"What do you want?" Ryucheon asked.
Ryang replied with calm courtesy.
"Take my sister with you to Dong'gyeong before the city gates close completely. I ask this of you as her brother."
A bitter chuckle escaped Ryucheon's lips the moment he heard it.
"At least you aren't planning to drag your sister to the grave with you. But what would you have done if I had left with the supply fleet? Why come to me only now?"
Accusation laced Ryucheon's words, his gaze sharpening into a glare. Ryang offered no elaboration for his decision, nor did he make excuses for his delay. Ryucheon studied Ryang's exhausted, lifeless face with a hint of pity before pointing out the obvious.
"You're the one forcing the entire city into a suicide pact. A dead man might not care about infamy, but what if a miracle happens and you actually win? It will come to light that you secretly sent your sister to Gahng'ahn. Are you prepared to bear the consequences?"
Ryang cut him off.
"What does that matter to a departing man? It's none of your concern."
A perilous fracture ran through the loyal subject's absolute resolve in this moment of entrusting Seon. The very conviction he defended with his death in Hyangdo was the very conviction he betrayed for her life in Dong'gyeong. This glaring contradiction gave Ryucheon the certainty that the only future Ryang envisioned for himself was death. However, Ryang's desperate last stand was not Ryucheon's war. To point out the heavy hypocrisy to a man who intended to bury all such contradictions in his own grave would only result in a pointless endeavor.
Ryucheon finally answered Ryang's request.
"You don't need to ask. I was already planning to take her."
Though the realization of the secret pact forged between Seon and Ryucheon dawned on him, no anger rose within Ryang. He asked,
"I figured as much. Is it just Seon?"
Ryucheon slowly shook his head.
"That was the plan, but she begged me to save three more. How could I say no?"
"I can guess two of them. Who's the third?"
"That young Emissary who caused the uproar recently."
The name Siu gave Ryang pause. It was strange that Seon would prioritize the young Emissary over their other retainers, but he withheld the question. Pushing the minor anomaly aside, he dryly noted Ryucheon's burden.
"You're taking on quite a heavy burden."
"I'll have to spend the voyage devising a plausible excuse to explain this unexpected cargo to my superiors."
Ryucheon spoke of it lightly, as if a simple excuse might suffice, but Ryang knew the reality would be far less forgiving. The uncontrollable chaos of Birahng alone would put Ryucheon in jeopardy. Yet, seeing Ryucheon willingly shoulder the lives of four people, Ryang could no longer bury the question he had harbored for so long. Meeting Ryucheon's gaze steadily, Ryang asked,
"Do you love her?"
Faced with a question he never expected to hear from Ryang, Ryucheon fell silent. He weighed his words for a long moment before choosing honesty.
"I tried not to, but I failed," he confessed. "Perhaps it was an impossible endeavor from the very beginning."
After turning the confession over in his mind, Ryang retrieved the green jade necklace from his robes and offered it to him.
"It is a keepsake our mother left for Seon."
When Ryucheon's gaze shifted between the necklace and Ryang, Ryang explained its history.
"She left it for the man Seon would choose as her life companion. Seon does not know it exists. I intended to give it to her this year upon her coming of age, but the right moment eluded me. Please hand it to her once you safely escape Birahng."
Ryucheon slowly accepted the necklace, his expression troubled.
"Do you have absolutely no intention of surviving to give this to her yourself?" he asked.
Ryang remained silent. After letting the silence stretch long enough for its meaning to become clear, he asked Ryucheon a question of his own.
"Once you arrive safely in Dong'gyeong... will you marry my sister?"
Ryucheon responded with bewildered questions.
"I was told the bloodline of a Celestial Scion must remain pure," he mentioned. "Wasn't I just a 'barbarian scoundrel' to you? Furthermore, I am a Latecomer, as your people call us."
"I shouldn't need to explain that such obsolete customs no longer matter. It is a rule that should have vanished long ago."
Ryang added, "It seems my sister has secreted away family assets behind my back, aside from what she handed over to Princess Kyeong'ui. I've never questioned her about it, but I am certain. It's a considerable fortune. I don't know where she hid it, but she is clever; she wouldn't have kept it on Birahng. If you can retrieve it, it will be of great help when the two of you start a new family."
Ryucheon frowned slightly.
"I doubt she would want me to know about those assets," he pointed out. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I told you. She secreted them away behind my back. Even if those assets are now beyond my reach, is it not still the prerogative of the head of the family to dictate their use? "
Ryucheon opened his mouth to speak but bit his lower lip instead. He picked up his pipe from the desk.
"My thoughts are tangled. I need a smoke."
Ryang gave a subtle nod of permission. Ryucheon took a deep drag from his lit pipe, his words mingling with the exhaled smoke.
"Marriage…" he mused. "If I harbored no such intentions, why would I weigh down my own escape route? However, that rests entirely upon Lady Myeonghyeon's heart. It is not a matter subject to your decree or my desire. Therefore, I cannot offer you a firm vow."
Ryucheon added a few words to soothe Ryang's anxious mind.
"But I shall deliver the earnestness of your plea to her, with all my heart," he promised.
It wasn't a guarantee, but Ryucheon's answer was enough to bring Ryang relief. Only then did he lay out the pleas he couldn't leave directly with Seon.
"Seon is kinder and more fragile than she appears. She doesn't have it in her to ignore your efforts. If you approach her with sincerity, she will open her heart to you."
Ryucheon looked at him in disbelief.
"If I approach her? Taking her to Gahng'ahn is already a foolish act. I've already put my neck on the line."
"You know that's not what I mean."
Ryang continued his earnest request. "You've experienced her temper, so you know she is not an easy person. Still, her devotion to her family is fiercer than anyone's. So, even if she occasionally says or does things that hurt your feelings, please be generous and embrace her."
Ryucheon chuckled, his shoulders shaking slightly, dismissing Ryang's anxiety.
"You don't need to worry about that. She has an exceptional talent for keeping me on a tight leash. If anything, you should be the one pitying me. You get to depart this world honorably defending your lord here, and she has the temperament to leave me whenever she pleases. I am the one hopelessly entangled in her snare. Shouldn't I be the one you pity the most?"
Observing Ryang's rigid expression soften slightly, Ryucheon pressed on.
"I know you've been digging into my past. That's why I'm curious. How can you so easily entrust your sister to a man who abandoned his own parents, siblings, wife, and child just to survive?"
"Hardly," Ryang replied. "But Dong'gyeong is foreign to her; you are all she has there. Surely, such a rare tragedy wouldn't strike the same house twice."
"Tragedies keep repeating for House Myeonghyeon. There is no guarantee House Baek will be spared a second time."
"Even so, it's safer than remaining on a battlefield she wants no part of. And it's not as if you abandoned your wife and child. You were the one abandoned."
Ryucheon replied bitterly to Ryang's brief correction. "You never miss a sore spot, do you?"
He took another deep drag from his pipe, blowing a loose trail of smoke through his lips. "I sincerely hoped that House Myeonghyeon, at the very least, would survive."
"Sincere..." Ryang mused. "That's a word rarely heard from you."
"What need is there to hide my true thoughts from a man about to die soon?"
Ryang offered a melancholy smile, not bothering to deny the grim future Ryucheon repeatedly asserted. "If you keep Seon safe, then thanks to you, House Myeonghyeon will survive."
A quiet pity settled in Ryucheon's eyes as he observed Ryang, who so desperately sought to equate Seon's survival with the continuation of his lineage. House Baek was now reduced to Ryucheon alone; there could be no further tragedy for the family. Any future misfortune would be his alone to bear. Similarly, Ryucheon believed that if Ryang perished in Hyangdo and Seon escaped safely, it would merely be the survival of an individual named Seon, not House Myeonghyeon. Yet, if Seon were to accept him—if they were to become an 'us' rather than two isolated souls—then his tragedies would become hers, and hers his.
Ryucheon attached a condition to Ryang's request. "In return, there is a task you must complete."
Ryang's gaze, melancholic until now, sharpened once more. "Is it Princess Kyeong'ui?"
"If the city falls, kill her before Soyeol takes her," Ryucheon indicated. "Holding her briefly was one thing, but letting her live in their hands complicates matters with Sunyahng—and threatens my own standing. I must keep my head to protect your sister's, wouldn't you agree?"
With that, Ryucheon retrieved a small silk pouch from his robes, taking out two small pills wrapped in paper and offering them to Ryang.
"What are these?" Ryang asked.
"Have her swallow it, lie back, and breathe deeply. It ends painlessly. Give it to her before the gates fall. Consider it a mercy, given your apparent fondness."
"Fondness?" Ryang questioned.
"No?"
Not a trace of doubt lingered in Ryucheon's gaze, but Ryang denied it without hesitation. "You presume too much."
Evading Ryucheon's unwavering stare, Ryang pointed out the number of pills. "There are two pills. Must she take both?"
"They are identical. I thought you might need one as well."
Ryang somberly accepted the explanation. "You're certain this is our end."
Ryucheon slowly shook his head. "I don't believe in miracles. What is meant to happen will happen. Hyangdo will fall, and if you choose to stay by your lord's side, you will die."
Ryang closed his hand around the pills. Seeing Ryang's fist clench tight, Ryucheon sighed.
"Stubborn to the very end..."
Not wishing to prolong the farewell, Ryang rose from his seat. Ryucheon hastily set down his pipe and stood to face him. Ryang offered a formal bow.
"I will take my leave. I entrust my sister to you."
Meeting Ryang's resolute gaze, Ryucheon offered his final parting words.
"I enjoyed the company. You were the only decent conversation in this backwater. Serve your lord well to the end, and try to find a clean death."