How To Kill A King:

Episode 13

The candle was lit, flickering and pale in the light of the sun. Min-jun held the pages of the book above the fire, watching as heat illuminated the ink on the page.

“I know what you are.” 

“What you are?” How rude of them, talking about him as if he were some foreign breed. An animal. He'd have to give this person a lecture on common courtesy.

“Do you know who sent this, Jeong-eun?”

Jeong-eun pursed her lips, shaking her head. “It was delivered by a maid. I’m not sure who she worked for.”

“I see.” Min-jun flipped through the rest of the book, searching for traces of its owner in its pages. The writing of the message and the prayers matched, so the person who sent it must be educated in some capacity. “Going by the content of the book itself, it seems the person was a devout shaman.” Or perhaps that was what they wanted him to think. There were too many possibilities. Either way, it felt like the owner wanted to be found.

Well, it wasn’t like he had much else to do, aside from waiting for the right moment to kill the King. He might as well take his time chasing this mysterious gift giver.

He rose. “Where is the nearest temple?” 

“But you haven’t finished your breakfast!” Jeong-eun protested, following close behind. 

“I’m not hungry.” 

“Nonsense.” Jeong-eun stepped in front of him, blocking his one exit. “We can’t have you fainting on your way there. Your Highness might be protected due to your closeness with the King, but we are not so lucky. Besides, do you know how many people would pay to eat such a grand meal?” 

A poisoned meal, no less. He gazed down at her, frowning. “Then, you may eat it.”

A few of the maids gasped. Jeong-eun brought her hand up to shield her mouth. “Eat from the plates of your Highness. Lady Rae will have our heads if she finds out. Oh, you still have much to learn. Not that I know better than your Highness. I’m just a servant girl.”

She wasn't letting this go. Were all of the servants in this place so stubborn? “Very well, I’ll eat some of it. Will that satisfy you?” If it was poisoned, then he might as well consider the maids an enemy as well, for their clear investment in having him consume these potentially toxic meals. 

"Yes, your Highness. Your health is of utmost importance!"

Half an hour later, Jeong-eun finally pointed him in the direction of the temple. He had experienced no symptoms of food poisoning thus far, and so he decided the maids were probably not on the side of some lofty enemy. 

The maids followed him everywhere. Out of the Jangmi Villa and its beautiful tiled rooftops and tidy gardens, through various courtyards and building complexes and past the gate separating the inner and outer palaces. The palace was in eternal bloom. He’d expected beauty, luxury, but the tenderness put into this place caught him off guard. They were well on their way into the outer palace when he heard a sudden wave of excitement around him.

“It’s Doctor Myeong-suk,” one of them whispered. 

“He’s so handsome,” another one added. Curious at the flurry of admiration behind him, Min-jun glanced over his shoulder to the object of all their affections. He was, after all, a connoisseur of beautiful things. 

The man, this Doctor Myeong-suk, waved at them, a genial smile on his face, before continuing on his way to whatever medical emergencies required his attention. He was handsome enough, Min-jun surmised, in an ordinary sort of way, with a face full of sharp angles and his figure strong and muscular from what little he could make of it. He could see the appeal.

Still. He couldn’t spend all day just listening to his maids talk about how beautiful and kind and generous the stranger was.

Min-jun cleared his throat. “If I may bring your attention back to the task at hand. You may fawn over Doctor Myeong-suk as much as you’d like when you have the time.”

“Yes, your Highness,” they said, in impressive harmony, but he could still hear giggles as he turned away. There was no stopping the attraction between people, one-sided or not.  

“You must forgive us, your Highness," Jeong-eun said, walking beside him. "Now that his Majesty is sworn to you and the other consorts, we’ve decided to forsake our admiration of him. Instead, we focus on people who are closer to our own statuses.”

“Are you planning on wooing him then?” he asked, full of dry wit.

“Oh. No, not me. I’m not all that interested in men, though I will admit the King and the Doctor are both very attractive. As attractive as you are beautiful, Highness. Oh, I hope you don’t mind me saying.”

They should be close to the temple now, if Jeong-eun had been telling the truth at all. “Of course not. I’m already sharing the King with four other women. I’m in no position to be jealous.” 

Jeong-eun crossed her arms with a sniff. “Really? I think you have every right to be jealous. How is it the King can have five consorts and as many concubines as his lust desires, and yet you are made to wait only for him. I would never be able to be a consort, no matter whose. Waiting around all day. Oh.” She turned to him, her eyes pleading. “Do not tell anyone of this, please. I shouldn’t be so bold.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Though, really, does it look like I’m simply waiting around all day, Jeong-eun?”

Her eyes narrowed, leveling him with a scrutinizing gaze. “No, I suppose not. But that is only because the King is kind enough to allow you to roam. Not everyone is so lucky … oh, it appears we’ve arrived.”

“I hate this place,” Chae-won muttered, looking up at the modest-looking temple. All of the windows had been left open, and young men and women in white and blue hanbok ran about inside, arms full of books and broomsticks. One woman sat outside on the steps of the temple, lounging against the banister, her broomstick abandoned against the wall of the house. 

“I find it charming,” Jeong-eun responded. “It’s very well-maintained for such an old building.” 

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Chae-won said. “Are you sure you want to meet with the Head Shaman, your Highness? Alone.”

Alone? He had an entire entourage with him. “Is he so dangerous, Chae-won?” 

Her silence suggested he was. Fantastic. Best case scenario, the man knew nothing about him and they would have a delightful chat over some tea. Worst case scenario, he knew everything and was halfway to cursing Min-jun with some death spell. 

Those odds were hardly the worst he’d faced on a case. 

He approached the slumbering woman, feeling at home in this environment, in meeting dangerous people and solving puzzles. 

“Excuse me, Miss. Can you point us in the direction of the Head Shaman?”

. End of Chapter .