Love Song for Illusion (2024) K Drama Episode 10

Episode 10 of Love Song for Illusion starts with Sajo Hyun and Yeon Wol Hugging and Sajo Hyun crying happy tears, thankful that Yeon Wol is alive. Sajo Hyun blames himself for the deaths of the women he was not able to rescue, saying he is a half-wit king, and then starts screaming into the ocean.

Meanwhile, Eunuch Neung bids a teary goodbye to Nu-ru since she is among the women who did not make out of the fire. He wishes that in their next life, they would meet as birth father and daughter. 

Sajo Hyun and Yeon Wol return to the warehouse, and Jae-yi updates that he took the women they could rescue to a safe place. Yeon Wol wonders what Sajo Hyun will do about Sajo Yoon, and he says that although he would like nothing more than to interrogate and punish him, he will observe him closely, looking for an opportunity to capture him.

Before bidding each other goodbye, Sajo Hyun tells Yeon Wol to take care of herself since his life will be meaningless if he does not have her. Yeon Wol feels the same about him and says she will be at Wind Knife nearby, where Sajo Hyun can call whenever he needs her. Elsewhere, Ak-hee is beyond despair since Gye-ra does not have romantic feelings towards him.

Sajo Hyun decides to walk through the villages on his way back and notices his people’s suffering. He silently vows that he will not let any of them die or suffer anymore. Suddenly, a commotion appears when he sees people standing at a noticeboard chatting about something, and he asks Jin-seo to look.

A young boy comes running, handing out announcements that say that the King, Sajo Hyun, will be the doom of Asatae since an evil spirit possesses him. Elsewhere, some soldiers storm into a dungeon looking for someone, and their leader is furious when he does not find them.

Meanwhile, Sajo Yoong punishes his men, accusing them of being incompetent since they never noticed Sajo Hyun heading to the warehouse with the royal guards. 

The defense minister sends the soldiers to invade the secret dungeons to find evidence in Sajo Yoong’s secret hideout, but he has gotten rid of everything. He also has men in prison ready to force the blame on them and come out of the situation blameless. Sajo Hyun arrives at the torturing grounds and orders the release of the innocent men, insinuating to Sajo Yoong that he knows who was responsible for selling the women to Jinhoi.

However, Sajo Yoong is quick to turn things around and suggest that the late King Sajo Seung was involved in the trafficking, and he will reveal it to the people, which will only fuel the hatred towards him, which is increasing rapidly with the rumours about the possession by the evil spirit. Sajo Hyun takes a drastic stand against Sajo Yoong, and he releases him from all government duties, including torturing the prisoners. 

Elsewhere, Sajo Yoong’s biological father almost loses his hand for gambling without money, but Moo-dal arrives just in time and saves him. Moo-dal also buys him a meal and gives him more money, saying that his son sent him to deliver it. Yoong’s father does not know that Moo-dal has come to investigate Geum-hwa’s hunch, and he easily divulges the deep-hidden secret that he is Yoong’s father. 

Meanwhile, Sajo Hyun takes away Sajo Yoong’s privilege to join the morning assemblies with the ministers and Eunuchs. He agrees to cooperate with the investigation about selling the women since rumours are speculating that his father is responsible for it.

In addition, he informs the ministers that Sajo Yoong has resigned from all government duties, and he tells them that any minister who has secret dealings with him knows the reason why. He also gives the ministers a chance to cooperate with him and a lighter sentence for their treason if they confess and delink from Sajo Yoong.

The ministers bow down to Sajo Hyun, thanking him for his consideration. Sajo Hyun oozes confidence when saving the women and handling the aftermath, which makes Sajo Yoong wonder which one is Sajo Hyun and who is the evil spirit. He immediately interrogates Chung Ta about his confusion. Sajo Yoong orders Chung Ta to summon the evil spirit. 

In the next scene, Sajo Hyun heads to Sajo Yoong’s secret hideout and uses his ability to feel the wind to ask the soldiers to knock down a wall. Inside, they find an empty hall.

Meanwhile, Sajo Yoong meets with Prince Ga-ron and tells him he has been invited to meet with Sajo Hyun the following day. Sajo Yoong tries to stop him, insinuating that they have built trust between them, but Prince Ga-ron says that Sajo Yoong needs to find him Gye-ra, with whom he fell in love at first sight.

Since Gye-ra is closely watching Sajo Yoong, she knows that Prince Ga-ron is looking for him and asks Jae-yi to allow her to do something risky. 

Moo-dal and Geum-hwa discuss the issues about the rumour that an evil spirit possesses Sajo Hyun. It turns out that Moo-dal has known about Ak-hee since Sajo Hyun was a young boy, but he still let his daughter marry him because she wanted to become the most powerful woman in Asatae.

In the discussion, we learn that Geum-hwa and Jin-seo had a relationship before she married Sajo Hyun. Moo-dal reminds her daughter that she has become a mockery in the palace since she cannot win over Sajo Hyun and orders her to have a son or she will become forgotten if something happens to Sajo Hyun. Therefore, she tries to get Jin-so to help her become pregnant, but he refuses to listen. 

Tonight is the day of the full moon, and Chung Ta appears to Ak-hee, asking him to come out so they can lock Sajo Hyun in Bonghamsal forever. However, Ak-hee does not want to come out, especially when he witnesses Sajo Hyun and Yeon Wol express their love for each other and kiss under the full moon. Regardless, Chung Ta, Sajo Yoong, and Ki Chool prepare at the hall of spirits, believing that Ak-hee will appear.

Later that night, Sajo Hyun falls asleep and tries to get Ak-hee to take over so he can rest. When he mentions Yeon Wol, Ak-hee considers locking Sajo Hyun in Bonghamsal and taking over the body. In an unexpected plot twist, Geum-hwa drugs Jin-seo and has sex with her, hoping to get pregnant.

Since Ak-hee does not show up at the hall of spirits that night, Chung Ta tells Sajo Yoong that another way to force Ak-hee out is if Yeon Wol is in danger. 

Sajo Yoong starts to have trouble in his quest to get the throne when he tries to blackmail Moo-dal, not knowing that he knows about his biological father. Moo-dal takes the high road and brings in both Sajo Yoong’s father and mother, and before leaving, he questions if Sajo Yoong qualifies to be called the Grand Prince. Sajo Yoong wants to kill his father, but his mother begs him not to and promises to manage him so he does not cause Sajo Yoong any problems. 

Prince Hwang Ga-ron arrives at Asatae, and on the street, he encounters a man who spits on him, and he later starts to bleed through his nose. Other villagers also begin to cough and bleed, indicating the possibility of an outbreak.

During the meeting with Prince Ga-ron, Sajo Hyun threatens to tell his family about his involvement with Sajo Yoong if he does not help him sign a peace treaty with Jinhoi. Sajo Hyun also brings Yeon Wol to the meeting, thwarting Prince Ga-ron’s ideas towards her.

The meeting went smoothly, and Prince Ga-ron came clean about Sajo Yoong’s involvement in selling the women to Jinhoi. Later, Sajo Hyun arrests Shim and takes him to the interrogation ground, not knowing that Sajo Yoon has a plan against him. Sajo Yoong asks for a chance to explain himself, but he uses the opportunity to let his men invade the torture grounds and try to prove that Sajo Hyun is an evil spirit.

Chung Ta immobilises Sajo Hyun, and Sajo Yoong’s men bring in a woman they think is Yeon Wol. His men shoot her leg, and Ak-hee forces his way out for all around to see and saves the woman. However, the woman tied up with a sack on her face is not Yeon Wol but Hong Goon.

At the end of the episode, Sajo Yoong challenges Ak-hee to a fight while Yeon Wol calls out for Sajo Hyun from a rooftop. 

The Episode Review

Seeing Sajo Hyun gain more confidence and make tough decisions without letting anyone intimidate him is thrilling. Sajo Yoong annoyingly continues to use cheap tricks to get the throne. Why can’t Sajo Hyun start a rumor about Sajo Yoong?

If he lets it slip that Sajo Yoong is not Sajo Seung’s biological son, the people will eat it up, especially the ministers and Sajo Yoong will have to run into hiding. Given that he is not holding anything back and resulting in wicked ideas like selling women to buy alliances and burning them when his plans fail, Sajo Hyun needs to go on the offensive, too.

The episode picked up from the drag of the last few episodes, and it turned out quite thrilling. How will Sajo Yoong prove that Ak-hee has taken over the body? After all, he is still Sajo Hyun and no distinctive features show he is different.

If Ak-hee had handled the situation wisely, Sajo Yoong would have suffered a significant blow in the next episode. Sajo Yoong will easily manipulate the ministers if he does not, and Sajo Hyun might even lose the throne.