A Frozen Flower

The King of Goryeo is married to a Yuan Dynasty princess, but they have no children. Pressure from the Yuan emperor and royal counselors seeks a crown prince to ensure dynastic continuity. Hong-rim leads the King's guard and is also the King's lover, tying personal and political fates together.

The King assigns Hong-rim a strange commission: to penetrate the Queen and ensure an heir. Both lovers accept the order with reluctance, aware of the risk to their bond. Their relationship begins to transform from duty to something deeper and dangerous.

Hong-rim and the Queen begin a clandestine affair beyond official duty. They meet at midnight in the palace library, where passion grows and loyalties blur. The affair becomes the central risk to the dynasty and to their lives.

The King senses infidelity and orders his junior commander to uncover the truth. Evidence from his officers confirms the affair, threatening to shatter the royal image. The lovers' secret becomes a dangerous liability.

To test their commitment, the King decrees the Queen must continue to bear an heir, but with another subordinate instead of Hong-rim. The Queen and Hong-rim plead for mercy, but the King remains unwavering. Trust fractures as the old bond is broken by political design.

Despair pushes the Queen toward self-destruction; she slashes her wrists, but survives. The act reveals the brutal price of royal schemes. Her resilience foreshadows further tragedies.

To protect the Queen, Hong-rim offers to surrender and take the blame. The King pardons him, telling him to leave the palace and clear his mind, while the lovers cling to a fragile hope. The separation deepens the emotional rift.

The Queen's maid reveals that the Queen has conceived. Hong-rim sneaks to the library for a final meeting, but the King discovers them in flagrante delicto and interrupts their moment. The revelation sets a deadly course for both lovers.

In response to the betrayal, the King castrates Hong-rim and imprisons him. The brutal punishment underlines the political and personal consequences of their relationship. The power of the throne seals the lovers' fate.

The Queen's maid helps Hong-rim's loyal subordinates free him, and they flee the city together. The escape marks a shift from romance to survival against the King’s wrath. They move toward a fragile refuge.

Learning of the escape, the King eliminates the Queen's maid and orders the execution of everyone who knows the royal secret. Only his junior commander is spared. The Queen becomes pregnant, and a ruthless cover-up begins.

The King tortures Hong-rim's subordinates to reveal Hong-rim's whereabouts, and their heads—along with the maid's—are displayed on the palace gates, with the Queen’s necklace used to mislead him. The display deepens the tragedy and isolates the lovers. The Queen's peril grows as her secret persists.

Enraged by the grisly display, Hong-rim heads back toward the city to kill the King. His attempt is thwarted by circumstance and the will of his followers, who urge restraint as the power struggle intensifies. The cycle of vengeance seems inevitable.

Hong-rim infiltrates the palace disguised as a soldier during a victory celebration and fights his way to the King. In a brutal duel, the King fractures Hong-rim's sword and mortally wounds him, but Hong-rim then kills the King with the remaining blade.

The Queen arrives with guards as Hong-rim dies, and the King’s regime tries to erase the truth about the child and their lovers. The junior commander proclaims the King was killed by an assassin, maintaining the cover story. The film closes with a flashback of the King and Hong-rim hunting together and a dream-like montage that echoes the ruler's lost dream.