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[Resemblance to any historical figures or incidents is fictitious.]
[Episode 18]
She's not here, ma'am.
The Princess has fled with Heo Joon.
What help would my soldiers be, when you couldn't find her?
You commanded me to kill her.
I'm sure you don't want me to lose her, so I'll use your soldiers to catch her.
Do you think I trust you, and am ceding to your will?
The citizens' malice will be directed toward you, if not toward the princess.
I know very well that's why you teamed up with me in the first place.
Why are you hesitating, when everything has already been blamed on the Princess?
If you just get rid of her, who is the cause of all this strife
they'll praise you as a champion.
Nobody will be able to stand in your way any longer.
And what is it that you want from all of this?
You don't, by any chance, wish to be pardoned after committing so many sins?
I've only commanded you to kill the princess
because our paths have aligned for just a short while.
I have no intention of keeping you by my side forever.
I'm aware of that.
All I need is for the Princess to disappear.
I have nothing else I wish to gain from you.
I'll give you my soldiers, so you must capture her, no matter what.
And when I do, please command Choi Poong Yeon
of the Imperial Taoist Branch to execute her.
Are you telling me to order Poong Yeon to kill the Princess?
Only Choi Poong Yeon, who can wield holy flames
can kill the cursed Princess.
Poong Yeon laid down his own life to protect the Princess!
He even disobeyed my command for her!
He won't disobey you this time.
Move! Move!
My eldest child died of the plague because of the cursed Princess!
Let's go and demand that they hand her over to us!
- Let's go! - Let's go!
- We have to burn it! - This foul creature!
She's more of a specter than a princess!
- Hurry and burn it! - Quickly!
It's because of her that there's a plague, and the country is cursed!
- Yes, like that! Burn them all! - That wretched wench!
Burn it!
Young Master.
Have you found Yeon Hui?
I think it'd be best if she didn't come back here, after all.
The citizens' outcries are growing more and more fearsome
so it's understandable that she should hide, or be on the run.
But the problem is that the candles must be lit, and we don't have much time left.
We must find Yeon Hui before Hong Joo does.
It'd be best for us to split up and search for her.
I'll go look in that cave where she once stayed.
Young Master! Are you all right?
I'm all right. Let us hurry.
Are you sure that you can actually catch something?
Just you wait.
It looks like we'll be starving today, at this rate.
Hey, I'd never let you starve, even if I can't catch anything!
Just wait!
It feels nice to be here like this, just the two of us.
Ms. Yeon Hui.
Tell me some of the things you enjoyed.
I liked holding hands with you and walking through the mountains
Oh?
And I liked it when you piggybacked me while we were crossing the stream.
And it was funny how you couldn't catch any fish.
And I like being with you, like this.
I liked it when you smiled.
Do you think we never could have met...
if not for this curse upon me?
Who are you?
We'd live normal lives, like we did today, and...
and then, I'm sure that we would've met in a really normal way.
We'd be walking down a street, and then recognize each other.
Just speak informally to me.
I'm not friendly enough with you to do that.
Pay no mind.
I'm sure that one average day would become one that shone.
And we'd keep wanting to see each other
and smile more, the more we see each other.
And feel as if every moment we shared was too short.
And we'd probably want to hold onto the time we have with each other forever.
Just like now.
Mr. Heo!
Yeon Hui!
You said they fled! They're probably not back here yet.
You never know, though. They don't have anywhere else to go.
This usually isn't a place where outsiders can enter so freely.
But we're in a pinch right now, which is why I had no other choice.
Mr. Heo! Mr. Heo!
Yeon Hui!
They're not here?
Where could they possibly be?
Yeon Hui. Yeon Hui!
Why are you pursuing us?
Come with us quietly!
Yeon Hui!
Joon!
What about Joon?
I'll go look for him.
- The guards are probably still outside. - I don't care.
Let me go, Older Brother.
I have to find Joon! Joon is...
Yeon Hui!
Calm down. I'll go outside and look for him.
Joon didn't do anything wrong.
Everything is my fault!
Everything was my doing!
But because of me, Joon... because of me, he...
He can't die just yet!
No! This can't happen! Please, no!
No!
Joon!
Stop right there!
You lost the princess, eh?
Do not worry. I'll catch her soon enough.
You sent the soldiers out to search for the Princess?
The citizens saw the Princess's true nature.
So I cannot help you anymore even if you ask me to.
If you do not, I will reveal that your disease was caused by black magic
that you tried to cure it with black magic
and that you're being manipulated by a mere shamaness!
Go ahead and reveal it all!
If you want to destroy the royal family, go ahead and do just that!
Since when have you cherished the Princess so?
Are you really doing all of this for the sake of the Princess?
Or are you scared of the fact that the world may find out
that you tried to kill your child?
How did you...
Do you fear me, Your Highness?
These charges against me are totally baseless!
Come on, there's no need to treat me like this!
How could you exile me? But I was--
You assholes!
Heo Joon! Heo Joon!
Is... Yeon Hui safe?
Wake up! Wake up!
Yeon Hui has disappeared.
I'll go look for her, so you stay here.
No... I'll come, too.
Will you be okay, in your current condition?
Yeon Hui is worse off than I am right now.
So where could she have gone to, exactly?
She must have left because she thought something bad happened to you.
Then... she may have gone to the palace!
I'll follow after you, so please hurry over there.
Sir?
So... are you going to kill me, or something?
What, I can't?
Even though all of you are upset about the fact that you couldn't kill me?
Princess!
There's no need for you to worry anymore.
Joon is dead now.
And these two killed him!
Stop this immediately!
Do you really hope to live after threatening me, the king?
Why should I have to die as you people wish?
You still don't know why?
You were born due to these people's greed and conceit.
You were born only to die from the very start!
Shut your mouth!
So why are you putting your life on the line to try and break this curse
for these people?
These people, whom you've helped, have just cast you aside.
Such is the true nature of the royal family.
Your real mother was used and cast aside, just like you.
What do you mean by that?
I am the one who made it possible for you to be born.
I used black magic to allow you to be born
and that's why you were born as a cursed child.
Aren't you curious as to how that happened?
Shut your damn mouth!
Yeon Hui, please come to your senses!
Your real mother isn't the Queen Dowager. It was someone else entirely.
The Queen Dowager was barren and could not conceive
so your real mother, a court maid, got pregnant with you and the Prince.
And I used black magic to transfer you two to the Queen Dowager's body.
And then... the Queen Dowager killed your real mother.
That's how your curse first came to fruition, child.
All you have to do is return your curse
to the ones who gave it to you in the first place.
Shut your mouth.
That's the revenge you want to get on the royal family, I'm sure.
Your grudge towards the royal family has nothing to do with me!
Why the hell should I have to die for your damn revenge?
Why should I have to sacrifice myself for the sake of you people's greed?
You people committed the sins, so you people should die!
No. Forget about it.
Let's all die together!
Sir! You must not lose sight of who you truly are!
Don't act like you're better than me.
I hated you from the moment I saw you by Yeon Hui's side.
If you hadn't appeared, I'd be by Yeon Hui's side right now.
Sir!
You fell for Hong Joo's trickery
and almost killed Yeon Hui due to those sentiments.
Please remember! You overcame this once before!
I became like that because of you.
If you hadn't appeared, I'd be by Yeon Hui's side now!
If you just hadn't showed up
those terrible things never would have happened to Yeon Hui.
Sir.
You said you'd let go of those feelings.
You must shake off those evil whispers in your mind!
You can do it!
Just think about what you want to protect the most!
Yeon Hui is in danger right now.
You're someone who could give up his life for Yeon Hui, are you not?
Sir.
Hurry and go save Yeon Hui.
Quickly.
Yeon Hui!
I just wanted to live a normal life, like other people.
I just wanted to live a normal life with that man!
That was a mistake.
Why is it that everyone that I love must die?
Yeon Hui.
Don't do it.
Get them!
Your Highness! Your Highness!
- Your Highness! - Your Highness!
- Your Highness... - No.
Don't say a word.
Please, hear me out.
She only did that because she thought that I'd died.
I care not for the love that you two share.
She said so herself...
That she'd kill me.
Why did you try to kill the Princess?
You know as well as I do
that the strife plaguing the land has nothing to do with her!
I'll look into the true cause of the plague that's going around.
I'll go and talk to all the people who've been afflicted, and find a cure!
I'll do anything! So please!
Please spare her!
So the rumor about the Queen Dowager was true.
It really was true that the Princess is cursed.
I don't care if the plague was caused by the princess or not!
That's not what's important.
So that cursed princess was born through the use of black magic?
I can't just cover this up, now that I'm aware of it.
Didn't you say that you wanted to become a great king?
And yet, you're scared of those protesting against you
and are just trying to avoid the situation as best as you can?
The citizens' lives are plagued with strife
which is why they blame the princess.
And yet you're merely trying to cover this whole thing up?
Face the struggles of your people head-on
and find a solution for their anguish, Your Highness!
Shut the hell up!
Who the hell do you think you are, speaking to me like that?
All I am doing...
is protecting my own life.
Do not pester me any longer.
- Eject this man, immediately! - Yes, sir!
Are you all right?
I shouldn't have left you alone in that cave.
This isn't your fault, Older Brother.
Don't worry, Yeon Hui. And don't lose hope.
I want to take you and flee right now. But that's not what you want, right?
Then, I'll do everything in my power to protect you as best as I can.
Those people won't be able to do anything to you.
I'll... make sure of that.
Older Brother.
Yeon Hui.
Your older brother truly, truly loves you.
I'm quite disappointed in you.
I didn't know that you were such a weak coward.
You wench! Release me immediately!
This is why I came -- in case you'd do something like this.
How could the Chief of the Imperial Taoist Branch think to take his own life
when he has such an important mission to complete?
You can't ruin things for me like that.
You won't be able to use me in any way.
Doesn't it hurt quite a bit?
You suffer from an unrequited love in which you can do nothing else but watch.
Just think of the pain that brings you.
If you do, it'll make you feel much better.
You're becoming a different person, little by little.
- Hey. - Yes?
Did a war break out, or something?
Why is it so dreary and glum?
They say that there's a plague going around due to the Princess's curse.
A plague?
Wait. I ended up in this state because of Heo Joon and that princess.
But all of this is because of that princess's curse?
- Where is that princess? - She fled, apparently.
She fled?
Hey! You and I should catch that princess, then
and bring her to the palace!
What do you think will happen then?
The princess has supernatural powers, though.
So she can send people flying just by looking at them!
- What? - What?
We just won't catch her, then!
I know that this isn't the end.
I'm talking about the Grimoire of Curses.
What is it that you were trying to keep hidden?
You cannot fight back against me any longer.
I, too, no longer wish to turn my back on you any longer.
Tell me what you want.
I want the last page of the Grimoire of Curses.
Bring that last page, which you hid from me.
Hey, Mister! Mister!
I think I found the woman that you're looking for.
Are you positive?
I heard that she returned to the palace.
To the palace?
Oh no!
Yoh Gwang.
Sir.
Give me back what I entrusted to you.
What do you mean by that?
The last page of the Grimoire of Curses.
Give it back to me.
Why are you looking for that?
It's been a long time since I've burned it.
Go and hide behind me.
Now!
Stop it now, Sir.
Can you really kill me, though?
Someone like you, who is utterly useless?
If someone must do it... it will be me.
Really, now?
Go ahead and do it, then.
But you will really have to do it, without fail
if you want to save the Princess.
I can't do it, Sir. How could I ever do that to you?
Please, come to your senses, Sir!
It's Yeon Hui, Sir.
Yeon Hui, who you risked your life to protect!
Your daughter, Yeon Hui!
Mister! Mister! Mister! Mister!
What did you just say?
The Princess's execution has been scheduled for tomorrow.
Your Highness!
This is all my fault.
All my fault!
What can I do about my pitiful child?
What can I do about my Princess?
Princess!
Is this really how everything is going to end?
Can I truly do nothing for Yeon Hui?
Chief Shamaness. We're ready to do the holy fire ceremony.
Sir.
Sir!
Please wake up!
You must protect the one that you cherish most.
I do not wish to see you living a life with guilt and remorse any longer.
Foolish girl.
I told you that your feelings would be the death of you.
No... no!
Sir...
Who... are you?
How did you end up in a place like that?
I had nowhere to go, so I just kept moving until I ended up there.
You don't have any family?
No, I don't. I'm the only one left.
Will you come with me?
I'll make sure that you never starve, at the very least.
No... no, this can't be!
I'm sorry.
No!
Why?
Why? Why?
Why?
- Open the doors. - Yes, sir!
- Princess! - Princess!
The criminal is here!
- It's the witch! - Kill her!
I will announce the sentence for the princess
who has cast a curse upon this land, and has set a plague upon our country!
- Kill her! - Kill her!
Light the fire!
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