Chapter 51
This Isn’t Right
In an instant, the hall fell silent.
It wasn’t only Danseol who was startled by Gyeom’s action. Even the king and queen of Yuldo—who had been brought here—looked up at him with shocked, bewildered faces as if they hadn’t expected it.
“I do not intend to kill you.”
“…….”
“However, Your Majesty, these people declared their surrender and then opposed Hwangseon. Therefore they must be severely punished as criminals.”
A minister, unable to bear it any longer, cautiously stepped in.
After announcing their intention to surrender, Yuldo had staged an attack on Gyeom. Fortunately, thanks to Gyeom’s martial skill and Hwangseon commanders who had anticipated trouble, that attempt had failed.
“If the king of Yuldo truly plotted such an action, then yes, that would be the proper course.”
“That statement means….”
“The group that attacked were those who stood against the Yuldo king’s surrender.”
All of Hwangseon’s courtiers assumed the Yuldo king had used surrender as a pretext to try to assassinate Gyeom. But the king of Yuldo had nothing to do with that attack.
“On investigation, they turned out to be the faction that had been colluding with our side.”
In fact, Gyeom had sensed something off even before the attack. It had seemed very suspicious that, when the tide turned against them, Yuldo—who had been fighting Hwangseon using inside collaborators—suddenly announced surrender.
So he had quietly sent people to look into it.
What they discovered was unexpected.
“Yuldo had already been divided into two factions before Hwangseon’s invasion.”
Between the reigning king of Yuldo and his half-brother. Unlike the mild-tempered king, his half-brother was belligerent.
So the two frequently clashed publicly over state affairs.
“This time there was a major conflict over whether to surrender to Hwangseon or to resist.”
“…That is correct.”
The king of Yuldo, who had been silent until then, spoke heavily.
“My younger half-brother acted on his own because he was displeased with my decision to surrender.”
The court murmured at the Yuldo king’s testimony. If his words were true, he could not properly be held guilty.
“We cannot judge solely by words.”
“That is right, Your Majesty.”
At the ministers’ comments, Gyeom stepped one pace toward the king of Yuldo.
“Why did you choose to surrender to Hwangseon, unlike your half-brother?”
At Gyeom’s question, the Yuldo king dropped his head.
“…I did not want my people to suffer any more.”
“What a pathetic excuse.”
“You expect us to believe such words….”
Despite the sneers and sarcasm, the Yuldo king continued steadfastly.
“Yuldo may be small, but it is a country with a long history. For that reason, my people’s love for this land is extraordinary.”
The country had survived so long thanks to people who loved and cherished it in earnest. Even without royal command, they were willing to sacrifice for the land that had been passed down through generations.
But Yuldo’s closed-off ways had caused it to fall behind other states that opened their ports and grew.
Through struggles for the throne and frequent conflicts, the country’s strength had gradually waned.
“Then why, claiming care for your people, did you decide to surrender?”
“I wanted to hand over this place—full of their memories and affection—intact to the people.”
If the war dragged on, Yuldo would be the disadvantaged side. If defeat was inevitable, he preferred to at least preserve the homes and livelihoods of his people.
Even if the country vanished, the people living here would remain.
“What a dreamer’s talk.”
“Now I see why division broke out when unity was needed.”
The courtiers pointed fingers at the Yuldo king, accusing him of giving up his country without even fighting. But he had truly chosen what he believed was best for his people.
His half-brother had publicly claimed to defend the country, but in truth sought his own honor and power. He intended to use the people as a stepping-stone to seize the throne he couldn’t claim by birth.
“Even if you don’t fully trust my words, should you show mercy to my people, I will accept Your Majesty’s judgment without protest.”
Everyone scoffed at the Yuldo king, but Danseol could not.
She knew too well what his feelings meant.
Seeing a man swallow his pride and accept the infamy of being called an incompetent king while still trying to protect his people reminded Danseol of her father.
Her father had made the same choice—and had been brutally killed for it.
By that man—Gyeom.
Danseol watched Gyeom standing before the kneeling Yuldo king.
‘I can’t read his thoughts.’
Danseol could not tell what Gyeom was thinking from his expression. He said he would not kill the king, but she didn’t believe him.
She had already been through it once.
‘Maybe those words are just to reassure him.’
Like persuading a ruler to surrender and then cruelly trampling him, as had happened before.
A horrific memory surfaced and her breathing grew rough; her shoulders trembled. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest.
She clutched at her left chest with her hand.
“If it’s agreeable, I would like you to continue administering this place.”
Danseol’s gaze returned to Gyeom.
“This place differs in climate and culture from Hwangseon. You, who are trusted here more than we are, seem best suited to remain.”
“Your Majesty! Even so—”
“Of course, under Hwangseon’s supervision.”
Gyeom’s campaign of conquest was not simply about enlarging territory.
He wanted to plant his influence throughout Hwangseon.
One method was to absorb the royalty of defeated states into Hwangseon’s nobility.
By making them part of the Hwangseon aristocracy, he could turn them to his side.
That was the only way to uproot the deeply rooted Cheon clan and expand his own power across the country.
“Therefore, the king of Yuldo shall become my vassal and remain here to govern on my behalf.”
“My deepest gratitude, Your Majesty.”
The king of Yuldo bowed deeply. Hot tears streamed quietly down his face.
‘What on earth…’
Danseol’s eyes shook violently as she looked at the tearful Yuldo king and Gyeom standing before him.
Everything that followed proceeded smoothly.
The Yuldo king and queen and their household pledged lifelong loyalty to Gyeom and became members of Hwangseon’s nobility.
There were some who viewed them with hostility, but no one spoke against it. They had seen what happened to the Grand General Cheon Taesu when he defied the emperor.
The half-brother who had attacked Gyeom was eventually captured and executed; that faction scattered.
Until all of this had unfolded, Danseol had stayed holed up in her room.
She still bore the shock from before.
“If it’s agreeable, I would like you to continue administering this place.”
“You are trusted by the people here more than we are. You seem the right person.”
Not only had Gyeom spared the surrendering king of Yuldo—unlike the way he had savagely killed Danseol’s parents—he had placed that king in charge of the territory.
‘This isn’t right…’
Danseol bit her lip.
She did not wish the Yuldo king dead. Had Gyeom killed him, she would have been furious—the tragedy of losing her parents had been more than enough.
But contrary to her expectations, Gyeom spared the Yuldo king and entrusted him with rule. And this was not the first time.
“During Seojin as well, His Majesty absorbed the royal family into the nobility and left the territory under their hands.”
Tae Seorang, who had come worried to visit the reclusive Danseol, had told her that this kind of behavior from Gyeom was not new.
‘If that’s so, I can’t hate him completely.’
Danseol felt confused.
The more she learned, the more Gyeom differed from the man she thought she knew.
She had wanted him to be utterly cruel.
No—he had to be.
That would make revenge easier. That would allow her to plunge a knife into his heart without the slightest hesitation.
When Danseol bit her lower lip, a metallic tang spread in her mouth. Yet she continued to gnaw at it as if in a trance.
“Wasn’t she told not to harm herself?”
A large hand moved forward and wiped the drops of blood forming on her full lip.
