"Father. Have you by any chance seen the article that came out in the Weekly Silla?"

At Mun-jong Lee's question Tak-hyeon Lee gave no answer but quietly pointed at the reception table.

The weekly Mun-jong Lee spoke of was lying there.

Seeing it, Mun-jong Lee spoke in an angry voice.

"It is because of Sang-jong that Seon-myeong turned out as he did."

"You are saying it is true, then, that Sang-jong fed Seon-myeong the drug?"

"If not, our Seon-myeong could never have done such a thing."

"I would not know. Seon-myeong is your child, is he not?"

"Seon-myeong is my child, but he is your grandson too. Your grandson could never be such a scoundrel."

"And so he became a scoundrel because of Sang-jong?"

Mun-jong Lee did not think Tak-hyeon Lee was likely to believe it easily.

Nor did he think he had to persuade him by any means.

Because to his own mind the story written in the weekly was thoroughly preposterous.

But whether the story was true was not what mattered.

True or not, what mattered was that it should become known as the article had it.

And so, knowing it was not so, Mun-jong Lee did not stop insisting on it.

"Sang-jong was not content with ruining his own child; he ruined mine as well. Why do you suppose Jun-myeong turned out as he did? Just as a child does not drop out of the sky, a child's wrongdoing is the parent's responsibility too. That is why I have quietly accepted people's censure, thinking that Seon-myeong's wrongdoing was my own. But in fact it was not so. It was Sang-jong who ruined Seon-myeong!"

"So you are telling me that Sang-jong's going wrong is my fault?"

"No. That is not—"

"Enough."

Tak-hyeon Lee waved a hand as though he would hear no more.

"I know what you are saying. But I do not believe that story is the truth."

"Father. Even so, if you look at the article—"

"That Sang-jong deceived him with it, calling it a drug to raise his concentration? Ha. A boy who could be…