12

Both Life and Death Have Consequences

Everything that happened over the past few days was slowly starting to catch up with Nokdu. At the very least, he had managed to join the Muwol corps now and was probably another step closer to finding out who the boss behind sending the attacks on his family was. Except he had just learned that Madam Cheon was the Muwoldan head, leading him to conclude that there had to be someone at a higher position pulling the strings as Cheon didn't seem like the person to resort to attacking innocents.

And then there was Dongju; he could tell there was something going on with her and he couldn't help but worry. While he was getting an orientation into the Muwoldan by Jeongsuk, he thought about how he had missed seeing her all day and decided he would pay her a visit to check on her before heading back to Danho's. However, upon reaching her room, he almost wished that he hadn't.

It was when he got there that he realized there was someone else in there with her, having a conversation. Putting his ear to the wall, he realized to his horror that it was Yulmu, who wasn't even allowed to be there in the first place. Nokdu cursed at him under his breath, knowing the bastard probably used the darkness of Shaman night to his advantage and snuck in to talk to Dongju. Nokdu was about to burst in when he overheard parts of what they were talking about.

"I know who you have feelings for!" He heard Yulmu accuse Dongju.

"I only used him… just like you prey on my weakness of knowing my real identity," she snapped back.

He couldn't believe Dongju actually said that. He knew that she had already turned him down once when he told her about his feelings for her but saying none of it meant anything and was just a means to an end felt… worse than he thought.

He wondered if it meant he still had lingering feelings for her; the optimism about the possibility of her reciprocating them was what seemed to be making things harder.

He waited for Yulmu to leave before he approached Dongju who he noticed was looking terribly stressed sitting in the dark. At the point he was torn between feeling sorry for her and feeling anger towards Yulmu for making her feel so worried. Knowing Dongju's fear of the dark, he silently escorted her towards the Kisaeng House where it was well-lit so she could spend the night there and Dongju had just gone along with it. When he turned away after dropping her at the gate, she finally spoke up.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you really came to the village?" Nokdu stopped in his tracks and looked back at her with a reassuring smile.

"I'll tell you everything later," he promised. He left before she could ask anything further because he had bigger things to deal with right now.

He needed to get the temple.

x-X-x

The Premier looked around at the group of Ministers as he relayed the success on getting rid of Viceroy Lee who had been responsible for taking the Crown Prince away.

"We will rebel tomorrow," he announced. "I have sent a team to bring Crown Prince Yeongchang back and it's of utmost importance that we keep him safe for our cause."

"Well, that's too bad," another voice came from the door, causing all the minister's heads to snap up to the source of the sound. The Premier's eyes widened in horror as he watched Cha Yulmu walk in and toss a blood-soaked child-sized white hanbok on the table, followed closely by his guard Park Danho who stood firmly by his side. "I killed him," Yulmu said simply.

The other ministers began to look at each other and Yoon gasped in disbelief.

"Prince Neungyang!" he addressed Yulmu by his royal name. "What have you done?"

x-X-x

It was the absence of Muwoldan guarding the temple that gave away the fact that something was wrong as Nokdu easily made the climb to the entrance door. He made sure his pink women's hanbok was in place before pushing his ear to the door. In the silence of the night, it wasn't all too difficult to hear the voices coming from the inside.

"I'm saying… I want to be made King of the country." Nokdu's eyes widened as there was no mistaking the owner of that voice.

Yulmu..?

He pushed the door slightly ajar and his worst fears had been confirmed; it was indeed Yulmu who had spoken and there was sword held by someone at the Premier's throat. There were other soldiers in the room keeping the rest of the Premier's men hostage, or so it appeared so. That was when Nokdu's attention briefly shifted to the ground where one of the men working with the Premier lay dead, his throat slit.

Nokdu could only hope that Park Danho hadn't been the one responsible for that.

He watched as everyone in the room exited from the back and by then the Muwoldan had arrived.

"What happened?" Nokdu asked a very hassled looking Kim Ssook as they moved about to clear the mess in the room.

"We need to clean up," she said shortly when there was a knock on the door. Everyone stopped what they were doing and Ssook continued, looking at Nokdu. "Whoever that it, don't let them in," she whispered. "At the very least, stall for as long as you can and we'll do our best." Nokdu nodded at them and headed towards the temple's entrance.

He opened the door to see a well-dressed middle-aged man looking up at him in surprise. Nokdu didn't recognize him and had no way of knowing whether he was connected to the Premier so he figured he must be another wayward traveler who ended up here. He gently shut the door behind him and stepped closer.

"Go away," Nokdu said in his most insistent Lady Kim voice, "Men are not allowed in the Widow Village." The nobleman narrowed his eyes at Nokdu, looking as if he wasn't used to being spoken to that way.

"It looks like you are hiding something," he said slowly and suddenly a small group of guards appeared behind the man with swords ready; that was when Nokdu knew there was something different about this person.

"What is going on? How can you raise your weapons like this against a defenseless –"

Before he could argue any further, the man pushed past him and walked into the temple. Nokdu rushed behind in worry only to see… an ordinary looking temple where women were praying.

Wow…the Muwoldan are fast.

He did a quick scan just in case when he spotted a smear of blood on the floor that had gone missed but before the nobleman could catch it, he sat on it, covering up the only evidence of events that had happened earlier that night. Lucky for them, the man seemed convinced and left.

That was close. He heaved a big sigh of relief and nodded at Kim Ssook.

x-X-x

King Gwanghae took off his gat and placed it on the nearby table as he moved to change out of his Nobleman outfit; a set-up that he often used to walk freely outside the palace without anyone recognizing him. He usually took his outings as an opportunity to have unfiltered conversations with people, even find out what people were saying about him, the King. He may have later punished those who wronged him but that was for the good of the overall community in his view.

His excursions were usually limited to Hanyang town but tonight he had gone beyond his regular route because of a suspicion that he had to clarify for himself based on what he learned had happened earlier today.

Gwanghae was just getting changed and ready to leave for his walk when his Royal Guard, Officer Baek Jong told him there was something he needed to see. He walked into a room where Jong was looking down at a heavily injured man lying in bed. As soon as Jong saw him, he bowed.

"Your Majesty."

"What is going on here?" Gwanghae asked as the man who was hurt began to moan in pain.

"The minister's party was attacked," Jong explained. "He's the only survivor."

"Who did this? What about the Viceroy?"

"There's no confirmation on that yet, this man just about made it and told us this much," Jong explained. "There's a good chance that the Viceroy was killed too." Just then the man in bed began to choke and gestured toward his guard to come closer. Gwanghae watched as the survivor whispered something in Jong's ear which made him frown in confusion.

"This man says one of the people who attacked them was dressed as a Widow."

"I see," Gwanghae needed to find out more. "Where's Yoon?"

"The Premier is at the Lotus Room in Mudam Valley where he often visits," Jong informed him. "Come to think of it, that Kisaeng house is right next to a village, one where only Widows live."

Gwanghae felt his blood begin to boil. There was no way his trusted friend Yoon was going to betray him but he had to see for himself.

"Let's go," he ordered just as their informant succumbed to his wounds.

They had gone and searched the Kisaeng house and Yoon was nowhere to be seen. He had even walked through the Widow Village towards a temple which seemed suspicious as the only place with its lights on. He was so sure that he would catch someone in the act but he had just ended up walking in on a group of women praying. While heading back, his guard had even confirmed that Yoon had just left the Kisaeng House and that there was nothing suspicious to be found.

Somehow, the King wasn't convinced.

There is something going on and I will find out what it is.

x-X-x

A short while closing up the temple, Kim Ssook along with Lady Kim were in Madam Cheon's quarters, to report on what had occurred.

"Lady Kim," Madam Cheon addressed the newest Muwoldan member. "You have impressed me with your skills and smarts. I think it's time you got some more responsibility on the team, don't you?"

"Ah, yes," Lady Kim responded timidly and Kim Ssook couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride.

"You may leave now," Cheon told her. "Ssook and I have some matters to discuss further." Lady Kim bowed and left the room. She had barely slid the door shut when Kim Ssook spoke up.

"The Crown Prince was killed," she exclaimed, hoping for an explanation.

"I didn't think Cha Yulmu would take it that far. He plans to become King."

"What?"

"I have an agreement with him promising that he will take care of all our widows when he is in power, which is why we are helping him."

"But…" Kim Ssook began, unable to think of any reason that justified the child having to die. "I hope… that we're making the right decision," she ended up saying.

"For the sake of all the women here," Madam Cheon said, "I hope so too."

x-X-x

"It's simple. You needed a new King to replace the current one and I'm simply offering myself as your best option."

Yulmu smiled at Premier Yoon who was cautiously sitting across from him looking unsure.

"Why?" Yoon managed to choke out in anger.

"For the good of the people in this kingdom of course!" Yulmu started with a straight face that suddenly turned into a mocking one. "At least, that's what I'm supposed to say. I just want to be rich and powerful."

"A King needs to be sincere!" Yoon exclaimed and got to his feet. 'I'm going to confess to the King about your treason right away," he said, starting to walk out angrily.

"Will you also tell him about his son from twenty years ago being alive?"

Yoon stilled in his steps.

How did he find out?

He slowly turned around to see Yulmu was still calmly smiling up at him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, his eyes wide in confusion.

"You know, I had heard rumors about it from my father. That the King tried to kill his son and that he was taken away by someone," Yulmu began. "I'm just glad that keeping an eye on you paid off and I was able to capture a special person who would not only confirm the story as a witness but be the proof I need."

Is he talking about Yunjeo? No, he would never…

"You can come in now," he heard Yulmu instruct someone. Yoon saw the door to the quarters open and a young man walked in.

"You…" he started. "Are you…?"

"If I was the King's son, I wouldn't have been this upset that I had to stay hidden my whole life."

"You're Yunjeo's son!" He shook his head. "Why would you do this?"

"It was all because of my step-brother that my family had to suffer… and probably why my mother died too," he took a deep breath. "The Prince has promised me he can get back everything I lost if I support his plan to become King."

Yoon couldn't believe this was happening.

x-X-x

"The Crown Prince was killed."

Those were the last few words he could catch before he left Madam Cheon's quarters. Knowing who was usually assigned to do these kinds of things, he worried but couldn't do much apart from hope he was wrong.

Nokdu dragged himself back to Danho's house. A lot had happened today but with the revelation about Yulmu's true intentions, the conversation he had heard between Dongju & him earlier began to weigh heavy on his mind.

His mood hadn't improved even slightly by the time he was getting ready for bed. He glanced towards Danho's side, noticing he hadn't gotten home yet. He didn't expect him to be there either, knowing very well he might be busy with some crazy things he had heard was happening in the palace tonight.

The door slid open and Danho suddenly walked in, making Nokdu jump. He looked terrible and Nokdu began to dread something had happened.

"Where were you at this hour?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"Why do you care? You're not even my real wife."

That was not the response he expected. He scoffed.

"Fine. I'm not in a state to deal with your bad mood either," he said shortly and wrapped the blanket around himself.

"You don't look like you got here much before I did," Danho stood before Nokdu and rubbed his arm lightly. "Shouldn't I be asking where you were?"

"I went to the village to check on Dongju," Nokdu stated. "And everyone is already talking about what happened to the crown prince," he added, sitting up to face Danho who had suddenly stilled. Nokdu took a deep breath. "Danho… please tell me you didn't kill an innocent child just because Yulmu gave an order due to his misguided hunger for power…"

"How do you… what makes you think –"

"You think I wouldn't find out? The Muwoldan are part of the village. And you… are basically Yulmu's personal henchman."

Nokdu stood up and Danho just stared at him. In one swift movement, Nokdu pulled out Danho's sword from its sheath and gasped.

There was fresh blood on his sword and Nokdu's breath caught in shock. Unable to take his eyes off it, he questioned him.

"Is this the crown prince's blood?" Nokdu asked slowly. When Danho continued to be silent, he shook his head in disbelief. "How could you – ah, why am I surprised. You are an assassin, after all." Nokdu dropped Danho's sword and it clanged on the floor, breaking through the silence of the night. "I guess I was stupid thinking you might actually be a good person," Nokdu said with a dry laugh. He needed some fresh air and was just turning away to walk out when Danho spoke up suddenly.

"I don't just kill people for no reason. I used that same blade to stop someone from hurting you."

Nokdu froze.

"What are you talking about? Who?"

"One of the Muwoldan women… she was following you," Danho started and that's when Nokdu realized he hadn't seen the limping Muwoldan woman stalking him lately.

"Min Deul-re… wait, you… you killed that woman?"

"She was going to kill you!" Danho argued. "It was the day after your birthday and I had seen you and Dongju enter your room at the kisaeng house. She was standing right around your door with a knife and I wasn't going to let her harm you."

Nokdu paused, suddenly recalling something. Dongju already knew he was a man in disguise at the time, which meant if Min Deul-re was outside, she probably overheard Dongju conversing with a man and figured everything out.

What if she told Danho everything before she died?

Nokdu cleared his throat. "Did she say… why?" He asked carefully, watching Danho's face for any signs of an unusual response.

"She wouldn't talk," he said simply, his poker face remaining the same." But she was determined to end you so I had to finish her first," he added defiantly with no regret in his voice.

"And you… weren't curious about why she wants to kill me?" Danho's eyes drifted to the ground.

"I… I honestly didn't care. I just didn't want you to die."

Nokdu felt his heart flutter for a moment before he came to his senses and groaned in annoyance. "What? You want me to thank you?" He walked closer to look Danho in the eye. "I could have handled her myself." To his surprise, Danho continued to look away and didn't say a word. Nokdu then bent down to pick up the sword on the ground.

He could see the blood on it and a shudder went through his body as he finally came to terms with the fact that Danho was probably just a cold-blooded killer and he was deceiving himself into thinking there was a person with feelings under there.

He killed a child…

A drop of warm blood suddenly appeared on his wrist as he stretched his hand out to pick up the stained sword.

Where did that come from? How much blood is there?

Nokdu slowly tilted his head up to see Danho standing still and to his horror he spotted the source of the trickling blood.

It was dripping from the left sleeve of Danho's deep blue uniform.

Nokdu immediately rose to his feet and that's when he noticed Danho was looking lightheaded and a little unbalanced on his feet. He then grabbed Danho's wrist which made him wince slightly. Nokdu's next words came out slowly through gritted teeth, his Lady Kim voice nearly gone in his anger.

"What is this?" He asked a very guilty looking Danho.

x-X-x

If looks could kill, Danho was convinced he would have caught fire from the way that Lady Kim was glaring at him.

"I said," she growled, "What is this?" Danho swallowed, knowing that she wasn't going to ask again.

"It's nothing," he muttered and tried to tug his arm away. She responded by pulling his arm back with unexpected strength and ripping away his sleeve, exposing the huge gash that was still continuing to bleed. He watched as Lady Kim's face shifted back to his and she shook her head in disbelief.

"Yah, I know you're used to getting injured in your field of work," she started. "But isn't this a bit too much?"

"I don't even feel it –"

"You fool, let me –"

"I'm fine."

"Just let me fix it!"

Danho began to step away but she gripped his shoulders in another display of surprising vigor and pushed him down till he was sitting on the floor. He grumbled at her bossiness but sat still while she left to get ointment and a bandage cloth.

Lady Kim dropped down to her knees, startling Danho slightly as she seated herself across him so as to treat his wound comfortably. Before he had the chance to argue, she ripped apart the rest of his sleeve and began to clean the wound.

"Urgh!"

"Don't be such a baby."

The stinging simmered lightly as Lady Kim dabbed at his cut and Danho snuck a glance at her face. It was crinkled in concentration and worry as she carefully wiped away the blood before taking the ointment in her palm.

"How you managed to bleed so much with such shallow cuts is what I don't understand," he heard her mumble and he stiffened.

She didn't need to know how skilled he was at inflicting exactly that kind of wound with minimal scarring.

He flinched again and turned away when he felt her medicine touch his raw wound but the burn was quickly followed by the feel of cool air soothing his skin. His eyes shifted to see Lady Kim was gently blowing on his injury as she applied the paste and all of a sudden, he felt the burning sensation spread to his face.

It also brought to his attention how close she was.

Ba dum ba dum. Ba dum ba dum.

He swallowed, remembering the first time he had seen her this close that night they had first spoken and fought together. Her lips were still the same shade of rouge and but her cheeks had developed a deeper tinge of pink, probably from all the scolding she had given him.

She was beautiful, no doubt, but he still couldn't explain the pull he felt towards the woman. For instance, at this very moment he could see some of her bangs had come loose from her head being bent over his cut and all he wanted to do was reach out and push it away from her eyes so she could–

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

He froze as he realized that his hand was actually behind her ear, tucking her hair in.

"Oh, sorry," he responded, swiftly whipping his hand away and resting it behind him while Lady Kim continued to finish wrapping his bandage.

"By the way," she spoke softly, suddenly avoiding eye contact, "How did this happen? You aren't hurt anywhere else."

He hesitated, recalling what he was doing earlier that evening.

Danho marched past the Muwoldan who made way for him as he went into the home where the young Crown Prince was being kept. He could hear the child crying and it got worse when the boy saw him.

Danho's tall frame loomed over the child's who was on the ground with tears running down his face. He imagined he probably looked like the Bringer of Death to him.

Over the years with all the people he had assassinated, he figured he would grow cold to it. He thought that telling himself he was doing it out of a sense of duty towards Lord Yulmu would take away the guilt and pain that came as an after-effect to his actions. But now as he stood before the wailing figure before him, he only felt like it hurt even worse than usual.

The Crown Prince was just a child.

A child like the little girl Aengdu he had walked to the Widow Village earlier today.

The village where Lady Kim used to stay.

He felt his chest burn as he imagined if she could see him now and the lengths that he would go to in order to stay loyal to Lord Yulmu.

'I consider you my friend because I feel safe around you,' she had told him once. He wondered what she would have to say about that at this point. The very idea of that made his heart heavy so he did the first thing that came to mind.

He folded up his sleeve, pulled out his sword and made clean cuts along his left arm, seeing which the child screamed louder. He turned towards the young boy.

"Give me your jacket," he said as softly as he could while gritting his teeth; the cuts was slightly deeper than he had intended. He pulled off the Crown Prince's overcoat and wrapped his arm with it, making sure the blood stained the white fabric. He raised a finger to his lips and surprisingly, the boy's cries quietened down to a whimper. He quickly tore apart the garment, using part of it to roughly patch up his wound and the rest to fold and keep as evidence. He then extended a hand to the child. "I don't want to kill you but if we're doing this, I need you to come with me and do exactly as I say. Understand?"

The boy simply stared at him for a moment before finally giving a short nod.

"Stay completely still," Danho instructed him before lifting him up in his arms and walking out through the back without being seen by anyone.

Danho wasn't sure about what he was doing; all he knew was that saving this child was the right thing. He found himself heading towards a place he had gotten so accustomed to sneaking in and out of without anyone's knowledge. His left hand burned as he carried the child in his arms and used his free hand to do his special knock on the door. It opened almost immediately.

"Park Danho, what is –" Yeo-wool started and his eyes widened as he studied Danho.

"Yeo-woola, I need your help," Danho started, idly rocking the child who had cried himself to sleep in his arms. "And I need you to move out of the Kisaeng House."

Danho was silent. He knew he wasn't going to tell anyone about what happened but wished he didn't have to deal with the burden of keeping it a secret from her. Part of him felt like Lady Kim knew… that his wounds were self-inflicted and that there's more to the story than he let on. That's when she suddenly spoke up.

"You didn't kill the crown prince, did you?" she asked softly, still holding Danho's arm in his lap. Danho sighed and Lady Kim shook her head in exasperation.

"Why do the Muwoldan think you did?" She questioned him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

What's the point?

His subconscious probably didn't let him correct Lady Kim when she asked if he had killed Min Deul-re… for this very belief.

"What difference would it make?" Danho muttered and Lady Kim let out a dry laugh as she finished wrapping the bandage around his arm.

"What difference?" Lady Kim gently placed Danho's arm on his lap and looked straight at him. "Listen to me, I know you've done a lot of bad things in the past. But everyone deserves a second chance. You can still make things right and find your new path."

Danho stared back at Lady Kim, feeling like someone had splashed cold water on his face. If the same words had come out of anyone else, he would have laughed it off as cringey but when Lady Kim said it, he couldn't help but think…

Maybe, just maybe I'm worthy of redemption after everything I've done.

Danho cleared his throat and shrugged, averting his gaze. "Gosh, when did you become so preachy," he muttered and Lady Kim lightly smacked his arm, making him grunt in pain.

"Haven't you heard a man should always listen to his wife?" She teased and Danho couldn't help the ghost of a smile that appeared on his face.

The next morning Danho ate his rice quietly as he and Lady Kim sat for breakfast at the table. He could tell from her demeanor that she had questions after last night's conversation… he only wished he didn't have to have to deal with it right away. Somehow, he was convinced he wasn't going to be able to step out without some kind of confrontation.

"Yah Park Danho."

Danho froze, his chopsticks in his mouth as his eyes darted to hers.

"Mmm?"

"Your hand." Danho frowned.

"What?" He asked, his words muffled from the food in his mouth. Lady Kim groaned in annoyance.

"Argh, your hand," she repeated, her eyes shifting as she looked away. Danho thought she almost looked… embarrassed. "How is your hand?"

It took Danho a second to realize she was referring to his injury from the previous night. He immediately swallowed his rice and cleared his throat.

"Oh! It's… it's fine," he replied hastily, unsure why he was flustered all of a sudden.

"Good… that's good," Lady Kim nodded, still avoiding eye contact as she continued to eat. "By the way, the boy… where is he now?"

"Safe," Danho replied shortly. He was quite convinced he could trust Lady Kim with the information but refrained from doing so; when it came to matters of the palace, he was aware that even knowing things was dangerous.

Lady Kim sighed, seeming to understand that Danho wasn't going to expand on that.

"Are going back to Yulmu today to continue doing his dirty work?" Danho shook his head in frustration.

"I have a duty…"

"Are you his watchdog?"

"What are you –"

"Hey, how can you still work for him after… argh, forget it." Danho watched as Lady Kim got up to leave.

"Where are you going? Aren't you even going to clean up after eating?"

"I have to work to do," she said, dusting off the front of her hanbok. "And doing the dishes is your job," she reminded him before she moved to walk out the door.

"Wait!" Danho called out to her. "I'll join you."

"What?"

"You work in the distillery which is next to the Kisaeng House. Lord Yulmu might already be in the kitchen there and I need to meet him anyway."

"But –" She started and Danho raised an eyebrow as he gauged her reaction. "Actually, I might need to go to the widow village first…"

"Then it's in the same direction."

"No! Do you want to come back to a house with dirty dishes? I didn't think so. Do the cleaning first!" And before Danho could say anything else, she had stormed off before Danho realized.

She probably wants to avoid being seen with me.

Well, she could have just told me that.

"Gosh… seriously, such a feisty one…"

x-X-x

That morning, Premier Yoon walked with one of his co-conspirators to go meet the King, his mind occupied with everything that had happened last night.

"Let's pretend we don't know anything for now," he advised his colleague. "The Muwoldan are planning to shift their base anyway so his Majesty won't be able to find anything even if he tried."

"But Premier Yoon," the minister began, slightly hesitant. "The others were actually were actually talking…" His tone made Yoon stop his stride and turn to look at him.

"What is it?"

"Some of us wondered if it would actually be better if we just agreed with Prince Neungyang…" Yoon's eyes went wide in disbelief and he started to walk again.

"That can never happen," he said firmly, knowing what the Prince's real intentions are. But with the shocking news of the Crown Prince's death, he needed to figure out an alternative and fast. If they had to follow through with their revolt there needed to be someone else to –

"And he's growing to be a kind, caring young man too –"

Yoon recollected Jung Yunjeo's words back from when he had approached him all those years. He glanced at the other minister.

"I'll find another way."