In the middle of the night, a soldier approached Lord Min with careful discretion.
Bowing deeply, he delivered a brief but devastating report.
The King had not been transported.
The operation had failed.
For a long moment, Min lowered his head without speaking, allowing the weight of the news to settle in silence.
Then, slowly, he raised his eyes.
His gaze fell upon Counselor Yi Seong-jae, seated directly across from him.
Suspicion burned behind that calm expression.
Yet the old counselor betrayed nothing.
His face remained composed, unreadable—a lifetime of political discipline hiding every trace of satisfaction.
Within the royal court, celebrating victory too soon was often a death sentence.
Several tense minutes passed before Lord Min finally rose from the ceremonial table.
Without attracting the slightest suspicion, he quietly withdrew from the palace and made his way to an isolated cottage hidden beyond the outskirts of the capital—a place reserved exclusively for his most confidential meetings with the man known only as the Blue-Scarfed Soldier.
There, the assassin recounted every detail of the ambush in the forest.
How unknown warriors had intercepted the wagon.
How the King had been taken from them.
How everything had unraveled.
As the report unfolded, the restraint that had made Lord Min so feared finally shattered.
For the first time in years, the Confucian statesman abandoned every trace of dignity.
Without warning, he snatched the sword from the Janggun standing beside him.
Before anyone could react—
The blade plunged into the chest of the servant who had accompanied the wagon.
The man collapsed lifeless onto the dirt floor.
Silence engulfed the cottage.
The generals and officers standing nearby stared in disbelief.
Not one of them had ever witnessed Lord Min kill a man with his own hands.
Nor had they ever seen such naked rage.
His eyes burned crimson.
"Do you know where they took him?" he roared.
The Blue-Scarfed Soldier remained perfectly composed.
"No, my lord."
"You worthless fool!"
Min stepped toward him, sword still dripping with blood.
"I should cut off your head where you stand."
"Give me one reason not to."
The assassin did not flinch.
"There is something else you should know."
His voice remained calm.
"The Bujang is alive."
A pause.
"And he told me to deliver a message."
"He said… he has come back for you."
The color drained from Lord Min's face.
His fury dissolved into stunned disbelief.
The room fell utterly silent.
Even the Janggun seemed unable to breathe.
"But…"
He took an involuntary step forward.
"You told us you killed him."
Lord Min's voice was barely recognizable.
"You swore his body had been buried beside his men."
The Blue-Scarfed Soldier stood perfectly still.
"I watched him die."
"I buried him myself."
His eyes never wavered.
"I do not know how he is still alive."
The Janggun slammed his fist against the table.
"If he survived…"
His expression darkened.
"Where has he been all this time?"
"Has he been plotting with the Yi family?"
"I don't know," the assassin answered honestly.
"And if there is an explanation…"
"I would like to know it as well."
By the time the Sandaenori finally came to an end, the last torches had begun to burn out.
One by one, the nobles departed the palace in a solemn procession of palanquins.
Among them traveled the Daesagan and his father, Counselor Yi Seong-jae.
Neither man spoke.
They did not need to.
Both understood that they had accomplished far more than rescuing a king.
They had ignited a war.
Yi Seong-jae kept his gaze fixed upon the darkness stretching beyond the road.
He knew Min Seok-ryeon far too well to believe the man would accept such humiliation.
Men like Min never answered defeat with fear.
They answered with power.
And power, when cornered…
Always demanded blood.
The old counselor closed his eyes for only a moment.
The greatest danger had never been removing the King from the palace.
The true danger would begin when Lord Min discovered that the throne stood empty.
Without the sovereign occupying his rightful place, a single emergency council would be enough to declare the kingdom leaderless.
One accusation.
A handful of purchased loyalties.
The illusion of legality.
That was all Min required to seize complete control of the court.
He did not need a crown.
He only needed time.
And by dawn…
Time would belong to him.
Yet that possibility had always been part of Yi's design.
Rescuing the King had never been the endgame.
It had only been the opening move.
By taking the monarch beyond Min's reach, they had forced him to abandon the patience that had made him untouchable for so many years.
From this moment onward…
Every decision Min made would be driven by urgency.
And urgency was the one enemy capable of defeating a man who had spent his entire life controlling every piece on the board.
For the first time in many years…
A faint smile crossed Yi Seong-jae's face.
Min Seok-ryeon was no longer playing the game.
He was reacting to it.
And men who reacted…
Made mistakes.
Elsewhere, the only thing moving inside the pavilion was the flame of an oil lamp.
Its flickering light cast long, distorted shadows across the paper walls.
Lord Min sat perfectly still before it.
The silence unsettled even his own followers.
Anyone else would have expected him to shatter furniture or roar with fury after learning the Bujang still lived.
Instead…
The mask of ice had returned.
A few steps away, the Janggun waited with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, expecting immediate orders to mobilize the army or seal the gates of the capital.
None came.
Lord Min understood that deploying troops in the middle of the festival night would only reveal desperation to the Yi family.
In the game of court politics…
The first man to panic was the first man to lose.
Finally, Min lifted his gaze.
His eyes had become colder than steel.
"Send the eunuch in."
The general bowed and slid open the door.
Moments later, Min's personal eunuch entered the pavilion.
Head lowered.
Hands hidden within the sleeves of his robe.
He bowed quickly.
"I am here, my lord."
Lord Min stepped closer, lowering his voice so that even the general could not overhear what followed.
"Take a private message to the Inner Palace."
His tone was absolute.
"Tell the Queen I wish to see her at dawn."
"Arrange a private breakfast in the Eastern Pavilion."
"This matter cannot wait."
Lord Min knew exactly what he was doing.
If the King failed to appear the following morning because of his deteriorating condition, he would use the influence of his own niece—the Queen—to issue an emergency royal decree granting him temporary authority over both the army and the court.
With the Queen's royal seal in his hands…
Any attempt by the Yi family to defend the King would immediately be branded an act of high treason.
The eunuch bowed deeply.
Without another word, he disappeared into the darkness.
Lord Min remained alone beneath the trembling light of the oil lamp.
A slow smile finally appeared.
"A king may disappear…"
he murmured quietly.
"But a kingdom cannot."
His fingers rested lightly upon the table.
"The Yi family believes they have taken the throne from me."
His smile widened.
"They're mistaken."
Slowly, he turned his eyes toward the eastern wing of the palace.
Toward the Queen's residence.
"I don't need the King."
"I only need the seal."
Outside…
The first light of dawn had yet to break.
But inside the palace…
The next move had already begun.