GTHWCS~

Prologue
Guimyeongrok: The Husband Who Commands Spirits

Year 476 of the Jo Dynasty.

“So, even Lord Ha of Hangju has agreed, then.”

Late at night, the door to the guest quarters of the Ha household in the capital, Hanseong, slid open with a soft sound.

Stepping out into the lantern’s pale glow was Lee Shin. His shadow stretched across the courtyard stones as he descended quietly.

“Master of the Geom clan,” came the calm, low voice of Ha Sun-yang, head of the Ha family. “Let me ask one last time. Is there truly no chance you’ll change your mind?”

Lee Shin turned toward the man speaking from within the lit room.

Inside, a middle-aged man with eyes burning like torches watched him closely.

“None,” Lee Shin answered firmly.

Under the full moon’s glow, the boy—no older than fourteen or fifteen—stood straight, his thin frame trembling slightly. Yet there was a sharp, commanding aura about him that made him seem far older than his years.

“…Then, keep your word,” Ha Sun-yang sighed, shutting the door behind him.

Lee Shin turned back and walked across the courtyard. But as soon as he crossed the middle gate leading to the servants’ quarters, his body suddenly faltered.

He had held himself together before Ha Sun-yang, but now his strength was gone.

“Damn it…”

A searing pain tore through his left leg as if the flesh and bone were being ripped apart. His whole body shook uncontrollably.

Cold sweat dripped from his brow and neck.

Dragging his injured leg, Lee Shin stumbled until he reached a corner of the courtyard and sank against the wall.

When he looked down, the pain felt like something gnawing through him from within.

For someone only fifteen years old, his eyes were hollow—like those of a man who had already lived a lifetime.

This pain… is my own retribution.

“Who’s there?”

Perhaps his guard had dropped from the pain, for he didn’t notice the small, childlike voice until it was close. Lee Shin’s hand immediately went to the sword at his waist.

But beneath the silver light of the moon stood a little girl, no more than seven or eight years old.

Her round, white cheeks looked like sticky rice cakes, and she wore silk winter clothes and tiny flowered shoes—clearly not one of the Ha family’s servants.

“Brother, who are you? Why are you here?”

Lee Shin’s hand fell away from the hilt. He ignored her, gritting his teeth through the agony in his leg.

“Are you hurt?” she asked innocently, unafraid of the stranger.

Instead of running, she walked right up to him and crouched beside his injured leg.

“Does it hurt here?”

Her small finger pointed to the spot he was clutching tightly.

“That’s strange… there’s no wound,” she murmured in confusion.

“Brother, should I get you medicine? We have lots at home! Even if there’s no wound, medicine will help! Heo the physician said every illness has a cure. Wait here—I’ll go get some!”

Without waiting for an answer, the girl sprang to her feet and ran off, her voice bright as she chattered into the night.

Lee Shin exhaled slowly, pressing a hand over his leg as waves of pain surged again.

He didn’t know how much time passed before he heard small, hurried footsteps return, followed by the sound of shallow, panting breaths.

Before she could reach him, Lee Shin pushed himself up using the wall for balance and, ignoring the pain, leapt onto the nearest large tree.

He didn’t want to be spotted by the household servants and cause unnecessary commotion.

“Miss! What are you doing out here? Oh heavens, what is all this? What are you doing with those herbs?”

“Jang Eomeom, there was a man here! He was hurt, and I was going to give him medicine—!”

But when she turned to point, the spot where Lee Shin had been sitting was empty.

Her eyes went wide as she spun around, searching the courtyard.

“Where did he go? Eomeom, where is he? He was right here!”

“What are you talking about, my lady? There’s no one here.”

“No, really! He was! He… oh! Eomeom! What if—what if he was a ghost?!”

The older woman blinked, startled by the girl’s shrill cry.

“A ghost! It has to be! He was here, then gone! He was too pretty—just like the fairy of the Moon Palace! He must’ve been a spirit, right?”

“Yes, yes, of course, my lady. Let’s go inside now, you’ll catch a cold.”

Perched on a thick tree branch above, half-reclined and exhausted, Lee Shin let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

Even as the servant led her back inside, the girl kept glancing around as if still looking for him.

“…Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath. “How is Ha Sun-yang raising his daughter like that?”

Then, closing his eyes against the renewed wave of pain, he leaned his head back.

The agony lasted until the first faint light of dawn crept across the sky.

But everything, even suffering, comes to an end.

When the pain finally subsided, Lee Shin rose with a pale face—
and disappeared into the lingering darkness like a mirage.