“where is the black robe that master gwi has ordered you to bring ?” it was hye ryeong’s father, he asked her as he walked into the palace
“I could not get hold of it,” she answered him coldly
“and why is that ? gwi has ordered you and you failed, don’t you know the consequences of your failure” he said angrily, how can he not be moved atleast once by the fear of losing his daughter to some creature, does my life is not important at all even if I am his daughter, hye ryeong thought sadly, even though she knew her answer that question on how could he not care at all bothered her always.
“sung yeol doesn’t believe me to be myeong hee, so I couldn’t” she lied, she knew he believed her that day, but that information she couldn’t let anyone have.
“give your explanations directly to himself” saying that her father left. Sighing hye ryeong turned to enter her room and when she entered she was greeted by an unexpected presence
“why did you act like myeong hee and stole my black robe ?” it was sung yeol, an angry one and he also had one more question  “where is yang sun ?” hye ryeong feared, she didn’t expect him, but fear can’t be seen in her face, so acting boldly she said
“I had to, or else I couldn’t get rid of gwi”
“what do you mean by that majesty ?” it was soo hyang who asked this question now, earlier with soo hyang’s help sung yeol was able to come out of the place where hye ryeong has left him after taking the black robe from him, soo hyang knew who to be suspicious of and so did sung yeol since he saw her, the only place they to find it back is the palace queen quarter’s. 
“yang sun, yang sun is the key to kill gwi and also your master is standing between both of them”  and as hye ryeong said those words, soo hyang seemed shocked, she didn’t know this information, and also she has been thinking all the time that the queen was on gwi’s side, but looks like it didn’t and also this made sung yeol realize that she didn’t mean harm to him, but yang sun’s life is still in danger
“crown prince jung hyun will never make such plan where a human needed to be sacrificed” sung yeol replied to her, he need to convince her and the king both that it is not the correct plan, earlier from the hunter he got to know that, gwi already bitten yang sun’s mother but didn’t die, so yang sun’s death is not a part of that plan , he need to give this information to them so that they won’t take steps that they are going to regret later, he was about to speak when he felt a presence, gwi
“gwi is here” sung yeol said as he immediately exited the room and left the palace since he cannot let gwi detect his presence, soo hyang hid herself behind the folding screen and hye ryeong sat in front of the table as if she were thinking something. The doors opened revealing an angry looking gwi
“are you allowed to enter the palace like this ?” hye ryeong asked him commandingly
“since my slave didn’t show up, I thought I would” gwi said taking steps towards her, hye ryeong knew what he came for hye ryeong said
“I couldn’t deceive him, the black robe is still with him”
“and you think you can deceive me by saying that ?” gwi said grabbing hye ryeong’s hand hard
“his heart doesn’t beat for myeong hee anymore, he likes another woman” she said,
“don’t you fear that I can dethrone you anytime I wish” gwi said threatening her as he caught her by , dethrone ? I guess I don’t want it anymore, I got more than I can wish for, I got his friendship and trust and being your puppet I don’t care anymore, and as hye ryeong was thinking on how she came to care more for yoon than the power she always carved for, his voice echoed the room
“let go of the queen now” yoon stood there as he ordered gwi to let her go, yoon decided to take a stroll around the palace when he saw the light in hye ryeong’s room still lit, wondering why hasn’t she slept yet, yoon went there, seeing yoon’s presence gwi let go of hye ryeong’s throat and pulled her closer to him, pressing her body against his, hye ryeong struggled to let him go, and looking towards her neck he called for yoon as he said
“looks like you haven’t done your part yet majesty, did you capture kim sung yeol yet”
“we are searching for him” yoon said his blood boiling, seeing hye ryeong struggle like that in his hands, his heart ached
“please let her go” yoon begged him
“oh, as you wish your majesty” gwi said coolly and pushed hye ryeong away from him making her fall, soon he approached yoon faster and gave him warning
“find kim sung yeol”
“I will put up wanted posters, don’t approach the queen ever again” yoon said, though he was helpless about gwi’s actions, his blood boiled at the action gwi performed with hye ryeong, hearing him, gwi looked one direction to hye ryeong and smirking he said
“I will not just kill her, but turn her into a vampire if you do anything suspicious” threatening yoon he left, yoon immediately rushed to hye ryeong’s side, 
“are you fine hye ryeong ah ?”he asked her holding her, but due to hard hitting hye ryeong fell unconscious
“majesty, you are hurt” soo hyang said as she came out seeing gwi leave from behind the folding screen, she saw hye ryeongs hurt forehead and was bleeding a little
“who are you ? what are you doing in queen’s quarters?” yoon asked her since she seemed suspicious
“I’m kim sung yeol’s follower, please let us treat her wound first” soo hyang said worriedly as she now finally understood how the king and the queen were actually against gwi in their own ways and are also helpless, feeling guilty that she misunderstood them and she also lead on sung yeol that the queen was the one who stole for gwi. Seeing the cut on hye ryeong’s head yoon accepted as he called in for one of the maids and soo hyang with help of the maid helped hye ryeong’s wound treated.
“Thanks” yoon said to her as he laid hye ryeong on her bed sheet with help of soo hyang and the maid. It is second time she was hurt because of him, he couldn’t help but feel sad yet, there is this presence that is there in the room
“why are you here ?” he asked soo hyang
“I, came with kim sung yeol, for his black robe”
“so where is he ?”
“since gwi arrived, scholar left”
“ask him to meet me tomorrow if he wanted the robe” yoon ordered her, if this robe is that important to him, and he is the one standing between gwi and yang sun, he has to deal with kim sung yeol first, he has to know  things and explain him yoon thought. Nodding to yoon, soo hyang took her leave from him and left the queen’s quarters to deliver the news to sung yeol.

“I am sorry hye ryeong ah, you are hurt because of me” yoon said as he sat beside her, he remembered the words his mother told earlier to him that day when he went to visit her that afternoon,
“how is your queen yoon-ah ?” his mother asked him as she poured him some tea
“she is fine” yoon said to her , she smiled at her son’s response and shared what her thoughts were on hye ryeong
“I first suspected her, thinking she may approach us knowingly, but as I observed her, she didn’t seem so, she is a lonely child yoon-ah, she never received any love and has nowhere to go, she needed to be taken care of yoon-ah, please treat your queen well”
“you know hye ryeong ah, my mother did suspect you but not me, she said you never received any love and no one to take care of, I know it is not my position to tell you this since I didn’t treat you any better and selfishly asked you to be my side and be loyal to the country but I didn’t think he would threaten you this much and harm you. I cannot lose you too, I will definitely kill him, with all my strength I will fight against him and I will not sacrifice anymore lives for my sake. Either it be yang sun or you. I will protect you” yoon said to the sleeping figure beside him, he didn’t want to see her hurt anymore, he wanted to protect her, she was there for him supporting him, and he started to care for her, and her understanding of his heart, his feelings for yang sun and her searching ways for yang sun to not be hurt, she did so much for him , this is the least he can do for her, protect her, yoon thought as he saw her once again, that night as he sat in silence beside sleeping hye ryeong he made some decisions, things that he need to do.

“what are you doing ?” hye ryeong asked one of the maids as she saw things being moved into her quarters,
“it was his majesty’s order ” the maid said politely to the queen’s question, what did sunbae order, wondering hye ryeong asked her again
“what order is it ?”
“to move his belongings into your room majesty”
“why ?”
“I don’t know the details majesty” the maid replied, hye ryeong dismissed her as she wondered on what does yoon mean by moving his things into her room. She stood there thinking over the last night events as she observed the maids bringing one item after another into her room, her thoughs were interrupted as  a maid lost grip of one box from her hand and it fell causing a loud noise
“I am sorry your majesty, I will clean it up immediately” hye ryeong nodded as she saw that the things from the box were scattered all over the floor now. The other maid picked up all the items and placed them aside when hye ryeongs eyes fell on one folded paper, looks like a drawing as she can see from one corner of the folded paper that opened as it fell from the box, something she felt familiar,
“give that to me” hye ryeong ordered the maid and the maid did so, as she opened and saw what it was, hye ryeong was shocked, she saw something she didn’t see for years, the drawing of her seeing the crying boy on the cliff top, does this mean ? yoon is that boy ? and she started running towards the king’s room, answers she want them. Running with a smile plastered on her face as she remembered every minute of that day, how he cried, how he said her his story and how broke he was that day, it all made sense now, his desire to kill gwi, why his mother was at Buddhist temple, why she asked her to make prayers to lustful student’s death and everything. But most of all the fact that made her run was, yoon was the boy that she made friends with long ago, her only friend who she has before she was made a slave to gwi.

“go and bring jo yang sun” yoon ordered one of his guards and as ordered they got her to yoon
“why did you bring me here ?” yang sun asked him angrily believing that he was gwi’s servant now, the bitterness in her words struck him
“why do you think I would call you ? I called you to release you”
“why did you capture me in the first place then ?” yang sun asked with same bitterness
“it was queens suggestion which I approved, but seeing the current circumstances I cannot sacrifice you” yoon said, though hye ryeong’s plan made sense he didn’t want to hurt anyone, even a scratch on anyone is something he cannot afford as he saw hye ryeong last night suffer, so he decided that he let yang sun go for now and think of any plan that actually made sense for not sacrificing any lives, he wanted yang sun to be safe but she should not leave the kingdom since she will be having a role in gwi’s death
“just because you love me ?” yang sun asked, she couldn’t believe, he is once again doing foolish things as he was going to hurt the queen in this process, he shouldn’t hold any feelings for her and neither she did, her heart belongs to sungyeol.
“I did like you” yoon said admitting his feelings, he thought he has to let her go for the good, though he may not be able to like anyone again which he was unsure of, being his current position where he was already married to hye ryeong, a lady who is willing to be by his side even after knowing his feelings, he decided that protecting her is the most he can do for her, and yang sun, he can’t make things further difficult for her asking her to acknowledge his feelings,his heart may not move on easily from yang sun, but al teast he could pretend that it did before yang sun so that she cannot be concerned about him
“but now I don’t, I have a queen and a country to protect and as a king of this nation, I set you free but you shall not leave this kingdom, you should remain here and help us in taking gwi down” yoon ordered her, yes he said those things with difficulty but he has to say

“it was queens suggestion which I approved, but seeing the current circumstances I cannot sacrifice you” hye ryeong was about to knock on his door and go in when she heard his voice, who does he mean to sacrifice ? hye ryeong wondered already half knowing who he meant by and that who is the voice she heard next
“just because you love me ?” it’s yang sun’s voice, hye ryeong gasped as she heard it , she knew the answer but still wanted to listen to it, knowing her heart aches when she listens to them, her legs didn’t move yet until her ears hear his next words
“I did like you” that’s it, and as she heard them, she ran back faster than she came until she exited the palace, it held no meaning anymore, even if yoon was that boy she need not ask further since it held no importance in the present situation. Yoon gave yang sun such importance, though as a king he wanted yang sun to be offered to gwi, may be his heart didn’t want to, as a normal human being he is trying his own way to protect yang sun just like sung yeol is protecting yang sun. how come I have no one to worry about me? hye ryeong sat at the place she didn’t even remember her path coming here, the stone under the cherry blossom tree on the hill top, a place she didn’t visit for years, today it seemed lonely again for her. She sat there silently for a while as she arranged her thoughts
“ I choi hye ryeong ” she felt a pang in her heart, taking this decision, she hoped one day in future she could be lee hye ryeong, but that didn’t seem to be in for her, sighing she continued “am going to serve the nation with loyalty and help in gwi’s death and support sunbae in whatever decision he takes, I live and die as his friend and guide” she remembered yoon’s request on asking her to be his friend, if that is all he want he is going to receive that hye ryeong thought as she looked at the folded painting in her hand and said the final words of her new life motto “but this, I will be keeping this with me” she smiled sadly at her own words, how one persons entry in her life changed her motto, the power she carved for is no longer of importance to her now. It was him that mattered most now. loving you is surely difficult sunbae, one day I am satisfied by just by being friends with you and other day I cry that your heart doesn’t belong to me, is it like this for you too ? with yang sun ? and once again she knew the answer, sighing, hye ryeong got up and took her steps back to the palace.