Original subtitles

ALL CHARACTERS, PLACES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INCIDENTS

PORTRAYED IN THIS DRAMA ARE FICTITIOUS

Is something wrong?

The darn king

whom you loathe and desperately wish to kill!

He is...

He is the King's son.

No, nothing.

I just had a long day.

I was busy, and now I am tired.

That is all.

I see.

What about you?

Same here.

I had a long day, too.

What about the beach?

Let us go next time.

There is always a next time.

I will head inside now.

Why?

Let us go to the beach next time.

Yes, we promised.

Bye now.

You went to the dungeon to see His Majesty and came out without seeing him, I hear.

I guess you now know who is in there.

You look like you have heard much worse.

Right.

You would not want to hand over the evidence

to a father who is so desperately trying to kill you

after abandoning you.

And what I will do next depends on you.

Do not lay a finger on Hwang-tae.

And promise me that you will not chase after the Muwol Corps.

If anyone gets hurt...

That is easy.

We will see.

But there is an easier way.

You can join me.

What?

I would not need to be scared by the fact that you have the evidence.

And you will be guaranteed those people's safety

as well as a chance to take revenge on your merciless father.

You can do all of that with me.

You are insane.

I will give you two days to think about it.

No.

Nobody may enter when His Majesty is not present.

-Well... -It is the royal command.

Everyone may leave except for Officer Yeon.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I heard you had something to say to me?

Yes, but there is no use now.

What is it?

I was going to report

that Jung Yun-jeo was seen in Hanyang.

Then you saw he was already arrested

and headed back.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Did you hear?

Yes, Your Majesty.

But I did not hear.

What did you say?

I did not hear anything about the past you are trying to hide.

I just

heard your lonely cries.

Will you give it a try?

Yun-jeo was the same.

He was my good friend

who knew how lonely and tired I felt.

Although, it was all hypocrisy.

I will never forgive him.

I will no longer be fooled.

I must get him

and kill him.

I appoint you as my royal guard.

Will you stay by my side

and protect me

without betraying me?

I am honored, Your Majesty.

Your wish is my command.

Is he not the officer who visits you sometimes?

When did he become a Royal Guard?

A Royal Guard?

A guard who protects His Majesty right by his side.

Did you not know?

What are you doing?

We have so much work to do. Let us finish this quickly.

Yes.

It is hard, is it not?

You tried so hard to get into the palace,

but work here is more demanding than you imagined, right?

Yes.

It is tiring.

-I just want to quit. -I knew

that Court Lady Kim was working you way too hard.

I have been wanting this for so long.

I have never thought of doing anything else other than this.

So I do not know what I have to do to quit.

I am not sure if I can quit.

I am so lost.

Being a servant is not everything there is to life, you know.

You are doing well, so stop overthinking.

What do you think you are doing?

Last night...

You must be tired, so let us go first. I will tell you everything after.

No, I will not go.

I will no longer let you drag me around.

-Brother-- -I told you to not call me that.

My real name is Jung I-hyeong.

And I have nothing to do with you.

I want to restore my family's honor and live the life I deserve.

Does that bother you so much?

Why do you keep spoiling my plans?

Father is...

in the prison inside the palace.

What?

I know that this is all because of me.

I am going to save Father.

How?

Are you going to beg your birth father?

I will let everyone know

everything the King did 20 years ago.

What?

Then it will become harder to enter the dungeon,

and I will take the chance to...

You are going to tell the world yourself?

You are going to tell everyone about how you were abandoned?

No.

It will be faster to help Prince Neungyang become the king and have him help me.

I am going to make that happen and save Father my way,

-so do not meddle. -Hwang-tae...

20 YEARS AGO, HIS MAJESTY KILLED HIS SON TO BECOME KING HIMSELF.

-Enjoy. -Thank you.

Here, read this.

His Majesty not only abandoned his son, but tried to kill him!

Yes, I am telling you!

20 YEARS AGO, HIS MAJESTY KILLED HIS SON TO BECOME KING HIMSELF

What did you just say?

Your Majesty, it is just a false rumor.

Who started this?

Arrest him immediately and kill him!

Responding to a rumor will only make it more believable.

What shall I do, then?

Ignore it, Your Majesty.

Then it will go away on its own.

-Is that so? -Yes, Your Majesty.

Since many are watching,

I advise you not to visit the dungeon for a while.

If you need to keep an eye on the prisoner,

I will take care of that,

for we do not know what nonsense he will say to other people.

Yes, do so.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Father...

How did you get in here?

Get out right now. This is too dangerous for you.

-If His Majesty finds out-- -Why did you do that?

What do you mean?

Why did you save me and end up in prison?

-Nok-du... -Why did you let Mother die like that?

And Hwang-tae...

And did you have to save me?

Do not say that.

He was right.

-I should have just died. -Watch what you say!

How dare a son say that in front of his father?

Did I raise you to be like this?

You should have just abandoned me 20 years ago.

You were silent as if you were dead.

Then you started crying at the very last moment.

With that tiny body of yours, you cried for life.

You cried to show that you were alive.

I just did what I was supposed to do

as a human being, nothing heroic.

Even though it brought

so much tragedy?

Even if I were to go back,

I would have saved you.

So, do not waste your life.

-Leave the palace immediately-- -No.

I will not flee or hide.

I am sorry for keeping you here, Father.

-I will free you soon. -Nok-du!

I just wanted to see you.

I am good now since I saw you.

Let us go to the beach.

You wanted to go to the beach, no?

I did not know that it was so far away.

We are slacking off at work, are we not?

Do you want to go to the beach that bad?

I do not mind wherever we go.

Having you by my side is more than enough.

Stop saying such cheesy things and have this.

You made this yourself.

-Why did you do that? -What a picky eater you are.

I knew you were picky from the widow village.

-Try this yourself. -I am not hungry.

Come on, open your mouth.

No, I am not going to eat.

I am not picky, you are just cranky.

You grabbed me by my collar when we first met,

and punched me whenever you had a chance.

You bullied me around so much.

You are the one who slaved me around,

making me fetch things for you.

Slave you around?

I applied ointment on you, did the laundry, and even cooked for you.

What an odd girl you are. I did so much for you.

Says the man who dressed up as a woman

to get into the widow village.

You are the odd one.

Right, I was odd.

The reason I entered the village was

because I grew up always wondering who I was.

I went into the village to find out.

Because I thought someone who knew that was at the village.

So,

did you find out

who you are?

Yes, I found out about everything.

So, I am going to make things right.

I have to protect my father.

Let us go back. It is getting late.

The war between Ming and Manchu

is getting intense day by day.

Therefore, I believe that you must send troops

to assist Ming as soon as possible.

How can I send my people to another horrific war

when they have not fully recovered from the Japanese invasion?

-I will not be sending troops. -Your Majesty!

Have you forgotten about how they saved us?

Ming is the country that helped us

to fight off Japan during the war.

Helped us?

No, they never helped us.

They came to fight in Joseon as they did not want war on their land.

And they were disinterested in the war.

They were busy leeching off of my people!

Your Majesty!

How could you say such a thing?

Had it not been for merciful Ming--

Merciful?

How are you all so sure?

I am the one who experienced the war at the front line.

It was not you who were busy running off.

Your Majesty, you keep ignoring what is proper,

no wonder such rumors...

What? Rumors?

Excuse me,

I am here to pick up what Court Lady Kim requested.

I see.

Thank you.

MEDICINE

Goodness.

My lady.

Say that

one more time.

Your Majesty!

I deserve to die!

We should have buried them in the best land we could find,

but we had to do it in secret.

We are too disgraced to see you.

No.

Thank you so much for taking care of them.

You must have had a hard life.

I cannot imagine how difficult it was

for you to grow up in this tough world alone.

But what brought you to Hanyang?

Why are you at the palace?

Why are you putting yourself in such a dangerous place?

You are

not planning on doing anything, right?

It is too dangerous, my lady! It is not over yet.

What do you mean?

We were brought to His Majesty recently.

He kept asking us if there was any family member alive.

You must leave.

We will all die if he finds out that you are still alive,

just like back then.

Is that what he said?

That he will find me and kill me?

Get out of the palace now.

Do not do anything,

and just hide somewhere far away.

No. I will not run.

I cannot give up after all I have been through.

-Your Majesty! -Your Majesty!

How dare you

bring up such a rumor in my presence at my palace?

My son is alive?

And he is more qualified to sit on the throne?

Fine. Is there anyone else?

Come up and tell me

what other false rumors are there.

Go ahead!

Bring His Majesty out,

and the rest of you, clean up after the corpse.

-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.

Your Majesty.

How can this happen?

Minister, we must not turn a blind eye on this.

Do you not agree?

Father!

Father!

Father!

Father!

How...

How could you do this?

-How could you? -Take him away.

Bring my father back to life.

My father!

This is all your fault.

Had you not saved the boy!

No, Your Majesty.

Whatever I did

does not change the terrible things you have done.

How dare you!

What are you doing?

No, Your Majesty.

Give it to me.

I must find out where the child is now

even if that means I have to kill him.

Have you forgotten about our conversation?

If you do this, rumors will only get worse.

We were brought to His Majesty recently.

He kept asking us if there was any family member alive.

You must leave.

We will all die if he finds out that you are still alive,

just like back then.

Why did you come back?

What if someone sees?

Nok-du.

I will make him regret

having done this to you.

I will

never forgive him.

What are you going to do?

I am going to take revenge.

I will make him cry tears of remorse.

I will drag him down from the throne that he fought so dirty to keep.

Are you going to be the same?

Why not?

If that is what it takes to correct everything I have messed up.

He is

your birth father.

Exactly.

That is why I cannot forgive him.

Because he is my father.

Nok-du!

Nok-du!

You look glum today.

Is something wrong?

No, Your Majesty.

Or,

is it that you are disappointed in me?

How could I be, Your Majesty?

Everybody fears and hates me, and are turning their backs on me.

How come you are not?

Even I am terrified of myself.

I will never leave your side.

I will be leaving early morning the day after tomorrow.

Let us say that we will visit the royal tombs and get some fresh air.

Everything will be fine

after that.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I heard that you were looking for me, Your Majesty.

It seems that I have given you too big of a task

when all you do is to play with kisaengs.

I apologize, Your Majesty. I will--

When I am back visiting the royal tombs, he will help you.

He knows everything.

He is wise, and skillful in martial arts.

So, look for him together.

Yes, Your Majesty.

You must find him.

If you fail to capture him,

kill him.

Your Majesty.

-Why are you doing this? -What do you mean?

I would like to know why you are

trying to kill your son, since I may be the one to kill him.

He is destined to be the King.

If he is alive,

I will never be able to keep my throne

even though I do become the king.

It took me so much to get here.

Is that...

all?

To me,

that is more than enough.

Are you good now?

I heard it was a shaman with marvelous insights,

although that was her last prophecy.

Why did you ask?

Did you think that there would be some special reason?

I did not think this would affect you,

but I understand that you are in shock.

After all, he is trying to kill you because of a prophecy.

It would not be a bad idea to make his biggest fear come true.

Since he will not die a king if we succeed with the revolt.

Let me kill him myself.

INN

Are you drunk?

Yes.

So that I can come and see you.

Why did you get drunk to see me?

I thought

I would be able to tell you if I got drunk.

Tell me what?

To leave me.

Then why did you come here instead of the palace?

I guess I have the same drinking habit as you.

I thought I would be able to tell you if I got drunk.

That is why I got drunk,

but now that I am drunk, I cannot lie.

I keep wanting to tell you the truth now.

That is why I did not go.

Sure.

-As you said, we-- -What I really want to say is...

please do not leave.

I know this is irresponsible and selfish of me.

You can blame it on the alcohol.

But...

even then...

Nok-du.

Whatever I do,

even if I am the worst man on Earth,

I wish...

that you will stay with me.

I am the bad one here.

I should not have,

but I was swayed

when you asked me to follow my heart just for the time being.

I wanted to follow my heart.

What are you trying to say?

Let us end things here.

We have to.

Why? Why is that?

Whatever happens, whatever I do,

it has nothing to do with you.

It is...

all because of me.

-So-- -Be more specific.

I am sorry.

I need to know.

-Know what? -Why you are abandoning me.

There is another reason, is there not?

Why are you acting so weird?

Why are you doing this to me?

Why should I

have to lose you?

Please do not leave me.

There is nothing I can do for you.

You will get hurt if you stay with me.

What do you mean?

I do not want that.

I do not want to hurt you.

So please, let me leave.

Are you here to see Dong-ju?

Yes.

She left the palace early this morning.

Court Lady Kim is escorting Her Majesty to the temple,

so she told Dong-ju that she does not need to come to work.

Do you know where she is staying?

No, she did not tell me.

I see.

What is all of this?

I am sorry that you went through so much because of me.

I know that I cannot make up for it,

but please at least accept this.

My lady...

Why are you doing this?

What are you trying to do?

I told you not to do it!

It is impossible. Do not even think about it.

It is the palace you are talking about!

I must do it.

I will get going now.

Did you all see how terrified they were?

Looks like His Majesty dug his own grave.

We should not be celebrating someone's death.

Which is why we need to dethrone him as soon as possible

before there are more victims.

More importantly, how are things going?

We could not find His Majesty's son.

And what is with the rumor?

If it is the son himself who started the rumor,

-is that not dangerous for us? -Indeed.

And where are the Muwol Corps members?

There has been a change of plans.

What?

-Why is he here? -Say hello.

He is the man of the rumor.

Are you then His Majesty's son?

Yes, he is. He has been abandoned a long time ago.

He is joining us.

While we take over the palace,

he will capture the King and bring him back.

How come I, the Commandant, did not know this?

Would it not be more fun

to watch the King get dragged by his son?

JEON NOK-DU

OATH

-Good? -If you ever have second thoughts,

remember that your brother's life is in my hands.

He came back to me on his own again

so do not hate me for it.

Keep a close eye on him.

I ordered some swordsmen to secretly follow him, so do not worry.

You must take the Royal Seal while he captures the King,

so that there is no trace of him left behind.

Yes.

I am the keeper of the Royal Seal so it will be a piece of cake.

Do not worry at all.

Are you really siding with him?

He will be of great use since he is crazy for revenge right now.

I am dethroning the King for mistreating his parents,

so it would be hypocritical of me to kill my own uncle.

Is it not nice of him to do it for me?

Do not worry.

I do not plan on letting a man who killed his father live.

I will let you

kill him yourself.

I heard that you have been promoted.

Congratulations, my lord.

Thank you, Officer.

What brings you to the police bureau?

I heard that you are escorting Her Majesty to the temple tomorrow.

Yes, I am.

Could you give this to her?

I picked it up at the palace.

She has been looking everywhere for this.

What a relief.

Please take good care of her.

Sorry?

Right, yes.

Will do.

My lord...

-A revolt? -Yes.

She is trying to kill His Majesty,

so it is indeed a revolt.

Does that mean that you lied in front of His Majesty before?

I had no idea.

I did not know that she was alive then.

I obviously thought she was dead.

She was not even 10 years old back then.

It seems that she joined a kisaeng house

and was raised there.

Where is she?

You will keep your promise, right?

That those who report a revolt does not get punished.

My wife and I will live, right?

Yes, so tell us where she is right now.

There is an inn

past the market.

Take the lead.

I will go,

so please go to the palace and tell His Majesty.

Sorry?

Okay.

I will follow you right after I tell His Majesty.

Take the lead.

Did you just say a kisaeng house in Mudamgol?

Yes.

But I hear that the kisaeng house no longer exists.

She is now a servant at the palace.

I do not believe this.

Have you seen a woman with short hair?

That woman?

She left her belongings here. She said she was going out.

INN

Why does everyone keep looking for her?

She is in the room over there.

The order is to kill her as soon as we catch her.

-Go after her! -Yes, my lord!

I cannot say.

Just like how you cannot tell me why you dressed like a woman

to get into the widow village and why you are here with a fake name,

I have my reasons, okay?

Why are you so complicated?

What are you so scared of?

Why are you so fearless?

We can never predict the future.

I had to do something.

It was my goal for my entire life.

I figured

I would be able to meet my mom and finally be happy

when everything is over.

It was what kept me going.

Do you...

know...

who I am?

Go.

I said, go!

Go.

I said, go!

My child, stay alive.

You must live...

Mother!

By the Royal Guard,

do you mean the Officer I met back then?

He is His Majesty's son I saved 20 years ago.

Yeon Su is dead?

He died a long time ago due to an illness.

Then Guard Yeon is...

Who is Guard Yeon, then?

Subtitle translation by Min-sun Kim