The East Palace

Gu Cheon and Saeng Gang are forced to investigate the East Palace curse together, combining his ability to destroy spirits with her ability to hear them. Their distrust develops into deep loyalty as they repeatedly protect one another across the living world and the Realm of Gwi. They ultimately leave the palace together after surviving the final confrontation.

Saeng Gang is King Ju Sang's unacknowledged daughter and lives publicly as a court lady rather than a princess. He recruits her for the secret investigation because of her supernatural ability while withholding the truth about her mother and the royal family's crimes. Their relationship changes when Saeng Gang learns her identity and confronts the consequences of his decisions.

Royal Concubine Han is Saeng Gang's mother and attempts to protect her from the succession conspiracy and the dangers surrounding her royal identity. Han's poisoning and the later destruction of her spirit become central sources of Saeng Gang's grief. Learning that her mother acted under coercion allows Saeng Gang to reject the Crown Prince's manipulation.

The Crown Prince is King Ju Sang's son and designated heir. After discovering that the prince murdered his brothers to secure the throne, the king secretly poisons him and disguises the death as suicide. The prince returns as an ak-gwi determined to destroy his father and the royal bloodline.

Saeng Gang and the Crown Prince share King Ju Sang as their father. The Crown Prince exploits Saeng Gang's resentment toward the royal family, possesses her body, and attempts to use her as both a weapon and a source of life force. Saeng Gang ultimately rejects his manipulation and helps Gu Cheon destroy him.

Gu Cheon becomes the principal obstacle to the Crown Prince's effort to destroy the royal bloodline and consume resentful spirits. Their conflict forces Gu Cheon to restore his damaged spirit sight and surrender his soul for a weapon capable of killing the ak-gwi. Gu Cheon ultimately destroys the prince but nearly loses his own humanity in the process.

Choi Suk Bin is King Ju Sang's biological mother and is determined to place and preserve him on the throne. She secretly murders the princes positioned ahead of him in the succession while allowing belief in a curse to conceal the crimes. Her actions make the king an unknowing beneficiary of a bloodstained accession.

Choi Suk Bin initially appears to be a trusted refuge for her granddaughter Saeng Gang. Their bond collapses when Saeng Gang learns that her grandmother directed the old succession murders and arranged Royal Concubine Han's death. Choi Suk Bin then poisons Saeng Gang to prevent the truth from being exposed.

Choi Suk Bin forces Royal Concubine Han to participate in the earlier succession murders when Han has little power to refuse. Han's knowledge later makes her a threat to the conspiracy. Choi Suk Bin ultimately has her poisoned and attempts to erase the remaining evidence of her involvement.

The Queen Dowager questions King Ju Sang's legitimacy because he was born to a lower-ranking concubine and inherited the throne after other princes died. Their distrust becomes open conflict when she accuses him of the earlier poisonings and supports another royal branch. The king eventually removes her from the center of palace authority.

Ik Sang secretly employs Park Su to manipulate the palace curse and weaken King Ju Sang's heirs. Park Su gains royal access and supernatural influence, while Ik Sang expects his son to benefit from the collapsing succession. Their alliance ends when Ik Sang kills Park Su after the shaman becomes a dangerous liability.

The Queen Dowager views the pregnant Favored Court Lady as a threat to her position and frames her for an affair. The woman's lost child and unjust death create the pond spirit whose resentment later targets the palace and the Queen Dowager. Their conflict becomes the false explanation for the larger royal curse.

Gu Cheon's mother dies during the childhood drowning tragedy connected to his supernatural abilities. Gu Cheon believes for years that he caused her death, and the guilt shapes his isolation and fear of losing control. Accepting that supernatural influence affected the incident helps him resist becoming an ak-gwi.

Royal Concubine Han becomes one of King Ju Sang's concubines and gives birth to Saeng Gang. Their connection temporarily protects Saeng Gang's life but does not secure Han's safety within the palace. The king fails to prevent Han from being removed and later killed by those protecting the old succession crimes.

Prince Yeongan is King Ju Sang's youngest and initially last surviving son. The king's desperation to save him leads to Gu Cheon's forced recruitment and the investigation of the East Palace. Yeongan's death after the apparent exorcism proves that the true supernatural threat remains active.

Saeng Gang and Prince Yeongan share King Ju Sang as their father, although her position as a royal daughter is concealed. She participates in the effort to save him from possession and the supposed pond curse. His death becomes personal evidence that their investigation has not found the true killer.

The Crown Prince and Prince Yeongan are brothers within King Ju Sang's immediate succession line. The Crown Prince's ambition and later supernatural vengeance make Yeongan one of the final victims of his attempt to eliminate rival royal blood. Their relationship illustrates how the family's succession violence repeats across generations.

Park Su accepts the Crown Prince as his spiritual deity and receives supernatural power from him. In return, Park Su obstructs Gu Cheon, blinds him, and sabotages the ritual intended to trap the Crown Prince's soul. Their alliance combines the prince's supernatural revenge with Park Su's political and personal ambition.

Ik Sang exploits the deaths of King Ju Sang's sons to advance his own branch of the royal family. He publicly presents Prince Inha as a legitimate alternative while secretly using Park Su to intensify the crisis. The king's survival and the exposure of the conspiracy threaten Ik Sang's political ambitions.

Prince Inha is Ik Sang's son and the heir through whom Ik Sang pursues greater royal power. As King Ju Sang's sons die, Ik Sang promotes Inha into ceremonial and succession duties. Inha benefits from the conspiracy without being established as a willing participant in his father's crimes.

The Queen Dowager elevates Prince Inha when Prince Yeongan can no longer fulfill his royal duties. She supports his advancement as an alternative to King Ju Sang's failing immediate succession line. Her sponsorship gives Ik Sang's branch a visible and potentially legitimate path toward the throne.

Prince Yeongan stands between Ik Sang's family and control of the succession. Ik Sang secretly directs Park Su to draw the supernatural threat toward the prince while publicly participating in the royal response to his illness. Yeongan's death advances the position of Ik Sang's son.

Park Su enters the palace under the appearance of helping resolve the curse. Secretly, he serves Ik Sang's succession scheme, strengthens the Crown Prince's spirit, and obstructs attempts to protect King Ju Sang. His access to the royal household allows political sabotage to appear supernatural.

Park Su repeatedly interferes with Gu Cheon's efforts to stop the curse and uses supernatural attacks to blind or kill him. Gu Cheon seeks to release or destroy dangerous spirits, while Park Su exploits them for political influence and personal power. Their opposing methods make them direct spiritual and physical enemies.

Park Su repeatedly obstructs Saeng Gang's attempt to stop the Crown Prince and protect Gu Cheon. During the final ritual, he severs her tether to the living world and leaves her trapped with the ak-gwi. Saeng Gang becomes one of the clearest victims of his alliance with the Crown Prince.

Kim Sang Seon is King Ju Sang's trusted chief eunuch and carries out confidential royal instructions throughout the investigation. His loyalty gives the king a dependable attendant who can act discreetly when rival factions threaten the operation. He functions as the king's most reliable operational representative.

Lady Jang has served the Queen Dowager for many years and carries out her confidential orders. She protects information about the Favored Court Lady's persecution and assists efforts to silence Gu Cheon. Fear and loyalty keep her tied to the Queen Dowager until the investigators force her to confess.

The Queen Dowager presents Park Su as the shaman capable of protecting the royal family. Park Su is secretly working for Ik Sang and uses the access she gives him to intensify the curse. His deception turns her political sponsorship into a tool against the royal household.

The Queen Dowager forces the Royal Guard to confess falsely to an affair with the Favored Court Lady by threatening his family. His coerced testimony destroys the woman's reputation and helps justify her punishment. The guard carries guilt for the lie even after death.

Saeng Gang investigates the Queen Dowager's role in the Favored Court Lady's persecution and the lies surrounding the palace's earlier deaths. She eventually forces the Queen Dowager to acknowledge her jealousy and concealed actions. Their conflict places Saeng Gang directly against the established royal hierarchy.

The Queen Dowager represents the established legitimate royal line, while Choi Suk Bin is the lower-ranking concubine whose son survives to become king. Their competing interests in status, succession, and bloodline preservation shape the palace conflict that began decades earlier. Each woman's concealed actions contribute to the cycle of royal deaths.

Prince Inha belongs to a collateral branch of the royal family and becomes a possible successor after King Ju Sang's sons die. His elevation creates a politically necessary but unstable connection between the reigning king and Ik Sang's household. Inha's illness further complicates whether the new succession can survive the curse.

Prince Inha's elevation makes him the next royal heir standing against the Crown Prince's supernatural effort to destroy the succession. The Crown Prince's spreading resentment and attacks place Inha in danger even though the two do not share a developed personal bond. Inha functions as another target of the dead prince's obsession with the throne.

Choi Suk Bin is the Crown Prince's paternal grandmother through King Ju Sang. Her earlier murders create the violent succession model that the Crown Prince later repeats when he eliminates his own brothers. The family's hidden history helps explain why the prince sees murder as a legitimate path to the throne.

Choi Suk Bin is Prince Yeongan's paternal grandmother through King Ju Sang. His illness and death threaten the royal line that she committed extensive crimes to establish. His fate demonstrates that the bloodline she protected through murder remains vulnerable to the same cycle of violence.

The palace publicly links the Royal Guard and Favored Court Lady through an alleged affair. The relationship never existed; the guard's confession was coerced and used to justify the court lady's destruction. His ghost later helps expose the accusation as false.

Gu Cheon initially protects the Queen Dowager from spirits connected to the Salt Storehouse. Once he discovers the truth about the Favored Court Lady, the Queen Dowager orders her faction to silence him before he can expose her past. Their temporary cooperation becomes open conflict.

Choi Suk Bin gives Gu Cheon access to materials and protection that help him investigate the Crown Prince's spirit. She appears cooperative while concealing her responsibility for the earlier succession murders and Royal Concubine Han's death. Her assistance is intended to control the investigation rather than reveal the complete truth.

Ji Yul is a trusted palace companion who cares for Saeng Gang during illness and supernatural danger. She alerts Gu Cheon when Saeng Gang behaves strangely or disappears. Their friendship provides Saeng Gang with practical and emotional support inside the palace.

The Queen Dowager occupies a senior dynastic position over Prince Yeongan and becomes involved in efforts to address his possession. She later promotes Prince Inha when Yeongan can no longer fulfill ceremonial responsibilities. His death helps shift her political support toward the collateral branch.

The Monk is the senior spiritual practitioner who recognizes Gu Cheon's ability to enter the Realm of Gwi. When the palace seeks help with the renewed curse, he identifies Gu Cheon as the person capable of confronting it. His recommendation places Gu Cheon inside the royal investigation.

Park Su's secret work for Ik Sang is intended to remove King Ju Sang's heirs and improve Prince Inha's succession prospects. The supplied material does not establish that Inha knows about or approves of the shaman's actions. Their connection is therefore indirect and exists through Ik Sang's conspiracy rather than a confirmed personal alliance.

Lady Jang acts on the Queen Dowager's command to prevent Gu Cheon from revealing the Favored Court Lady's history. Her actions are based on service and fear rather than an independent personal grievance. Gu Cheon survives the attempt when Kim Sang Seon intervenes.

King Ju Sang and the Queen Consort occupy the central royal marriage during the succession crisis. The Queen remains part of the immediate household threatened by the deaths of the princes and the advancement of collateral heirs. The drama provides limited independent development of their emotional relationship.

Choi Suk Bin is King Ju Sang's mother, making the Queen Consort her daughter-in-law within the royal household. Both women belong to the immediate ruling family threatened by the succession crisis. The supplied material does not provide enough direct interaction to define their personal relationship more precisely.

Royal Concubine Yoon belongs to King Ju Sang's inner royal household. Available information confirms her position but does not establish a significant independent emotional bond, political agenda, or connection to the main curse investigation. The relationship is retained as a formal royal-household connection.