"So it is official then, The Third Prince did always have his eyes on my wife, that is why he did not hesitate to bring down his own Princess Consort and shift the blame on her for everything that he was caught doing at the time…" "My Lord Nam, please do not bring this up to your wife; she has always loves you and has always chosen you over everyone else, even when she was in between brothels and had plenty of men who was willing to pay for her freedom and she still waited for you regardless." "I heard that the previous Princess Consort of his choice was already practically married and with child on the way, but he had the husband killed off and he used to t threaten her parents lives if she did not marry him, but then the actual Princess Consort somehow got in the way of that?" "But what does that have to do with anything at all?" "Everyone around her who refused to help her wanted her to gain a position in the inner palace and pander to their needs, no matter how incompetent they were at the time." "Weren't people's lives at risk back then?" "Isn't that a better ruse to use than the ex-concubines show have all gotten on with their lives at this point? We do not need to drag people down in my plans unnecessarily like you mentioned to me more than once…" "so you can listen to instruction?" "Hwa-Wol…" "ok ok, I appreciate how hard it must be for you to change like this, so let us go with that plan. Can you even find the girl though? Do you know her? Or where she is right now?" "The worst case scenario than we can think of is that you will also have to spread rumours about that incident as she was a Princess Consort specifically chosen by not only The Third Prince, but his father as well." "I suppose that I can try to make it work, will you then look for her yourself whilst I am in the palace? I do not mean to put pressure on you, but I do not want to stay here long as my children need me…" "They are being looked after by the people that we trust the most, but I understand what you are saying. As small and chaotic as they are, I didn't think that I would miss my own children this much as well…maybe I really wasn't ready to come back to the palace yet after all…" "It will take some time but let us wrap all of this up as quickly as possibly whilst I work on Hui-Jae, and you can leave once you have eaten all of your food otherwise I will have your wife to answer to, she is already worried about your diet as it is." ""Very well…"
"Forgive me, but can I ask you something?" "Just the one question." "Do you really not care about her at all? Did you ever care about Hui-Jae, even before you looked at…" "From the moment that she turned to me after despising me so publicly, I already knew what she had in mind. If there was any good that my father taught me, it was to harness my enemies and put them to use, that is thinly reason that I have allowed her to live for so long. But I also owe her death to you as well after everything that she had put you through, and the very last thing that I want is to loose your trust in me, especially when your firstborn means a lot to me. She still follows me around everywhere that she can…" "then you had better come back in one piece so that she can still spend time with her favourite uncle." "Really? So I am her favourite then?" "Of course you are, she always runs to you as soon as she has her supper doesn't she?" "Very well, I shall probably bring her some gifts if I make it out of this alive…" "Lord Nam, don't you think the matter of bringing prostitutes on board is a little suspicious? They even named them as 'leaning horses?" "Leaning Horses? That does sound rather familiar to me…they will be brought directly onto the boat? That is what you said, right?" "That is what I was told by The Senior Ladies, why? Will you check out the boat first?" "I suppose that I must…"
***************************
"What happened? What did the Senior Ladies say to The Emperor that he has indefinitely banned me from coming onto the boat tour? But Seo Yeon gets to come along! Are they being serious! I know that I am labelled a criminal, but The Royal Family is keeping me alive due to everything that I know about them! So why can't I come! Why! What about all of my efforts? I already have a small boat secured for our safety when the rebellion happens! I have even secured a spot for that nephew so that he can learn from you! I will never leave you alone on that boat no matter what happens! You can just seek out extra protection for me like you have done with the nephew!" "The nephew earned a place on thereat tour by surpassing his studies and martial arts goals and has proven himself useful to my new allies here in the palace! And you? What have you done apart from offend everyone that you come into contact with!" "Third Prince! I have always regarded you as my most intimate partner, whom I love and respect the most! I have always devoted my entire life to you and your plans to rebellion after you lost your principle wife! Even now when I can clearly inform others about your plan, I will never do so! I shall stand by your side and help you! I unsparingly trampled on what little devotion The Lord Nam had for me in the beginning so that I could be your woman! I constantly humiliated him to won over your favour when you kept visiting me in my brothel just before The Liadong War!" "Are you done with the theatrics? Do you not think that I know that every time we are together, that you are not fantasising about him? Why do you think he kept you alive for so long? It is because he wants to see you in this fallen state after everything that you have put him through!"
"What on earth are you talking about now?" "You do anything you can to covert power, so much so that you have exhausted yourself with misdeeds and you can blame, hate and resent Seo Yeon all that you want, but you were the one who chose to betray your loved ones! You caused your own humiliating downfall with your easily suspicious nature!" So you will still not protect me and stand up for me! Even now! After everything that I have sacrificed for you!" "You are my subject! It is your duty to make sacrifices for me and the good of this kingdom!" "So you will really just leave me to rot here? You will not think of me for even half a second!" "My goodness, can you not take a hint! Your mind must have aged along with your haggard body and vanished beauty! Even your hands have turned callous and wrinkled, along with your faded brows and your hair that is already beginning to fallout before you have even birthed any children at all!" "Can you really be so cruel? I am willing to die for you, and all you do is insult me like this! You doula't do this to me if I was her, isn't that right? The woman that you have always wanted to marry instead of me, isn't that right! She despises you after everything that you have done to her family, what makes you think that she is thinking about you at all! She doesn't even love the man she is with now, she only loves herself enough to be protected by the man who never used to look at her until she lost all of her memories! She only uses him to obtain her goals of securing her brother's position and nothing more! Why do men never treasure the women that love them, but treasure the ones that use them instead"
"I think that you are the fool here instead Mistress Han, for not seeing what condition The Lord Nam has left you in before handing you over to me like some common toy. Didn't you humiliate him and trample all over his devotion to you? And what condition has he left you in return? One where you now constantly obsess over him and his extraordinary wife? A condition where you will do anything for the prestige that the Lord Nam has so that you can beat him as if any man can be you're equal? You cannot even secure a damned boat without my support and influence for yourself! I am the one who has to carry out the work that your sisters did in the brothel by gathering knowledge of their secrets and sins and use them against them in support of myself, so what do I need you for at all! I can tell the difference between who is needy, who is incompetent, and who is covering up for their crimes." "I have also had hundreds of opportunities to kill you myself and I haven't!" "Because of your endless devotion to me? Are you a deliberate hypocrite or are you not aware that you keep contradicting yourself every time no speak? No wonder The Lord Nam willingly handed you over to me, you must have drained him enough to have allowed him too make several mistakes when you were with him…" "I AM NOT A JINX! SEO YEON IS, NOT ME!" "Men! The Mistress Han is displaying signs of insanity! Take her back to the dungeons where she belongs and keep her there this time! As for The Lord Nam, I shall kill him for giving me such trouble like this!"
"Your Highness! Quickly! The tour boat has caught on fire! And the assassins that we planned have mistaken the signal and they have already launched their attack in confusion!" "WHAT! SINCE WHEN DID I SAY THAT FIRE WOULD BE THE SIGNAL I WOULD USE TO SUMMON THEM!" "Your Highness, it was the work of The Mistress Han…" "QUICKLY PUT THE FIRE OUT! I AM GOING TO KILL THAT FUCKING BITCH WITH MY OWN HANDS! AND WHERE IS MY FATHER!" "Your Highness, he was set to go on the boat today for an inspection…" "For fucks sake! Send my men to get my father and brother's off of that boat at once! Before they get hurt and I get blamed for it all!" "And what about the assassins!" "They…have caused a great disturbance on my father's ship and set it on fire! So what fucking choice do I have but to kill everyone on board! Go and get it done! And don't dare leave any witnesses alive!" "But Your Highness1 What about your brothers? That was the whole point of this rebellion, it was to kill them!" "Do you really think I can get away with that now!" "Yes you can, you can spare a few minutes from the confusion of this battle and go after them instead! With then gone, your father will have no choice but to hand you the crown to his throne so that he can keep his honour with his clan even after his death!" "Very well, block off all of the exits so that nobody on board has a chance to escape, unless they can swim and I know that my brothers cannot."