Seong left without waiting for Ryang's reply.
As the door closed behind him, Ryang let out a shaky breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It was his lord's command. To personally execute his beloved, whose body he couldn't even bear to see tortured, was the order given by the lord he served. Ryang didn't know what it felt like to kill a person. Is Seong always this ruthless? Is that how he could execute his own uncle, a man like a father to him, to save Seon and me? Can I do the same to Dara? He wasn't sure.
It wasn't long before Seong summoned everyone again. Ryang knelt once more before the assembly. A sword left Seong's hand and landed before Ryang. It clattered against the floor, then fell silent. Beyond the hilt, he could see the tips of Seong's shoes. Seong's order came from above, out of Ryang's sight.
"Execute the traitor who betrayed Wicheong Palace and House Myeonghyeon with your own hands," Seong commanded. "Use that sword to cut away your negligence and carelessness. The execution is tomorrow."
A heavy silence pressed down, awaiting Ryang's response. A calm voice emerged from his bowed figure.
"I will take responsibility by resigning from my position, as the Ministry of Emissary Divine demands. Please withdraw the order."
You dare to.
Seong was enraged. Despite all my efforts to protect his position, is it just a servant, no, his own clean hands that he sought to protect? The mocking eyes of the Emissaries watched. As Ryang resisted, Seong was just as determined not to back down.
"What qualifies you to take responsibility after abandoning your post?" he retorted.
The sand Ryang gripped in his hand crumbled. Seong pressed for obedience.
"Answer the sentence, High Councilor."
"I cannot obey," Ryang replied.
"It is an order," Seong insisted.
Ryang rose to his feet and lifted his head. His unwavering gaze revealed his chosen path, and rage froze within Seong like frost.
"I defy your order," Ryang declared, looking directly at Seong.
Seong had no other choice. "Imprison him."
His order was curt. Ryang was led away, his arms held by soldiers. After he disappeared, Seong left without another word, his footsteps heavy. The atmosphere was chaotic, as no one had expected to see Ryang pathetically kneeling, defying Seong, and being punished by him. Cheongro clicked his tongue, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Crazy viper. To think we've been tiptoeing around that fool who can't tell right from wrong because of a woman. We should be ashamed."
Sobi glanced at Norahn, but he didn't react, his gaze fixed on the door through which Ryang and Seong had disappeared. She didn't ask for his thoughts when they returned to the Ministry.
Late that night, Seong visited the imprisoned Ryang. The soldiers had confined Ryang and Dara separately, far apart, where even echoes couldn't reach. Ryang sat on the damp floor, his back against the rough stone wall. He didn't raise his head even when he sensed Seong's arrival. Seong gestured for the guards to withdraw. He lowered his voice, his tone laced with suppressed fury.
"I managed to settle the situation with the help of Yeong," he said. "I made sure the Ministry wouldn't bring it up again. And yet, you defied me? In front of everyone?"
"Are you ordering me to personally execute my beloved to protect my position?" Ryang retorted coldly.
Seong's anger flared at Ryang still referring to Dara as his beloved. "It's not about protecting your position! It's a punishment given by the Guardian!"
"If you'd intended to dismiss me from the start, as the Ministry wished," Ryang argued, "why would I need to wield the sword?"
"Your position is not just any post," Seong countered. "It's a mission your father received from your grandfather, passed down to you. Both of them upheld their responsibilities until their last moments. Are you going to throw it away so easily?"
"Guardian."
"Everyone in Wicheong has paid the price for their position!" Seong shouted. "Are you doing this just to protect your own sense of righteousness?"
Ryang, who'd been staring at the floor, raised his head and retorted, his voice rising, "What righteousness do I have left?! I was born carrying the burden of a dirty legacy. I'm nothing but a drug peddler and a brothel owner in Nahmgyo, just as they mock. There's no righteousness left for House Myeonghyeon, for me. I'm not trying to protect righteousness. I just want to remain human."
"Then do I not look human to you?" Seong asked, his voice suddenly laced with sorrow.
"Guardian," Ryang said, silenced by the unexpected vulnerability in Seong's expression.
After a moment, Seong spoke again, his anger subsiding. "The Ministry requested permission to rearm themselves in exchange for not dismissing you."
Ryang's composure faltered. "Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I didn't intend to allow it," Seong replied. "It would've been easier to dismiss their request if you hadn't defied me so openly."
"Guardian, you can't allow that," Ryang argued vehemently. "Have you forgotten how Wi fell?"
"The Ministry is a mere shadow of its former self," Seong countered. "It's not the Sanctuary of Emissary Divine."
"If you truly believe that," Ryang said, "you underestimate the power of faith. Those who harbor faith are no different from moths drawn to a flame. Faith itself is madness. To place a sword in the hands of a madman..."
"They believe in and serve me and the Guardian Crimson," Seong interrupted. "If faith is madness, then I am the source of that madness."
Ryang bit his lip, then fell silent under Seong's intense gaze.
"I haven't granted permission yet," Seong continued. "But if you continue to defy me, I will use even that method to appease them."
Ryang's resolve wavered. Seong's threat was like self-harm to blackmail him. In the Wi era, the Sanctuary of Emissary Divine, driven by their faith in the Azure Scripture and Sahngjon, had turned their swords against the royal family. The King, forced to surrender, became a mere puppet, and the nation, having lost its King's authority, fell to another king's sword. Ryang could clearly see the specter of history looming over Wicheong before they even reclaimed their nation. If that specter were to be revived, it would endanger Ryang and House Myeonghyeon, but ultimately, it was Seong who would be most at risk. Ryang finally yielded.
"I will do it," he said. "I will carry out the execution myself."
"This matter will end as a scandal," Seong said to Ryang, whose head was bowed once more. "Whatever affection you shared, it never happened. That servant, she's never been your beloved."
"Then please allow me to meet her once," Ryang pleaded. "There's something I want to ask."
Tears welled in his eyes. Seong's throat tightened at the sound of his strained voice. But he didn't hesitate.
"No," he said.
Ryang, left alone in the room, felt empty, like a shed skin, his gaze lost in the void.
Ryang was released from prison soon after Seong left. He returned to his chamber, and upon opening the door, he found a sword left on the table by Seong. The sword was a stark reminder: the lord was the one who gave unacceptable orders, and the subject was the one who had to accept them.
My Guardian, you truly are my lord.
A sorrowful loyalty welled within him. The sword on the table felt unreal, like a phantom. Ryang sat before it, spending the night in sleepless contemplation. The endless night felt long.
Morning came, and Dara was dragged to the clearing. Her eyes were covered with a black cloth. She knelt in the center, then lifted her head, sensing Ryang's approach.
"My Lord?" she asked. "Is that you standing before me?"
Ryang didn't answer. He wanted to remove the blindfold, to see her eyes one last time. Can I do it? Can I swing the sword at her doe-like eyes? He desperately wished for no one to call his name, to remain hidden in silence forever. But Norahn urged him on.
"High Councilor," he said, "the order has been given. Execute the traitor swiftly."
Dara's head shot up. "Ryang?"
Pain throbbed in his palm where it was pressed against the hilt of the sword. It wasn't too late. Let's turn the blade and strike down Cheongro, Norahn, Jang'gyeong Yoon, everyone who has driven me and Dara to this point. I can silence them all. A murderous impulse pulsed through him, but his hands, gripping the sword, lifted on their own.
The sword fell towards Dara's neck. The moment between life and death was brief. Her small body, spurting blood from the severed neck, fell, her head landing on the ground before her, at Ryang's feet. He stood motionless, sword hanging limply in his hand, his eyelids fluttering.
He had worried, absurdly, that his unfamiliarity with the sword would prevent him from severing her neck with one blow. A needless worry. Human flesh and bone were so fragile, severed by the mere weight of the sword. The weight of the sword had ended Dara's life, silencing the sweet breath she once shared with him. Ryang absorbed the reality in pieces, slowly, so as not to crumble. He grieved slowly, carefully, so as not to break.
He turned to Seong, his face splattered with blood. The coppery scent was so strong that the memory of Dara's warm, youthful scent had already faded. Only Seong's stern face was clear before him. Ryang bowed, his hands still clasped around the sword.
"This unfaithful subject has received the mercy of the Guardian," he said.
Seong didn't reply and was the first to leave. Soldiers arrived and carried Dara's body away on a stretcher. The excrement that had seeped from her body mixed with blood, staining the ground. Ryang dragged his feet, returning to his chamber. No one, not even the Ministry of Emissary Divine, who had relentlessly hurled insults at him, uttered a word.
Kyeongseon Ung, who had remained in the background, sought out Seong. Despite the matter being resolved, Seong's expression was grim. He glanced at Ung at the sound of his approach, then looked away, his gaze falling on the empty desk. Ung sat down, and a long silence followed.
"Did I make a wrong judgment?" Seong finally asked.
"Do you blame yourself?" Ung replied.
Seong couldn't forget Ryang's frozen eyes, his face stained with blood. "I saw that look on his face again after four years. He was so composed even in that cave... Perhaps I should have just covered up his wrongdoing, even if it meant being a despicable lord. I don't understand why I couldn't ignore them. I've never felt certain about any of my decisions."
"This resolution protected him," Ung assured him. "In many ways."
"Do you really think it protected Ryang?" Seong asked.
Ung didn't answer.
"There's something I want you to take care of, Master," Seong said.
"Tell me," Ung replied.
"Where is the servant's body?"
"They probably discarded it in the forest."
Seong hesitated. "Please retrieve it discreetly and deliver it to Ryang," he requested. "I'm ashamed to ask you this when you're already worried about Joon."
Ung bowed without a word. "It's nothing. I will take care of it."
After Ung left, Seong spread a blank sheet of paper on his desk and began grinding ink. He ground the ink for a long time, listening to the subtle friction of the ink stick against the inkstone. He dipped his brush into the thick ink and carefully wrote down his message.
──────────
Cheongro, summoned by Norahn, shifted nervously, his legs numb. The pungent scent of Crystal Haze wafted towards Norahn, who sat at a distance.
"What are you doing when Wicheong is in turmoil and we should be on high alert?" Norahn reprimanded in a low, forceful voice.
"I was just offering prayers," Cheongro stammered, "but it seems I misjudged the dosage..."
"We lost," Norahn interrupted.
Cheongro's head shot up. "What do you mean? Lost?"
"The Guardian will announce it soon," Norahn said. "Read it with your own eyes."
He tossed a sheet of paper towards Cheongro. Cheongro's face crumpled as he read through it.
"That is the Guardian's unwavering declaration that he will not abandon the High Councilor," Norahn continued. "We failed to remove him, we couldn't strip him of any authority, we failed to rearm ourselves, and we only earned the Guardian's hostility."
Cheongro feigned composure. "It's nothing to worry about. What good is another title for the High Councilor? Will his authority stand in Wicheong after acting like a madman to protect his lover?"
Norahn ignored Cheongro's attempt at self-consolation. "Lie low for a while," he warned, "and keep a close watch on the Emissaries."
The paper Norahn had thrown at Cheongro soon became Seong's official announcement before the assembled crowd. With Ryang standing before him, Seong read in a calm voice.
"For this holy war to reclaim Sunyahng and all our ancestral lands, I bestow upon Ryang of House Myeonghyeon the title of the Mirror of the Guardian, in addition to his duties as High Councilor. From this moment on, his command is my command, and his command is the will of the Guardian of the Azure Scripture. Therefore, Myeonghyeon Ryang, the High Councilor, the Mirror of the Guardian of the Azure Scripture, shall always exercise restraint and vigilance, so that those who follow him may see the light of the Guardian and the light of Sahngjon in his actions."
Seong then retrieved a blue jade tablet from his robes, inscribed with an inscription in gold inlay. It was the item bestowed upon him by his father, Cheon Yong, on the day he inherited the title of Young Guardian. Ryang stepped forward, bowing deeply as he accepted the tablet.
"Ryang of House Myeonghyeon accepts the decree of the Guardian of the Azure Scripture," he said.
Seong nodded. Ryang stepped back, his hands clasped together in respect. He gripped the tablet tightly, the engraved characters pressing into his skin. He returned to his position at Seong's right-hand side, the pendant hidden within his sleeve.