“Castle Lord.”
Just then, a man hurried over from the building and whispered something to Lord Yeomjeong.
The moment the brief report ended, Lord Yeomjeong’s face changed instantly. He straightened his clothes as though about to rise and said curtly,
“It’s getting late. Let’s bring this gathering to an end.”
The announcement came out of nowhere. The guests stared at him in bewilderment.
“Seonggun, what’s wrong?”
“Did something urgent happen?”
Lord Tamlang looked equally displeased. For all his needling, now that the target of his barbs was leaving, he seemed reluctant to let him go.
“What, running off? Our talk isn’t finished. At least share another drink.”
“Later. …The rest of you may take your time.”
But Lord Yeomjeong cut him off firmly, unwilling to waste even a moment, and strode straight out of the pavilion. Some guests looked unsettled, some laughed it off as his fiery temperament, and the rest didn’t bother to care. The Castle Lord’s business was his own—it had nothing to do with them as guests.
Looks like this is winding down. Su-min breathed a sigh of relief. The guests wouldn’t disperse immediately just because Lord Yeomjeong left, but once the host was gone, the atmosphere would inevitably cool. Hwang-ryong would likely take his leave soon as well. Then at last, Su-min would be free—free to go find Jae-ha.
Su-min cast one last glance at Lord Yeomjeong’s figure hurrying off somewhere, then calmly turned back to sip his tea. Whatever it was, it didn’t concern him.
***
“Ugh…”
A firm arm wrapped around Jae-ha’s waist, steadying his staggering body.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Barely regaining his balance, Jae-ha gave Hae-hyun a couple of pats. The arm slipped away.
It hadn’t been this bad with the Guardian Talisman, but as soon as they arrived, a crushing wave of nausea hit him. Maybe the spellwork had been sloppy. In his dizziness, he’d even dropped the jade doll he was carrying. Great. Muttering a curse at the wooden talisman’s carvings, Jae-ha pulled himself together and looked around.
They were in a room.
Larger than the guest chambers in the fortress, and vastly more luxurious. The wall decorations gleamed as though plated in gold, and every piece of furniture was extravagant. It wasn’t bright as day, but dozens of small lights filled the space, leaving no shadows.
That only made the strangeness stand out.
Everything was too new. The place was set up as living quarters with a bed, chairs, and a table, but there wasn’t a single sign of use. It looked like a room awaiting its very first occupant.
And for all the effort put into decorating, the style was all over the place. Not hideous, but utterly lacking cohesion—like someone had simply tossed in anything that looked expensive. Still, with the room’s size, it didn’t feel crowded. Proof that in real estate, size really is everything.
And then—the most bizarre part.
There was no door.
No windows, either. Only after realizing that ornate hangings concealed the truth did they see it for what it was: a perfectly sealed chamber. Unless you came in through some hidden passage like they had, there was no normal way in or out. The more Jae-ha examined it, the more suspicious it became.
He stepped deeper inside, toward the bed.
But up close, it wasn’t exactly a bed. Drapes circling it gave that impression at first glance, but the inside was hollowed out.
There, lying among a dense spread of luminous blue flowers, was a man with his eyes closed.
“…That’s not a corpse, right?”
He was so still it made death seem plausible. Instinctively stepping back half a pace, Jae-ha muttered doubtfully. Hae-hyun shook his head.
“He’s not dead. Those are Sleep Flowers. They only grow in Seo-cheon….”
“Sleep Flowers are especially hard to raise.”
Hallakung-nim’s voice overlapped in Jae-ha’s memory. The very flowers Sala Doryeong had been chasing a thief over. The thief that left him in that state.
“So that’s why General Beomgye went to Seo-cheon….”
Jae-ha muttered. Should he be shocked the theft hadn’t been a cover, or click his tongue that the thief had stolen so many that Sala Doryeong lay in wait with clenched teeth?
Just then, Hae-hyun, who had been standing still, suddenly moved closer to the bed. From just a pace away, he studied the man’s face intently for a long while, then flicked a glance at Jae-ha before staring back again. His eyes screamed suspicion.
“What is it?”
Unable to hold back, Jae-ha asked. Only then did Hae-hyun look away, his expression grim.
“This man… I think he’s the Cheonrok.”
“What?”
The word burst out louder than intended. Hae-hyun turned back to the man.
“I’m sure. His aura feels like yours, sunbae.”
“But… why would the Cheonrok be lying here asleep?”
“…That, I don’t know.”
So the jade doll’s claim about knowing the Cheonrok’s location had been true. But the situation only grew murkier. Why would Lord Yeomjeong deliberately put the Cheonrok to sleep here? A glance showed no injuries…
Jae-ha studied the sleeping face again. Even with no expression, the Cheonrok’s features were strikingly beautiful. His bone structure was bold, but his refined, almost dazzling features softened it. Long, wavy platinum hair spilled across the glowing flowers like a photo shoot, while thick lashes curved elegantly against his lids. His even brows and smooth, flawless skin drew the eye again and again.
He was at least Jae-ha’s size, maybe bigger. Without realizing it, Jae-ha found himself scanning the man head to toe—then abruptly caught himself. He hadn’t meant to stare so much. Embarrassment prickled.
He turned away deliberately—only to notice something squirming near the Cheonrok’s side. Looking closer, it was the jade doll he’d lost earlier. So it had followed them. Relieved, he watched as the doll clambered up the Cheonrok’s body like a mountaineer, stepping over his stomach and chest before reaching his face.
It leaned toward Cheonrok’s nose, as if checking his breath, then raised its tiny arms above its head to form a circle toward Jae-ha. A sign that he was alive.
“Don’t get too close. Sleep Flowers release particles nearby—if you get close enough to touch, you’ll fall asleep instantly.”
Hae-hyun pulled him back with a warning. Jae-ha must have leaned in unconsciously while watching the doll.
If General Beomgye had hauled in all these Sleep Flowers and even built this sealed room, then of course Lord Yeomjeong knew. More than knew—he had been part of it. The two of them must have conspired to abduct the Cheonrok.
Looking back on the timeline, Beomgye had already begun stealing flowers before the Cheonrok ever reached Myeongheoseong. So the idea that Cheonrok had angered Lord Yeomjeong and been locked away didn’t hold. More likely, the Cheonrok had come to Seo-cheon for the Hwanggwaju and been ambushed.
…But why?
“Sunbae, over here.”
While Jae-ha wrestled with his thoughts, Hae-hyun—who had been searching the room—called to him. He had found something.
“What is it?”
Hae-hyun stood before a massive cabinet, taller than he was. Its doors were wide open, revealing roomy compartments inside. As Jae-ha approached, he saw the contents clearly.
Rows of porcelain bottles filled the shelves.
Jae-ha picked one up. Snow-white porcelain, heavy with liquid sloshing inside. Around its body was a strip of fine blue paper with golden hanja printed on it.
“What does this say?”
He pointed at the character. Just one, but too complex for Jae-ha, who couldn’t read hanja. Mang…? Something like that? While he fumbled through guesses, Hae-hyun answered at once.
“‘Hwang’ (茫). The character for ‘ecstatic,’ ‘dazzling.’”
“…Hwanggwaju?”
Jae-ha glanced between the bottle and Hae-hyun. Hae-hyun nodded.
“It’s the same character as in Hwanggwaju—the one written on the note your grandmother left behind.”
