Chae Young was banished from Taehyung's manor.
Seorin reflected on Taehyung's plan and she frowned. She followed his plan but he gave her a surprise. Indeed he asked Chae Young to bring a bowl of herbal soup to her. As planned there was no poison in the herbal soup, but there was a poison powder in her fingernails. When she was blowing on the spoon of herbal soup, she slipped the poison into the bowl to frame Chae Young. What she didn't expect was that the same poison was found in Chae Young's chamber.
The poison in Seorin's hand was given to her by Taehyung. After Yoongi examined the poison found in Chae Young's chamber it was the same poison as the poison Taehyung gave her. Initially, she thought Taehyung framed Chae Young by putting the bottle of poison in Chae Young's chamber. But she saw Chae Young's guilty expression and she realized the poison did belong to Chae Young. She suspected that Taehyung knew long ago that Chae Young hid poison in her chamber. That meant someone wanted to harm Taehyung and Taehyung used his enemy's poison to deflect his enemy's scheme. She was impressed by how calculating Taehyung could be.
Seorin wasn't certain if Chae Young's poison was intended to harm her or Taehyung. Also, she didn't know if Chae Young bought the poison on her own or someone secretly gave it to Chae Young. Perhaps someone at Official Lee Jonghyeok's manor was involved.
Seorin remembered what Taehyung whispered in her ear and her heart stirred immensely.
After the maids left the chamber, Taehyung held her wrists.
"Orabeoni, what are you doing?" Seorin asked and failed to free her wrists.
Taehyung waved small scissors in front of Seorin. "Cutting your fingernails. It's too dangerous to keep the poison in your fingernails for a long time."
In the past Seorin hated having long fingernails and kept her fingernails short. But after she entered the Park Manor, Park Sang-Hee criticized her fingernails were ugly so she kept them long.
Seorin wasn't depressed Taehyung was cutting her fingernails. But a strange feeling stirred in her heart while Taehyung was holding her hands and cutting her fingernails.
Taehyung wasn't satisfied to only cut Seorin's fingernails. He dipped her hands in a basin of warm water.
"Orabeoni, there was only a little poison in my fingernails," Seorin said. "You already cut my fingernails, there's no need to soak my hands."
"It's an extra precaution," Taehyung said. "What if you accidentally put it in your mouth? What am I going to do if I lose my little tigress?"
Seorin played dead.
After a long time, Seorin was able to get her freedom and sat down at a table.
"Fifth prince, don't you have something to explain to me?" Seorin asked Taehyung.
Taehyung sat beside Seorin and he picked up a cup of tea. "Rinnie, what do you want to know?"
"Fifth prince, how did you know there was poison in Chae Young's chamber?" Seorin asked.
Taehyung drank a sip of tea and sighed. "It appears there are some things I can't fool my wifey."
Seorin tapped her fingers impatiently for Taehyung to explain.
Taehyung put the cup down and smirked while speaking. "If your husband doesn't know what everyone is hiding in their chambers then your husband would have died long ago."
Taehyung spoke in a teasing tone, but Seorin understood. Before she married Taehyung, she knew two princes wanted to sit on the dragon throne. Taehyung didn't want to be emperor, but he wouldn't escape unscathed. There would be spies sent to Taehyung's manor, which was why she only showed her real self if she was alone with Taehyung otherwise she would act like a lady.
Taehyung's manor looked like a tranquil place, but it was a deadly battlefield. Seorin feared in the future she needed to be more cautious.
Seorin feels anxious.
Taehyung pulled Seorin onto his lap and he whispered in her ear. "Rinnie, you don't need to worry. My spies have secretly investigated everyone in the manor. Now that Chae Young is gone, you're free to climb walls or roll on the ground."
"Who's worried?" Seorin asked. Taehyung reminded her of embarrassing childhood memories and she jumped off his lap. "What climb walls? It was you who provoked me to climb walls. What roll on the ground? It was you who forced me to do that."
Taehyung smiled happily at the sight of an angry Seorin.
"Lee Jonghyeok's messenger sent Chae Young the poison," Taehyung said. "I asked Yoongi to check her chamber long ago. In the past, I didn't hesitate to eliminate spies sent to the manor. But she was Lee Jonghyeok's spy... out of consideration Consort Lee was my adoptive mother, I acted like I didn't know about Chae Young was spying on me. I had her followed and I slowly thought of ways to return her without offending Lee Jonghyeok... that was two years ago. After I came back from Southern Busan I could only avoid her and I waited for the right opportunity to chase her back to Lee Jonghyeok's manor."
"Orabeoni, how are you going to deal with Lee Jonghyeok?" Seorin asked.
"As long as my wifey is happy I'll use all my abilities," Taehyung said.
Seorin didn't know how Taehyung could talk nonsense while looking serious.
"Wifey, you can see that Lee Jonghyeok doesn't want to only spy on me anymore," Taehyung said. "If I didn't deal with Chae Young then I don't know what would have happened to us."
Seorin remembered the bottle of poison and her heart shivered fearfully. "Orabeoni, the poison... is Lee Jonghyeok's scheme?"
Taehyung nodded and Seorin took a deep breath. "But in the morning didn't you say Lee Jonghyeok... if you can't have children then what's the purpose of you climbing high?"
In the morning Taehyung whispered in Seorin"s ear, "Lee Jonghyeok always wanted me to climb high, but I don't want to."
Each time Seorin remembered Taehyung's words, her heart pounded continuously. She thought the battle for the throne was only between the third prince and the crown prince. She didn't know there were court officials who secretly supported Taehyung. Although Lee Jonghyeok resigned, Lee Jonghyeok's influence in the imperial court wasn't insignificant.
Seorin didn't know why if Lee Jonghyeok was secretly supporting Taehyung then why did Lee Jonghyeok send Chae Young to spy on Taehyung.
"Rinnie, you should know in this world there's something called puppet," Taehyung said.
Seorin stayed quiet for a while and thought about the meaning of Taehyung's words.
Taehyung smiled at the sight of Seorin's revelation expression. He leaned back on his chair and he thought about Consort Lee. When Consort Lee was alive, Lee Jonghyeok's desire was for him to become emperor. But Consort Lee didn't want him to be caught in the deep web of battles. She only wanted him to grow into a healthy and carefree man. After Consort Lee died, Lee Jonghyeok resigned and to other people, it appeared like Lee Jonghyeok didn't have any influence left in the imperial court.
When Taehyung was eighteen years old, Lee Jonghyeok asked him, "who do you think suits being emperor?"
"I don't know," Taehyung said.
"What if you are emperor?" Lee Jonghyeok asked.
"I don't suit," Taehyung said.
"I think you suit more than them," Lee Jonghyeok said.
Lee Jonghyeok persuaded some court officials to support Taehyung, but Taehyung avoided associations with them.
Seorin thought many people who were in Taehyung's position, a prince who was unloved was suddenly elevated high in the sky would make their heads spin. But Taehyung wasn't like them. Taehyung knew the day Lee Jonghyeok elevated him high in the sky would also be the day Taehyung would fall onto the ground, shatter bones and flesh.
Ten years ago Taehyung hid behind a screen and heard Lee Jonghyeok say something cryptic to Consort Lee, "Boys fight, elders win. Destroy roots, pursue the ambition."
Initially, Taehyung didn't want to believe the meaning behind Lee Jonghyeok's words until Yoongi told him that the poison Lee Jonghyeok's messenger gave Chae Young was Seasonless Poison.
Taehyung realized the poison was intended for Seorin. If Seorin couldn't have his children, Lee Jonghyeok wanted Chae Young or another woman Lee Jonghyeok sent to have his children. Only then would Lee Jonghyeok have absolute control while he would be a powerless puppet who could die unexpectedly anytime and Lee Jonghyeok would steal the throne.
Taehyung thought Lee Jonghyeok's scheme was too good. Luckily he evaded Lee Jonghyeok's scheme. He put aside his deep thoughts and saw Seorin was standing in front of the window brooding.
"Rinnie, what are you thinking about?" Taehyung asked.
Seorin thought about the cruel battles in the palace. But she didn't expect one day the battles would involve her. If Taehyung didn't discover the scheme in time then the consequences would be severe. Oh God!!, she only entered Taehyung's manor for two days and was faced with such a depressing situation.
Seorin looked depressingly up at the sky and spoke softly. "I'm thinking about my mother's wish for me to live a safe and carefree life. But I fear I can't grant her wish."
Taehyung stood in front of Seorin. "Do you regret marrying me? It's useless to regret now. It's your fault for not running away before the wedding."
"It's your fault for wanting to marry me!" Seorin said through gritted teeth.
Taehyung flicked Seorin"s forehead. "If you didn't marry me, I fear your chances of living a safe and carefree life would be less."
"What?" Seorin asked confusedly.
"Perhaps this is a hard path," Taehyung said. "Are you scared?"
Seorin tilted her head back, looked at Taehyung for a while, and spoke in a fierce tone. "I'm married to the scariest person in this world. You, do you think there is anything else for me to be scared of?"
Taehyung laughed.
"But Lee Jonghyeok invested in his scheme for years," Seorin said. "Will he be willing to let go of it?"
Taehyung looked at the gardens outside the window. "Of course not. But right now that's not the biggest worry."
"What else is there?" Seorin asked.
"Tomorrow you need to go to the Park Manor," Taehyung said.
Seorin had forgotten about visiting her maiden family home after the third day of marriage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taehyung prepared gifts for Seorin's family.
Seorin glanced at the expensive gifts and her heart ached for the gold coins wasted.
"This is your husband elevating your worth," Taehyung said.
Seorin understood if a husband gave expensive gifts to his wife's family, it meant he valued his wife. She knew that she had a high place in Taehyung's heart. "Tae orabeoni, aren't you scared people will think you want to gain my father's favor?"
Taehyung after hearing his name cutely come out from Seorin's mouth didn't reply immediately. He looked carefully at Seorin's appearance. Suddenly he remembered something. He pulled out a hairpin from one of the chests. At the top of the hairpin were three emeralds surrounding a pink pearl and the gold sunlight reflected off them. He secured the hairpin in Seorin's hair. "Rinnie, this hairpin suits your hanbok, and it is a gift from me for calling out my name so cutely."
Seorin didn't voice her opinion. What could she say? Thank Taehyung for rummaging through the chests he was going to give to her father?
"Let people think what they like," Taehyung said. "It's clear I'm innocent. How can people suspect me?" He paused and inspected Seorin's appearance again. "Where's the jade pendant?"
"What is it for?" Seorin asked suspiciously.
"For you to wear," Taehyung said. "Are you keeping it safe as an heirloom for the next generation?"
Seorin turned around and ran away. "I'm not wearing it. It's ugly to death."
"Wear it," Taehyung said. He chased Seorin and caught her. "It's a rare jade pendant. It's more expensive than these gifts combined. If you wear it, it'll look beautiful."
"Even if I die, I'm not wearing it!" Seorin said.
Seorin was supposed to appear like a lady. How could she wear such an ugly jade pendant?
While Seorin was struggling to escape Taehyung's embrace, the sounds of footsteps were approaching them. He lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Someone's coming, be good."
Seorin stood upright like a lady.
"Rinnie, the sleeve of your dress is crooked," Taehyung said. "Let me straighten it for you."
Taehyung pulled out the jade pendant shaped like a tiger and secured it on Seorin's belt.
Seorin glanced at the envious two maids at the door and forced herself to smile. "Thank you, husband."
After Taehyung and Seorin were inside the horse carriage, the two maids gossiped about them.
"Fifth prince treats his wife well," the younger maid said. "I saw the fifth prince straighten his wife's dress."
"In the past fifth prince has always been gentle," the older maid said.
"It's not the same," the younger maid said. "In the past fifth prince didn't treat Lady Bo-Ah, his late fiancée as good as he treats his wife."
"That's because Lady Bo-Ah isn't as kind as the fifth prince's wife," the older maid said. "Little sister, you don't know that each time Lady Bo-Ah met the fifth prince, Lady Bo-Ah treated him coldly. Lady Bo-Ah is nothing like the fifth prince's wife who is always friendly and approachable."
"Unnie, do you know how Lady Bo-Ah died?" the younger maid asked.
"The rumor is that Lady Bo-Ah died of an illness," the older maid said. "But I think that isn't the truth-"
"Who allowed you two talk nonsense behind the fifth prince's back?" Yoongi asked.
The two maids were happily gossiping in the gardens and were startled when they heard Yoongi's voice behind their backs. They turned around and saw a cold face and sharp-eyed Yoongi dressed in black clothes like a demon.
"If you two talk nonsense again, be careful of your tongues," Yoongi said coldly and walked past the two maids.
The older maid was scared speechless and the younger maid cried. Both maids knew Yoongi's threats were scary and real. They remembered the time when a maid named Siaa barged into Yoongi's chamber and came running out itching her body. Then Siaa left the manor and no one knew if she stopped itching.
Yoongi glanced back at the two maids who were silently walking toward their chambers.
Yoongi sighed, looked up at the sky, and remembered Taehyung's request.
"In the future when you're free roam around the manor," Taehyung said. "If you see anything suspicious you can take care of the situation. Since you have many ways to deal with people who misbehave and everyone in the manor is scared of you."
Yoongi wanted to protest. What if free roam around the manor? What was he, a demon? But he didn't expect people would still talk about Lady Bo-Ah's death.
Yoongi leaped on a wall, it was clear in all directions and he jumped outside the manor. Since Taehyung chased Chae Young back to Lee Jonghyeok's manor, Taehyung ended all associations with Lee Jonghyeok. It meant avenging his family would be prolonged. But he didn't want to wait any longer to avenge his family.