Are you saying he was there?" Yunxi asked, his voice trembling. "What truth do you want to hear? Tell me, and I'll tell you exactly that."
"Don't play the victim," the Emperor hissed through gritted teeth. "Don't."
He was shaking with rage now, the kind born from knowing too much and wishing you didn't. "What do I even know, huh? What in the hell do I know?" His voice rose, then faltered as something dawned on him.
He went still.
"The dagger I gifted you… did you find it?" Han Ji asked suddenly.
"What?" Yunxi blinked, caught off guard. "Uhmm… I.."
"Don't you dare play dumb with me," Han Ji snapped. "Where is the dagger I gave you, the golden one?"
Yunxi didn't understand why the dagger was suddenly being brought up, but instinct told him this question could tear a hole right through his cover.
Han Ji's patience broke. He grabbed Yunxi by the collar, fury burning in his eyes. "Speak! Where is it?"
Yunxi's eyes widened. His gaze flicked briefly toward Nim, and that tiny glance was all it took.
Han Ji noticed.
He turned his head slowly, his piercing eyes landing on Nim, who stood frozen, mouth slightly agape.
Han Ji's laugh came low and poisonous. He turned back to Yunxi, whose head was shaking violently in denial.
In one motion, Han Ji shoved him backward, sending him crashing against the wooden table. Then he reached for his sword. Whatever it was, Han Ji understood one, this boy had given away the present he gifted him. And that was enough burn every remaining future for Nim.
"I've been wondering," he said, voice chillingly calm. "How could you have done this alone, Yunxi? How could you take on even the weakest soldier? I thought you wouldn't…"
Yunxi's eyes widened in panic, tears spilling down his cheeks. He shook his head frantically.
"No… no, you got it all wrong." Yunxi cried out, crawling forward until he reached Han Ji's feet. He clutched them with trembling hands, his voice breaking. "You're wrong! He didn't do anything you're thinking!"
Han Ji looked down at him and smiled faintly. "You must be lost, young pearl."
For Yunxi, all this conversation was about the soldier who died in the Palace garden. And for Nim and the Emperor, this was about the shadow which if Yunxi was not the culprit, then he had know idea about his death or whatsoever since he was locked in this room ever since he got in that night.
Han Ji stepped back and said coldly, "Your partner must have done something you had no idea about."
Yunxi rose shakily to his feet, standing between Nim and the Emperor. "I don't understand," he said, his words trembling as much as his lips.
"No, you don't," Han Ji replied, smirking. "And I'm not explaining anything."
He shoved Yunxi aside and moved toward Nim, who was now slowly backing away, dread visible in his eyes.
"His Majesty thinks I killed the shadow who was tailing you," Nim said at last, turning his gaze from the Emperor to Yunxi. He was giving him a hint at what was happening and Yunxi got it.
Yunxi's brows furrowed. He hadn't heard of any such thing, he had been locked away, cut off from the outside world. 'He's dead?' he thought, 'That stalker dude', he was now stunned. But then… how did Nim know about someone tailing him?
'Did he kill the man because he followed me?' If he did, that meant he still cared. And nothing fueled Yunxi more than knowing someone still cared.
"In all the people in this world," Han Ji said coldly, pressing his sword to Nim's neck, "It was you who killed one of mine."
As much as Han Ji despised it, he had wanted to kill this man long ago.
"What was I supposed to do?" Yunxi's trembling voice broke through the tension.
Han Ji turned slightly toward him, while Nim froze in fear, he could feel the cold metal pressing closer.
"I had no idea he was your soldier," Yunxi cried. "I didn't know you would send someone to violate me… even after you once paralyzed another who tried!"
Han Ji turned fully now, his expression unreadable. If Yunxi was trying to get his attention, he had succeeded. But Nim was also here, he was here listening at how this boy still used that lie as an example to strengthen another lie.
Yunxi sat on the floor, drenched in sweat, his lips trembling. Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet the Emperor's gaze, he tore open his upper garment.
The marks across his skin were crimson and raw, bruises etched deep like cruel tattoos.
Nim's lips parted in disbelief. Han Ji's face, however, remained unreadable as he stepped forward and lifted Yunxi to his feet by the wrist. Yunxi groaned in pain, his tears flowing freely as Han Ji opened the boy's robe completely. His chest was covered in long nail marks, deep and violent.
"I just wanted to know why he followed," Yunxi wept. "But he already knew. He… he…" His sobs swallowed his words.
Han Ji said nothing, and Nim exhaled shakily. He wasn't angry about what Yunxi had said, but rather about what Yunxi was doing. He was sputing lies...again. He didn't want to watch. But when he tried to look away, his eyes met the Emperor's, and in that shared silence, he realized something.
He had given Yunxi away.
"What did you mean by the scratched words?" Han Ji asked suddenly.
Yunxi froze. "What?"
"The words you scratched onto the his chest," Han Ji said, eyes narrowing. If all this was true, that meant yunxi had somehow saved himself and through self dense, he must have killed the shadow. Maybe after that he scratched the words as a payback. That was one way of finding out if he was guilt of that murder or not. And it was the best way of explainingthis, right? But Yunxi didn't seem lto understand which scratched words Han Ji was refering to. "If you killed him, as you claim, you should know them. I mean the scratched words." He cleared that to Yunxi who was clearly lost
The room fell silent. Yunxi didn't answer.
Han Ji's patience thinned. "Answer me."
Yunxi wiped his tears, his voice unsteady. "I know you don't care about what happens—"
Han Ji's sigh cut him off.
"You don't know what words were scratched or where they were scratched, do you?"
Han Ji smiled faintly, though it didn't reach his eyes. He was both relieved and furious. Relieved that Yunxi hadn't done what he feared, and furious at how much the boy had changed. How he could label himself of such mark.
Something dangerous flickered in his gaze as he stepped closer. He raised a hand, brushing a strand of red hair away from Yunxi's face. His palm lingered on the boy's cheek, and Yunxi melted into the touch, tears slipping down silently.
For a heartbeat, they simply looked at each other.
Then Han Ji blinked—once, twice—and his eyes shifted sideways, as if eyeing something behind. Perhaps someone!
In a flash, he drew his sword.
Yunxi flinched, eyes wide. Nim's head snapped up in alarm.
Han Ji moved swiftly, too swiftly. He struck Nim's leg, forcing him to his knees. Before Yunxi could react, the blade came down again..clean, merciless, severing Nim's right arm from the shoulder.
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the room.
"Ahhhh!"
And Yunxi helpless, stood frozen in one place. He knew he had shattered him....again. The scent of iron filled the air, and when his trembling eyes met the Emperor's, he knew this was only the beginning.
Han Ji had seen through his lies.