No thanks to the resurfacing trust issues of our hot-tempered crown prince, our leading lady was kicked out of the eastern palace with no place to go. Hence, our heroine spends her time badmouthing said crown prince, who can only handle the void of her absence that much before he longs for her again.
Picking up where we left off, Hwan is fuming mad after reading the so-called lover’s suicide note and madly calls for Jae-yi, who, unbeknownst to him, is already on her way to tell him she remembers seeing those dried peony petals in the kitchen the day of the murder. Also, that so-called lover, Yeong, entered the kitchen while she was there. However, unfortunately for Jae-yi, Hwan is too mad to hear anything.
Instead of giving her a chance to defend herself against those allegations, Hwan calls Jae-yi for her “lies.” To make it worse, Hwan suspects Jae-yi of being the one behind the blood droplets incident, or perhaps she is working with the one who sent the ghost letter. Really! Trust issues are one thing, but that is too much, Hwan.
Putting all the blame on her, Hwan kicks Jae-yi out of the eastern palace, even though he knows he has nowhere else to go. Both spend the night in agony. Jae-yi is hurt that Hwan doesn’t trust her after all she has done. While Hwan is heartbroken that the only one he wants to trust and depend on might be a criminal who killed her entire family to run away with her lover. But that is not true, Hwan. Jae-yi is telling the truth.
With nowhere to go, Jae-yi spends the night in Myung-jin’s lab, specifically on the table where the corpses lie for examination. Poor Ga-ram is startled in the morning, thinking that a corpse is now moving, but it isn’t a body but Jae-yi. The best friends reunite again, but both are in a pickle, Jae-yi for getting kicked out of the palace and Ga-ram since the guards keep searching for her to hunt Jae-yi down.
Hwan may have kicked Jae-yi from the eastern palace, but luckily the kind-hearted Eunuch So sends her to the eunuchs’ office. She can work there in the morning but leave at night. But the duties Jae-yi has to carry out in the eunuchs’ office are far more different from the smooth ones Jae-yi used to do in the eastern palace. Now, she has to work her fingers to the bones, running errands all day.
It isn’t just Jae-yi who is having a hard time. Be it when the court ladies help him put his robe on or when he spots Jae-yi’s dagger in his drawer, Hwan can’t get Jae-yi off his mind, and even asks if she got any sleep. What? Don’t you remember kicking her out the day before?
Now that she doesn’t have to spend the night grinding the ink stone for Hwan (it is now Tae-gang’s mission, who doesn’t seem pleased with it), Jae-yi spends the night drinking with Ga-ram and Myung-jin, who rumbles about missing scholar Park.
Speaking of scholar Park, he stops by the lab early in the morning to drop off the dried petals for Myung-jin to check. Funnily enough, in front of a shocked Hwan, Myung-jin goes on badmouthing a bad-tempered crown prince who kicked poor Jae-yi, though she had nowhere to go. Try to defend that crown prince all you want, Hwan, but it won’t work since Myung-jin is set on gossiping about the crown prince all day. Also, you didn’t come to drop off those petals but to check on Jae-yi.
Jae-yi finally gets to tell Hwan that Yeong dropped by the kitchen while she was cooking breakfast, but unfortunately, she remembers nothing else. Having said her piece, Jae-yi takes her leave, but how could Hwan not follow her to apologize or tell her he regrets kicking her?
Back at the palace, Hwan spots Jae-yi running out of breath, carrying two heavy chairs. She stops for a minute to catch her breath and to yet again badmouth the one who kicked her out. What is the use of having the most spacious house if he doesn’t have even the tiniest heart?
And wouldn’t you know it? Hwan is sitting on the chair behind hers, listening to everything. The moment, Jae-yi realizes Hwan has been there all along, like a criminal caught in the act, she gets startled and almost falls into the lake. Except where she lands isn’t in the lake but in Hwan’s arms.
This duo is beautiful to see. Be it when Hwan and Jae-yi solve cases along with our secondary couple or when they are just taking a walk. Jae-yi gives Hwan the comfort he always yearned for, and Hwan does his best to protect Jae-yi.
