One cup, two cups…… The drinks kept coming.

Jung Saeng Won, who had been drinking repeatedly, suddenly had a strange thought.

He drank without much thought at the urging of the Gahab members.

But he was the only one actually drinking. The Gahab members didn’t even touch their drinks.

“Here, have another cup of my drink.”

Jung Saeng Won raised his hand to stop Hong Woo Geon who was picking up the bottle again.

“I’ll take it slowly.”

“Are you already feeling tipsy?”

“No way! I’m not the type to get drunk on just this much.”

Jung Saeng Won spoke loudly.

Then he snatched the bottle Hong Woo Geon was holding.

“I’ve received drinks from you, now it’s your turn to receive drinks I pour.”

“Alright then.”

Hong Woo Geon willingly lifted his cup.

Jung Saeng Won poured until the cup was overflowing.

“Drink up now.”

Towards Jung Saeng Won’s urging, Hong Woo Geon merely smiled but did not drink.

“Why aren’t you drinking?”

“It’s our principle not to drink during work hours.”

“Oh my, have I ever seen such an inflexible person. Even if it’s during work hours, what’s the big deal about having one drink on a day like today.”

Jung Saeng Won offered the drink again, but Hong Woo Geon didn’t budge.

Jung Saeng Won’s brows furrowed. An ominous feeling crept up the back of his neck.

This time he offered a drink to Lee Gyo Young sitting next to Hong Woo Geon.

“I’ll accept the drink, but I too cannot drink.”

Lee Gyo Young also showed a firm attitude.

Yoo Chi Sung didn’t even pick up his cup to begin with.

Look at these guys.

Sparks flew in Jung Saeng Won’s eyes.

“What are you trying to do?”

Bang!

Jung Saeng Won slammed down the bottle roughly and yelled.

The gazes of Hong Woo Geon and the other Gahab members focused on Jung Saeng Won.

“When someone offers like this, you should at least pretend to drink. You asked me to prepare a feast but now you say you can’t drink?”

As he spoke, a word suddenly flashed through Jung Saeng Won’s mind.

“Don’t tell me you’ve put poison in this drink?”

At Jung Saeng Won’s half-joking question, a smile appeared on Hong Woo Geon’s lips.

“It’s no fun if you figure it out already……”

Jung Saeng Won’s expression hardened at Hong Woo Geon’s words.

“What do you mean? Are you really saying you poisoned the drink?”

To Jung Saeng Won who asked again, Hong Woo Geon shook his head.

“It wasn’t me who poisoned it, but you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. How could I have poisoned the drink?”

“That drink was made with rice from your house.”

“Made with… rice from my house?”

“You know, the rice from the grain storehouse in the north backyard.”

“……!”

The moment he heard Hong Woo Geon’s words, Jung Saeng Won’s expression hardened.

There was a moment of silence.

Then suddenly.

“Hahaha.”

Jung Saeng Won’s sudden laughter filled the yard.

He laughed holding his stomach as if he had just heard the funniest story in recent times.

Then he abruptly stopped laughing and glared at Hong Woo Geon.

“Young man, why are you making such unfunny jokes?”

“Jokes are usually made between close people.”

“What?”

“I’m not sociable enough to joke with someone I’ve just met.”

“Then you really……”

Jung Saeng Won looked down at his cup. His face rippled in the liquid.

Seeing his complexion turn pale and then bluish, Jung Saeng Won hurriedly pushed his fingers deep into his throat.

[This is the timeline separator]

Jung Saeng Won tried his best to vomit up the alcohol he had drunk.

“Ugh, ugh.”

The Gahab members watching Jung Saeng Won retch stood up one by one.

At the mention of alcohol brewed with rice from the north backyard storehouse, Jung Saeng Won’s attempt to vomit transformed their lingering doubts into certainty.

“Is there a problem with the rice?”

Lee Gyo Young approached and asked Jung Saeng Won.

Seeing Jung Saeng Won unable to answer immediately, Lee Gyo Young clenched his molars.

He’s retching like that after just a few cups of alcohol made from that rice, yet he lent that rice to the villagers?

The inner courtyard was filled with quiet anger.

Jung Saeng Won, who belatedly grasped the situation, shot a sharp glance at the Gahab members.

“What kind of outrage is this?”

“Outrage, you say?”

Lee Gyo Young asked back with an expression of disbelief.

“If not outrage, then what? What have I done wrong for you to glare at me so fiercely?”

“Do you really not know your crime?”

Hong Woo Geon countered Jung Saeng Won’s question with a question.

“There must be a crime for me to know it.”

“Then why did you vomit upon hearing the alcohol was made from rice in the backyard granary?”

“That’s……”

“It must be because you fumigated it with poison.”

“What?”

“The rice in the granary, you fumigated it with arsenic and other poisons before lending it to the villagers, didn’t you?”

“How did you……”

Jung Saeng Won’s words trailed off.

He suddenly recalled a night a few days ago.

His gaze naturally turned to Lee Gyo Young and Yoo Chi Sung.

The secret royal inspector Gahab members who came to harass his home in the middle of the night.

The realization that they were merely bait to draw attention flashed through Jung Saeng Won’s mind.

Jung Saeng Won frowned at this belated realization.

“I see now that you lot are determined to disgrace my household.”

“Don’t you realize it’s you who has brought ruin to this household?”

“What?”

“You distributed rice coated in poison to people, so aren’t you the one determined to bring about your own downfall?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I merely shared what I had. When people said they had no rice, I lent them rice. When they needed grains, I let them use as much as they needed. And you give me this humiliation instead of gratitude?”

Hong Woo Geon approached Jung Saeng Won who was grinding his teeth.

“If you wanted gratitude, you should have done truly good deeds. Didn’t you kill the villagers to gain more for yourself?”

Lee Gyo Young continued Hong Woo Geon’s words.

“All the property of those who died recently has been transferred to you. You took all their fields and paddies in lieu of payment for the grains they borrowed from here.”

Jung Saeng Won asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“What’s wrong with that? I clearly showed kindness to those who had nothing, and those who couldn’t repay their debts voluntarily brought their land.”

“You still won’t admit your crime to the end.”

“I’ll say it again, I have committed no crime.”

“Then……”

Hong Woo Geon asked Jung Saeng Won who refused to confess his crime to the end.

“How do you explain what’s happening in the backyard storehouse right now?”

“Huh? What’s going on in the storehouse that’s causing all this fuss?”

As expected.

Jung Saeng Won wore an expression of knowing nothing.

“You’ll see if we go together.”

“Fine!”

Jung Saeng Won stood up confidently.

Putting on his shoes at the doorstep and descending the stone steps, he beckoned to Manager Gu.

“Manager Gu.”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead and open the storehouse doors wide.”

“Yes, sir.”

Manager Gu, who received Jung Saeng Won’s order, ran ahead to the backyard.

“What are you all doing? Hurry up.”

How can he be so brazen?

Jung Saeng Won turned to look at the Gahab members and urged them to hurry.

It was when Hong Woo Geon and the other Gahab members were coming down from the main hall.

“By the way……”

Yoo Chi Sung suddenly spoke up.

“I haven’t seen Gahab member Kwon for a while. Has anyone seen him?”

Everyone shook their heads at his question.

“It’s not just Gahab member Kwon who’s missing.”

Lee Gyo Young looked towards Hong Woo Geon.

“The guest Hong Gahab invited is also missing……”

“What? Where on earth did those two go at such an important time?”

[This is the timeline separator]

“What is all this?”

The king and Jwa Woo, pushed by Dol Seok’s vicious expression, entered the storehouse.

The scene inside the storehouse was truly miserable.

From the large cauldron at the very back, vapors of poisons for fumigation were spreading hazily into the air. Around it, emaciated children were sorting fumigated and unfumigated grains.

If they felt nauseous from the poison’s effects, the children would go on their own to the jar placed in the corner of the storehouse and bury their faces in it. After a bout of retching and spitting out bitter water, the children would silently return to their places and continue their work.

Some of the coughing children had dried blood stains around their mouths.

It was like seeing a living hell.

The king’s face crumpled like wrinkled paper.

“What are these children doing here?”

“What good would it do you to know?”

Not knowing the king’s true identity, Dol Seok’s answer was indifferent.

“Who are you to make these children do such work?”

“That too is none of your business.”

“You dare……”

“Dare, dare!”

Dol Seok suddenly shouted as if having a fit.

He took off the face covering he was wearing.

This thing, he recently realized it was of no use no matter how much he wore it. There was nothing to fear for Dol Seok who knew he was already poisoned. With a do-or-die attitude, he yelled at the elegantly dressed king.

Working here paid twice as much as elsewhere. That’s why he volunteered for this job.

But it turned out he had dug his own grave.

He had been repeatedly beating the poor children, having nowhere else to vent his anger. And now these ridiculous noblemen had come and were looking at him like a worthless bug.

Who do you think you are?

You’re people just like me, so why do only you get treated like humans while I have to die like this?

His twisted mind expressed anger in the wrong direction.

Jwa Woo pulled at the king’s clothes as Dol Seok acted like a wild beast.

“Please stay still.”

“What?”

“There’s no use in provoking him further.”

“……”

“That’s why I told you to please be quiet.”

Jwa Woo inadvertently revealed her inner resentment towards the king.

“You, how dare……”

The king was dumbfounded at Jwa Woo’s unexpected scolding.

“I beg your forgiveness.”

Realizing her mistake, Jwa Woo hurriedly bowed her head and stepped forward.

It was to protect the king from Dol Seok.

The king gave a dry chuckle at Jwa Woo standing in front of him.

It was the same laugh as Hong Woo Geon’s, though Jwa Woo didn’t see it.

“I’ll hold him off, so please run straight to the inner house and inform the Gahab members of the situation here.”

“Run away? But he seems to be the one who committed the crime.”

The king nodded towards the children.

“He may have committed the crime, but we’re at a disadvantage. He might do something dangerous to cover up his crime. That’s why you need to escape.”

“Oh my, how you see people. Are you telling me to run away in cowardice?”

“It’s not cowardice, but a wise choice.”

“A nobleman doesn’t run even in the rain. So why should I run from the likes of him?”

“This is a life-or-death situation, what’s wrong with running a little?”

“If I run away, what about you? What will you do?”

“I’ll fight.”

“Fight?”

“I’ll hold out until Your Majesty brings the other Gahab members.”

The king asked Jwa Woo, who was making a solemn vow.

“Do you even know how to fight?”