Chapter Eighty-Two

Sora and Mikail enter Idle Prison, its emptiness still steeped in torture and death. Mikail, once spymaster, navigates its halls, explaining how it was worse under Joon. Sora vows to shutter the prison, while Mikail pragmatically warns against it. Sora reflects on the week since Aeri destroyed the relics, during which the Weians surrendered, General Vikal returned to Khitan under a lasting peace, new treaties were signed, and Gaya’s stolen treasures and sovereignty were restored.

Approaching the cell where Tiyung and Euyn had once been held, Sora steels herself to end Seok’s threat before her coronation. Mikail offers to handle the execution, but Sora insists this reckoning is hers. Guards open the door; Seok, chained and injured from the samroc, faces her, still posturing control.

Sora lays out a whip for Hana, a knife for the other victims, and poison for herself, declaring she still has her soul and will erase Seok’s legacy—ending indenture, dismantling his rank, and ensuring his name is forgotten. Seok’s fear rises as Sora’s detachment reveals a power he cannot touch.

Triggering memories of past abuses, Sora recognizes vengeance as empty. She drops the whip, leaves the knife and poison out of Seok’s reach, and orders the guards to wall off the cell, condemning him to die unheard. Without looking back, Sora takes Mikail’s arm and leaves the prison, turning from revenge to rebuilding the realm.