Original subtitles

(All characters, organizations, places, cases, and incidents...)

(in this drama are fictitious.)

(Episode 25)

Did something happen?

You despise him...

with all your heart and are desperately trying to kill...

that darn King.

He is the King's...

He is the son of that King.

No.

Nothing happened.

I was just exhausted the whole day.

I was busy and got tired.

That was it.

I see.

What about you?

Same here.

Work can get hard.

What about the beach?

Let us go some other time.

We can go there some other time.

I will go in.

What is it?

I will make sure we go to the beach...

next time.

Yes. That was the promise.

Go in.

You even went into prison to see His Majesty.

But you left without talking to him.

You must have found out who the prisoner is.

It seems as if you found out something worse than that.

Right.

As if abandoning his own son was not enough,

he was still desperately trying to kill his own son.

I doubt that you wanted to give him the evidence.

And whether or not I will change my mind depends on you.

Do not bother my brother.

And promise me that you will not go after the disbanded Muweol Corps.

If anyone gets hurt...

That will not be hard to comply with.

I will keep my eye on you.

However, there might be an easier way.

We can work together.

- What? - I will not have to worry...

that you have the evidence against me.

And you can guarantee the safety of the people you mentioned...

and avenge...

your father who abandoned you in the cruelest way...

with me.

Crazy jerk.

I will give you two days to consider my offer.

Consider my offer.

You may not enter.

When His Majesty is not inside,

no one can enter.

- Well, I... - It was his royal command.

I want everyone to leave me...

and Chief Administrative Officer Yeon alone.

Yes, Your Majesty.

So I heard you had something to report to me.

Yes.

However, it is no longer important.

What do you mean?

I was going to report to you...

that we detected a trace of Jung Yun Jeo in Hanyang.

But you saw that he was already arrested...

and went back.

Yes.

Did you hear it?

Yes.

However, I did not hear it.

What?

I did not hear the past incident which you do not want me...

to find out. However,

I just heard a story about your loneliness.

Will you give it a try?

Yun Jeo was the same way.

He noticed hardships of my life and my loneliness.

And he embraced me as a true friend.

However, it was all a lie.

I will not forgive him.

I will not be deceived anymore.

I will get that boy...

and kill him.

I will appoint you as a royal guard.

Will you stay by my side...

and protect me...

for a very long time?

I am forever grateful, Your Majesty.

I will gratefully accept it.

Is he not that chief administrative officer...

who visits at times?

Oh, my. When did he become a royal guard?

A royal guard?

He will stay by the King's side and guard him.

Did you not know that?

What are you doing?

We have so much work to do. Let us hurry.

Okay.

It is tough, is it not?

You tried so hard to work here,

but the workload is not that little, is it?

Yes. It is hard.

I want to give up on everything.

Poor you. I did think...

that Court Lady Kim made you work too much.

I had wanted to do this for a very long time...

and never thought of doing anything else.

I do not know what to do if I were to quit.

I do not know if I should quit.

I have no idea.

Why would you put your life on stake for this job?

You are doing well, so do not worry.

What are you doing?

What happened last night?

You must be tired, so let us go first.

I will explain once we get there.

No.

I will not go. I will no longer be at your mercy.

- Hwang Tae. - I told you not to call me that.

My real name is Jung Yi Hyung.

We are not related.

I want to retrieve my name, my family, and live my life.

Is that too much to ask for?

Why do you keep bothering me?

Father...

is locked up in the royal prison.

What?

I know that it is all because of me.

I will save him.

How?

Will you beg your biological father?

Everyone will know...

what the King did 20 years ago.

- What? - Then he will not be able...

to enter the prison.

That is when I will go save him.

You will tell everyone?

You will tell them about how you were abandoned...

and how your life was up until now?

No.

It will be quicker for Grand Prince Neungyang...

to take the throne and help me.

I will make that happen...

and save Father, so do not worry.

Hwang Tae.

(20 years ago...)

(20 years ago...)

Eat up.

Thank you.

Hey, read this.

The King not only abandoned his son, but also tried to kill him.

I am telling you.

(20 years ago...)

What did you say?

Your Majesty, it is nothing but a vulgar rumor.

Who said it?

I want him to be killed before my eyes!

If you react to the rumor,

your people will believe that it is true.

Then what should I do?

You should not do anything.

Then the rumor will dissipate on its own.

Do you think so?

Yes, Your Majesty.

Also, since there are people watching,

I think you should refrain from visiting the royal prison.

If the criminal needs to be monitored,

I will do that.

There is a risk that he may say something untrue to someone else.

Yes. Do so.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Father.

Why are you here?

Get out this instant.

You should not be here.

If the King finds out...

Why did you do it?

What do you mean?

Why did you have to save me and get locked up in here?

- Nok Du. - Why did you let Mother die?

And for Hwang Tae...

Why did you take care of me?

Do not say that.

Just like what the King said,

I should have just died.

Stop it!

How dare you say that in front of your father?

You should know better!

You should have just abandoned me.

You seemed lifeless at first.

Then suddenly, you started crying.

That tiny body of yours was telling me that you were alive.

You were telling me that you were not dead.

What I did was neither impressive nor difficult.

I just did what I had to do as a human being.

But the consequence of your actions...

is very brutal.

Even if I could go back in time,

I would save you once again.

So value your life.

Leave the palace right now.

No. I will neither run away nor hide.

I am sorry to keep you here, Father.

I will save you soon.

Nok Du!

I came to see you.

I will go now that I have.

Let us go to the beach.

I thought you wanted to go to the beach.

I did not know it would be so far away.

We sneaked out during working hours, so we had no choice.

Did you want to go to the beach that badly?

I do not mind whether or not we go to the beach.

I have you beside me.

That is enough to make me happy.

Stop being so corny...

and just eat this.

I guess you made this yourself.

Why did you do that?

You are so fussy.

I knew it ever since we were at the village for widows.

You should try it yourself.

I am not hungry.

Have a bite.

No, I do not want to eat it.

I am not fussy, but you are temperamental.

You grabbed me by my collar the moment we first met.

You always pushed me and hit me.

And do you not remember how mean you were to me?

Hey, you were the one who treated me like a slave...

and asked me for all sorts of stuff.

Are you kidding me?

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

I did so many things for you.

You are unbelievable.

You are unbelievable...

for coming to that village and pretending to be a widow...

when you were a man.

Yes, I know.

I will tell you why I went there.

I had always been curious of whom I really was.

And I went there to find out.

I thought the person who knew about it would be there.

So...

did you find out...

whom you really are?

Yes, I found out...

about everything.

So I am planning to set things straight.

I need to protect my father.

We should go back now. It is getting late.

The battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin...

is becoming more and more serious.

Therefore, I think we should hurry up and send our troops...

for reinforcement, Your Majesty.

The people of our country have not recovered from the Japanese battle.

I cannot send them to another battle.

I refuse to send an army.

Your Majesty.

Have you forgotten the help we received?

The reason we were able to defeat the Japanese was because...

we received help from the Ming Dynasty.

"Help"?

No, they never helped us.

They just came because they did not want the battle to reach their land.

On top of that, they were not even interested in fighting.

They returned to their country after having done nothing...

but exploit my people.

Your Majesty.

How could you say something so terrible?

If it were not for the kindness of the Ming Dynasty...

"Kindness"?

How can you all be so sure of that?

I experienced the cruelness of that battle firsthand.

You were all busy running away!

Your constant disregard for our country's duty...

is exactly why people are spreading ugly rumors about...

What? "Rumors"?

Excuse me.

Court Lady Kim sent me here on her behalf.

Oh, I see.

Thank you.

Goodbye.

My gosh.

Please come here.

Lady Dong Joo.

What...

What did you just say?

Your Majesty.

I deserve to be killed.

She deserved a proper burial...

so that we could take care of the grave.

But we had to do it without anyone noticing.

We are very sorry.

Do not say that.

Thank you so much...

for burying her here.

You must have gone through so much.

You had to grow up in this harsh world all by yourself.

I am so proud of you.

By the way,

what are you doing in Hanyang?

And why are you working in the palace?

Why would you enter that scary place?

You are not...

thinking of doing anything foolish, are you?

Lady Dong Joo, that will put you in grave danger.

It is not over yet.

What do you mean?

A few days ago,

we were summoned by His Majesty.

He kept asking us if there were any other survivors.

You must leave.

If he finds out that you are still alive,

we will all end up dead.

Just like what happened back then.

Is that what he said?

Did he say he will find everyone and kill them?

You must get out of the palace right now.

Do not do anything.

You should go somewhere far away and stay hidden.

No. I will not run away.

It was so hard to get this far.

- Your Majesty! - Your Majesty!

How dare you...

speak of that nasty rumor...

in my presence at my palace?

So apparently, my son is alive.

Therefore, he is much more qualified to take the throne.

Fine. Is there more of this nonsense?

If any of you wants to mention any other false rumors,

go ahead and tell me.

Go ahead!

Escort His Majesty out.

And the rest of you, take care of the body.

- Right away. - Right away.

Your Majesty.

How... How could this happen?

Minister, we cannot turn a blind eye to this.

Do you not agree?

Father! Father.

No. Father.

Father!

How...

How could you do this to him?

Father.

Take him away.

Bring back my father.

Bring back my father! Father!

(Episode 26 will air shortly.)

(The Tale of Nokdu)

(Episode 26)

This is all your fault.

Had you not saved that boy...

That is not true.

Regardless of my actions,

the heinous truth you tried to cover up...

will not change.

How dare you?

How dare you stop me?

Please. I beg of you, Your Majesty.

Give it back to me.

Even if it means that I must kill him tonight,

I must hear from him that the boy is dead.

Have you forgotten all about our conversation?

If you continue,

the rumor will spread before you could stop it.

A few days ago,

we were summoned by His Majesty.

He kept asking us if there were any other survivors.

You must leave.

If he finds out that you are still alive,

we will all end up dead.

Just like what happened back then.

Why did you come back in?

What if someone sees you?

Nok Du.

I will make him regret...

to have hurt you like this.

I will...

never forgive him.

What are you planning to do?

I will get back at him.

I will make him shed tears of blood.

I will drag him down from the throne...

that he is desperately trying to hold onto.

Do you wish to be just like him?

Why not?

I will do so...

as long as I can fix whatever damage I had done.

He is...

your father who gave birth to you.

Yes, indeed.

That is why I cannot forgive him.

Because he is my father.

Nok Du.

Nok Du!

You do not seem so well.

Is there someone wrong?

No.

Then,

is it because you are disappointed in me?

That will never happen, Your Majesty.

Everyone fears and hates me, and they turn their backs on me.

So why are you not doing the same?

I am also appalled...

and afraid of what I have become.

I will never leave your side.

I will leave the palace in the early morning two days later.

I will visit my ancestors' graves...

and get some fresh air.

(The king would visit the late kings' graves.)

If I do that,

everything will get better.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Did you summon me, Your Majesty?

I believe your workload is too much for you to handle...

since all you have been doing was cook at the gisaeng house.

My apologies, Your Majesty. I will make sure...

Once we return from our visit to my ancestors' graves,

he will help you.

He is very knowledgeable.

He is bright and is talented in martial arts.

He will help you find the boy.

Yes, Your Majesty.

You must find him.

If you think you might lose him,

you may kill him.

Your Majesty.

What is the reason?

What do you mean?

Why are you doing this to your son?

I would like to know since I may have to kill him.

He was destined to take the throne.

If he were to live,

I was told that...

he would overthrow me.

After all I have done to get here...

Is that...

the only reason?

To me that is...

more than enough reason.

Are you happy now?

The shaman had supernatural powers.

But the King killed her.

Why did you bother to ask him?

Did you think...

there was a grand reason?

I did not expect you to accept my offer.

But I do understand that you must be very shocked.

He tried to kill you after being swayed...

by what a shaman said.

I will make his nightmare come true.

If he is overthrown,

he will not be able to die as a king.

Let me kill him myself.

Did you drink?

Yes.

Because I wanted to see you.

Why would you drink before coming to see me?

Because...

I thought I could say this to you...

if I was drunk.

Say what?

I wanted to tell you...

to leave me.

Then why did you come here...

instead of the palace?

I think...

I have a similar drinking habit to yours.

I drank because I thought I could say that to you...

in a drunk state.

But after getting drunk, I did not want to lie.

I wanted to tell you the truth.

That is why I did not go.

Fine.

We should...

This is what I truly wanted to say.

Do not leave me.

I know that I am irresponsible and selfish.

You can blame it on the alcohol.

But...

I still...

Nok Du.

No matter what I do...

Even if I become a terrible person who committed something heinous,

I wish...

you could remain by my side.

I am the one who is terrible.

I should not have done it.

But I was swayed when you had said...

that you wanted us to love each other for the time being.

I wanted to do that as well.

What are you saying?

Let us end this.

We must.

Why? Tell me the reason.

No matter what happens or what I do,

it will have nothing to do with you.

Everything...

is my fault, so...

I do not know what you are saying.

I am sorry.

Tell me.

- Tell you what? - Why are you abandoning me?

There has to be another reason.

Why are you suddenly acting so strange?

Why are you doing this to me?

Why...

must I lose you as well?

Please do not leave.

There is nothing I can do for you.

You will get hurt and be in pain...

if I stay next to you.

What do you mean?

I do not want that.

I do not want to hurt you.

So please let me go.

Are you here to see Dong Joo?

- Yes. - She left the palace this morning.

Court Lady Kim will be escorting the Queen to a Buddhist temple.

So she was given a few days off.

Did she tell you where she will be staying?

No, she did not.

Okay.

What is all this?

I am sorry for putting you through so much trouble.

I know I cannot do anything to repay you.

But please take this.

Lady Dong Joo.

Why are you doing this?

What in the world are you planning?

I told you not to do anything.

I know you would never dare,

but do not even dream of it.

The palace is a scary place.

It is something I must do.

I will be off now.

But...

Did you all see the shock in everyone's faces?

His Majesty dug up his own grave.

We are talking about a man's death.

It is not something to be happy about.

That is why we should dethrone him as soon as we can.

We should do it before more people get killed.

More importantly, how are things going right now?

We could not find His Majesty's son.

And who spread the rumor?

If His Majesty's son is really the source of the rumor,

would that not put us in danger?

I agree.

And where are the Muweol Corps?

There has been a change of plans.

What?

What is he doing here?

Say hello, everyone.

He is the son that everyone is talking about.

Are you saying...

he is His Majesty's son?

A son that got abandoned by His Majesty a long time ago.

He agreed to join our plan.

While we take over the palace,

he will bring us His Majesty.

I am the commander of the palace guards.

I cannot believe I did not know about this.

Would it not be more amusing to see His Majesty...

get dragged to us by his own son?

(Jun Nok Du)

(Merit List)

- Are we done here? - If you happen to get swayed,

remember that your brother is with me.

And do not resent me for he was the one...

who chose to come back again.

Keep a close eye on him.

I have ordered a few swordsmen to follow him.

So do not worry.

You must find the royal seal and keep it safe...

while he captures His Majesty...

so that no one will be left to obey him.

Yes, I am in charge of the royal seal anyway.

So it will be a piece of cake.

There is no need to worry.

Are you really going to do this with him?

He is blinded by hatred.

So he will be of good use.

I am trying to dethrone His Majesty for his lack of morality.

So I cannot kill him afterward because he is my uncle.

But he is willing to kill the King for me, so I am grateful.

Do not worry.

I will not let a scumbag who killed his own father live.

When his time comes,

you will get to kill him yourself.

Hello.

I heard you got promoted.

Congratulations, Royal Guard Yeon.

Thank you.

But what brings you to the police bureau?

I heard you will be escorting the Queen...

to a Buddhist temple tomorrow.

Yes, I will be escorting her.

Can you give her this for me?

I picked it up at the palace.

Oh, my.

She looked for this everywhere.

What a relief.

Please take good care of Her Highness.

Pardon?

Oh, right.

Yes, of course.

Officer.

A conspiracy?

Yes.

She is trying to harm His Majesty.

So that is exactly what it is.

Then are you saying you lied to His Majesty?

I did not know.

I had no idea she was still alive.

I thought she died.

She was not even 10 years old back then.

It seems like she entered a gisaeng house...

and managed to stay alive.

So where is she right now?

You are...

going to keep your promise, right?

You told me that whoever reports a conspiracy...

will be exempted from punishment.

That means you will spare our lives, right?

Yes. Now, tell me where she is.

Once you pass the marketplace,

you will find an inn.

Lead the way.

I will go.

I want you to go to the palace and report this to His Majesty.

Pardon?

Okay.

I will be on my way after I report this to His Majesty.

Lead the way.

Did you just say...

she was at the gisaeng house in Mudam Valley?

Yes.

But apparently, that gisaeng house disappeared.

Once she came to Hanyang,

she got a servant job at the palace.

No.

That cannot be.

(Inn)

Did you happen to see a woman with short hair?

Oh, her?

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

Why do you keep looking for that lady?

She is staying in the room on the end.

Kill her as soon as you catch her. That was the King's order.

Go after her immediately!

- Right away! - Right away!

I cannot tell you.

It is just like how you disguised yourself as a woman...

and why you are here with an alias.

I have my reasons too. Understand?

Why are you so complicated?

What are you so afraid of?

Why are you so fearless?

You do not know what tomorrow will bring.

I had a task to fulfill.

I have been living my whole life trying to complete my task.

Once I was done with it...

When I join my mother after completing my task,

I thought I could be really happy.

That was the reason I lived for.

Do you...

know...

who I am?

Hurry.

Go now.

(The Tale of Nokdu)

Hurry.

Go now.

Live, my baby.

Make sure you live, so...

Mother.

Royal guard?

The chief administrative officer I met the other day...

He is the son of the King whom I saved...

20 years ago.

Yeon Soo is dead?

He died a very long time ago due to his illness.

Then, my royal guard...

Who on earth is my royal guard?