535.His Majesty approaches!
It was just as the private soldiers from the ten houses were being lined up and dragged forward.
From beyond the southern corridor of the palace walls, hurried footsteps and the scrape of iron armor surged in all at once.
The air split first.
Lanterns shook, and the view opened.
"His Majesty approaches!"
At the guards' shout, lanterns parted to either side.
The king himself appeared at the North Gate.
A report had already come in that another group converging near the South Gate had been suppressed as well.
The king did not wait for a formal completion report.
He chose to see it with his own eyes.
His gaze first swept over the two men collapsed on the ground.
The private soldiers shrunk back.
The broken formation.
Weapons scattered across the earth.
And at the center of it all—Park Seong-jin.
The king's expression hardened.
It was not anger.
It carried appraisal, relief, and a trace of commendation layered together.
"Lord Park, you have worked ha—"
Before the king could finish, Park Seong-jin turned away.
His stride had a clear direction.
Yun Dam understood instantly.
That direction was toward the strongholds of the Ten Great Houses.
Before the king's order could reach him, Park Seong-jin intended to end the matter through retaliation.
The king called out sharply,
"Jungnangjang Park!"
Park Seong-jin did not stop.
His momentum was straight and taut, like an arrow loosed from the bowstring.
Song I-sul lunged forward like lightning.
"Lord Park, stop!"
He seized Park Seong-jin's arm and forced him to halt.
Park Seong-jin's body jolted, the surging force snapping off with a dull thud.
Park Seong-jin spoke low,
"Step aside. I'll finish this now."
He ground the words out,
"They dare bring troops to the palace gates because they think words will smooth it over. This must go to the end, as an example."
Song I-sul clenched harder, teeth bared.
"Not now. His Majesty is here."
At that, Park Seong-jin's foot stopped—just barely.
The king approached.
Behind him, soldiers adjusted their spacing carefully as they followed.
The king spoke in a quiet but unyielding voice.
"Lord Park. I know that your momentum could kill ten thousand enemies. But one more step from you now will gather all ten houses under a single banner of justification."
Park Seong-jin's gaze cooled.
The king pressed on, his words driving the point home.
"Now is not the time for your blade, but for my will. I will bind them with law, cut them down by procedure, and finish this by decree. If you charge ahead, it ceases to be the king's judgment and becomes a warrior's vendetta."
The force drained from Park Seong-jin's palm, as if power were leaking away.
Song I-sul cautiously released his grip.
The king gave his order.
"We will strip them of their lands, their private troops, and their offices. That is as far as this goes."
A flicker of disappointment crossed Park Seong-jin's face.
He drew in a deep breath and spoke a single word.
"Loyalty."
Park Seong-jin called the ten captured private soldiers kneeling at the North Gate forward.
"Listen carefully. By tomorrow morning, before the chen hour begins, bring every head of the ten houses that sent troops yesterday to this place."
At the word heads of the houses, the captives' eyes shook violently.
Park Seong-jin frowned.
"Why don't you understand? Those houses. The ones that sent troops yesterday. If they don't come, I'll go to them. If I go, the damage will be worse. If they come, it will be less. Tell them that."
One armored man from among the Ten Great Houses slammed his forehead to the ground.
"If we deliver that message, then we—"
Park Seong-jin said quietly,
"You're already thinking about how to survive."
He pointed behind the captives.
There, private soldiers were still lined up on their knees.
"There are plenty who can carry the message. It doesn't have to be you."
There was no room for choice in his words.
All ten shouted almost at once,
"We'll do it! We'll do it! We'll do it!"
Park Seong-jin nodded, then added a final warning in a very low voice.
"I've memorized all of your qi signatures. If you run, I'll chase you down to the end. Don't entertain stupid thoughts."
"Loyalty!!!"
The ten scattered into the darkness as if flying, desperate to live.
Park Seong-jin turned back toward the king at an easy pace.
The momentum that had crushed two men and shaken ten houses moments ago was gone.
He suddenly scratched his head, smiling like a simple country man.
"Hehe, Your Majesty. When those fellows show up tomorrow morning—disband the private troops, check the slave registers, collect the land deeds. That sort of thing… Lord Yun will handle it all, right? Hehe."
The king was momentarily at a loss for words.
The man who had just stood like a god of war now loosened so completely before his eyes.
But the king saw the gap in that laughter.
He understood that it widened the path for the state's authority to move forward.
"…So it shall be."
The king's voice cut through the night air as it echoed.