“Your majesty, I had heard of a person in black robe taking away the tribute girls.” Advisor Gong reported.

“This is already the third time.” Prime Minister Im added. “Are you going to sit back and watch?” He questioned Dongwook.

“If he is wearing a black robe and appearing everywhere in the town, he might be Kim Jaejoong.” Dongwook commented.

“It must be him.” Advisor Gong agreed.

“Capture him immediately.”

“I will convey that to the Elder,” said Prime Minister Im.

Once Prime Minister Im left the palace, Advisor Gong flashed an unpredictable smile at Dongwook who acknowledged with a nod.

Later the night, Dongwook and Yoona were back in their chamber to rest for the night. Yoona helped Dongwook to undress when Dongwook stared down at the black robe underneath his dragon robe. “This black robe cannot be in Gwi’s hands. Where are you, Kim Jaejoong?”

“Your majesty, are you not afraid of Gwi?” Yoona asked after seeing her husband in a daze.

“Of course I am still afraid of him since too many people had been sacrificed because of me. I even sacrificed my best friend in order to kill Gwi. But moment I saw Gong Yoo hyung waking up as a vampire, it woke me up from this scary nightmare.” Dongwook said with his hands trembling in anger.

Yoona came forward to hold her husband’s hand as comfort.

“For now, in order not to sacrifice any more people, I will make sure I stop Gwi. Not only for Seoeun’s sake but also for everyone’s sake, I must get rid of Gwi so that no one will be hurt!”

“What about the secret plan?” Yoona asked.

“If the secret plan is to kill a human, I will abandon it! And you too! Please don’t put yourself in danger anymore. If anything were to happen to you, I would lose all strength to fight.”

“Your majesty, sorry to disturb but something urgent cropped up.” The eunuch said outside of the chamber.

Dongwook stood up from his seat with Yoona. “I will be back.” Dongwook told his wife.

‘But there are many eyes watching you.”

“Just tell them I went to the temple to visit my mother.” With that Dongwook left his chamber.

On the other side, Gwi summoned Advisor Gong to his lair for the first time, wanting to see what he and Dongwook were up to.

“You’ve come, Advisor!” Gwi bowed to welcome him. “This is your first time here, right?”

“Why do you call me here?” Advisor Gong tried to keep his voice calm.

“I thought maybe we could have a conversation between the old men so I called you here. But why do you look so stiff? I have prepared a present for you.” Gwi waved at him to come closer. “Come closer.”

Advisor Gong approached the vampire warily.

“Now look behind you.” Gwi smirked.

Advisor Gong turned around and got a shock when he saw Gong Yoo, who’s now a rabid feral vampire. “Gong Yoo-ah!”

Gwi stepped between the grandfather and grandson, and cut Gong Yoo’s face. Gong Yoo knelt down to the ground and wiped his bloody face, tasting his blood.

“He hasn’t been eating much recently.” Gwi taunted. “What should I do?”

‘How? How? Gong Yoo-ah!”

Gwi smiled and put his arm around Gong Yoo’s shoulders. “He has been quite a useful kid.”

“Please… I beg you… Please kill Gong Yoo!” Advisor Gong cried.

“Then please listen carefully to what I am going to say. I am curious about what the king has been thinking lately. I want you to come here more frequently to talk to me.” Gwi said, touching Gong Yoo’s head. “And then this child will close his eyes peacefully.”

---

Jaejoong was about to set out to rescue Faye when Junsu stepped in to stop him. “Master, the sun is going to rise soon! Where are you going? There are wanted posters everywhere looking for you. To catch the man in black robe and they are arresting every single person in town.”

Jaejoong placed his hand on Junsu’s shoulder and left the house in a flash. Unknown to Jaejoong, there was someone in black, hiding in the shadow and watching him leave the house.

Moments later, Jaejoong arrived and was trying to look for a way to get into the heavily guarded palace before sunrise. Jaejoong was walking around, looking for a place to hide before sunrise when the guards saw him and started chasing after him.

He tried to fight some of them off but was forced to a corner to hide. Just when he thought he was about to get caught, a black shadow flashed past the guards. “The black robe!” The guards shouted and started chasing after the shadow.

After the coast was clear, Jaejoong came out from the shadow but a masked man in black robe appeared before him. “Who are you?” Jaejoong asked.

“There’s someone who would like to meet you. Let’s leave this place first.”

And then he was taken to a house where all the men were dressed in black robe. Their leader was shrouded behind a screen, also cloaded in black from head to toe.

‘Please sit down.” The leader told Jaejoong.

“Who are you?” Jaejoong asked.

“I’m someone who is on the people’s side. The whole country is looking for you. Did you commit a treason?”

“I also wanted to be on the people’s side. My only sin is to test the king’s loyalty and break the trust.” Jaejoong replied.

“Do you have any hope left for him since he is now a puppet to Gwi?”

“If there’s still something left to expect rom me, who is also a vampire like Gwi…” Jaejoong came forward and pulled the screen away.

The men drew their swords and pointed them at his throat.

“Leave.” The leader told them and they withdrew their swords and left the room.

The leader stood up and revealed himself to Jaejoong. “Do you think I will change my mind now? The 65 years that you have lived to fight Gwi, are you going to throw that away because of a woman?”

“I may have the body and lust of a vampire but I still have the heart of a human inside me. I may be a beast to the others but the reason why I didn’t lose my humanity and endured was because I have never forgotten about Crown Prince Yunho’s wish to set the country straight and to get rid of Gwi. Also! I love that woman more than my own life. I can’t give up either of them!”

“Then will you fight together with me? To fulfill those wishes?”

“If the people had to be sacrificed to Gwi to get rid of him, would you do it? Or are you going to do this just to reclaim your throne from Gwi?” Jaejoong questioned back.

“I am doing this for the people.”

“Then would you be able to abdicate your throne for this reason?”

“I am even prepared to lose my life!” With that Dongwook took the black robe from the table and handed it to Jaejoong.

“How did you get this robe?”

“I will apologize for the queen’s actions. It was because of me.”

Jaejoong nodded. “I’ll ask about it later. But most importantly, Gwi had taken the blood from the people of the maternal relation before. This includes Sehyun’s biological mother.”

Dongwook’s eyes went wide at Jaejoong’s reply. “Then?”

“It would mean even if we were to sacrifice Sehyun, we wouldn’t be able to kill Gwi. And Sehyun, who doesn’t know about this, is currently in the palace.”

“Gwi had ordered the girls to gather at Hwayang-Gak first. But this might be a trap trying to lure you.” Dongwook warned.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Take my guards with you. The gibang will be heavily guarded too. I can’t be seen in anywhere since I am still imprisoned in a way.”

Jaejoong nodded.

---

Faye and the other girls were waiting nervously in the room when BoA came in. Faye stood up and handed a letter to BoA. “Can I trouble you to give this to sunbaenim?”

BoA nodded. “I will definitely do that.”

Just then one of the guards came to tell the girls that they would be going to the palace tonight, and they were not supposed to move or go anywhere.

And then one of the girls burst out crying. “I am going to die soon!”

Faye went over to the girl and held her hand. “All of you will be able to go home soon so you girls don’t have to worry so much.”

Meanwhile Ilkook and the two loansharks were outside of the gibang, checking out the situation there. “I don’t think it is easy to get in.” One of the loansharks said.

“Hyung-nim, why don’t we beat all of them up and go in?” The leader asked Ilkook.

“If only Kim Jaejoong is here…” Ilkook muttered. But when he saw Prime Minister Im outside of the gibang, he almost ran out to beat him but was stopped by the other two.

At the same time, Jaejoong and Dongwook’s men arrived near the gibang. Jaejoong took a glance at the gibang and turned to the men. “Since the gibang is so heavily guarded, the girls can be in danger if we fight head on. There are more guards at the entrance so while you guys are fighting at the entrance, I will go in via another route.”

They gave him a nod and dispersed away immediately.

Back in the gibang, Faye was trying her best to keep the girls distracted with stories about the night scholar. “And in that moment, the night scholar appeared.”

“Unnie, have you ever seen the night scholar before?”

“Of course! The night scholar will appear to save us this time too!” Faye told them. “So all of you will be safe.”

Just then Prime Minister Im came to check on the girls and stopped when he saw Faye. “I have seen you somewhere.” He said, turning Faye to face him. “What is your name?”

“Shim Hyerin.”

“Do you know me?” Prime Minister Im asked.

“Do I know you?” Faye replied back with another question.

“Come with me.”

…

Outside, the black robed men charged to the front gate and started fighting the guards, giving Jaejoong a chance to get over the wall.

At the other side, Ilkook and his minions were watching the fight when the other two were eager to help the black men. “Hyung-nim, let’s go help them out!”

“No. If you two were to go in so recklessly, you would get hurt.” Ilkook told them. “You two stay here and when the girls come out, take them to a safe place.”

“Okay, hyung-nim!”

With that Ilkook jumped in to help the black men. On Jaejoong’s side, he had gotten over the wall but was stopped by one of the guards. He took him out easily and dragged him away.

Back inside, Faye came to another room where Prime Minister Im was. “Come closer.”

Faye did as told.

“Do you really not know me?”

“Do I really need to know you?” Faye shot back with an annoyed look.

The Prime Minister was surprised by her reply. “How dare you talk to me like that?”

“Why can’t I talk to you like this? Who exactly are you, fat man?” Faye shot him a disgusted look.

Prime Minister Im was about to slap her on the face when the commotion outside disrupted him. “You better stay here! I’ll come back to deal with you.”

“Hurhur! That’s provided you have the