The way he looked at me in that moment told me everything that I needed to know, he was on the verge of saying it himself until he broke away from my grasp to do whatever it is he was doing in the palace now. But I could also tell that I was becoming a distraction to him as well as his nephew, so maybe it was time for me to leave after all. "Young Mistress Seo? I have been waiting for over an hour for you and I…" "Servants! Examine the goods that The Mistress Chung has brought over, lest they be rotten just like what The Widow Nam provided to her own son." "Mistress Seo! What on earth are you implying? Do you have any idea how much courage it took for me to even approach you and you just…" "I can see that you have provided my nephew with foods that need to be tested for poison, due to the concubine that your family has chosen for itself…" "Madame!" "…and who is this exactly?" "Mistress Seo, i have brought over one of the original nannies for the boy on the behalf of his mother…" "Mistress Chung, are you telling me that you are bringing over one of the nannies who abused my nephew over and over again? Have you lost your ever-loving mind?" "Abuse? What abuse? What are you talking about?" "She starved him, she left hm shivering in the cold and she barely washed the boy at all. But I guess that is what happens when humans change for power and greed." "But I…" "mistress Chung, I believe that I have endured enough of your thoughtless insults today, this endless nanny has barely introduced herself to me, never mind sent me her greetings." "But she is rather devoted to him…" "…so much so that she allowed my nephew to lack in foods, clothing and barely tended to him as he caught a cold twice in a month? Why doesn't she explain everything in detail to me herself? Well?"
"Mistress Seo! I may have made some mistakes, but it is not my fault at all! He developed the colds because he refused to wear clothes at all…" "What child would like to wear greasy clothes! Maybe if you had washed them more, then he wouldn't have fallen ill at all!" "…and refused to take any medicine at all! How could I watch him every single minute of every single day?" "Because that was your job! Enough of this insolence! Servants! Drag her out and paddle her fifty times! And have The Mistress Chung here eat all of the rotten foods that the nephew of The Lord Nam was forced to eat in my absence! And let this be a lesson to you all! Servants who bully their little masters will be severely punished! Once disloyal, you will be seen unless 100 times! If you do your job, then you shall be treated well! Now, place my nephew in the carriage and carry on packing! And as for you Dae Jung, I need to speak to you for the very last time." "Mistress?"
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Last night, I made Yeon witness a side of me that neither she nor any woman in my social circle should have to see, especially her, not after everything she has done for me and put up with. This is why it was imperative for me to send her away so that I could go on this journey to meet The Third Prince and bring hm back to the palace…and avoid all and any plums dens on the way there and back. I was going to go the extreme path into beating this addiction, and keeping her around me during this time would only put her in more danger, even though living with her had always been like waking up in paradise to me. I finally had someone who was devoted to me enough to tend to me, to be my companion through thick and thin and even sleep with me multiple times without shame or hesitation. She came running to me when I needed her and she always undressed herself without question as soon as she saw the look in my eyes. That woman was worth her weight in gold and I needed to just marry her and keep her lock her up in my home so that I wouldn't have to worry about her endlessly like I was now ever since she followed me back into the palace s recklessly after everything she had done to get herself out of there on my orders….
"…am I keeping you from something, Lord Nam?" "Forgive me Your Majesty, I just…" "Here, take a look at this and tell me what you think about it all." "Your Majesty? This seems to be memorandums that are written to discover your position about…" "What is it? Why did you stop speaking?" "Your Majesty, forgive me, but I dare not read this out aloud, for this memorandum seems to carry words of rebellion." "What do you mean, Lord Nam? Let me see this here and see what all the fuss is about…." "Your Majesty?" "…woking tirelessly from morning to sunset, my son seems to have sloppily reworded this as 'a waning sun working hard.' This mistake is not unintended, and I can no longer tolerate his bold actions against me and his family. I have already warned him about his previous disturbances, and I remind my court time and time again that an official to devotes himself to the country must always speak with integrity, just like you do. But he as no value about hard work and his arrogance has once again pulled hm down into an abyss that I will no longer help him from."
"Give me your orders, Your Majesty." "I will never give him a chance to redeem himself again, so I will send you to kill everyone in his company apart from my son and bring him back here. And when you do I shall hold your wedding here for you and I shall promote you to The Ministry of Personnel." "Thank you, Your Majesty, I shall make the arrangements right away." "My Lord Nam, I have just received word that Seo Yeon has taken her horse with her servant just beyond the palace grounds." "Very well Seo Yeon, so this is what you do behind my back? Here, take my horse and find them…and I want you to kill the servant on sight." "My Lord?" "I know exactly why she has taken him so faraway from me and what exactly she wants from him, but she will never find out the truth unless it comes from my lips. Honestly, I should have killed hm when I found out who he was but I…guess I wanted to test my wife one last time before our wedding." "Very well, My Lord."
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"Young Mistress…" "Dae Jung, we are finally alone now, so you can tell me everything that The Lord Nam is keeping from me. Then I will…" "Then you will what? Will you finally leave him? And the abuse that he puts you through?" "He doesn't do that….look, I know that things look bad between us, but it isn.t…" "Mistress! For goodness sake, that man defiles you almost every single night before your wedding! And you know that he prefers men, so why would you let him even touch you! Can't you see that he is only using you for a healthy family image in the palace! Don't you know how many male lovers he has on the side?" "Servant! It is not your place to talk about such issues! What happens between us is nobody else's business and I am fully aware of how he treats his male…interests and…" "It does't matter what I will say, does it? Because his plan against you has already worked." "His plan?" "He chased you around despite your secrets, he took care of you beyond what your brother could possibly afford, he indulged you and he became your first, didn't he? Your first touch, your first hug, your first friend of the opposite sex, your first kiss and your first…man in bed." "I do not see what that has to do with…" "It is all a game, can't you see? He wishes to possess you for your talent and nothing more. You are a breeding and business partner for him and I promise you that he will cast you aside once you are unable to help him anymore, and by then he will take your children away from you at whim and isolate you from your brother and his fiends."
"Nam Seonho loves me, he does! He loves me so much that he followed me everywhere and even…." "That was all planned between himself and his brothel woman, to punish you for having a double life right under his nose. It is true that he used that girl to make you jealous, but look at the efforts that he goes through with every single petty plan that he has. Look at how he punishes you! Look at how he tortures you! He keeps you locked away like some damned animal out of sight from everyone when you are capable of doing so much for this kingdom, and for the better!"
"I said enough! Please just tell me…" "Mistress, what exactly do you want to know! How he helped you safely though the brothels to protect you? How he is taking down the members of The Royal Family just for you! How he has merged your plans to rid the kingdom of The Third Prince with your desires to rid your family of him as well? And he only entertains male lovers to make up for what he missed out on with you! But he…is changing because…." "If you do not tell me right now, then I shall just return to him and I shall…" "It was her! The brothel girl! She was the one who found hm after the war unconscious, she was the one who brought him to The Fifth Prince's residence in a bad state, and she was the one who force fed him op…" "Men! We have found them! Quickly! Take The Mistress Seo to her carriage and kill that servant! By the decree of The Lord Nam! Quickly!" "Mistress?" "Dae Jung! Get out of here quickly! Run! Before my husband finds you…Dae Jung!"