‘How long do you think our relationship will last?’
‘Stupid…I told you, forever.
Lots of things happened since I came to the palace, but the best is that I found you again.’

Having lost the competition, a heavy-hearted Hu prepares to leave the palace, but at the same time, he is happy at the thought of living a normal life on the outside with Yang Sun. Meanwhile, Yang Sun is faced with a tough decision when she receives an unexpected proposal from Hyoseong.

Hu tells Seryeong that he wanted to give her what she needed most, and presents her with a plane ticket to New York. Seryeong is touched by Hu’s thoughtfulness. Saying that they should be good friends, she stretches out her hand toward him.

Siyeon comes to rescue a drunken Jun who has given himself up to the flames surrounding him, and in doing so, loses her life.

Jun is disgusted by his father’s indifference toward Siyeon’s death and his focus on the position of Crown Prince. He seeks out Hu and asks him if he still wants to reveal the truth about the scandal surrounding his mother.

“I can’t live with a secret to achieve some goal,
and I can’t think of people as tools like you can.”

When Her Majesty’s love is revealed, the elders demand her resignation, and the Royal Family convenes to try and come up with a defense strategy. Jaeman suggests announcing the engagement of Yeongseonggong and Seryeong to draw the people’s attention elsewhere, and the Queen Dowager emphasizes the duty and responsibility that royalty have to a still uncompromising Hu.

Meanwhile, the final round of the competition comes to a close, but the happiness that Lee Gyeum and Yunhui felt is put on hold by the rumors that begin to float around the palace. As the situation escalates and a confrontation between Lee Gyeum and Jun takes place, Jun begins to lose himself, wrapped in a cloak of anger…

“If you love someone, you should be with them until the end.
Leaving someone because you love them is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”

The evidence that the dead foundation head had exonerating Princess Kang is missing. Lee Hu goes to Lee Gyeum, and asserts that the truth will soon be revealed.

The Queen Dowager chooses to ignore Hu’s feelings for Yang Sun, and tries to push his engagement to Seryeong. She is determined to prevent the same mistake from happening twice, and calls Yang Sun in to meet with her. When he learns of this, Jun tells Hu to let her go if he can’t stand by Yang Sun’s side, but Hu is determined.

Meanwhile, confronted with a dangerous situation, Yunhui seeks out Jo Sanggi and reveals everything to him, and Sanggi falls into a state of shock and confusion. In the midst of this, he learns where the missing evidence is…

Hu misses Yang Sun and can’t stop thinking about her. In the end, he goes to her house for a late-night meal, while Jun receives a call from Jo Sanggi, asking him to meet him at a caf on the outskirts of Seoul.