784.You… stopped it.
The King looked at Park Seongjin for the last time.
"You… stopped it."
Park Seongjin didn't answer. It wasn't that he had no words, but because there was no room for them. This was not the time for a victory or for excuses.
The King asked in a low voice.
"Did you… kill Kim Yong here?"
Park Seongjin's eyes briefly moved. The breath of Kim Yong, the blood on the ground, and the shaking eyes of the King in Hwangan Temple crossed his mind.
"Not yet."
"I thought His Majesty should see it for himself."
His words were sharp. At the same time, it was his final form of respect. The way to restore the King's authority.
The King nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
"Alright."
"I'll do it."
With those words, the air in the courtyard stilled. The King stood in front of Kim Yong. Kim Yong opened his mouth.
"Your Majesty, I… I did this for you—"
"I…" the King interrupted,
"Didn't forget you."
Those words were not about affection, but judgment.
The King glanced sideways. A sword was immediately presented. The King took it, and his hand did not tremble.
"Kim Yong."
"You didn't move for me. You moved for yourself."
Kim Yong's lips trembled. Instead of words, tears rose.
The King carefully lowered the sword tip. It was just below Kim Yong's throat.
That carefulness made the weight of the decision heavier.
The King wasn't someone who killed; he was someone who made the final decision.
"Take him away."
"Hand him over to the Inminbyeongjeongdodam."
"Record his name, and arrest everyone involved."
Kim Yong's eyes widened. He was drained of strength.
Death ended with a single strike, but politics remained through records.
The King had kept him alive. To leave the crime in the language of the nation.
Not for personal vengeance, but to solidify it through the King's judgment.
Park Seongjin's eyes shook slightly.
He didn't judge whether the decision was right or wrong. But one thing was certain. The King was standing at this position again.
The King looked around the courtyard and spoke.
"Today, here, the King was reinstated twice."
Everyone understood the meaning of those words.
One was a name that greed had sought to establish.
The other was a position rising from the bloodshed.
The King looked at Park Seongjin again.
"What will you do now?"
Park Seongjin was silent for a moment.
The silence wasn't hesitation; it was distance. The distance between the King's path and his own.
"As His Majesty builds the nation,"
"I'll make sure the place for His Majesty is settled."
The King understood the meaning. The one who settles is not someone who stays long. But when needed, they are called again.
The King exhaled briefly.
"Still, don't leave today."
Park Seongjin nodded. That was his answer.
The wind in the meeting room started to flow again.
The scenery under the eaves fluttered late. It was a very small sound.
That day, the capital, Gaegyeong, continued the nation's time with that sound.
The Disappearance of the Princess
The Yongho Army, which had been stationed on the outskirts, entered the palace. The door opened again, and the armed troops set order, finally allowing a breath of relief. Safety had been secured. At least, outwardly it seemed so.
But the King's heart didn't settle at all. Why was the nation going through this? Why was it always so frequent?
It wasn't just about stopping a rebellion. The speed with which people's hearts scatter is faster than a sword, and today, he could painfully feel that.
The King walked through the empty courtyard. Just moments ago, it had been a place full of soldiers, ministers, blood, and sound. Now, only the wind passed.
The sound of his footsteps echoed loudly. It only grew his anxiety.
Then, a eunuch hurriedly ran in and reported without even catching his breath. The Queen couldn't be found.
The King stopped.
"…What did you say?"
His voice was so low that it felt even more dangerous. The Queen had not accompanied the King to Beijing. If that was the case, she should be in the palace. She was someone who had already planned a hiding spot, a place to escape to.
"She's not in the palace?"
The King immediately gave orders. No, he poured out commands.
"Find her. Search the inner palace first."
"The rear palace?"
"Check everything."
"The secret passages?"
"Are they closed? Who has the keys?"
"Check the documents. The entry records for today."
"No. No. Send more people right now."
The orders piled up, and they kept changing. The King's frustration was evident to all.
He couldn't stand still. He moved directly. He passed through the halls, through the corridors, and out into the courtyard again.
The more empty spaces there were, the more the anxiety grew.
"Didn't you say she hid?" Finally, the King asked the one who had caught her.
When the signs of rebellion appeared, the Queen had clearly hidden, he had said. That was the rule in the palace. First to hide, last to emerge. It was the way to survive.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And then?"
"I went, but… she wasn't there."
That single sentence hit the King's chest. She wasn't there.
She wasn't where she was supposed to be. Whether she ran away, was dragged away, or moved on her own, no one knew.
The King ground his teeth. Thoughts tangled. Rebellion, Kim Yong, the gates, the new king, and the Queen. None of these things connected.
They were broken.
That was why it was so frightening.
"These bastards…" The King couldn't finish the sentence.
Was it anger, anxiety, or regret? He didn't even know.
The wind blew again in the empty courtyard. The King stood still, staring into the air as if searching for the shadow of the missing person.
The disappearance of the Queen turned into a search immediately.
People instinctively knew. It wasn't the front gate, but the secret passage.
The palace walls were high, but the history of the royal family was older.
The hidden passages, the long-sealed exits, the paths that only the King knew and a few others remembered.
They lit fires and started opening each one.
Dusty stone stairs, the musty air, the lingering scent of incense.
They searched everywhere there could have been footprints.
But the traces always ended just one step ahead.
It was as if someone had intentionally erased them.
The bigger issue was something else.
The King was not in his right mind.
He loved the Queen. Not for political calculations or family ties, but as a person.
He was not like the previous kings who changed women and poured out desires.
His heart was with one person, and it was known throughout the palace.
That's why this situation was even more dangerous.
"Where is she…"
The King muttered, as if it wasn't even a question.
Where is she? Is she alive? Who took her? Did she leave on her own?
No one could answer.
The palace was vast, the paths many, and the night deepening.
And the King stood there, alone, on all those paths.