Oh no.

So stupid! Since when did the Red King obediently back off?!

It was too late for regrets. She missed her chance to make an escape.

“You are…”

He stretched out his hand. He was trying to grab onto her arm.

Suddenly, she heard the voice of her savior at the other end of the corridor.

“Your Highness!”

The two of them stiffened. Ahn Ho, the SangSuh official, approached them like the wind once he discovered Garan. When he came closer, he discovered something quite odd.

Garan stood with a black fur cloak draped across his shoulders. He almost looked like the Grim Reaper. The crying woman who was collapsed on the floor in front of him was dressed in red.

Did something happen? He crouched his body in confusion and shock to take a look at this lady. As he got a closer look, he realized that it was a familiar face.

“Aren’t you Duke MoonYeo’s wife?”

Both Garan and Yujo tensed up at his words.

“Why are you in a place like this…?”

“My lord, thank goodness you’ve come.”

Yujo barely moved her stiff, pale lips.

“If it weren’t for His Highness coming to save me, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

“Excuse me?”

Ahn Ho’s surprised eyes went back and forth between Duke MoonYeo’s wife and the Red King. Yujo turned her head and looked at Garan. His shocked face suddenly turned calm. Yujo lowered her eyes and continued to speak.

“I saw someone strange in the garden. I was shocked and ran away. His Majesty happened to be passing by and managed to chase off this strange assailant. I don’t know how I will ever repay him… Your Highness, thank you.”

“How could this be?! Duchess MoonYeo, are you all right? Hey, is anybody there?”

Even as the SangSuh official shouted out to his servants, the Red King didn’t move a muscle. He merely stared down at Yujo.

His eyes expressed his confusion. He looked at her as if he hadn’t seen a human like her before.

Yujo closed her eyes. One cowardly tear dripped onto the floor.

People came and escorted the lady away. The Red King continued to stand still in the corridor. Ahn Ho frowned.

What’s going on?

After a long time passed, the Red King finally spoke. However, his voice sounded strange.

“I’ll be heading back for today.”

The SangSuh official raised his head in shock, but he didn’t say anything. By the time he was about to call out to him, the Red King had already walked down the corridor.

What should he do?

Ahn Ho looked around in confusion. Thankfully, no one was around. To be honest, the fact that the Red King had been alone with Duke MoonYeo’s wife was enough fodder for gossip.

Even if he was a member of the imperial family, meeting a noblewoman without cause was forbidden. On top of that, she was his cousin’s wife.

If this incident was known, it would have serious ramifications. Ahn Ho bowed as he sent the Red King off.

Duke MoonYeo’s wife?

Those words repeatedly circled Garan’s mind. Duke MoonYeo was Princess Yeowa’s son, making him his cousin. He suddenly recalled Muyeo’s remarks. The gossip she had chattered to him as soon as he had returned to the city last spring.

“Did you hear the rumors? Duke MoonYeo got married!”

She definitely said this during the spring of last year. Spring of last year! The woman had spent the night with him in the summer! Definitely!

“No, how is that good news? It’s strange news. You know this, too, Brother… that… Duke MoonYeo cannot embrace a woman. Have you heard the rumor?”

“Rumors are merely rumors.”

“That’s what I thought, but something surprising happened this time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when Duke MoonYeo first said that he’d get married, everyone went crazy. They just assumed that it would be another grass widow, and everyone pitied her. Duke MoonYeo is quite cold with the ladies, remember? But what do you know? That is… I heard they slept well.”

“He must have found his other half.”

He felt nauseous.

Now that he thought about it, she had visited Princess Muyeo’s residence around that time. When he had gone to see Duke HyoEun, he had heard the music of the morin khuur.

“I heard that the daughter-in-law of Princess Yeowa is here. But are you really sure we shouldn’t call Princess Muyeo here?”

He recalled the way his brother-in-law chuckled. He felt like he was going to lose his mind.

Duke MoonYeo’s wife? Jewol’s bride?

Bang!

He quickly walked through the SangSuh official’s front gate. The SangSuh official seemed so shocked that he couldn’t get any words out of his mouth, and the Red King merely got on top of his horse without a single apology. A flustered YulMok hurried over to the Red King’s side.

“Your Highness.”

“Bring the woman to me.”

With those words, he guided his horse away.

Two hours later, Duke MoonYeo’s wife, no, Dan SoYeon, appeared at the Red King’s residence.

She stumbled through the doors as if she had been pushed inside. He silently stared at her.

Her face was completely pale. He gazed at her as he leaned against a platform. Exactly half a year ago, she had been here with him. Did she remember? If she did, she wouldn’t have such a shameless expression on her face right now.

“There is something I need to ask you.”

His voice was incredibly cold.

“Please ask.”

Despite her ashen complexion, her voice sounded calm.

“Are you really Duke MoonYeo’s wife?”

“That is correct.”

“Is your name Dan SoYeon?”

“That is correct.”

“Dan SoYeon, the daughter of the lord of the northern province, Sa HanSung?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The mouth that had remained silent despite his countless questions finally opened to affirm her name.

How touching.

“When did you get married?”

This time, the answer did not smoothly leave her lips.

“Duke MoonYeo’s wife, I asked you a question. When did you get married?”

She looked at him. Her eyes trembled. The rims of her eyes were red. That’s right. This woman had been crying. As soon as he left, she burst through the doors and looked for him. As if her heart hurt… As if she were hurting just as much as him… She cried.

“Answer me!”

His roar shook their surroundings. She stood still and lowered her eyes. There was a time when he found those long lashes to be so lovable that he pressed quick kisses onto her lips. There was a time when he found her lips to be so delicious that he nibbled on them.

This was all last June. When the crepe myrtle trees were in full bloom. When the peonies blossomed in the gardens. When the rainy season had brought with it a downpour of rain. Back then, she hadn’t been wearing such elegant clothing as she was now.

“I got married in April of last year.”

A silence settled in the room. He merely stared at her. The woman continued to keep her eyes lowered and didn’t look back at him.

“What do you mean by that?”

His voice was deathly cold.

“Are you telling me that you suddenly have a sense of fidelity that you didn’t have last June?”

She remained silent. Suddenly, Muyeo’s voice rang inside his head.

“That is… Do you know how upset Princess Yeowa was when everyone was talking about how Duke MoonYeo had a problem in bed? I heard that there was clear evidence that the bride and groom shared their first night together in the bridal chamber. The princess was obviously very pleased and bragged about it to everyone.”

“Did Jewol embrace you?”

He barely managed to move his tongue as he asked this disgusting question. She continued to stay frozen in her spot.

“Answer me.”

He needed to hear her answer today no matter what. He stood up straight and began to approach her. The closer he got to her, the more his anger raged inside his heart. He wanted to pull out a knife and pierce her with it. If he lost his last shred of reason, he would have strangled her neck right here, right now.

When he first met her, she definitely didn’t seem to be a married woman. On top of that, she had been chasing the Heukra. She had definitely told him in the cave that she was not a married woman. And she had also been a virgin.

Garan glared at her. There was definitely something more to this. Something she couldn’t tell him. The beginning and the end of this story didn’t make any sense. She was definitely hiding something from him… Something she couldn’t tell him.

Heukra, Jewol, and Dan SoYeon.

Suddenly, Garan’s eyes narrowed. It finally clicked.

The Crown Prince.

Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

Jewol was basically joined at the hip with the Crown Prince.

And Dan SoYeon was wedged between them.

However, like Jewol, she was doing something different. She had searched through YeonSung disguised as a man. She had searched through the ChiHwaRu disguised as a courtesan. She used a sword, rode horses, and shot arrows.

“So you…”

And he was the Red King. When she found out that he was Garan, she had fled.

Why? When one looked at it in this light, the answer was very simple.

“You work for the Crown Prince.”

Yujo’s eyes widened. She tensed up and gazed at him. Seeing her reaction, Garan was even more sure of his answer. Everything clicked into place.

That’s why she had been searching for the Heukra. That’s why she had burned down his secret room. That’s why the eunuch in charge of the imperial storeroom had died.

Why? Because the Crown Prince was also searching for the Heukra or had an interest in it. And because the woman who was standing before him now was quite knowledgeable in that aspect.

“Are you really Dan SoYeon?”

Suddenly, the hurried voice of a eunuch rang from outside the door.

“Your Highness! Princess Yeowa has arrived.”

The two of them stiffened as they looked at each other.

“Red King!”

The princess looked like an enraged boar as she angrily burst into the Red King’s residence. She had white fox fur wrapped around her neck as well as a fairly large headpiece on top of her head. She began to attack Garan.

“What bizarre situation is this? Have you lost your mind or not?”

A bachelor prince calling for the daughter-in-law of the princess? It was absolutely ridiculous! In addition to this, her daughter-in-law had disappeared for four days during the lotus lantern festival. Princess Yeowa had been absolutely humiliated in front of all of YeonSung.

Back then, they could chalk it up to a lovers’ quarrel between newlyweds, but it was different now. This incident would be dangerous. And the opposite party was the Red King. Wasn’t he the son of the two-faced guibin who had allegedly kept many paramours?

Where else would that blood go? The Red King and Muyeo’s reputations were not satisfactory. Thankfully, Muyeo was married off at an early age. However, the Red King was still a bachelor!

“I was already worried sick after hearing about the incident at the SangSuh official’s residence. Why did you have to bring her to your residence, Red King? Is this your way of provoking this princess?”

“That isn’t the case, Your Highness. I merely called her here to ask her a few questions.”

“What question could be so important that you would call your cousin’s wife by herself in the middle of the night? If you’re going to ask her a question, ask it in my presence!”

Princess Yeowa angrily sat down on a seat. Yujo modestly kept her eyes lowered. She was glad Princess Yeowa turned up when she did. Due to the Red King drawing closer to her, step by step, she was now covered in cold sweat.

“Esteemed Aunt, I apologize. Please calm your anger.”

For some reason, the Red King folded immediately. No matter how one looked at it, she was still the emperor’s full-blooded younger sister. She was also Princess Yeowa of the imperial family. It would be too dangerous to slight her. With the information he had gleaned today, he would be able to dig further into the woman known as Dan SoYeon.

Princess Yeowa’s angry eyes glared at the Red King and then at her daughter-in-law. One never knew when the fireworks would go off between a man and a woman. Also, she was incredibly worried that she hadn’t heard any news of pregnancy from her daughter-in-law as of yet.

“I heard that you will be taking a queen very soon.”

Both Garan and Yujo stiffened. However, the observant fox eyes of Princess Yeowa watched them as she received a cup of tea from a palace maid.

“While the empress said that she will pass the imperial command soon, I’m sure the woman has already been decided. With such a significant event looming over you, please be more careful, Red King.”

Garan carefully lowered his eyes. He glanced at Yujo. Her pale, elegant face remained blank and showed no emotion.

“Once a queen enters the Red King’s residence, I will feel a bit better. I’m sure things like this won’t happen then, will it? They say that one truly becomes an adult once they are married. No matter how old you are, you must not act so immaturely.”

After hearing her stern complaints, the Red King lowered his head. Having said her piece, Princess Yeowa stood up. Then she dragged Yujo out of the Red King’s residence.

Once the two women entered the carriage, Princess Yeowa’s hand slapped Yujo’s cheek without warning.

Princess Yeowa gazed at Yujo’s shocked face and angrily spit out her next words.

“If you ever humiliate me or our household again, you will never be allowed to leave the house. Mark my words. You are not alone here. You represent our entire household. What were you thinking when entered the Red King’s residence? You should have just bitten your tongue and died. I will never forget what happened today. Get it together.”

Yujo clenched her teeth and raised her head. While she couldn’t believe what had just happened, right now, she wasn’t Yujo. She was Dan SoYeon. She thought about her brother. Yujo grit her teeth. She silently lowered her head and soothed her angry mother-in-law.