Summary
The Palace romance has started to bloom. Everyone is getting more affectionate than ever as we’re witnessing Lee Hwi’s transformation, not only as the Crown Prince but as a man.
This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series The King’s Affection season 1, episode 8 contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
We’re getting more affectionate as we’re reaching the middle of the series. In the previous episode, Lee Hwi lost her temper over the furious Chief from Ming. (The one I referred to as the furious prince before, but it turns out he’s a chief). She starts to beat him up over his disrespectful behavior towards her subordinates. Lee Hwi finds herself kneeling before her father who is deeply disappointed about her actions. After His Majesty leaves, Lee Hwi cries her heart out. Ji-Woon comes just in time and he hugs her. “You did the right thing, Your Royal Highness,” says Ji-Woon. He also takes care of her wounds. He also uses the momentum to apologize to her and explain that he has no intention when Lee Hwi sees her as the guest house with Lord Sangheon and his father. Lee Hwi understands that he is not the kind of person that will betray her. Meanwhile, Hyun is watching the love of his life be embraced by his best friend for he is always a second late when it comes to critical moments. Ouch.
The King’s Affection season 1, episode 8 recap
After the beating incident, Lee Hwi accepted the invitation to have a drink and feast with Chief Eunuch. She thinks that the invitation is from the Vice Minister of Ming himself, not the furious chief. It turns out the invitation is a trap for her where he brings out one of his guardians, the best swordsman of Ming, to have a duel with Kim Ga-O, the best swordsman in Joseon. Lee Hwi refuses the offer and intends to go back until the Ming’s guardian secretly tries to attack them from behind. Ga-On manages to hold and protect Lee Hwi but he is not in good condition for the fight. The two of them have a duel until Ga-On gets knocked out to the ground. Lee Hwi stops the duel and puts herself to defend Ga-On. She threatens the Ming’s Guardian that he will not get out of Joseon safely if he put a scar on her.
The furious Chief sends a code to his guardian to attack Lee Hwi who is unaware of the danger. The Ming’s guardian takes his sword and tries to attack her from behind again but this time, Ga-On quickly manages to protect her by throwing himself. The slashes of the sword cut deep onto his back. The attack resulted in his critical injury. At the same time, Ji-Woon appears and puts her swords on Ming’s guardian’s neck. “If you dare to put a finger on The Crown Prince, I’ll kill you with my hand,” says Ji-Woon. The storm has finally calmed down. Lee Hwi steps up for Ga-On and ask what is Chief Eunuch’s intention for hurting the innocent people. He whispers that he wants to destroy people like her, who were born with a silver spoon and live with hypocrisy at the Palace. Well, unfortunately, he aims at the wrong target. The Lee Hwi he confronts, or Dam-i to be exact, is the victim of hypocrisy herself.
A secret on the Palace
The furious chief seems to have a secret we have yet to know. After hearing about what happened to Hwi’s bodyguard and court lady Kim, Hyun comes to Chief Eunuch’s quarters for a 1-on-1 session. Chief Eunuch asks why he cares so much for his subordinates. Hyun, who has his way of protecting Lee Hwi, threatens Chief Eunnuch with a scandal that will ruin his entire career and asks him to behave on Joseon. Meanwhile, everyone always has a secret they hide underneath the darkness. Ga-On is having a nightmare that gives us a glimpse of his scary past. He anxiously wakes up after the bad dream and sees Lee Hwi by his side. He apologizes because he is unable to protect her as a bodyguard; Lee Hwi also apologizes for him being hurt. She tries to ask him what makes him anxious and infatuated, but Ga-on remains silent yet we know he is having an inner conflict inside of him.
Hyun, who secretly loves Lee Hwi and watches her slowly being snapped by his own bestie finds Lee Hwi who is contemplating by herself outside the quarter. She put herself to blame after her subordinates suffer because of him. Hyun reassures her that it’s not her fault. “If you’re hurt, it hurts me too,” says Hyun.
The secret investigation
What I like the most from The King’s Affection is that the lead woman is protecting the leading man. Ji-Woon joins the undercover mission alongside Hyun to find out about Chief Eunnuch’s secret ledger. He secretly follows Chief Eunuch who makes a suspicious visit in the middle of the night with one of the royal people. Unfortunately, the undercover does not end smoothly. Chief Eunnuch’s guard notices his presence and the sword battle begins. Ji-Woon gets overwhelmed over the quantity and got hurt during the fight, but Lee Hwi comes in the right time and starts to join the fight as we witness the duo together knock down their opponents. Not long after, Hyun joins with the squad alongside his royal guard and begins to chase after the Chief who is running away after being caught. He successfully caught him in the middle of the road and put more pressure on him.
Lee Hwi helps the injured Ji-Woon walk back to the quarters. He tells Lee Hwi about the undercover mission with Hyun. After hearing it, Lee Hwi asks Hyun to join with the investigation. They manage to buy information about his secret ledger from local people. The trio hilariously begins to secretly tail on him to find out about Chief Eunnuch’s weakness and what makes him threaten him with rare gems from Ming. While Hyun takes care of the secret ledger to investigate him, Ji-Woon faces Ming’s guardian. He is put in a tight situation and overwhelmed with the number of the Ming’s soldiers. Another cut is made but again, Lee Hwi always comes at the right time to save him. Kim Ga-On is also ready to make a remarkable comeback after his injury. Lee Hwi evacuates the injured Ji-Woon to a safer place and leaves the fight Ga-On. He manages to defeat the Ming’s guardian who put him into a great defeat the other day.
Meanwhile, Lee Hwi treats Ji-Woon’s wounds. She shows her gratitude for enduring the pain and helping her to the point of hurting himself. Ji-Woon tells how he wants to continue being by her side if she allows him to. Well, the flower has finally started to bloom for real.
The secret love affair
After successfully gathering the information from the secret ledger, Lee Hwi invites Chief Eunuch to have a drink together. This time, she decides to deal with her brain instead of her temper. Lee Hwi offers nothing but the truth. She brings the records management of the Emperor’s private assets. The furious Chief turns out to have coveted the Emperor’s assets without the Emperor knowing. Afraid that the Crown Prince will do anything to his love, Chief Eunuch comes to see Lee Hwi once again at her chamber. He tries to provoke her by demanding her to stop pretending to know nothing more than he coveted the Emperor’s assets. Lee Hwi confronts him by saying that she is not interested in his heartbreaking love story, but she understands where he is coming from and why he is seeking revenge. The furious chief is being sold by his parent to Joseon for packets of rice, gets beaten out, pushed out, and leaves with no food and clothes ever since he’s a child. His lover is probably the only person who ever shows kindness towards him that’s why he eagerly protects her.
Coming from someone who has to trade her life to the Palace and lead the life she does not willing to take. Moreover, hides from her loved ones, Lee Hwi knows better than anyone his circumstances. He apologizes as the Crown Prince of Joseon. “I’m sorry that you’re being pushed out with no food and clothes,” says Lee Hwi. “I’ll carry your secret love affair to my grave,” Upon hearing her sincere apology, the furious chief is stunned finally let go of his temper. For the first time in his life, he receives an apology from the land that put a great suffering on him. Moreover, the apology comes from the people he despises the most. Lee Hwi once again successfully uses her power and steps up outside her comfort zone to confront the trouble and show nobility and dignity to her people.
The ending – the drunk kiss
After all the hassle, Lee Hwi celebrates their successful undercover mission with a drink alongside Ji-Woon, Ga-On, and Hyun. The four of them are having the best time of their life while we’re having a great time watching Ji-Woon adorably drunk and dazed. It’s also nice how we get to see Lee Hwi’s laughs more often now. As the night gets deeper, Ga-On needs to help and escort Ji-Woon back to the Royal Institution where Ji-Woon asks him for another round of drinks together because he always senses there’s a brotherly bond between them. Ga-On heartlessly refuses the offer. Ji-Woon can’t keep himself from smiling while remembering Lee Hwi’s laughs and snaps himself back numerous time due to his confusion over his feeling.
Meanwhile, Lee Hwi wanders around the Palace and ends up visiting her secret haven that Ji-Woon has been hard trying to restore. Well, he successfully plants all the flowers and turns the old, abandoned, dead secret haven lively again. It is also a metaphor of Lee Hwi’s heart that slowly blooms and find its passion again. But it turns out that she is not the only one who is in the place, there’s Ji-Woon who drinks the liquor all alone. Ji-Woon is surprised that Lee Hwi comes. He says that it’s a place that only Dam-i and he knows. Lee Hwi uses the following fireflies as the excuse for why she stumbled upon the place.
She later asks if he restored the place all alone. Ji-Woon admits it. Both of them have a light conversation together. Lee Hwi says that Chief Eunnuch’s love story breaks her heart because she understands how painful for him and the love of his life to hide their love and lives under people’s decision. Ji-Woon slips his tongue how Lee Hwi intrigues him and tells her to not smile warmly at him because it’s dangerous. The tension begins to rise between them. Ji-Woon is enchanted by Lee Hwi’s hidden beauty. He suddenly leans toward her and gives a peck on the cheek that probably makes some of your hearts flutter, while Hyun’s supporter probably gets theirs broken. Nevertheless, the chaotic and affectionate Palace romance is about to unfold.
What did you think of The King’s Affection season 1, episode 8? Comment below.
