As soon as he returned to the palace, Lord Kim rushed to the royal audience hall. It was because of the news that the Chief State Councilor had called for a meeting at the royal audience hall.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
Only the king could summon a meeting. Calling for a meeting at the royal audience hall was challenging the king’s authority. It could even be viewed as an act of treason.
However, he had to attend the meeting at the royal audience hall to understand the unfolding situation. With a displeased expression, he entered the hall.
“You have arrived, My Lord.”
The ministers who had arrived earlier bowed their heads to Lord Kim. Behind them, he could see the Chief State Councilor with his protruding belly. Lord Kim’s expression soured at the Chief State Councilor’s pretense of indifference.
‘Did he just barely nod at me?’
The Chief State Councilor had risen to that position through various corruptions. There was no reason Lord Kim shouldn’t receive a proper greeting from someone who had bought his position with money. Lord Kim stopped walking. It was a signal that he would not proceed further into the hall.
“I heard a meeting was called at the royal audience hall, so I thought His Majesty had returned. How is it that His Majesty is not here, and only the Chief State Councilor is present?”
The Chief State Councilor burst into laughter at what was clearly a mocking tone.
“In a palace without His Majesty, I am the most senior figure of the royal court. As the senior, I cannot simply leave the confused court as it is.”
“His Majesty has been gone for barely a day, yet you act so rashly.”
“Rashly? I’m hurt that you misinterpret a loyal subject’s heart this way.”
He appeared completely at ease. Today especially, the multiple layers of fat on his neck seemed particularly thick. Watching the neck fat wobble with each word, Lord Kim snorted.
“So now you think you’re the Chief State Councilor?”
Chief State Councilor. Though it was the highest position a subject could attain, there had been many problems with how he had risen to that position.
He had bought power with money extorted from the people, and as a basic practice, he blackmailed ministers with various corruption and crimes. It was a position he had achieved by involving himself in every dirty deed possible.
“After obtaining the Chief State Councilor position through deals, you even put on airs? The Chief State Councilor’s face seems to be as thick as his belly fat.”
All eyes turned to his belly. The Chief State Councilor quickly tensed his muscles, but once it had emerged, his belly showed no signs of receding. The ministers let out small laughs at the mountain-like belly visible through his clothes.
“Y-You! Impudent!”
The Chief State Councilor, his face bright red, pointed a finger. To humiliate me like this in front of the ministers! Mortified, he glared at Lord Kim while throwing a fit. His anger then turned toward Jeonghyeon, who was standing behind.
“W-Why is that Censorate Inspector here? Is the Censorate now in the business of escorting civilians?”
Jeonghyeon, who had been standing quietly until then, stood beside Lord Kim. Even Jeonghyeon, who usually smiled cheerfully, now wore a stern expression. Despite not wearing his official uniform, his intimidating presence made the Chief State Councilor stutter.
“It, it seems the Censorate has nothing, nothing better to do. Escorting a retired lord.”
“My Lord.”
Jeonghyeon addressed the Chief State Councilor in a low voice.
“I am not here to escort a civilian, but because I heard someone dared to challenge His Majesty’s authority.”
“Ha, as Chief State Councilor, I can call for a meeting at the royal audience hall in times of emergency, as clearly stated in the national constitution!”
“Isn’t it somewhat inappropriate to call this an emergency when His Majesty has not passed away?”
A resolute voice echoed through the hall. Following Jeonghyeon’s words, voices emerged from among the ministers. These were voices of concern about attending the meeting trusting the Chief State Councilor.
“What if we also get dragged to the Censorate?”
“No, we could say we were deceived by the Chief State Councilor, who called us here.”
“Aish, I told you we shouldn’t have come.”
Birds of a feather flock together. The Chief State Councilor’s people, bound by deals and money, were driven by profit. Those who had begun wavering after seeing Hyunseo and Doha clinging to each other at the hunting competition were now raising their voices.
The Chief State Councilor looked back at the ministers’ reactions. When he shot them a look, the ministers’ mouths closed as if nothing had happened. The Chief State Councilor’s power was still too solid for them to easily change sides. After looking at those opportunistic ministers, the Chief State Councilor turned back.
“If you are a Censorate Inspector, you should be arresting him instead of me.”
“My Lord, mind your words. Him?”
“The Noble Consort clearly said before collapsing! That Flower Bin Mama intended to harm His Majesty and the Noble Consort! How dare you, as an inspector, try to defend a traitor!”
Lord Kim, instantly transformed into a traitor, let out a hollow laugh. Everyone in the royal audience hall knew that Seowoo had not finished speaking. It was also a fact known to all that this did not implicate Doha.
‘Such an ineffective lie.’
“Isn’t that right? Did you all not see and hear! How our Noble Consort Mama collapsed!”
The Chief State Councilor turned his head as if frustrated and asked. No matter what, they were on the Chief State Councilor’s side. The ministers who could not betray the Chief State Councilor here nodded.
“I saw it too.”
“I, I think I heard it too.”
Testimonies continued from the ministers standing behind. Lord Kim’s expression hardened at these vague testimonies. Even if it was a lie, with enough witnesses, it could become truth. Until His Majesty returned, there was no one to reveal the truth.
“It seems Kim Jipyung is lenient because he’s family, but as Chief State Councilor, I cannot let this slide.”
The Chief State Councilor, arms crossed, shouted confidently toward them. He had already completed his preparations. The preparations to occupy the palace were finished. Imagining Lord Kim’s distorted face, he shouted in ecstasy.
“Instead of the incompetent Censorate, I have dispatched my private soldiers to Lord Kim’s residence!”
Lord Kim and Jeonghyeon’s faces hardened terrifyingly at the Chief State Councilor’s words. Jeonghyeon, standing beside, exchanged glances with Lord Kim. Yunjung was still at home. They hadn’t even relayed the news about Doha yet, fearing that frail Yunjung might collapse upon hearing it.
Veins bulged on Lord Kim’s forehead. The conversation he had with Yunjung before leaving for the palace flashed through his mind.
<I’ll have a hot meal ready, so please return home as soon as the hunting competition ends, My Lord.>
<Haha, are you worried about your husband?>
<No, this man! You need to tell me about Doha whom you’ve met after so long. Why would I worry about my incompetent husband!>
She would be eagerly waiting for Lord Kim to bring news of Doha. By now, she would have been captured by the Chief State Councilor’s soldiers and would be on her way to the palace. She was intelligent and wouldn’t have done anything foolish. Despite knowing this, Lord Kim felt his mind going numb with worry for Yunjung.
“Are you confident?”
Lord Kim glared at the Chief State Councilor with wide eyes. Veins stood out prominently on his forehead and neck. It was evidence that he was properly angered.
“What is there not to be confident about! If His Majesty doesn’t return, our Noble Consort Mama will rule the world!”
The Chief State Councilor answered with a voice tinged with laughter.
“You won’t regret this?”
“Regret is something you should do now, My Lord.”
At the Chief State Councilor’s gesture, soldiers who had been hiding behind the throne sprang out. They were fully armed. Seeing at least twenty of them, Jeonghyeon moved closer to Lord Kim.
“Take them to the prison!”
At the Chief State Councilor’s command, the soldiers rushed toward the two. Just as Lord Kim and Jeonghyeon were about to draw their swords for the imminent battle.
With a bang, the closed doors of the royal audience hall were roughly thrown open.
The sound of Dojin’s footsteps echoed in the hall. It was slow and uncharacteristically irregular.
Dojin, with disheveled hair, entered the hall with a sword in hand. His eyes had turned an ominously deep black. He was visibly not in his right mind.
“U-Ungeom!”
He glared around the hall. The ministers held their breath at the murderous aura that seemed ready to kill someone at any moment. A strong killing intent poured from his disheveled appearance, his blood-stained sword, and his eyes. His gaze was as sharp as a weapon.
At the end of his gaze was the Chief State Councilor. Finding him, Dojin took another step. As if having found his target, he raised the sword in his right hand.
“I will avenge Mama’s resentment… with your deaths.”
Glaring at the Chief State Councilor, he tightly gripped an object in his left hand. Blood flowed from his palm cut by the object, but he paid no attention. With each step, blood dripped onto the floor. The wooden floor was instantly stained with blood.
“I will kill you. I will butcher you mercilessly.”
His frozen mind recognized only the Chief State Councilor. He rushed toward the Chief State Councilor, passing by Lord Kim and Jeonghyeon.
The Chief State Councilor’s hair stood on end at the killing intent he had never felt before. That man is not in his right mind. Quickly assessing Dojin’s state, he shouted at his soldiers.
“What are you doing! Hurry and capture him!”
At his command, the soldiers blocked Dojin’s path. However, Dojin couldn’t see the soldiers. Only the Chief State Councilor. Only that Chief State Councilor who had killed Doha. As Dojin reached him in one stride and raised his sword—
“Stop!”
Lord Kim, who had been watching Dojin, shouted. Dojin’s movement stopped at the voice similar to Doha’s. Even after his mind had stopped functioning, Doha’s voice remained engraved in Dojin like an imprint.
It was impossible to disobey that voice.
“Ungeom! What disgraceful behavior is this in the royal audience hall?”
“…”
“Though His Majesty is absent, the royal audience hall is still the royal audience hall. You cannot cause such a commotion here. When His Majesty returns, Ungeom will rightly be punished.”
Lord Kim quickly approached Dojin. As he pushed aside Dojin’s sword with his sleeve, Dojin looked down at him.
The eyes that met his were dead. They were pitch-black, like the eyes of a corpse, without a speck of light. The unfocused eyes turned toward Lord Kim. It was a gaze unlike the Ungeom who had always maintained proper posture in his uniform.
How could the strongest man in the country… Lord Kim, at a loss for words, looked up at Dojin. Like a broken machine, Dojin’s body showed no sign of movement.
“What has made Ungeom crumble like this?”
Lord Kim said, grasping the wrist of the hand not holding the sword. What could have broken such a mountain of a man? He gently opened Dojin’s tightly clenched left hand.
Inside was an ointment container. Lord Kim carefully lifted the ointment container covered in Dojin’s blood.
‘Isn’t this the ointment used on the battlefield?’
He immediately recalled that Dojin and His Majesty had fought together on the battlefield. He wondered if that was why Dojin was so distraught, but somehow Lord Kim’s intuition pointed to something else.
Lord Kim’s eyes wavered as he connected his thoughts. Those eyes, which hadn’t wavered when the soldiers approached or when the Chief State Councilor mocked him. Soon, he gripped Dojin’s hand tightly.
“Could it be… that my youngest son is dead?”
Lord Kim’s question echoed through the royal audience hall. The usually noisy hall was silent. Not even breathing could be heard. The sound of blood drops falling from Dojin’s hand seemed particularly loud. Like the blood spreading on the floor, anxiety spread rapidly in Lord Kim’s heart.
“Hmm? Tell me! Hurry!”
Dojin, with blank eyes, took the ointment from Lord Kim’s hand. It was a careful gesture. After caressing the ointment, he preciously tucked it against his chest.
“I will repay with death.”
It was a pledge that not even Lord Kim could stop now. Dojin raised his blade again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
