Chapter 13: Threads of Treachery in Yuri Palace

Nothing was certain.

In reality, even in the timeline before his regression, Hyeonwol had no way of confirming whether Seol Cheon-yu had shown different behavior from the original story, nor whether a child named Lin had even existed.

Only the fact that this timeline was completely different from the original story was clear.

Hyeonwol and Lin existed, they had encountered each other, and the protagonist seemed to have distinctly broken free from the original story’s constraints.

Nevertheless, what Hyeonwol had to do in the end was clear.

To uncover the Blood Cult and those behind them, and to help Seol Cheon-yu defeat them.

He didn’t know what the ending would be for the ‘protagonist’ Seol Cheon-yu.

However, even if he went mad and drove the world to ruin, Hyeonwol currently had no leeway to take risks, nor any gain to be had from doing so.

If in the distant future an otherworldly existence like Seol Cheon-yu threatened the world, that was something to think about then.

The clear enemy threatening—or about to threaten—the current world was the Blood Cult, and Seol Cheon-yu was the guardian chosen by the world.

“By the way, it was around the time the Blood Cult’s main forces were about to be revealed, but unfortunately, I don’t remember after that.

Maybe it went on hiatus?

Still, some of it was revealed!

Surprisingly, the imperial family of this Siyeon was involved behind the Blood Cult!

It might have gotten criticized, but for a martial arts novel, it was a fresh development.

Haha!”

“…….”

It had to be Noble Consort Yu!

Even if the relationship between Seol Cheon-yu and Noble Consort Yu’s side was still shrouded in mystery, he had already guessed they were involved in the bloody affair at the imperial palace.

But hearing confirmation of their connection to the Blood Cult was another shock altogether.

Since Hyeonwol had maintained a calm and composed demeanor throughout, Lin thought he was fine, but soon had to revise that assessment considerably.

Because she witnessed Hyeonwol pick up the pillow placed on the bed in the inner room and bury his face in it.

‘Th…this person lives a really difficult life.

He’s like an office worker battered by the trials of life.’

For his part, Hyeonwol was meeting someone in a situation almost identical to his own, so his nerves were considerably relaxed, allowing him to act more freely.

Watching Lin happily accept and eat every piece of candy he handed over, Hyeonwol thought of his younger sister Hyeon-yul in her childhood, felt a sense of kinship with someone who knew the original story, and smiled wistfully.

“So you don’t know exactly which member of the imperial family?”

“R-right….

I don’t know much about the palace situation either.”

“Actually, I have a suspicion about that side.

No, I should say I’m certain….

It’s clearly Noble Consort Yu and the Fourth Prince’s faction.

It’s a bit late to reveal this, but I’m both the head of Wolsigak and a member of the imperial family.

Though I’m a deposed former crown prince, haven’t you heard rumors?

Haha….”

At his half-joking remark thrown out without much expectation, Lin, who had been momentarily dazed, dropped the candy she was holding.

“……Wait, no.

That.

The head of Wolsigak is… that First Prince?

No, you’re saying His Highness the First Prince was the head of Wolsigak?

…Really?”

As the child understood Hyeonwol’s words and was shocked, Hyeonwol quickly retraced his words to see if he had said something he shouldn’t have, but couldn’t figure it out.

Lin’s next words revealed the reason.

“The former crown prince Hyeon Gyeonghui who seven years ago in the northern expedition defeated two thousand nomads with three hundred Northern Iron Cavalry?

The World-Bright Crown Prince who reorganized the Six Ministries before even coming of age and received praise from the scholarly circles?

Really?!”

You just said you didn’t know much about the imperial family?

At her smoothly rattling off even Hyeonwol’s honorific title commemorating achievements made while deposed crown prince, though young, Hyeonwol felt an awkwardness he had never experienced living as royalty.

It was a moment of reflexive modern-person humility kicking in.

Whether aware of Hyeonwol’s discomfort or not, Lin approached him terrifyingly close with sparkling eyes.

Before Hyeonwol could even flinch at her momentum, the child’s clear voice rang through the inner room.

“Th, the golden spoon…!”

“…….”

“…I’ll serve you as my lord!

Please accept me!”

…Right.

Let’s just focus on the positive.

The corner of Hyeonwol’s smiling mouth twitched.

***

Yuri Palace, located in the western part of the imperial palace.

Its owner, Noble Consort Yu, backed by the emperor’s favor and possessing the most beautiful inner courtyard and largest halls among the concubines, was a concubine called one of the two pillars of the inner court, holding unique power capable of rivaling the Empress in the current imperial household.

She was also the biological mother of the Fourth Prince, Hyeon-won, and was known as both an ambitious person and a politician who devoted herself front and back to making her son the next occupant of the throne.

At Noble Consort Yu’s palace, people seeking to curry favor with her power were always coming and going.

It was completely different from the usual appearance of an inner palace where the emperor’s concubine resided, but since everyone was now familiar with this behavior, no one felt any dissonance.

However, if anyone had known that in the depths of that inner palace, martial artists emanating blood scent filled the space—not the usual high-ranking ministers or scholars of powerful families—this imperial palace would never have been able to enjoy such a peaceful daily life.

The Blood Cult’s dark arts were remarkable enough to conceal their evil aura to a limited extent even with countless imperial palace masters in close proximity.

In the deep meeting hall, before the cult elders who had perfectly concealed their characteristic aura, Noble Consort Yu, with an expression no different from usual, furrowed her beautiful brow and voiced complaints.

“I dislike the Crown Prince’s behavior even more these days.

It wasn’t long ago that he replaced all the ministers in the Ministry of War and Ministry of Justice with his own people, and now I hear he’s even stirring up the Ministry of Rites.

If many of our people hadn’t remained in the Ministry of Rites, we would have been caught with our eyes wide open again!”

“Your Highness Consort, please calm yourself.

The seeds our cult has sown over decades are still intact.

If we respond step by step, even the Crown Prince won’t be able to push through like last time.”

“That’s right.

His Highness the Fourth Prince, King Mu, isn’t he steadily expanding his influence in scholarly circles with his dignified bearing?”

“Be quiet.

What use is that when clearly the losses outweigh the gains?

Ha… Hyeon-gyeom, Hyeon-gyeom….

I thought he was just a child chasing after Hyeonwol’s heels, but his actions become more cunning by the day….”

Noble Consort Yu ground her teeth, unable to calm her mood.

The Blood Cult elders, with uncomfortable expressions, continued spouting useless words for a while before leaving.

Though these meetings were quite frequent, the execution of the great plan was always pushed and pulled and never went smoothly, so this atmosphere was already familiar.

When the First Prince Hyeonwol had held the crown prince position, finding a way forward was even harder than this.

Starting five years ago, when Hyeonwol began showing weakness, they had seized the opportunity and desperately torn into him, dragging him out of politics in just two years.

But from the time they thought they had momentum with the absence of Hyeonwol, who had been closest to the throne, up to the present, Noble Consort Yu had not achieved the results she expected.

It was because Hyeonwol had perfectly transferred his power to Hyeon-gyeom and stepped back, as if thoroughly prepared from long ago.

He was so meticulous that when his birth mother the Empress began acting as Hyeon-gyeom’s guardian as if she had given up on Hyeonwol, he even fabricated discord between them, and ultimately hid the transfer to Hyeon-gyeom completely until just before his own deposition.

When Noble Consort Yu belatedly realized that Hyeonwol’s schemes and the Empress were in cahoots, she suffered from stomach pains so severe she could only eat thin porridge for a while.

It sounds simple, but even if you designate a successor, making those who followed you transfer their loyalty to a completely different imperial grandson—not even a full blood brother—is no easy task.

Hyeonwol, who unhesitatingly directed his subjects’ loyalty toward Hyeon-gyeom, and Hyeon-gyeom, who perfectly made them his own people without difficulty, were both remarkable.

The more she thought of Hyeonwol’s fresh face, the one rumored to be on the verge of death in his sickbed, the more enraged she felt.

Noble Consort Yu scraped uselessly at the armrest of her chair.

If you’re going to die, die quietly!

She had the Blood Cult’s military force—a simple and destructive final option—but considering the great plan prepared over centuries, it was as good as a pie in the sky.

The movements of the Demonic Cult, their lifelong archrival and constant thorn in the Blood Cult’s side, were also unusual lately, with urgent reports that most of the spies dispatched near the Ten Thousand Great Mountains had been purged and were being tracked; her head couldn’t ache any more.

Of course, Noble Consort Yu had no way of knowing that a young Blood Cultist had been left behind and arrived alone in the capital—nor about the incident that occurred in a corner of the marketplace.

As she remained alone in the meeting room continuing her thoughts.

Noble Consort Yu sensed someone’s presence and opened her eyes.

The one who appeared, pushing aside the curtain behind the main seat, was a young, beautiful man who had just barely passed his twenties.

It was her son, the Fourth Prince, Hyeon-won.

Though his neat yet luxurious princely ceremonial robes entered her peripheral vision, Noble Consort Yu showed no particular delight beyond that.

Noble Consort Yu, dressed in a black silk palace robe, was a woman whose antique beauty, as if painstakingly painted with the finest ink even at her middle-aged age, had not faded at all.

Naturally, her son Hyeon-won, taking after his mother, was also a face-like-polished-jade beauty with distinct features and elegant facial lines.

However, whenever they faced each other, their consistently sunken eyes were alike, creating an illusion that even the air grew heavy when mother and son were together.

Hyeon-won slowly blinked his flawlessly dark pitch-black eyes and spoke in a calm voice wrapped in a gloomy atmosphere unsuited to his age.

“Mother.

Your son has returned.

Public opinion in the scholarly circles had no particular change.”

“It was a useless endeavor.

The Crown Prince struck from a completely different direction.”

“…Mother.

Must we necessarily seize the throne?”

At Hyeon-won’s single question, Noble Consort Yu’s eyes flashed for a moment.

While receiving his mother’s indignant gaze with his whole body, Hyeon-won continued in an unaffected, indifferent tone without wavering.

“Honestly, I don’t understand.

Why does everyone in the cult fixate on the throne….”

“The cult’s long-cherished wish is not something you can dismiss so simply.

Do not judge your role by mere personal will.

Gyeongha, you wouldn’t say now that you don’t know the aspirations of successive Blood Cult leaders rest on you.

…If your report is finished, go back.”

Before the quietly angered Noble Consort Yu, Hyeon-won obediently fell silent and turned away.

Noble Consort Yu, swallowing a sigh at her son’s late adolescence, gradually forgot Hyeon-won’s deviation, thinking that once the long-cherished wish was fulfilled, everything would find its place.

For Hyeon-won, this was fortunate.

Leaving Noble Consort Yu’s residence, he let out a hollow laugh.

His eyes, completely different from just moments ago, sparkled with greed and harbored a wild light.

“Why doesn’t anyone think of becoming a god themselves….”