Those Conquered By Love

With that command, Jin Ye turned and walked ahead.

Seoyeop closed his eyes tightly.

He had served her for his entire life, yet Jin Ye remained an enigma.

He couldn’t fathom what she was planning.

「You would never have NOT thought of it.」

‘What was her intent in saying that...?’

Seoyeop mulled over Jin Ye’s words as he rose to his feet.

His back muscles tensed with the weight of the moment, and his footsteps grew more cautious.

Entering the room after Jin Ye, Seoyeop closed the door behind him and surveyed the surroundings.

It was just as he noticed Jin Ye’s petite figure again that something blocked his view.

Yeon Mugeon.

Mugeon had stepped between him and Jin Ye.

“What are you doing?”

Seoyeop’s composed demeanor momentarily faltered as his brows furrowed in response to the unexpected action.

But despite the sharpness in his gaze and voice, Mugeon didn’t waver.

“Do not meet with Her Majesty’s eyes.”

“....”

“That was your command before allowing me into this room.”

“You dare lecture me?”

“I may not know the rules of the imperial palace, but even I know one should never go back on their word.”

They say ignorance breeds boldness, and Mugeon certainly proved that true.

Seoyeop almost let out a scoff but managed to suppress it as he glanced back at Jin Ye, who stood behind Mugeon.

He didn’t want to show any kind of disrespect in front of his liege.

Moreover, Jin Ye remained silent, a sign that she was content to simply observe.

If that was what she preferred, Seoyeop would comply.

His loyalty was unconditional.

Instead of arguing with Mugeon’s bold statement, Seoyeop bowed respectfully before the emperor.

“Jo Seoyeop, your vassal, has come to this esteemed place at Your Majesty’s command.”

When Mugeon turned around, he saw Jin Ye smiling as though she found the entire situation quite amusing.

She returned the greeting casually.

“There is no need for such formalities in this chamber.”

And yet, Jin Ye’s steps did not lead towards Mugeon, nor towards Seoyeop.

Instead, she walked over to the perfectly arranged bed and sat down.

As she settled in, she provocatively lifted her foot, taunting the two men.

“So, which of you will be the first to lick my foot?”

At her words, Mugeon and Seoyeop exchanged a glance.

“....”

When neither moved, Jin Ye lowered her foot back to the floor, her expression shifting from disappointment to mild boredom.

“No one?”

Seoyeop’s lips twitched as if he were about to respond, but before he could, Jin Ye turned to Mugeon and asked.

“Mugeon, didn’t you just say you desired to possess me?”

“If you send him out... Then I can...”

Jin Ye cut him off decisively.

“That’s not possible.”

She didn’t say ‘I don’t want to,’ but rather ‘That’s not possible’—it wasn’t a refusal; it was a statement of fact.

Mugeon found it impossible to discern her intentions.

Her next move remained just as unpredictable.

“Seoyeop, what about you?”

“I...”

‘What exactly is the true intention behind entrusting the duties of a ‘man’ to a vassal?‘

While it was evident Mugeon was still stunned by confusion, Seoyeop was wise enough to realize that Jin Ye was trying to test him with the absurd question.

“I would be more than satisfied just by being able to ‘take care’ of this insolent man for daring to disrespect Your Majesty.”

And Seoyeop also realized that his liege had already noticed the treasonous and irreverent emotions brewing within him for quite a while.

Yet, Seoyeop did not waver.

He merely displayed his loyalty, giving the textbook response.

“Is that truly the will of my right-hand man, Jo Seoyeop?” Jin Ye said.

The reason for Seoyeop’s actions was simple.

Before she was a woman, she was the ‘Emperor’—a supremely noble figure deserving of his unwavering loyalty.

“Yes, it is.”

“It is by your efforts, Seoyeop, that I stand here today. That is also the reason why I have always placed my trust in you.”

Their bond would not be severed just because another man’s body bore a Soulmark with her name.

Jin Ye was proving that right now.

“There is no reason for me to deny your wish.”

Hearing her words felt like swallowing a bitter pill for Seoyeop.

But then, the Emperor issued her command.

“Draw your sword.”

Seoyeop grasped the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist.

With a swift, metallic hiss, the well-forged blade was drawn.

To wield a weapon in the emperor’s quarters—there was no greater display of trust.

This act only sharpened Seoyeop’s resolve, with his blade now pointing directly at Mugeon’s neck.

Jin Ye’s smile widened in satisfaction as she observed.

“You inquired whether it was your fate to die here tonight, did you not?”

Mugeon paid little attention to the sword that seemed ready to slice through his throat at any moment.

Instead, his unwavering gaze was fixed solely on Jin Ye.

The emotions in his dark eyes remained calm, while his words surprisingly and effortlessly spoke of his own death.

“Will I die?”

“Seoyeop says he wishes to sever your neck.”

Jin Ye responded lightly, yet Mugeon shook his head.

“I don’t care about this man, Your Majesty. I’d like to know whether YOU want me to die or not.”

“What ‘I’ want, you say?”

No one in the palace dared to ask about the emperor’s will.

Any word from her lips was a political decision, one that had to be followed without any doubt even if it led to an unfavorable outcome.

Everyone within the palace and the entire empire knew this, so no one concerned themselves with Jin Ye’s personal will or intentions, since it wouldn’t alter the final decision anyway.

Thus, Jin Ye found Mugeon’s question rather interesting.

It was something no one else in the palace would dare to ponder.

However,

“If you are worth keeping alive, you might be spared.”

Her ‘interest’ was no more than a fleeting amusement, like putting a candy on top of her tongue just to enjoy the sweetness for a brief moment.

In other words, she could neither afford nor had the intention to compromise her greater purpose for something so insignificant, which was Mugeon’s life.

Mugeon had no idea how difficult Jin Ye’s journey to the throne had been.

She had shed much blood, endured countless sacrifices, and withstood endless curses, all while standing firm.

She couldn’t afford to fall now; she had to be more ruthless than anyone else.

At one point, she had even come to believe she’d actually become a demon.

Having come so close to that abyss, there was no reason to pretend otherwise.

Mercy, after all, was synonymous with ‘weakness.’

Her Soulmark changed nothing—nor should it have.

She was not just Jin Ye, an ordinary ‘woman’; she was the ‘Emperor’ of the Hwan Empire.

And so, her choice was clear.

“Mugeon, you have no worth.”

A lowly man with a Soulmark destined to reveal a noble name.

For that alone, the man before her deserved death.

But Mugeon spoke in defiance.

“My body bears Your Majesty’s name, Jin Ye.”

“How dare you...!”

Seoyeop was incensed when Mugeon dared to speak the Emperor’s name so casually.

Jin Ye, however, quickly calmed Seoyeop with a simple gesture, continuing nonchalantly.

“And your name is engraved on my body.”

Seoyeop never expected Jin Ye to acknowledge such nonsense and was visibly taken aback.

Anger surged within him at the thought that Jin Ye might make an exception for such a wretch, and he gripped his sword hilt even tighter.

“Your Majesty, you must cut out this insolent man’s tongue at once.”

“Or I could lock him in a cell and starve him for five days.”

Jin Ye’s words flowed smoothly, as if she were merely discussing the weather.

It was clear that she intended to kill him—only the ‘when’ and ‘how’ were in question.

Would it be immediate or drawn out?

Would she grant him a quick, painless death, or leave him to suffer, savoring a slow and lingering agony?

Yet, even knowing Jin Ye’s cruel intentions, Mugeon was not afraid.

If he was going to die, he figured he should at least have the last word.

Even as the sword pressed steadily against his throat, Mugeon spoke calmly.

“Could the value of that name truly be so insignificant that I am not even granted the chance to spend a night with my lover, who is bound to me by fate?”