Yi Yun left the pavilion the same way he had come, along the hidden path of submerged stones, without disturbing the servants hiding in the pavilion by the bridge. If anyone had noticed a figure gliding over the water, they had surely taken him for the ghost of a drowned man.

  In fact, he had not encountered that many ghosts in the palace, the Board of Rites was doing its job well. Spirits from outside could not penetrate within thanks to a special system of protection, he had not even seen his mother for a long time. Inside the palace there were only the resentful souls of those who had died there — and apart from members of the royal family, no one had the privilege of dying in the palace. Old and sick servants were, by ancient tradition, sent beyond the protected walls, no doubt no longer remembering why.

  Yi Yun was elated by the conversation with his brother. He had opened himself, Hyun had heard him and had not pushed him away. Had held him back from dangerous foolishness. They truly could become a family and, as their father wished, walk toward a common goal together, supporting one another. It was more than he had had in the last twenty years, if not in his whole life.

  He returned to his quarters in Myeongdang, calmed the servants who had lost track of him, lay down, and fell asleep soundly and peacefully. And woke to a piercing woman’s scream. Yi Yun jumped up, his sword leapt into his hand of its own accord, but there were no assassins around. Sobs came from the outer gallery, so he hurried there. The maid on duty had crumpled by a column, trembling and crying. Dawn was only just beginning to break in the courtyard. Yi Yun looked around once more but still could not understand why the maid had screamed. He went up to her and cleared his throat.

  Nothing.

  “Hey,” he tried again. He did not remember the girl’s name. “Hey, what happened?”

  “A g-g-ghost,” the maid answered through sobs and stammers, then lifted her head and screamed again, this time at the sight of the armed man standing over her.

  “Where did you see the spirit? What did it look like?” Yi Yun tried to get at least some answer out of her.

  The maid finally understood she was not being killed, looked at him again, and recognized the prince. Her sobs filled with wails of “Your Highness” and pleas to spare her. Yi Yun yawned, slipped the hand with the sword behind his back, and again asked what had happened.

  “Forgive me for disturbing your sleep, Prince!” she sobbed. “There is no forgiveness for me!”

  “What frightened you?” Yi Yun began to wonder whether he should go back to sleep in that pavilion on the lake instead. It ought to be quieter there.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Seo-yun’s sister came,” the maid sobbed. “She wanted to kill me because I laughed at her!”

  “Seo-yun’s sister? Who is that?” Yi Yun leaned his back against the next column.

  “Our Seo-yun had an elder sister,” the maid wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled. “Three years ago she was sent to the Great Qing to serve Prince Dojun. Everyone knows what they say about the girls who are taken there, right? I also spoke ill of her, joked that she would come back with a child who would not understand our language. Ah, Auntie Seo-yun would have to learn Chinese. I did not mean it, truly, I was just babbling nonsense!”

  “But Seo-yun’s sister was killed on the way back,” Yi Yun finished grimly. Yesterday’s lightness dissolved like mist under the sun.

  “Oh, Prince Seojin has heard of this misfortune?” the maid lifted her tearful red eyes to him with respect. He gave a brief nod. “I made offerings, even burned clothes so she would not be angry at me. And tonight I was sitting by your quarters and saw a shadow pass outside. So I went out to look, and there she was. And I screamed.”

  “Are you sure it was her?” Yi Yun bent closer to the maid. “Did you know her face?”

  Could it be that someone from Hyun’s retinue had still survived and managed to return?

  Ghosts rarely showed themselves to unrelated living people who did not have the gift. More often they clung to Yi Yun, who had killed them, until they decided he truly could not see them. But inside the palace he had gotten rid of even the most persistent of his victims. The reliable protection did not let in a single spirit from outside. All in all, it was simpler to assume that the frightened maid had seen a living person.

  “Well, who else?” The maid glanced around fearfully. The empty courtyard was already flooded with white morning light, there were no visible ghosts in sight. “Dressed like a junior court lady, just like me. Pink jacket, blue skirt. Hair loose. A knife sticking out of her chest, and all covered in blood. And she was flying over the floor, no legs, I mean. I think she came for me. Your Highness, save me! Let me go to a temple to pray or allow me to buy some charms!”

  All kinds of sorcery, including traditional charms, were forbidden inside the palace. It was said this was because the enlightened teaching of Confucius did not encourage folk superstition. The real reason was simpler: an unaccounted amulet could disrupt the palace’s protective lines and instead of driving spirits away, lure them in.

  In recent years there had been fewer and fewer truly gifted monks or shamans able to calculate such interactions and see the consequences. The servants of the Board of Rites had to rely on old records, often with no way to know whether a ritual had been carried out correctly. In the end, these records were elevated to the status of tradition, and any changes were strictly forbidden.

  “They say ghosts fear royal blood,” Yi Yun said. It was complete nonsense. At most, the recently dead might retain respect for members of the royal family. “Next time run straight to me, even if I am busy or asleep, and I will try to drive it away.”

  “The prince is so kind!” the maid exclaimed.

  “Tell the others as well,” Yi Yun decided. He was intrigued by this story. “I want to see this woman with the knife. As for you, bring me a basin for washing and then you may go rest, I am already awake.”

  The maid bowed low.