Looking at the sky full of dark clouds, even though he hurried, his clothes were already soaked.

Just as he entered the guest house, Eom Sang Gung called him with a pale face.

“My lord! Why are you only coming now!”

Having never seen Eom Sang Gung like this before, he urgently asked what was wrong.

“The lady… The lady is nowhere to be seen.”

“What, she can’t be seen, what do you mean?”

“She hasn’t been seen since going to the guest house in the afternoon.”

“She’s not in the main room?”

“We’ve looked everywhere but she’s not there. She’s not one to move without saying anything… I don’t know where she could have gone.”

If she’s not been seen since leaving the guest house, could she have gone outside the palace?

As Eom Sang Gung said, she wouldn’t have gone somewhere alone without saying anything, I don’t know what’s going on.

“Has anyone seen her leave the palace grounds?”

“I asked Choi Internal Officer and the caretaker, but they say they haven’t seen her. Where on earth could she have gone, what if something happened…”

Without listening to the end of Eom Sang Gung’s words, he ran straight out into the rain.

Behind him, Eom Sang Gung called out saying something, but it didn’t reach his ears.

He searched through the annex and Yeonhwa Hall and scoured the surroundings.

But Eun Seol was nowhere to be seen.

“Yoon Eun Seol, where on earth are you?”

Remembering her face from earlier in the day, he unconsciously let out a sigh.

He had turned away from her as she looked at him with a hurt expression.

Surely she wouldn’t have left his side for such a reason.

Woon, who had been repeating that Eun Seol wouldn’t have left for such a reason, paused.

It was because he knew the sharpness of the blades he had spat out was too much to be compressed into ‘such a reason’.

What if she had bad thoughts? His heart began to pound as if it would burst.

As he roughly brushed back his rain-soaked hair, he suddenly ran off somewhere.

It can’t be. It definitely can’t be.

“Yoon Eun Seol!”

Running through the fierce rain and wind, he called for her even though he knew she wouldn’t hear.

He didn’t know in what state of mind he had run all the way to the front of Dowon Pavilion.

Despite his belief that it couldn’t be, his steps headed towards the pond.

And again, he called for her.

“Eun Seol!”

His voice trembled and wouldn’t come out properly.

Just in case, he went into the pond and searched underwater.

Looking around, he called her name like a madman.

“Please… answer me.”

Just then, from somewhere, a faint human voice was heard.

“My lord… Here, I’m… here.”

As he approached the pavilion, a very faint voice mixed with the sound of rain was heard.

Without hesitation, he bent down and entered under the pavilion.

In the darkness, he saw Eun Seol lying face down on the floor, shivering.

His body moved before the thought of ‘why’ could form.

He quickly lifted her up, held her in his arms, and came out.

“Why on earth are you here like this!”

“The thunder…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence and lost consciousness.

Eun Seol’s body felt ice-cold to the touch. He first thought that it would be dangerous to leave her like this.

He immediately held her in his arms and ran through the rain.

When they arrived at the main house, Eom Sang Gung and Geum Ok saw Eun Seol in his arms and became tearful.

Eom Sang Gung called him with a trembling voice.

“What is this, how did this happen?”

“We’ll talk later, go and bring some warm water and towels. Prepare clothes for her to change into too. Hurry!”

Without waiting for an answer, he hurried into the room. As soon as he entered, he laid Eun Seol down and removed her wet clothes.

A moment later, Eom Sang Gung came in and placed a basin and towels in front of him, and took out clothes from the wardrobe.

“I will wipe the lady down. My lord, please change out of your wet clothes first.”

“I’ll do it, so go outside.”

At his firm voice, Eom Sang Gung stepped back and made way.

After removing Eun Seol’s wet clothes and changing her into dry ones, he wiped her face and limbs with warm water.

Her cold body gradually returned to normal. He covered her with a blanket and stared at her sleeping face for a long time.

“Yoon Eun Seol, Eun Seol… Open your eyes.”

Waiting for an answer that wouldn’t come, he held Eun Seol’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“Please come to your senses and open your eyes. Eun Seol… Don’t be sick.”

Uttering words that were unclear whether they were confessions or complaints, he let out a deep sigh.

After confirming that her complexion had improved and her breathing had returned to normal, he got up from his seat.

When he came out, Eom Sang Gung was glaring at him with her brows deeply furrowed.

“What?”

“How can you say ‘what’ now? Why did you act without sincerity and hurt the lady? How much are you going to regret later!”

“What did I do? She’s the one rejecting me, what am I supposed to do, I’m the one getting hurt, not her.”

At his words, Eom Sang Gung let out a laugh of disbelief.

Even he felt pathetic after saying it.

“Then, why did you call for So Hyang?”

“That… I didn’t call her, ah, why am I making excuses, really.”

“Whether you called her or So Hyang came on her own, from now on, don’t let her into Unyeon Palace. If you have business, you can go to Eunwol Hall yourself. And why are you making the lady live in solitude!”

Eom Sang Gung’s voice was as cold as frost in midwinter. It’s hard to tell who’s the master here.

He cleared his throat once and was about to say something sharp, but Eom Sang Gung’s pointed gaze flew at him, causing him to close his mouth.

“If you have the person you wanted so much by your side, you should cherish her, why are you hurting her? If you keep doing this, my tongue might become loose.”

“Eom Sang Gung!”

“So, from now on, show your heart.”

“It’s not me, it’s her who’s rejecting me!”

“Don’t say such ridiculous things. What woman in the world would reject her husband?”

“Really, can’t you speak more gently? I’ll handle my own affairs, so please take care of her.”

Looking at him averting his gaze with an awkward face, Eom Sang Gung let out a low sigh.

“I don’t understand how someone who ran out recklessly at just one word that she couldn’t be found can be so frustrating in expressing his feelings.”

Turning his back on Eom Sang Gung’s nagging, he headed towards the guest house, then turned back again.

After hesitating for a moment, he said quietly with an embarrassed expression.

“Tell her it was Eom Sang Gung who changed her clothes.”

With those final words, he quickly left the main house.

* * *

The weather was bright enough to make yesterday’s thunder and lightning seem insignificant.

Yet Woon entered the training ground with a complicated and confused heart.

Having not slept a wink last night, he needed something to focus on.

Just as he was about to draw the bowstring to shoot an arrow, Seo Yeom approached and bowed.

Lowering the hand that had grasped the bow, he asked what was the matter.

“It’s about the lady’s birth mother.”

At the mention of Eun Seol’s birth mother, he placed the bow on the table and turned his body completely to wait for Seo Yeom’s next words.

“She was driven out by the Minister of War soon after giving birth to the lady. At that time, the Minister of War, who was already close to the current legal wife, told her to leave on her own if she wanted to save the child.”

Seeing his face gradually harden, Seo Yeom hesitated for a moment before speaking heavily.

“After being cast out, she took her own life. And immediately after, the current wife was brought in. According to Cheongju House, the Minister of War had been living with the legal wife even before marrying the lady’s birth mother, and the legal birth mother was treated as if she didn’t exist. Whatever the reason for being driven out, there are also rumors that she didn’t take her own life, but that the Minister of War had someone kill her. From then on, the lady lived as an abandoned child in a separate building.”

“Abandoned child, what do you mean?”

“Literally, she lived being abandoned by her father and stepmother, treated like an unwanted child. The servants of that house couldn’t even help the lady because they were wary of the legal wife’s eyes. It seems the lady lived almost confined in the separate building since childhood.”

He had no idea at all.

He couldn’t even imagine that Eun Seol had been living so miserably.

He had thought it was just her personality that made her run away whenever their eyes met and always look down in front of him as if intimidated.

He thought he knew something about her, but he knew nothing.

The Yoon Eun Seol he knew was just an illusion.

Is this what it feels like to have your breath taken away?

“With his daughter in such a state, what was the Minister of War doing all this time?”

“He was never interested originally, but he completely ignored her as his child to appease the legal wife. To the Minister and the legal wife, Yoon Eun Joo was their only child.”

“Son of a…”

Unable to contain his anger, he slammed his fist on the nearby table.

He exhaled a suppressed breath and asked in a lowered voice.

“Was she on good terms with her younger sister Yoon Eun Joo?”

“I don’t know the details, but it seems there wasn’t much difference from her stepmother. Fortunately, thanks to meeting the Vice Minister of Education, the lady was able to see the outside world and study, becoming much brighter. People say that for the lady, the Vice Minister was like a reliable teacher and parent figure. It’s fortunate that the lady had such an excellent teacher in the Vice Minister, isn’t it?”

“Yes, good work, you may go.”

After sending Seo Yeom away, he picked up the bow again but lowered his hand without drawing it.

-I clearly said no. The Vice Minister is my teacher. I have never once thought of him as a man.

“What on earth have I done to that child?”

He had poured salt into an open wound.

Remembering Eun Seol’s eyes looking at him trembling with fear, one side of his chest ached.

His actions were coming back as daggers piercing Woon’s heart.