Chapter 193
Chapter 193
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Entering the Forbidden Zone
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Heavy rains had poured down for three days straight, flooding parts of the city everywhere.
The Golden Army headquarters had entered a state of emergency. The river not far away was rising steadily, raising fears of an overflow.
Yi Hwan sipped the Dragon Well tea he had brought from Princess Yi Yeong's household. Once he finished it, he planned to head to the forbidden zone.
Rumble!
Crackle!
Thunder and lightning grew more ferocious by the minute.
Cheol Mu-ok spoke up.
“Suddenly, the number of people surveilling around headquarters has increased. What's strange is that their surveillance is directed toward headquarters.”
Yi Hwan drank his tea in silence.
As Ju Tae opened his mouth to speak, Cheol Mu-ok jabbed him in the side.
Clink.
Yi Hwan set down his teacup and stared at Cheol Mu-ok.
“Leave it alone until I return.”
“Understood.”
Just then, Go Mi and Hwa Ryeong entered.
“We've left the back door open.”
Yi Hwan rose from his seat.
“Be careful, my lord.”
Yi Hwan stepped out with Hwa Ryeong amid everyone's farewells.
He planned to slip out through the back gate instead of the main one, of course to evade the watchers keeping an eye on the place.
“Stay at my quarters until morning. Don't forget to keep the lights on.”
“Understood.”
Rumble!
Crackle!
Lightning spiderwebbed across the sky overhead.
When the whitened world plunged back into pitch-black darkness, Yi Hwan and Hwa Ryeong crossed the back gate.
Go Mi watched Yi Hwan's retreating figure as he dashed into the gloom, biting her lip hard.
She still couldn't shake her unease.
“Please return safely...”
It was the first time she had ever worried so desperately about someone.
* * *
Two black-robed men narrowed their eyes as they watched Yi Hwan's office.
“The man who skipped the imperial ritual—the biggest event of the royal family—is throwing an all-night drinking party. Unbelievable.”
“If he went, he'd just get snubbed as a bastard anyway. I wouldn't go either.”
“Not all bastards are the same. This guy's on the level of the Second or Third Prince now. You think leading the Golden Army is some minor post?”
“That's by our standards. To the imperial clan, he's still just a runt. How many sticklers are there over there?”
“True enough.”
The black-robed men kept their eyes glued to Yi Hwan's office without even flinching in the pouring rain.
Soon, another pair of black-robed men came up to relieve them.
“Nothing to report?”
“The great commander is in the middle of his drinking bash.”
“Yeah?”
“Doesn't look like he'll go out today, but keep a close watch just in case.”
“We'll handle it, so go rest. Grab something to eat at least.”
“Good work.”
The relieving pair smirked as they stared at Yi Hwan's brightly lit office.
“He's really letting loose. Her Majesty the Empress would blow her top if she knew.”
“Kid, why should we worry about that? If he stays put boozing like that, we're the grateful ones.”
“True enough.”
* * *
Yi Hwan and Hwa Ryeong scaled the palace walls on the western side, as close as possible to the Palace of Illusory Flowers. Yi Hwan followed Hwa Ryeong's guidance all the way into the forbidden zone.
No one knew the surroundings better than she did.
Whoosh!
The downpour showed no signs of letting up. With the wind howling too, it was perfect cover for sneaking around.
[This way.]
Hwa Ryeong led the way for Yi Hwan.
Her wet clothes clung to her body, outlining her voluptuous curves, but Yi Hwan had no spare attention for such things right now.
How much farther did they go?
Hwa Ryeong stopped and turned back.
[I want to go in too.]
[No.]
[It'll be better with two than one. Please let me.]
Yi Hwan shook his head.
[Head back to headquarters carefully.]
Tight.
Hwa Ryeong grabbed Yi Hwan's arm.
[Be careful.]
* * *
Activating the mechanism caused the sheer rock face to part left and right.
Yi Hwan stepped inside without hesitation. The interior was shrouded in the same pitch-black darkness, without a speck of light.
Mindful of any pressure-triggered traps underfoot, he used his internal energy to hover slightly off the ground. He also circulated his protective aura and heightened his senses to their peak.
He advanced about twenty paces without detecting the slightest presence, then paused at the end of the corridor.
The passage opened up into a much wider space ahead. Far off in the blackness loomed an iron door.
‘If that door needs a mechanism too, this could be trouble.’
He had zero information on this inner area. If it was rigged, he'd have to figure it out fast without alerting anyone. But that was far easier said than done.
Yi Hwan crept up to the door, killing his presence. On a whim, he grasped the handle and tugged gently. It didn't budge.
Pushing sideways yielded nothing.
Finally, he pushed forward, and the door swung open. It was utterly ordinary, yet the circumstances made him tense up anyway.
Yi Hwan carefully closed the door behind him and pressed on.
How much farther did he go?
A faint glow began to spread. Night pearls embedded in the ceiling were the source.
‘Looks like they only trusted the first mechanism and skipped the rest.’
Yi Hwan's biggest worry upon entering had been the traps—not the traps themselves, but the noise they might make, giving him away.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.
Then—a faint sound caught his ear.
‘Snoring?’
It was unmistakably snoring.
Yi Hwan tracked the sound to its source. Soon, he beheld a bizarre sight.
It resembled an artificially tended garden. A small pond sat in the center, surrounded by trees, grasses, and flowers—an oddly familiar scene.
‘The Palace of Illusory Flowers garden.’
Exactly. It was just like the garden there when he'd visited to meet the Empress.
Snore. Snore.
The snoring emanated from the garden's heart. Yi Hwan manifested Seven Lights in his hand for any contingencies and proceeded.
After a few steps—
The snoring abruptly stopped.
‘Spotted?’
Then—
Flash!
The pond area lit up with an inexplicable glow.
A thick voice followed.
“If you're coming from that direction, you're no one sent by the Empress. So who are you?”
“......!”
Yi Hwan's face twisted for an instant.
To be detected this quickly.
“Don't make a fuss, or the Empress's guards will swarm in. Come here quietly.”
What was this now?
One face flashed in Yi Hwan's mind: the Emperor's, whom this body's original owner hadn't seen since early childhood.
‘Could it be...’
Back then, he was the Iron-Blooded Sovereign, a wise ruler revered by all.
But to this body's owner, he was nothing but a heartless father.
Yi Hwan steadied his breath and approached the pond. Moments later, he spotted a stone bed rising from its center, and atop it sat an old man.
‘The Emperor...’
It was unmistakably him.
Yi Hwan first scanned the Emperor's complexion.
‘Not imprisoned?’
He looked far too healthy for a captive. The aura radiating from him evoked a fierce tiger.
“Sent by the Crown Prince?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I came on my own.”
Yi Hwan wore a Human Skin Mask, so the Emperor couldn't recognize him.
Even as he answered, Yi Hwan kept vigilant watch around them.
“No need to worry. I've always roamed around like a madman, so the Empress installed no mechanisms inside here. And at least in this space, there are no watchers.”
“Are you confined here?”
“You! State your identity.”
Yi Hwan hesitated. Was revealing himself the right move?
But he decided quickly. He would reveal himself.
“......!”
Yi Hwan removed the Human Skin Mask. The Emperor's eyes widened dramatically.
“You...”
“Do you know who I am?”
“How did you get in here...”
“First, let me confirm something.”
Yi Hwan asked straight away.
“Do you want to leave this place?”
The Emperor's shocked eyes gradually regained calm. Then he shook his head.
“I want to leave, but I absolutely cannot.”
“Is it because of the blood oath?”
“How do you know that?”
Hwa Ryeong's guess had been spot on.
“If I remove the blood oath, will you leave?”
“You can remove the blood oath?”
“Yes.”
The Emperor fell silent at that. Yi Hwan waited for his response.
After a moment, the Emperor posed a question instead.
“What of the Crown Prince?”
“He is well.”
“He still holds the Crown Prince position?”
“Yes.”
Tremble...
The Emperor's quivering gaze. Yi Hwan pierced through it to the relief within.
The Emperor asked again.
“Whose side are you on?”
“His Highness the Crown Prince's side.”
“Can I believe that?”
“That's up to Your Majesty.”
“Then tell me how the palace affairs are run. Leave nothing out.”
“That can wait until we leave here.”
“I'll hear it and judge. Speak.”
The Emperor was said to be heaven-sent. Even Yi Hwan felt the sting of his majesty.
Yi Hwan began recounting the palace's inner workings. When he finished, the Emperor said something unexpected.
“Remove the blood oath. But I will not leave this place.”
“......!”
“If the Empress and those two are persecuting the Crown Prince, I'll stay here to obstruct her. And if I vanish, who knows what she'll do next—so for the Crown Prince's sake, it's best I remain.”
“His Highness and I have enough strength to face the Empress. With Your Majesty, that strength would be even greater.”
The Emperor shook his head.
“You don't know her true terror. Do I even know half her real power? So when you leave, tell the Crown Prince this: Do not confront her head-on until you secure the absolute loyalty of the court ministers.”
The Emperor added a few more admonitions.
Yi Hwan listened quietly. When he finished, Yi Hwan asked for what he wanted most.
“I want to know how to enter the Imperial Palace Treasury without the Empress's consent.”
“What the Crown Prince desires?”
“Yes.”
An unavoidable lie.
The Emperor fell silent briefly. But not for long.
“I gave the Empress and the Crown Prince keys each to the safe holding the key that opens the Imperial Palace Treasury door. But that was merely to check the Empress—it can never actually open the Treasury door.”
“......!”
“I'll tell you how to open the Imperial Palace Treasury door, so memorize every word from now on without missing a single one.”
“First, one question. Do you trust me?”
“Since being confined here, I've trusted nothing in this world. But your eyes... I want to trust them. And I have no other choice.”
“Understood. Then speak.”
The Emperor began to speak. Every word from his lips etched crystal-clear into Yi Hwan's mind.
When he finished, Yi Hwan was inwardly astounded.
‘What on earth is in there for such thorough measures? It can't just be gold and jewels.’
The method to enter the Imperial Palace Treasury was utterly ingenious, beyond imagination. Without the Emperor's words, no one—not even the whole world pooling their brains—could discover it.
Yi Hwan approached the Emperor.
“I'll remove the blood oath, so sit right away.”
The Emperor assumed the cross-legged position.
Yi Hwan placed his palm on the Emperor's crown.
“It will be hot and painful—do not make a sound, no matter what.”
“Did you resent this father?”
“......!”
Sting.
Those words stirred an uncontrollable surge of grief from the depths of his chest. Likely the original owner's reaction.
‘Yes. I resented you greatly.’