"If she is my wife, then I shall welcome her as such." At the border of Hyeon-guk, where the enemy lurks nearby, Ha Mu-jin, commander of the Hongla army and a king, receives an unexpected decree. Instead of reinforcements, the emperor has sent him a bride—a gesture that feels more like mockery than support. “This finely painted woman is what the emperor has deemed fit to send to a war zone,” Mu-jin mutters, his anger simmering. To him, this marriage is nothing more than a ploy to flaunt the emperor’s authority. Despite the barren battlefield setting, tradition demands the bride be received without question. So-rang, the young woman thrust into this impossible situation, stammers through the formalities: “I... I bring His Majesty’s decree to become your wife, Grand Commander.” With a sharp, almost mocking tone, Mu-jin replies, “So, His Gracious Majesty has seen fit to gift Ha Mu-jin a wife. Very well, I shall accept her.” Yet beneath his calm exterior, resentment festers. To him, So-rang is a symbol of the emperor's arrogance. “If you must cry, then cry fully and bear the weight of my anger. Cry with your whole being,” he says coldly, as though her tears could somehow ease his bitterness.
