The True Ruler
The heavy bolt of the door clicked shut. Inside the VVVIP suite on the top floor of the Royal Class Hotel, Kang Nok-san and Na Yu-ran sat across from each other at the dining table and began to talk. The table was already set with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Na Yu-ran settled into her seat, poured herself a glass with practiced ease, and took a sip. Kang Nok-san spoke first.
Na Yu-ran let out a low chuckle as she swirled the wine in her glass. Even she, the unrivaled Na Yu-ran, felt a flicker of surprise at how calmly and coldly Kang Nok-san responded. But when she remembered that he belonged to the same species as Jung Dae-woon and Yoo Kang-hyun, it wasn’t strange at all.
Glug, glug.
Na Yu-ran laughed softly.
Though they had met under the worst possible topic, their conversation flowed as if there were no tension between them at all. It felt more like old friends catching up. In particular, once Na Yu-ran realized Kang Nok-san was the same kind of man as Jung Dae-woon, her interest in him surged even higher.
"The more I investigated, the more impressive I found you. Honestly… you surpassed even my imagination. To think you stayed loyal to Jung Dae-woon for forty years… Was this your goal from the very beginning?"
The man called Kang Nok-san that Na Yu-ran had investigated far exceeded her expectations. He had crouched in the shadows for forty years, hiding his claws, all to surpass Jung Dae-woon. Even the peerless Na Yu-ran was left speechless. While Jung Dae-woon was battling an incurable disease, preparing Yoo Kang-hyun as his successor, and making that bet with Kang-hyun, Su-a, and the others, Kang Nok-san had been steadily expanding his own forces and preparing to drive Jung Dae-woon out. The investigation had revealed everything.
Now, with Jung Dae-woon trapped in the ICU and unable to emerge, it was no exaggeration to say that Kang Nok-san was the true master of National One. Only a handful of people knew that truth. If Na Yu-ran hadn’t investigated personally, she never would have learned it either. And when she discovered that Kang-hyun being sent overseas was also Kang Nok-san’s doing, even she couldn’t hide her shock.
Na Yu-ran closed her mouth. It was an undeniable truth. Although she had become Yoo Kang-hyun’s woman, her true nature and top priority had always been herself. That was why, even after learning that Kang Nok-san was clearly Yoo Kang-hyun’s enemy, she had told no one. She had come here simply because she wanted to hear what proposal he would make. And Kang Nok-san had seen straight through her thoughts.
Na Yu-ran froze.
For a moment Na Yu-ran couldn’t process what she was hearing and asked again. But Kang Nok-san stared at her with unwavering eyes, making it clear she had not misheard.
"Jung Dae-woon."
Na Yu-ran spoke the name of the ruler she knew best. As far as she was concerned, the only person worthy of being called a ruler was Jung Dae-woon. Kang Nok-san nodded at her unhesitating answer.
Na Yu-ran’s heart began to pound violently.
Leaving her reaction aside, Kang Nok-san continued.
Na Yu-ran could only answer with silence. Kang Nok-san’s words had shaken her long-held image of what a ruler was—of Jung Dae-woon himself.
As she listened to Kang Nok-san, goosebumps rose across Na Yu-ran’s entire body. Jung Dae-woon had respected her and felt a sense of kinship with her, yet at the same time he had feared her. Because Na Yu-ran was too dangerous, because her desires surpassed even his own. That was why he had kept her in check and never taken her into his arms. Yoo Kang-hyun had embraced her, but Na Yu-ran had been waiting for Kang-hyun to break out of his shell. Only then could the one person capable of sharing her desires be born.
But the Kang Nok-san before her eyes was different. He understood her desires perfectly. Even knowing how immense and dangerous they were, he still sought to make her his own. The very Na Yu-ran whom even Jung Dae-woon had feared.
The moment she heard his words, Na Yu-ran realized he was a beast who had broken out of his shell just like Jung Dae-woon. Yet he was not the same. The reason she had left Jung Dae-woon was because, despite having the chance to become a true ruler, he had chosen not to. She had grown disappointed in the ruler who had become bound to National One after gaining a daughter named Jung Su-a, in the man who had changed over time.
Yet among all the humans Na Yu-ran had met in her life, not one had surpassed Jung Dae-woon as a ruler. Not even Yoo Kang-hyun, the man she had chosen. He had merely been the only one with the potential to do so. That was why she had chosen him.
But the new ruler who now stood before her excited Na Yu-ran to her core. This was the being she had been searching for. The one she had longed for so desperately. A true ruler who could dominate even a ruler like herself. Not the failed possibility that was Jung Dae-woon, nor the faint hope that was Yoo Kang-hyun, but a completed ruler.
The instant she realized this truth, slick nectar began to flow from Na Yu-ran’s core. Looking at the ruler before her, she spoke.