Episode 1
Over the Clouds
“The dethroned Empress Naksil was greedy and immoral, greatly dishonoring the Imperial Family.
She caused personal conflict over the line of succession, defying the late Emperor’s will — a grave crime.
She should be executed, but for the sake of the bond we once shared as husband and wife,
I send this cup of wine to mark our farewell.”
A husband who sends poison to his wife — on the very day of his coronation.
Seong-un’s lips twisted.
It was absurd. Unbelievable. Pathetic and disgusting.
If he wanted to humiliate her like this, he might as well have just beheaded her.
Blood trickled from between her clenched teeth, staining her lips.
“Let me… no, let me see His Majesty one last time.”
“How dare you! A criminal like you has no right to speak his name!”
A criminal? That was what infuriated her the most.
They had pushed her to climb to power, encouraged her every move—and now they call her a criminal?
She swallowed her anger, forcing her voice to stay even.
“Just once. I only ask for one meeting. We were husband and wife once—do I not deserve a final farewell?”
“Silence! You were stripped of your title for your sins. You’re no different from a traitor.”
At the eunuch’s signal, guards rushed forward.
They seized her arms and forced her down. Her dirt-stained gown tore and crumpled beneath their boots,
But Seong-un glared up at them, refusing to bow her head.
“Just once! Only once! I need to hear it from his own mouth —
Why did he cast me aside!”
“If you keep struggling, we’ll make you drink it by force.”
The eunuch clicked his tongue as though pitying her,
then lifted a golden cup adorned with red jewels.
The engraved designs — a peacock and a pear blossom —seared into her mind the moment she saw them.
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
You haven’t changed at all, she thought.
Still clinging to the memories of us. But how could you be so cruel?
It was the same cup they had shared on their wedding night —now filled with poison.
Love, once gone, turns crueler than anything else.
Her lips trembled, tears slipping down her face — not from love,
But from rage and bitter regret.
She didn’t grieve because she still loved him.
That love had long since turned to dust.
What hurt was the betrayal —and the fact that she had given him the knife to do it.
“If your final wish is to see His Majesty,
I can deliver your words for you.”
The deep, resonant voice cut through the air.
It sounded almost like that of a reaper come to collect her soul.
“She’s already dying. What’s the rush? Let her say her goodbye.”
“But, Your Highness, His Majesty ordered us to proceed at once—”
“Did he now?”
A large, hand — veined and strong snatched the golden cup.
The man turned it in his hand, then poured the contents onto the ground with a faint smirk.
“A cup this fine, used for a condemned woman’s poison?
Even a gourd would’ve been too generous.”
When his face finally came into view, Seong-un’s breath caught.
Black hair fell over his temples; his sharp jawline and perfectly sculpted features
It would have been beautiful — if not for the cold, merciless look in his eyes.
Her body trembled.
That beautiful face, twisted by cruelty, made her skin crawl.
Prince Hwi… Jeheon. So it’s you. You’ll be the one to kill me.
He was known as the Fifth Prince — Hwiwang, Jeheon.
How humiliating.
To realize she’d been nothing but a pawn in his game.
Rage burned in her chest, rising to her throat.
“No… letting you die easily would be far too kind.”
All she could do was meet his icy gaze in silence.
“Don’t you agree?”
He tilted his head slightly, as if waiting for her to answer — but she said nothing.
“Eunuch Seo.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Leave us. I’ll carry out the execution myself.”
“But… someone must confirm the death—”
“Do you doubt me? Or are you afraid I’ll set her free?”
The eunuch swallowed hard and shook his head,
then hurried away, leaving the two alone in the execution yard.
“Greedy and immoral, he says.
With just a few words, my brother wipes away all your achievements.
How merciless.”
Achievements?
Her head snapped up at his mocking tone.
Jeheon drummed his fingers lazily against the scroll bearing her sentence.
Their eyes met — and all the fear she’d been suppressing surged up again, choking her.
Her body trembled violently.
Was it death she feared — or him?
Jeheon crouched down to meet her eyes.
His cold breath brushed her cheek, and she flinched.
“There’s something I’ve always wondered.”
His hand suddenly gripped her chin, forcing her to look up.
“When someone asks a question, isn’t it polite to look them in the eye?”
“I don’t think Prince Hwi cared about manners.”
“Oh, I care about more than manners.”
He smirked and tossed the imperial decree aside.
The golden scroll rolled across the ground like trash.
Only he would dare treat the emperor’s command so carelessly.
Arrogant. Dangerous. A man made of ambition and deceit.
Too late, she realized —he’d only ever been pretending to be her ally while collecting evidence to destroy her.
“Why me?” she demanded.
“When he became Emperor, why did he strike me first?
You have countless rivals—why target me?”
“It was before his coronation,” Jeheon corrected calmly.
“Let’s keep the facts straight, Your Grace.”
Yes. Before the coronation.
That was when she lost everything — everything she had clawed and bled for.
“You never interfered before,” she whispered.
“You let me do as I pleased. Weren’t we allies?”
“We? Allies?”
He laughed under his breath, his throat moving as he did.
She tried to pull away, but his grip only tightened.
“Since when were you and I ever we?”
Delusion? Or sheer arrogance?
He clicked his tongue, almost pitying her.
Seong-un swallowed the blood pooling in her mouth.
Her nails dug into her palms until her hands bled.
“You still haven’t answered me.”
“Does it matter? I’ll be dead soon.”
“All the more reason to speak freely.”
Her voice trembled but stayed firm.
His brows furrowed slightly — surprised, perhaps impressed.
Then he whispered coldly,
“You want the truth? Fine.”
“Because that throne once belonged to my mother.
And I couldn’t let you sit there.”
His words struck like a blade.
I thought we were the same,” she realized. But you… You were never like me.
Her blood dripped onto her torn robes.
Everyone had abandoned her — her allies, her husband, her people.
Now, even her life was forfeit.
The world had already decided she deserved to die —as the wicked, corrupt Empress who had defied heaven itself.
“Not for a single moment,” he murmured.
Her vision blurred.
The pain in her jaw faded, replaced by a hollow numbness.
Jeheon lifted the teapot and poured the poison again,
his expression calm, detached, almost serene.
There was no warmth in his eyes — only emptiness.
Just being near him made her feel frozen solid.
It was like looking into a mirror —the same cold, ruthless reflection she once saw in herself.
Even if I had become Empress, she thought bitterly, I would’ve fallen just the same.
Her hand trembled as she took the cup from him.
The peacock and pear blossoms gleamed on the rim —the same designs from her wedding night.
The face reflected in the liquid was monstrous.
How fitting, she thought.
The monster I became is finally being punished.
What goes around, comes around.
A life taken must be repaid with a life.
