It was a weekend evening when fallen leaves had begun to blanket the ground.

The Yu family, who lived in Sian, the capital of Gyeong, had been enjoying a leisurely evening when an unexpected imperial decree threw the household into turmoil.

“Yu Haeyeon, daughter of Yu Geom, Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and all members of the Yu household, come forth and receive His Majesty’s decree!”

“Eunuch Yi himself…?”

Yu Geom frowned, more troubled by the arrival of the chief eunuch who attended the emperor personally than by the unexpected decree.

As no troops had arrived, it seemed that the emperor had not decided to destroy the Yu family.

Nevertheless, it was strange that even a few of the emperor’s personal and imperial guards had come in person.

Out of habit, Yu Geom reviewed the events of the past few days.

He had neither crossed the emperor nor received any particular orders from him. What business could His Majesty possibly have with the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy?

The emperor, who had ascended the throne six months earlier, had shown little interest in books and had never displayed any enthusiasm for learning.

“Receive His Majesty’s decree!”

The entire Yu family gathered in front of the main residence and knelt down. As Yu Geom bowed his head, he felt a heavy weight in his heart at the thought of his daughter, Haeyeon, being singled out.

Imperial decrees usually named either the person at the center of the order or someone of interest to the emperor. An ominous premonition swept over him.

Once everyone had assembled, the chief eunuch began to recite the decree.

“Effective immediately, Yu Haeyeon, daughter of Yu Geom, Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, shall enter the palace and attend His Imperial Majesty with utmost devotion.”

For a moment, Yu Geom’s mind went blank.

It was Yu Haeyeon, her jet-black hair neatly tied back, who recovered before her father.

“I am already betrothed. With all due respect, I cannot attend His Majesty.”

“His Majesty said you need not concern yourself with that.”

“Pardon?”

The chief eunuch, Yi Gu, cast a somewhat pitying glance at the bewildered Haeyeon, but his voice remained devoid of emotion as he continued.

“His Majesty said, ‘Jeong Ueon and his entire family have been reduced to lowborn status for treason and will soon be executed. Yu Haeyeon therefore has no fiancé. As there is no impediment to her entering the palace, she is to come to the imperial palace at once.’”

“…Pardon?”

“His Majesty expressly commanded us to bring you at once. Please, come with us.”

Yi Gu urged her forward as she stood dazed, as though she had been struck on the back of the head. At his gesture, the two palace maids behind him stepped forward to support Yu Haeyeon. Only then did Yu Geom react.

“Did you just say treason?”

Rising to his feet, he approached Yi Gu, his eyes bloodshot.

“Eunuch Yi, are you saying the Jeong family plotted a rebellion?”

“I do not know the particulars myself. I am merely conveying His Majesty’s command.”

Yu Geom let out a stifled sigh.

The emperor had clearly done it again.

Born the eighth prince, he had slaughtered his brothers — including the appointed crown prince — in order to seize the throne. Not content with sending anyone who protested to their graves, he cut down anyone who went against his wishes without hesitation.

He had undoubtedly chosen a weekend, when court was not in session, to destroy the Jeong family and take Yu Geom’s daughter away.

But why his daughter?

He reviewed his recent actions, but he had done nothing to incur the emperor’s displeasure. As Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, he was hardly in a position to voice political opinions.

‘Did Vice Minister Jeong displease him?’

His upright friend sometimes could not hold his tongue, speaking unwelcome truths to the emperor’s face. Perhaps the emperor had taken it personally and done this out of spite.

Whatever the reason, he could not simply stand by and watch the downfall of his daughter’s future in-laws—and of his own dear friend.

“He would never do such a thing. I must go to the palace at once.”

“His Majesty asked me to convey his wishes that you remain at home and rest well over the weekend, Chancellor.”

It was phrased as a request, but its meaning was clear: he was not permitted to say a single word about what had happened to the Jeong family.

“My dear, I must prepare to enter the palace at once.”

“Chancellor.”

It was Yi Gu’s low whisper that stopped Yu Geom as he turned away, his expression grim.

“You must think of your daughter, who is about to enter the palace.”

His daughter’s face turned deathly pale. In the blink of an eye, she had lost her fiancé and was being taken to the imperial palace.

While Yu Geom stood frozen to the spot, his daughter passed through the main gate and climbed into the waiting carriage.

Perhaps because it was night, the streets were utterly still, broken only by the occasional clatter of hooves.

Alone in the carriage, Yu Haeyeon curled her trembling fingers into her palms.

‘Why me?’

Although she was considered beautiful in the capital, there were many younger women who were more beautiful than her.

Her father’s position as Chancellor of the Imperial Academy was only a senior fourth-rank post — hardly a lofty office. It was little more than a quiet appointment, far removed from the centre of power. The chances of the Emperor ever hearing about her were extremely slim.

‘Then why on earth would that tyrant…?’

The tyrant Jin Mugyeol was infamous for slaughtering his brothers in order to claim the throne.

Rumors spread through the streets that he had no regard for his family, beheading officials who displeased him and condemning their entire families to government servitude. As a result, many positions at court were now vacant.

There were even dangerous, clandestine whispers that the kingdom would be better off without him as emperor. Yet everyone agreed that his military skill made him impossible to overthrow.

Indeed, the ninth prince had once followed his older brother’s example, leading palace guards loyal to him and a contingent of imperial guards in a night-time *ssault on the emperor’s bedchamber.

The tale of how the emperor had dispatched them single-handedly was widely known.

‘But among all those stories, there was never a rumor that he lusted after women.’

She distinctly heard her father address the chief eunuch who delivered the decree as ‘Eunuch Yi’. Only a select few eunuchs were accorded that honorific, and those who were could not be treated lightly, despite their status.

The thought that such a man had treated her with the utmost deference sent a chill down her spine.

It would be dreadful enough to be plucked like a flower for a single night and then discarded. But what if that had not been his intention?

Yu Haeyeon closed her eyes, struggling to suppress the nausea rising in her throat.

***

They reached the imperial palace all too soon; she had wished that they would never arrive.

Guided by Yi Gu, she followed a maze of passageways. Shrouded in darkness, the palace seemed to shift around her, as if ready to swallow her whole.

When they reached a brightly lit hall unlike the darkened buildings they had passed, Yi Gu led her inside.

“This is Eoryeong Hall, His Majesty’s sleeping quarters. Please enter.”

Keeping her eyes lowered, Yu Haeyeon clenched her fists inside her sleeves and drew a discreet, steadying breath.

“Your Majesty, I have brought her.”

“Let her in.”

As the doors opened, she stepped lightly across the threshold. They closed the instant she entered the room.

She raised her gaze slightly and, to her surprise, found a man seated, reading a memorial. At the sight of his chest exposed beneath his loosely opened robes, Yu Haeyeon involuntarily closed her eyes.

“You’re here.”

At the sound of his voice, she opened her eyes again and hastily lowered her gaze.

“Come here.”

Yu Haeyeon took three or four steps forward, then sank to her knees, her eyes still fixed on the floor.

“Haeyeon of the Yu family greets Your Imperial Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long may you—”

Before she could finish her greeting, however, hands seized her arm and shoulder, pulling her to her feet.

“There’s no need for such formalities between us.”

Startled, she raised her head to find him standing right before her, his eyes curving into crescents as he smiled.