UNDER THE VEIL OF MY SHADOW

The Apothecary And The Traitor

Chapter 7: 💥The Apothecary and the Traitor💥

****{Joseon Palace, Minister Park’s Residence, Midnight}****

Minister Park didn’t sleep well anymore.

Not since the Wraith had failed in the crypts. Not since Lady Min Seo-yeon had spat blood in its face and lived.

He poured himself another cup of rice wine and stared at the broken binding sigil sketched on his desk. The ink was still wet. His hand shook as he drew the third line.

“Patience,” he muttered to himself. “One more crack, and it’s free.”

The door slid open without a knock.

“Minister,” said a voice from the darkness. Low, smooth, amused. “You look like a man who’s about to lose everything.”

Park didn’t turn. He knew that voice.

“Inspector Yoo,” he said. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Inspector Yoo Dan-woo stepped into the light, palace inspector’s badge gleaming at his belt. He was thirty-two, lean, with the kind of face that looked harmless until you realized his eyes missed nothing. He’d made his name solving cases the Royal Guard couldn’t touch.

“Neither are you, Minister,” Yoo replied, glancing at the sigil. “Breaking royal wards? That’s treason, you know.”

Park set his cup down with deliberate calm. “Careful, Inspector. Accusing a minister of treason is dangerous.”

“So is letting a Veil Wraith loose in the palace,” Yoo said. He walked around the desk, studying the map of the crypts laid out beside the sigil. “Three guards dead. One nearly taken in the archives. And now you’re trying to crack the binding wide open.”

Park laughed. “You think I did this?”

“I think you want the palace in chaos,” Yoo said. “I think you want General Han disgraced, Lady Min executed, and you in a position to name the next regent. I think you’re stupid enough to think you can control a Wraith once it’s free.”

Park’s smile vanished. “You have no proof.”

“Not yet,” Yoo said. “But I have a witness. A servant who saw you in the crypts three nights ago. And I have this.”

He set a small cloth bundle on the desk. Inside, a shard of stone carved with the same sigil Park had been drawing.

Park’s blood ran cold. That was from the binding. Only someone who’d been in the crypts would have it.

“You’re making a mistake, Inspector,” he said quietly. “Some things are better left buried.”

Yoo leaned forward. “Tell that to the dead guards.”

He turned to leave, but paused at the door.

“Oh, and Minister? General Han and Lady Min aren’t alone anymore.”

The door closed.

Park sat alone with the wine and the sigil, and for the first time, he felt afraid.

*{Joseon Palace, Physician’s Quarters, Dawn}*

Seo-yeon woke to the smell of herbs and the sound of quiet arguing.

“—she can’t keep using her shadow like this! She’ll burn out in a week!”

“That’s not your decision, Inspector.”

Tae-wook’s voice. Sharp, protective.

Seo-yeon opened her eyes. Tae-wook stood by her cot, arms crossed. Across from him was a stranger: tall, in a simple apothecary’s robe, with a satchel of tools and eyes that missed nothing.

He noticed she was awake and bowed. “Lady Min. I’m Yoo Dan-woo, palace inspector. Also, technically, your physician right now.”

Seo-yeon sat up, wincing. “You’re not a physician.”

“I’m good at pretending,” Yoo said. “And better at keeping people alive than the actual physicians. General Han sent for me.”

Tae-wook didn’t deny it. “He knows about Wraiths. About bindings. About things the court buried.”

Seo-yeon studied Yoo. He didn’t look at her like she was a monster. He looked at her like a problem to solve.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“To keep you alive,” Yoo said bluntly. “Because if you die, the Wraith gets free, and about ten thousand people in the capital die with it. So forgive me if I’m invested.”

Tae-wook shot him a look. “Subtle.”

“Honesty saves time,” Yoo replied. “Lady Min, your shadow is eating you because you’re using it wrong. You’re treating it like a weapon. It’s not. It’s a tether. To the binding. To the Wraith. To yourself.”

Seo-yeon frowned. “What do you mean?”

Yoo opened his satchel and pulled out a small glass vial of dark liquid. “Shadow ink. Made from the residue left when a shadow is forcibly severed. It’s rare. Illegal. And it might let you reinforce the tether without losing more of yourself.”

Tae-wook stepped forward. “Is it safe?”

“Safer than letting her burn out,” Yoo said. “But it’ll hurt. A lot.”

Seo-yeon looked at the vial, then at Tae-wook. He wasn’t telling her what to do. He was waiting for her decision.

She took the vial.

“I’ll try it,” she said.

Yoo nodded and set to work, mixing herbs, checking her pulse, explaining what to expect. For the first time since this started, Seo-yeon felt like she wasn’t drowning alone.

Tae-wook stayed by the door, but his shoulders dropped half an inch. Relief.

When Yoo finished, he turned to Tae-wook. “We need to talk. Alone.”

Tae-wook hesitated, then nodded. “Don’t leave her.”

“I won’t,” Yoo said.

Once the door closed, Yoo’s expression hardened. “Minister Park broke the binding. I have a witness. But I need you to keep Han distracted. If Park realizes we’re onto him, he’ll move faster.”

Tae-wook’s jaw tightened. “He’s been pushing for her execution since day one.”

“Exactly. He wants her dead so the binding fails completely. Then the Wraith can leave the palace. He thinks he can control it.”

Tae-wook cursed. “He’s an idiot.”

“He’s a dangerous i***t,” Yoo said. “And he’s not working alone. There are others in the court helping him. I need your eyes on the Guard. And I need Lady Min alive long enough to fix the binding.”

Tae-wook nodded once. “She won’t die. Not on my watch.”

Yoo studied him. “You care about her.”

Tae-wook didn’t answer. He just left.

Yoo watched him go, then turned back to Seo-yeon. She was listening through the door, pale but alert.

“He’s a stubborn i***t too,” Yoo said. “Good. You’ll need one.”

Seo-yeon almost smiled. “Why are you helping us?”

“Because someone has to,” Yoo said. “And because my sister died in the last Wraith incident, thirty years ago. The court covered it up. I’m not letting it happen again.”

That explained the anger under his calm.

Seo-yeon nodded. “Then we work together.”

“Good,” Yoo said. “Drink the ink tonight. It’ll hurt. But if it works, you’ll be able to fight without losing yourself. And we’ll need you sharp. Park’s making his move soon.”

{Joseon Palace, Royal Council Chamber, Noon}

Minister Park stood before the king, head bowed, voice dripping with concern.

“Your Majesty, the situation is untenable,” he said. “Lady Min is a danger. General Han is compromised. The palace is not safe while she lives.”

King Yeongjo listened, face unreadable. “And your solution?”

“Execute her,” Park said. “Publicly. Purge the shadow from the palace. The Wraith will have nothing to feed on and will return to sleep.”

A few officials murmured agreement. Fear made people agree to terrible things.

King Yeongjo tapped his fingers on the armrest. “And if you’re wrong?”

“Then I will take responsibility,” Park said. “But if we wait, it will be too late.”

Before the king could answer, the doors opened.

Inspector Yoo Dan-woo walked in, followed by two guards carrying a bound man. The man was pale, sweating, eyes darting.

“Your Majesty,” Yoo said, bowing. “I have a confession.”

Park’s blood ran cold.

The man fell to his knees. “It was Minister Park! He ordered me to break the binding! He said the kingdom needed a purge!”

Chaos erupted.

Park stood, face red. “Lies! This man is a criminal! He’s framing me!”

Yoo didn’t flinch. “We have the witness, the sigil shard, and the blood on the stone. The binding was broken from the inside, Minister. You knew the shadowkeepers’ secrets.”

King Yeongjo’s expression darkened. “Is this true, Minister Park?”

Park looked around the room. No one would meet his eyes.

He smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile.

“Proof can be forged, Majesty,” he said. “And when the Wraith wakes fully, you’ll see who was right.”

He moved fast. Too fast. He pulled a dagger from his sleeve and lunged at Yoo.

Yoo sidestepped, but not fast enough. The blade grazed his arm.

Guards swarmed Park. He was taken down, cursing.

As he was dragged out, he laughed.

“It’s already too late!” he shouted. “The third seal is broken! It’s coming!”

The chamber went silent.

King Yeongjo looked at Yoo. “Explain.”

Yoo pressed a hand to his bleeding arm. “The binding has three seals. Two were broken in the crypts. The third is in the royal archive. If that breaks, the Wraith can leave the palace.”

“And Lady Min?” the king asked.

“She’s the only one who can repair it,” Yoo said. “But she needs time. And protection.”

The king looked toward the door, toward the outer palace where Seo-yeon was.

“Give her time,” he said. “And Inspector Yoo… make sure she gets it.”

*{Joseon Palace, Physician’s Quarter, Evening}*

Seo-yeon listened to Yoo relay everything that happened in the council chamber.

Park was arrested. The third seal was at risk.

And now they had less than three days.

She held the vial of shadow ink in her hand. It was cold. Heavy.

“Tonight,” Yoo said. “You drink this. We start reinforcing the binding at dawn.”

Seo-yeon nodded.

Tae-wook stood by the window, watching the darkening sky. He hadn’t spoken much since they returned.

“Are you alright?” she asked him.

He looked at her. “Park tried to kill Yoo. He’s desperate. That means he’s dangerous.”

“And?”

“And I don’t like that you’re the only one who can stop this,” Tae-wook said quietly. “I don’t like that it has to be you.”

Seo-yeon’s chest tightened.

Yoo cleared his throat and made a show of checking his herbs. “I’ll, uh, give you two a moment.”

He slipped out.

Tae-wook stepped closer. “If something happens to you—”

“Nothing will happen,” Seo-yeon said. “I’m not done yet.”

He studied her face. “You’re scared.”

“Of course I’m scared,” she said. “But I’m more scared of what happens if I don’t try.”

Tae-wook nodded. He reached out, then stopped himself.

Instead, he said, “Rest. Tomorrow, we end this.”

Seo-yeon lay back, the vial still in her hand.

Outside, the wind picked up.

Somewhere deep under the palace, something stirred.