A blurry figure brushed past Jwa Woo’s side.

A warm heat kept radiating from the back of her head.

Jwa Woo tried to reach her hand to the back of her head, but her movement was restricted by the men supporting her arms as they walked.

“Who are you?”

A half-muffled voice escaped from Jwa Woo’s mouth.

There was no answer.

Even so, Jwa Woo didn’t stop asking questions.

“Where is this place?”

“……”

“Where are you taking me?”

Again, no answer came.

Instead, with a ‘creeeak’ sound of a wooden door opening, colorful dancheong patterns appeared above her head.

Paired dragons and phoenixes, clouds and cranes filled the ceiling.

The solemn header painted with red lotus flowers and surrounded by green paint.

This was certainly no ordinary private residence.

In Hanyang, there was only one place decorated with such splendor and dignity…

“It’s the palace.”

She unconsciously let out an exclamation.

“So you’re not completely clueless.”

The man supporting her left shoulder muttered as if to himself.

“Shh!”

The man supporting Jwa Woo’s right side cautioned the man on the left.

Additionally, the man shot Jwa Woo a sharp glare. It was a look clearly meaning to keep quiet and follow along.

Thus, half walking and half being dragged, Jwa Woo passed through nine gates to reach deep into the heart of the palace.

“Wait inside.”

The hands gripping Jwa Woo from both sides disappeared, and the door slid open smoothly.

The men shoved Jwa Woo inside the opened doorway.

“Prostrate yourself on the floor and show proper respect.”

Though the words were polite, the tone was threatening.

As if something terrible would happen if she didn’t comply…

So, Jwa Woo anxiously looked around.

Even the hazy moonlight that caressed all things seemed unable to reach this place.

A complete severance from the outside world.

Though only a single door separated them.

The world outside the door and the world inside were completely different.

Jwa Woo rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

Wondering if she was dreaming, she rubbed and rubbed her eyes again, but the scene before her didn’t change.

The massive rectangular room was a completely different world from anything Jwa Woo had seen or experienced until now.

From the chair on the raised platform to every small piece of furniture filling the room, the breath of master craftsmen could be felt.

The red pillars supporting the ceiling exuded a heavy sense of oppression, and everything decorated with precise measurements and formality spoke of how special the owner of this room was.

Jwa Woo swallowed the dry saliva pooled in her mouth.

Only now could she begin to realize.

Just how grand and dangerous a place she was in…

Inside the highest walls in Joseon, the space of the most noble being in this world.

How on earth did she end up in such a place?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.

Why?

For what reason?

No, more than that, what she was most curious about was who had ordered her to be brought here.

Her nerves were on edge with curiosity, wonder, and anxiety.

As she was wringing her hands, not knowing what to do.

The sound of footsteps with long strides came from outside the door. Followed by hurried steps.

Jwa Woo’s heart pounded heavily.

A moment later.

Silently, the doors slid open on both sides.

Startled, Jwa Woo hurriedly knelt down and sat.

Then she placed her overlapped hands on the floor and rested her forehead on the back of her hands.

The approaching footsteps came straight towards Jwa Woo.

“Raise your head.”

A low, androgynous voice devoid of any emotion.

Jwa Woo, who had her face buried in the floor, slowly lifted her head.

She slowly moved her gaze up from the black cotton shoes. Following the noble aura created by the hem of dark red silk, she raised her eyes higher and higher.

A golden embroidered dragon undulated across the chest and both shoulders.

And an ikseongwan with two horns shaped like cicada wings.

That attire…

It was the noble person’s attire she had only heard about from her father in childhood.

A person she could never dream of getting close to.

No, a person she shouldn’t dare to get close to.

Such a person was right in front of her.

An exceptionally white and clean face was reflected in Jwa Woo’s surprised eyes.

She had never seen such a beautiful man in her life.

A being that exuded an immense sense of pressure just by standing there.

A single word escaped from Jwa Woo’s mouth, sounding like the buzz of a cicada.

“Your… Majesty.”

[This is the timeline separator]

She couldn’t think of anything.

Forgetting even to breathe, Jwa Woo blankly looked up at the king.

A heavy silence flowed over Jwa Woo’s shoulders.

How much time had passed like that?

The one who broke the silence that seemed like it would continue forever was the king.

“Kwon Jwa Woo, inspector of Hanseongbu.”

“Yes? Yes.”

The king suddenly bent one knee to match eye level with Jwa Woo.

Surprised by the sudden situation, Jwa Woo hurriedly bowed her head deeply.

Soon, the king’s low voice pierced her ears.

“Do you know your crime?”

“Pardon?”

What could this mean?

Just as she was wondering.

The king’s soft voice continued.

“The crime of daring to disguise as a man in a woman’s body and disrupting national law.”

“……”

“The crime of interfering with the great national examination and disrupting the order.”

“…!”

I’ve already been caught?

And by His Majesty himself?

Boom!

It was as if lightning struck in her ears.

Jwa Woo’s heart fell off a thousand-foot cliff.

Her hands supporting her on the floor trembled violently.

“I have committed a capital offense.”

Jwa Woo cried out, hitting her forehead on the floor.

She was caught. She had been caught.

How?

A whirlwind of thoughts spun in her head.

Then, the king’s voice pierced Jwa Woo’s ears again.

“You know that you have committed a capital offense. Then, what should be done?”

The king asked.

For a moment, a ray of light as thin as a needle hole seeped into Jwa Woo’s dark mind.

The fact that His Majesty was asking like this meant he was willing to spare her life.

If he had decided to kill her, she wouldn’t have been brought here in the first place.

If he truly intended to kill her, he wouldn’t be asking what to do now.

Then…

Jwa Woo answered without hesitation.

“Please kill me.”

“Very well, if that is what you wish, I shall kill you.”

“What?”

Huh? This isn’t right.

Jwa Woo wore a blank expression for a moment at the king’s unexpected answer.

Her blinking eyes looked up at the king.

Crack.

For an instant, a crack appeared on the king’s face that seemed as if it had been painted.

Is that… a smile?

Confused by the king’s smile that didn’t fit the situation, Jwa Woo heard a shout.

“How dare you! Who do you think you are to raise your head like that?”

Jwa Woo’s gaze turned behind the king.

A middle-aged eunuch was glaring at Jwa Woo with his brows furrowed.

Come to think of it, she had completely forgotten.

The owner of the hurried footsteps she had heard when the king first entered this room.

It’s amazing that despite being here the whole time, he hadn’t revealed his presence even once.

Truly an impressive ability… but this is not the time to be impressed!

It was a life-or-death situation.

“I apologize.”

Jwa Woo hurriedly bowed her head again.

“So how shall I kill you? Do you want beheading? Or shall I hang you?”

The king asked as if granting a great favor.

Jwa Woo’s face crumpled.

Whether her head was cut off or she was hanged, death was death all the same.

“Please spare me.”

I cannot die yet.

I have things I must do.

Until I finish those tasks, I absolutely cannot die even if the grim reaper comes to take me.

Eyes filled with firm determination turned towards the king.

“How dare you!”

As if he had been waiting, the eunuch’s shout came from behind the king, and Jwa Woo quickly bowed her head again.

Crack.

Laughter fell on top of her head.

What?

Could it be that His Majesty is laughing?

But she didn’t have the courage to confirm it.

No, there was only one thing to do now…

“Please spare my life. I will do anything. So please, just spare my life.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Had her earnest plea worked?

The king’s gaze towards Jwa Woo changed.

“Do you mean it? Will you truly do anything if I spare your life?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Even if it’s something difficult for a woman to do?”

“Pardon?”

When you ask like that, it’s rather scary.

As she hesitated, as if reading her thoughts, the king asked again.

“Why? Are you afraid?”

I cannot dare lie to the king.

Jwa Woo ended up nodding like a child.

The king’s expression quickly turned cold.

Then a chilly voice was heard.

“Then, shall we go with beheading? Or hanging…”

Before he could finish speaking.

Jwa Woo prostrated herself flat on the floor.

“This life was already forfeit, I will devote myself thinking of it as living on borrowed time.”

“Truly?”

The king asked again.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When I can avoid beheading and hanging, what wouldn’t I do?

A satisfied expression appeared on the king’s face at Jwa Woo’s answer.

The king turned to look at the eunuch standing guard behind him.

“It’s decided. We’ll use this one.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

Having finished speaking, the king crossed the room.

Then he turned back and approached Jwa Woo again.

“Raise your head and look at me.”

At the king’s command, Jwa Woo lifted her head.

Soon her gaze met mysterious eyes that seemed to hold the dark night.

The red lips parted slightly.

Then a smile that seemed not of this world, but of heaven, created cracks on the king’s face.

A smile so beautiful it dazzled the eyes.

Jwa Woo lost herself for a moment.

But the next instant.

Jwa Woo’s brows furrowed at some indescribable sense of déjà vu.

That expression and those eyes of His Majesty.

They were strangely familiar.

Where had she seen them before? As she pondered.

The king, who had instantly erased the smile from his face, immediately became expressionless.

Jwa Woo’s image was reflected roundly in the king’s eyes that held nothing.

The king, who had been staring intently at her, whispered lowly in Jwa Woo’s ear.

“Do you know?”

“Pardon?”

“From now on, your life belongs to me.”

“Your… Your Majesty.”

“Do not forget that henceforth, everything related to you belongs to me.”