Fear makes people lose their sanity, immobilises them, and places them under your control. Its currency to command subjugation is unparalleled. Lord Choi Si-wan had learnt early in life that to succeed, you had to mine fear. Cultivate, nurture, and possessively guard it as your most precious wealth. Then, when the time was right, distribute it in small increments, just enough for people to capitulate to you.

However, to turn it into the most effective weapon, you had to be fair about disseminating it. You could not be partial to anyone, including those who held you dear. It could not be more; it would be rendered ineffective if the one fearing you had nothing more to lose, and it could not be less, then you would lose respect, and fear would lose its edge.

It had to be just right.

"Please, Lord Choi, do not let them arrest my daughter; she will be ruined," Lee Seung's mother, Lady Ryu In-ah, was distraught. "She is innocent; my son is innocent. Please, please do not let them be arrested."

"Your son was outside all night, and your daughter was prowling around my daughter's room. And now my daughter is missing." Lord Choi suddenly increased his volume to fever pitch, "You want me to believe they are innocent?"

Lady Ryu In-Ah visibly cowed.

Lord Choi left the chamber, followed by his wife - a quiet Im Nabi-Won - a pitying expression softening her otherwise hard face.

Fear. Confuse them. Make them doubt themselves.

Lord Choi padded into his chamber and walked to the window. "Close the door," he ordered.

Kang Do slowly drew the large pieces of crafted and painted wood together.

"Find her. She could not have gone far. Find her, and then make her vanish. No one should ever see that bitch again. I have no use for her anymore."

"My men have been looking since the early hours of the morning, My Lord. Lady Choi does not have friends and has never gone out alone. And none of the households who know you would dare to harbour her."

"How dare she!" His voice shook. "She will not ruin my plans. I will not let her." Lord Choi turned around and bore his manservant down with a deadly stare. "Find Her!"

"Yes, Master," Kang Do bowed.

∞

She had to find a way to leave.

Her thoughts wandered back to last night. Self-doubt plagued her. Did she make the right choice?

Ji-na was too young, inexperienced, and lonely in this world to understand the enormity of her decision and the real-life challenges that came with it. Her world was sheltered, still black and white, consisting of obedience and disobedience, of righteousness and betrayal, of piety and faithlessness.

That young, naive, idealistic mind had not seen any alternative. All she knew was she could not be a party to the deception of the kind, honourable man who had saved her life.

From what little Ji-na had gathered about his character from her ordeal, Lee Seung might still accept her as his wife even though her honour had been besmirched, and he bore witness to it, just out of pity and kindness. But she could not bring herself to let him touch her soiled body. He deserved someone virtuous and pure. She was unsure if he had glimpsed her face that day, but she knew he had seen the scratches.

He would know immediately.

Shame bore her down at the thought. She felt so filthy, so impure. The pain of her violation was so much bigger than the pain of her burning palm. If only her father understood the enormity of punishment she would have to endure for the rest of her life.

If only her father had listened to her and spoken to Lee Seung. At least, if Lee Seung had still consented to the marriage, she would have the consolation of knowing they were not cheating him of his due. Now, it was too late.

If only she had not gone out to the gambling house.

Leaving was the safest way to make Lee Seung divorce her. Ji-na knew she had no prayer of returning to her father's house once she lost the protection of her husband. Ji-na shivered. Lord Choi would brook no interference to his political ambitions. Having a divorced daughter was a sure way of putting a lid on it. He would destroy Lee Seung for daring to thwart him. However, if she left the house on her own, there was little her father could do. Moreover, he would not be able to harm Lee Seung because the matter would be entirely out of their hands.

She had cried copiously after Lee Seung had left the chamber in anger. Then she had wiped her tears.

Ji-na did not know where she would go and what she would do. But any place in this world was better than the hell that was her father's house. Thousands of people lived ordinary lives. She would find something, too, that would not involve deceiving anyone.

I miss you, grandmother, her heart had cried out. Perhaps she was somewhere, watching out for her and would keep her safe.

With that thought, she had quickly drawn a paper and a quill, but her right hand could not grip the tool. She had shifted it to the left and started writing.

Little did she know the terrible chain of events her act of honesty and uncharacteristic rebellion had set in motion.

∞

Showing small mercies makes them glorify you. And magnify your ruthless image in their mind.

"Simply sign the confession, and I will release your sister," Lord Choi used his words efficiently, every sound uttered cold, calculating.

"Why are you doing this? What have we done to you and your daughter?" Seung could not keep the anguish from his young voice.

Lord Choi could see the confusion in the young man's eyes. Something like pity seeped in momentarily, but the hard stone that went for his heart dried it up as quickly.

"It is up to you to tell me what you have done to my daughter," Lord Choi said, his lips curved to reveal his famous bloodless smile.

Lord Choi was counting on the fact that his daughter would not show up again, at least not until he had neatly fabricated a reason for her disappearance that would not blemish his image. He was not too arrogant to admit he had made a mistake. He had crossed the sacred line of 'too much' with his daughter. Her fear of retribution was too great.

"She has to be somewhere in the house. Have you even looked for her?"

"How dare you?" Lord Choi could see that despite his tender age, Lee Seung was not as easy to give in to fear as most people were.

He would not be as easy to break.

"My daughter is the most dutiful and filial woman. She has never stepped out of the house without protection. And now she has vanished."

"I have nothing to gain from it," Lee Seung returned his cold stare.

Lord Choi shrugged. "That will be for the Magistrate and then His Majesty to decide. However, we can prevent this from blowing out of proportion if you do as I say, and I will let go of your sister."

"You ruined her," Seung said bitterly.

"Ah! But that's a little price to pay in return for her freedom. The sooner you sign the confession, the faster I can drop the charges against your sister. She does not have to face the Magistrate then."

Fear was all about exploiting weakness.

Lord Choi slapped a paper in front of him. "This is my daughter's handwriting."

The perfectly formed letters in neat, demure strokes stared back at Lee Seung. His heart fell to his stomach. Terror gripped him, his eyes burning with unshed anguish.

Lord Choi smiled. Terrify them.

"Warden, bring Lady Lee here."

The coldness of his eyes matched the coldness of the walls of the prison building.

The sight of his distraught sister broke every bit of resolve Seung had been holding onto. Her tear-streaked face, her fear-ridden eyes, and her dry, chapped mouth tore at his heart. Her clothes were soiled at the hem and reeked of a smell that hinted at contact with a space lacking chamber pot privileges. Anger and helplessness twisted his heart.

"Oraboni -" Lee Gil-ae wept, her face hidden behind her hands.

He had never hated anyone more than he hated Choi Si Wan.

"I will sign it. Let my sister leave."

"That is intelligent of you, Scholar Lee."

∞

By mid-morning, it was clear to Ji-na that reaching the pier, let alone securing a passage to anywhere, was beyond her capability. Not only did she not know how someone reached there, but her father had people tracking her.

"Someone came to enquire after you," Kim I-On worried her hands, wringing them under duress."You must leave, Choi Ji-na."

"They asked for me?"

"No, not directly, but Mother said they asked strange, vague questions if we encountered an unexpected guest last night."

Ji-na sighed in relief. Most girls she was acquainted with were wary or jealous of Ji-na, her aloof, reserved nature pushing them away from her. Truthfully, Ji-na had not learned how to reach out to others or become friends. She had always been envious of the easy way Kim I-On made friends with everyone; she was envious of her easy laugh, but most of all, Ji-na was envious of the bond she had witnessed between Kim I-On and her father.

A few years ago, Kim I-On's father had been waiting for her at the gate at the end of the school. Councillor Kim had been visiting Ming on a delegation, and the first thing he did upon his return was to meet his little daughter. Ji-na still remembered Kim I-On breaking into a run and her father joyfully lifting the little girl into the air. I-On had not looked back. She had caught her father's hand and hopped, skipped and jumped home.

Ji-na had never seen anything like it.

She folded her burnt palm as much as she could without crying out in pain and hid it in the folds of her skirt.

"Lord Choi is terribly powerful, Choi Ji-na. If he learns I helped you, he could cause trouble for my father."

"My Father would never harm Lord Kim," Ji-na said with more conviction than she felt.

I-On had been resolute at dawn to send her friend on her way at sunrise. Then she had glimpsed the red and angry-looking palm Choi Ji-na was adeptly hiding within the folds of her skirt and the fleeting expression of terror that had flashed past her unblemished face at the mention of it.

"I had grabbed a hot spatula by mistake the other day," Choi Ji-na had hastened to explain, refusing to look her in the eye.

Kim I-On could not help but feel a tremor of unease run through her. She left the tray of food with Ji-na and stepped out, softly drawing the door close.

"My lady, I saw Scholar Jo Hee-Bong come to meet young Master Kim minutes ago," her maid, Yoo Pil-ran, informed her. "I met Lady Choi's maid, Woo Sa-ri, as you suggested. She told me no one had seen Scholar Lee or Lady Choi since morning. They may have already proceeded to the new house, but it is highly irregular. Woo Sa-ri was not convinced because she was supposed to accompany Lady Choi along with six more servants to her new house. There is also a whisper that Scholar Lee was not agreeable to the marriage. They have not taken any clothes, and no one has seen Lady Choi since last night."

Kim I-On nodded. "Keep this to yourself."

Minutes later, she darted across the stretch separating the women's quarters from the men's and sneaked into her brother's study chamber to face her worried brother and a pacing Scholar Jo. Her heart, as always, sped up at the sight of Scholar Jo, her brother's best friend, but she ignored it. She had too much to worry about than to think about her unrequited love.

"Choi Ji-na will not agree. Something is going on," Kim I-On said to her brother.

"Right now, I am not worried about what fable she has created to convince herself what she did was right," Jo Hee Bong retorted angrily. "She is the reason my friend is in prison!"

Jo Bong-Hee omitted to tell them that Lady Lee Gil-ae had also been carted off to prison, trying to quell his fear and heartache.

"You should not have hidden her, I-On. Do you know how dangerous you have made it for all of us?" Master Kim was furious.

"I am sorry, Oraboni, it was midnight, and -"

"How did you find out about Lee?" Master Kim cut her off. He was weighing if going against someone like Lord Choi would be worth the trouble.

"Scholar Lee's manservant came and informed me. I went to see Scholar Lee in the prison. We have to produce Lady Choi alive at the court and do not have much time left. I am sure that is all the Magistrate will need to be convinced of Scholar Lee's innocence."

"But Lord Choi will not take lightly that we were party to his daughter's scandalous behaviour. My sister could be ruined. I must inform Father," Master Kim said, his expression grim.

Ten minutes later, Ji-na, her headdress tightly encircling her head, faced Scholar Jo and Master Kim, with Kim I-On silently watching the trio. "You must come with us, Lady Choi."

Fear overwhelmed her, and Ji-na backed away.

"Where? I cannot go home," tears welled up in her eyes.

"Not home, somewhere else. We do not want to force you, but today, we will bodily carry you if you do not come. We do not have a choice," Jo Hee-Bong was not jesting.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Ji-na had risked everything to walk away from her life as she knew it. She did not know where she would go from here, but she would not go back to the hell that was her father's house and would not force a decent man to play husband to the underserving her.

"Then you will have to use force, Scholar Jo."

"Lady Choi, your husband is in prison on charges of kidnapping and, perhaps, killing you."

The ground shifted as the room went out of focus.

"No! No!"

"I-On, ask Bon Wo to get the palanquin ready, I will go meet Father," Master Kim turned to his sister, who left the chamber quietly.

∞

The clock struck four at the square. Like a curious onlooker unaware of the actual story unfolding before him but interested to see the outcome irrespective, Lee Seung surveyed the scene. The Magistrate was bent over a ledger. Lord Choi stood on one side, unbridled arrogance of authority dripping from his posture. Afternoon light lit the chamber in a suffused light of oppression. Candles had gathered a pool of wax at their base, struggling to provide enough light for ledgers to be legible.

"Scholar Lee, is it true you expressed an unwillingness to this marriage multiple times to various people?" The Magistrate asked without looking up.

"Yes," Seung was resigned.

"You also expressed unhappiness at the lack of beauty of Lady Choi and her unwomanliness."

Startled, Seung stared at the man. "No sir, I never said that. I didn't see her to form an opinion."

"It says here that you were unhappy with her age."

"She is too young," Seung retorted.

The Magistrate paused and looked up at Seung, who was little more than a young, fearful youth trying his best to appear brave. "Impertinence will not serve you well, Scholar Lee." He sighed. His wise eyes had seen too many perish at the crosshairs of the powerful. Lord Choi was a venerable beast of the worst kind. The boy had no chance.

Seung looked away, his life like an abyss he had tumbled into, and he didn't know how to claw his way out.

"You say you left your bedchamber at night, alone. But no one saw you leave. Did you, perhaps, have a baggage to carry, so you sneaked out?"

"What are you saying?"

"I am not saying it. Your signed confession says it."

Sweat beaded his forehead. He didn't know what he had signed, desperate as he had been to free his sister.

Seung tried to clear his head and figure out what he was up against. Why was Lord Choi so adamant about punishing him without even trying to do anything to find his missing daughter? Seung was supposed to be his best friend's son, his son-in-law, someone he had hoped to invest his future interest in.

A ray of understanding shot through his befuddled mind.

Lord Choi knew something he didn't and was trying to hide it.

Diversion.

It was only a speculation, and he had no evidence to base it on.

"I did not do anything to Lady Choi. When I last left the chamber, she was sleeping."

"And when you returned, you found this letter, clearly not written by her, and she was gone. Why did you not raise an alarm?"

"I thought she had gone to her bed chamber, or was somewhere in the house," Seung reasoned.

"My Lord Magistrate, my daughter's virtue is unquestionable. She would not have disappeared in this fashion unless she was forced."

A slight commotion behind Lee Seung caught the Magistrate's attention.

"Identify yourself," he said.

"My Lord Magistrate, forgive our interrruption. My name is Kim Tae-Oh. I have brought Lady Choi Ji-na with me."

Seung felt a sudden wave of immense relief, and then it felt like someone had punched him in the gut. A cesspool churned inside Seung. It had been a trap. A diversion to make a scapegoat out of him.

And in their selfish, spoilt scheming, serving their own selfish purposes, they had ruined the only good thing he had lived for - his sister. His fingers curled into punishing fists.

He could sense Lord Choi go rigid in shock, and he almost laughed at the irony.

"Are you Lady Choi Ji-na, lawfully wedded wife of Scholar Lee Seung?"

"Y-Yes, My Lord," she managed to speak with clarity despite the tremor in her voice.

She was afraid, thought Seung.

Well, she should be. She should be very very afraid for what she had done. And by the time he was done with her and her malefic father, she would wish she didn't live.

"Show your identity tag," the Magistrate ordered.

The woman came forward, swamped in her jang-ot, and extended her tag.

Seung snatched the fabric covering her and threw it on the ground. He stomped on it. Grabbing the woman by her neck, he slammed her to the wall. "Why? Why?" he bellowed.

He howled.

The Magistrate's voice broke him out of his malevolent fantasy just as the woman took her tag back, put it away under the mass of her covering and retreated.

It was then he noticed his friend, Jo Hee Bong, who put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Did you write this letter?" The Magistrate asked Ji-na.

A pause.

"Yes, Dari, I did."

"Why does it not match your other writings?"

"I hurt my right hand while cooking, so I had to use my left."

"And why did you write it?"

"I-I was upset that my father had not found a better groom for me. I was foolish. I did not foresee my father's worry. Please forgive me."

Seung snorted. She was remarkably poised as if she was informing others about how warm the weather was.

Scratching his grizzled grey beard, the Magistrate shook his head and looked kindly at them. "Lord Choi, it looks like it was all a misunderstanding. It is good I kept this hearing private. I suggest you speak to Scholar Lee and reach an amicable solution. I have instructed the office of Saheonbu to dismiss the complaint."

If ice could replace the skin, Lord Choi would be a perfect sculpture. He turned to his daughter. "How dare you?"

"Father, I -" she faltered.

"Lord Choi, I am sorry to interrupt, but I want to assure you Lady Choi was safe and under my protection. There is no further need to worry."

"And you waited all day to bring her?" Lord Choi cut in. It did not bode well for Scholar Kim, but he did not back down, his kind eyes returning Lord Choi's furious gaze with a serene and cordial look.

"It was an error of judgment on my part, Lord Choi," Scholar Kim did not blink. "I shall take your leave now," Lord Kim quickly exited with another young man falling behind him.

"My daughter has been found. Let us all go back home." Lord Choi said emotionlessly.

Seung was shaking so violently with emotion that he could barely stand.

"Your daughter wanted a divorce last night. I am willing to grant her a one."

A vein stood out on Lord Choi's face, his cold smile belying the rage in his eyes.

"There will be no divorce in our family."

"That was all this was about, Lord Choi, was it not?" Seung asked, his eyes twin spots of fury.

"Lee Seung -" Jo Bong Hee interrupted, keeping a calming hand on Seung's shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"You knew your virtuous daughter was not so virtuous after all," he snarled.

A fleeting expression of unrest in Lord Choi's eyes was all he needed to confirm.

"So tell me, Lord Choi, was that why you were in so much hurry to marry off your daughter to an impoverished man like me, so below your station? Did you think I would never raise a voice against someone as mighty as you?"

"You are breaching the codes of decency. Do not forget you are speaking with your father-in-law."

"Father-in-law?" Seung scoffed. "Minutes ago, you were ready to send me to the gallows. You always knew she had left on her own accord, so you made no effort to find her. You also knew she had written the letter with her non-dominant hand. Tell me, was there another man involved? Perhaps he has put a child in her?"

Seung heard an audible sobbing gasp, and something stirred at the back of his mind, but he ruthlessly stomped on it, his rage overtaking all his sane senses, not caring who he was speaking to. He did not even bother to spare a glance in the direction of the hateful woman.

Lord Choi's hands lashed out and grabbed his collar. "How dare you say such unspeakable things? You will not divorce my daughter. If you want the safety of your family, take her back. You are but a worm. I can crush you with my fingers."

Seung looked down at the despicable man he had once thought of as a replacement for his father. Disgust tore through him like a virulent strain of plague.

Seung gave a mirthless smile. "You dragged my sister into a public prison and forced her to stay here unchaperoned. You ruined her chances of ever getting married to a good family. And you want me to take your wretched daughter back? I don't think so."

Lord Choi let go of his collar, shoving him back roughly. "You will never make it to any upper ranks. I will ruin you."

"You think I care anymore? You trapped me so your daughter's nefarious activity could be hidden."

"Scholar Lee, please stop -" Jo Hee Bong tried to interrupt his friend.

"I do not have any use for her. You will take her back. I will stop this divorce at any cost," Lord Choi said, his words no more cold or calculating.

The man was unravelling.

Seung felt a twisted thrill of triumph.

"A divorce would tarnish the mighty Lord Choi's reputation and thwart his ambitions. That cannot happen, correct? It's too bad you and your daughter did not plan this out better. Forgive me, father," Seung drawled sarcastically, "I do not care what you do with your daughter. I will not accept her back."

Two days later, Ji-na sat with her back straight and head bowed. She gripped her trembling hands together, determined not to show any weakness.

Her father's chamber, at first glance, looked sparse, almost austere, until the discerning eye picked up the hypocrisy in the form of exorbitantly expensive and rare Ming pottery, Persian wall hangings and exquisite paintings by pedigreed royal artists like Prince Yi Am and Prince Yi Gyeong-yun.

She felt weak. Sweat trickled down her shoulder blades. The small plate of sweets only made her feel more sick.

"Do you want to stay without food forever? I have told you, daughter, I do not have much use for you. If you die of starvation, it will solve our problem."

Ji-na did not pick up her head.

Lord Choi sighed audibly.

"Get Se-min," he barked.

Ji-na felt herself blanche. What did Se-min have to do here?

"Your brother told me a little story, Choi Ji-na. It looks like you encouraged his bad habits instead of leading him down the right path."

Ji-na felt tremors of terror shoot down the entire length of her body. The door opened to reveal a terrified Se-min. Her brother gave their father a pleading look. "Please, Father, do not punish Noonim; it is all my fault."

"That is why you are here, son."

Moving at a leisurely pace that looked like he had all the time in the world, Lord Choi ambled to a cabinet and withdrew a long handle with a thin rope attached to it. Then he turned and looked at his son.

"Turn around," he ordered quietly.

"No! No father," Ji-na cried out. "Please, please do not hurt him. I will write that letter to my husband. I will write whatever you want me to write. Please," she bent over her knees, her hands rubbing together in a desperate gesture of forgiveness.

With a shaking hand that had not fully healed yet, Ji-na penned a long letter asking for forgiveness from her husband and begged him to take her back.

∞

A day later, the reply came, with an order from King Injo's head eunuch to come to court with his daughter three days later. King Injo demanded both parties be present for the divorce.

Lord Choi howled like a beast and threw an expensive porcelain pot across the floor, smashing it to smithereens.

"How dare that lowly cretin threaten me! He wants me to bring my daughter to court so he can divorce her? Yes, I will take her to court. I will take her and show them all what punishment can look like in my hand. Bring that harlot here. Now!"

Ji-na's eyes turned white with terror as soon as she entered the chamber. "No, Father, please, please, no."

Lord Choi had never known mercy.

Fear had to be distributed evenly, without partiality.

The whip came down on her back swiftly. She felt a sting. And then another, a more painful one. It came down again. And again. She felt numb, and then burning, like she had never endured before, spread across her back. The last one seared across the flesh. Her ears rang, stars shot across her eyes as blinding pain overtook her whole body, and she sank to her knees.

That night, she heard her servant Woo Sa-ri crying uncontrollably, with the head servant Da-Son trying to stop her sobs as they tended to the angry welts and several ugly gashes on her tender back that would scar her for life.

Lord Choi prowled in his room all night. As dawn neared, an unholy thought took shape in his mind.

He asked for his faithful servant.

"He thinks he is going to ruin me by forcing me to take my daughter to court and making me a laughing stock in front of everyone. However, it's also clear His Majesty needs to have my daughter present to grant Scholar Lee the divorce he is desperate for."

"What are you thinking, my lord?" Kang Do asked in a neutral voice.

"If she is not available to go, the divorce cannot happen, can it?"

Lee Seung was stubborn, loyal, and brilliant. But he was no match for the cunning of Lord Choi, the Right State Councillor to King Injo and a key figure Injo heavily relied on.

There was also the fact that it was Lord Choi Si-wan's brilliant strategies that eventually raised King Injo to the throne and kept him there through the debacle of 1624 during the Yi Gwai rebellion. All King Injo cared about was his own power. Injo would not go against Choi if the latter played his cards right.

However, Injo was also known to be temperamental and turned on someone he took umbrage to in a flash.

"Your Majesty, it would behove for Scholar Lee and my daughter to go through a period of calm and revisit their impulsive acts. My daughter has not been keeping too well after the marriage and needs time to consider what Scholar Lee demands."

"It is she who wanted the divorce, Your Majesty," Lee Seung said bitterly.

"How dare you speak without permission?" King Injo's head eunuch was quick to reprimand Seung.

"I am convinced it was an act of an overwrought mind, Your Majesty," Lord Choi argued flawlessly. "She has since asked for forgiveness and has been begging to be given a chance by Scholar Lee."

Seung clenched his teeth. The woman had not said a word in the court five days ago to defend any accusation he had thrown at her. She had not been with the Kim family all night. She would not have bothered to come to court if she had not been forced by Jo Hee Bong. Her letter was another part of her deception. He did not know what game the father and daughter played, but he wanted no part in it.

"Lord Choi is right," King Injo interrupted his thoughts. "You may consider meeting your wife before deciding anything rash. She is young, and Lord Kim has sworn she was safe under his protection and stayed with his daughter, so no harm was done. You may give her another chance."

Seung swallowed a painful lump. "And what about my sister, Your Majesty? She was innocent, and now her reputation is tarnished. Can Lord Choi guarantee she will also be given another chance?"

Injo was no fool. Even a King could not guarantee the marriage of a woman who had a scandal, no matter how innocent, attached to her.

"You dare stand and try to make a deal? I can throw you in jail for insubordination. If you want a divorce, bring Lady Choi here, and I will consider it. You can go."

And just like that, they were dismissed.

"Scholar Lee, you must give up your stubbornness. Let us forget the past. As you can see, His Majesty does not support separating a husband and a wife. My daughter seeks forgiveness. And you might be happy to know she has been adequately punished," Lord Choi felt magnanimous.

Adequately punished. A raw, red palm intruded into Seung's subconscious memory for no reason. And it was immediately superseded by the distraught face of his sister. Seung let his rage do the talking.

"Is that what you heard, Lord Choi? Strange. I heard a King who is either unwilling or incapable of restoring the sullied reputation of an innocent young woman. I also heard a King who could not force a man to take back his wife."

"How dare you speak against Your Majesty? I can take your neck off!"

"And incur the wrath of His Majesty for taking a decision out of his hand?"

Lord Choi was beginning to realise that for the first time in his life, he was meeting a man on whom threats did not work well. Lee Seung knew little fear.

Lord Choi had made another mistake. Lee Seung's sister was his weakness, and Lord Choi had used that card too early.

Seung knew he had cornered Choi. His smile was cold. "Did you think I would not find out your daughter was not with the Kim family the entire night? Or that she would have escaped by boat to someplace if she had not been forced to come to court by my friend and Minister Kim?"

Seung had the satisfaction of seeing the look of surprise flash through Choi's eyes, which then hardened into something else that sent shivers down his spine.

For one moment, Seung paused, but then he ignored the warning bells. He was hurting for his innocent sister and his mother, and no one mattered to him more.

"You must agree it is quite bold for someone who has never been outside her home. I wonder who is helping her and why... I can only imagine the duress under which she wrote that fake letter two days ago. But it is not my concern. Send your spoiled daughter to me; the sooner, the better, so I can drag her to this court. Hide her, and I will wait for the day I see her. But let me be very clear - the end result, no matter when it is, will be the same. You, mighty Lord Choi Si-wan, must live with a divorced daughter like I must take care of my innocent sister."

With that, Lee Seung bowed and left Lord Choi, missing the raw hatred dripping from the man's eyes.

Ji-na came in and out of her painful haze. The pain burned her every time she tried to move or sit up. She could not wear her clothes. Her maids wrapped her in a soft cloth as she lay on her stomach, hot with fever.

Her spirit was broken. All day and all night, she dreamt of her husband. She would truthfully write to him. She would tell him everything this time, beg for his forgiveness and beg him to take her away. She would find a way to find him another, more suitable wife one day who would bear him children.

As soon as she could move her head, neck and hand without feeling like passing out, she would write to him.

Later that night, Ji-na faced her father. Her head roiled in pain, and she needed support to sit.

"Kang Do, please ensure my daughter is comfortable," Lord Choi smiled at her.

Confused, Ji-na looked at her father through the haze of her despair. Maids put cushions around her, and someone helped her lean forward so her wounds did not come under pressure or rub against the hanbok she had been forced into for the meeting.

"Are you comfortable now, daughter?"

Though it hurt to move, Ji-na nodded.

"I learnt you were planning to go on a voyage."

Ji-na gasped, her vulnerable face transparent in her guilt.

"I am also now beginning to wonder, is someone else helping you come up with some fantastic plans?"

Ji-na, her throat parched with pain, barely managed to shake her head. "No, Father," was all she could get out as another searing wave of pain overcame her.

Lord Choi's eyes gleamed with pure evil.

"Hmnn. That's all right. You see, I have decided that you will indeed go on a voyage that you so desired. I would like you to prepare yourself for it."

Lord Choi smiled again, a smile that charred Ji-na's terror-filled heart.