622.
Karatsu Castle, the tenshu.
The evening sun bled red between the massive pillars.
Before Nabeshima Mototake, more than a dozen retainers and samurai knelt in silence.
The air in the chamber was stretched taut with tension.
When the envoys returned and delivered the terms, the first to erupt was Katō Tadamitsu (加藤忠光).
He sprang to his feet, gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Kneel and apologize?"
"To the lord of Hizen?"
Other samurai followed at once.
"That is to abandon the way of the warrior!"
"Such humiliation is no different from death!"
"The honor of the house will be shattered!"
Anger filled the room.
Mototake remained silent, arms folded.
The information officer Yamada Noriyoshi, a former court retainer, spoke cautiously.
"Can we fight?"
The samurai's gazes cut into him.
Yamada did not hide his fear, but his words were firm.
"Tsushima and Iki fell in a matter of days."
"The continental army has already mastered the way of crossing the sea."
"We lack ships capable of withstanding their cannon fire, and we lack warriors who can match their champions."
Tadamitsu ground his teeth.
"So you would have us kneel?"
Yamada answered immediately.
"Then with what do we stop them?"
"They said they will come in person."
The anger in the room froze.
Mototake murmured lowly.
"Come in person."
"Do you understand the weight of those words?"
The calmest among them, Shiba Masanori (柴正載), spoke.
"My lord, the cannon used on Iki were stronger than those at Tsushima."
"Our palisades and walls cannot endure even the first volley."
Tadamitsu raised his voice.
"There will be no surrender!"
Shiba nodded.
"This is a choice to buy time."
"It is the act of first securing the structure that preserves the house."
Mototake had never knelt before anyone.
Today, his struggle was not for personal honor, but for the fate of the people.
"That commander's name was Park Seong-jin, was it not?"
"Yes."
"On the continent, they call him a raging storm."
The rumors spread through the room.
Everyone knew they were not exaggerations.
Mototake spoke quietly.
"To protect Hizen, we must choose our line."
The chamber stirred.
Mototake stood.
"We will not kneel."
Faces briefly brightened—then stiffened at his next words.
"Instead, we change the terms."
"Rather than the lord of Hizen apologizing, the heir of the house will bear responsibility."
Silence fell.
"The ruler of Hizen does not submit."
"The house accepts the burden."
"That balance buys us time."
Mototake added softly.
"If we do not wish the leash placed around our necks, we must offer what can be offered first."
"We make sure they do not linger."
"Until then, we endure."
No one objected.
Mototake's gaze fell to the shadows on the tenshu floor.
"To protect Hizen, someone must carry the weight."
Karatsu Castle, the rear garden.
Under lantern light, the winter wind rustled the bamboo grove.
Nabeshima Motonari (鍋島元成), Mototake's eldest son.
Just past twenty, his eyes already bore the weight of the house.
Mototake handed him a sealed letter.
"Take this to the Goryeo commander on Iki."
The clan crest—three tomoe—was vivid on the seal.
Motonari stared at it.
"Father, what is this letter?"
Mototake looked up at the sky.
"From today, you step down from the position of heir."
"On the road to protecting Hizen, you will be the one who bears the guilt."
Motonari tucked the letter into his robes.
"Am I to become the house's burden?"
Mototake exhaled slowly.
"It is the way to save the house."
The young warrior bowed.
"I will return alive."
Mototake said quietly,
"Return alive."
At dawn, Motonari departed Karatsu by ship.
Its destination was the island flying the Goryeo banner—Iki.
Mototake murmured to himself.
"A hand that grips two things at once must be thin."
"But it can still hold a house."
The forecourt of Iki's tenshu.
Winter wind brushed the stone steps.
Park Seong-jin stood before the structure with Goryeo commanders at his side.
From afar, a small ship cut through the waves.
The banner bore the Nabeshima crest of Hizen—three tomoe.
The ship docked, and a single young warrior disembarked.
Nabeshima Motonari.
Resolve and fear crossed his youthful face.
He removed his dagger and ornaments, handing them to the sailor.
Empty-handed, he walked toward the tenshu.
Park raised a hand, signaling the guards to stand down.
Tension and wind passed between them.
Reaching the stone before the tenshu, Motonari drew a deep breath and slammed both knees onto the ground.
Dust leapt from the cracks in the stone.
He bowed until his forehead touched the floor.
"I am Motonari, eldest son of the Nabeshima house of Hizen…"
"We failed to restrain the pirates, and the people of Joseon suffered."
"In the name of my house, I offer this apology."
In silence, Goryeo commanders and warriors watched.
Blood spread beneath the young samurai's knees, soaking into the cold stone.
Park Seong-jin's expression did not waver.
He spoke slowly.
"Name the guilt you bear."
Motonari answered without lifting his head.
"I will carry it."
"In my name."
Park gave a low chuckle.
"You are young."
"The resolve to bear the burden shows on your face."
"The sins of your house now rest upon your back."
Motonari's shoulders trembled.
Park gestured for him to come closer.
Motonari crawled forward on his knees.
Park crouched before him, looking down.
"Will the samurai of Karatsu swallow this humiliation easily?"
"I came under the command of my house."
Park studied his face—young, yet firm.
"The kneeling is done."
"I accept the house's apology."
A breath was drawn across the courtyard.
Then Park's next words fell heavier.
"Now show me what follows apology."
"If Hizen wishes not to be bound to us as an enemy, uproot the pirates from your land."
He raised a hand toward the sea, toward Hizen.
"You who knelt before me can accomplish this—for your house."
Motonari bowed silently.
Park turned and issued orders.
"Observe proper form."
"Recognize the envoy."
"Loyalty!"
Still kneeling, Motonari spoke, his voice trembling.
"For the sake of my house, I will carry out the will of Iki and the Goryeo general."
Park's eyes flickered with calculation.
"Good."
"Go back and change Hizen."
Motonari slowly raised his head.
His knees were soaked with blood, his face pale—
but his eyes were harder than before.
That day, the heir of the Nabeshima house became not a man of humiliation,
but a bearer of Goryeo's words.