Seokga remembers Hajun’s news. The affair. It explains the rest. “Soo-min was seeing him on the sly. Hwanung found out, and—in an attempt to prove her loyalty to the god, Soo-min helped him kill the captain.” After all, why settle for a mortal man when one can have an emperor? Soo-min must have regretted her infidelity and backtracked in the only way she knew how: with murder. “Hwanung came to the ship today to take Soo-min to the reincarnation queue. He wasn’t expecting to catch her with the captain. In the struggle, he hit the intercom button. After realizing they’d been broadcast across the entire ship, Soo-min fled—and Hwanung teleported away.” So much for true love.

Dr. Jang shakes her head, unsteadily moving to her bed, where she perches on the edge like an uncertain bird. “Why didn’t you tell me about Hwanin, Seokga? I could have helped you. I could have told you all of this.”

“You would have been mandated to report it immediately to Okhwang,” he explains in exhaustion, running a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t risk the pantheon suspecting me. We all know my history. It’s over now anyway. The case is closed.”

“And how are you feeling?” she asks, to his great weariness. “How has the pantheon taken the news?”

Seokga’s lips twist bitterly. “Samsin Halmoni called me ‘Mireuk’s spawn.’ ” It stings more than he’d like to admit.

Dr. Jang’s lips thin. “Does it bother you,” she asks, “how the rest of the pantheon uses your heritage as an insult? It must be frustrating, when everyone only remembers the Mad God rather than the father he could have been.”

He shrugs, but his throat is tight. Dr. Jang sighs softly.

“I want us to speak candidly, Seokga, without worrying about word getting back to the pantheon about what you say in this room. You’re the heavenly emperor now. Nothing can touch you if you don’t want it to, dear.” Dr. Jang smiles, fiddling with the hem of her Hawaiian shirt. “Besides, I seem to have misplaced my notebook. I couldn’t take notes even if I wanted to. What would you do, Seokga, if you could give your father a second chance?”

Seokga suddenly feels dizzy. “He doesn’t deserve a second chance.”

“The same case could have been made for you,” Dr. Jang replies gently. “And now, look. What extraordinary growth you’ve had, Seokga. Your dream has come true, and you could hardly care less. You’ve changed. Why shouldn’t Mireuk have been given that opportunity?”

“My father was a tyrant.”

“And not so long ago, you were a villain.”