of Chancellor Go and his lawful wife. But her birth mother had been a slave—and that single fact remained the greatest obstacle to her ever becoming Empress.

“Then I just have to give birth to a prince, don’t I?”

“Well said. You’ve shared a bed with His Majesty hundreds of times over three years—and still no sign of pregnancy!”

Chancellor Go raised his voice out of frustration, then quickly lowered it again, mindful of the maids outside the door.

“No matter what, you must conceive. The fate of our family rests with you. Speak to the Royal Medical Office. Have them prepare medicine that aids conception.”

“…All this stress is making me dizzy. I’ll need to rest a while.”

Haeya opened the door discreetly and allowed Chancellor Go to emerge, looking displeased and stroking the white streaks in his beard roughly.

As soon as his footsteps had faded away, Haeya quickly shut the door and returned. The Noble Consort stared at the firmly closed door and muttered quietly to herself.

“That wretched medicine, what good is it, no matter how much I take?”

Trying to ease her mistress’s mood, Haeya gently spoke up.

“Please don’t trouble yourself, My Lady. One day, His Majesty will surely come to understand your heart and look back on you with affection.”

“Haeya.”

“Yes, My Lady?”

Slap—

Haeya’s head whipped halfway to the side. She didn’t even know why she’d been struck, but she immediately dropped to the floor, prostrating herself.

“M-My Lady! Aagh—!”

This time, the Noble Consort seized Haeya by the hair and yanked her up. Bruising the face or hands left marks, so she punished her this way instead.

“Ugh…”

“Haeya. I took in a lowly slave and let you live grandly in the palace, yet you’ve completely lost your sense. Hearing your words, it’s as if I’ve never once shared His Majesty’s favor, isn’t it?”

“I—I misspoke, My Lady! This foolish servant is grateful beyond words for the grace you’ve shown in not casting me out—!”

Only then did the Noble Consort release her grip.

“You really are a fool. If you hadn’t handled the Empress’s matter three years ago, I would’ve sold you off to some filthy pleasure house long ago. Shall I send you now, hmm? Let you rot in the dark, never seeing a single ray of sunlight until the day you die?”

“This lowly servant is simply grateful for Your Ladyship’s mercy in not casting me out.”

Only then did the strength leave the Noble Consort’s grip.

♛༺═════༻♛

After spending the night at Gwanggeon Palace, Bu-yeong stopped by the Chojabang, the cooking quarters where meals for everyone in the palace, except the emperor, were prepared. Although the prices were high, Bu-yeong often came here to buy cooled or leftover barley rice and other dishes.

She opened the lid of a large wooden lunchbox with a handle on top. First, she packed in a bowl heaped with white rice, followed by another containing tender meat braised in soy sauce. It was the kind of dish she would normally not even glance at, but today was different.

Of course, she wasn’t planning to eat it herself.

The eunuch, who had been carefully monitoring what Bu-yeong was taking, flipped the coins in his palm a few times, then suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“With what you’ve given me, this is exactly how much you’re allowed to take.”

Looking disappointed, Bu-yeong glanced at the other side dishes, but quietly closed the lid on the wooden lunchbox. She would have liked to bring a bottle of liquor, too, but she didn’t have the money.

Bu-yeong’s footsteps were lighter than usual, but she wasn’t headed to the Miscellaneous Duties Room or even the Cold Palace.

She was going to the Imperial Prison.

One might wonder why her expression was so bright when heading to a place like that—but her father was inside, and there was no helping it.

The day after every full moon, without fail, Bu-yeong would visit her father. The court maids would have thoroughly scrubbed her clean, leaving no trace of foul odor—meaning it was the one time she could face her father in the cleanest state possible.

In other words, it was the day she could let him worry just a little less.

The prison was tucked away in a corner of the palace. As soon as she arrived, Bu-yeong handed the gatekeeper five nyang and made to step inside, but he stopped her.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

“Starting next time, I’ll be charging six nyang.”

“You—!”

“If that’s a problem, you don’t have to come at all.”

The gatekeeper let out a crude, crooked-toothed laugh.

Bu-yeong almost snapped back but stopped herself. She clenched her teeth and walked inside. She didn’t want to wear a grim expression on what was supposed to be a good day.

As she descended the stairs one step at a time, Bu-yeong’s face gradually contorted.

‘What is that smell…?’

It was hard to describe, but it was an odd, intense stench. She had once smelled a rotting egg, and this was similar.

She frowned the entire journey down until she reached her father’s cell, at which point she forced a smile.

“Father— I’m here.”

Bu-yeong put down her lunchbox and pressed herself against the wooden bars, gripping them tightly to get a better view of his face.

The sound of coughing came from inside, followed by an older man’s voice.

“Your Majesty the Empress… have you been well?”

Seol Ik-jin, who had been seated with his back resting against the wall, tried to push himself up from the floor to greet his daughter—but without enough strength in his arms, he collapsed forward with a thud.

“Father!”

All he could do was flail his legs weakly, unable to lift or steady his body.

“Are you unwell?”

Seol Ik-jin lay motionless on the floor, as if he had given up on everything. Soon, he covered his eyes with the back of his hand and began to cry.

“I am finished. Though alive… I no longer live.”

He had never uttered such words, not even when he was first imprisoned on treason charges. What on earth had happened?

Bu-yeong examined her father’s appearance closely.

His hair, once black, had turned completely white due to hardship. His face was thin and deeply wrinkled, and his clothes were full of holes — mere rags.

When her gaze finally landed on his legs, Bu-yeong collapsed on the spot.

The lunchbox that had been sitting at her feet tipped over and hit her shin as it rolled across the floor. Rice and braised meat spilled out in a heap.

On any other day, she would have scrambled to gather the food back into the bowl, upset at the waste. But now, Bu-yeong couldn’t move a muscle. All she could do was sit there blankly, her eyes fixed on her father’s devastated appearance.

Seol Ik-jin’s emaciated calves were completely blackened, and something was writhing out of the festering wounds. Dozens of tiny, writhing things—

‘Maggots. They had to be maggots.’

That was the source of the stench that had struck her on the way down—the rotting flesh of her father’s infected legs.

“Who did this to you?”

“I… I just asked for a bit of water. But they said I was being noisy, and then they beat me with a stick…”

Seol Ik-jin curled in on himself, shifting his gaze through the prison bars. Bu-yeong followed the direction of his eyes.

A jailer stood there, digging into his nostril with his pinky finger.

“What are you looking at? Would you like to pick my nose for me? I’d toss you a coin for the favour.”

“You—!” How can someone with a human face do something so disgusting? All he wanted was a sip of water!”

Bu-yeong’s voice trembled with fury.