The herb packet lay open on the king's table.
Its contents looked harmless—fine powdered roots mixed with dried leaves, the scent faintly bitter.
Across the table stood the royal physician, watching carefully.
"Your Majesty," he said cautiously, "it would be better if I examined it first."
But the king had already pinched a small amount between his fingers.
"If it truly is harmless," he said calmly, "then there is nothing to fear."
Before anyone could stop him, he placed the powder on his tongue.
The bitterness spread instantly.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the king's expression changed.
A strange heat rose through his body like fire crawling beneath his skin. His vision blurred slightly, and the room seemed to tilt.
The physician's face paled.
"Your Majesty—!"
The king tried to steady himself against the table, but the strength in his limbs faded rapidly.
Within moments, sweat covered his brow. His breathing grew heavy, his body burning with a sudden fever that seemed to surge from within.
The physician rushed forward in alarm.
"Call the guards! Quickly!"
The king was helped back to his chambers, his condition worsening by the minute.
By the time he reached his bed, his body temperature had risen dangerously high.
The palace fell into chaos.
Servants ran through the halls carrying bowls of cold water and medicinal herbs. Physicians gathered urgently outside the chamber doors, whispering in fear.
No one had expected the poison to be so strong.
Inside the room, the king lay unconscious.
Hours passed.
Then night came.
And still he had not awakened.
⸻
Minsoo arrived quietly.
She had heard the rumors spreading through the palace corridors—that the king had suddenly fallen ill.
The moment she entered his chamber, her heart tightened.
The king lay on the bed, his normally calm face flushed with fever. Damp cloths rested against his forehead, already warm from the heat radiating from his body.
Minsoo stepped closer slowly.
For the first time since she had known him, he looked… fragile.
Her fingers hovered briefly above his hand before she gently touched it.
His skin was burning.
"What did you do to yourself…" she whispered softly.
The physicians said the fever had come suddenly after he examined the prince's medicine.
Which meant only one thing.
The herbs had been poisoned.
Minsoo remained by his bedside long after the servants left, replacing the cloth on his forehead again and again as the night stretched on.
Outside, the palace slept uneasily.
Inside the chamber, the king did not wake.
Not for a very long time.
⸻
Morning finally came.
Weak sunlight slipped through the curtains.
The king's eyes slowly opened.
His vision was hazy at first, but the fever had finally begun to subside.
Before he could speak, the doors suddenly opened.
Suho entered quickly, bowing deeply.
"Your Majesty."
The king pushed himself up slightly despite the lingering weakness in his body.
"You have news."
Suho nodded.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
His expression was grim.
"I have discovered the woman who poisoned the grand prince."
The room fell silent.
"But she has fled the capital," Suho continued. "She is currently in hiding somewhere beyond the city."
The king's eyes darkened immediately.
"Find her."
His voice was quiet but absolute.
"No matter where she runs… bring her back."
Suho bowed deeply.
"It will be done, Your Majesty."
⸻
For the next two days, Suho traced every lead.
Every road.
Every contact.
Every servant who had been near the grand prince's chambers.
And then, late one night, something strange happened.
As he returned to the palace through the inner courtyard, he noticed a shadow moving quietly near the side gate.
Someone was leaving.
Suho narrowed his eyes.
It was Miya's personal court lady.
The woman moved cautiously, glancing behind her before slipping through the palace gate into the dark streets beyond.
Suho followed silently.
The city was quiet at that hour. Lanterns flickered weakly along the narrow roads as the woman hurried through the shadows.
She walked far beyond the palace district until she reached an abandoned courtyard hidden behind several ruined houses.
Then she stopped.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then she called softly into the darkness.
"You can come out now."
A figure slowly emerged from behind a broken wall.
It was the same woman Suho had been searching for—the servant who had poisoned the grand prince.
Her face looked exhausted, fearful.
"You said you would help me escape," the woman said nervously.
The court lady smiled faintly.
"Yes."
She stepped closer.
"I promised you a reward."
The woman relaxed slightly.
But in the next instant—
The court lady moved.
A small knife flashed in her hand.
Before the woman could react, the blade sliced across her neck with deadly precision.
Blood spilled instantly.
The poisoned servant collapsed to the ground, her body trembling before going still.
Hidden behind the wall, Suho's eyes widened.
The knife.
His breath caught.
That blade—
Memories crashed into his mind like thunder.
His sister.
Her lifeless body.
The same wound across her neck.
The same knife.
Realization struck him with terrifying clarity.
His sister had not died by accident.
She had been murdered.
And the person who ordered it…
Was Miya.
The rage that rose inside him was uncontrollable.
Suho stepped out from the shadows.
"You."
The court lady spun around in shock.
But Suho was already moving.
He attacked without hesitation.
The woman fought back fiercely, her movements fast and brutal. She moved with the strength and precision of someone trained to kill.
For several intense moments they clashed in the dark courtyard.
But Suho's fury gave him the advantage.
With a final strike, he knocked the knife from her hand and forced her to the ground.
Within seconds, he had tied her wrists tightly.
"You're coming with me."
⸻
When the woman was dragged back to the palace, the king immediately ordered her imprisonment.
The palace buzzed with rumors.
Interrogations began at once.
The guards questioned her repeatedly.
"Who ordered you?"
But the court lady said nothing.
Even under torture, she refused to speak Miya's name.
She remained loyal.
Certain that her mistress would rescue her.
⸻
That night, the prison corridor was quiet.
The guards had stepped away briefly.
Footsteps approached slowly.
A hooded figure appeared at the entrance of the cell.
The prisoner looked up in shock.
"M-My Lady…!"
Miya lowered her hood.
Her expression was calm, but her eyes were unreadable.
She stepped forward and embraced the trembling woman tightly.
The court lady burst into tears.
"My Lady… please save me… I swear I didn't say anything…"
Miya held her gently.
Then she whispered softly.
"Thank you."
The woman froze slightly.
"For everything you've done."
Miya pulled back just enough to look at her.
"I truly love you."
Then, quietly, her hand slipped into the folds of her clothing.
A small knife appeared in her grip.
Before the court lady could react—
The blade plunged into her back.
Straight through her heart.
The woman gasped weakly, collapsing into Miya's arms.
For a moment, Miya simply held her.
Tears slowly slid down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Then she gently lowered the lifeless body to the prison floor.
After wiping the blood from her hands, Miya composed herself and quietly left the prison.
Moments later, she was already walking calmly back toward her chambers.
Behind her—
The last witness to the grand prince's poisoning lay dead.
And the truth was buried once again.