Undercover Infiltration
"Something feels off."
Jo Harang, left behind at the office, muttered those words out of nowhere.
"What's off?"
Ilhong, who had been leaning against the window with vacant eyes, turned her head. She seemed to have read the subtle emotion threaded through Jo Harang's voice.
"Seeing Mujin vanish with that woman again… something right around here feels weird."
Jo Harang swept a hand over her chest, saying some unnameable feeling was lodged there and would not wash away. So that was why she had been swinging her greatsword in the office courtyard all day since morning. Even so, the knot in her chest did not seem to have loosened.
"What do I do? Looks like the heart devil's come back."
"No, that's not a heart devil…"
Ilhong seemed to have guessed the true nature of that emotion, but she clamped her mouth shut mid-sentence. There was no need to create another rival by pointing it out.
The other woman was a master of overwhelming martial prowess—a comrade who had fought countless battles alongside the Captain and crossed the line between life and death together. The kind of intimate bond where they could entrust their backs to each other in times of danger.
Ilhong, on the other hand, had lost everything and been cast out onto the streets, barely surviving by the Captain's mercy. All she possessed was an uncertain claim of succession. So if her pitiful, unremarkable self wanted to achieve anything at all, it was better that Jo Harang never realized what she was feeling.
"Yeah, well. Maybe it is a heart devil…"
In truth, thinking about it, there was no way that could be a heart devil. That part had already been blasted open by the Captain, who told her to accept her own emotions straight on—and as a result she had achieved a breakthrough in her realm, hadn't she? And then, saying she would repay that kindness, she had settled into this office that had originally been just the two of them—the Captain and herself.
Thinking about it again, it really was a disaster, Ilhong decided.
"But it feels different from the heart devil I faced on Mount Song. How should I put it? This is more like…"
"It's cardiac congestion. Cardiac congestion."
As Jo Harang gradually seemed about to realize something, Ilhong hurriedly pulled out the name of some disease she had once skimmed in a medical text—that terrifying illness where the chest tightens, pain surges in, and you suddenly collapse.
"Really? But this feels more like an emotional problem than a physical one… Just hypothetically speaking, what if I—maybe Mujin is…"
Something was trying to sprout inside the woman who had spent her whole life with martial arts as her companion, growing up in the mountains.
"W-would you like some red-braised pork?! Our meals have been so meager lately."
Ilhong urgently suggested they eat the soft, melt-in-your-mouth meat dish marinated in soy sauce and rock sugar. Her awkward voice made the desperate attempt to change the subject painfully obvious.
And Jo Harang, who happened to be hungry after swinging her greatsword all day, opened her eyes wide.
"Really? I thought we had to save money until Mujin earned some at the Imperial Palace."
Which was why Jo Harang had been stuck eating nothing but dry, empty dumplings for a while now.
"…Hey, a tiger needs to chew meat. How can you chew flour? My treat."
"Wow, really? Thanks, Ilhong!"
Thank goodness she had such a huge appetite, just like the Captain. Her purse would get thinner, but when a bright smile bloomed on Jo Harang's face, Ilhong let out a sigh of relief.
But this was only a temporary patch. Just as she herself had, Jo Harang would eventually realize that feeling too. It was only a matter of time, Ilhong felt with a lonely certainty.
Looking from afar, it had not felt real—but once I set foot inside, the vastness and grandeur of the Imperial Palace hit me with my whole body.
Red walls and vermillion pillars, soaring roofs, golden tiles gleaming together in overwhelming majesty. Buildings arranged in strict left-right symmetry according to hierarchical order seemed to proclaim the absolute supremacy of the Emperor. An endless expanse, more than a thousand buildings, and countless palace servants at a glance displayed the current imperial family's prestige.
And among them lay the absolute men-forbidden zone, under the strictest access control. I was currently walking toward that secret place.
"How does it look? The Third Princess's Palace you've only heard about."
When I looked around with open curiosity, the head maid walking ahead slowed her steps and asked. Her voice carried pride in this palace they had carefully tended.
"It has dignity and beauty."
If the other palaces I had seen on the way flaunted luxury and extravagance, this place was neat and cozy while still elegant. The aesthetics of reduction, you might say.
"They say a palace resembles its master. The Princess Dohwa you will serve going forward is even more beautiful."
She was a woman of outstanding appearance and virtue, the head maid said, and serving her was a source of pride.
"Is that so."
Judging by the reaction of the palace servants she commanded, I could roughly guess her character—but as for her looks, I had never seen her face, so I had no idea. The one time I met her in the sleeping quarters, she had been wearing a white veil. That single sheet of white cloth had a strangely stimulating effect on the imagination.
"Before we arrive at the eunuchs' quarters, if you have any questions, ask away."
Perhaps praising the princess's palace earlier had been the right answer—the head maid's voice had grown considerably softer. According to what Cheon Su-gong had told me, she was quite a strict head maid, but she did not seem that bad after all.
"I don't normally do this, but I'm giving you this opportunity out of pity."
Looking at my face refined by the human-skin mask, she made a sympathetic expression.
"…"
I was so dumbfounded I faltered for a moment, but whatever. I had no problems, so there was nothing to feel guilty about. Therefore I asked without hesitation.
"The Imperial Palace seems rather unsettled, and security at this princess's palace is airtight. Is something going on?"
Behind the glamorous face of the palace, a faint malice and thin killing intent seemed to be lingering somehow. It might also have been because I was keenly exercising the Heavenly Killing Star's ability to sense signs of poisoning.
"…Of all things, you want to know about that? Speaking from not inconsiderable years of experience—in the Imperial Palace, silence is a virtue, and you must govern your mouth well if you want to live long."
Hey, you're the one who told me to ask anything. I had asked to grasp even a little of the palace's internal power struggles so it might help track the poisoner.
"But not knowing too much also leads to mistakes… so I'll tell you briefly. All of this is because of the Crown Prince, who lies on his sickbed."
The head maid paused, checked the surroundings, and lowered her voice.
"The Crown Prince?"
"You didn't know? It's already been six years since he took to his sickbed. His illness shows no improvement, and even the imperial physicians can only shake their heads in helplessness."
"…Ah."
The Crown Prince was the crucial figure who would inherit the Central Plains. If someone like that had been battling illness for so long and seemed likely to pass away soon? That meant a new Crown Prince would have to be appointed from among the Emperor's other children. The power map that would flip as a result was why the Imperial Palace was this restless.
"Ah, so that's why they keep the princes and princesses gathered here in the Imperial Palace instead of sending them far away?"
"Yes, exactly. Furthermore, His Majesty has declared that in the appointment he will not use any existing criteria as a standard—so everyone is on edge, not knowing who will be named."
That Son of Heaven my master Hwang Geolgae had warned me never to meet was also indulging in a peculiar whim, apparently. Originally it should have followed the legitimate eldest-son order, but he was just sowing the seeds of chaos. I had no idea what he was thinking.
"And the current leading candidates are the Second Prince and the Third Prince, known for his brilliance."
The Second Prince was someone I already knew well. I had never seen his face, but I had gotten tangled up with him over various issues. But the Third Prince was someone I was hearing about for the first time.
"The Third Prince is the full younger brother of the Third Princess—that is, Princess Dohwa."
Both were children born under the Imperial Noble Consort who enjoyed the Son of Heaven's favor. The Second Prince was the son of the Empress, making them half-brothers. Which was why that woman called the Empress apparently found the Third Prince's existence thoroughly disagreeable.
"Princess Dohwa is truly pitiful as well. To protect her young brother, she has had to live so uprightly from childhood that no one could find fault with her…"
Sympathy colored the head maid's voice.
"How old is Princess Dohwa?"
"…She has just passed the age of full bloom. All because of the Crown Prince."
The head maid squeezed her eyes shut as if distressed. Roughly twenty-three or twenty-four, then. In this era, that was an age when she should have been married off long ago. But because of that appointment matter, she seemed bound here—serving as a breakwater for her younger brother, never even going outside for fear of unknown threats, like a bird in a cage.
"Younger than I expected."
When I met her last time, her speech had that historical-drama tone, so I had thought she was older. Thinking about it, of course imperial family members would use formal speech here. A belated realization.
"In any case, you have been assigned to the princess's palace in this kind of situation. So your speech, your conduct—you must not take a single thing lightly."
In such a sensitive and tense situation, don't cause problems and mind your own behavior, the head maid was telling me.
"…Suddenly I want to go home."
"Too late. This is your home now."
"…"
Cheon Su-gong, you bastard—if you're going to tell me the internal situation, tell me everything. In his own way, he probably figured it was an imperial secret and just wanted me to catch the poisoner and leave without knowing. But hearing this, it was completely like walking on thin ice.
I was quietly building up some anger when—
Chatter chatter.
In the distance, maids approached in a group, carrying baskets piled high with laundry on their shoulders. When they spotted the head maid, they bent at the waist in greeting. In the process they noticed me standing beside her and lit up with sparkling eyes.
"This is a newly arrived eunuch. Get along well."
When she explained he was a eunuch, a look of pity bloomed on their faces.
"Ahh."
"Oh my, how unfortunate."
Sympathetic gazes seemed to poke into my whole body. They say you only understand when you put yourself in someone's shoes. Were Cheon Su-gong and that fellow eunuch named Wi Su feeling this way too? I should restrain myself from now on as well.
"Where are you all headed?"
"A new maid has joined us too, so we were going to teach her laundry, Head Maid."
And among the maids thronging past, one familiar face caught my eye. None other than Dang Yeohye, the Poison Claw Mountain Blood, who had infiltrated as a maid. Apparently she had not expected to be doing such petty chores—her face was contorted with maximum irritation.
Pfft.
The sight was a little funny, and a laugh almost escaped me. I clamped my mouth shut and barely stuffed it back in, and she seemed to read my gaze too, looking this way.
"What are you doing over there?"
Dang Yeohye mouthed the words, sending a sound transmission.
"Any poison traces?"
When I gestured with my hand asking if she had found any clue, she shrugged as if she had not found anything yet.
"Well then, we'll go beat the laundry, Head Maid."
"Yes, go on with your work."
With the head maid's permission, the maids vanished in a cloud-like swarm. From the far end of the corridor, their endless chatter continued. What could they have so much to talk about?
I glanced over and it seemed a faint killing intent was rising from the back of Dang Yeohye—daughter of the Dang Clan and a Transcendental Peak Realm master. She did that when irritation was boiling up, but since it was my request, she was somehow enduring it.
Thanks to getting mixed up with me, that woman was having all kinds of experiences too. Hang in there, Dang Yeohye. And stay strong, Dang Yeohye.
After walking endlessly eastward across the vast grounds of the Imperial Palace for a full tea's time, the head maid said she also had busy work and left me somewhere, abandoning me. She roughly pointed somewhere, saying we were basically there so I could find it easily.
I walked in the direction the head maid had last indicated, but soon lost my sense of direction. The large buildings and well-landscaped flowering trees blocked my view, making it hard to tell where was where.
"Hmm, this is troublesome."
I had never been here before in my life, and it was so vast and complex that finding my destination was not easy. In short, I was lost.
"Where am I…"
A grown man becoming a lost child. Was there anything more embarrassing? I began moving my two legs diligently, trying to blaze a trail on my own. But there were no signs, and as I wandered the wide space, I felt myself heading into more and more remote areas. Was this what it felt like to navigate a maze without a map?
After wandering for a long time, I somehow found myself stepping into a flower garden with a small stream flowing through it. It was a beautiful place where soft pink cherry blossoms and pear blossoms bloomed in full under the spring sun.
I had paused my pathfinding and was lost in the scenery when—
Click clack.
A woman with a white parasol appeared on the stone bridge over the stream. Black hair swayed elegantly in the spring breeze. Blue-green floral patterns embroidered on golden silk robes further enhanced her dignity.
Walking among the spring flowers, she stopped her steps, and as if sensing something, turned her head this way. Our gazes met in the air.
"Whoa, she's ridiculously pretty."
Perhaps she had never heard such blunt speech in her life—the noble-looking woman's eyes widened slightly. Her neat brows lifted a little, revealing surprise. But soon, reading that there was no malice, a faint smile touched her lips.
"Heh heh, thank you. But who are you, and from where do you come?"