PROLOGUE
1551 Words
The night was unusually quiet.
At Gyeongbokgung Palace, the grand royal palace of Joseon, the courtyards had fallen silent beneath the moonlit sky. Yet beyond the palace walls, deep within the forest, something waited.
Crown Prince Seo Jun stood at the palace gate, dressed for the hunt.
His younger sister, Grand Princess Su Jin, stood before him with worry written across her face.
“Promise me you'll be careful and return as soon as you can,” she said.
Seo Jun smiled and gently patted her head.
“I will. Don't worry.”
“I don't understand why Father would send you to hunt a wolf himself. It's dangerous.”
“It was Father's command. I have to fulfill it.” Seo Jun glanced toward the guards waiting nearby. “Besides, I'm not going alone. The palace guards will be with me.”
Su Jin sighed.
“You're impossible to convince.”
Seo Jun chuckled.
“You already know that.”
She folded her arms, still unconvinced.
“You'd better come back. Tomorrow is important to me.”
“I know.”
His smile softened.
“I promised I'd be there, didn't I? Whatever happens, I'll be there for you.”
Su Jin looked at him for a moment before smiling.
“Then don't break your promise.”
“I won't.”
Seo Jun looked toward the dark sky.
“It is getting late. I should leave.”
Su Jin stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
“Be careful, brother.”
Seo Jun returned the embrace.
“I will.”
When they finally parted, Su Jin remained standing in the courtyard, watching him walk away.
She forced a smile.
But as his figure disappeared into the darkness, her eyes filled with tears.
I'll miss you.
Seo Jun placed his cat-shaped hunting mask over his face and continued toward the palace gates.
None of them knew that it would be the last time Su Jin saw the brother she knew.
---
THE FOREST
The forest was darker than Seo Jun had expected.
The sound of horses moving through the trees had long since faded behind them.
One of the guards suddenly stopped.
“Your Highness.”
Seo Jun turned.
“There is blood here.”
He crouched and examined the dark stains on the ground.
“The wolf must be nearby.”
The guards exchanged uneasy glances.
Seo Jun rose.
“Spread out. Search the area.”
“Your Highness, wouldn't it be safer if we stayed together?”
Seo Jun reached for his bow.
“I'll be fine.”
He glanced toward his horse.
“Take care of Whisper while I'm gone.”
The guard bowed.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Seo Jun walked deeper into the forest alone.
The branches grew thicker around him.
He moved silently, his eyes scanning every shadow.
Then—
Something moved above him.
Seo Jun immediately looked up.
A dark figure was moving between the trees.
His hand tightened around his bow.
“There you are.”
He drew an arrow and released it.
The arrow sliced through the air.
But it missed.
A young woman suddenly fell from the tree.
She landed hard on the ground.
Seo Jun's expression changed.
He hurried toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
The young woman slowly lifted her head.
Instead of answering, she glared at him.
She pushed herself to her feet, dusted off her clothes, and turned away.
Seo Jun followed.
“Are you really unharmed?”
She stopped.
“Isn't it obvious?”
She turned around angrily.
“I could have died!”
Seo Jun stared at her.
“I thought you were the wolf.”
She looked at his mask.
“A cat hunting a wolf.”
Her lips curled slightly.
“How foolish.”
Seo Jun's expression hardened.
“Don't underestimate me.”
The young woman rolled her eyes.
“Because of you, I won't be getting that fruit now.”
She pointed toward the tree.
A single fruit hung from one of its highest branches.
Seo Jun looked at it.
Then he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small package.
“I have some cookies.”
He held them toward her.
“You can have them.”
The cookies had been prepared for him by Su Jin before he left the palace.
The young woman stared at them.
Her stomach betrayed her with a quiet growl.
She quickly looked away.
“Get out of my way.”
She tried to walk past him.
Seo Jun stepped in front of her.
“Take them.”
His voice carried the authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
She narrowed her eyes.
“Fine.”
She held out her hand.
But Seo Jun suddenly looked past her.
His expression changed.
The young woman followed his gaze.
Her eyes widened.
A wolf stood between the trees.
Its eyes were fixed on them.
It growled.
The young woman slowly lowered her hand.
Seo Jun immediately reached for his bow.
The wolf lunged.
“Run!”
Seo Jun grabbed the young woman's hand and pulled her through the forest.
Branches whipped past them as they ran.
The wolf chased closely behind.
“Faster!”
“I am trying!”
“You're too slow!”
“Then stop pulling me!”
The wolf's growl grew louder.
The young woman looked ahead.
“Watch out!”
Seo Jun turned too late.
His body slammed into a tree.
He fell to the ground.
The young woman stopped.
“Are you alright?”
Seo Jun pressed a hand against his head.
“I'm fine.”
He tried to stand.
But a sharp pain suddenly pierced through his skull.
He froze.
Something flashed through his mind.
A voice.
A familiar voice.
Let me have this.
Seo Jun's breathing became uneven.
Another image appeared.
A palace.
Someone standing before him.
A hand reaching toward him.
Then—
Nothing.
He blinked rapidly.
The images disappeared.
He looked at the young woman.
His vision was beginning to blur.
“The wolf…”
His voice was weak.
“We need to…”
He couldn't finish.
The young woman noticed his bow lying beside him.
She picked it up.
“Give it to me.”
Seo Jun tried to protest.
But his strength was fading.
The wolf emerged from between the trees.
It growled and prepared to attack.
The young woman drew an arrow.
“Stop making so much noise.”
She released it.
The arrow struck the wolf.
The animal staggered but continued toward them.
Her expression changed.
“One wasn't enough?”
She quickly drew three arrows at once.
She released them.
The arrows struck the wolf, and the creature finally collapsed.
Silence returned to the forest.
The young woman lowered the bow.
Then she turned toward Seo Jun.
“Are you alright?”
Seo Jun tried to answer.
“I…”
He suddenly coughed.
A trace of blood appeared on his lips.
The young woman's expression changed.
“What?”
She rushed toward him.
“This isn't just from hitting your head, is it?”
Seo Jun couldn't answer.
His head throbbed violently.
The forest began to spin.
His vision darkened.
More images flashed through his mind.
A palace hall.
A man's voice.
A hand gripping his shoulder.
A woman crying.
A name he couldn't remember.
Seo Jun reached for the image—
But it vanished.
His breathing slowed.
His eyes lost focus.
Then everything disappeared.
He collapsed.
“Mister!”
The young woman caught his shoulder.
She stared at him in confusion.
“What happened to you?”
No answer.
She looked toward the direction of the palace guards.
Then she heard them.
Footsteps.
Voices.
“They found me.”
She immediately released Seo Jun and stepped back.
“I can't stay here.”
She disappeared into the trees just as the guards arrived.
“I saw someone!”
“Where?”
“Over there!”
Another guard suddenly stopped.
“Wait…”
He looked around.
“Where is His Highness?”
The others froze.
“We haven't seen him since we separated.”
“Search the area!”
They hurried through the forest.
Then—
“There!”
One of the guards shouted.
“Everyone! I found His Highness!”
The others rushed toward him.
Their expressions changed.
Seo Jun was lying unconscious beneath the tree.
Nearby, the wounded wolf lay motionless.
“Your Highness!”
“Is he breathing?”
“Yes!”
“Then don't just stand there. Take him back to the palace!”
One of the guards stared at the unconscious Crown Prince.
“We're doomed…”
“Stop talking nonsense and carry him!”
“What about the wolf?”
“Leave it. His Highness comes first.”
The guards carefully lifted Seo Jun.
They hurried through the forest, carrying their unconscious Crown Prince toward the palace.
Behind them, hidden among the trees, the mysterious young woman watched in silence.
Her eyes remained fixed on Seo Jun until he disappeared from view.
She didn't know who he was.
She didn't know what had happened to him.
And she certainly didn't know that the man she had just saved would soon wake up without remembering the life he once lived.
And the mystery had only just begun.
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