Original subtitles

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

(in this drama are fictitious.)

(Episode 27)

Do you...

know...

who I am?

Hurry.

Go now.

You are the royal guard.

May I ask why you are here?

I was looking for the woman as she was not at the inn.

Pardon?

She ran away just now.

I am sure she came this way.

No one came here.

I will look around here.

Take your guards and go that way.

I will.

But...

why did no one from the police bureau accompany you?

I understand that we are only trying to catch a mere woman.

I was in a hurry.

Go on your way now.

Please forgive me, Your Majesty.

We are still looking for her, so we will soon...

That is all right.

A young girl like her will not be able to do anything.

We will catch her soon enough.

You may go now.

Do you have something else to report to me?

No, Your Majesty.

Do a secret background research on the royal guard.

Find out where he lives, whom he meets, what he does,

and about his house in the south. Find out everything.

If you find anything suspicious,

tell me at once.

Yes, my lord.

His Majesty must have left the palace by now.

Yes, Your Highness.

He must be outside of Hanyang.

I see.

Then let us return to the palace.

Pardon me?

I will meet with him.

Your Highness.

Let him go this instant.

I will take...

full responsibility.

Do you have something to say to me?

No, Your Majesty.

You have been staring at me all along.

I was being mindless.

Do forgive me.

You do not need to be tense outside of the palace.

Act as usual.

Yes, Your Majesty.

What do you mean by that he is with the King?

He knows everything...

and has disguised himself as the royal guard.

"The royal guard"?

That chief administrative officer found this?

Yes, Your Highness. He has now become the royal guard.

Is that so?

I am truly grateful.

By the royal guard,

do you mean...

I am...

the chief administrative officer of the police bureau.

I had lost my hat at the palace.

That is right.

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

20 years ago.

Despite knowing everything,

he is with the King? Do you mean...

That is why you cannot come with me.

I will stop him,

so please stay somewhere safe.

Your Highness, you must leave right now.

Be safe.

I know this is shameless to ask,

but please...

protect my son.

Your Majesty, do you feel ill?

You must have exhausted yourself by leaving the palace today.

His Majesty traveled across...

all eight provinces when he was the Crown Prince.

You do not need to worry about that.

During the Japanese War, he stayed at the temporary palace.

He also often stayed in thatched houses.

Am I not right, Your Majesty?

Of course, I am aware of that.

I had accompanied him back then.

His people, who were in pain, relied on him very much.

- Is that so? - Yes, Your Majesty.

You risked your life to save the country and your people.

Your people had hope...

since they knew you still cared for them.

How could I have abandoned my people...

who were like my own children?

I just did what I should have done.

Therefore,

I must kill...

that boy.

Your Majesty.

He is your son.

You already tried to kill him once, and he barely managed to live.

That boy is your son, Your Majesty!

He should not have lived.

He should not have survived!

What are you doing?

I must make sure things are safe outside.

I apologize, but may I excuse myself, Your Majesty?

Hey, how dare you behave this way in front of His Majesty?

Well,

I understand that he might find it boring...

to listen to our stories of the past.

You may excuse yourself.

I miss her so much.

Nok...

Dong Joo.

Have you lost your mind?

How could you just leave like that?

We are planning to stay here for another night,

so I wanted to check the surroundings.

Yes, I know that.

But did you have to do that now?

Whatever the case,

make sure everything is done by 10:30pm...

I told you that I will make sure everything is taken care of.

Okay.

Let us go inside.

What is the matter?

Is someone here?

Who would be here?

Let us go back inside.

Your Majesty!

Jung Yun Jeo...

has escaped from his cell, Your Majesty.

How could a prisoner escape from his cell?

I apologize, Your Majesty!

It seems like...

the Queen helped Jung Yun Jeo escape...

and disappeared with him.

What?

I cannot believe them.

Your Majesty.

They are trying to get rid of me...

so they could give him the throne.

My throne...

Send a messenger and tell them to strengthen the palace security.

Then find the missing prisoner and Queen.

I must head back to Hanyang right now.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, what about your visit to the shrines?

What is the fastest route back to Hanyang?

The fastest way to get there is to climb that mountain.

Then let us take that route.

We have no time to waste.

Let us hurry.

Yes, Your Majesty.

We will be taking a different route,

so you must go before everyone else...

and make sure nothing unexpected happens.

- Yes, master. - Yes, master.

Drop your weapon.

Did we not meet yesterday?

I guess our paths overlapped.

Seeing that you fought the royal forces,

you must be walking a shameless path.

That is funny coming from you.

Our situations do not seem that different.

I advise you to stop following His Majesty.

You seem very unfamiliar with whatever you are doing.

What about you?

Are you a competent warrior?

I am not here to harm anyone.

I am here to protect the person I care about.

Is that person...

His Majesty?

If that was the case, I would not have killed the guard.

Then there is nothing for you to worry about.

Just stay out of my way.

What you are planning to do is impossible.

Even if you do succeed,

you will end up getting killed.

Do you still want to do it?

I am doing it because I must.

I promised my late mother...

that I will take revenge on our family's enemy.

You promised your mother...

that you would kill someone?

Yes.

So please pretend you did not see me here.

- Please. - That is a lie.

There are no such parents in this world.

Pardon?

No matter how unfair it was for them to be killed,

asking the daughter, the only survivor,

to kill someone to take their revenge...

No parent would ask such a thing.

You do not know anything.

Of course, I do.

I am a parent too.

And that is what I fear the most right now.

I fear that my son...

might waste his precious life...

trying to take his revenge.

And that he might ruin his life.

I am sure your family wanted...

at least you to be happy and at peace in this life,

instead of living in pure torment and dreaming of revenge.

That is what parents want.

Wake up.

Wake up, Eun Seo.

Mother.

Live.

Make sure...

you live.

Make sure you live, so...

Mother.

Do not be sorry.

Be sad...

only briefly.

And forget about all the awful things.

Forget everything. And make sure...

Make sure you live,

my baby.

Mother.

- Mother. - My baby.

Eun Seo.

Mother.

Mother.

Mother.

She told me not to be sorry...

and forget about everything.

But how?

My whole family died right in front of me.

Everyone died and left me all alone here.

How could I be happy in this life?

How?

What do they want me to do?

I am sorry.

I meddled with your life too much.

But please give what I said some consideration.

Think if that is truly what you want.

- Your Majesty. - Tell me.

The bridge leading to the town broke down all of a sudden.

Most of the courtiers and guards...

are taking the route around the mountain.

The sun will set soon, and it is raining now.

It will take longer than a day.

You must stay here tonight.

Anyway, as soon as everyone gets here,

I will leave right away.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Breaking the bridge to isolate him in the town?

You have come up with a novel idea.

It would have been possible without the guards...

you secretly brought to keep an eye on me.

I ought to give you the credit.

Anyway, make haste.

We must take the King before the other guards arrive.

Stop meddling with my business, and contact your people in Hanyang.

I will be there on time as promised. Tell them to proceed as planned.

How rude.

I am sure your family wanted...

at least you to be happy and at peace in this life...

instead of living in pure torment and dreaming of revenge.

That is what parents want.

He does not know what he is talking about.

Earlier,

you said they tightened the security at the palace. Please explain why.

Are you afraid?

That is not what I meant.

We have come thus far together. You ought to be brave now.

Please do not worry.

Our plan will go smoothly.

What is happening?

We have a problem.

- Open the gate. - Pardon?

This is treason. I see soldiers outside.

This is a revolt.

And I also participated in this revolt.

If you want...

to risk your life to protect the current King,

you must come forward and slay me first.

Does the King deserve such loyalty from you?

Open the gate now!

(Episode 28 will air shortly.)

(Episode 28)

Why did you have to be born on the 19th of November?

Why...

Why does it have to be today?

Hey.

I was told that you wanted to see me.

I wanted to have a drink with you.

Sit down.

Drink it.

I am sure one drink will be okay.

No. I cannot.

I must have chosen a great royal guard for myself.

Right. Did you send a letter to your family?

You passed the exam and got promoted too.

No, I did not have the chance yet.

I see. Your father's mind must be made up.

You are still hesitant to talk to him.

And...

he is benevolent and warmhearted too.

When I have failed as a son, he still...

He always...

I did not know...

a father and a son could love each other this much.

I am envious.

I was afraid to stand before my father.

It felt as if I was standing on thin ice.

I always held my breath...

and had to stand firm to the toes.

I always thought it was because I was scared...

to be abandoned or kicked out.

But in retrospect,

I just...

wanted to be loved by him at least once.

That was all.

At least once.

I know...

that I do not deserve to say this.

Had I not known anything,

and had I lived as a father...

who adored his own son...

Do you...

regret it?

The thin ice has cracked,

and I have been floundering...

in icy cold water for a long time.

It does not matter if I regret my action or not.

I must lie down.

At this rate, the guards might arrive anytime soon.

It was not easy to separate them from the King.

Do not tell me that you have other intentions.

Now that you are about to execute the deed,

are you going soft because he is your...

I dare you. He is not my father.

Forget about bringing him to the palace. I want to kill him now.

I am hanging by a thread.

Unless you want me to kill you, shut your mouth.

Are you out of your mind?

The King must arrive at the palace alive.

Are you trying to sabotage the plan?

If you want to carry out the revolt successfully...

with your absurd justification,

be quiet.

"Be quiet"?

What if I do not stay quiet? What will you do?

What?

Will you kill the King right here?

You must have lost your mind.

That rude...

Your Highness.

Let us go.

We have taken control of the soldiers...

and seized the post station as well.

And Queen Dowager is escorted to the palace too.

As long as your brother does his part,

you will soon greet a new king.

Once you ascend to the throne,

will you keep your promise you made to me?

That also depends on your brother.

If Nok Du finishes his job...

and the revolt is successful...

I will kill him...

as I told you.

Why?

Does that bother you?

No.

All I ask is that you keep your promise to me.

Your Majesty.

This is Chief Administrative Officer Baek.

Yes.

Come in.

What is this about?

Well...

It is...

Speak.

Did you find the prisoner and the Queen?

It is not about them.

It is about your royal guard.

Yeon Soo...

is dead?

Yes.

Even his family did not know...

as they stopped exchanging letters a long time ago.

He died from a chronic illness a very long time ago.

Then,

what about my royal guard?

Who on earth is he?

Something was off about him,

so I looked into the Yeon family.

When I investigated him,

I heard a name.

Nok Du.

Did you say his name was Nok Du?

Yes, Your Majesty.

They called him by that name.

Then...

he is...

He is your son...

whom Jung Yun Jeo took care of.

That cannot be.

That is impossible.

- Your Majesty... - I must see him.

He will have to explain it to me himself.

Bring him to me.

Yes, Your Majesty.

You seem to be worried about something.

Yes.

I am.

There is something I must know...

although I do not want to.

I am afraid I will find out about it.

- Hurry up. - Goodness.

You and I are like friends.

Is that so?

Why are you...

crying?

No, Your Majesty.

I had trusted you...

completely.

So how dare you?

How dare you?

How dare you deceive me...

while lingering by my side?

Your Majesty.

Hurry!

We cannot waste any more time.

We will bring the King to the palace.

You may kill the royal guard...

and those who get in your way.

Let us go.

Are you not the Chief Royal Secretary?

Yes, Your Majesty. You are correct.

It is getting late.

You should not be at such a dangerous place.

That is none of your business.

But...

why have you brought these armed men?

It is, indeed, my business.

I must secretly escort you back to the palace...

by tonight.

What?

Get him!

Is it you, the Chief Royal Secretary?

Your Majesty.

It is me.

Are you not...

Dong Joo?

Why are you here?

Why are you dressed like so?

Please...

throw your sword down the cliff.

What?

What are you saying?

Please.

If you do as I say, I will answer your questions.

If you refuse...

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

Are you happy now?

Now tell me why you are doing this to me.

First,

my name is...

Yu Eun Seo.

"Yu Eun Seo"?

Not only did you kill my entire family...

because you believed they conspired against you,

but you were going to dig up their graves.

Yu Yeon Kyung.

Then are you...

his granddaughter, the sole survivor?

Yes.

He was my grandfather.

He was the one who told me...

to do everything I wanted to do even though I was a woman.

You became an orphan at such a young age.

It must have been tough.

And it is all thanks to you.

Thanks to you, I have learned how to make and use a bow.

Are you going to kill me?

Yes.

So this is why you approached me, just like he did.

Fine.

Did he scheme my assassination with you?

What do you mean?

Do you think I killed your grandfather for no reason?

That is incorrect. Had I not killed him,

he would have killed me instead...

and replaced me with a new king.

That was...

the reality back then when your grandfather was alive!

Look!

See for yourself who is eyeing my throne!

It is my own son!

It is him whom I had thought was dead!

What did you just say?

Nok Du is...

The King killed your whole family...

and dragged your life to the gutter.

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 the King.

I am going to right what is wrong.

I must protect my father.

Do you think I will let that happen?

I will kill him first.

I can do that.

There is no reason I cannot!

You are going to kill your son?

Yes.

I am willing to kill anyone...

who wishes to steal the throne from me!

Does Nok Du know...

that this is how you feel about him?

I am sure he does.

He has disguised himself, stayed by my side,

heard, and saw everything.

You are crazy.

Yes.

You have to be crazy to endure the throne.

I have dreamt...

of killing you for the longest time.

I thought I would feel relieved and happy.

But I was wrong.

I cannot believe I wasted all those years...

only to kill a beast like you.

I cannot believe I hurt him for a man like you.

What did you just say?

You may be the highest of all ranks...

and have the world at your feet.

But you are already a dead man.

You cannot trust anyone.

And no one trusts you either.

You are just an empty shell.

You are not...

even worth killing.

Have you seen His Majesty?

I heard he went out looking for you.

I have something to tell you.

Your Highness, we have a problem.

Grand Prince Neungyang has plotted a revolt?

His Majesty fell down the cliff,

and there is a conspiracy going on at the palace?

Yes, while people search for His Majesty,

I will be at the palace at the promised time.

You and the soldiers here should come with me.

We must find His Majesty...

and stop the revolt.

Send a message...

and gather soldiers from all the nearby areas.

They must hurry up and arrive at the palace in time,

while we do what we can to stall.

If what you say is true,

the soldiers we have here will not be enough.

Yes, I know.

We will have to hang in there.

Good work.

What do you think you are doing?

I am here to clear up all the traitors.

If you regret your decision, you are free to change your mind.

I promise that you will be forgiven.

No one?

Then I guess I have no choice.

Come inside.

(The Tale of Nokdu)

I am sorry.

I did not know you were alive.

You wish to be the king when no one even knows...

how you were raised?

You were a playboy who used to spend time at a gisaeng house.

I do not want to hide anymore, Father.

Let us leave the palace first.

If we stay here...

Father! Father!

How could you come back here?

I will go wherever...

whether it may be a battlefield or a place that is burning down.

I told you already.

I can no longer live without you.