Episode 2

Hae Soo was about to fall into the water/ravine when Wang So, fourth prince, saved her by pulling her onto his horse before she fell. She stared at him with wide, shocked eyes. He then dumped her off of the horse. She winces and puts her hand to her back, then glares at him. Soo stops him and asks him how he can throw a person like they're a bag. He smirks and starts to go on, but she stops him. Soo starts yelling at him about how he shouldn't go so fast on such a narrow road. So smirks again and rears the horse up on it's hind legs, then gallops away. Another woman tells Soo that she's lucky to be alive. Chae Ryung rushes towards Soo and tells her that the princess wants to see her

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The princes and the princess are meeting in a room and are discussing Prince So in a distasteful manner. Suddenly, Prince So appears. Yeon Hwa gives a friendly smile while Prince Yo wears his usual scheming look on his face. Baek Ah, Eun, Won, and Jung nervously greet him. He then sits down on a chair. Prince Yo tells Wook to not "try so hard. He understands the words of animals better than the words of humans". The other princes and princess look down at these words. Prince So calmly gives a witty reply that implies that Prince Yo is an animal.

Soo enters the room shyly and nervously behind Chae Ryung and she hides behind a pillar. Eun notices and asks her if she's the one who was spying on them in the bath. Soo protests otherwise,accidentally crashing a tray of meals out of a servant's hands. With all of the attention and annoyance directed towards her, Soo runs out of the room. Baek Ah says that Soo used to be a well-behaved, careful girl and that she's changed immensely. Yeon Hwa tells Eun that he must have thought wrong, as there was no way for Soo to be in the bathing area, as it's only for royalty.

Eun is still sure that it was her and is now searching for her. Soo quickly ducks out of sight. Eun looks for a place where she could be hiding, and looks through a hole into a closet, watching a servant girl (Chae Ryung) change her clothes. Soo catches him looking. Chae Ryung only sees his eye and screams, and he quickly starts to run away when Soo stops him. They fight and hearing the noise, the princes, princess, and Chae Ryung watch. As a result of the fight, Prince Eun gets a black eye. Soo is about to slap him when So stops her. The fight ends and Soo demands an apology from So also.

So is shocked at her rudeness and tells her that if he apologizes, she'll have to die. He starts to say the words "I'm sorr--" when Soo interrupts, calling "Unni!" to Lady Hae. They go to the prayer tower.

Lady Hae explains to Soo that the prayer towers are there so that mothers can pray for their children, but the one that she is building is for Soo. This reminds Soo of her own mother, which sets off the tears. Even after Lady Hae leaves, Soo sits at the prayer tower, wondering what she is to do.

Soo asks Chae Ryung if she knows the man, who she had recognized as the homeless man on the pier. Soo suggests going to the public bathing area but Chae Ryung tells her to not go near the place where she nearly died.

Astronomer Choi happens to be the man whom Soo is chasing after. At that moment he is examining Prince Eun's eye. Prince Won and Prince Baek Ah poke fun at him, while he scowls at them. Prince Baek Ah tells Eun that Soo wouldn't have touched him if she didn't like him, and Eun cluelessly now believes that Soo is interested in him.

Prince So walks down the hallway and the brothers and the astronomer all start in surprise. He bursts into Queen Yoo's room, who is sitting next to Prince Yo and Prince Jung. There is a slightly awkward silence and Prince Jung tells that So must have been taught martial arts. So answers that he hasn't.

Prince Yo says that there is a rumor about a wolf-dog in Songak, which clearly points to So. They talk a little awkwardly and So says that he feels like a hostage. They discuss this with Prince Yo thinking that So is dramatic by using the word "hostage". Queen Yoo then tells So to leave. He is disappointed and reaches into his cloak to get a hair pin that he got for Queen Yoo, but Jung beats him and presents his own hair pin to her, which she smiles over. Hurt, he leaves the room and finds Prince Won, Prince Baek Ah, and Prince Eun to be eavesdropping. After he leaves, Queen Yoo orders that he be taken out of her sight after the ritual, and to bring in soldiers if necessary. Jung tells a rumor that he heard that says that Queen Yoo made the scar on So's face. Prince Yo then scolds him.

Astronomer Choi stops So and suggests that he take a bath. A servant leaves to draw water for him.

Soo walks to the bathing area alone that night in search of the man, thinking that he may have been a sign for her to have hope. She wants to get out of that place as soon as possible, especially because of the punishment for hitting a prince.

In the bath, So takes off his mask, revealing his scar. We can also see other scars on his back. He suddenly takes a step back as Soo stands up in the water. She gasps and sees So, then freezes. He clamps a hand over the scar and asks her if she saw it. He then grabs her by the throat when she remains frozen. Soo cries for mercy and he tells her to forget him. He then gathers his clothes and mask, fastening them on, and leaves, not noticing when he drops the pin for his mother. Soo picks it up and walks home.

She is surprised to see everybody waiting for her, and Lady Hae scolds her for making the whole family wait. Soo realizes that she's at a home where people care for her and feels touched.

Soo asks Chae Ryung about the fourth prince, and she panicks a little at the mention of him. Chae Ryung says that he is infamous for his cruelty and tells of how he was to kill all the wolves for his adoptive family's entertainment. There is a rumor that he has killed all of the wolves in Shinju. Chae Ryung also says that he kills humans too, especially the people who see the scar on his face. Soo is frightened and thinks that she really did escape death that time.

Queen Yoo bathes alone and thinks about a conversation she’d had with Prince Yo. They've been biding their time for a while, and now they think they should quicken things because of the rumor that the king might give the throne to Crown Prince Moo. The queen says that the upcoming ceremony is their chance for getting rid of Prince Moo, and Yo reassures her that she need not worry.

On the day of the ceremony for rituals, everybody at the palace is busy preparing. Queen Yoo is dressed and wears many delicate and beautiful ornaments saying that she will shine the brightest in the palace today. She is also wearing the golden hairpin that Jung gave her.

Queen Yoo encounters another royal consort in the courtryard, Queen Hwangbo, mother to Wook and Princess Yeon Hwa. With her and the princess is daughter-in-law Lady Hae.

The queens exchange pleasantries, and Queen Yoo invites the princess to visit her for a chat sometime. They maintain smiles until Queen Yoo moves on, at which point Princess Yeonhwa’s face darkens.

The princess dislikes the idea of her mother having to deal with Queen Yoo all alone in the palace, and wishes Wook would bring his mother into the private residence. At that, Lady Hae cautions her to watch her words in the palace.

Queen Hwangbo agrees, and advises her daughter “to forget it all.” The princess asks bitterly, “How can I forget that grudge?”

Queen Hwangbo wonders why Soo wasn’t brought along with her, and Lady Hae replies that Soo has been making many mistakes in the wake of her accident, and she thought it best to leave her behind.

The princes do one last run-through of their sword-dance, and Crown Prince Moo beams in approval. Eun asks Wook if Soo will be there along with Lady Hae, and that question gets him roundly teased by his brothers, who joke about him getting another black eye to match his first. It brings a smile to everyone’s face, even So’s—although the second he sees Wook noticing, the smile fades.

Meanwhile, Yo looks over at a line of black-clad men arriving for their part in the ritual, wearing demon masks.

But Crown Prince Moo is working his counterplay, and secretly exchanges costumes with So.

Meanwhile, Soo and Chae Ryung head out into the city to enjoy the festivities there, admiring the dancing and lights.

At the palace, So takes the lead position as the ceremony begins, though everybody else believes him to be Moo. In this ritual, he plays the part of the leader in driving out the demons from the palace, with princes providing backup.

The performance is a mix of martial arts and dance, and Queen Hwangbo compliments “Moo” for his skilled showing.

Then it’s time for the demon-masked men to join the performance, and So takes them on. Masked Yo joins So as they drive out the demons, reciting an incantation together.

But suddenly, more masked men fly in from above, and immediately the king and Astronomer Choi know that this wasn’t part of the planned ritual. The demons draw their swords to attack So, and Astronomer Choi sounds the call to protect the king.

Soldiers rush the king’s platform to guard him, and by now the princes realize something’s amiss. So—still masked—takes on an army of demons, and Wook is the first to charge into the fray to help. The other princes follow suit, evening the numbers.

At one point Yo exchanges a glance with the demon he’s pretending to fight, then maneuvers their swords and points it at So—to the eye, it would look like an accidental stabbing. The sword slices So’s arm and he goes down, and then a demon swoops in for the kill.

But a masked prince jumps in at the last second and defends So and the demons sense defeat and scatter. Yo orders the soldiers to catch the assassins, and the king hurries to check on his son. The mask comes off, and he’s stunned to see So’s face instead of Moo’s.

Immediately, the king demands to know where Moo is, Moo reveals himself, the king relaxes, and the queen realizes her plot was foiled.

So says he will catch the culprits and runs off alone. Moo grabs his sword to follow, but his father stops him.

So heads into the city streets, spotting the assassins traveling on rooftops, and chases. The pursuit leads him through the city streets, and at one point Soo spots him while taking a break from sight-seeing. Curiosity compels her to follow, even as the chase takes So into the woods.

So catches up with the assassins and engages in a swordfight with one of them. They face off in a fierce clash, while Su wanders into a different area of the woods. There, she happens upon a meeting of the other assassins as they meet with their leader—Prince Yo—and bow before him with heads bowed. And then, at his command, Yo’s guards kill the failed assassins.

Soo stares in horror and quietly retreats, but lets out a tiny gasp… and Yo hears it. When he whirls around, however, she’s gone.

Back to So, who demands to know whom the assassin is working for. He offers a deal to spare the assassin’s life in exchange for the name, and the assassin wavers, uncertain. And just as he starts to lower his sword, Soo comes running up, gasping about the scene she just witnessed. So obviously, the assassin now grabs Soo hostage, and holds his sword to her throat. But So just tells him to go ahead and kill her, to the assassin’s shock. “Or should I do it?” So asks.

He raises his sword and points it at Soo’s face, and as one blade digs into her neck, she begs to be saved. So smirks that one woman means nothing to him and presses the assassin for a name. Once more the assassin wavers, loosening his grip, and So feels victory in his grasp… but Soo sees the blade moving away from her neck and bites the assassin’s hand, shoving him away.

The assassin moves to kill her anyway, and So starts to react, but a dagger flies in and embeds itself in the assassin’s head. It’s Wook, arriving in the nick of time. Except, it’s not good timing for So, who’s just been robbed of answers. He grabs Soo angrily, raging at her for ruining things. His sword presses close to her neck. But Wook holds his sword to So’s neck and tells him to let her go. In one quick move, So whirls to clash swords with Wook, and replies that he won’t. Then the episode ends.

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