It didn’t take long for the capital to devolve into chaos.

Swish!

In the late afternoon, pouring rain fell on an area not far from the Golden Decree Palace.

Officials and guards, including the palace guards, prohibited entry and controlled the area.

The place under their control was Jung-myung’s residence.

“No, what is this?”

“Did some kind of war happen?”

“This is a complete mess.”

“How can this happen? Were there explosions?”

The soldiers all whispered amongst themselves.

As their words suggested, this wealthy man’s palace was in ruins. Most of the palace had collapsed, and there were huge holes around it as if explosions had decimated the area.

A tall and bearded official looked inside the place. He was Oh Muyang.

‘… Ha.’

As he had come to investigate this place, he was dumbfounded. He heard that all of this had happened in the middle of the day.

Could such a thing happen at that time of day?

It might have been believable if it was a training ground instead of a palace. Yet this was a place that belonged to Yang Jung-myung!

Forty of the most skilled warriors were posted here. Among them were two exceptional warriors, and the man’s private guards were also made up of first-rate warriors.

Yet the scene here was gruesome.

Shh

Oh Muyang examined the dead bodies and noted that everyone had died in one blow. There were no exceptions.

Actually, he also had the confidence to kill most of these people in one blow, but that was only limited to the ordinary warriors.

There were also Byeok-woong, Yuk Cheon, and Mo In-hwi, all of whom were quite exceptional.

‘… Even they got killed in one hit.’

No matter how hard he examined them, they were clearly killed in a single hit. Byeok-woong’s body had other wounds, but there was just one apparent fatal hit. This would be impossible for Oh Muyang.

‘This is bad.’

Only three people in the capital had such strength.

These three would be the Lord he served and the two guardians of the Imperial Palace. Only those three could do this.

The problem was that none of them had a reason to attack this place.

‘… It just makes no sense.’

The people on the true king’s side didn’t have a reason to do this. This man was helping him with finances to begin with.

That meant a third party must be involved, but the only ones with this kind of power had to be one of the Four Great Warriors.

However, none of them would have the motive to do such a thing either, as all four were connected to the Imperial Family. Besides, even if they were to do it, they wouldn’t have turned this place into such a mess.

‘Who was it?’

His head hurt. This was a dangerous variable to be left alone.

‘So messed up.’

Things had deviated from their original plan. The plan had been going smoothly until he had that setback.

‘I need to see the one who will be the Lord.’

It seemed like the plan had to be changed a bit.

Six days after that event—

The procession of the princess finally entered the city. The ambush at the river had left them with wounded personnel, so there was a delay due to that and the heavy rain. Fortunately, there were no more attacks after that.

This could be attributed to luck, but everyone in the party attributed it to the strength of one person.

-nod

The middle-aged man with a stern look seemed like he would fall off his horse. It was Mumu under his human skin mask.

‘Is it because of that time?’

They referred to the time when Mumu had disappeared for about an hour. While everyone was curious about it, Mumu simply said he had a couple of things to take care of.

But no more raids or ambushes happened after that, shocking Hong Na-yeon, who had believed that she would be constantly targeted.

Only one person knew the truth, Yu Jin-sung.

‘… A finance minister.’

Mumu told the truth to his older brother. Hearing it had shocked him, but not too much.

If it was Yang Jung-myung, one of the three powers of the palace, he wasn’t surprised that the man was aiming for the princess. The fact that Mumu killed them was more shocking.

[You killed them all?]

[Yes.]

[No matter what they did…]

[If I leave them alone, they will continue to bother me.]

He was slightly shocked at how casually Mumu had said those words.

Although the boy had a naive side to him, he realized that Mumu showed no mercy to an enemy. Yet killing them all was something that he didn’t expect.

At first, Jin-sung tried to scold him, but he couldn’t get himself to blame Mumu, who had saved his own life.

‘They were the ones who didn’t mind people suffering for their sake.’

It was ridiculous to blame Mumu for killing such people. The choice he took was perhaps right. Seeing that the path forward was easy after the main culprit to their troubles had been eliminated filled him with a good feeling.

‘… I envy him.’

Jin-sung was suddenly envious of Mumu. He wasn’t envious of the boy’s power.

He had become an official to clear the black spot on his father’s name, but he was now tired of all the politics around him. On the other hand, Mumu wasn’t fazed by it.

This was why he could punish them without another thought.

‘Isn’t that the life I was hoping for?’

He felt that way when he saw Mumu but didn’t hate the path that he took. This path had allowed him to clear his father’s name after all.

Shh!

At that moment, Hong Na-yeon tried to wake Mumu. Was there something she wanted to say to him?

“Master Yu. Would you like to talk privately with me for a moment?”

Mumu, who had been asleep, nodded, and the two moved slightly ahead of the party.

Mumu looked at Hong Na-yeon, and she returned his gaze.

“You can speak, Mumu.”

“… You knew?”

“You must have known too.”

Mumu scratched his head at that. Actually, Jin-sung hadn’t told her, but she had noticed his identity after their conversation.

“But what did you want to speak about?”

“I want to request something.”

“Request?”

She sighed slightly at his question. Honestly, there was too much that she wanted to say.

She had a strong will to try to solve things independently instead of asking for help due to her personality. This time, however, she needed this.

“It isn’t like I am ordering you or forcing you to do it as a member of the royal family. I ask this as a senior to a junior of the academy or a normal person.”

Mumu was curious about her words and asked.

“Can I ask what it is?”

“… His highness. My father. His Highness the True King.”

“You want me to help the true king?”

Mumu frowned.

He couldn’t understand what this was about. In response to his reaction, she whispered,

“I am saying this to you alone, so do not speak it to anyone. My father is constantly in danger.”

“Uh?”

“It is as you heard. My father is always under surveillance because he has fallen out of favor with the current emperor and other members.”

At her words, Mumu tilted his head.

This was different from what Yu Jin-sung had told him. Hong Na-yeon’s father, the true king, was supposed to be the successor to the current emperor.

He heard that they were close. The king was deeply trusted and had been given territory, so what was happening here?

“… I thought his highness was the most cherished sibling of the emperor?”

“That is what is known, but the reality is different.”

“A different reality?”

“My father is the servant to the emperor, and his role is meant to keep him in check.”

“In check?”

“Yes.”

Hong Na-yeon looked at Mumu. This was the first time she had told anyone about this.

This showed that Mumu was her only hope. She then bit her lips and spoke with red cheeks,

“My father is the second son and not the eldest son, yet he was highly virtuous among his siblings and excelled in everything, so his father’s trust was strong in him.”

“…”

“However, the more that happened, the more hatred the emperor had for him.”

She remembered the past.

At that time, there were rumors of her father overthrowing the firstborn prince. That was how accomplished her father was.

He had been close enough to be a potential successor to the position of emperor, but the situation changed when the then-emperor fell ill.

“That was the starting point.”

The first son quickly took control of the palace and ascended the throne by using the pretext of being the eldest child.

The empress, who knew of her husband’s wishes, refused to hand over the seal to the eldest son, and many ministers were also against it.

“… It turned into an internal war, and my father was concerned about the many sacrifices due to this, so he eventually persuaded his mother to give up the seal.”

“He conceded it?”

“Right.”

This was a hidden secret. However, that decision only became poison.

“To the outside, the palace explicitly trusted my father, but that was only to calm the public sentiment.”

Although he was considered inferior, the emperor was quite competent in politics. They knew they needed to shape the story to some extent to stabilize the family.

As the court stabilized, the emperor began to fill the prominent positions with the people he trusted and isolated his brother by throwing away those who supported him.

It was a situation where the sword would gradually come for his neck. Hearing this, Mumu shook his head.

“That is bad.”

“You see it too?”

“Yes.”

She smiled lightly at Mumu’s innocent attitude, which was completely contrary to his appearance.

Mumu then asked her.

“Then is the present emperor the reason why your father needs help?”

“… Right. They will come to kill him if they find a good reason.”

This was why the man didn’t show weakness. But the constant political wars had made things turn for the worse.

Being conscious of this, he had allowed his daughter to enter the academy using a fake identity.

Hong Na-yeon spoke in a bitter voice,

“To my father, I am a weakness. That is why I tried to be strong to not hold him by the ankles…”

No matter how strong she became, she couldn’t be his strength. If not for Mumu, she would have been captured by now.

“… I still feel weak.”

Her eyes were red with anger.

Seeing her like that, Mumu felt bad for her. Scratching his head, he then told her.

“Um… then, if I take care of the emperor, will the problem vanish?”

‘!?’

Hong Na-yeon, who was emotionally moved by his words, actually looked dumbfounded.

What did he just say?