The air was thick with the earthy scent of the fresh harvest. Where the fields had once danced in a rich bounty of stubbly gold and brown, now vast expanses were garnished with rows of brown clumps, marking the end of rice harvesting season in Ganghwa. Boats carrying heavy loads of the white grain left the shore while other goods exchanged hands. Unaware of the strong winds of war blowing their way, the villagers were busy celebrating the harvest with festivals and market fairs. Sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and persimmons flavoured the food served at almost everyone's house. The poor found some respite, their bellies full of meals for a change. The young urchins took breaks from lugging stacks of wood on their backs and played in the fall foliage, wearing new sets of clothes and, in some cases, new sandals.

Seung was in no mood to celebrate. Unlike the quiet land that held the promise of rest and renewal, unrest filled Seung. Nothing seemed to be in his control anymore. His mother was still sick, and he had frequent issues with the new army section chief from the Capital force that had recently arrived to oversee the Royals' arrival at the beginning of December. The Magistrate was in a foul mood because, with the influx of people, the crimes had increased, and he wasn't pleased at the prospect of helping Seung find the snitches on the island.

Whoever it was ran a smooth operation. Even Seung had to appreciate the low-key network. So far, they had not been able to sniff out anyone. All suspects had been cleared. Two people suspected and interrogated had revealed nothing of import.

"Have you considered we could be looking in the wrong place?" Sargeant pondered loudly.

"Wrong people definitely," Wang Jung said, rolling his thumb against his forefinger, which he often did when he thought deeply, which was not frequently. "These are clever people, smart at hiding their spies in plain sight. But we have run through almost every person on this island, and almost everyone checks out, except for a few, but we have had an eye on them for months, and nothing unusual has been found."

"Sargeant is right. We are being thrown off track. The information being leaked is too detailed to be from someone ordinary. But we could be looking at someone ordinary all this while and not realise they are anything but," Seung clenched his hands.

Sargeant nodded in agreement and glanced at the letter in his hand. "I will leave tomorrow evening. At least we have some leads in Hanyang," Sargeant said.

"I will go," Seung said. "This is highly sensitive and could become dangerous. You handle it here."

"Your absence could be conspicuous," Han protested.

"His Majesty has already decided to transfer the royal seals and shrines in case of invasion. I need to oversee the route anyway, and I need to be at the court. I can combine both," Seung said with the finality of his position. They all knew it was a command. "Moreover, why should I be the only one to suffer the obnoxious Royal section chief?" Seung smiled at Han, taking away the zinger.

∞

After the men left, Seung stretched his neck, feeling the stiffness ease slightly, picked up his plumed gnat and stepped out. He hadn't seen Minjae for over three weeks. He knew she had been avoiding him since the night he dropped her off over a month ago.

Seung had clung to her that evening, desperate to assure her she was the only one for him. Yet, he had felt her withdrawing as surely as the tide retreating from the shore. "Please give me some time, Dari," she had pleaded.

Through the first week, he at least got the chance to see her during her visits to his mother, even though Minjae cut a wide arc and refused to speak beyond her professional capacity. Then, she simply vanished from places where he might encounter her. There had been no message, no explanation. It was almost as if her form had evaporated, even though her presence lingered everywhere. She stopped frequenting the inn, and at the apothecary, he only came across her father, Seo Jun, while suspecting she hid somewhere out of his sight. Minjae made it a point to visit his mother while he was away from the house. A week ago, determined to catch her, he stayed back, hoping for a glimpse. Instead, the young woman named Im Ji Won, who often accompanied her, checked on Lady Ryu. When he inquired about Minjae, Im Ji Won seemed visibly flustered. He understood the reason for this when he saw Choi Jina following Im Ji Won out of his mother's chamber. His wife had not expected to see him at that hour, and he could see the surprise in her eyes. He had often thought the presence of his wife would unsettle him, but Choi Jina simply left him indifferent and annoyed with life at the moment.

Later, Seung asked his mother, "Omoni, did you ask Physician Kim to stop coming here?"

His mother looked at him sadly. "That is for the best."

"Omoni, you are only making it worse for Lady Choi," Seung warned her quietly. "My mind is not going to change."

The night was cold and weary. Seung pulled his hat low over his head, tucking the woollen flaps of his heavy leather coat around his ears. He stood outside Minjae's house, the November chill seeping into his bones. Her room was dark, and he couldn't tell if she had retired early or hadn't yet returned home. It was unusual for her to stay out this late unless she was working at the inn or responding to an emergency medical call.

This was the sixth time he had visited her in the late hours. The first three times, a young child opened the door and informed him Minjae was not home. The last two times, no one responded. He then knew Minjae didn't want to meet him.

Seung drew a long, freezing breath, exhaling a puff of white vapour into the still night air.

Haven't you missed me, Minjae? Seung swallowed the painful lump of loneliness that threatened to consume him.

He had known Choi Jina's arrival would hurt Minjae badly. She had already been skittish about getting into a relationship with him, and the prospect of her pulling away entirely unleashed something dark inside him.

Determined to see this through, he waited. It was late and disrespectful to Kim Da Bom, but he was beyond propriety. Life as they knew it was fast plunging into uncertainty, and he vowed to the heavens that he would not allow the one remaining certainty to slip through his grasp.

He silently watched Kim Da Bom make her way to the house. Her pace was quick, and she drew the cloak around her head more tightly to keep out the cold. The cloak obscured her peripheral vision, making her jump when he suddenly stepped out of the shadows and appeared before her.

Kim Da Bom quickly recovered and gave him a bow. She was tall, and Seung could see her look back at him thoughtfully. They both knew why he was standing in the freezing weather before a commoner's house so late at night without his men.

"Can I meet with Minjae?" He asked.

He was not sure he appreciated the fleeting glance of pity in her eyes, but he was past caring.

"Please come inside, Dari. It's freezing."

A few minutes later, Seung found himself seated in a large, well-lit chamber. He sat behind a table in one corner, reminiscent of a tea table in a tea room, surrounded by comfortable seating cushions. Across from him sat Minjae and Kim Da Bom's father, Kim Seo Jun. Seung was a big man himself, but Seo Jun somehow managed to dwarf the room with his presence.

A lone flame crackled somewhere in the room. Kim Seo Jun inhaled deeply and said in a baritone, "Send some tea, Da Bom."

Kim Da Bom disappeared. Would she call Minjae? His heart sped up. He was done with beating around the bush. He needed Minjae in his home, by his side. He wanted to hold her hands, see her laugh, and watch her eyes become translucent with love for him.

Seung regarded the man he had come to respect greatly. He had intended to follow the proper procedures through established channels, yet here he was, compelled by a foreboding anxiety gripping his heart. He forged ahead before he lost his nerve. "Please forgive me for being abrupt and out of protocol, and I apologise for not doing this through proper channels more formally. I, Lee Seung, son of Scholar Lee Dong-gu, humbly seek your blessings for a holy union with your daughter, Kim Min-Jae. I solemnly promise to protect, cherish, and provide for her in every way within my power. I implore you to grant us your blessings, Father," Seung said, his head bowed and his hands resting on his knees.

The silence that followed weighed heavily on Seung. He stole a glance at the bearded man, unsure what to expect next.

"My Lord, I never thought I would see a day when I would have someone like you asking for my daughter's hand," the big man smiled. "I will happily send a formal request to your mother for a union so that my daughter can become a part of the Lee clan."

Seung looked up in surprise, aware that a happy disbelief had overtaken his features.

Seo Jun threaded his fingers through the white column of his heavy beard. "However, does your mother agree to this match?"

"Omoni will not refuse," Seung said in a low voice.

"She might not go against your wishes, but she might not agree to it happily. Moreover, your wife belongs to the most powerful family in Joseon. I do not see Lady Choi accepting Kim Minjae with open arms. My daughter might be a commoner who has led a difficult life, but now she is independent, respected for her talents and as happy as her circumstances allow her."

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"She will have every freedom she desires, I assure you, Father. I have never followed rules that my heart does not agree with, and I don't intend to tie Minjae to them. Furthermore, I intend to divorce my wife, Father," Seung said.

Kim Seo Jun took the time to respond to that. "On what grounds, if I may ask? His Majesty makes breaking a union difficult unless you can prove something egregious about your wife. Especially for people in your rank, My Lord. And you belong to the most illustrious Yangban families in Joseon. It's even more difficult if the wife is reluctant to leave her husband's residence. From what I gather, Lady Choi has assured His Majesty that she will do everything in her power to rectify her mistakes and be a good wife to you," Seo Jun said.

Seo Jun's words hit Seung like a punch in the gut, the shock leaving him reeling.

"I see you did not know. I am sorry. Lady Choi met with Minjae soon after she came to the island," Kim Seo Jun said gruffly.

Seung pressed his nails into his palm with such force that the veins in his hands popped.

Kim So Jun's observant eyes didn't miss anything. "I am nobody in the scheme of things, My Lord. There is little I can do to stop you if you have decided to take my daughter as your concubine, but seeing that you wish for my blessings, I would never agree to a union that will curb her talents and confine her to a life of mediocrity under someone like your wife." Kim Seo Joon's voice was gentle but steely.

"What can I do to assure you I will do everything I can to keep Minjae happy?" Seung hated the tone of desperation in his voice.

"Respectfully, My Lord, but I do not have an answer for you. However, if Minjae wants to be with you, I shall not stop it either," Seo Jun said.

Seung inhaled and looked away, relieved to have the distraction of the chamber door opening. His heart missed a beat before he realised it was not Minjae. A maid entered with a large tray, closely followed by Kim Da Bom.

"I am afraid Minjae can't see you tonight; she has already retired for the night," Kim Da Bom informed him.

Seung recognised a dismissal when he heard one. With one quick movement, his tall frame unfolded. Rising, he thanked Kim Seo Jun for seeing him this late.

And he did a double take as his gaze fell on the maid. It was Woo Sa-ri, Choi Jina's maid. Her plump, round face had more colour than her entire body had when he had first seen her four months earlier.

"What is she doing here?" Seung rasped.

"Minjae brought her back from the temple and nursed her here," Taken aback by the reprimand in his voice, Kim Da Bom replied cautiously.

"This is foolhardiness! How can she be so reckless?" Seung thundered, his fury and despair crystallising into something more tangible. "Does Minjae not know how dangerous it is to harbour someone so recognisable?"

Woo Sari turned pallid, her hands flying to her mouth. Seung stepped closer to her. "Do not go out during the day, and hide your face from everyone else other than those in this house. There are people on this island who will recognise you."

The maid trembled as she sank to the ground on her knees.

Seung knew he had frightened the maid but could scarcely control his feelings. His anger and fear were like a tempest, threatening to consume him.

Seung paused, taking a deep breath to curb the turmoil churning like a whirlpool inside his guts. "Make sure she is well hidden, and under no circumstance should she ever be seen with any of you, especially Kim Minjae. And keep her away from the Choi household."

Seung bowed and strode out.

"Dari!" Kim Da Mi had followed him, "Please wait!" She caught up to him.

"What is there to wait for?" Seung said, a bleak look in his eyes. "She doesn't even want to meet me anymore."

"Dari, sometimes, things are not as you see them," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Dari, I'm not sure if it's my place to say, but no matter what, please don't lose faith in your feelings for Minjae or question her love. She may not realise it, but she needs you more than anything in this world." Kim Da Bom's voice wavered, her eyes filled with concern and urgency. "You are the only one who can keep her safe."

∞

Soo Hyun heard Seung's thundering footsteps much before he slammed her intricately latticed hanji door open. Intuitively, she knew he had learned of her meeting with Minjae, something she now regretted with all her being.

So far, she had met three kinds of men in her life. Those who lusted for her, those who wanted to feel powerful by controlling her, and those who wanted to use her to further their interest.

Seung was the fourth kind who only wanted to murder her. And this would be the night.

Panic turned her stomach over.

Soo Hyun did the only thing that came to her mind. She sprinted to her bed behind the low, ornate table and disrobed, hopelessly wishing she had not sent her maid to bed. She barely managed to be halfway through before the door slid to a side on loudly protesting hinges.

At best, she hoped Seung would be so distracted by her half-naked state that he would fall into lust with her.

At worst, he would be a gentleman and give her time to dress before he twisted her neck.

He did neither. Seung grabbed her by the throat and shoved her against the wall.

"Why did you meet Minjae?"

Soo Hyun choked and spluttered. "Please Dari," she grasped his wrists, "I am sorry....just to ask about Omoni...."

The disgust on his face was palpable. "You bitch, you dared to go to His Majesty with your lies?"

Tell him the truth. Minjae's words came back.

So did Lord Choi's indifferent face, telling her he had killed his daughter.

"I had no choice; Father made me," she managed to gasp through the pressure on her throat.

His fingers tightened.

"I am telling the truth. Father threatened me," she gasped.

"Really? Threatened you? After all these years? You want me to believe that?"

"Father wants me to have a child with you," she admitted, her voice wavering between a plea, fear, and an apology.

The revulsion with which he looked at her made Soo Hyun feel like she had crawled out of a chamber pot. He let go of her throat and threw a bed sheet at her.

"What else did you tell Minjae?" His eyes darted venom at her while she wrapped herself like a shroud with the bedsheet.

Soo Hyun took a deep breath. "I asked for her help to get close to you," she replied truthfully.

Seung looked at her with a distaste that made her feel less than a speck of dust under his boots.

"And I-I asked her to stay away from you," she rushed her words. She wondered if he would smash the fist he had formed in her face.

Instead, he turned and strode away.

"My Lord," she called after him. He didn't seem to hear. "I offered to bring her in as your concubine," she called out, desperate to get, if not in his good books, then at least out of his people-to-be-butchered books.

Seung halted and turned around. The pinch around Seung's lips became more prominent in the strategically placed lights of her chamber, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"She-she refused," she finished lamely.

The expression of dejection that flashed on his face pricked even her cynical, hardened heart.

Once he left, she stared at the open door for one long moment. "Kim Minjae, you are such a fool," she whispered into the empty air.

∞

Lady Ryu In-ah watched her son stride out of the courtyard, his long legs eating up the length to the gate of the house like a storm gathering speed across the ocean. Her heart wavered, caught in a tempest of fear and valour, battling for supremacy in her mind. For a lifetime, she had been haunted by the dread of losing her children. Her husband had been a brilliant man, foreseeing his own death and ensuring their enemy would not only be prevented from eliminating his family but would be compelled to sustain them in prosperity.

The plan involved marrying their children. How Lord Lee Dong-gu managed the feat was still a mystery. Seung's union with Choi Siwan's daughter would act as a safeguard, preventing Seung from becoming a liability to Choi Siwan. Choi would also be vested in keeping Seung safe, as he would undoubtedly look after his daughter's interests.

Lady Ryu had an increasingly foreboding intuition that her astute husband might have miscalculated.

She knew well the depths of Seung's obsession with uncovering the truth behind his father's murder. As she watched her son depart, she feared that should he ever learn the full extent of the deception, his quest for vengeance would consume him, leading him into a perilous abyss from which none of them would ever emerge. The fact that Seung was hell-bent on rejecting Siwan's daughter only exacerbated the matter.

Choi Siwan, once their closest ally, had transformed into a malevolent serpent, more sinister than Lady Ryu could have ever fathomed. He was capable of devouring his own offspring to secure his immunity and would not hesitate to wipe them out if the need arose.

Casting her gaze across the courtyard, where the faint glow from her daughter-in-law's room spilled onto the darkened ground, Lady Ryu took a shuddering breath. When Choi Siwan and his wife appeared at her husband's ancestral home, she was taken aback by how different Choi Jina looked and behaved from the young woman she had met briefly five years ago.

Back then, though the girl had been painfully thin, Lady Ryu had been struck by Choi Jina's uncanny resemblance with her childhood best friend and Jina's mother, Im Yoo Joo. Jina had been pitch-perfect in her manners and knowledge of what was expected of a noble and virtuous wife and daughter-in-law. Jina had been timid and shy until Lady Ryu attempted to draw her out by asking about her grandmother. The girl had bloomed before her eyes; Jina's face, though covered by ugly powder and rouge, had glowed as she reminisced about her grandmother with shining eyes and a warm, rich voice. That fleeting encounter had left a lasting impression. Yet now, Jina seemed an entirely different person, almost unrecognisable not only in her looks but also in her demeanour and presence. She was cold and guarded, her voice a study of pretentious enthusiasm.

At first, Lady Ryu had attributed the changes to the passage of time, Choi Jina growing mature, and her own faulty memory. But then, they came to Ganghwa. As the days wore on, a sense of unease began to creep over her, and the nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong grew stronger. The more she observed Jina, the more convinced she became that her metamorphosis was not merely a result of time but something far more sinister that went beyond the surface and was unsettling.

Despite Lady Ryu's best efforts to maintain a rational perspective, she found herself inexplicably drawn to the seemingly absurd possibilities, her thoughts circling back to them repeatedly.

Why had Choi Jina been sent to them after so many years? What had precipitated her remarkable transformation?

Most importantly, Lady Ryu's mind was consumed with questions about the enigmatic woman her son was fixated on, the one who seemed determined to sever all ties with him. Why did Kim Minjae resemble Im Yoo Joo to this extent?

Who was Kim Minjae?