Lady Ok-jeong sipped her tea daintily as Cheol observed the people that walked by the restaurant she’d taken him to. The restaurant only served nobility, and the wealth they accumulated from their customers was reflected in every part of the restaurant, from their polished furniture to the incense they burned inside to the spices they put in their food. Cheol and Lady Ok-jeong sat outdoors, despite the cold autumn air, with warm beverages and sweets laid out before them. It all looked delightful, but Cheol would not touch any of them. Lady Ok-jeong was a tad too desperate to take Min-jun’s place, and Cheol could not trust her not to have put something in his drink or food. After all, she’d been willing to test him already.
“Is the food not to your liking, Your Majesty?” she asked, placing her teacup down on the table. “Are yakgwa no longer your favorites?”
“I make an effort not to eat anything my own chefs haven’t cooked,” Cheol replied. “Feel free to take them all, if you wish.”
Their conversation was no longer as easygoing as it had been a few days prior. Cheol had grown tired of her determination to remind him of their shared past. Cheol could vaguely remember his mother introducing him to a girl named Ok-jeong long ago, but he did not remember it being particularly noteworthy.
“Is everything alright, Your Majesty?” Lady Ok-jeong asked.
Cheol watched her for a moment. Perhaps he could find some entertainment after all.
“I was thinking that it was quite a splendid coincidence that Court Lady Goo happened to still be in the city,” Cheol said, casually. “I had been certain my father had killed all of my mother’s servants.”
Lady Ok-jeong reached over to take one of the rice cakes. “Is that so? She must’ve been quite lucky, then.”
“Indeed,” Cheol said. “Though I recall her scar being on the right side, not the left.”
The slightest bit of unease entered her posture, her eyes flitting up from her tea momentarily. “It’s been such a long time. Who can say?”
“I suppose you’re right,” Cheol replied. “I had been worried she might’ve fooled us both, but the scar was too old to be false.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Tbeg Zjpfras lr klrf.”
Lf ifjcfv lc j yla mibrfg, mbcrqlgjabgljiis, qgbqqlcu tlr fiybkr eq bc atf ajyif. “Dea atfc P yfujc ab ibbx lcab la j ilaaif wbgf. Dflcu ajxfc obg j obbi, joafg jii, lr cba rbwfatlcu jcs Blcu kbeiv kjca.”
“Yo mbegrf, Tbeg Zjpfras.”
“P’w uijv sbe ecvfgrajcv,” Jtfbi rjlv. “P tjv rbwf bo ws wfc ub yjmx ab tfg gfrlvfcmf. Ktfs mtfmxfv lo tfg rmjg kjr gfji bg cba klat j rbinfca atja P tjv gfmfcais jmdelgfv. Pa kjr klqfv jkjs klatlc rfmbcvr. Vtf abiv wf sbe tjv tlgfv tfg. Mgbw atfgf, atf qlfmfr kfgf fjrs ab qea abufatfg.” Jtfbi ifjcfv yjmx, ibbxlcu jkjs ogbw Yx-pfbcu lc ojnbg bo rmjcclcu atf gfrajegjca jujlc. Ktfgf kfgf akb Lkjcu-bu Rl mijc uejgvr kjamtlcu atfw, yea la rffwfv atfs kfgf atfgf wbgf obg Yx-pfbcu’r yfcfola atjc ab fcvjcufg Jtfbi. “Ktja sbe jaafwqafv ab aglmx wf P wluta obgulnf, yea sbe jirb tlgfv atbrf ateur ab mtjrf joafg ws mbcrbga.”
That last bit he wasn’t so sure about, but he might as well throw it in.
Ok-jeong kneeled before him, trembling with fear. Good. She was not a complete fool. “I deserve death, Your Majesty.”
“You confess to it all.”
She nodded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as her hands crumpled the fabric of her skirt.
“Out of respect for our past, I will let you go. But know that should you lie to me again or target my consort in such a way, I will not be so lenient.” Cheol stood up, leaving Ok-jeong speechless and terrified. “Good night, Lady Ok-jeong. I will see you tomorrow at the same time.”
. . .
Hye-jin raised her head. “You’re back early.” She’d been reading when he came in, engrossed in an old medical journal. It was rare for Hye-jin to be doing something other than work. Cheol often worried that, in their hurry to revolutionize the kingdom, Hye-jin had left behind her own dreams, her own identity, her own passions. She left it all behind in service of their country, in service of Cheol. In moments like these, he was glad to see that something of his old friend still lived.
“I took care of everything that needed to be taken care of,” he replied, picking up one of the reports in front of Hye-jin. The villages in Byeol Province appeared to be doing well ahead of the winter, despite the flooding that had happened in the summer months.
“Did you find anything on the trafficking ring?”
“Hmm,” Cheol hummed, as he placed the report back down on the table. “They might be working with the Hwang-og Ni faction.”
The book in Hye-jin’s hands slammed shut. “What?”
“Those thugs that were sent after Min-jun had been hired by Lady Ok-jeong,” Cheol said, reaching for the plate of yakgwa that had been set out on the table.
“When did you find all of this out?” Hye-jin asked, taking the plate away. “How long have you known?”
Cheol pouted as his sweets were taken out of reach. Hye-jin was the real tyrant here. “I asked her myself.”
“And she just told you?”
“She required a bit of nudging in the right direction, but yes.”
Hye-jin stared at the floor, as she often did when she was deep in thought. “That doesn’t prove that they have a connection with them, though. It would be risky to target them like this.”
“It would be,” Cheol agreed. “But if we got any evidence on them, that would be the end of the Hwang-og Ni clan. It’s not a chance I’m willing to pass up. But condemning them for something they didn’t do would be unwise.”
“Sounds like you have a plan.”
Cheol rested his chin on his hand. “We’ll place a spy on the inside. Someone who the leaders of the family already trust. The ones we’ve already placed there will not be able to access this information.”
“Who?”
Tilting his head in her direction, Cheol smiled. “I’m working on it as we speak.”
It took Hye-jin mere seconds to comprehend. “You want to use Lady Ok-jeong as a spy? Are you insane?”
“Oh come now, Hye-jin,” Cheol said. “What’s a little favor between old friends?” But Ok-jeong wasn’t quite ready to take that leap yet. No, not yet. Cheol could see it in her eyes, however. She was certainly in love with him. And now, on top of that, her life was entirely in Cheol’s hands. How interesting.
“And what about Min-jun?” Hye-jin asked.
“What about him?”
Hye-jin gestured with her hand. “If he sees you using the same methods on someone else, you might risk losing him entirely.” Oh, was she finally showing some concern for his lovely consort?
“He will not know.” Cheol would make sure of it. Once these two weeks were over, Min-jun would be confined to the Palace again, and Cheol could easily manipulate the information he receives. No, Cheol would make use of Ok-jeong, and Min-jun would be none the wiser.
A knock drew their attention. Ji-won slipped his head in through the gap between the doors. He wore a bright red hanbok, beads hanging down from his hat, and his face was split in a large grin. His hands were occupied. He waved a rectangular, wooden box in the air. “Guess what I found.”
A/N: Cheol is just full of bad ideas, isn’t he? Anyway, thank you all for reading! Our choices for the fandom name are “killers” or “Min-jun protection squad”. Put your favorite down in the comments below. Also if you liked this chapter, please comment down below what you liked about it!
Not a good time to be underestimating the investigator you married, Cheol. I hope Min-jun finds out she got busted though. Similar to sibling rivalry, it’s very satisfying when your competition gets in trouble.
Cheol and Min-jun make bad decisions: The novel. Min-jun and Ok-jeong will definitely meet eventually heheh. Thanks for commenting!
I had such faith in Cheol <shakes head> Min Jun is an investor work with him to uncover traffic ring!
cheol really dug his own grave with this one.
Thanks for commenting!
Killers sounds actually pretty cool 😌
Oh, and cheol… you just put down a flag
I like both nicknames too! Cheol is making bad decisions rn. Let’s see if that changes any time soon 😏.
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