***

Ah-shin left the city of Gangseo under the cover of night. Though the heavy snow had finally ceased, the roads were still buried under thick drifts, making the path nearly impossible to discern. He and the three guards accompanying him rode swiftly through the dark, snow-blanketed landscape, the chill biting at their faces.

The journey to the capital would take three days at full speed, three days to return, and two days to settle the necessary matters. Less than ten days altogether.

‘Just ten days away—nothing more.’

‘When I return, be here.’

Those were the words he had left her with, yet even as he spoke them, he wasn’t sure of their truth. He wasn’t sure she’d stay. He wasn’t sure if he’d return to find her waiting.

Ah-shin had no certainty that Yul-hye would still be there when he returned in ten days. The likelihood of her running away was far greater. He knew it all too well.

She didn’t genuinely like him. She was only pretending.

The sudden smiles she gave him, the friendly tone she used, even the concern she feigned—it was all a carefully crafted act. She was trying to lower his guard, searching for an opportunity to escape. He wasn’t so blind as to not see it.

In truth, she was right. There was no real need for him to go to the capital. The matter wasn’t urgent enough, nor significant enough, to warrant his personal attention.

He could simply stay here. Everything could be resolved with a single letter.

And yet, here he was, riding through the snow toward the capital. Perhaps it wasn’t duty that drove him forward but something else entirely—a test, a question lingering in the back of his mind. Would she stay? Would she wait? Or would he return to find her gone, just as he had always expected?

When Ah-shin had left the capital, he had deliberately left the majority of his forces behind. If he were to send just one letter, his soldiers would immediately surround the capital, disarm the nobles, palace guards, and the private armies of the royal uncles. It would be as easy as twisting a child’s wrist.

He could order his men to isolate the Emperor, root out the conspirators, and execute everyone involved, their decapitated heads serving as a stark reminder of what true fear meant. It would be swift, efficient, and final—a simple solution.

Yet, Ah-shin chose to ride back to the capital himself, braving the cold and the snow, for one reason.

He wanted to test Yul-hye.

He wanted to see if she would still be there after ten days—or if she would seize the opportunity to escape.

When he was by her side, she had no choice but to act docile, to pretend she was tame, knowing full well she couldn’t outrun him. But what if he wasn’t there? What if his watchful eye was removed, and his absence left her free to act as she pleased?

It was a question that lingered in his mind, consuming him more than the political turmoil awaiting him in the capital. Would she stay, or would she leave? Ah-shin wasn’t sure which answer would satisfy him more.

Would she stay, or would she seize the opportunity to escape?

He would find out. If she ran, he would bring her back and start all over again. But if she stayed and waited for him, then maybe – just maybe – he could allow himself to hope that she liked him, even a little.

He had thought his interest would fade. After all, she was just a woman – something trivial that would soon lose its charm. Or so he had believed.

She no longer belonged to anyone else. Everyone in town acknowledged that she was his now – a woman like that. He had thought that his interest in her would soon fade. Surely the thrill would wear off.

But instead of fading, his feelings seemed to grow stronger every day.

When he awoke in the morning to find her in his arms, her eyelids twitching faintly in her sleep, he was reluctant to wake her, even going so far as to breathe softly so as not to disturb her.

He knew the smile she gave him when their eyes met wasn’t real. But every time he wanted to believe it was real, he felt his emotions shift, turn into something he hadn’t expected.

What had begun as greed – pure and simple – had gradually changed. It became hope, then desire.

At first he had only wanted to take what wasn’t his and make it his. But now he wanted it to be truly, completely his.

He wanted to make her completely, undeniably his – something no one else could ever have. She might think that if she became his, he would eventually discard her, but that would never happen.

Now he wanted to end this game and confirm once and for all that she was truly his. These ten days were his test, his way of finding out.

If she wasn’t there when he returned, he would be disappointed, even angry, but it wouldn’t matter. He would just start again. He could start again ten times, a hundred times, as many times as it took. There was nothing he couldn’t do if it meant making her truly his, no matter how many times it took.

What did it matter? His life was already filled with monotony. He had no other pressing matters to attend to. Power, wealth and influence – he already had it all.

There was nothing in this world that he didn’t have – except for one thing.

Her.

She was the one thing he didn’t have. If he could have her, everything would be perfect.

If someone told him he had to give up everything he already had to make her his, he thought, then so be it. He could let it all go. She was worth that much to him.

The problem was, she didn’t understand his feelings.

“Whoa, whoa.”

Ah-shin pulled on the reins of his horse, bringing it to a halt. He turned to look behind him.

Not even half a day had passed.

Half a day? What did that even mean? Less than an hour had passed.

And yet he wanted to go back. The fear was driving him mad.

‘She hadn’t run away yet, had she?’

If she had, she might have fled faster than anyone else. Even if he returned now, he might find nothing but an empty house.

His hand that held the reins grew restless.

‘Should I go back?’

But doing so would be pathetic.

“Sir.”

His guards looked at him strangely, but Ah-shin ignored them, staring back in the direction from which he had ridden.

He had left something precious behind, and his heart refused to settle.

He had set out to make it his, but somewhere along the way he had become hers. The roles were completely reversed. In trying to claim her, he had been claimed instead.

The most foolish man in the world, he realised, was none other than himself.