The residence where the people of the Unseong family were staying had been prepared by His Majesty the King.
Since the people of Unseong had, strictly speaking, come as guests of His Majesty, security was tight in case any mishap occurred.
"This won't be easy. We don't even know where my sister is," Sanghyeok said worriedly.
It looked airtight, but I wasn't concerned.
"I've already made my move."
Right on cue, Jeong Doyun emerged from the darkness and spoke.
"The target is being held in solitary confinement. I replaced the guards with my subordinates, so you can go in without worry."
Huam existed everywhere in this land.
As a unit directly under the royal family, its members were stationed in all kinds of places, and some were even escorting the Unseong family.
Jeong Doyun had discreetly replaced the guards with Huam operatives.
"They rotate once every hour, so you'll need to finish within that time. This way."
Jeong Doyun had already prepared the infiltration route.
Together with Sanghyeok, I entered the solitary cell.
Inside the tiny cell, not even one pyeong in size, Joo Eunhui was leaning against the wall, nodding off.
"Sister!"
The situation was worse than expected.
Leaving a severely injured patient in such an unsanitary place was unforgivable.
Sanghyeok's face flushed with anger as he grabbed Joo Eunhui's shoulder.
Startled awake, Joo Eunhui looked back and forth between Sanghyeok and me.
"How did you get in here? And who is that…?"
"I'm Lee Seoha of Cheongsin. I'm Sanghyeok's friend."
"Oh, you're the one…"
Joo Eunhui forced herself upright and bowed deeply.
"I heard you gave Young Master Sanghyeok a new life. Thank you, Young Master Seoha."
"I'll accept your thanks properly once this matter is resolved."
There was no time.
I began explaining quickly.
"From now on, I'm going to put you into a suspended state."
"A suspended state?"
"We'll fake your death. We'll suppress all vital activities so you appear dead."
"..."
Seeing Joo Eunhui look unconvinced, Sanghyeok spoke.
"He'll kill you once, then wake you back up."
"I see."
Joo Eunhui steeled herself.
"Please begin right away."
She looked like someone prepared to face death.
I looked at her neck.
There were traces of her having tried to take her own life.
It must have been because she thought she was a burden to Sanghyeok.
And I could guess why she had failed.
"They probably kept watch outside to stop you from killing yourself."
As long as she stayed alive, they could control Sanghyeok however they pleased.
"I need to concentrate, so Sanghyeok, step outside for a bit. Keep watch too."
"Okay."
Once Sanghyeok left, Joo Eunhui asked,
"Is it dangerous?"
"It is. If something goes wrong, you may never wake up again."
The longer one stayed in a suspended state, the harder it was to return alive.
"That sounds good."
I looked at Joo Eunhui, who was smiling.
"If I die, the shackles binding Young Master Sanghyeok will be gone, right?"
"…Well. Some people might move on and forget. But usually, regret lingers longer. It stays with you for life, until death."
I looked straight into her eyes.
"If you die this time, Sanghyeok will live his entire life in regret. He'll gain a shackle he can never break. The same goes for me. I'd live my whole life regretting that I killed my friend's sister. So don't think about dying. Endure. To die and come back alive, you need strong will."
Joo Eunhui awkwardly rubbed her neck.
"You talk like you've died before."
"Did it sound that way? Let's begin. First, take this."
I handed her a medicine I had prepared.
It calmed the mind and body and made one drowsy.
Without asking what it was, Joo Eunhui drank it and leaned back comfortably.
I checked her pulse and waited for the medicine to spread through her body.
Soon, it was time for the needles.
Taking a deep breath, I inserted the first needle into an acupoint.
Slowly.
This wasn't like when I treated Senior Hyojeong. There was no need to rush.
"Slowly. Carefully."
After an hour of placing each needle with full concentration,
I had inserted and removed a total of ninety-seven needles and checked Joo Eunhui's condition.
Her pulse was barely beating, as if dead, and even with my ear to her nose, I couldn't hear her breathing.
To anyone, she would look dead.
But she was alive.
After confirming the faint pulse, I called Sanghyeok back in.
Sanghyeok rushed in and checked on Joo Eunhui.
"…She's not dead, right?"
"No. It's faint, but there's a pulse. Someone at the level of a senior wearing ceremonial robes might be able to feel it."
It was so faint that even I wouldn't have noticed without learning life-and-death acupuncture.
They wouldn't notice.
"How long can she last?"
"An hour or two should be fine. Let's move quickly."
I spoke to Jeong Doyun's subordinates waiting outside.
"Inform the head of the Unseong family immediately that the prisoner is dead. Say she attempted suicide by poison."
"Understood."
Sanghyeok and I hid in a place overlooking the solitary cell.
Before long, Han Baeksa appeared.
Seeing Joo Eunhui lying inside and the medicine bottle dropped beside her, he spoke with fury.
"Check her!"
The attendant who went in came rushing out.
"No pulse, no breathing. She's dead. There's a medicine bottle beside her."
"Haa…"
With a tiger-like expression, Han Baeksa shouted at the guards.
"How did she get poison? I told you to be careful!"
"We're not sure…"
"Tsk. Useless."
Watching the scene, Han Myeongho walked over.
"What will you do now? If Sanghyeok finds out she's dead, he won't lose to Yeongsu."
Sanghyeok frowned.
Despite someone who had served the household for over ten years dying, they were worried about something else.
Han Baeksa went even further.
"How would he know? Tomorrow both the semifinal and final will be held anyway. We only need to use him until tomorrow. Take that unlucky thing and dispose of it somewhere quietly."
"You insane bastard…"
Sanghyeok barely managed to swallow his rage.
But for me, this was actually good.
"I knew it."
If they had insisted on holding a funeral, things would have become troublesome.
If Unseong disposed of the body quietly like this, no one would know Joo Eunhui had died, making cleanup much easier.
As I thought that, the guards began carrying the body—no, the suspended Joo Eunhui—away.
"Let's move too."
The ones carrying Joo Eunhui were Jeong Doyun's subordinates.
The moment Han Baeksa gave the order, they rushed in, hoisted her up, and headed for the designated location.
The meeting place was by a stream at the foot of a mountain.
After laying Joo Eunhui on a mat, the guards bowed their heads and disappeared.
"Wait a moment."
Sanghyeok nodded, stepped back, clasped his hands, and watched me.
Now was the real beginning.
Infiltration had been easy with Jeong Doyun's help, and inducing suspended animation wasn't difficult if you knew the method.
But waking someone from that state was another matter entirely.
From here on, there could be no mistakes.
Slowly. If the body didn't recover naturally and wake up, all kinds of problems could arise.
I checked the pulse, placed the first needle, then checked again.
Only after confirming some recovery could I place the second needle, repeating the process.
If I went too fast, the startled body would convulse; too slow, and I wouldn't be able to revive her in time.
Neither too rushed nor too late.
Finally, I inserted and removed the last needle, completing the treatment.
Now, whether she would wake up or not depended on Joo Eunhui herself.
"Is it done?"
"Yes. I've done everything I can. Now we can only hope Joo Eunhui pulls through."
According to Master Yakseon, even if everything was done perfectly, recovery wasn't guaranteed.
It depended on the individual's resilience.
Sanghyeok pressed his forehead to Joo Eunhui's hand and prayed.
"Please, please, please…"
I watched from a step away.
Was it supposed to take this long?
My heart, which had stayed calm in any situation before my regression, began to pound.
This life couldn't fail.
Nothing could fail.
Failure. Failure. Failure.
Just as those two characters were about to fill my mind—
"…Sanghyeok."
Joo Eunhui opened her eyes.
"Sister!"
I rushed to her side and checked her pulse.
"…It's normal."
Sanghyeok nodded and pressed his forehead to her hand again.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Are you conscious?"
Joo Eunhui nodded slightly.
But she still couldn't move yet.
A body that had died once needed at least several hours to return to normal.
I looked around, and Jeong Doyun appeared at just the right time.
"Did you call for me?"
"Please take care of Joo Eunhui."
"Yes. I'll prepare."
While Jeong Doyun made preparations, I explained the next plan to Joo Eunhui and Sanghyeok.
"Sanghyeok. We're sending your sister to Hwagang."
"Hwagang? That's…"
"Arin's city. Cheongsin is close to the capital, so if Unseong realizes your sister is alive, it'll be the first place they search. Hwagang is relatively far and has no direct connection to us. It'll be safer."
"Does Arin know?"
"Her father already does. He promised to protect her no matter what."
"Okay. Let's do that."
Sanghyeok nodded, and I nodded back at Joo Eunhui.
Soon, Jeong Doyun brought a small palanquin.
Anyone would think a noble young lady was inside such an ornate palanquin.
"If we move her like this, no one will suspect anything."
"I leave her to you."
"Sister. Wait for me. I'll come see you, no matter what."
Smiling, Joo Eunhui got into the palanquin and said to me,
"Thank you, Young Master."
"Take care of yourself."
"I'll live diligently, just like you said."
With those words, Joo Eunhui departed.
Sanghyeok and I let out sighs of relief at the same time.
The night felt long.
But the relief was brief.
The most important thing was still not over.
"Now then, if something leaves, something should come back, right?"
"Just say the word. I'll do anything."
"Really? I actually have a wish. I want you to help me with it."
"I was planning to lose in the final anyway. Honestly, I don't know if I could win even if I tried."
"No. You don't need to do that. You should fight with everything you've got."
"You said you had a wish."
"I do. But wouldn't it be better to show our full potential and earn more points?"
It was a rare chance to show our skills before His Majesty the King.
There was no harm in raising both our reputations as much as possible before making a wish.
Before entering Seongmu Academy, I had thought it would be enough to just stay average—but I'd already become the top student.
"Just listen. You and I need to put on a truly spectacular performance for His Majesty."
I intended to create a magnificent final match where no one would lose.