The day Seung returned, Minjae wished he had never come back to the island.

The mass of people in Ganghwa started swelling the previous week, with many of the officers' families in the Governor's office trickling in, sparking speculations about a potential visit from the Royal family of Joseon.

Meanwhile, the garrison was abuzz with activity as more army men joined and the naval borders tightened.

Minjae had a tiring day and longed to get home and dip her hands in the well's cool, refreshing water. She tuned out Su-ji, who was ambling alongside her, rattling off the newest gossip.

There had been a gangplank accident at the pier a few hours ago, and several injured soldiers were in the hospital. After helping her father at the apothecary to treat several more wounded men and women, she later helped Kim Da Bom at the inn. Several palanquins had arrived when the stampede happened, causing chaos. A few of those yangban women looked so lost! Suji giggled. Others strutted around, ordering those helping them arrogantly. Underneath all the fancy clothes, the villagers realised most were so plain-looking, Suji remarked gleefully.

Minjae rolled her eyes. Additionally, there had been one torture at the magistrate's office, two thefts reported, and three individuals jailed; of course, none of them were linked to one another. Two village families were locked over the ownership of a rooster. The new ox the Pyo family had recently acquired? Their nine-year-old son had injured himself attempting to ride it. Byeong family's widow was having an affair with the old but wealthy patriarch of the Hwang family, much to the consternation of his sons and daughters, who had threatened to report the matter to the magistrate. In retaliation, the patriarch threatened to strike the children off the family registry for being unfilial and not give them a nyang of his fortune.

Minjae wanted to tell Suji to shut up, but the truth was that her chatter also kept her distracted.

For the past many weeks, Minjae has gone about her days as usual, but her eyes wandered. In the evenings, her gaze had scanned the inn, her heart pounding with the hope she would see him, his amused expression teasing her. Aware of the pitiful gazes of Kim Da Bom and Nam Dami and the now questioning gaze of Suji, she tried to keep her expressions unconcerned, but she was fooling no one.

What was taking Lee Seung so long?

Was it, in a way, a blessing? Ever since she made up her mind to tell him her identity, her heart had been in a perpetual state of disorder. The truth about her hidden identity was not her only concern. That her father could be the one to have murdered Seung's father left her frozen with fear. She would have to find a way to help him uncover the mystery without jeopardising Kang Do and her siblings. Minjae had imagined many scenarios with Seung, yet she still wasn't sure what to expect. Disbelief, anger, acceptance, dismay, happiness....maybe even hate? However, at the end of every scenario, she imagined him forgiving her because the alternative was agonisingly painful, and the thought of losing him was unbearable.

That fear had made her ambivalent. She had even considered running away with Woo Sari and living anonymously somewhere. But she knew Seung would dig her up, so she soon disabused herself of the thought.

Kim Minjae could no longer make the same mistakes that she had as Choi Jina. Of course, she would not tell him right away. She would have to find the right time, and the right place. And then, Minjae would not let Seung go. She would hold on to him. She would do everything in her power to convince him of her sincerity. She would throw herself at his feet, beg for his forgiveness, become his slave...

Footsteps alerted her to new company. A pot-bellied man holding a fire torch was huffing his way to her.

"Physician Kim, I have been looking for you."

Fifteen minutes later, Minjae entered a small mud house with a thatched roof on a different side of the settlement, part of a seemingly haphazard but methodical cluster of homes closer to the sea, followed by Suji. A small, curious crowd had gathered outside.

Inside the hut, a middle-aged woman's prone form lay on a mat on the mud floor. From what she learned, the woman was a high-borne nobility and most possibly a part of the entourage that had arrived on the island when the accident happened. The current theory was that the woman had exited her palanquin in the ensuing stampede. Injured and disoriented, she must have fainted along the edge of the woods a little distance away.

Removing the thick cotton quilt from the woman's body, Minjae checked for pulse. It was possible the woman might have had a stroke. She gently grasped her chin to check her eyes while Suji held a candle close to the woman's face, and the floor beneath Minjae shifted in shock.

Astonished, she peered closer, sure that her eyes were deceiving her. Her heart leapt with nervous excitement when she realised they weren't.

She was looking at Lee Seung's mother.

The realisation hit her like a thunderbolt, catching her breath in her throat. Lee Seung took after his mother. The bold curve of her forehead, the defined nose, and the oval face were all unmistakable resemblances to her incredibly handsome son.

It was not a face she could forget. It was neither the resemblance nor the fact that Minjae was good at remembering faces; it was Minjae's memories of Lady Ryu's kind eyes that had looked at her all those years ago, almost as if the older woman had recognised the frightened, timid Jina underneath all the garish makeup her stepmother had piled on her. Memories of people who made one feel safe in an intimidating environment often made lasting impressions. Lady Ryu Inah was a very kind woman.

Without thinking, she said, "Request Commander Lee to come here now and tell him we have his mother here."

While the men around her busied themselves carrying out her directive, the women helped shift the older woman to a more comfortable position. Not in her wildest imagination did Minjae think she would ever meet her in-laws' family like this—first, her husband, now her mother-in-law. Did Seung arrive with his mother? Despite the apprehensions, a spark of happiness kindled inside her.

Minjae dressed a small gash and applied ointments to a few scrapes on Lady Ryu's forehead, satisfied that there seemed no serious injury. Her unconsciousness was troubling, though she had not yet vomited, so that was a good sign. Her pulse was steady, her eyes responded to light, and she reacted to external stimuli. Her breathing was regular. Minjae quietly stroked her mother-in-law's hair, aware that it was not a luxury she might not easily afford again.

It wasn't long before she heard Lee Seung's familiar footsteps entering the hut. Her heart crashed against her ribcage, but she stopped herself from turning around, aware of the curious eyes on her, especially that of Suji, who was watching her closely. Minjae rose and stepped back, giving Seung space.

Seung knelt, bent close to his mother, and gently gathered her hand in his.

"Omoni?" The fear in his voice tore something deep inside her.

Minjae wanted to throw her hands around and comfort him, yet convention demanded she comport herself with requisite decorum. Despite spending many years in Ganghwa, where rules were shockingly lapse, Minjae's upbringing in the Choi household's stringently conservative environment was so entrenched in her that she could never wholly shed Jina's persona or habits. So, instead, she sat behind him and settled for calm, comforting words: "Dari, she is unconscious but steady."

Seung cast a look over his shoulder, offering the side profile of his face, allowing her to gaze over the shadow of his thick eyelashes brushing his cheeks and the strong outline of his blade-sharpened jaw. He was in his full uniform. Minjae wondered how long he had been looking for his mother. He must have been worried sick.

"How long has she been like this?"

"We are not sure, Dari. The villagers found her about two hours ago, but she was possibly unconscious for a while."

Seung slowly rose, and she quickly followed suit. His worried eyes searched her face. "Physician Kim, what is taking Omoni so long to wake up?"

"We don't know what caused her concussion. It could be that she fell on her head or passed out from exhaustion. It could be a stroke. She does not look to be in danger, but it can take a few more hours," Minjae said comfortingly.

Seung nodded and glanced at her gratefully. Even though this wasn't the meeting she had wished for, she knew he was glad she was by his mother's side.

Seung thanked the people who had rescued and helped his mother, promising to return their kindness, and then turned to Minjae.

"The palanquin to take Omoni is here. I am ordering one for you, too." When their eyes connected, months fell away to nothing. What his mouth didn't say, his expressive eyes did it for him.

Please be there with me.

Even if he had not asked her, she would have come, but knowing he wanted her by his side unfurled a warmth inside her like a spark kindling a flame on a cold night.

The house the palanquin took her to was different from the one she had been frequenting previously. The new house was bigger, luxuriously appointed, and closer to the royal palaces.

As Minjae cut across the spacious courtyard dressed with now bare apricot trees, pretty shrubs, a large cot, a few gigantic chests and other knick-knacks, she noted Seung speaking to a woman attired in an elegant cream and peach hanbok. The woman nodded to whatever Seung was saying to her.

Was she Lee Gil Ae?

Mentally shrugging, she followed the two attendants into a large chamber. Minjae focused on making her mother-in-law comfortable for the next few minutes, directing the maids to place several pillows under her head as she lay elevated. Relief flowed through her to see that Lady Ryu was still breathing evenly. One maid sponged her forehead while the other gently massaged her feet.

"Have you eaten anything?"

She had not heard Seung come in. Minjae rose to her feet in one graceful motion and bowed.

It was a mundane question, yet Minjae had no difficulty in reading the wealth of emotions behind it.

"I am fine, my lord," she replied.

"You have lost weight," he observed.

Startled at the openly personal remark, Minjae threw a cautious glance at the two maids in the chamber and caught them exchanging surprised glances. Turning pink, she hastened to establish a more decorous distance. "It is my job to look after people; I would not dream of inconveniencing my lord with such trifle matters," she said, trying to make it sound formal.

"To take care of others, you must first take care of yourself, Kim Minjae," Seung said softly.

Minjae gulped. Even the most untrained ears would pick up his sensual tone and lack of formal address. Minjae wondered if the maids could hear the ferocious thundering of her heart.

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Before she could voice her objection to his inappropriate tone of address in front of those who appeared to serve his mother, her reverie was rudely interrupted by a swirl of cream and peach silk as a woman wedged herself between her and Seung, sitting beside Lady Ryu.

Minjae scrambled back instinctively to give space and stumbled, and Seung's arm shot out and grasped an elbow to steady her. She could feel the warmth of his fingers seeping through the sleeves of her hanbok.

She tilted her head back slowly and looked up, acutely aware of the warm, mahogany eyes roving over her face with a hungry intensity that knocked her breath and curled her toes.

Did you miss me? Seung mouthed soundlessly.

Minjae flushed and tugged at her arm, but he refused to let go. Aware that the maids were now openly gawking, she met his eyes and felt lost. They were brimming over with emotions she could almost touch. It was as if she would drown in them. For a wink, the world ceased to exist.

Their moment was shattered by the loud cry from the figure clad in swaths of expensive silk, bending over the woman on the mat.

"Omoni! Omoni, please wake up. You can't leave us."

The woman was probably Seung's sister, Lady Lee Gil-ae, worried sick for her mother. Kneeling beside the woman, Minjae said gently, "We must give her time to come around."

The woman looked at her sideways. "Who are you?"

Minjae was surprised at the unfamiliar face. But then, she might not have remembered Lady Lee Gil-Ae's face that clearly. Minjae had met her fleetingly when she had come to meet her right before the wedding. Minjae's stepmother had piled layers of awful powder and rouge on her face, and she doubted Lady Gil-Ae would recognise Minjae as Choi Jina were she to appear in her yangban attire, let alone in the coarse garb of a lower-class woman, stones heavier and sporting a different name.

"I am the local physician-"

The woman didn't let her complete her sentence and waived her hand dismissively. "I see. You can leave now."

Minjae controlled an urge to bite her lip. She remembered Lady Lee as soft-spoken and happy. How did she turn into someone like this?

Was this Minjae's fault, too?

The woman rose abruptly though quite gracefully, Minjae had to admit reluctantly, and bowed to Seung. "We must allow Omoni to rest, my lord."

Minjae rose and bowed, as well. "My lord, if you allow, I would like to be there when My Lady gains consciousness. It's essential to watch out for impairment once she comes around."

"No need," the woman interrupted rudely. "We have skilled physicians of our own."

Minjae felt her temper rise. She had not expected Seung's sister to be so obnoxious. The 'brassy veneer' Seung spoke about was an iron plate of ill- manners and apathy. Minjae gripped her skirt tightly, her knuckles showing white spots of anger.

"Physician Kim stays," Seung said. Minjae kept her eyes glued to the ground, but she felt a rush of pure delight at Seung's uncompromising tone.

"Yes, my lord," the woman replied, chastised. Minjae's eyes flicked at her involuntarily, and the loathing in her gaze took her aback before the woman shuttered it.

"I asked you to stay away from this chamber for the time being," Seung added disparagingly.

"I apologise, My Lord. Once I learned Omoni was injured and Lady Lee being away, I could not stay away,' the woman replied in a low voice.

"Is Gil-Ae back yet?" Seung asked.

Surprised, Minjae stared at Seung.

"I already sent someone to fetch her from the shaman's house as you ordered, My Lord," the woman replied demurely.

Unease slithered down Minjae's spine.

Who was this woman?

"Send Gil-ae in as soon as she comes. Please leave us now," Seung ordered the woman.

At a loss of words, Minjae could only bow as the woman departed. The woman twisted her lips into a nasty sneer as she passed by Minjae. Minjae's eyes lingered on the woman's retreating figure, her mind swirling in turmoil.

A long sigh brought her attention back to Seung. "I wanted to come to you as soon as I landed. I am sorry it took so long for me to see you."

Even though Minjae was aware that the maids were listening to them, she suddenly didn't mind that Seung's words revealed the intimacy of their relationship, for it soothed the band of tightness that insecurity had curled around her heart.

"I am happy that we were able to find Omoni on time. There is nothing for you to apologise for. You must have been so worried," she said gently.

"I was. Minjae," Seung paused, the muscle in his jaw ticking furiously, "we need to talk."

She had so many questions, yet voicing them didn't feel right. Or perhaps she wanted to delay their conversation willfully. After all, whatever Seung said would pale compared to the news she would break to him. She would be lucky if he didn't bodily throw her out of his house after learning her truth.

"Dari, please do not say anything more. I wish for Omoni to recover as quickly as possible. That is all I hope for right now."

Seung sat by his mother, holding her hand while she sat beside him. When Lee Gil-Ae joined them, she wasn't surprised that Gil-Ae didn't recognise her, while she had no trouble recalling Gil-Ae. And to her relief, Lee Gil-Ae was still as sweet as she remembered her.

After changing into more comfortable clothes, Seung returned while Gil-Ae saw to her meal.

"Thank you for caring for Omoni, Physician Kim," Gil-Ae said earnestly. "I heard so much about you from Oraboni, but you are even more beautiful and skilled than I imagined."

Minjae spied a ghost of a smile on Seung's lips and blushed. They sat in companionable silence. Lady Ryu loved music, so Gil-ae played a delicate, calm tune on a mandolin. Thankfully, the obnoxious peach and cream clad woman didn't return.

It was another three hours before Lady Ryu moved. Minjae immediately flew to her side, checked for the vitals, and asked her to count the fingers. To her immense relief, Lady Ryu recognised Seung and Gil-Ae right away. Minjae gave the mother and her children privacy while instructing the maids to prepare a medicinal concoction.

As she shifted closer to check for the dressing on the wound, Lady Ryu's hand suddenly shot out and caught Minjae's hand tightly. "Im-Yoo-Joo?" She asked, her tone clouded with confusion.

Minjae froze, her heart skittering to a halt.

"Im-Yoo-Joo? How -" Lady Ryu shook her head, struggled to sit up, and then clutched her head as if in pain.

Gil-Ae rushed to her side. "Omoni, she is Physician Kim Minjae, from the local village. We are in Ganghwa."

Lady Ryu looked even more confused. She looked at Minjae and shook her head again. "But -"

Seung gently wrapped his arm around his mother's shoulder and helped her lay on the pillow. Taking the bowl of medicine, he instructed her to drink.

"Please drink very slowly, My Lady," Minjae advised automatically.

Lady Ryu looked at her, then looked back at Seung and nodded.

"She can't be, can she....I am sorry for the mistake. Yoo Joo has been gone for so long," Lady Ryu said sadly, sipping the medicine.

Minjae swallowed. Even though it was dark and Lady Ryu was disoriented, Minjae knew there was no mistake. Growing up, she had always despised comments about her resemblance to her aunt and stepmother, Im Nabi. Im Nabi bore such a striking resemblance to her older sister and Minjae's mother, Im Yoo Joo, that despite the age difference, they could have been mistaken for twins. Yet, it had never dawned on Minjae that this also meant Minjae looked like her mother, a resemblance so uncanny that someone might even mistake Minjae for her mother years later.

What she didn't know was that Seung's mother had been acquainted with her own mother and that they had been close enough for Lady Ryu to remember her vividly more than two decades later.

She looked down at her trembling hands.

"Physician Kim, do you think Omoni is out of danger now?" Seung broke through her thoughts.

"Yes, Dari. Please ensure she gets enough rest and has no fever," she replied, forcing herself to sound professional.

"Gil Ae, where is Choi Jina?" Lady Ryu asked, turning her head to scan the chamber.

Choi Jina?

Minjae's head snapped up, her heart somersaulting. Why were they taking that name? She thought she heard it wrong.

Did they know?

"Omoni, Lady Choi visited you earlier," Gil-Ae said reassuringly.

Confused, Minjae looked at Seung, who avoided her gaze. Gil-Ae looked embarrassed. What were they saying? She was sitting right there, yet they spoke of her as a third person.

She saw Seung's back stiffen. "I asked her to leave the chamber, Omoni. I do not want her here," Seung said, his tone filled with reproach.

The woman in peach and cream.

The puzzle pieces fell into place like a trampled maze, adding to a decipherable picture but leaving gaping holes full of questions and heart-wrenching pain.

Minjae felt the world tilt on its axis.

"Lee Seung, you must let yourself forgive her, son. Bury the past," Lady Ryu said pleadingly. "I expect better of you."

"And I have done my best to be a filial son, so please drop it now," Seung said cuttingly, then gentled his tone. "You must rest, Omoni. Gil-Ae will be here with you. I will see you tomorrow."

Numb, Minjae felt disembodied as she processed the exchange. An unfamiliar emptiness gripped her, so when Seung offered to see her home, she nodded reflexively.

"I am sorry you had to find out like this, Minjae," Seung said, his voice heavy with emotions once they were outside. Minjae didn't trust herself to reply. Seung helped her on a horse and swung behind her. They cut through the fields by shortcut to the part of the village where her house was.

"Are you angry with me?"

Minjae shook her head, keeping her eyes ahead of her. Shades of silver inked the shadows of the far-off mountains with broad brushstrokes while swabs of ink stretched beyond what eyes could see. The trees had shed their leaves, their hardened stems preparing themselves for the long, hard winter. Barren. Cold. Some of them withered, perhaps forever.

Shaved ice slithered through Minjae's spine, and it had nothing to do with the rapidly dropping temperature of the night. Seung caught her tremor, and his arms tightened their embrace, pulling her closer. Her soft back melded with his solid chest as they rode silently, the hollow thuds of the hooves beating the soft ground beneath them.

"Minjae, say something," Seung murmured close to her ears.

"Does she- is she anything like how you remember her?" Minjae asked, her throat choked.

"I don't remember anything about her at all." Seung sighed. "I felt like a fool saying this earlier, but I never even saw her face during the wedding, and I don't know anything about her."

"Do you not find it suspicious that-that this woman turned up so suddenly?"

"It's suspect for sure. I don't trust any of them. Lord Choi and his wife came to drop Choi Jina off at our home while I was in the north. Apparently, she is repenting her actions," Seung gave a humourless chuckle.

"Does this worry you?"

"Do I look worried? I could not care less. Though I admit when you asked me what would happen if she ever came back, I did not think of it as a likely scenario ever, let alone this soon."

"How can you take this so lightly? -"

"I am stuck at a place I can't wriggle out, but her being here does not make any difference to me."

"Then why is she here?" Minjae could not keep the grief out of her voice.

Seung paused.

"My mother feels guilty about not doing enough to get her son settled. I could not meet Omoni when I went to our village after I left the island, so I could not tell her about you. By the time I went back home, Lord Choi had already dumped his baggage on Omoni's head, and now she feels she must set things right between us. Unfortunately, I am no more interested in having Choi Jina as my wife today than I was yesterday."

Minjae knew very well how revoltingly persuasive Choi Si-wan could be. He probably made Seung's mother feel inadequate as a parent. Choi Si-wan was very good at making people feel small and lacking, convincing them that they deserved every misfortune that befell them, that somehow it was their fault. The hysteria building inside her made her feel nauseous.

"Moreover, I was wrong about her."

"You were?" Minjae repeated. They dismounted some distance away from her home. The night was older, eager to retire and pave the way for a new morning.

"Yes. My memories are possibly muddled because I thought despite Choi Jina's flaws, she was not deceitful. However, I feel she is scheming something whenever I look at her now. I cannot put my finger on it, but the woman creeps me out. But even if she had been the perfect specimen of a woman, I still would have nothing to do with her. Nothing changes."

"Does it not?"

Seung caught her wrist and pulled her to the shadows behind the tree he had tied the horse to. An arm encircled her waist, pulling her close to his hard body. Placing a palm to the side of her face, he tilted it up. "No." He looked into his eyes. "You, Kim Minjae, are the only woman I need and want." He buried his face in her neck. "I have missed you so much, my sweet darling." His lips touched the side of her face, and a tongue traced her ear.

Minjae shivered.

"And you mother?" She asked.

"Omoni will come around. She is a creature of conventions. Give her some time," Seung said, his hand digging into her waist.

She knew he would kiss her, and she let him. Minjae wanted to pretend nothing had changed. When she felt his tongue coax her lips apart, she opened up like the sunflower to the first rays of the sun. She felt the soothing urgency of his hands on her body, on her breasts, on the small of her back. He was aroused and made no effort to hide it. He wanted her, and she wanted him back so badly.

She had the right; she was his wife. Yet she was a nobody. She didn't exist.

He was wrong. Everything had changed. She wished he had not returned this time to the island.

Lee Seung had no way to know that Choi Jina had died all over again.