The man flicked his cigarette to the ground, crushing it beneath his heel as if it were a pest. His companion, a gaunt man, stepped forward, flashing a badge from his worn leather wallet. Mi Fa's face drained of color; a visceral terror washed over her as she shrieked:
- Why?! Why do you have to take him?
The officer replied with administrative coldness:
- We have a few questions that need answering. That is all.
Mi Fa lunged forward, clinging to De Lan's arm with a frantic desperation.
- Will you be okay? Please... don't take him! He doesn't know anything!
De Lan calmly pulled his arm free from her grasp. He didn't offer her a comforting glance; instead, he turned to the officers and said with an eerie composure:
- Fine. I'll go.
All of this unfolded before Jo Ri, who remained paralyzed. She didn't know why she stayed silent, watching as they dragged De Lan away. Mi Fa trailed behind them like a woman possessed, clawing at their hold on him. One of the officers finally shoved her back firmly, his voice low and threatening:
- Back off. You are interfering with an active investigation.
Jo Ri watched from the sidelines, a bitter question gnawing at her sanity: What exactly is between these two? Why was Mi Fa willing to risk everything to pull him away? Was this love... or
The Great Void and the Queen's Poise
Jo Ri snapped out of her shock to a horrifying realization: they were taking him. Were they suspicious of his identity? Was he linked to the murder investigation dominating the news? Questions swirled in her mind, leaving her paralyzed. For the first time since arriving in this world, she felt an unbearable void. She realized that De Lan had become her entire world; if he vanished, her existence here would be meaningless.
Panic set in. If his parents discovered the truth, she would be the first one blamed. Should she call her mother? Should she tell the Queen? But then, she stopped. Why hadn't she moved? Why had she stood still while Mi Fa played the role of the devoted lover? The truth struck her like a physical blow: Mi Fa was the lover. Jo Ri was merely an outsider a girl who had won a trivial contest to enter his world. Deep down, her subconscious knew she didn't belong in that scene. Yet, she remained rooted, waiting for a return that might never come.
Before stepping into the police car, De Lan turned. He looked at Jo Ri, who stood with a poised, regal stance, her hands clasped before her with the calm of a monarch. She reminded him so vividly of his mother, the Queen, during their darkest hours. He then glanced at Mi Fa, who was sobbing in hysterical terror a sight that stirred only pity in him, not the strength he saw in Jo Ri.
He sat in the back of the car, his heart hammering against his ribs not from fear of prison, but from the image etched into his mind: Jo Ri, standing unshakable, a queen born to withstand the fiercest of storms.
In the Den of Investigation and the Puzzle of Modernity
They led him into a cramped, dim room dominated by a large, reflective mirror. De Lan sat for a long time, not glancing around in panic like a common criminal. He stared straight ahead, clinging to the image of Jo Ri's regal poise; it was his anchor, his source of strength.
After an age, the man who had been smoking outside entered. He pulled up a chair across from De Lan, placing a small box beside him. His face was a mask of simmering rage, yet De Lan remained unperturbed.
- Let's begin,
The man barked.
He pulled a pair of glasses from the box the very ones that had gone missing and tossed them onto the table.
- What do you have to say about this?
- What is it?
De Lan asked, his voice steady.
- Isn't it yours?
- No. I have never seen such a thing in my life until this moment.
The man snarled, slamming his hand onto the table.
- Stop lying! It's yours!
- Are you sure?
De Lan asked.
- We found your fingerprints on them!
The officer roared.
De Lan frowned, genuinely baffled.
- Fingerprints?
The word held no meaning for him. His confusion only served to infuriate the detective further, who sneered:
- How about we bring in the lie detector machine? We'll see just how honest you really are.
The Silence of Kings and the Storm of Investigation
The detective scrutinized De Lan, unsettled by the young man's lack of fear regarding the lie detector. He stood up and left the room, leaving De Lan alone with the blood-stained glasses on the table. Thoughts raced through his mind. Did they believe he had murdered the 'other' De Lan? But the questioning was strange they hadn't asked about the murder itself, only about the glasses.
A chilling realization dawned on him: perhaps they didn't think he was the killer. Perhaps they suspected the 'other' De Lan had committed a crime perhaps the murder of Jo Ri and her lover and had since vanished! The sheer scale of the danger hit him.
The door opened again. The detective returned with an technician who began attaching strange wires to De Lan's body and wrists. De Lan watched in total silence, clueless about the technology but refusing to show a hint of struggle. Once the machine was set, the detective sat down, his eyes locked on the monitor.
- I suggest you be honest this time,
The detective threatened.
- I will not show you any mercy.
De Lan stared back with a regal, icy composure.
- Ask,
He replied calmly.
- I am listening.
The Maze of Photos and a Machine that Cannot be Deceived
The detective adjusted his posture, picked up the glasses, and fixed De Lan with a menacing glare.
- Once more. Do you recognize these glasses?
- No,
De Lan replied steadily.
- In truth, I have never seen them before today.
The detective glanced at the lie detector monitor, his confusion evident. He looked at his partner.
- Is the machine malfunctioning?
- No,
The partner replied, checking the readings.
- It's working perfectly. It seems he's telling the truth the glasses don't belong to him.
The detective's expression soured. He shifted tactics, pulling a folder from his bag and spreading eight photos across the table young men and women, all roughly De Lan's age.
- Have you ever seen any of these people?
De Lan scrutinized each photo with agonizing care. His heart hammered in his chest, praying he wouldn't find Jo Ri among them. Relief washed over him when she wasn't there.
- No, I have never seen them in my life.
Again, the monitor remained still, confirming his honesty. The detective cleared away four photos, leaving the rest.
- Look again. Are you sure?
- I am certain. This is the first time I've ever laid eyes on these people.
He pulled away two more, leaving only the photos of a young man and a woman. He leaned in close.
- Look again. Very closely.
- I am certain,
De Lan replied with regal detachment.
- I do not know them. Now, will you tell me why you are asking about these people?
The Machine's Confessions and the Collapse of Heart's Illusions
The detective exploded in rage, slamming his fist down.
- Do you think this is a game? An investigation isn't a playground!
He paced, glancing nervously at the lie detector.
- You idiot! Don't you realize those people were killed and disfigured in the forest? All evidence points to you!
- It wasn't me,
De Lan stated, his composure unyielding.
- Then why were your glasses found next to the bodies?
- They are not mine. I have never used glasses in my life; my vision is perfect.
The detective looked at the machine, stunned. He turned to his partner.
- He's telling the truth. The machine doesn't show a hint of deception.
- Then let's compare the fingerprints from the glasses with his,
The partner suggested.
- Agreed. Get the fingerprinting kit.
They stepped out, leaving De Lan alone with the device. Curiosity piqued could this machine truly read the soul? He decided to test it. Looking at the photo of the victims, he thought: "I killed these two." A violent red light flashed on the monitor, and the needle jittered across the paper in chaotic, jagged lines.
De Lan was stunned. He tested his emotions next: "I do not love Jo Ri." The same jagged red lines appeared. He froze. It wasn't the machine that shocked him, but the reality of his own heart. He tried again, whispering internally: "I love Jo Ri."The monitor glowed a steady, peaceful green.
Heart racing, he asked one final question: "I love Mi Fa from the past." The machine erupted in red. In that instant, the illusion shattered. Mi Fa had never been love; she was just a shield he had built to keep his heart closed, a convenient excuse to deny the truth he had feared all along that Jo Ri was his only heart's desire.
The King's Endurance and the Law's Confusion
The detective entered to find the monitor flashing red with chaotic squiggles.
- Did you lie?
- I tried,
De Lan replied coolly.
- I told myself: I killed these two people.
The monitor spiked red, scribbling wildly across the paper. The detective's expression softened slightly.
- It seems you're not the killer after all. Don't worry.
As the technician began unhooking the wires, the detective asked one last, lingering question: - Were you at the crime scene that night?
- No.
The machine hummed a steady, calm green. He was telling the truth. After taking his fingerprints, the detective sighed.
- You're free to go.
Just as De Lan reached the door, he turned back, lingering on a point of confusion:
- How could I have vanished on the day of the incident? I was in that area, yet records place me at a filming set at the exact same time.
- I wouldn't know,
De Lan replied simply.
- I was never at the first location to begin with.
The detective slammed a heavy file against De Lan's head.
- Why are you talking with such arrogance? Who do you think you are the son of a King?
- Sir,
The assistant whispered,
- He is the son of actor Li Shu Fu. He always plays kings in his dramas.
- Right,
The detective grumbled.
- I met his father once. He wasn't half this arrogant! Show some respect when speaking to your elders, boy!
He smacked De Lan's head with the file again. De Lan remained motionless, his face an unreadable mask of regal restraint. He swallowed his fury, refusing to let his royal temper ignite in this alien world.
The Maze of Mystery and the Bitter Truth
On his way back, De Lan's mind was a storm of theories. If those victims in the forest weren't the other De Lan and Jo Ri, then who were they? And why were other De Lan glasses there? For a fleeting second, a dark thought crossed his mind what if the other De Lan had killed Jo Ri? A shudder racked his body. Then, a more terrifying possibility emerged: perhaps the killer had taken De Lan and Jo Ri hostage and intended to execute them.
Heat flared in his veins this time, not from fear, but from the urgency of the mission. He stripped off his jacket, slung it over his shoulder, and pressed on. He had to tell Jo Ri everything he had uncovered. His mind drifted back to the sight of her standing by the police car, watching him with that cold, regal indifference.
He reached the building and looked up at the second-floor window. It was pitch black. Was she sleeping, or still seething with rage because of Mi Fa? He puzzled over his friend Bak-chul's strange insinuations acting as if he and Mi Fa were an item. Why was Mi Fa suddenly clinging to him as if he meant the world to her? Was the real De Lan seeing her behind Jo Ri's back? The situation in this future was a labyrinth he couldn't navigate. He longed for the real De Lan and Jo Ri to return, just so he could finally go back to his own time and leave this darkness behind.