Love Song for Illusion (2024) K Drama Episode 9

Episode 9 of Love Song For Illusion starts with Yeon Wol and Sajo Hyun kissing, and she tells him she is leaving. On the way, she meets up with Geum-hwa and asks her to take care of Sajo Hyun while the Queen asks that she never return to the palace.

Meanwhile, Sajo Hyun learns about the kidnappings of women in the villages from Yeon Wol’s letter and asks Neung to look into it. The Eunuch meets up with the women from the amusement troupe, now working as court ladies, and learns they have nowhere to go; hence, they are thankful for providing food and shelter in the palace. Neung thinks the women are sincere and seem unaware of what has happened to the other women. 

Ak-hee summons Sajo Hyun and informs him that Sajo Hyun seems to have caught on to the possibility of the dual personality. He also tells him about his attempt on Yeon Wol’s life, and Sajo Hyun is thankful that Ak-hee was there to save him.

Sajo Hyun suggests sharing the body as they used to without any ill motives, but Ak-hee wants to rest in the abyss and will not be coming out anytime soon. However, at the back of his mind, he still thinks about Chung Ta’s mention of the full moon. Later, during the assembly with the ministers, Sajo Hyun successfully convinced them to implement his plans for tax increment. 

Yeon Wol realises that Sajo Yoong’s men follow him under Sajo Yoong’s orders. He wants them to keep following her and learn everything she does since he intends to use her against Sajo Hyun. Yeon Wol runs into Jae-yi and Ha Rang, who take her to her father’s grave and remind him of King Sajo killing her family ten years ago.

Jae-yi wonders why she refuses to turn her back on his sworn enemy’s son, Sajo Hyun and tells them that Sajo Hyun’s hands are clean. In fact, she survived the massacre thanks to Sajo Hyun, and the memory of the murders is a traumatic scar for her as well as for Sajo Hyun. Regardless, Jae-yi is unwilling to let go, and since Yeon Wol no longer wants revenge, he chooses to serve her, and Yeon Wol no longer lets him go.

However, it seems like a plan to throw Sajo Yoong’s men off since Jae-yi asks to fight with Yeon Wol, and she secretly thanks him for what he is doing for her. Jae-yi then lets her win, and they have to part ways. Sajo Yoong learns about the fight between Yeon Wol and Jae-yi and that she cut her tie with the Wind Knife and set up a tent in front of her father’s grave, seemingly intending to mourn for him. Sajo Yoong orders his men to keep following her and asks for an update about a ship departing for Jinhoi. 

We learn that the palace women, as well as the women kidnapped, are sent to Jinhoi through a port in enemy territory. Jae-yi told Yeon Wol about it before they seemingly cut ties, and Ha Rang sent a letter to Sajo Hyun. Since it is enemy territory, Sajo Hyun cannot deploy the Royal military, but he asks to meet up with the defense minister to devise a plan.

Sajo Hyun threatens the defense minister to follow his orders henceforth and swear his allegiance or have his whole household wiped out. They devised a plan to deploy the royal palace guards to rescue the women in Jinhoi. The head minister tries to blackmail Sajo Hyun, but he uses his power over him as an emperor, ordering him to follow his decree. 

Meanwhile, Sajo Yoong asks Chung Ta to make Sajo Hyun disappear forever, and Ak-hee takes over his place. When Chung Ta refuses to do it willingly, he uses a talisman from Chung Ta’s rival shaman to suppress her powers. At the same time, Sajo Hyun voluntarily falls asleep and forcibly lets Ak-hee out, but Ak-hee is still sad about Gye-ra, so he rejects the summon, goes back to sleep, and when Sajo Hyun wakes up, he is still him, which makes him confused about Ak-hee’s motives. Consort Cheong looks for Sajo Yoong’s father elsewhere, and Queen Geum-hwa leans about it from Ri-sa.  

The women from the amusement troupe get the stomach flu on the day they depart for Jinhoi, and Sajo Yoong orders his men to kidnap any two ladies from among the court ladies to replace them. The ladies the men take include Hong Goon and  Nu Ru, who recently bonded with Eunuch Neung.

Fortunately, another court lady witnesses the kidnap, and Neung learns about it on his way to send some treats to Nu Ru. He informs Sajo Hyun, who leads the palace guards to their rescue. At the same time, Wind Knife is en route to the rescue while Yeon Wol manages to fool Sajo Yoong’s men and leaves the tent through a hole. 

At this time, Sajo Yoong is meeting with Jinhoi’s fourth Prince and wants him to pretend to attach Asatae to advance Sajo Yoong’s plan to rally people behind him and take the throne. Meanwhile, Wind Knife and the palace guards invade the warehouse, and there is a fight between them and Sajo Yoong’s men guarding the kidnapped women. Sajo Yoong learned about the invasion at the warehouse and hurried to the location.

When he sees Sajo Hyun among the soldiers, he orders the men to burn down the warehouse with him. Fire arrows start to rain on the warehouse, making it difficult to rescue the women. Suddenly, Yeon Wol arrives after threatening the fourth Prince of Jinhoi to order the release of the women. She runs into a building on fire to help the women trapped inside while Jin-seo tries to hold back Sajo Hyun from following her into the almost collapsing building. 

The building completely catches fire while Ak-hee and Sajo Hyun watch from the outside. Ak-hee attempts to take over the body forcefully, but something like a barrier stops him. Sajo Hyun breaks down, wailing in front of the building as he remembers the first time he saw young Yeon Wol during the massacre.

The fire claims the lives of many of the women, including Nu Ru. Sajo Hyun thinks that Yeon Wol also died in the fire, and he blames himself, saying he is a halfwit who cannot even protect his woman. Suddenly, he sees a woman who looks like Yeon Wol sitting by the shore of the sea, and when she sees him, she runs into his embrace.

The Episode Review

The episode is exciting and adds unexpected twists, which the upcoming episodes will hopefully reveal. For instance, what happens during the full moon? Why was Ak-hee unable to force himself out? Why is a barrier in the abyss preventing him from taking over Sajo Hyun’s body forcefully? However, I wonder if the narrative intends to use the dual personality against Sajo Hyun since Sajo Yoong keeps asking Chung Ta how to bring out the evil spirit.

I think he knows that AK-hee is not interested in the throne and can use his obsession with Gye-ra to force him to abdicate. Regardless, it is exciting to finally get a major development in the love story, and it was so sweet to hear Sajo Hyun call Yeon Wol his woman.

Some scenes in this episode are not explained, like how Yeon Wol gets out of the burning building or what happened between her and the fourth Prince of Jinhoi.