His Majesty's Ambition

On the way back to his quarters, Rembrary studied the stretch of road where the palace maid had been standing earlier. But the maid ghost was nowhere to be seen.

"Has she gone elsewhere, then…?"

"I beg your pardon? Who are you speaking of, Your Highness?"

"Nothing."

Even so, Rembrary could not quite put his mind at ease with the ghost gone from sight.

If she has truly left this place, all is well — but…

No staff member playing a palace maid, nor any ordinary extra, had died on the set recently. Which meant that face-inverted ghost had likely been a palace maid spirit since long ago. He could not say how much truth there was to it, but even in this world, where most people believed in neither ghosts nor spirits, rumors had always circulated that broadcasting stations and film sets were thick with them. If the maid ghost had been lured in by the filming location and then confused by how closely it resembled a real palace, it made sense for such an old spirit to be lingering here.

"The sausage effect, perhaps…?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing."

Rembrary gave a solemn shake of his head and set off toward his quarters once more, steps heavy.

Rembrary had just returned to his quarters and lain down, eyes drifting shut on the border of sleep, when a soft knocking sounded.

Who goes there?

He opened only his eyes, keeping his body flat on the bed.

The maid ghost?

His pupils flicked sideways toward the window. That was where the sound was coming from, was it not?

There it was again — tap, tap.

Even if it was the maid ghost, there was nothing to fear. Rembrary rose, approached the window, and eased it open.

"Ta-da."

The person tapping at the window was Taeri.

She was grinning, chin propped on the windowsill.

"Did I startle you?"

When their eyes met, her smile widened all the more.

Rembrary gazed at her a moment, then murmured without meaning to.

"Taeri… you truly do resemble her."

"Resemble who? Don't tell me you're about to say I look like your first love. You know how cliché that is, right?"

"A wildcat."

"…You're supposed to say first love, you little brat."

When Jang Taeri glared at him with a menacing expression, as if picking a fight, Rembrary let out a small laugh.

Taeri laughed along with him as she looked around the room.

"So this is Yeon-woo's room. Huh — it's exactly like mine."

"Yours is like this as well?"

"Yep. Except there's a small vase over there that mine doesn't have. A gold one."

"Truly? How strange."

"And it was filled with snacks. Snacks that didn't exist in the Joseon era. What's that about? Do I have a time-traveling servant hidden somewhere in my retinue?"

"…"

At the mention of snacks, Rembrary's face went grave and distinctly mournful. Taeri, as though she had expected exactly this, laughed and drew a palm-sized bag of snacks from between the wide chest of drawers where she had hidden it, holding it out to him.

Rembrary snatched the bag up at once and sang her praises.

"This is why I like you, Taeri."

"Say that in front of Jo-woon too, won't you?"

"Woo Yeon-woo likes Jang Taeri more than Shin Jo-woon. Anchovy, watch the broadcast."

"Well done, well done."

But the moment Rembrary excitedly tore the wrapper open, the sound of someone shuffling toward them drifted down the hall.

The two of them stopped their giggling and turned their heads toward the noise.

There stood Rembrary's Chief Eunuch staff member, arms folded across his stomach, eyes red-rimmed with exhaustion.

"Your Highness. And… Your Highness. What in the world might you be doing?"

Startled, Rembrary awkwardly tried to hide the snack bag behind his back, but the Chief Eunuch marched straight up to him without a shred of hesitation and held out his hand.

"Give it here."

Rembrary shook his head, but it was no use.

"This is Joseon. There are no onion cookies sealed inside plastic wrappers here."

"There might be. You are a eunuch of Joseon, are you not? Yet you know both plastic wrappers and onion cookies."

When Rembrary pushed back, Taeri nodded along and came to his defense.

"Two identical kings and nobody's even surprised? Isn't that a plot hole too?"

But it was no help at all. The moment the two of them joined forces to defend themselves, the Chief Eunuch seemed only to grow angrier.

Just as he opened his mouth to retort, however, another set of shuffling footsteps came their way.

Taeri pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. My Chief Eunuch noticed and chased after me. So now it's not one against two, but two against two — I'd better just go back quietly. And I barely made it here to visit, too. What a waste.

"Huh?"

But the person who appeared was Shin Jo-woon.

He was shuffling closer with a red gonryongpo — a king's dragon robe — draped carelessly over his shoulders, and strangely enough, he was barefoot.

Something was off.

Worse, when Taeri and Rembrary shot him meaningful glances — run, get out of here! — no signal seemed to reach him at all. He just kept shuffling closer.

The Chief Eunuch wavered — first wanting to snap at him, why are all three kings doing whatever they please?, then tilting his head and wondering, is this simply what kings are like?, then finally deciding he should at least deliver one stern scolding and filling his lungs with air. He was ready to unleash a torrent of nagging.

But the moment Shin Jo-woon reached Rembrary and said, in a voice more distant than usual, "Your Highness," all the air rushed back out of the Chief Eunuch's lungs in half a second.

Your Highness? Not "you pig"?

Rembrary stared at Shin Jo-woon, wondering what on earth had gotten into him.

And the instant their eyes met, he realized something was very wrong.

But almost simultaneously with that realization, Shin Jo-woon was already resting his head on Rembrary's shoulder.

"Grant me the royal favor."

The Chief Eunuch's jaw dropped straight down like a nutcracker doll with a broken hinge.

Taeri's eyes went huge as she stared at Shin Jo-woon.

Rembrary was startled by Shin Jo-woon too — but he was far more startled by the maid ghost perched on Shin Jo-woon's shoulder.

So that's why he came meekly, without his usual pig-snorting. The maid ghost is clinging to his shoulder, whispering right into his ear.

Then she noticed Rembrary looking at her and flinched, staggering backward.

Rembrary pressed his palm down on Shin Jo-woon's shoulder — or rather, precisely on the top of the ghost's head — and she squashed flat, then hastily hid herself inside the folds of the dragon robe.

That was the moment Shin Jo-woon came back to his senses.

But he simply stood frozen, staring at Rembrary with an odd look in his eyes. He seemed shaken by something.

Then, abruptly, his face twisted and he backed away.

To anyone watching, it looked exactly like a man whose memory had briefly left his body and had only just now returned.

And indeed, Shin Jo-woon was fully aware of what he had just done. Still, he did his best to act calm, and yet—

"Heh… hehahahahaha… heeheehee…"

Taeri was already doubled over, clutching her stomach.

"Yer Highness. Grant me the royal favor, pwease."

When Shin Jo-woon glared at her, Taeri deliberately imitated him even harder and cackled on.

Blue veins stood out starkly on Shin Jo-woon's forehead.

"Stop. It."

"Yer Highness. Jo-woonie wants the royal faver~"

"Jang Taeri. I said stop."

The more explosively he tried to shut her down, the harder Taeri howled, clutching her belly.

The Chief Eunuch still hadn't managed to close his jaw.

"I'm losing my mind."

Shin Jo-woon clicked his tongue and swept his hair back — and discovered Rembrary staring at him, unblinking.

Their eyes met.

Caught in sheer awkwardness, Shin Jo-woon racked his brain for an explanation. He's definitely thinking, "has that man lost his mind"…

But before Shin Jo-woon could say a word, Rembrary suddenly broke into a triumphant grin and made a demand out of nowhere.

"Apologize to me for your deeds of late, Anchovy. Do that, and though I cannot grant you the royal favor, I shall grant you my grace."

It was a test: if Shin Jo-woon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠answered with dignity, he would peel the ghost off him; if he answered with something crooked, he would not.

Having no way of knowing any of this, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shin Jo-woon simply said what he always said — "What are you even talking about, you pig" — and Rembrary gave a disdainful snort and turned away.

"No grace, no royal favor, and no broth for you either. Go boil your own anchovy stock, Anchovy, and drink it alone."

From what he had glimpsed earlier, the maid ghost seemed to have no intention of harming Shin Jo-woon, so he intended to leave her be until morning and peel her off then.

The moment Shin Jo-woon stepped into his room and scowled — "Get out" — the maid ghost that had hidden itself inside the dragon robe returned to her original size and huddled in a corner.

When Shin Jo-woon frowned down at her, the ghost hugged her knees and anxiously studied his face.

Shin Jo-woon took off the dragon robe, sat down on the bed, and asked coldly.

"Weren't you supposed to be looking for a way out? Where did the royal favor suddenly come from? Did you not stop to consider what that would do to my position?"

The maid ghost stammered out an excuse.

"This is confusing. Speak with numbers."

Shin Jo-woon let out a long sigh.

He had never held much regard for demons, demon beasts, or evil spirits, nor had he ever wasted affection on the living.

But given the circumstances under which his own 'Eyes' had opened, he did have something of a soft spot for ghosts with stories of unjust deaths.

Besides, this was a closed film set. If he let the maid ghost wander freely and an accident happened, a full week's worth of carefully shot footage could end up ruined. That was why Shin Jo-woon had stepped in to resolve the spirit's lingering resentment in the first place.

All she needed was to be shown the way out — it had seemed easy enough to help.

It was supposed to be. Shin Jo-woon pressed a hand to his throbbing temple. Of all things, a royal-favor-seeking maid had to pop out midway.

"What do you think?"

"I regret to inform you that the help I promised is hereby canceled. Wait a week."

Shin Jo-woon said his piece flatly and closed his eyes.

A ghost like this — many souls fused into one — could not be put to rest simply by guiding a single lost maid out. After filming wrapped, he would have to take her to a specialist who laid spirits to rest properly. There was no other way.

And yet, even after deciding the ghost's fate, Shin Jo-woon could not easily smooth the scowl from his face.

Because of Woo Yeon-woo.

Truthfully, he had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠startled when the ghost spouted nonsense earlier — but what startled him more was the feeling that washed over him the instant Yeon-woo brushed his shoulder.

It was no illusion. Even the ghost had been visibly startled.

Frightening a ghost into flinching and fleeing was something no ordinary human being could ever do.

Shin Jo-woon narrowed his eyes, idly turning over the camera fragment that had once been installed in the room like a man rolling dice between his fingers.

So he was never an ordinary pig after all…

— End of Chapter 126: His Highness's Ambition —