“Become my woman, Grand Prince Yi Tae of Gangseong.”

Grand Prince Yi Tae of Gangseong.

He was the second son of Yi Jeong, the King of Joseon.

An unbridled colt, a mad dog of Jangan, an unprecedented ruffian, a disgrace to the royal family.

All of these were words used to describe Grand Prince Yi Tae of Gangseong.

Based on the rumors, she had imagined him to be like a scoundrel.

But the Grand Prince Yi Tae standing before her was so neat that she doubted he was truly the subject of those rumors.

No, he was more than neat – he was outstanding.

An atmosphere that seemed to press down on the very air around him. That gravity seemed impossible for any man to imitate.

‘How could such a person say that to me….’

Yeoul stood there with a dumbfounded expression for a moment before coming to her senses and responding.

“I, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I mean become the woman who shares intimacy with me, Grand Prince Yi Tae.”

“What do you mean by that?”

It was clear Yeoul was asking even though she understood the meaning. Tae raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at her.

“There are rampant rumors that you are a prostitute in Jangan, aren’t there?”

Yeoul pressed her lips together tightly.

It was evident he also had ulterior motives to do something to Yeoul after only hearing rumors, just like the man from earlier.

‘How little must you think of me.’

Yeoul stared straight at Tae.

“If you’re looking for someone like that, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

Her hands trembled with fear, but her eyes were quite bold.

Tae laughed as if he found Yeoul ridiculous.

“Doesn’t matter. All I need is your body anyway.”

Yeoul’s lips parted in disbelief.

Could someone really be this absurd even if they had no manners? There was a limit to her patience.

Yeoul suppressed the anger welling up inside her.

Then she spoke as calmly as she could.

“Does a royal relative of this country have no courtesy? Although I’ve been cast out by my family, I am not a woman who recklessly sells her body.”

Yeoul voiced her intention once more with emphasis.

“Please leave. I am not the kind of person you think I am.”

“I know. That you’re not that kind of person.”

“What…?”

Yeoul looked at Tae with another dumbfounded expression.

What is he saying now after spouting nonsense until just moments ago?

While Yeoul was confused, Tae took a large step closer to her.

Tae looked down at Yeoul, who came up to his chest.

His voice resonated lowly.

“Isn’t it unfair? To be treated this way for something you didn’t even do.”

Yeoul’s eyes trembled slightly.

Tae whispered softly near her ear.

“You must be curious who did this. Why you had to suffer like this.”

Cold sweat ran down Yeoul’s fair skin.

Her chest felt heavy and suffocating as if a heavy stone was weighing it down.

“You’ll want to ask the reason. You’ll want to pay them back the same amount of pain you suffered.”

Yeoul had never thought of revenge.

But Tae’s words were the very questions that had tormented her mind all along.

That’s why Yeoul couldn’t help but be entranced by Tae’s words.

“I’ll catch the bastard who spread the false rumor for you. Punishment to match will be a bonus.”

Tae took one step even closer.

A thick scent of peonies wafted from Tae.

“Not only that, I’ll guarantee you the honor and luxurious life of being a concubine. No one will dare treat you carelessly.”

Yeoul’s heart began to beat erratically.

Until now, no one had believed Yeoul’s words.

For the first time, someone appeared who completely believed her.

But rather than relief, Yeoul felt wariness first.

‘Why is he being nice to me? What ulterior motive does he have?’

The Grand Prince before her eyes was a man she met for the first time today.

Someone like him couldn’t possibly show such kindness to a person he just met without any reason.

He must have a motive for sure. Yeoul was afraid of the hidden intention behind Tae’s proposal.

Above all, she couldn’t easily trust the words of a murderer who had sliced a person before her eyes.

Yeoul gazed at Tae with uneasy eyes, then slowly parted her lips.

“…How can I trust you, Grand Prince?”

“Whether you trust me or not is your choice. If you can’t trust me, then live the rest of your life in this backwater village being treated worse than a beast.”

The narrow gap between them closed by another step.

“Or join hands with me to restore your honor and enjoy wealth and glory.”

Yeoul swallowed dryly at the distance that had become too close.

Tae looked at Yeoul with inscrutable black eyes and spoke.

“Think carefully. Who will it harm if you miss this offer?”

Tae reached out and gently grasped Yeoul’s chin.

Yeoul’s chin was slowly lifted up.

Tae’s well-defined features came into her view.

Tae whispered softly, lowering his eyes like the night sky.

“I am someone who can give you what you need.”

Tae’s dark red lips curved up arrogantly.

His touch on her skin was chillingly cold.

.

.

.

A short distance from Yeoul’s thatched cottage.

Seeing Tae returning alone, Je-hun sighed.

“I take it the persuasion failed?”

“No.”

“Pardon? Didn’t you come out alone? What about the woman named Han Yeoul?”

Tae lightly mounted his horse’s saddle, leaving the puzzled Je-hun behind.

Then with a confident face, he gripped the reins.

“She will come to me.”

Tae recalled the man he had encountered at Yeoul’s house.

The man who would be lying as a cold corpse in Yeoul’s house.

“Because she will have no choice but me.”

.

.

.

Left all alone, Yeoul stared blankly at the ceiling.

Then she thought of Tae who had come and gone as he pleased.

‘He’s truly a strange person.’

Out of the blue, he came and asked her to marry him.

She also wondered how he knew her name and where she lived.

She wasn’t sure how he intended to marry her, but considering Yeoul’s situation, accepting Tae’s proposal wasn’t a bad idea.

However, Tae was a murderer.

Seeing how he sliced a person without batting an eye, it wasn’t a skill he had only tried once or twice.

When Tae killed the man, his expression was as dry and emotionless as if killing a trivial fly.

When he wiped the blood from his blade, he looked displeased as if wiping away something dirty.

If Yeoul were to go against Tae’s temper?

There was no guarantee she wouldn’t be next.

Decisively, Yeoul’s instinct spoke.

That Grand Prince Yi Tae was a dangerous person.

She felt like if she got involved with him, she would get swept up in a perilous situation she couldn’t turn back from.

‘I should refuse….’

When Tae believed Yeoul’s words, it did feel strange.

Because Tae was the first person to take Yeoul’s words at face value.

But it was certain a dangerous price would accompany his extraordinary proposal.

Yeoul didn’t want to shorten her life.

‘Right. Let’s live a bit more diligently. Earn more money and move to a neighborhood with better security too.’

She was curious who framed her with false charges and for what reason, but making a living was more urgent for Yeoul.

She thought if she lived faithfully, a day would come when her life would also breathe easier.

More than that, the man’s corpse before her eyes was troublesome for Yeoul.

She herself could end up being falsely charged with murder.

‘What to do. Should I report it first…?’

Seeing the corpse sprawled out before her, Yeoul felt dizzy and retched.

Right then, the voices of the villagers could be heard outside.

“It’s here! Over here!”

Yeoul’s door was flung open and officers from the police bureau rushed in.

Yeoul’s small room quickly filled with people.

The officers grimaced upon seeing the corpse sprawled out in Yeoul’s room.

The villagers outside the door stretched their necks to see inside and exclaimed.

Yeoul spoke in a trembling voice.

“What is this….”

The man who seemed to be the leader of the officers asked a villager.

“Are you certain that woman killed him?”

“Absolutely! I saw the two of them enter the room to be intimate and heard them yelling and fighting!”

“I will conduct a brief investigation.”

The officer examined Yeoul’s room.

Then Yeoul’s silver sword stained with blood came into view.

When the man died, it seemed Yeoul’s silver sword had also gotten blood on it.

“This silver sword is yours, correct?”

“Yes. But….”

Before Yeoul could finish speaking.

The villagers who hadn’t even shown their noses earlier came out and started testifying.

“I knew this would happen!”

“That woman even committed adultery!”

“Not only adultery but murder too! Is there any greater shame for this village!”

“N-no. I didn’t kill him!”

Despite Yeoul’s denial, the officers took out shackles and bound her.

“I am arresting you as a murder suspect.”

“I didn’t kill him! Didn’t I say that man tried to assault me first…!”

“There are more than one or two witnesses testifying that you killed him. Will you still make excuses?”

“I am truly being falsely accused! I’m telling you I didn’t kill him!”

“Silence! Make your excuses at the police bureau.”

Yeoul tried to explain, but no one believed her.

A life where she was trampled without even her voice being heard.

This was Yeoul’s reality and her life.

***

On a night when the round moon rose.

Yeoul returned to the prison once more.

Yeoul curled up from the cold rising from the floor.

In line with the Han family’s determination to cut ties with their child, there was not a single letter from home.

There was also no one to defend Yeoul.

Yeoul’s murder charge was as good as confirmed and she heard the case would be handled by the Ministry of Justice.

At this rate, it would be difficult to avoid a death sentence.

‘…Should I just die like this.’

Yeoul had lived solely to be a good daughter. To be a good prospective bride.

To think the price she paid for killing herself to live was this wretched state.

Now there was nowhere lower for her to fall.

In this reality where no one protected her, the only person who believed her was a man named Grand Prince Yi Tae of Gangseong.

It was funny to think of that arrogant man’s face in this situation.

‘If I had accepted that man’s proposal, would the situation have turned out differently.’

Belated regrets changed nothing.

Feeling empty, Yeoul let out a hollow laugh.

Right then, a familiar voice was heard.

“Seeing you laugh, prison life must suit you quite well.”

“!”

Yeoul lifted her head.

Then she saw the face of the man she knew.

The owner of a strong, thick yet beautiful appearance.

Grand Prince Yi Tae was looking down at Yeoul from in front of the prison door.

He asked in a voice as calm and settled as moonlight.

“Why didn’t you say I killed him?”

“…Even a beast doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it.”

She couldn’t justify murder.

But if not for Tae, Yeoul would have suffered a terrible fate at the hands of that man.

Suffering that fate was more horrifying than dying with a stained name.

Thus, Yeoul couldn’t bring up the name of Tae who had saved her.

“How touching. You’re a woman of more loyalty than meets the eye.”

Tae bent his upper body to meet Yeoul’s eye level.

“My offer. It’s still valid, you know.”

“…You mean you can get me out of here?”

“That’s just a bonus.”

Tae smirked.

“On the condition you become my woman.”

If she became the woman of Grand Prince Yi Tae of Gangseong, Yeoul could get out of prison.

She could also clear her false charges and be guaranteed a comfortable life.

Tae asked Yeoul who was silently looking at him.

“Do you still need time to think?”

There was no need to even think.

Yeoul had no choice anyway.

If the murder case was elevated to the Ministry of Justice, Yeoul would face at minimum a death sentence.

Tae reached through the prison bars and caressed Yeoul’s cheek.

Tae’s touch on her cheek was as cold as ice.

“I am the only one who will believe you. And the only one who will help you.”

Unlike his cold touch, Tae’s eyes looking at Yeoul held flames.

When she gazed at those flames as if entranced, Tae drew very close to Yeoul’s ear.

Then he whispered softly in a low voice.

“I am your only ally.”