Chapter 109
It felt as though his throat had been seized. Just hearing that other person’s name so clearly had that much force.
*Why… Sethian?*
Yi-Gyeol couldn’t understand.
The importance of the Emperor’s enthronement ceremony was something he had learned from countless books in the Imperial Palace. Sethian’s busy schedule, the urgency in his aides’ movements—all of it pointed toward the magnitude of the event. To move such a historic ceremony forward by a full day and conduct it in a simplified manner… was that even possible?
But there was no time to dwell on it.
“Did you hear anything about the person they’re looking for?” he asked, trying to hide the rising tremor in his voice.
Diven shook his head. “I don’t know either. But they said a wanted poster would be out soon. Want me to find out for you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Forcing a smile, Yi-Gyeol seemed to hesitate, then said, “I need your help with something. Can you come back in about an hour?”
“Sure,” Diven replied, tilting his head but not pressing further. He seemed to sense that asking questions wouldn’t be welcome and left with a puzzled expression.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Yi-Gyeol rushed to lock it, his hands trembling. It took three tries before he managed to secure the latch.
He put on the sleeping-drug necklace he had taken off while bathing and clutched the vial tightly in his hand, anxiety etched across his face.
*No. It can’t be.*
*It must be for capturing Eda. She was already wanted.*
He repeated the thought like a mantra, trying to steady his nerves. Then, using the sleeping drug, he immediately fell asleep. As intended, his consciousness separated cleanly from his body, and he drifted out of the room.
The noise grew louder as he neared the village entrance. An elderly man—likely the village chief—stood with a few residents, but most of the crowd was made up of soldiers and knights.
The wide entrance to the village had been barricaded with a heavy wooden fence, blocking most of the road. Flames crackled from braziers near the entrance, and piles of firewood sat ready, as if they meant to keep watch through the late night.
Two soldiers stood guard at each side of the fence, each holding a wanted poster and discussing its contents. A knight, seemingly in charge, was briefing the villagers and the chief. Yi-Gyeol floated closer to listen.
“The wanted posters will be here soon,” the knight explained. “Once they arrive, we’ll gather all the villagers and check each one. We’ll need your full cooperation at that time.”
“How dangerous could the criminal be to warrant all this?” asked a young man standing beside the village chief, supporting him by the arm.
The knight’s expression darkened. “Watch your tongue. Speaking ill of the wanted person or saying foolish things could cost you your head before anyone knows it, so choose your words carefully.”
He scanned the gathering before continuing, voice lower.
“I can’t give details due to a gag order. But this is someone His Majesty cherishes dearly. That’s all you need to know.”
The young man fell silent, and the knight turned to address the soldiers and villagers again.
“Once preparations for inspections at the entrance are finished, we’ll block the exit as well. Prepare a list of the villagers and the merchants who regularly come and go within the hour. Also, ask the inns nearest each entrance to provide lodging for the soldiers carrying out inspections.”
“Yes, sir,” the village chief replied with a respectful bow and turned to leave—until the knight stopped him again.
“One more thing. When you ask the inns for cooperation, also ask if anyone has seen a young black-haired man. He’s slender, fine-featured, a foreign man dressed in high-quality clothes.”
The elderly man nodded gravely and shuffled away.
Unseen, Yi-Gyeol drifted toward the knight holding the wanted poster.
The moment his eyes landed on it, his heart dropped.
Though it was written in words rather than illustrated, the description was unmistakable. Every detail—from head to toe, down to the exact material and color of his clothes—was accurate. Too accurate.
At the bottom of the poster, a signature stared back at him. Sethian’s signature—the one he’d seen countless times on papers signed in their shared room.
*He’s… looking for me.*
The rushed enthronement. The immediate issuance of a wanted order. The checkpoints. The emperor’s signature needed to command it all. Yi-Gyeol wasn’t so slow that he couldn’t understand what it meant.
*Why this much…?*
The Emperor’s enthronement ceremony was important enough that everyone, regardless of rank or status, paid attention to it. And yet Sethian was using something that important for nothing but a wanted order and inspections.
He had thought Seth might look for him, but he hadn’t expected it to be this fast. Much less a hurried enthronement that was practically throwing everything aside, and a wanted order that looked determined to capture him.
His thoughts still weren’t sorted out, but there was only one thing he had to do.
As soon as he returned to his body, Yi-Gyeol sat bolt upright in bed. His limbs screamed with fatigue, his vision swam, but there was no time to rest.
He had to leave. Right now.
* * *
Even after nightfall, the galloping hooves of horses echoed fiercely against the frozen road. The lead horse surged forward like a beast unleashed, followed closely by a dozen knights in dark crimson armor. They urged their mounts harder, refusing to fall behind.
The cold wind cut against Sethian’s face like glass as he led the charge.
“I thought he was some rare foreigner wearing expensive clothes. Since he even had a merchant-only identity tag, I figured he was a trader from beyond the continent or one of their descendants,” one witness had explained.
“I saw him come into the village, but after that, I don’t know. He was with some young man…”
“You mean the man with him? Nothing special, just an ordinary young fellow. He did have some bruises on his face. The foreign one looked fine.”
“This is the outfit, right? Some young man came to sell it, so I paid a good price. Huh? No, it wasn’t the foreigner. It was the one with marks on his face.”
There was no doubt now.
Yi-Gyeol had passed through Centanu. But by the time Seth and his men arrived, he was already gone.
Despite combing the village, they hadn’t found him. But they had learned he was traveling with another young man—likely the one who had nearly been sold by slave traders.
At first, Seth had wondered if the young man had dragged Yi-Gyeol around by force and taken his clothes for money. But if it were the quick-witted Yi-Gyeol, he would never have let that happen. It was far more reasonable to think Yi-Gyeol was using the young man instead.
The young man had gone all over the place, so there were probably gaps in the trail, but there was definite testimony that he had bought a long cloth and a map, then lastly gone to a carriage rental. Especially since there was a witness saying that when he went to the rental place, a man with his face wrapped in cloth had been with him, it looked as though the two had left the village together.
The trail led to a smaller village, about thirty minutes from Centanu by carriage. The moment Seth arrived and saw that a checkpoint had already been set up, he unleashed the knights to search the village as though turning it upside down.
*Where are you, Joo Yi-Gyeol.*
His eyes scanned the knights tearing through not only shops and inns but private homes as well, then he looked up at the sky.
Night had fully fallen now, dark enough that it was hard even to move around without torches. He was worried about Yi-Gyeol’s condition and wanted to bring him back tonight if possible, but there was still no report saying Yi-Gyeol had been found.
Then—
“…!”
He froze.
Something shifted in the dark—a presence, familiar and fleeting.
Seth turned sharply toward the alley. He recognized it instantly.
“Your Majesty?!” Renoc called out behind him.
Seth didn’t respond.
Renoc signaled to Kirsty to take over and sprinted after him, hoping Seth had truly found Yi-Gyeol.
The presence in the alley seemed to move, as though trying to flee somewhere. Even though the alley was so dark it would have been hard to make out someone standing right in front of him, Seth raced closer with every nerve drawn taut.
It was only a faint presence with no clear form, but Seth reached out as if he would never let him slip away.
“Joo Yi-Gyeol!”
*Why… Sethian?*
Yi-Gyeol couldn’t understand.
The importance of the Emperor’s enthronement ceremony was something he had learned from countless books in the Imperial Palace. Sethian’s busy schedule, the urgency in his aides’ movements—all of it pointed toward the magnitude of the event. To move such a historic ceremony forward by a full day and conduct it in a simplified manner… was that even possible?
But there was no time to dwell on it.
“Did you hear anything about the person they’re looking for?” he asked, trying to hide the rising tremor in his voice.
Diven shook his head. “I don’t know either. But they said a wanted poster would be out soon. Want me to find out for you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Forcing a smile, Yi-Gyeol seemed to hesitate, then said, “I need your help with something. Can you come back in about an hour?”
“Sure,” Diven replied, tilting his head but not pressing further. He seemed to sense that asking questions wouldn’t be welcome and left with a puzzled expression.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Yi-Gyeol rushed to lock it, his hands trembling. It took three tries before he managed to secure the latch.
He put on the sleeping-drug necklace he had taken off while bathing and clutched the vial tightly in his hand, anxiety etched across his face.
*No. It can’t be.*
*It must be for capturing Eda. She was already wanted.*
He repeated the thought like a mantra, trying to steady his nerves. Then, using the sleeping drug, he immediately fell asleep. As intended, his consciousness separated cleanly from his body, and he drifted out of the room.
The noise grew louder as he neared the village entrance. An elderly man—likely the village chief—stood with a few residents, but most of the crowd was made up of soldiers and knights.
The wide entrance to the village had been barricaded with a heavy wooden fence, blocking most of the road. Flames crackled from braziers near the entrance, and piles of firewood sat ready, as if they meant to keep watch through the late night.
Two soldiers stood guard at each side of the fence, each holding a wanted poster and discussing its contents. A knight, seemingly in charge, was briefing the villagers and the chief. Yi-Gyeol floated closer to listen.
“The wanted posters will be here soon,” the knight explained. “Once they arrive, we’ll gather all the villagers and check each one. We’ll need your full cooperation at that time.”
“How dangerous could the criminal be to warrant all this?” asked a young man standing beside the village chief, supporting him by the arm.
The knight’s expression darkened. “Watch your tongue. Speaking ill of the wanted person or saying foolish things could cost you your head before anyone knows it, so choose your words carefully.”
He scanned the gathering before continuing, voice lower.
“I can’t give details due to a gag order. But this is someone His Majesty cherishes dearly. That’s all you need to know.”
The young man fell silent, and the knight turned to address the soldiers and villagers again.
“Once preparations for inspections at the entrance are finished, we’ll block the exit as well. Prepare a list of the villagers and the merchants who regularly come and go within the hour. Also, ask the inns nearest each entrance to provide lodging for the soldiers carrying out inspections.”
“Yes, sir,” the village chief replied with a respectful bow and turned to leave—until the knight stopped him again.
“One more thing. When you ask the inns for cooperation, also ask if anyone has seen a young black-haired man. He’s slender, fine-featured, a foreign man dressed in high-quality clothes.”
The elderly man nodded gravely and shuffled away.
Unseen, Yi-Gyeol drifted toward the knight holding the wanted poster.
The moment his eyes landed on it, his heart dropped.
Though it was written in words rather than illustrated, the description was unmistakable. Every detail—from head to toe, down to the exact material and color of his clothes—was accurate. Too accurate.
At the bottom of the poster, a signature stared back at him. Sethian’s signature—the one he’d seen countless times on papers signed in their shared room.
*He’s… looking for me.*
The rushed enthronement. The immediate issuance of a wanted order. The checkpoints. The emperor’s signature needed to command it all. Yi-Gyeol wasn’t so slow that he couldn’t understand what it meant.
*Why this much…?*
The Emperor’s enthronement ceremony was important enough that everyone, regardless of rank or status, paid attention to it. And yet Sethian was using something that important for nothing but a wanted order and inspections.
He had thought Seth might look for him, but he hadn’t expected it to be this fast. Much less a hurried enthronement that was practically throwing everything aside, and a wanted order that looked determined to capture him.
His thoughts still weren’t sorted out, but there was only one thing he had to do.
As soon as he returned to his body, Yi-Gyeol sat bolt upright in bed. His limbs screamed with fatigue, his vision swam, but there was no time to rest.
He had to leave. Right now.
* * *
Even after nightfall, the galloping hooves of horses echoed fiercely against the frozen road. The lead horse surged forward like a beast unleashed, followed closely by a dozen knights in dark crimson armor. They urged their mounts harder, refusing to fall behind.
The cold wind cut against Sethian’s face like glass as he led the charge.
“I thought he was some rare foreigner wearing expensive clothes. Since he even had a merchant-only identity tag, I figured he was a trader from beyond the continent or one of their descendants,” one witness had explained.
“I saw him come into the village, but after that, I don’t know. He was with some young man…”
“You mean the man with him? Nothing special, just an ordinary young fellow. He did have some bruises on his face. The foreign one looked fine.”
“This is the outfit, right? Some young man came to sell it, so I paid a good price. Huh? No, it wasn’t the foreigner. It was the one with marks on his face.”
There was no doubt now.
Yi-Gyeol had passed through Centanu. But by the time Seth and his men arrived, he was already gone.
Despite combing the village, they hadn’t found him. But they had learned he was traveling with another young man—likely the one who had nearly been sold by slave traders.
At first, Seth had wondered if the young man had dragged Yi-Gyeol around by force and taken his clothes for money. But if it were the quick-witted Yi-Gyeol, he would never have let that happen. It was far more reasonable to think Yi-Gyeol was using the young man instead.
The young man had gone all over the place, so there were probably gaps in the trail, but there was definite testimony that he had bought a long cloth and a map, then lastly gone to a carriage rental. Especially since there was a witness saying that when he went to the rental place, a man with his face wrapped in cloth had been with him, it looked as though the two had left the village together.
The trail led to a smaller village, about thirty minutes from Centanu by carriage. The moment Seth arrived and saw that a checkpoint had already been set up, he unleashed the knights to search the village as though turning it upside down.
*Where are you, Joo Yi-Gyeol.*
His eyes scanned the knights tearing through not only shops and inns but private homes as well, then he looked up at the sky.
Night had fully fallen now, dark enough that it was hard even to move around without torches. He was worried about Yi-Gyeol’s condition and wanted to bring him back tonight if possible, but there was still no report saying Yi-Gyeol had been found.
Then—
“…!”
He froze.
Something shifted in the dark—a presence, familiar and fleeting.
Seth turned sharply toward the alley. He recognized it instantly.
“Your Majesty?!” Renoc called out behind him.
Seth didn’t respond.
Renoc signaled to Kirsty to take over and sprinted after him, hoping Seth had truly found Yi-Gyeol.
The presence in the alley seemed to move, as though trying to flee somewhere. Even though the alley was so dark it would have been hard to make out someone standing right in front of him, Seth raced closer with every nerve drawn taut.
It was only a faint presence with no clear form, but Seth reached out as if he would never let him slip away.
“Joo Yi-Gyeol!”
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