TMTISTBH CH 2

“Ugh…!”

Gasping for breath, In-ho lifted his body and looked around with bloodshot eyes. A cramped room barely large enough for a single person to lie down. Rough, yellowed bedding within arm’s reach. Completely different from the place he had met his end—the Council Hall.

Had he not died even after ingesting the poison? It was hard to believe. The memory of his insides melting, his breath choking on congealed blood, still lingered with agonizing clarity. If Tae-yul had somehow spared him….

The thought made him scoff in bitter resignation. The reason didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it was certain that Tae-yul must have had some ulterior motive, intending to humiliate him.

What is he planning now? The faint question didn’t linger long in his weary mind before disappearing.

A burning rage surged deep in his chest, but he couldn’t overcome the helplessness that had deeply settled into his bones.

Tae-yul was right. The moment In-ho realized Tae-sun had discarded him when he learned the fate of those he had fought desperately to save—only to find out that those he thought he saved were dead—In-ho’s rebellious spirit had vanished, replaced by the inevitability of waiting for death.

Leaning against the wall, In-ho closed his eyes. The regret swirling in his dark thoughts was painful when he suddenly heard the sound of a child laughing near his ear.

The bright sound, completely out of place where a sinner like him was, made his brows twitch. The door suddenly swung open, and a young girl entered the room.

“Brother! Are you still sleeping?”
In-ho, who had turned around absentmindedly, stared blankly at the face in front of him.

“… Yeo-seol-ah?”

“What? You’re already awake, but you didn’t even come outside? The sun’s been up for ages! You promised to go with me to the mountains today to pick pine nuts! Don’t tell me you forgot?”

She pouted, her tiny fists smacking against his arm in playful reprimand. Surprisingly, it hurt. His body felt drained of all strength, yet he simply let her hit him, too stunned to move.

Her chubby cheeks, full of life, and her sparkling eyes were completely different from the weary woman he had last seen.

She was dressed in shabby clothes without any fine silk or glittering jewelry, but In-ho now knew that these things were never important to Yeo-seol.

In-ho hugged Yeo-seol tightly.

Was this a final mercy granted by King Yeomra^[1]? A fevered delusion conjured by his broken mind?

With a pained expression, In-ho belatedly apologized.

“Yeo-seol-ah, I’m sorry. Your brother is so, so sorry…”

“Huh? It’s fine… We can still go now, can’t we?”

Unbothered, Seol nestled into his arms. Behind her, an aging woman peeked into the room. It had been so long that he had nearly forgotten her face.

“It’s your brother’s day off, don’t bother him. Come on, get out Yeo-seol-ah. In-ho, you can sleep a little longer.”

“He’s the one who promised first! And I read in Sun-joo’s book that if you sleep too much, you turn into an cow! Mom, do you really want brother to become a cow?”

“You—did you sneak into Sun-joo’s lessons again?”

“N-no! I mean… Uncle Hwang said—”

“That damn Hwang—! No, never mind. You, young lady, come here at once!”

“Nooo! Why am I the only one getting scolded when brother’s coming too?”

Yeo-seol ran out of the room to escape from her mother. In-ho, who followed her without realizing it, was surprised by how light his body felt and looked down at his legs in astonishment. The legs that had become useless after being given a punishment during his imprisonment now felt completely normal.

Driven by an unexplainable urge, he placed a hand against the wall and took a cautious step forward. Then another. And another. Slowly walking around the small yard he watched Yeo-seol running away as their mother chased after her.

The roof was half-collapsed, and the cracked walls. The makeshift fence. This shabby place was the house In-ho had lived in before entering the royal palace more than twenty years ago.

The air was crisp, the sky impossibly vast.

This was no mere dream.

Seol sat beside him, examining the bag of pine nuts she had collected.

“How old are you now?”

“Hm? What’s with that weird way of talking?” she giggled.

Yeo-seol laughed awkwardly at his brother’s strange tone. In-ho scratched his wrist awkwardly and tried to explain.

“Yeo-seol-ah, how old are you this year?”

“Brother, you don’t know that?”

Her sharp glare was almost comically stern. In-ho had no choice but to feign confidence.

“Of course, I know”

With a forced smile, Yeo-Seol’s sharp eyes swept over him. A delicate black floral pattern was embroidered on the back of his mother’s sleeve. The unknown flower, with its scale-like petals, was part of a commoner’s custom—an omen of good fortune under the protection of a guardian deity.

‘The color is black… that means it’s Hyeonmu’s ^[2]blessing which must mean it’s the Year of Hae-on,’

In-ho thought as he turned his head, his gaze landing on two small persimmons placed on a corner of the porch.

The last time their mother had brought such precious fruit was only once—during Master Bae Jin’s 60th birthday, in the last year of Hyeonmu.

It was the 23rd Year of Haeon, and he was sixteen years old.

***

Walking along a mountain path covered in fallen leaves, In-ho picked up pine cones left behind by squirrels or chipmunks under a tall five-needle pine tree. Before he realized it, the bag he carried was full, and as he loosely tied it shut, he looked around. As expected, Yeo-seol was playing far off in the distance, chasing a rabbit. At the sound of her cheerful laughter, In-ho smiled faintly and picked up the bag Yeo-seol had discarded.

He had finished organizing his thoughts.

Never before had he heard of dreams so vivid—it was unbelievable. But he had undeniably returned to the past.

To a time before he was a prince.

Before he entered the royal palace, where grandeur masked corruption, tongues carried blades, and survival meant killing or being killed.

Everything that had happened in his past life occurred because he had become a prince with the right of succession. The High Priest of the Sacred Order had received a prophecy that a prince existed outside the palace, which had led to his capture and the beginning of his cursed fate.

Had he never entered the palace, none of it would have happened.

He wouldn’t have had to harm others to survive, nor would he have lost those dear to him.

And he wouldn’t have met a miserable end in the thorn-filled political assembly.

“Brother!”

Hearing the voice calling out to him, In-ho stopped and turned to his younger sibling.

A poor child who had no ties to the imperial family but had been targeted and used by enemies as a means to attack him. She had suffered unimaginable hardships, been injured, and left unable to bear children. In the end, she was sold off as a concubine to a lecherous man through a treacherous betrayal.

“Hey, how did you gather so much? I barely got any…”

“Are you done playing?”

“Yes. The rabbit ran away. It was so fast, I almost fell trying to catch it.”

“Challenging a rabbit to a race—you really are silly. Let’s head down now. Come here, I’ll carry you.”

As he opened his arms, Yeo-seol leaped into them. Holding the bag in both hands, Yeo-seol swung her legs playfully behind his back as In-ho carried her down the mountain path.

“Hey, Brother, what do you think about keeping a rabbit at home?”

“Well… I doubt Mother would allow it.”

“We could just catch one from the mountains and feed it grass that I gather! You know Seonju got a white jade rabbit as a birthday gift this year, right? So…”

Listening to her cheerful chatter, In-ho silently vowed to himself. This time, he would protect her. From everything.

There was only one way: not becoming a prince.

A cold thrill coursed through his entire body.

***

The High Priest had received the prophecy in the winter of the 3rd Year of Ji-un, when the guardian deity of Taeseong had changed. This year would be the final year of Haeon. Which meant he had three years left before the royal decree for his capture would be issued.

He remembered the day he was dragged into that hell all too clearly. Working odd jobs in Gwangya Palace, he had been told to report to the authorities by royal decree. Without giving it much thought, he had gone to undergo an inspection.

All the boys and girls aged 13 to 19 in Gwangya Palace were gathered there. Wanting to finish quickly and return to his work, he drank the water offered to him in a silver cup and stepped inside. One by one, they were instructed to place their hands on a crude stone slab at the center. When he touched it, golden light flowed like liquid from every crevice of the stone.

Now he knew that it was a sacred stone that only responded to princes, but back then, he had been startled, thinking he had done something wrong, and quickly pulled his hand away.

From that moment, everything happened in rapid succession. He was dragged to the Sacred Order, had his identity confirmed, and was adopted into the royal family as the 16th Prince, Tae In-ho.

At that time, he had been caught immediately because he had been in Gwangya Palace when the search began. But this time, he was determined to avoid the royal family’s capture, no matter what…

Lost in deep thought, In-ho looked up at the sound of faint footsteps. Yeo-seol entered cautiously and whispered, glancing toward the door.

“Brother, the young master has arrived…”

“Who?”

Yeo-seol pressed her lips together and shook her head. Curious, In-ho got up and stepped out of the room.

Outside the wall, a boy with a sullen expression was kicking a stone. The moment he saw In-ho, he snapped irritably, “Why are you coming out so late?”

Seeing a face he had nearly forgotten, In-ho’s eyes grew cold.