Night watch 4, 3 points (2:30 AM).

The darkness was deep.

Even the moon had disappeared. The world lingering at the boundary between night and dawn was faintly dark.

No lights were visible inside the main gate. Crying could be heard from somewhere throughout the night.

How many steps did she take, fumbling?

An unfamiliar shadow approached from the front.

“Are you a candidate?”

Kwon Jwa Woo, unaccustomed to the darkness, narrowed her eyes.

A moment later, three or four men standing in a group not far away came into view.

“Who are you?”

“We are those who will join you in the exam.”

The man at the front of the group approached and spoke. He was short and stocky.

“By the way, who guided you here?”

A somewhat odd question.

But Kwon Jwa Woo answered without hesitation.

“The eunuch…”

“What? The eunuch?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

What’s wrong with that?

A cold sneer flew towards Kwon Jwa Woo, who was blinking her eyes.

“Now we even have exam candidates introduced by eunuchs.”

Cold contempt was hidden in the low murmur.

Kwon Jwa Woo, not yet realizing the true meaning, asked the man.

“So where should I go to find my quarters?”

The man at the front asked in return to Kwon Jwa Woo’s question.

“Which number candidate are you?”

“I was told I’m the eighth.”

“If you’re the eighth…”

The man raised his arm and pointed to a certain place.

“Over there…”

Suddenly the man’s voice trailed off. A mischievous smile filled his lips.

But Kwon Jwa Woo, not noticing that smile in the darkness, waited for the man’s next words.

“I was mistaken for a moment. This way. If you go this way, you’ll come across a small pavilion with the character for ‘eight’ written on it. That’s your quarters.”

“Thank you.”

Ignoring Kwon Jwa Woo who bowed her head, the man and his group disappeared into the darkness.

They were going in the exact opposite direction from Kwon Jwa Woo.

Was it because she was too nervous?

Somehow it felt more like hostility than goodwill.

Right, don’t have bad feelings towards people you don’t even know yet.

After briefly watching the men’s retreating figures, Kwon Jwa Woo hurriedly moved on.

How long did she walk like that?

A small pavilion dimly lit came into view.

A small pavilion with one room and a small porch connected side by side.

The character for ‘eight’ written in one corner of the pavilion came into view.

“Ah, here it is.”

Kwon Jwa Woo stepped into the small courtyard of the pavilion with quick steps.

She wanted to rest.

It had been too long a day from morning until now.

If she could just get into bed like this, she’d be able to fall asleep right away without even dreaming.

Imagining sweet sleep, Kwon Jwa Woo flung open the pavilion door.

But…

“Huh?”

There was already an occupant in the pavilion.

In one corner of the room lit by a dim oil lamp.

A man in martial attire sitting with his back leaned against the wall came into view.

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Even though his hair flowed down carelessly over the headband covering his forehead, hiding more than half his face, the man’s beauty was vivid enough to recognize at a glance.

Kwon Jwa Woo unknowingly opened her eyes wide.

It was the third time in her life she had seen such a handsome man.

The first was the king she had just seen, and the second was the bad kidnapper she saw last night.

And the third was the man right in front of her eyes.

While His Majesty exuded a delicate beauty that blurred the boundary between man and woman, the man before her eyes showed a slightly rougher specimen of masculinity.

Moreover, strangely, a thick scent of ink emanated from the man.

Perhaps it was because of the dark ink-colored martial attire he was wearing.

Is the palace grounds so auspicious?

Why are there only outstanding men everywhere?

More importantly…

“Who are you?”

Kwon Jwa Woo asked, peering inside.

Did she perhaps find the wrong quarters?

With an uneasy feeling, Kwon Jwa Woo looked again at the writing on the pavilion pillar.

Eight (八).

It was a bit blurry, but it was clearly eight.

Eight meaning the eighth exam candidate.

Then this means these are my quarters.

“This seems to be my quarters.”

Kwon Jwa Woo asked as she stepped into the room.

Then the man spoke in a sleepy, indifferent voice.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t come in.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean don’t come in any further.”

The eunuch’s voice suddenly echoed in Kwon Jwa Woo’s mind as she hesitated.

‘When you go in, you’ll find an ‘attendant’ waiting to help you with various tasks.’

“Ah, now I see you’re the attendant who will help me.”

Gladness filled Kwon Jwa Woo’s voice.

“What?”

“I’m the eighth exam candidate.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That means you’re under my command.”

Only men existed here.

The world of men moved by the ruthless logic of survival of the fittest.

“In other words…”

If she was looked down upon from the start, she might be disregarded throughout.

Taking another step inside, Kwon Jwa Woo continued speaking.

“It means I’m your master.”

Kwon Jwa Woo went ahead quite boldly.

But the next moment.

Whoosh!

Something fell from the ceiling with a thud.

Startled, Kwon Jwa Woo raised her head to look up at the ceiling.

But it was already too late.

“Ack!”

A large net wrapped around Kwon Jwa Woo’s body and lifted her into the air.

“What? What is this?”

Kwon Jwa Woo ended up in a shape like being trapped in a birdcage in an instant.

She moved her body this way and that trying to escape the net. The more she moved, the more tightly the net wrapped around her.

Kwon Jwa Woo turned her gaze to the man sitting by the window. Even in this chaotic situation, the man didn’t budge, keeping his back turned.

To express it more accurately, the man’s back was full of annoyed expression.

Towards the man who didn’t seem likely to move at all, Kwon Jwa Woo shouted.

“Hey!”

“…”

“Please, untie this!”

“…”

“You’re the attendant who’s supposed to help me, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Your master is in trouble. Look, hey, hey!”

“Geez, so noisy!”

Finally, a grumpy voice flowed from the man’s mouth.

The man reluctantly got up, stretching long.

Then he pulled a long rope on the wall.

At last.

The net that had been wrapping around Kwon Jwa Woo all along opened up like a flower bud.

“Ack!”

Before she could be surprised by the sudden feeling of floating, Kwon Jwa Woo’s body plunged straight to the floor.

Anticipating the pain to follow, Kwon Jwa Woo tightly closed her eyes.

Thud!

Soon after, a dull noise and a heavy pain swept down her spine.

I guess I’m dying like this.

Kwon Jwa Woo lost consciousness to the dizzy shock that penetrated her whole body.

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The morning sunlight gently piled on her eyelids.

The soft breeze coming through the open window shook her hair.

Something soft was felt between the green leaves tickling her earlobe.

It seemed as if tender flower petals were falling on her lips, stinging yet delicate.

Goosebumps rose at the moist touch and infinitely sweet fragrance.

Her toes curled tightly at the dizzying sensation of soaring endlessly upward, higher and higher.

Ah, it feels good.

Wrapped in a cozy feeling she never wanted to wake from, Kwon Jwa Woo lazily stretched her body.

Just then, a faint scent of ink was carried on the wind.

Kwon Jwa Woo turned her head.

Father.

It’s father’s scent.

Kwon Jwa Woo rushed straight into her father’s embrace.

Father, father…

Rubbing her nose in the embrace as vast as the sea, Kwon Jwa Woo acted coy.

The safest place in the world.

In father’s embrace, more cozy and comfortable than anywhere else in the world.

In father’s embrace, as solid as an iron wall, Kwon Jwa Woo finally let her guard down.

Just then, a breeze penetrating her ear.

“Do you like it?”

“I like it.”

I like it, father.

So much that I never want to leave this embrace again.

So much that I want to stay forever in this shelter of father, as solid as a rock.

Kwon Jwa Woo clung to her father’s embrace.

How much she had missed it. This warm and affectionate embrace.

How much she had missed this embrace of father, as solid as a rock… Huh?

Strange.

Solid as a rock?

Kwon Jwa Woo’s head tilted to the side.

Was father’s embrace always this firm?

Even for a dream… this is a bit of an exaggeration.

It felt like hugging a giant iron wall.

No, no.

It’s too warm to be an iron wall.

Here, and here too, and here even a wriggling sensation could be felt.

What is this?

Kwon Jwa Woo’s lips, which had been stretched long in a sweet dream, returned to their original position.

Strange.

An ominous feeling swept down her spine.

Could it be… could it be…?

Kwon Jwa Woo slowly, very slowly opened her eyes.

First, she could feel the breath exhaling above her crown.

Next, clear eyes came into view.

The man in black martial attire she saw last night floated into Kwon Jwa Woo’s mind.

It must be that insolent attendant who ignored his master in distress.

But how is that insolent attendant’s face so close?

As she wondered, the attendant’s face came even closer.

Eventually, a soft breeze flowed between the attendant’s lips that came right next to Kwon Jwa Woo’s earlobe.

“Hey, master.”

“Yes.”

“How long are you going to stay like this?”

The man’s low whisper continued.

“Take your hands off my chest already.”

“…”

Kwon Jwa Woo lowered her head and felt for the position of her hands.

At last, her own hands calmly resting on the man’s chest came into view.