Hwang Se Ryeon

## Hwang Se Ryeon(황세련)

### Status

Deceased

**Hwang Se Ryeon** was the daughter of Hwang Se Hyung.

## Appearance

Se Ryeon had long brown hair that reached her feet tied in a big red ribbon. She also had small creases under her large onyx eyes. As the daughter of the Left State Councilor, Se Ryeon dresses in a brightly-colored hanbok.

## Personality

Se Ryeon appeared to be formal and reserved, speaking only when it was necessary. She also approached Dan Ah in her garden in a friendly manner, even commending the latter for her concern for the people of Ga Guk. Quite noticeably, she used to hum gleefully while working.

Beneath this rather gentle façade, however, Se Ryeon had a twisted and cunning intelligence that used to get what she desired. Along the way, she was willing to resort to any means possible to achieve her plans, be it attempted murder, treason, or framing other people. Se Ryeon also had hints of violent bouts when annoyed or things did not go according to her plan, such as glaring at her adversaries or kicking a teacup all while keeping a blank expression. On the other hand, when events unfolded according to her favor, she had the tendency to smile or even laugh diabolically to the point that her own father became scared of her.

In the case of being a bridal candidate, she was able to flush out her bridal competitors without having herself initially incriminated — she had her maid poison Hyun Bin's baby prince that led to the king's revocation of his choice to marry her, and she planted poisonous herbs at Yoo Dan Ah's garden to point the evidence towards her and indict her in the process. Se Ryeon was also keen to details, ordering her father to silence her maid permanently to dispose any witnesses who might turn against her.

## Plot

### Bridal Selection Arc

Se Ryeon and Yoo Dan Ah introduce themselves to Queen Mother Yoon Yeon Lee. As the latter welcomes the two to the palace and compliment their beauty, the head servant interrupts their meeting to hand a royal decree issued by King Jin Won: he has chosen Hyun Bin to be the third bridal candidate.

The queen mother tries to hide her anger with her son's decision, though she is left with no choice but to acknowledge and welcome Hyun Bin. The latter is then introduced to Se Ryeon and Dan Ah. That night, Se Ryeon attends the evening banquet at the palace.

The next day, Se Ryeon sees Dan Ah shortly after King Jin Won personally visited her, becoming apparently suspicious.

Later, Se Ryeon arrives at a gathering with Hyun Bin and Dan Ah. Her maidservant serves them valuable tea, whose scent Se Ryeon commends. She notices Hyun Bin lower her teacup after smelling the tea's aroma, seemingly suspicious of it. Hyun Bin pulls the tablecloth to prevent Dan Ah from drinking the tea, but due to her leg injury, Nabi instead shields Dan Ah from the spill and acquires a burn on her arm.

Amidst the commotion, Jin Won arrives and spots Nabi's injury. Frustrated, he postpones the gathering and orders them to return to their quarters. As the others leave, Se Ryeon glares at a teacup and kicks it out, seemingly out of anger.

Sometime later, Se Ryeon approaches Dan Ah by the latter's garden and asks what she is doing. The latter shows Se Ryeon her small garden of medicinal herbs, in which Se Ryeon asks if she can join Dan Ah. She then allows her company. Se Ryeon compliments Dan Ah's foresight and compassion toward the people of Ga Guk. Later, Dan Ah is summoned by Hyun Bin to her quarters, leaving Se Ryeon behind to gleefully plant some herbs at Dan Ah's garden.

### Minister Retrieval Arc

The morning after the ex-minister Seo In Seon Woo was retrieved by rebels, Yeon Lee speaks with Se Ryeon in her chambers. After their conversation, Se Ryeon comes out and greets Hyun Bin — who had been refused audience by the Queen Mother — while snickering at her bridal competitor.

### Persecution Arc

Immediately after the king has personally chosen Hyun Bin to be his bride for the royal wedding following the Queen Mother's paralysis, Se Hyung anxiously rushes to Se Ryeon to tell her about the news. Originally, the Queen Mother had promised to choose Se Ryeon as the king's royal bride, only for her to collapse soon after that caused Jin Won to choose his bride himself.

Amidst his panic, Se Hyung reprimands his daughter for apparently having done nothing whatsoever during the bridal selection period to earn the king's favor. Se Ryeon calms her father and merely smirks at him, indicating that she had set a plan after all.

As Dan Ah undergoes torture and interrogation, Se Ryeon laughs and revels at her successful ploy of incriminating her bridal competitor. As a final step before she achieves her ultimate triumph, she orders her father to silence her maid permanently. Se Hyung then anxiously abides by her words.

Se Ryeon cheerily hums in her quarters, who notices her father's troubled expression. She assures him that everything shall be fine as long as he has disposed of the maid witness. Realizing her father has a seemingly odd demeanor, she confirms whether he has truly handled the rest of their plans, to which Se Hyung acquiesces. Suddenly, palace guards storm Se Ryeon's quarters to arrest her and her father.

Tortured for her connection to the murder of the baby prince, Se Ryeon pleads to Jin Won for her frame-up. The king then summons the witness, who turns out to be her maid, alive and well. Se Ryeon glances menacingly at her father, realizing how he had failed to dispose of her. Upon the king's order, the maid confesses that she was ordered to poison the baby prince as instructed by Se Ryeon. The latter insists that the maid is lying despite all the conclusive evidence that point to Se Ryeon's relation to the baby prince's murder, including a land deed given by Se Ryeon to the maid as reward for killing the prince and a pouch inside Se Ryeon's breast pocket that contains the same poison used on the prince.

Further evidence surface as the maid continues to confess Se Ryeon's implication to the crime. Deep within the palace, palace guards find poisons and toxic herbs in unexpected places such as beneath the floorboards, and they rip off the wallpapers of her quarters where they find evil talismans plastered. With all the evidence, Jin Won charges Se Ryeon and her father guilty of high treason and orders for their execution. At that moment, they are drawn and quartered by ox carts, resulting to their deaths.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 53
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 47
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 49
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 67
5. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 45
6. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 46
7. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 52
8. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 58
9. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 60
10. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 61
11. ↑ *Twelve Nights* webtoon, chapter 75