As the King strolled through the palace grounds, he stumbled upon the treasury door ajar, revealing several court ladies busily transporting boxes. Intrigued, he approached them, and they quickly bowed in respect. Recognizing the boxes as those containing the late Queen's exquisite jewelry, he inquired, "Where are these boxes headed?"
"They're going to the Queen's residence, Your Highness. She requested we bring these jewels out of storage for her use," one of the ladies replied.
King Seo-Jung's demeanor shifted dramatically; his face darkened as he barked, "Return them! Everything taken from the previous Queen's vault must be put back!" With that, he stormed off toward the Queen's quarters.
Upon reaching the Queen's residence, he brushed past her lady-in-waiting, shouting, "Move aside!" He burst into the Queen's private chambers, where he found Queen Eri adorning herself with the previous Queen's jewelry. In a fit of rage, he exclaimed, "What are you doing? Put those back immediately and return everything to the vault!"
Queen Eri was taken aback, resembling a thief caught red-handed. She stammered, "Your Highness…I was just…testing them out," her voice trembling with anxiety.
King Seo-Jung swiftly gathered the jewels, returning them to their boxes. "You there, take all of Queen Min-Ah's belongings and move them to my residence," he commanded. Turning to Queen Eri, he added, "Did I not instruct you never to remove these from the vault? Haven't I given you more jewelry than you can wear? Why do you still desire these?" His accusation hung in the air, as he pondered her motives.
Queen Eri's temper ignited at his words. "What do you think I am? A thief after a dead Queen's treasures? I'm simply trying them on to decide which I'd like replicated!" In a fit of frustration, she hurled a box at the King's feet. "If you value them so much, take them! Perhaps you'd like to exhume your late wife too!"
The King charged toward the Queen but came to a halt just a few steps away. "Is that all you can hear? I've given you new treasures meant solely for you! Why would I give my Queen something that belonged to a deceased wife? Don't you understand?"
However, the Queen could only see one painful reality: the King still cherished the memory of a woman long gone. "You can say whatever you want, but it's clear you're still in love with someone who passed away years ago. That's why you keep her things!" The Queen's words were sharp, her fury evident in her piercing gaze.
Just then, the crowned prince entered, having caught wind of the heated exchange. "Father, mother… what's happening? I could hear you both arguing from outside!"
The Queen, resembling a scolded child, approached her son. "It's your father; he won't let me have the jewels from the previous Queen."
Man-Ju shook his head as he neared his father. "Your Highness, can't you just overlook this? The previous Queen is gone; let her Majesty have those jewels."
The King placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "That's exactly why I won't allow it. Those jewels belonged to a deceased Queen, and your mother deserves her treasures, not something that was simply passed down. These," he pointed to the scattered jewels, "belong in the vault. Our current Queen deserves far more than that," King Seo-Jung explained, hoping his son would understand the reasoning that his mother could not.
Just like the Queen, Man-Ju found it hard to understand the King's rationale. "But father, the previous Queen has been gone for so long. Shouldn't Mother be allowed to have those things instead of letting them rot away in the vault?"
The King shook his head resolutely. "No! I made my decision about these items ages ago, and I will not go back on it." He turned to the doors and shouted, "All of you out there, take the former Queen's belongings and bring them to my residence… AT ONCE!"
The doors swung open, and the court ladies hurried in, swiftly gathering Queen Min-Ah's possessions before bowing and exiting the room. Man-Ju pounded his fist on a nearby table, his voice rising in anger. "Is this how it's going to be? A dead Queen takes precedence over my mother?" He moved to his mother's side, embracing her. "She has been your loyal supporter all these years, standing by you faithfully. Yet you can't even allow her to have a few keepsakes from a dead woman?"
King Seo-Jung's ears rang with disbelief at his son's words. In a fit of rage, he rushed toward the crowned prince and struck him sharply across the face. "How dare you raise your voice at me? If you can't comprehend that I'm respecting your mother, I can't help your shallow understanding."
He turned away from the Queen and his son but paused at the threshold. "Your brother, Prince Young-Sik, would stand with me on this matter. He would never allow your mother to wear trinkets that belonged to someone else—not because she was his mother, but to protect the dignity of the present Queen." With that, King Seo-Jung left the room, leaving Man-Ju to nurse the pain of his father's blow.
Queen Eri held her son's face and turned it towards her to see where he was struck "Are you alright my son? How could your father disrespect you like this?"
Man-Ju did not say anything, instead, he grabbed a chair and threw it at the wall making a loud crash. He then stormed out of the Queen's chambers "What are you doing? Follow the crowned prince!" The Queen shouted to her court ladies, who quickly scrambled after Prince Man-Ju.
Meanwhile, in the marketplace, Young-Sik and Jin-Ri were on their stroll having a conversation of sorts. "I must ask your Highness, why are you not angry with me for spreading those rumors?" She asked delicately of the prince, not wanting to trigger an angry burst from him.
"Who said I'm not?" He answered, not even taking the time to look at her "What you did was a grave mistake and you should be punished, but when I learned that you tried to correct your mistake and even tried to preserve my honor, I thought maybe she deserves to keep her head…for now" He then looked at Jin-Ri with a sly grin
The court maiden bowed her head and said "Thank you for giving me this chance and for forgiving me, your Highness." She expressed her gratitude to the prince with a sincere apology.
Jin-Ri started to ramble on with promises to the prince "Because of this Your Highness, I Hong Jin-Ri promise to follow your every word and you don't have to worry I will protect you with my very life. So you don't have to look over your shoulder, because Hong Jin-Ri will always have your back no matter what. I your faithful court maiden will always be there to protect you"
She waited for the prince to respond, but Young-Sik only stood there watching something unfold. "Your Highness?" She asked the prince, trying to catch his attention. She looked in the direction the prince was looking at and saw three men shouting at a woman carrying a child.
When the child started to cry because the three men were trying to take him away from his mother, Jin-Ri leaped into action and ran toward the defense of the woman and her child.
"Hey, where are you going? Come back here" Young-Sik called to his court maiden, who continued to go in between the men and the mother and her son. Scratching his head he just observed from a short distance away
"Let that child go!" Jin-Ri demanded from the three men as she kicked one on the shin.
The man rubbed his shin and shouted at the court maiden "Mind your own business you bitch!"
This only infuriated Jin-Ri and she kicked the man on the other shin, making him hop from the pain. "Call me something I'm not, where are your manners you big ugly brute!" Jin-Ri huffed at the three men
Young-Sik raised an eyebrow at Jin-Ri's actions, yet deep inside, he admired her courage. "Not bad…stupid, but not bad," he thought to himself while nodding his head in approval.
"Get that bitch, we'll take her to the boss and let him have fun with her" One of the men shouted, the other two quickly grabbed Jin-Ri making her scream and struggle. She kicked and kicked the men, but they did not affect her abductors who are now dragging her away and child.
Young-Sik scratched his head "Miss Shameless…you meddling…Aish!" the prince charged at the men assaulting his court maiden. He leaped in the air and landed a kick on the nearest man with his right foot. Twisting gracefully in mid-air, he followed up with a left kick on the next man. The two men were thrown to the ground and landed with a loud thud.
The third man placed the child down and tried to attack the prince from behind, but Jin-Ri alerted the prince "Your Highness, behind you"
Young-Sik let out a backhand punch at the man, knocking several teeth from their sockets. The three men quickly got up and ran away. Young-Sik attended to the mother and his son first "Are you alright? How about the child? Is he hurt?"
The woman shook her head "No, kind sir we are fine thanks to your intervention." She said with a smile, expressing her gratitude to the prince
Turning to his court maiden he asked "How about you are you okay? Are you hurt?" His voice was laced with concern for his nosy court maiden.
"Don't worry about me, Your Highness I'm tough, they can't hurt me" Jin-Ri bragged to the prince while waving her arms back and forth in unison.
"Who are they? Why are they taking your child by force?" Young-Sik asked the woman, curious as to why she landed in that predicament.
The woman cradles her son while rubbing his back in an attempt to hush the child "They are loan sharks, I was forced to borrow some silver coins from them to buy medicines for my son and some food as well" The mother paused for a moment, to hush and kiss her child "But when I couldn't pay them back, they said they will be taking my son as full payment" She then added something terrible "I heard that they take the children of those who can't pay them back, we were trying to hide, but they found us"
Jin-Ri leaned over to the woman "Do you have any idea what happened to the children that they got?"
The woman stood up, still cradling her child "As far as I know they sell them to child traffickers, what happens afterward I have no idea."
"Do you know where their hideout is?" Young-Sik asked the woman, determined to find the loan sharks and arrest them for kidnapping
"I hear rumors that they bought the old slaughterhouse, west of the market. Excuse me but we need to head home now before they come back, thank you again for helping us" The woman bowed and she and her son made their way home
"The old slaughterhouse, I know that place. You better head back to the palace, it might get dangerous" Young-Sik advised Jin-Ri with genuine concern
"Apologies, Your Highness, but my oath is to keep you safe. Now, she mentioned heading west..." Jin-Ri glanced around, her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to figure out which direction was west.
Young-Sik gave her a light nudge and pointed over his shoulder. "I knew that," Jin-Ri replied with a grin, confidently striding off in the direction he indicated.
Young-Sik sighed and shook his head "This is going to be a long day" He then followed his court maiden toward the loan sharks' hideout s if the world around them faded away.