Lady Lee Sogun
It took some time to set the room back in order.
The maids entered and carefully cleared away the shattered porcelain and broken furnishings.
The trace of the blade was unmistakable.
One corner of the round table had been sliced off at a sharp diagonal, the cut surface smooth and clean.
The three of them stood in silence while the work was done.
The tension had not yet fully left the air.
When the cleaning was finished, everyone was dismissed.
Only after the door closed did they sit again around the round table.
Lee Hee ran his fingertips along the severed edge of the table.
Then he lifted his head and looked at Sowoon.
Sowoon deliberately turned his gaze aside, feigning ignorance.
He pretended not to notice.
He made no attempt to explain how a swing of his blade had sheared through something that thick so cleanly.
Lee Sogun observed the exchange quietly.
A faint smile flickered at the corner of her lips, then vanished.
She turned to Lee Hee and spoke.
"I already know. I know he was not a man who would take his own life. Please tell me what truly happened."
Her voice was low, yet steady.
Grief lingered at the edges of her eyes, but her gaze did not waver.
It was not the face of a woman on the verge of tears.
It was the face of someone prepared to hear the truth.
"Please tell me. What happened to the General? I am prepared to listen to anything. Is he truly gone? And perhaps… should the boy step outside?"
Her eyes shifted toward Sowoon.
Only then did Sowoon grasp the situation and drop to one knee.
He offered his greeting belatedly.
"I am Yoo Sowoon, eldest grandson of the Yoo clan of Taewon. I greet you, Aunt."
The moment the words "Yoo clan" left his mouth, Lee Sogun's eyes widened.
The General and Lord Yoo had been longtime friends.
They traveled between Taewon and this estate, drinking together and composing poetry.
Young Sowoon had once been present at those gatherings.
"Are you truly Sowoon…? How could this be…?"
"The Yoo estate in Taewon was invaded and burned. I sought refuge under my uncle and spent the past winter together in Haran."
Within those brief words lay the ruin of a household and the hardship of a boy.
Lee Sogun rose from her seat.
Without hesitation, she reached for Sowoon's arm.
She drew him into her embrace.
"Oh… child…"
The words fell heavily into the room.
"How could such a thing happen… And you… you must have suffered so much…"
Though he wore armor like a seasoned warrior, her arms wrapped around him as naturally as if he were still the child she once held.
Sowoon stiffened for a moment.
It was a sensation unlike the clash of steel on the battlefield.
He had lost his own mother long ago, yet in that instant the embrace was unmistakably that of a mother.
Then Lee Sogun caught the scent of blood.
The metallic trace of the recent fight clung faintly to his armor and sleeves.
She pulled him back and examined him.
She rolled up his sleeves, pressed at his shoulders, touched his face with careful hands.
She searched for wounds.
It was the touch of a mother.
Blade-wielding warrior or not, blood-stained from combat or not, in her eyes he was still a child.
"So you are Lord Yoo's son… Heaven can be so merciless…"
She drew him into her arms once more.
This time she held him more tightly.
Her fingers tightened with quiet force.
Lee Sogun did not release Sowoon, as though shielding him from every enemy in the world.
It was unmistakably the figure of a mother.
That embrace was protection.
That embrace carried the resolve to stand in his place if needed.
Even with the scent of blood upon him, even with a sword in his hand, within her arms he was someone who must be protected.
Sowoon steadied his breathing within her embrace.
A warmth unlike the killing intent of the battlefield seeped deep into his chest.
Still holding him, Lee Sogun turned her gaze to Lee Hee.
Her arms protected the child.
Her eyes demanded the truth.
"That will do. If it is this child, he may remain. Please tell me… what became of the General?"
She held him as a mother.
She listened as the wife of a commander.
The air in the room slowly settled.
The moment had come when the truth could no longer be withheld.