𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐋𝐄 ♕ 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐊

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆-𝗼𝗻𝗲

Yifan had been kind enough to lead Gaeun out of the house. He had sat her down at one of the stairs under a stone folly and patiently wiped all the blood and soot from her arms as the mages of Songrim flooded the Lee compound holding lanterns. Gaeun's sobs had quietened, though her eyes still held the sheer terror of what she had walked into.

"Your Grace," Yifan said gently, kneeling in front of her, "You need to light the lamps so that the mages can begin their investigation at the earliest."

She did as she was told.

The house was lit up once more and if anybody wondered who it was then they didn't voice it. Everybody, including Lord Park, was horrified at the audacity of such a merciless attack.

Within minutes, the bodies had been carried out of the house, covered in white shrouds, with the utmost care. Gaeun, who was otherwise staring aimlessly at the stone flooring of the front yard, saw two mages carrying her grandmother and shot to her feet. "Where—" she coughed, trying to fix her voice which had gone rough from her ear-splitting wails, "Where are they taking them?"

Lord Park emerged from the front doors. He descended the steps and made straight for Gaeun and Yifan, pausing slightly at the proximity between the two. "Gaeun," he said softly, "You have my deepest sympathies for what happened this evening." When she didn't move to acknowledge him, he continued, "I understand if you would refuse but we need to look into this matter at the earliest, given what has been going on in Daeho. And for that, you will need to answer a few questions—"

"They had no enemies," Gaeun cut him off flatly, refusing to look away from the cart that carried her grandparents away to Sejukwon to be examined, "After my mother, Lee Hyunjoo, ran away, they kept to themselves. My grandfather was a lesser lord who rarely attended any banquets and had no communication with anybody outside of Cheonbukwan. The household staff has been employed for decades now and even they didn't hold animosity towards anyone within this fortress."

She looked up at Lord Park who was clearly taken aback by, first, her answer, and second, the sharp fury in her eyes. "It wasn't a revenge plot," Gaeun told him.

However...

"However, we believe they were either targeting her," Yifan added, nodding at Gaeun, "or...judging by the wounds inflicted, testing out their skills."

"What?" Lord Park asked in disbelief, "And how do you know that? What...what have you been hiding about yourself, Gaeun?"

Yifan stood up straight, every bit of her shield that he was. "Whatever Her Grace hid from you," he replied, "was out of safety of our kingdom—"

"Wait," Gaeun raised a hand to touch his elbow before standing up. "The family of the late Queen of Yeol was attacked. The safety I've tried to preserve was all for naught, Yifan. Lord Park," she turned to him, "You know of Yeol's special operations squad, Teukjeondae, controlled and overseen by the Dowager and her Council. They have collaborated with your mages for several investigations, though their identities were mostly hidden. I am Salamander of the Masks and this is my partner, Gecko."

The silence was deafening as they waited for the Lord to speak. His mouth was partly open as his eyes darted frantically between the two. Finally, he spoke, "All this time, we believed that your father was Min Yeonsun..."

"What?" Her face finally lost the apathy that had refused to leave in the past twenty minutes. Her expression turned to one of extreme confusion as she reached up to scratch the itchy tear trails on her cheek. "My father in Min Yeongsun."

"An innocent spelling mistake," whether Lord Park sounded awestruck or shocked, she couldn't tell, "that I found in the Merchant's Registry. Your father is Yeomra—"