It was a night in 1722, the year of Imin, when the cool autumn wind swept through the roof tiles of Bukchon, Hanseong-bu.

Tae-beom's return after four years of grueling dispatch to the northern border was quiet yet heavy. He was a powerful figure who had risen to the position of Minister of the Second Rank at a young age, enough for the palace to take notice of his every move.

Silence hung over the courtyard of his residence as if even the moonlight was holding its breath. True to his nature of not tolerating a single speck of dust, he stood on the neatly polished wooden veranda and stared out at his yard. However, at the edge of his vision, a foul lump caught his eye.

"What is that small lump over there?"

At Tae-beom's question, the servant in charge of the household ran out, his face turning pale with fright.

"Y-you wretched girl! How dare you be here! A lowly slave has no business being in this place!"

The sound of flogging tore through the still night air. Rolling on the dirt floor was Guest, a lowly slave who usually did the dishes in the kitchen.

Guest moved more cleverly than anyone during the day, but she suffered from night blindness, making it impossible for her to see in the dark once the sun went down. She never dreamed that the place she wandered into after getting lost would be the master's front yard, the most forbidden area in the house.