1

The Past sets the Future in Motion

Everything happened so fast; it only felt like minutes ago that young Park Danho was enjoying a quiet dinner with his family.

And yet here he was now, crouched on the damp grass next to his mother, watching in horror as the palace guards pulled a sword out of his father's chest and tossed the body over the side of the cliff into the deep sea below.

"Danho-ya…"

The sound of his mother's voice broke him out of his shocked trance from what he had just witnessed and his wide eyes snapped to her face. She took his hand in her own trembling ones.

"Don't be afraid… Your father was the one they needed to punish so they won't hurt you…"

"But what if they hurt you too, Eommeoni?" He asked, feeling his eyes water.

"You!"

Danho could see the guards were now all glaring in his direction but his mother squeezed his hand to shift his attention back to her.

"Just do as they tell you and you won't be harmed, my son."

"Seize the woman!"

"NO!"

"Put your head down and do as you're told," she whispered, her soft voice suddenly turning stern. "Don't rebel against the palace like your father and I did or you will end up where we are today."

It was common knowledge in Joseon that anyone found going against the King or the palace in any way would be put to death and Danho was old enough now to infer that his parents had been involved in something risky.

However, unaware of the rate at which people in Hanyang seemed to be getting mysteriously killed off for treason recently, his young mind had no way of knowing that it didn't take much to be targeted by the palace at the time.

"Stay still and you will survive," Danho's mother's firm words fluttered with desperation, simply saying whatever she could to ensure her child lived. But to Danho's young, impressionable ears, her word was the truth.

He flinched when his hand was suddenly pried out of his mother's and she was dragged away to the edge of the cliff. Moments before she was hit with a fatal blow, he blankly watched his mother cry out to him to run away, her voice echoing over the taunting sounds of the ocean.

He wanted nothing more than to reach out and save her; but the inner voice telling him to do so was drowning in his mind as his body refused to move, frozen in place.

A tear fell down his cheek, as he saw the life leave his mother's eyes. He would never forget the sound of the guards' feet crunching the gravel as his mother's body disappeared from his sight, inevitably made to face the same fate as his father.

The whipping of the waves against the rocky cliff rang in his ears as his shock began to thaw out and instinct finally began to kick in, telling him only one thing.

RUN.

Danho raced away from the cliff and didn't turn to see if the guards were following him. His only concern now was to put distance between himself and the ocean until he couldn't hear the crashing waves anymore. He blindly rushed through what felt like a labyrinth of tall, dark trees, moving as fast as he possibly could. His eyes were now blurry with tears and so engrossed was he in getting away that he didn't see the horse that suddenly appeared before him. He tried to stop himself from running into it and tripped, falling backwards onto the ground.

Rubbing the dirt off his palms, he looked up and realized it wasn't alone. Sitting atop it, in what looked like something only a person from the palace would wear, was a boy who seemed to be about his age and was now staring down at him curiously. It was when Danho's eyes began to adjust to the dark that he saw he had come all the way out onto a path that ran through the woods.

He then noticed that the boy was flanked in the back by a few men, also on horses, who stood by… almost like they were guarding him.

Who is this…

Before Danho could decide what to do next, the men who had been chasing him from the cliff had caught up, cornering him from behind. He knew he was done for but was sure of one thing.

I don't want to die.

His mother's last words came back to him as he thought about the possibility of seeing her soon.

"Just do as they tell you and you won't be harmed, my son. Stay still and you will survive."

"NO!" Danho's soft voice boomed in the silence of the night, making the guards stand on edge as some took out their swords. He got off his back and went on his knees, bowing to the young boy on the horse. "I don't want to die," he repeated out loud, his trembling words now a whisper.

For a moment no one moved until there was the sound of feet alighting and Danho heard one of the guards speaking up.

"My Prince, what are you doing?" Danho could hear the indignation in the man's voice but was more surprised at what he called the boy.

He was a Prince?

Danho's eyes flicked up to sneak a look at the boy who had now come to stand before him when his mother's voice echoed through his head again.

"Put your head down and do as you're told."

Danho immediately looked to the ground again when he heard a laugh. His curiosity got the better of him and he slowly lifted his head up to see the Prince with a bright smile on his face. The boy took a step closer and stretched out his hand.

"Get up."

Danho hesitated but took the Prince's hand and got to his feet. It was only then that he realized he was much taller than the young Prince. He cleared his throat.

"Th-thank you." Danho began to feel slightly uneasy as the Prince's smile remained unfalteringly on his face.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"It's… Park Danho."

"Starting today, you are not going to leave my side."

"W-what?" Danho's voice squeaked in surprise.

"Your Highness!" Another guard hopped off his horse and came to the Prince's side. "The boy could be dangerous."

"He is my friend now," the Prince explained simply. "And Danho here knows that as long as he is with me, no harm can come to him." He looked straight at him with a strange look in his eye, like he was almost challenging him to counter him. "Right, Danho?"

"Just do as they tell you…"

Danho nodded and bowed again.

"Yes! Your, err… Majesty." The Prince laughed again, to Danho's confusion.

"We are friends, you can call me by my name," he said matter-of-factly and the guard made a sound of disapproval.

"Your Highness!" The guard insisted, "He is just a village boy whose parents –"

"What is your name?" Danho asked suddenly, making everyone turn to look at him in shock. The young boy looked amused and responded.

"Hello," he greeted, his haunting smile not wavering in the slightest. "I'm Neungyang."

x-X-x

About ten years later…

Jeon Nokdu raced across the beach, his bare feet kicking up wet sand as he easily kept his pace far ahead of his older brother Hwang Tae behind him.

"You can't catch me, hyung," Nokdu teased, glad that despite both of them being quite fit from having grown up on the island, his slimmer frame gave him an advantage when it came to sprinting. He also loved the feel of the salty sea breeze weaving through his long hair as he ran, the rag across his forehead being the only thing keeping the stray strands out of his eyes.

He could see their home in the distance where he and his brother lived with their father. Despite losing their Mother recently, he had become somewhat attached to the place and the memories associated with it; mostly because this was the longest that they had stayed in one location, having moved a lot while growing up.

It was when he got closer to the house, that he knew something was wrong. His father wasn't sunbathing outside the house. His Martial arts teacher Master Hwang wasn't sitting by the house getting a head start on his drinking session for the day and his little daughter Aengdu hadn't come forward to remind Nokdu, her orabeoni, that they were engaged to be married.

Where is everyone?

He was about to turn towards his brother when a sword whipped at Nokdu's face out of nowhere. He ducked, his quick reflexes allowing him a glimpse of the masked fighter who, he just realized, hadn't come alone. Around the corner of their house he spotted his father injured on the ground as Master Hwang singlehandedly took on two other attackers.

"Abeoji!" Nokdu called out and another sword whipped dangerously close to his face; his previous assailant had come back.

Using the skills that he had gained from his Master over the years, he was able to tackle most of the masked fighters and get things in control. As he continued to fight them, his head was filling up with questions.

Who were they and what possible reason could they have for wanting to hurt us?

To make things more curious, Nokdu could tell from their advanced technique that they weren't your run-of-the-mill fighters. They had been well trained and knew what they were doing; evident from his father and brother being badly hurt and the fact that he had taken quite the beating himself. Nokdu just about managed to pin down the last one, stopping them just before they tried to stab themselves in the hope of extracting information about where the group had come from.

Nokdu ripped away the mask covering the face of his attacker and his eyebrows went up in mild surprise to see a young woman sneering up at him with narrowed eyes. She tried to fight but Nokdu held her in place.

"Who are you?" He asked, looking straight at her. His injuries were starting to burn and he could feel the warm blood trickling out of the cuts on his face. "Why did you attack us?"

The woman continued to glower at him, clearly not interested in talking. Nokdu was about to rough her up when his father came up from behind and pulled him back.

"Nokdu, you need to let her go!"

"What? No, she knows something!" He protested, trying to break away from his father's hold. "If she can tell us –"

"It doesn't matter!" His father yelled and Nokdu watched as the injured woman stood up and limped away from him. His father put his arms on his shoulders and sighed. "You know I committed a crime in the past and the reason why we've always moved. This is just a sign that we need to find another place to live again."

Nokdu had never believed his father whenever he said that and groaned in frustration. He went to check on his brother, who seemed more wounded than the others.

"Hyung, are you okay?" His brother simply nodded, pain etched on his face despite his attempt at assuring Nokdu he's fine. "I need to think," Nokdu shook his head and walked towards the beach. The waves lapping at his toes calmed him down a bit as he stood deep in thought with his hands on his hips.

"What are you planning to do?" Nokdu heard Master Hwang's voice and saw him come stand beside him. "And you need to tend to your injuries too."

"I'm fine," Nokdu said simply. "Master, I need to know," he said, turning to look at the short older man who had trained him to fight since he was a young kid.

"I know you do," he responded in understanding. He sighed and continued carefully. "However, if you plan to find out, it doesn't make sense to go after the person who attacked you."

Nokdu frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Master Hwang leaned closer, "There's no point in targeting the assassin. You saw the way they fought, they are obviously part of something bigger. The only way to find out the truth is to look for the person behind this… you need to find the boss."

Nokdu thought for a moment before he nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to follow that woman," he said, looking at Master Hwang. With a quick bow, he ran to get his things and head out. Hwang watched his student rush off when Nokdu's father joined him.

"Where's he going?" He asked, worried about what his son might do. Master Hwang put an arm on his friend Jung Yun-jeo's shoulder.

"Nokdu's going to do what he needs to," he replied simply. "We just need learn to trust your son to take care of himself."

x-X-x

Two days later…

Park Danho was an incredibly patient man. Apart from his sense of discipline, this personality trait was probably one of the many things that gave him an edge over his peers as the skilled swordsman he was, prompting a lot of the locals to go as far as to say he was the best one of his time.

But now as he stood in the yard next to the Kisaeng house in the middle of the day waiting for his friend to show up, he was starting to feel his tolerance run low.

This wasn't even the first time he was in this situation; the frequency of visits to the courtesan house by Prince Neungyang, or Lord Cha Yulmu as everyone at the Kisaeng House knew him, was nothing unusual. The reason was no secret; the pretty Dong Dongju was a kisaeng apprentice living there and Yulmu was clearly making an effort to catch her eye or at least make himself available to her if she ever needed it.

Danho knew very well that Yulmu had always cherished her since the time he had known him. However, everyone but Dongju seemed to be aware of it.

"I don't understand women," he muttered, shaking his head. He began to pace the yard, his fitted deep blue warrior hanbok barely swishing as he moved.

"Since when are you bothered about women?" Someone called from the Kisaeng house and Danho cleared his throat… he knew that voice too well.

He slowly turned around to look at Kim Yeo-wool, who was batting his eyelashes at Danho while gently fanning his face.

Yeo-wool was the only man allowed to live on the property and an unspoken part of his job was to be available to those patrons of the kisaeng house whose needs… couldn't be met with by the kisaengs.

"Hey!" Danho whispered angrily at him, taking him to the side. "It's broad daylight, we don't know each other."

"But we're just talking," Yeo-wool shrugged innocently, leaning closer. "No one would guess that the mighty Park Danho often spends his nights in the company of –"

"Stop it," Danho growled.

"Come on. You're here, there's no one around… why don't you come in?" Yeo-wool insisted. "That beautiful knot of silky hair on your head is calling to be unraveled and set free… I can see it in your pretty eyes…"

"I'm warning you…"

"Or what?" Yeo-wool pouted. "I told you, there's no one around to see or judge you. Everyone's gone to check out the drama unfolding in the courtyard –"

"Wait," Danho frowned, "What's happening in the courtyard?"

"Ah, that bastard who wanted to have one of the underage girls living here for himself is creating a scene."

"What?"

x-X-x

Nokdu had to take a moment to process the absurd position he was in.

He was currently at a Kisaeng house near Hanyang, witnessing an arrogant nobleman arguing with Madam Cheon, the Head of said Kisaeng house, for his right to have his way with an underage girl who lived there.

And that wasn't even the strangest part of the situation.

That would be the fact that he was standing by and watching the scene unfold while dressed in a beautiful pink and white women's hanbok with blushing lips, parted bangs and his long hair in a low knot held in place with a pretty binyeo, surrounded by a crowd of women gathered there who had absolutely no idea…

That he was actually a man.

It was hard to believe that only two days ago, Nokdu had left his family behind to follow the assassin they had let go and ended up learning that she actually lived in a place known as the Widow Village, a hidden community formed by those who were widowed after the Japanese invasion.

After learning the hard way that only women were allowed to enter the village, his impulsive decision to gain entry under the guise of a widow named Kim Nok-soon in order to find out about who gave the order to attack his family had led him here today.

His mind was snapped back to the present when he saw the nobleman drag over a young girl and bring a knife to her hair.

"This is a good enough length to grow out for four years before she is ready for me, don't you think?" He sneered at Madam Cheon as he measured the squirming young girl's braid with his knife before raising it above his head. There were frightened gasps all around when suddenly one of the women stepped forward, snatched the knife out of the man's hands and held it to her own hair.

"If it's hair that you want, take mine," she said defiantly, glaring at the nobleman. "It's just hair," she added with a shrug before she advanced, to everyone's horror, to cut off her own braid.

Nokdu was entranced; not only was he in awe of the woman's bravery but watching her even as strands of her hair whipped loose from getting cut was mesmerizing. He didn't know who she was but as he watched her, he was struck by a strange feeling of familiarity.

I feel like I've seen her somewhere before…

He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized another person had come into the scene. There was a well-dressed man with a smile that all the women around him seemed to be smitten by and he was now standing beside the woman with the cut hair. He had clearly said something to scare away the Nobleman because the latter was now choking and being carried away by his assistant. Nokdu then saw Madam Cheon dismiss the crowd before she approached him.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that on your first day here," she said apologetically. "Your room is the last one over there," she added, pointing towards a line of doors in the distance. Nokdu bowed and saw her take the woman with the now short hair along with her.

He was about to head straight to his room when he noticed a short man with a thin moustache standing next to him and eyeing him curiously. Nokdu raised his eyebrows and the man simply cleared his throat.

Does he sense that I'm actually not supposed to be here?

Hoping the man hadn't seen through his disguise, Nokdu ignored him and hurried to find his room.

It was snug space, just about enough for two people. Madam Cheon had informed him that he'd be sharing with someone named Dongju, with a warning of sorts that the room was only even available because the girl apparently had a strange sleeping habit.

Nokdu slumped down on the floor, nearly jumping at his own reflection in the cupboard mirror when he saw a person in a pretty hanbok and tinted lips staring back at him. Grumbling to himself at the state of things, he leaned back against the wall, only then realizing how exhausted he was.

He hadn't really taken a moment to rest since he left home. He had followed that assassin to the city of Hanyang, just in time for the King's parade, then lost sight of her during a scuffle that had been caused by an apparent assassination attempt on the King due to which he ended up spending the night imprisoned with a bunch of disgruntled people, including a strangely amusing young man who kept expressing his irritation with Nokdu, convinced that he was the reason for all of this happening. He had managed to talk his way out of the punishment the next morning, thereby setting himself and the other captive villagers free, but that hadn't been the end of it.

Knowing that the assassin might now be looking for him, he had found a room for the night where he lay in wait for her. She didn't show up but sure enough, he had a narrow escape when he detected a hint of poison in the bottle of alcohol that came along with the 'free' dinner he had suspiciously been offered by the inn's owner. Now that he was sure she would be watching, he used this to his advantage and faked his death, hoping that would finally get her off his back. He then used the opportunity to trail her to the Widow Village, where the idea to dress up as a woman came up when he suggested switching clothes with a widow he met just outside the village who needed a way to escape from her in-laws with her lover.

All this led to where he was today.

After spending most of the day getting acquainted with the village and its workings by the Virtuous Women's Corps or Yeolnyeodan who handled security of the village – he had to try his best not to be traumatized by the knocked-out man one of them was carrying away on her shoulder – he had ended up at the kisaeng house.

He looked around to place his bag when he spotted a fold of blue fabric peeking out of his roommate's open bag. He reached out to tuck it back in when he noticed: it was a men's hanbok.

What was the woman he's sharing a room with doing with a man's outfit?

Once more a feeling of déjà vu flickered in his head when suddenly the door slid open and he saw the girl who had cut her hair off in the courtyard step into the room.

"Hey! What are you doing with my stuff?"

"What? I was just –" Nokdu realized she had just caught him with his hand in her bag and immediately withdrew, clearing his throat. "Sorry, I was just looking for something. Madam Cheon told me I can take this room."

"Argh, I hate sharing rooms," Nokdu heard her grumble. "Let's just stick to our own business and everything will be fine, okay?"

Nokdu nodded and that's when it hit him.

The familiar face. The men's hanbok.

This girl was the annoyed young 'man' from back in Hanyang at the prison.

He wondered why she would need to cross-dress and go into the city. But then again, he wasn't really in a position to judge.

This is such a strange coincidence.

For now, he was simply relieved that his own cover was still in place and hopefully would stay that way, at the very least till he got the information that he needed.

He was about to ask about their sleeping arrangements when she picked up a basket of clothes and began to step out.

"Miss, where are you going?"

"Oh, just doing some laundry," she said quickly and continued to walk out.

"I'll give you company!" Nokdu called, getting to his feet.

"It's fine," she insisted. "I don't need company –"

"Let's go!" Nokdu said cheerfully before she had a chance to protest further. He needed a good excuse to explore the place anyway.

They walked side by side out the main gate of the village in the direction of the river where the women washed their clothes and just around the corner came upon a man, holding a bunch of flowers and muttering to himself. Nokdu frowned on recognizing him; it was the suspicious looking man from earlier.

"Administrator, what are you doing here?" Dongju asked, "You sounded like you were reciting poetry." The man smiled and averted his eyes, clutching the bunch of flowers tightly in his hand.

"There's someone here… ever since I laid my eyes on her, I knew she was the one for me," he said, still smiling. Nokdu nearly snorted in amusement and glanced knowingly at Dongju; he knew a man with a crush when he saw one. Dongju laughed awkwardly.

"Administrator, are you teasing me because my hair looks funny now?" She asked, consciously tugging at the uneven ends of her short hair. Nokdu stared at her, thinking she still looked as pretty as ever when the Administrator responded with a surprised grunt.

Nokdu was still amusedly watching Dongju when he felt a bouquet shoved in his face… and that's when he saw the Administrator before him on his knees. "Please accept this as a token of my affection," the man said, looking up at him.

Wait, what is happening?

"M-me?!" Nokdu just about managed to choke out, his eyes now wide in horror. Dongju saw his reaction and scoffed.

"Wow," she said shaking her head. "Enjoy your date, you two," she said and walked off. Nokdu panicked as the Administrator began to introduce himself.

"Hello, Lady Kim, I'm Yeon Geun, I'm actually a man with a high rank…"

"W-wait, I'll come with you!" Nokdu called out to Dongju, interrupting the Administrator and going around him.

"Oh, don't be shy, Lady Kim! I help out with management here as a favor to the King so I know everything there is to know about this place and you have nothing to be worried about."

That caught Nokdu's attention. He turned back towards Yeon Geun.

"You know… everything?"

Two minutes later, Nokdu was looking at map of the village handed to him by Yeon Geun.

"Thank you so much," he said in his sweetest voice possible. "This will definitely help me get to know the other widows better," he added for good measure.

"And I…" Yeon Geun said with a smile, offering the bouquet of flowers again – "…would like to get to know you better." Nokdu flinched and shrugged him off with a rushed 'no, thank you' leaving the love-struck Yeon Geun behind.

Why did this man have to like me of all people?

x-X-x

Being the Premier, namely the highest advisor to the King, wasn't a title that Heo Yoon took lightly. But now as he sat in his office, his mind was far from the work he was supposed to be doing and occupied with the thoughts of a man he hadn't seen in over twenty years: Jung Yun-jeo.

A man he had been ordered to kill by the King twenty years ago but hadn't had the heart to at the time.

A man who had been a friend and a colleague to him back then.

"Live like you're dead," he ordered Yun-jeo that dark night as the rain poured heavily around them. "Somewhere far away from here." Yoon-jeo had stared back at him in surprise as he continued, "I'll tell the King that you fell into the lake after I stabbed you."

Yoon sighed as he remembered when he first heard of Yoon-jeo being spotted just the other day, when one of the ministers at the palace told him that he had bumped into someone resembling Jung Yoon-jeo in the marketplace. Yoon waved it off as impossible in the hopes that the news didn't reach the ears of the King.

Unfortunately, the minister had already spoken to his Majesty and consequently Yoon came to know that teams were being sent out to search for and 'take care' of the problem. And if anyone found out that Jung Yoon-jeo was still alive, then considering history, he wasn't sure what the King would do with him.

These days, it was like he couldn't tell what the King was thinking at all. Unlike when he first started – with all of Heo Yoon's support as a minister and a close friend – his decisions were all over the place and he seemed to be more concerned with keeping the throne than the good of the people.

In fact, if the King found out the he had let Yoon-jeo in particular live all those years ago, he couldn't tell if his life was going to be spared and he would be forced to take matters into his own hands to ensure his safety, even if it meant killing Yoon-jeo.

He, after all, had his own plans for the palace that he needed to put into place for the good of the kingdom and this was not this time to get himself killed.

Lucky for him, he had his own team of warriors and had sent them out hoping that they got to them before the King's guards did, even now as he sat with questions looming over his head.

Why was Jung Yoon-jeo here? Why now? How could he be so careless to let himself be seen?

Yoon held up the letter he had received from the Muwoldan about the attack on the islanders. He was informed that one of the women had survived but an islander had trailed her.

"We found him and poisoned him," he read the note again under his breath.

"My Lord!" Premier Yoon looked up to see his trusted guard Chil-sung burst through the door. "The islander who came after the Muwoldan seems to be alive."

"What!"

"We were told he had been poisoned but when the guards went back to check they couldn't find a body. It is possible that he faked his death."

"Which means he could have followed her to the Widow Village."

"But my Lord," Chil-sung frowned. "There are only women there."

"He could be hiding out in the kisaeng house or some village nearby," Yoon inferred. "Get our people to stay alert and find them. This knowledge hasn't reached the King, I hope?"

"No, sir. Only the Muwoldan were involved in searching that area so the King's guards are unaware."

"Good."

x-X-x

Nokdu breathed out a long sigh and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to get some sleep. A single day into the crazy idea of disguising himself as a widow and he was already facing unforeseen challenges.

He shuddered as he thought back on just a while ago when the Yeolnyeodan women had decided that the best way to get to know him, the newest widow, was if they all took a bath together. He had barely managed to get through that without losing his sanity and was relieved that he survived the ordeal with his cover intact with one of the women even consoling him afterwards, interpreting his 'shyness' as something that came from lacking in the breasts department.

Aish, it's tiring being a woman.

Just as he began to fall asleep to dreams of seeing his brother and the rest of the family again, he heard a snort from the bed next to his and an arm suddenly dropped on his shoulder. He sat up with a jolt and saw Dongju, his roommate, roll around in her sleep; he was reminded of Madam Cheon's warning regarding her "strange sleeping habits".

At least she was still asleep; he had been shirtless under his blanket and her waking up to the sight of that would have been a disaster on many fronts.

I'm awake; might as well take a look around and see if I can gather any information.

He quickly changed and made his way straight to the village's brewery, where earlier that day, he had finally located the limping widow who had led him to the Widow Village. He figured this would be a good place to start his search, considering it was possibly where the warrior women held their meetings or even met with whoever was heading this whole thing.

He began to look through some of the store rooms in the brewery but nothing stood out as odd until he found…

Hold on…

It was a uniform; a burgundy one that looked exactly like the ones the assassins on the island had been wearing. He quickly changed out of his widow hanbok into it, hoping that it would help him blend into the night better.

Nokdu walked through the woods and adjusted his head band, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Just as he was about to turn back, he heard something that made him stop in his tracks.

He could hear people talking.

Using the trees for cover, he followed the voices till he came upon what he could see was a group of women assembled together and in the middle of a discussion. He stayed back and watched, even recognizing some of them as being from the Widow Village. But that wasn't what stood out to Nokdu.

They were all dressed in the same uniform.

I must be in the right place.

Moreover, standing there next to the woman seemingly in charge was the assassin with the limp.

As tempted as he was to launch an attack on them right then, he remembered what his Master had said about it being more important to use them to trace the person who gave the order; to find the leader. He tuned into what the women were saying and that's when he realized something.

They were talking about him.

"On the rare incident of a failed mission the last time, we believe the escaped man might be at a neighboring village or at the Kisaeng house. We've gotten orders from the sponsor to keep our eyes open for the target and as Muwoldan it's our duty to follow through," the leader of the group spoke.

The sponsor… if only I knew who that is…

"And don't worry," another voice spoke and Nokdu saw it's the injured woman holding up a piece of paper. "We have a sketch."

What?

Nokdu then watched as the woman revealed an inked image of a young man's face.

And it looked almost exactly like him.

I'm going to have to speed up my search.

"I'm going to speak with the sponsor," he heard someone say and that caught his attention. It was the woman leading the conversation earlier who spoke and he watched as she stepped away and began to walk into the woods. Nokdu masked his face and slowly followed her.

This is my chance.

x-X-x

Kim Ssook prided herself on the fact that she not only had the sword skills that one could aspire for but also her sharp sense of hearing. When it came to her instincts, she knew from her experience never to question it.

This was precisely why she was sure that someone was following her even though whoever it was had been doing a decent job of staying hidden so far. But she was skilled too and to her advantage, she knew the woods better than the stranger did. With one swift movement she managed to lead them around until seconds later–

Got you.

She had the tip of her sword extended under the neck the unsuspecting stalker who had walked straight into it. That's when she noticed they were wearing the same uniform she was. But everyone on the Muwoldan team were out surveilling now…

Who's… could this be…

"You are…" she began and used her blade to slowly raise the cloth hiding the person's face, when suddenly they spun out of her hold.

He could be the man they are looking for!

She crossed blades with him and Kim Ssook was engaged in what felt like the most challenging fight she had faced in a while. She just about managed to tear off his mask but whoever he was, he had been trained to use the sword well, even with one elbow covering his face to protect his identity. In a quick move that even she had to admit was clever, he twisted her sword so it was impaled deep into a nearby tree's trunk and to her annoyance, he used the precious seconds it took her to pull her sword out, to run off and gain ground over her.

She whistled, signaling the other team members to follow her as she ran through the woods in search of the man, but realized soon enough that he was long gone.

Argh!

x-X-x

Despite the close call the previous night, Nokdu was out and about early next morning while Dongju was still asleep. After last night's events, he realized he needed to hurry with finding the information he needed before someone connected the dots or worse, recognized him. He headed to the Kisaeng House first; if anyone was going to have any idea about the secrets and rumors that floated about here it would be the courtesans.

He walked in through the gate and saw a large group of them huddled together. When he looked closely, he saw someone seated in the middle, who he recognized as the well-dressed man who had made fun of the weird Nobleman from yesterday when Dongju had cut her hair.

One of the Yeolnyeodan women had mentioned the man to him; told him that he is Lord Cha Yulmu and that he was often seen cooking for or generally hanging around the kisaeng house. However, looking at his charming demeanor, Nokdu doubted he was there out of the goodness of his heart.

Just then the man looked up and waved toward him. "Eo!" He called out and Nokdu frowned.

Is he inviting me over? Just as he was about to walk up to take a closer look, he felt someone bump him and rush past.

"Argh! Seriously?" Nokdu grumbled as he saw the back of an incredibly tall and fit man in a deep blue warrior uniform approach Yulmu. Nokdu spotted Hwa Soo, one of the kisaengs he had acquainted himself with earlier and walked up behind her curiously.

There was a wide table in front of Yulmu that was set up with plates of various sweet things and the mystery man who had just arrived, placed a parcel in the center of the table. Nokdu watched wide-eyed as Yulmu unwrapped it to reveal a large slab of ice. The women around Nokdu gasped in amazement at seeing the sparkly block but he was more interested in the swordsman. The man's face was hooded by his wide hat but by the graceful yet firm way his hands moved when he pulled out his blade, Nokdu could tell he had skills. He wondered if he was a royal guard; if Nokdu found someone of high enough stature to talk to, he could have a valuable source.

"Who is he?" Nokdu whispered to Hwa Soo.

"That, Lady Kim, is the town's greatest…"

Swordsman? Warrior? Fighter?

"… pushover."

Nokdu blinked and stared at Hwa Soo.

"What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's Lord Yulmu's friend but he's fiercely loyal to him. He'll do whatever he says," Hwa Soo explained.

"That's… disappointing." Nokdu shook his head and watched the man cut the ice into four equal parts in two clean swipes of his sword. Deciding that the man was a dead end to his search, Nokdu began to walk away when he felt his shoulder get knocked into again. He turned to see it was the same man, who was now on his way out.

Except this time, he stopped in his tracks as Nokdu watched, annoyed. The swordsman tilted his hat up slightly to briefly glance at him.

And that was the first time Jeon Nokdu laid eyes on Park Danho.