The night wind bit gently at Areum's skin as she pulled her black hood tighter around her face. Ji Seong's footsteps beside her were light, yet full of alertness. They stood by the edge of an old stone wall, hidden behind thick bamboo bushes that had long been silent witnesses to secret movements within the palace.
"If I'm not out in an hour…" Areum whispered.
"I'll come in after you, no matter what," Ji Seong replied firmly, his gaze fixed on her face.
Areum exhaled softly. In her heart, she knew — the closer she got to the truth, the greater the risk. But the time for doubt had long passed. Tonight, she would trace her own history.
With careful steps, Areum crawled into the underground tunnel — a secret passage shown to her by Ah-in through an ancient map. The stone walls were damp and the air smelled of old earth, but her determination was stronger than her fear.
After nearly half an hour navigating the narrow, dark corridor, Areum finally arrived at a small circular room — directly beneath the palace library. A stone staircase led upward, and at the top, a sliding wooden panel revealed an entrance to the unused wooden floor of the library.
She stepped in cautiously. In the dimness lit only by a small oil lamp on the wall, Areum found what she had been searching for — a dark wooden cabinet with a blood-stained lotus symbol carved into its doors.
Her hand trembled slightly as she touched the heirloom necklace around her neck. Ever since she arrived in this timeline, the necklace had pulsed strangely whenever she neared something related to Seol Hwa's bloodline. Now, its throb grew more intense — and as she touched the iron key on the chest, a soft click sounded, and the door opened by itself.
Inside were several scrolls of aged, yellowing parchment, wrapped in crimson velvet cloth. Areum unrolled one — and her eyes widened.
"This… is Seol Hwa's lineage?"
Her fingers flipped through the pages, one by one. Name after name appeared, connected — and at the end, a name she knew too well: "Yoon Areum."
Tears welled in her eyes without her realizing. She wasn't just a time-displaced fugitive. She was the heir once foretold to return. The heir who carried a blood oath and an ancient grudge.
Then, she read the second scroll — the blood pact manuscript. It told the story of a forbidden love between Seol Hwa and a high-ranking man who was betrayed by the palace. Hidden within it was a single line of prophecy:
> "When fire meets time, the blood of legacy shall burn the throne of betrayal."
Suddenly, a heavy sound echoed from the back door of the library. Areum froze.
Footsteps — slow, deliberate — echoed through the space. A man's voice rang out faintly.
"Let her read everything," the voice oozed with malice. "Then she'll disappear — just like Seol Hwa, forgotten by history."
It was Lord Baek's voice.
Areum quickly extinguished the small lamp and hid behind a row of old wooden shelves. She held her breath, her heart pounding.
Lord Baek stood in the center of the room for a long time, as if he knew eyes were watching. "History will repeat itself, girl from the future," he said with a cold smile. "But this time… I will win."
After he left, Areum took the chance to slip back into the underground tunnel, clutching tightly the two vital manuscripts that changed everything.
Ji Seong was already waiting anxiously at the exit. When he saw Areum's face emerge from the darkness, he stepped forward quickly, relieved.
"Did you find anything?"
Areum looked at him, eyes burning with resolve. "Not just 'anything,'" she replied softly. "I found out who I really am."
On a nearby hill, they paused. In the distance, the palace shimmered under the moonlight. The necklace on Areum's neck glowed faintly — red like blood, like an oath yet to be fulfilled.
And in her heart, a single resolve was born — she would run no more. Her destiny was just beginning.