Jade didn't know what words could contain what he felt, so he remained silent, letting the stillness speak for him. His heart only swelled at her words.
"Thank you, Jade," Genie whispered once more, her voice like a gentle prayer itself.
Moonlight streamed through the carved windows of the prayer room, mingling with the glow of candles. In that sacred hush, their eyes met—two souls sharing not only duty but a joy and peace that seemed to descend straight from God.
Next morning, the clang of steel and the rhythmic pounding of boots shook the dawn air. Jade stood tall in the military yard, his sharp gaze sweeping across rows of warriors moving in unison. Their discipline pleased him, and he nodded with the calm authority of a commander born.
Suddenly, the hurried sound of footsteps broke through the measured cadence. A palace servant, face glistening with sweat, rushed into the yard and stopped before him, bowing quickly.
Jade's eyes shifted from the servant back to his men. "Continue," he commanded.
"Yes, Minister!" Vice Commander Danjin bellowed, his voice booming across the yard. "Course three! Begin with the defense drills!"
As the warriors shifted into formation, Jade turned back to the servant. His gaze was steady, though his tone carried quiet authority.
"Who is it?"
The servant swallowed, his breath uneven from the run. "Minister, a man waits for you at the palace entrance. But… he refused to give his name when the guards questioned him."
Jade's brows drew together, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes. His thoughts sharpened.
'Is it… Detective Bong?'
If it had been Detective Bong, it would have made sense—Bong would never reveal himself openly when the search for Queen Genie's elder brother was meant to remain in the shadows.
"Very well," Jade said calmly, though his voice carried resolve. He turned toward the training yard. "Danjin, you take command."
"Yes, Minister," Danjin replied with a firm bow.
Jade strode out of the yard, his steps purposeful as he crossed the wide courtyards of the palace. The crisp morning air bit against his skin, and his long robes swayed with each stride. But as he neared the towering entrance gates, his eyes—serene until now—quivered faintly.
For the man waiting there was not Detective Bong.
Jade's pace slowed, his expression tightening into something grave.
The figure was striking despite his age—a man in his sixties with a neatly trimmed white beard, his posture unbending. He wore a silk red long robe, its folds catching the early light, and a black official's hat that crowned his stern face with dignity. His presence was heavy, like a stone dropped into still water.
Kim Jin.
The man's gaze met Jade's, and he inclined his head slowly, eyes steady but betraying the faintest quiver.
Jade lifted a hand toward the guards. His voice cut through the quiet.
"Allow him entry. He is my guest."
The guards exchanged uncertain glances but obeyed, stepping aside with respectful bows.
Kim Jin's eyes flickered, betraying a ripple of surprise.
'So Jade lets me go into the palace,' he thought.
But outwardly, he remained firm and composed, concealing every trace of hesitation.
Jade lowered his head slightly in a small, polite bow.
"Please, come in," he said, his tone even but weighted.
He deliberately avoided the word sir at first—he couldn't allow such intimacy to slip in front of the palace guards and wandering eyes.
Kim Jin gave a faint nod, silent, and followed as Jade led him past the towering gates. Their footsteps echoed briskly against stone until Jade turned a corner, cutting away from open courtyards into the quieter lane of the palace. He quickened his pace without looking back, his robes sweeping in measured strides. Kim Jin followed, his crimson silk brushing softly with each step, the two shadows weaving deeper into secrecy.
Jade finally entered a secluded guest house, pushing open the heavy wooden door. He moved straight into the first chamber—a room kept clean, its wide window spilling daylight across polished floors, the air carrying the faint fragrance of pinewood. A sturdy antique table stood at the center, surrounded by finely carved chairs.
With a subtle motion, Jade crossed the room and closed the wide window shutters, letting only thin slivers of light fall across the floor. The quiet thickened. He lowered himself into a chair, his movements precise, controlled.
"Please have a seat, sir," he said at last, his voice softer now, his tone respectful but weighted.
Kim Jin sat opposite him, his posture still, his eyes lingering on Jade with unspoken questions.
Jade avoided his gaze, staring instead at the wooden patterns of the table. His words came low, steady, but laced with something deeper.
"What brought you here, sir? You could have sent a word… a request for me to come."
A small, resigned smile tugged at Kim Jin's lips.
"You must be busy," he replied quietly, "fulfilling your duties as head of the military in this kingdom. How could I summon you?"
Though he spoke without sarcasm, the words landed heavy, settling into the silence between them like stones cast into deep water.
Jade exhaled faintly, breaking the stillness with a sigh. His eyes lifted, meeting Kim Jin's with a calm, unwavering gaze.
"I'll soon go to the Ash Kingdom myself," he said evenly, "and deliver the news that I no longer serve as their spy. That role is no longer mine, nor will I place such a burden on you. Once again… forgive me, sir."
Kim Jin studied Jade in silence, his aged eyes searching the younger man's face for something—perhaps regret, perhaps conviction. At last, he drew in a deep breath, the sound heavy in the quiet room, and exhaled as though releasing years of unspoken weight.
"Well…" His voice was low, steady, almost weary. His gaze shifted away from Jade and landed on the Hana Kingdom's flag hanging in the corner. Its fabric fluttered faintly in the cool draft slipping through the shutters, the silver emblem glinting in the muted morning light. Slowly, Kim Jin's eyes returned to Jade.
"You look… striking in that black and silver minister's cloth," he said. His tone carried neither scorn nor admiration, but something caught in between. "Whenever you came to my place in the dead of night, dressed in plain black, slipping through the shadows for your confidential missions as a spy… you were the unseen, the hidden. But now—" his lips pressed thin, "—now I see you robed in the uniform of this kingdom, standing in their light. And I can't deny it." His head tilted slightly, resigned. "You look fit for this."
Jade's lips pressed together. He lowered his gaze, his throat tightening. Slowly, he nodded, the words caught somewhere inside him.
"I'm sorry," he said at last, his voice a low murmur.
It was all he could manage. For in Kim Jin's eyes, beneath the calm, he could feel it—the disappointment, the faint sting of betrayal, the wound of a broken bond fractured.
Then, unexpectedly, Kim Jin's tone softened, smoothed by something that was neither anger nor bitterness, but an unsettling serenity.
"You must think I'm angry with you, Jade." His eyes narrowed faintly, searching. "But I'm not."
Jade's lashes flickered, his eyes quivering almost imperceptibly. He drew in a shallow breath but remained silent.
Kim Jin leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap, his voice steady yet tinged with something unshakable.
"Yes. To be brutally honest, when you first told me you were quitting your role as the spy, I was furious. Very mad." He let out a brittle laugh, one without joy, only resignation. "I dedicated more than a decade—over ten years—to this mission. You, planted here as Ash Kingdom's shadow, and me, the bridge that bound you to them. I thought we were walking the same path. I thought we carried it together. I really did."
Jade swallowed, his chest heavy, but the words refused to rise.
Kim Jin's voice lowered, deepened, as if peeling back the silence.
"So yes, I was mad. But in the past several days…" His eyes fixed on Jade, sharp yet searching. "I kept thinking. Over and over. Why? Why did you turn your back on Ash Kingdom? On me. And on why you chose Hana instead."
Jade sat still, his posture composed, but his eyes—deep, unwavering—remained fixed on Kim Jin, absorbing every word like ripples across a still pond.
Kim Jin's lips curved, not in mockery, but in a smile he could no longer hide. It carried the weight of both sorrow and reluctant acceptance.
"Like you once confessed, you are in love with the Queen," he said. "And how could I stop you? How could I, when for the first time in your life, you've truly, genuinely in love with a woman as a woman?"
The words hung in the air like a confession.
Jade didn't move, didn't speak. His silence was not denial, nor was it shame. Everything Kim Jin said was true—and Jade knew it.
Kim Jin leaned back slightly, his eyes narrowing in thought before a quiet laugh slipped from his chest, weary but honest.
"I thought about you, Jade. About who you are, and what it is you truly pursue." His eyes gleamed as though he had uncovered a hidden truth. "And it struck me—funnily enough—that everything you seek aligns with what this Hana Kingdom seeks. And everything you've reject… is what Ash Kingdom stands for."
Jade's gaze flickered. The faintest tremor passed through his eyes, betraying the storm of recognition in his chest.
'How did he know?' The thought pressed against him. 'It must have been obvious, right.'