By Zephyria 
Exhausted by the repeated attacks, we moved in silence. Just how many times had we been ambushed in a few hours? My brother had suppressed them, being a one-man army, but there is no cure for persistence. Even Han Hee-sung got hurt for nothing… I had called this child knowing full well that it was a dangerous place. I was filled with immense regret.
I wiped Hee-sung’s blood, continuing to apply pressure with a handkerchief to stop the bleeding. Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep stab but a graze, so it didn’t seem like it would leave a large scar. Han-bin hyung, while waiting for the hostage—whose arms and legs were tied—to wake up, kept checking on Hee-sung, seemingly concerned. Yet, for some reason, the boy just kept smiling vacantly at me.
“Hee-sung. How can you smile right now? I’m so sorry. I’m a complete idiot. Why on earth did I call you to such a dangerous place? I called you without thinking, just so I could survive.”
I meant it. It broke my heart that I had exposed a child to such horrors just to save myself. At my sincere apology, Hee-sung jumped and shook his head.
“What are you talking about? User! I came because I wanted to. I was so happy. Happy that you contacted me in a moment of urgency. It means you thought of me in a dangerous moment. That alone makes me happy. This is nothing.”
“You only just recovered from the injuries caused by the window glass. Just how many scars are you going to put on your face?”
“It wasn’t because of anyone else. It all happened because of my own choices. I really don’t mind. As long as I can be of help to the User.”
Watching Hee-sung smile innocently, I unconsciously stroked his hair. Hee-sung is pure and kind by nature. I truly hope the day comes when I can repay this child’s help. My brother searched the hostage’s body once more, checking for other weapons or anything unusual. Nothing particularly special turned up, but he didn’t let his guard down. As we moved in tension, my father, who had been on the phone with someone, spoke to us.
“Hae-joo. Listen carefully and choose. My ship is currently in Busan. It’s a cruise ship departing from Busan for Japan. How about taking that to seek refuge for a while?”
“…Are you suggesting we move by ship?”
My brother’s heavy voice flowed out.
“Because it’s currently the best way to avoid them. We’ll just leave Korean soil for a bit. Since everyone left so suddenly, you don’t have IDs or passports, so wouldn’t it be inconvenient to go anywhere? No matter how I think about it, taking my ship is the safest. We can negotiate or meet the Emperor after that. We’re fugitives, but the waterways will feel more like a breathing room than the land.”
“Dad! Then even you…”
“I’m fine. As long as I can save you all.”
“What about Seo-joo? At Seo-joo’s house…”
“It’s fine, hyung. I live alone anyway, so I’ll just seek refuge for now and call later.”
Seo-joo said it was fine as if it were no big deal, but that wasn’t the case. I was worried that Joo Min-hyeok might pressure Seo-joo’s family. Hyun-wook felt the same. However, my father’s words made sense. Now that Joo Min-hyeok knew, we couldn’t keep moving by car. So, we had to make a decision one way or another. Then, I heard Hee-sung’s voice beside me, filled with bewilderment.
“…Dad? Hyung?”
Hee-sung was looking at my father with a blank face. In an instant, I realized my mistake, and both Hyun-wook, who had been talking to Seo-joo, and my brother fell silent in embarrassment. How do I explain this to him?
“Hee-sung, about those titles…”
Unable to hide his flustered state, my brother subtly called Hee-sung to change the subject.
“More importantly, Hee-sung-gun. If we go to Busan, the way back for you will be far. I’ll repay you for what happened to your face later. I’m truly sorry for the injury, and I will never forget the grace of your help. So, for now, I will drop you off at home. As soon as it’s light, go straight to the hospital for treatment. And Hyun-wook, let’s think about this a bit.”
“I don’t want to. I’m going with the User too.”
“What’s there to think about! I’m going too!”
The stubborn voices of Han Hee-sung and Hyun-wook rang out simultaneously. Ah, my head is a mess. Hee-sung is one thing, but Hyun-wook is the problem. Hyun-wook is already deeply entangled in our affairs; I don’t think it’s safe to leave him alone. While I was pondering what to do with them, I saw the collapsed man’s body twitch.
“You woke up faster than I thought?”
The man’s vacant eyes, not yet fully conscious, soon turned to fear. I could see the fully bound man racking his brain. But my brother didn’t tolerate even his smallest movement.
“It’s useless to roll that pebble-sized brain of yours, so just answer the question. Tell us what happened and who ordered this.”
My brother, pointing a gun at the man’s head, asked with a consistently merciless expression. But as expected, there was no sign of him answering.
“That’s the only way you can survive. I’ll say it just one more time. I don’t let hostages live if they have no information to give. It’s safer to let them go by killing them. Or I use other methods. And… what do you think someone like me did when I was deployed? The thing I’m best at is extracting confessions.”
My brother pressured the opponent with a dry, monotone voice. Whether those words were true or false, they were enough to make anyone tense. As expected, he wasn’t the youngest Brigadier General for nothing…
“He’s really so cool…”
Huh? Suddenly, a bewildered comment that didn’t fit the situation came from beside me. Hee-sung was looking at my brother, letting out exclamations with a mysterious look in his eyes. Uh, what’s wrong with him again? I jerked my head to look at Hee-sung, then shifted my gaze back to my brother’s chilling voice.
“I’ve been feeling this, but the way you all approached us is strangely outdated, and your movements are clumsy. I could see that the goal was physical exhaustion, not assassination. If you really wanted to kill us, you would have fired guns from the start, but you rushed in with only knives and fists. Right? The goal isn’t assassination. Hmm?”
“T-that’s…”
“Is the person who ordered this the Prime Minister? Was it the Prime Minister and his eldest son who ordered this?”
My brother’s voice was full of conviction. He seemed to think that the power of my grandfather and uncle wouldn’t just leave us alone so quietly. And I thought the same. However, the reaction from the hostage was different from our expectations. The man, who had been listening to us while biting his lip hard, closed his eyes and shook his head. Huh? Not them?
“…Not them? Then, could it be that the one who ordered it was His Majesty?”
“Yes. I moved by the order of His Majesty.”
“What?”
…Really? It was really Joo Min-hyeok? Really? I was so shocked that I sat up slightly. I had guessed that the mastermind was either Joo Min-hyeok or my grandfather’s faction.
I had expected it, but hearing the Emperor mentioned from that mouth was still a shock. Inwardly, I believed it was naturally the Prime Minister. That he did it because he was a traitor attached to the Imperial Family, regardless of bloodline. I believed it could never be Joo Min-hyeok. I wanted to believe it. But why, why did Joo Min-hyeok send people after me while I was staying quietly in the palace?
“The original plan was an order to secretly move the User to another location without people knowing. But because you suddenly fled, the plan went awry, and we had no choice but to chase you like this.”
“Why? I don’t understand the reason. Why does His Majesty want to send the User elsewhere?”
Despite the shocking answer, my brother didn’t bat an eye and continued to pressure him.
“I don’t know the details. I heard it’s because you insisted on forcing the divorce and going outside, and I also heard that since the captured Prime Minister keeps mentioning the User, His Majesty cannot simply let the User go, as you have become His Majesty’s weakness. That you could hold His Majesty’s ankle later, so we were told to catch you and confine you elsewhere for now…”
Because I could be His Majesty’s weakness, catch me and lock me up… Lee Si-yoon was right. It seemed there was truly no lie in his words. My brother, who had been keenly observing the man’s face, looked back at me. Seeing my brother’s rapidly crumpling expression, I could guess what I looked like right now.
I had been betrayed by Joo Min-hyeok once again. No, no. I can’t believe it. Though it was a short time, Joo Min-hyeok definitely cherished me. Or was it not? He is a man who not only deceived me but also watched me be beaten until I almost died just to secure definitive evidence of treason. There’s no law saying such a person couldn’t do this again.
“When did you receive the instructions?”
“It’s been a few days since I received the standby order saying contact came from the palace. And the final order to move was yesterday…”
“But your movements were too clumsy for His Majesty’s Imperial Guard. Are you even the Imperial Guard? If so, who was the person who contacted you from the palace?”
“I am indeed a veteran soldier, but I don’t know well about the others. I don’t know who the spy is, only that they are someone close to His Majesty planted in the Imperial Palace…”
The man poured out the information he knew as if he had given up on everything.
“I think it’s Lee Si-yoon.”
At my powerless answer, my brother turned his head toward the man. Seeing my brother’s murderous face, the man spoke quickly in terror.
“I’ve told you everything I know! I was told that if the resistance is severe, to suppress them just enough so they cannot move without causing serious injury, and then escort them to the location. It was an order given directly by His Majesty. Everything will come out if you investigate anyway, so I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
My brother struck his neck and knocked him unconscious without a word. Looking at the limp man, Hyun-wook muttered.
“Can we trust this person’s words? He might have been trained to say that.”
“I can’t tell from this alone, but this man certainly charged at Hae-joo without hesitation. Seeing that, I thought he wasn’t just a small fry.”
My brother had analyzed even that, like a soldier. He had been observing his behavior. My brother also didn’t seem to believe all his words, as his ambiguous expression looked suspicious, just as Hyun-wook said. But I couldn’t see or hear any of those things.
As the man said, there is no need to fabricate things that would all come out upon investigation. After being deceived like that, why did I believe Joo Min-hyeok again? Cha Hae-joo. You idiot. Just because someone deceived you once, does that mean they can’t do it twice? This man’s words match Lee Si-yoon’s. He must have tried to deceive me again.