***

Meanwhile, despite the late hour, Gangseo was as bright as day. Soldiers with torches patrolled the streets, searching every corner and going house to house in their hunt.

“Master, we will find her. You don’t need to—”

“Are you suggesting I leave the hunt to someone else?”

Ah-shin’s tone was icy, silencing Woo-gong, who swallowed the rest of his words.

Nearby, Jung Do-yoon was tied up like an animal, a rope tied tightly around his neck and his hands tied behind his back. Each time the rope was pulled, it cut off his air, leaving him gasping for breath and his face flushed red. This brutal treatment was repeated so often that Do-yoon could no longer stand upright. Now he crouched on all fours, broken and trembling like a beaten dog.

“So”

Ah-shin began, his tone calm but cutting, as he sat atop his horse, staring down at the groveling figure of Do-yoon.

“Do you finally have any idea where she might have gone?”

They had already turned Do-yoon’s house inside out and searched the surrounding areas, but there was no sign of Yul-hye.

“S-She… she might have fled to the mountains.”

Do-yoon stammered, his voice trembling as he forced the words past his shaking lips.

“The mountains?”

Ah-shin repeated, his gaze narrowing sharply.

“You mean those snow-covered peaks?”

“There are abandoned huts in the mountains. They were left behind by the mountain dwellers. She… she might be hiding in one of them.”

“You expect me to search such places in the dead of night, in this snow. Surely, you’re not hoping I’ll get stranded in the cold, are you?”

“N-No, not at all!”

Do-yoon stammered, hastily dropping to the ground, prostrating himself with his body pressed flat against the earth.

As Ah-shin spoke, snow continued to fall steadily, blanketing the mountains, fields, and rooftops of the city in a thick, white layer.

‘She wouldn’t have fled to the mountains.’

Ah-shin thought, his sharp gaze scanning the snowy horizon.

‘She’s still within the city—she must be. And she’s hiding in a place no one would ever think to look.’

It wouldn’t be somewhere obvious, like a barn or a warehouse. It had to be somewhere unexpected, somewhere no one would suspect. Ashin’s mind began to spin, calculating their next possible move.

“What was that woman’s name again?”

“Y-Yul-hye”

“Yul-hye, I see. Where are her relatives?”

To catch prey, one must first turn over its nest.

“Well, w-we’ve lived like siblings for a long time, so she doesn’t have any other relatives…”

“A true sibling, or was she brought into your household?”

If she were a true sibling, marriage would be impossible. By law, marriages are only permitted up to the level of uncles and nieces. Beyond that, marriage between direct siblings is strictly forbidden.

“She’s a cousin from my mother’s side…”

But something about what Do-yoon was saying seemed suspicious. When people lie, there’s always a tell.

‘That’s a lie.’

Ah-shin thought. The claim about her being a cousin on her mother’s side was utter nonsense.

“If I investigate and discover you’ve lied, I’ll take your head on the spot.”

“S-She’s not actually my cousin! My father just told people to say that!”

Do-yoon hastily confessed, his face drained of colour at the threat of execution. At that moment, Do-yoon was completely backed into a corner. What had once seemed like a guaranteed rise to power in the capital was now crumbling around him. Yul-hye had disappeared without a trace, so thoroughly that she was impossible to find. Now, with no way to redeem himself, Do-yoon was certain that the governor would have him executed for his deception.

“So, you were told to lie, were you?”

“An outcast’s child, you say?”

Ah-sin’s tone turned icier, though his eyes gleamed with interest.

“Y-Yes, my lord.”

Do-yoon stammered, trembling as he continued his confession.

“I only know what I’ve been told. Ten years ago, when the traitor’s family was wiped out, my father… he fled to this place, bringing only Yul-hye with him. He claimed she was a relative from my mother’s side to conceal her true identity.”

“And what was the name of this so-called traitor?”

The revelation piqued Ah-shin’s interest. A traitor from ten years ago – someone who had dared to stand up to the late Emperor’s tyranny, knowing the price would be his life. Most who defied the crown had their entire families wiped out, erased from history. But somehow, one lone survivor had escaped annihilation.

And that survivor was her. That woman.

Ah-shin’s lips curled into a faint, predatory smile.

“This just became much more entertaining.”

“I-I don’t know beyond that…”

“Is that so? You don’t even know something as simple as that?” Ahsin sneered.

“I was too young at the time…”

“More like too stupid.”

“I only know that her family name was Kang…”

“Kang?”

Ah-shin repeated. It wasn’t much help. The surname Kang was common enough. Many with that name had perished back then.

“Kang Yul-hye, you say?”

“Y-Yes, my lord.”

“Kang Yul-hye. Where could that audacious woman be hiding now…?”

Still mounted, Ah-shin scanned his surroundings, his sharp gaze cutting through the snowy night.

For a while, his subordinate, Ugong, had been suggesting sending soldiers outside the city walls, but Ah-shin dismissed the idea as pointless. He was certain she was still within the city.

“That woman is still inside the city. She hasn’t escaped.”

The snow was falling heavier by the minute, and Ah-shin knew that if the blizzard worsened, the search would only become more challenging.

“If I set fire to the entire city tomorrow, perhaps she’ll come running out—like a rabbit flushed from its burrow.”

As he considered his next move, a thought struck him.

“I’ve heard that in places like this, people dig hiding pits. Is that true?”

“It is, my lord.”

“They dig those pits everywhere, don’t they? For hiding during bandit attacks?”

“Yes, my lord.”

When Ah-shin asked the question, Ugong finally realized.

“Dig up every single pit. Leave nothing untouched. Dig up every pit, no matter what.”

“Understood.”

Yes, the pits.

If she hasn’t gone far, she must be hiding in one of the pits, waiting for the right moment.

‘Clever girl, uses her head quite well.’

She must be planning to hide in the pit for a few days until things settle down, then escape.

‘But do she think I’m going to let that happen?’

‘It just makes me more and more interested.’

And entertaining toys are made to be played with for a long time.

In the end, this girl has dug her own grave.