Dohyun did not die.
But before he even opened his eyes, the palace had already reached its verdict.
What had happened at the hunting grounds was no longer being called an accident. A broken arrow had been found near the Silver Prince Doyun's horse, and the fletching bore the mark of Wolyeong Palace. Rumors spread that Dohyun had tried to kill the Silver Prince and failed—and that in the process, he had used his own court lady as a shield.
Jia screamed that it wasn't true, her hands still stained with blood.
No one listened.
Dohyun had saved her. He had thrown himself over her and rolled. He had been hurt because of her. But the witnesses told a different story entirely.
"The Third Prince's horse charged toward the Silver Prince."
"The court lady called Sowol screamed first."
"His Highness was holding a bow."
Every word was a fragment of truth. But twisted together, they formed something else entirely.
The moment Jia returned to Wolyeong Palace, she was seized. Guards from the Queen Dowager's quarters wrenched her arms behind her back and dragged her away. Baek Gyeom moved to stop them, but the words *by royal order* left him no room to draw his sword.
They took her to the Royal Investigative Bureau.
Cold stone floors. Low ceilings. The smell of blood and mold. It was there, for the first time, that Jia felt the full weight of this world being real. The suffering written into the novel had been beautiful sentences when she was reading. In person, it was terrifying and filthy and it hurt.
The interrogator asked her the same question over and over.
"Did the Third Prince order you to kill the Silver Prince?"
"No."
"Then why did your horse bolt?"
"Someone drugged it."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"If you don't know, how can you be certain it was a drug?"
Jia bit down on her lip. If she said she'd seen it in a dream, she'd be called a demon again. If she said she knew the original story, she'd be called insane. Without evidence, the truth had no power.
The interrogator gestured, and a soldier lifted a long wooden rod.
Jia's face went still.
"Wait."
"Are you ready to talk?"
"His Highness was not targeting the Silver Prince. He was hurt trying to save me."
"Then you've just made yourself the evidence."
The interrogator smiled coldly.
"The Third Prince ruined a royal hunt to save one lower-ranking court lady? That's a fine crime in itself. Your testimony proves that a prince lost his head over a girl and broke the laws of the royal house."
The air left Jia's lungs.
No matter what she said, it turned against Dohyun.
Then a commotion broke out beyond the door. A low, familiar voice cut through it.
"Open this door."
Dohyun.
The door swung open and he walked in, bloodied bandages still wrapped around him. His face was pale, but his eyes were alive.
The interrogator scrambled to prostrate himself.
"Your Highness, your wounds are severe—how did you—"
"I came to collect my court lady."
"But by royal order—"
"The royal order was issued to me. Not to her."
Dohyun untied the rope binding Jia's wrists himself. His fingers were cold.
Jia bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying.
"Why did you come. You shouldn't be moving."
Dohyun said quietly, "If you're in there, I don't have a choice."
The words were so warm that they frightened her.
Outside the Royal Investigative Bureau, Baek Gyeom was waiting. He moved to support Dohyun, but Dohyun pushed his hand away. Then he walked directly toward the throne hall, where the king was.
Jia tried to stop him.
"Your Highness, you can't go now. We still don't have evidence—"
"If I stay still, the charges will harden into fact."
The throne hall held the king, the Queen Dowager, the Silver Prince Doyun, the ministers—and Seonwoo Ryu. Doyun wore a light bandage on his arm, but his expression was far more dramatic than his injury warranted.
The king's voice was ice.
"Dohyun. How do you intend to explain what you did at the hunting grounds?"
Dohyun knelt.
"I did not harm the Silver Prince."
Doyun let out a slow sigh.
"Brother, don't you think I want to believe you? But that arrow was found in front of my horse."
Dohyun did not look at him.
"The arrow was planted."
"Do you have proof?"
The king's question hung in the air. Dohyun was silent for a moment.
He had no proof. Not yet.
Then Seonwoo stepped forward. Jia's heart dropped. The courtroom scene from the original novel flashed through her mind. The moment he betrayed Dohyun.
Seonwoo bowed his head.
"Your Majesty. I witnessed something unusual at the hunting grounds."
Dohyun's eyes moved to him.
Seonwoo spoke carefully.
"The Third Prince's quiver had already been switched before the hunt began."
Jia's eyes went wide.
This wasn't a betrayal.
Seonwoo was trying to help Dohyun.
The Queen Dowager's eyes narrowed. Doyun's smile vanished.
Seonwoo reached into his robe and produced an arrow.
"The mark of Wolyeong Palace was painted over the outside only. The inner fletching still bears the mark of the Silver Prince's household."
The throne hall stirred.
Doyun's expression hardened.
But then the Queen Dowager spoke, her voice perfectly calm.
"How curious. Why did Lord Ryu have that arrow in his possession beforehand?"
The air shifted.
Seonwoo's hand went still.
The Queen Dowager smiled and turned to the king.
"We ought to consider whether the Third Prince and Lord Ryu arranged this story in advance."
The evidence meant to save Dohyun had been flipped into proof of a conspiracy between Dohyun and Seonwoo.
The king's expression darkened further.
"Dohyun is to remain under house arrest in Wolyeong Palace until further notice. Seonwoo Ryu will be investigated."
"Your Majesty!"
Seonwoo cried out, but soldiers were already seizing him.
Jia watched him. For the first time, something in Seonwoo's eyes wavered.
Had he never been a traitor after all?
Or was even this—all of this—a performance staged for a deeper betrayal to come?
That night, Wolyeong Palace became a prison in everything but name. Soldiers were posted at every gate. All of Dohyun's correspondence was subject to inspection. Even Baek Gyeom could not move freely.
Dohyun sat in the study with his wound torn open again. Jia pressed medicine into it, jaw tight.
"Why did you go that far."
"Do what."
"Come get me. It only made things worse for you."
Dohyun answered quietly.
"If you were a liability to me, I would never have kept you close to begin with."
Jia's hand stilled.
Dohyun looked at her.
"Sowol. No."
His voice dropped.
"What is your real name?"
Jia stopped breathing.
If she said it, something felt like it would become impossible to take back.
But Dohyun was already waiting.
Jia said it very softly.
"Jia."
Dohyun repeated it slowly, as though the sounds were foreign to him.
"Jia."
At that moment, the bronze mirror blazed with light from across the room.
Through the cloth draped over it, red letters rose to the surface.
— WARNING. — The prince has learned your name. — The return gate has begun to close.
Dohyun saw the light too.
His gaze moved to the mirror.
"Is that the gate you go back through?"
Jia couldn't say a word.
For the first time, something in Dohyun's expression broke.
"Then the more I save you—the more I lose you."