“I was referring to you.”
It made sense that Min-jun thought of him as the source of all his pain, and perhaps what he said was meant to be deciphered as such, but that didn’t discount the fact that a puppet-master might lurk in the shadows pulling his strings. Rarely did one man pull off assassinations of this scale. Beyond that, Min-jun was young and bright. Left to his own devices, he would’ve likely moved on from his parents’ deaths, however slowly. Revenge like this had to be fed by something. That something, or rather, that someone could prove far more dangerous than his little spitfire.
“Which is why,” he told Hye-jin, upon recounting his suspicions, “I need you to look back at the sentencing of his parents.”
She gazed up at him, her cheek resting on her hand, her eyes half-closed in boredom. “I still fail to see why we’re not just killing him.”
“He might prove a valuable resource.”
“I hope you’re saying that because you believe it and not because he has a pretty face,” she said, dipping the tip of her brush into an ink well and pressing it against the scroll in front of her. It glided across the paper, slowly revealing her elegant handwriting. He’d always admired her calligraphy. His own writing had always been little more than scrawls.
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.
He turned his thoughts away from the characters and instead chose to interrogate her assumptions.
“You wound me, Hye-jin,” he said, peering down at her. “In all the years we’ve known each other, have you ever known me to be swayed by the beautiful?”
She paused in her writing, eyes darting as she considered his question. “Not recently. But that boy in the river towns … he had you wrapped around his finger for a good few months.”
Oh please. How was it that everyone always held onto that one time? He didn’t even remember that boy anymore. “I was twelve.”
“You were fifteen.” Ah yes, a year before the coup d’etat. Had he really taken a detour during such a crucial period of his plan?
That proved nothing, however. “That doesn’t change the insignificance of that occurrence. This situation has nothing in common with that one. This is a strategic move. He can be a great ally to us, I’m sure of it.”
For a good minute or so, they stared at one another, urging the other to back down. Hye-jin sighed, glaring at the wall to their left. Begrudgingly, she said, “Fine, I’ll look into it. But let it be down that I doubt it will be of any use. That man seems unshakable.”
No, not so unshakable. Cheol would unravel everything about him, and Min-jun would surely be seduced into becoming his ally. The puppet will lead him straight to his puppet master. It was just a matter of following the marionette’s strings. They stood on the brink of something sinister. He could feel it in the shiver crawling up his spine.
Hye-jin smirked, putting one scroll aside and spreading the next in front of her. “Excited?”
“You have no idea.”
She hummed, thoughtfully, and spread glossy ink over paper. “I hope you’re just as excited about the banquet tomorrow.”
Right. The Spring Festival would begin tomorrow, on the first day of the seventh month, just as the sun reached its peak. Everyone would be looking at him. Again. This King business was truly a bother sometimes. He’d rather spend his time on more invigorating activities.
Perhaps, he could do both.
“Where will Min-jun be sitting?”
Hye-jin brought the hilt of the brush to her chin, frowning. “With you and the other consorts, at the end of the table, since he’s lower in status –”
“Put him next to me instead.” He rarely asked for changes on such short notice, but this situation demanded it. The sooner Min-jun cracked, the sooner they’d catch the real culprit.
“Seriously?”
He shrugged, feeling quite pleased with the prospect of spending the larger part of the next week with his little assassin at his side. “Never too early to start chipping away at his armor.”
“The ministers will throw a fit.”
“I’ll deal with them.” Really, riling the ministers up was an added benefit. “You know they’re still too scared to take any substantial steps against us. A slap on the wrist and they’ll quiet down.” Who knew how long that would last? Sooner or later, they would likely turn on him. He’d have to turn on them first.
“Fine, but don’t get carried away with your ‘slap on the wrist’.”
He grinned. “I can assure you my punishment always fits the crime.”
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
thank you for commenting! ❤
thank youuuu <3
Thank you! ❤
Ohh? Who was that boy?
🤔
ahem #My white moonlight wants to kill me, what to do, searching for answers online#
lolol the things Cheol has to deal with.
They don’t really see Min-jun as a danger… just for that I hope Cheol will come very close to being killed by him once 😔
😈