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Chapter: 41

It could be considered a sort of three-way meeting.

Creak, as I opened the door and entered, Lord Naam and a man in a green silk robe were already seated inside the room.

"Oh my."

The two men, upon noticing me, immediately stood up and bowed their heads.

"It\'s fine, it\'s fine."

I said nonchalantly as I entered the room.

"I\'m late, aren\'t I?"

As expected, Lord Naam replied, "Not at all, Your Highness. I too just took my seat a moment ago."

I said with a smile, "What\'s this, the host arriving just a moment ago? You should have come early to prepare. You\'re surprisingly not so thorough."

As I rambled on, Lord Naam replied a beat later, "...My apologies, Your Highness."

I waved my hand as I sat down.

"Oh, come on. It was a joke. A joke. No need to apologize."

"Is that truly so? Your words put me at ease."

"Of course."

I nodded.

"Do you intend to introduce him as well?"

There was a servant standing behind Lord Naam. Of course, we wouldn\'t be discussing anything too serious, but... I hadn\'t brought any attendants with me, and for a mere fortress lord to have a servant waiting was something that could be considered insubordination.

Lord Naam said, flustered, "I merely had him prepare tea."

I replied indifferently, "Is that so?"

"If he disturbs Your Highness\' peace of mind, I shall dismiss him at once. You there, what are you doing? Didn\'t you hear? Get out!"

I slightly restrained Lord Na-Am.

"Let him serve the tea before he leaves. My throat is parched from all the smoke."

Lord Naam was startled.

The servant waiting behind Lord Naam prepared the teacups and tea. After filling the teacups placed before the three of us, including myself, with yellow tea, the servant left the room.

"My apologies, Your Highness. I apologize once again."

I readily accepted his apology.

"I forgive you."

Lord Naam\'s expression stiffened slightly.

"I am grateful, Your Highness."

Meanwhile, the Senior Secretary, Jong Sangye, in his green silk robe, simply stared at me in silence. He wasn\'t as old or experienced as Lord Naam. He was probably around Heo Seokgyeom\'s age at most. However, Heo Seokgyeom\'s rank would be higher.

"Hmm."

The Senior Secretary\'s expression was clearly tense, showing how nervous he was.

"So, who are you? I\'ve already heard from Lord Naam that you\'re a close friend of his."

I emphasized the word "friend."

The Senior Secretary looked puzzled.

But he wasn\'t as clueless and foolish as to deny it here. He replied, "Yes, Your Highness. That is correct."

It was an awkward answer. I smiled faintly and asked again, "Who are you?"

The Senior Secretary\'s face fell.

He answered as I had heard from Heo Seokgyeom and Yoo Geung. His position was Senior Secretary, and his name was Jong Sangye.

It was strange for him to be facing me like this when he wasn\'t someone who just idled around.

It was also problematic for the Senior Secretary to be here at Naam Fortress, neglecting his duties in the royal court.

It wasn\'t a one-day trip from the capital to Naam Fortress, so he must have gotten permission before coming here.

Even though people said the royal court was corrupt, half of it was always a joke. But to think that someone who had studied for years to become a Senior Secretary was doing nothing but coming all the way out here to drink tea with the fortress lord.

If I weren\'t here, what would they have been talking about over tea?

He probably didn\'t come all the way here just to chat, so it must be something important.

A Senior Secretary isn\'t in a position to do anything significant on their own. So, Jong Sangye\'s role was most likely that of someone\'s errand boy.

"A talent serving the royal court."

I wouldn\'t call him trash. He must have his reasons. I respected Jong Sangye\'s circumstances.

I also respected my own circumstances.

I wouldn\'t bother mentioning the hierarchy between us. It\'s something we both understand without needing to say it.

The Senior Secretary laughed awkwardly.

"I\'m flattered."

"It\'s something you deserve to hear."

In my opinion, Secretary Jong was someone\'s pawn. And it was certain that Lord Naam was connected to the Second Prince\'s maternal relatives.

Considering that Gae Yeohwa would later go to Duke Woo Joong, the Second Prince\'s relative connected to Lord Naam was probably the Duke.

Besides Jong Sangye, quite a few other officials in the royal court must have already been swayed by the Woo family.

Thinking about it made the future look bleak.

This damn country deserved to fall.

At this point, wouldn\'t it be better to just make Seopyung independent from Mokryeo?

After all, you cut away the rotten parts of meat or fruit before eating them.

The part that needed to be cut away might be large, but...

A sharp remark came to mind.

- If you try anything foolish, I\'ll kill you on the spot.

Hmm.

A bit scary, huh?

It seemed like that wouldn\'t work. If I died early, things wouldn\'t go as planned, so Seopyung\'s independence would have to remain a fantasy.

"It\'s surprising to see a Senior Secretary all the way out here at Naam Fortress."

The Senior Secretary flinched at my words.

"Especially when it\'s not a place you can travel to and from in just a day."

He flinched again.

And then he completely lowered his head, showing he wasn\'t someone who could act like Lord Naam.

I said playfully. It was a compliment, in its own way.

"You must be quite the horseman. A skilled rider who took the wrong path and is now wasting his talent behind a desk."

"I\'m flattered."

I tried to provoke him, to get some kind of reaction, whether it was anger or embarrassment. But contrary to my expectations, the Senior Secretary was simply shy. He didn\'t even try to hide his embarassment, making it clear that he was my ugly brother\'s pawn while still managing to confuse me.

...Should I just get rid of him secretly?

He was already on the Second Prince\'s side, so there was no chance of me recruiting him or reforming him.

Unless he was cast aside early on, he wouldn\'t turn his back on the Second Prince. He was of no use to me. And this guy would contribute to Gae Yeohwa being sent to Duke Woo Joong and ultimately dying.

Was there any reason I shouldn\'t kill him?

One swing of the sword would do it.

Instead of hesitating and causing bigger problems later, eliminating one pawn right now would make things much easier.

But.

Then my Lord would say this.

Yeon, you rascal.

Even if you take a detour, walk the righteous path.

Yes, My Lord. I\'m already used to hardship. A little more won\'t make much difference.

...But, but, My Lord.

"It\'s quite disheartening that you, a Senior Secretary no less, haven\'t even greeted me. Aren\'t we both from the capital?"

I laughed heartily, along with the joke.

The Senior Secretary was visibly flustered.

"That\'s not it..."

"Perhaps you didn\'t know I was staying here at Naam Fortress?" I said, as if playing an amusing game.

"Circumstances have led me to stay longer than planned, so don\'t hold it against me."

"I would never," the Senior Secretary replied obediently.

I grew bored. There was no fun in it. Conversations generally serve two main purposes: one is for enjoyment, and the other is to gain information from the other person.

But my conversation with the Senior Secretary served neither. I lost interest and shifted my focus. After all, my goal for today was to put Lord Naam in a difficult position, so the Senior Secretary didn\'t need to be my concern.

All roads lead to Rome, as they say.

I opted for a childish approach.

"Hey, Lord Naam."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Honestly, I felt a bit bad about this.

"I don\'t have much time left before I leave, right?"

But I\'m already known as a troublemaker, so what does it matter?

"It\'s an incredibly regrettable fact."

"Yeah, I feel the same. So, here\'s the thing..."

Who can stop a troublemaker anyway?

* * *

A drinking party ensued.

"Drink up, drink up."

It could be considered a farewell celebration. With ample justification, Lord Naam nodded in agreement at every request.

I sat the Senior Secretary beside me and kept the drinks flowing until he was thoroughly drunk, his nose red and crooked.

"Here, have another cup."

"Your, Your Highness..."

The Senior Secretary looked at me with a dazed expression, clutching the cup with both hands as if it were a bowl of poison.

"Yes, why are you calling me? I guess you still have enough sense to distinguish me. In that case, have another drink. Come on, bottoms up."

It wasn\'t easy to get Lord Naam to collapse from drinking. After all, the level of caution the Senior Secretary and Lord Naam had toward me was different. Even though Lord Naam pretended to smile, the wall he kept up was much stronger.

But it didn’t matter. I never intended to take down both of them at once anyway.

And by “take down,” I don’t mean just getting them drunk.

What mattered was what happened after they left this pavilion.

The drinking continued for quite some time.

I finally stood up when the Senior Secretary was nearly unconscious.

"I feel bad that he’s gotten so drunk because of me. I\'d like to take him back to his quarters myself."

Lord Naam tried to stop me, but I refused his request. Stubbornly, I lifted the Senior Secretary up, slinging him over my shoulder, and left the pavilion where the feast had taken place.

It was late, and even the servants had gone to bed.

The moon wasn’t bright tonight. Only the stars watched over me.

It didn\'t matter. They, unlike the moon or the sun, the stars didn\'t stay in one place but moved with the seasons, so they would soon forget this night.

After walking for a while, I put the Senior Secretary down on the porch of the pavilion where he was staying.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

I sat beside him for a moment.

Looking up at the stars again, they were dimmer than before, obscured by the clouds.

A single black bird glided through the faint starlight, leaving a trail as it passed.

It flew in circles—a prearranged signal that no one was nearby.

I took out a dried bellflower from my sleeve pocket.

I shoved part of it into the mouth of the Senior Secretary, who had collapsed with his eyes closed, and placed the rest firmly in his clenched hand.

Before the night ended, I planned to scatter more bellflowers near the pavilion where the feast had taken place, and near the lord\'s sleeping quarters.

Someone would surely find them in the morning.

I could only hope that I hadn’t acted recklessly.

There was a chance that I might regret not killing him later.

It\'s always better to be certain about things.

I looked up at the sky once more.

I muttered something, unsure if it was what I wanted to say or what I needed to say.

"My hands won’t be stained with blood. You’ll still scold me, I’m sure... but I’ll accept your reprimand later."

I whispered quietly to myself.