Lee Woon headed towards the guest house, holding the crumpled letter in his hand.

Upon his arrival at the guest house, Seo Yeom rushed over and cautiously asked.

“Is the lady alright? Has she awakened?”

“Send someone to Kim Hee Gyeom’s house right now to check if he’s home.”

“Is this perhaps related to the deputy scholar?”

“Nothing is certain yet. Whether it’s Kim Hee Gyeom or… We’ll find out from now on, hurry.”

“Yes, understood. By the way, just in case, we searched where the lady was, but nothing useful was found. I’ll go check again when it’s light.”

“Alright. Good work.”

After sending Seo Yeom away, Lee Woon sat alone in the darkened room and organized his thoughts.

Did Kim Hee Gyeom really send this letter?

That man wouldn’t have done that to Yoon Eun Seol.

If someone else sent it, why target her instead of him?

No matter how much he thought about it, no plausible reason came to mind.

Someone who didn’t know the relationship between Kim Hee Gyeom and Yoon Eun Seol couldn’t have sent such a letter.

How much time had passed? Seo Yeom returned.

“My lord, he’s at home now. Shall we go there now?”

“Let’s go.”

Lee Woon put the letter in his breast and hurriedly left the palace.

Kim Hee Gyeom’s house was not far from the Minister of War’s residence.

He wanted to storm in right away, but he mustered all his patience and held back.

When he knocked on the gate, a servant came out and guided him to Kim Hee Gyeom’s room.

Seeing him, Hee Gyeom looked displeased but not surprised.

He seemed like someone who knew he would come.

Lee Woon clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

“You don’t seem surprised that I’ve come at such a late hour. As if you knew I would come.”

“I’m more curious than surprised.”

Hee Gyeom didn’t avoid his gaze.

With a lazy smile on his lips, he calmly looked at him.

“Please tell me. What brings the Grand Prince to visit me at this late hour?”

Lee Woon took out the letter from his breast and placed it in front of Kim Hee Gyeom.

“What is this?”

“The deputy scholar should check it.”

Hee Gyeom unfolded the paper in his hand and quickly read through it.

As he read the letter, Hee Gyeom’s eyes trembled and his fingertips quivered slightly.

His relaxed face quickly darkened.

Lee Woon didn’t miss this.

He gritted his teeth and waited for Hee Gyeom to speak.

He was curious about how Hee Gyeom would explain this situation.

However, the words that came out of Hee Gyeom’s mouth missed his expectation.

“Are you perhaps jealous?”

“What?”

“If the Grand Prince gets jealous over a letter like this, the whole world will laugh.”

“Kim Hee Gyeom! I’m not in the mood for jokes, so just answer the question.”

At his fierce gaze, the smile on Hee Gyeom’s lips disappeared.

Kim Hee Gyeom slowly lowered the corners of his mouth that had been raised.

“What are you curious about? I don’t understand what’s so curious that you came all the way here this late at night.”

“What I want to know is whether you wrote this letter yourself.”

“The handwriting is mine. However, I didn’t write it.”

“Do you really not know the contents?”

“It’s clear that sending such a letter would trouble her, so why would I do such a crazy thing?”

Lee Woon rubbed his chin with one hand, lost in thought.

He hadn’t come suspecting Kim Hee Gyeom from the start.

If he had suspected him, he would have drawn his sword as soon as he saw him.

“Do you have any idea who might have done this?”

“Before that, I think you should explain first. What happened? You’re not one to act lightly over a single letter like this.”

“You don’t need to know that, just tell me if you know anything.”

“Then I can’t tell you anything either. So…”

“Please. I beg you, if you know anything, tell me.”

Lee Woon could no longer hold back and revealed his true feelings.

In this situation, Kim Hee Gyeom was the only person he could trust.

If only he could find out who it was, he felt like kneeling before Kim Hee Gyeom right now and begging.

They dared to touch my person and drive my child to death.

I must find them. I intended to make them taste a living hell once I found them.

For that, Kim Hee Gyeom’s help was desperately needed.

“Don’t think about anything else, just think about Yoon Eun Seol. The situation is very bad now. So, please help me.”

He pleaded once again with a burning heart.

Perhaps sensing his desperate feelings, Hee Gyeom’s expression changed.

“To be able to imitate so meticulously, it’s likely they bribed a professional copyist. The tree mentioned in the letter, besides the Minister of War’s household, no one else knows she frequents that place…”

“Damn it!”

He cursed and stood up.

Hee Gyeom stood up as well and pressed him.

“Now tell me. Has something happened to the lady? What’s going on? Tell me!”

Hee Gyeom raised his voice and glared at him with fierce eyes.

Lee Woon let out a deep sigh, clutching his throbbing head and furrowing his brow.

He could feel the sincere concern for Yoon Eun Seol.

But the things Kim Hee Gyeom was curious about were details that would only hurt her more if revealed.

He slowly raised his eyes that he had closed.

“I’m glad it wasn’t you, deputy scholar.”

“You don’t answer and say such irrelevant… Did the lady perhaps leave after seeing this letter, thinking it was from me?”

“I can’t tell you anything right now. Thank you for today.”

As he turned to leave, Kim Hee Gyeom’s low voice was heard from behind.

“Is it that you can’t trust me?”

“I may not like you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you.”

Hee Gyeom looked at him with an incredulous expression. Then he carefully asked again.

“If it was someone from the Minister of War’s household, what will you do?”

“I’ll have to kill them. Showing mercy once is enough.”

* * *

It was a familiar scene that appeared whenever she thought she had forgotten it, to the point where she couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality.

It always stayed in the same place, the same scene.

Today too, the child had run away to the wishing tree, still barefoot.

Her eyes were still filled with tears from how much she had cried.

The child was hugging the tree with her bruised hands, making a wish.

That’s when it happened.

“Did you get scolded and chased out again?”

The child’s face, peeking out from behind the tree, immediately brightened.

She ran towards the source of the voice.

The child looked up at the man who was much taller than her and smiled brightly.

“Are your injuries all healed? Are you not in pain anymore?”

“It wasn’t that painful before. Your fuss gave me more of a headache.”

The child’s lips pouted at the man’s gruff words.

Finding it cute, the man’s large hand gently patted the child’s head.

“When you do that, your ugly face looks even uglier.”

“Do I look very ugly? Is that why everyone hates me?”

The man seemed flustered by the dejected child’s words and corrected himself.

“I meant you look ugly when you pout like that, not that you’re ugly. To my eyes, you’re the prettiest in the world. That will probably be true even when you grow up.”

The child, now in a much better mood, smiled and held the man’s hand tightly.

The pain from her bruises no longer hurt when she was with this man.

“What brings you here?”

“I was passing by. What about you, what were you doing here?”

“I was making a wish.”

“What wish?”

“You’re not supposed to tell your wishes.”

“You can. So tell me.”

After hesitating for a long while, the child spoke in a small voice, almost whispering.

“Please take me with you. I’ll be very obedient and I won’t cry… I won’t eat much either. So please take me with you.”

The man lowered himself to meet the child’s eyes.

He wiped away the tears in her eyes and smiled warmly.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll come for you. But in return, you must not cry, eat well, and wait. Then I will surely come for you. Will you wait for me?”

“Really? If I don’t cry and wait, will you come for me?”

“I promise. Even if you don’t recognize me, I’ll come find you.”

The child nodded.

The man wiped her feet and put her on his back. His back was so warm that it brought tears to her eyes.

“You must remember me. I’ll wait until you come.”

“No matter where you are, I can find you. Don’t worry.”

The child buried her face in the man’s broad back and closed her eyes.

.

.

.

A dream, that dream again.

Today, the gaze of the man looking at her in the dream felt unusually familiar.

It was just a dream, but that moment was happy.

Yoon Eun Seol opened her eyes and blinked for a long time, staring into space.

The familiar ceiling came into view first.

Someone’s hand wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

“You’re awake.”

“…”

“I’ve been waiting so long for you to wake up. Do you know how upset I was that you slept for five whole days?”

The hand caressing her face was warm, and the gaze looking at her was affectionate.

“Grand Prince… What happened?”

“I thought the main quarters would be noisy, so I brought you to Yeonhwa Hall.”

“Did you come to find me, Grand Prince?”

“Didn’t I say I would come find you no matter where you were? So, don’t think about escaping from me.”

She turned her back to him, avoiding his gaze.

She didn’t have the courage to look at him.

“Don’t turn your back on me. Do you know how hurt I was every time you turned your back and ran away?”

He turned her body around and caressed her face. His warm gaze and gentle smile felt especially painful today.

“Thank you for waking up.”

She was embraced in his arms.

Tears poured out. Yoon Eun Seol burrowed deeper into him to avoid making a sound.

His arms tightened around her trembling shoulders.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I have no face to show you. Because I’m so worthless… Because I was so foolish, things have come to this.”

“Don’t say such things. It’s not your fault, my lady.”

“If only I had been a little more careful, we wouldn’t have lost our child so futilely… I lost our child because of my stupidity.”

Her trembling voice soon turned into sobs, and her fragile body began to shake.

A choking sound came from her throat as she tried to hold back her cries.

“It’s okay to cry. Don’t hold it back, just cry. Then let’s pray for our child to go to a good place.”

It hurt. Her chest was cold and her heart felt as if it was being stabbed by a dagger.

But no matter how much she wanted to cry out loud, the sobs stuck in her throat seemed to rebuke her, unable to come out.

It felt as if someone was mocking her.

You don’t deserve to hurt.

It seemed like they were telling her she had no right to shed tears or cry out loud, so she should just endure without making a fuss.

He gently patted her back as she trembled, unable to make a sound.

After a moment, his hands cupped her face and their eyes met.

“Eun Seol, don’t hold back, just cry. I’ll take it all. I’ll take away all your sorrow and pain, so just… let’s cry. Okay?”

At his words, she finally burst into tears and wept as if wailing.

Overwhelmed by grief, she burrowed into his arms and cried and cried.

The pain of losing her child was unbearably painful and devastating, more than the fear she had endured.

How long did she cry?

As her sobs began to quiet down, he stroked her back and whispered softly.

“Yoon Eun Seol is still as kind as ever. Obedient and beautiful.”