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“Hwaseong Fortress has fallen. All routes are blocked.”

- - -

It was in the hour of the dragon the first attack launched. Amidst the roaring winds and freezing waters, legions of ships ghosted their way through the heavy fog, embracing the dangers that should have fought against them. The heavens rewarded this courage. Such divine blessings and grace resulted from this favoritism. However, these ships did not follow a man’s cause.

This was for a dragon.

The soldiers in Ganghwa Fortress would have thought otherwise. Some claimed a demon had come for them in the early morning. Others deemed it a grim reaper. Soldiers only realized the ships were Nihon’s when it was too late. Bombs from every direction overwhelmed Ganghwa. There was little time to react as Goryeo soldiers scrambled to set forth on their ships. The fighting in the waters yielded little success for Goryeo, turning the waters into killing fields. Ships maneuvered in the rough choppy waters. Cannons flew across the waters. Soldiers jumped onto enemy ships at their first chance, slicing through the masses.

The same was said for Gyeongju, down in southeast Goryeo. Soldiers from Nihon besieged the Namsan Fortress in the same hour of the dragon. Not too long afterward, Hanyang’s Hwaseong Fortress met the same fate from foreign invaders. Each location met the same demise: overwhelmed and nearly annihilated. Yet all three soon learnt after their defeat that it was no ordinary invasion. These soldiers kept their focus on the fortresses and military supplies but never laid a hand on the people. Instead, the enemy seemed to embrace the villagers, offering them weapons and food. While that alone confused them, they soon realized these attacks were not in the name of Nihon.

They acted in the name of Wang Jo, the Prince of the People.

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Name: Wang Jo, but born as Baek Gaon and known to many as Seol Seungjo.

Position: Chief Commander and Overseer of the Royal Guards

Age: 41

Birthplace: Unknown. Goryeo

Current Residence: Kaesong, Goryeo

Nicknames: The Prince of the People, The Reaper, Voice of the Voiceless, The Lost Prince, He Who Rises from the Ashes, Prince of 1000 Ships

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Shared: ambitious, self-assured, intelligent, logical yet unpredictable.

Public: empathetic, hardworking, loyal, and fair

Court Perception: Many would find him to be hubristic to an extent, but it would be difficult to call him out on that these days. His loyalty will always be to the king and the people, not the princes and court jesters officials.

Behind Closed Doors: cunning, supercilious, cruel, self-serving, manipulative, machiavellian, and vindictive

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Keeping this short because of the limited time we are dealing with. Here are my general rules:

1. If you would like to plot, message via pm or discord.

2. I am not Wang Jo/Seungjo, so please keep ic and ooc separated.

3. Wang Jo is a difficult character and will most likely offend many here. If you have any issues with him, tell me and I will work with you on these matters.

4. If you do not have any ideas when approaching me, please tell me what your preferences and limits/avoidances are.

5. I am a slower responder but will try my best here.

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He was a man of many identities, monikers, and titles over the years. Born on the first week of the year and on a bone-chilling winter night as Baek Gaon, he was the son of Baek Dohwa, a singer of immense talent and beauty. Yet her greatest gift was her kindness, which also served as her curse when combined with her observant nature. She understood the gifts life offered, but also the sufferings that leveled with such joy. It was this nature that explained the humble origins of her young son and the restart of her once illustrious glamorous life as one of Goryeo’s greatest singers. Dohwa wanted to protect her son from dangers that few could understand.

It was a year later she faced her nightmare, endangering her son, her world. The boy’s father found them after months of searching, finally learning about the birth of his eldest son. While Dohwa had spent many nights sobbing over her lost love, she refused to reunite with her child’s father. There was no such thing as a happy family or a loving home with him. Her lover glanced at the same moon every night and bled the same as any other ordinary man, but that he was not. Her heart knew him as her true love, Wang Ong, but to the world, he was King Sukjong of Goryeo.

A life with him would never be one of peace. Instead, it was a game that only rewarded pain. Wang Ong would never be hers. Like many men of noble ranking, he was one to be shared amongst many women. She could never be his formal wife because of her poor status. Even then, she would need to share him with a nation that would prioritize her and her son over him, and she could never bring herself to request that he let go of such responsibilities. That was if she was lucky, knowing very well that a man of his position could easily throw their family to the side for one of many women that would come his way. The worst of all was death, not of her life, but of her son, who would have to maneuver his way through the court’s politics.

While unsure of what was worse, losing Ong’s love or her life, she was certain of one thing. She could not let her son live a life of such danger, needing to look over his shoulder every second and being an easy target because of her poor background and resources. Dohwa did not want to play the games and deal with the risks that came by being part of the King’s harem. In another quiet life where it was her, Ong, and their young son alone in their world; she would have run back to her lover’s arms, but in this one she could not.

Despite her wanting to cling to her lover and shut him in her shabby home, she ordered in a shaky voice for him to leave. Wang Ong didn’t leave empty-handed. The first gift was a mysterious scroll nestled in a beautiful lacquered box. The second was the name, Wang Jo, meaning “dynasty.” It was a name befitting the king’s true eldest son, a name that the king had commanded.

The little boy would continue this chapter of his life as Baek Seungjo, meaning victory and beginning. He was Dohwa’s answer to her pain of lost love, the start of a new chapter. Although they spent years of happiness together, the two never settled at one home after that eventful encounter with Sukjong, as they constantly moved because of Dohwa’s work. However, she always wanted to remain on the run, never wanting the King to find her again.

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Relationship: Father

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Relationship: Mother

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Relationship: First Concubine. First love. Partner in Crime

Age: 43

Birthplace: Donggyeong, Goryeo

Their relationship was a dangerous game, one where love and manipulation intertwined into something both intoxicating and toxic. Taeri, with her fierce independence and cunning, knew exactly how to use Seungjo’s deep-seated abandonment issues to her advantage. She fed his desire for affection. She was his support while helping him and his ambition. They believe that together they could conquer the world. But beyond the manipulation, there was something real between them, an undeniable connection. His love for her wasn’t just obsession. It was genuine. She was the one who saw the broken parts of him, the parts no one else could understand, and she loved him for them. They were each other’s partners in crime, a team bound by their shared hunger for power, for greatness. Yet, as Seungjo rose, the weight of his new ambitions forced him to cast her aside when she betrayed him by harming his son. Despite leaving her behind, he couldn’t escape the magnetic pull she had on him. Despite his ruthless pursuit of power, Songyi haunted him and remained in his heart. Their bond was a twisted love story. It was a love so dangerous that sank in every fiber of him, always drawing him back to her, even as he tried to move on.

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Relationship: Wife

Age: 33

Birthplace: Heian-kyo, Nihon

Marriage was not a pact that came from love or affection, there was always a tradeoff or expectation of sorts, especially from those of higher class levels. One could have said this about Seungjo and Haruna, but their relationship was colder than a transactional partnership. He never relied on her like a true wife or partner, finding that in Songyi. Rather, he needed Haruna for her family’s connections and resources, an unspoken agreement between them. Haruna could not fault him for that, knowing her family wanted him for his connection to the Goryeo throne, spreading their influence far and wide. Yet it seemed like she failed at her main responsibility of providing an heir for the Wang and Fujiwara families, further cementing why she could never be a true partner to Wang Jo or a worthy opponent to Ban Songyi. When she gave birth to Gaon and Songyi disappeared soon after, everything should have fallen into place. However, the distance between them continues to exist.

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Relationship: Second Concubine

Age: 30

Birthplace: Namgyeong (Southern Capital), Goryeo

Beautiful and beloved, these words followed Lady Min ever since she could remember, repeated like a mantra every day. Yet, she never felt the meaning of such words the moment she entered the Seol household as Seungjo's newest concubine. Junghwa understood her place. She was simply a means to strengthen and sweeten a deal, an alliance between her father and Chief Commander Seol. Unlike Seungjo's partner in crime and first love, Songyi, and his primary wife, Haruna, Junghwa was simply there. Largely ignored by Seungjo, she was sprinkled with attention on few occasions or whenever something involved their young son, Hanwool. Everything changed when she found herself the focus of his attention after Songyi's sudden departure. Rather than realizing Junghwa's importance to him, Seungjo sought her as a means to replace Songyi. Behind closed doors, he forced Junghwa to be his Songyi, despite the two women's differences.

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When Seungjo was four or five, he remembered his mother announcing that he would receive a father who would claim him. The missing puzzle piece for Seungjo and his mother that he dreamt of. At first, the man appeared to be kind, but there was something that unsettled the boy. For his mother’s sake, he said nothing. Although she always wore a warm smile, his mother expressed relief for the first time.

Seungjo remembered their arrival at his new father’s home. Because of Dohwa’s status as a concubine, she could not enjoy the ceremonies and extravagance blessed upon such formal wives. What the three did was enjoy was a feast in his mother’s quarters, one grander than the ones he had seen at the noblemen’s homes his mother performed at. Sticky rice whiter than snow continuously replenished his bowl. Various cuts of meat were served. He ate a meal that made him drowsy sooner than expected. However, the memory of his mother’s lullabies and caresses as he drifted off comforted him.

The memory would be his last fond one for years to come, as it was the final night spent with his mother.

He woke up days later, groggy, stuck in a small forest village with an older woman who served as his governess. The young Baek Seungjo faced expulsion from his family and Dohwa, a stark contrast to the life pledged to him and his mother. Finally, her husband could have the songstress all to himself. Gone was the grandeur and security promised to Baek Seungjo. Now he was stuck in a shabby home, barely getting by with the meager allowance sent. School was nearly a luxury. Warm nights and full bellies were few and far in between. The governess did the best she could to raise him, feeling sorry for the child abandoned at such a young age. However, this would not last long too, as an illness took her two years later.

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Youngjo (11)

First son.

Suho (8)

Second son.

Mireu (3)

Fourth son.

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Mari (6)

First daughter

Nara (3)

Second daughter

Gaon/Koryu (2)

Fifth son

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Hanwool (4)

Third son

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Seungjo was alone in this world. The money stopped coming in along with the rare letters from his mother. Dohwa, despite being deceived into this relationship, pleaded with her son not to forgive her for failing him as a mother and breaking her promise. Finally, forced out of his shabby home, he only had a few clothes, his mother’s golden dragon hairpin, and the mysterious scroll that she always held onto years before. Gone was the fine box that once housed the scroll, selling it for a week’s worth of food. The hairpin was something he could never give up, sometimes swearing he could catch a hint of her perfume.

Limited in his reading, but spurned by his curiosity, he opened the scroll.

It was then he learned he was not Baek Seungjo. He was Wang Jo, the rightful heir to the throne and the eldest of King Sukjong’s children. Not only was he wanted, but he had the ability to change the world. When the time came, he could choose to accept the crown.

Even vindicated, knowing he was bound for greatness, Seungjo bounced in between from various noblemen’s homes working as an attendant for the young sons of the lords there. He was young, yet shrewd; his path led to the palace. Still he faced constant abuse from those young noblemen and their fathers, always finding himself in trouble and the target of their hands and whipping sticks. Yet, he sought solace in the swordsmanship training he participated in, originally starting as a target for the little lords. With careful observation, he learnt the practice itself and soon became a valuable sparring partner. However, he gravitated toward his lords’ classes, quietly listening outside underneath the windows of the local school whenever he could.

Many of the instructors there often beat Seungjo whenever they caught him at the school, but it was the school’s head instructor, Seol Myungjun, who changed the boy’s life. Realizing the boy’s potential, who seemed to excel over many of his students with refined training and resources, the man offered to give the boy free housing, education, and combat training. Without Lord Seol's high and respected standing, Seungjo’s then-owner would have rejected that offer.

Nothing comes for free, a harsh lesson often taught. While grateful for Teacher Seol's belief in him, Seungjo continued to be a target of his fellow peers. He was an easy target for them. He was always a step beneath them. He came to classes with used uniforms. There would always be a tint to his white fabrics, even with the hours he spent working at various odd jobs to afford such basics. His classmates taunted him ruthlessly, telling him that he was a leech who would never amount to anything, that he had no reason to dream. There would be nothing for him to do with such an education. Inspired, Seungjo prioritized his studies to excel, achieving the impossible for a boy of his class.

His achievements only spurred his enemies, who resorted to beating him in their combat classes. However, they always had to act as a group in those moments, afraid of the scrappy boy’s grit and skill with his fists alone. It was a simple task for him to fight them one on one. A weapon only asked for something far worse. Despite the treatment from his classmates, Teacher Seol rarely stepped in. Seungjo could not be coddled. He had to learn to man up on his own, a lesson he could only learn himself.

Amid this, Seungjo had to clench his teeth and just smile. While not a pushover, he soon became known to many in the village as hardworking and kind-hearted, becoming a popular figure amongst the people. It was an image that he would carry into his adult life. They were unaware the friendly teen possessed cunning methods. Other classmates would find their work sabotaged, items go missing, and one case; one student’s home burnt down. Ironically, it was that student’s wing. Somehow, no one could connect it to the poor and taunted Seungjo.

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He had also found comfort in an older woman, Moon Taeri. Initially, she viewed him as a persistent admirer; however, her sympathy ultimately lay with him. She would save him extra bowls of soup from the restaurant she worked at, knowing how he juggled between work and school. Seeing his determination, she also knew that there was something about him.

Finally, she had given her heart to Seungjo, shortly after his 19th birthday. Almost finished with school, he seemed to have nowhere to go afterward. He had no family, resources, or status to help him rise. He excelled compared to those noblemen who desired her. Even with his inferior status, he was a force to be reckoned with. He captivated her. Was it his potential, or his unique, devoted obsession with her?

Moon Taeri was her lover’s kindred spirit. She fell from high graces, her family once noble only to be forced into servitude. She desired power but lacked the means. Numerous suitors proposed marriage, yet she refused. Lust, a truly weak sensation that could only last for so long, fueled those men. They were not like her Seungjo.

While she loved him from a time when he was weak, Taeri was not completely pure of heart. She twisted Seungjo to her ways, taking advantage of his love for his mother. This enabled her to challenge him relentlessly, a feat few would replicate. She cared for him, and attempted to heal him of his abandonment. Her claws would only sink deeper into her lover when he revealed the truth of his origins and his rightful place on Goryeo’s throne. From that moment, she vowed to support him at all costs and rise to power with him, her destined place.

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Two years had passed since he finished his schooling, but he could never seem to pass the state examinations, despite being the best student in his school. Compared to some of the poorer fairing students, they obtained high-ranking positions in the king’s court. Deep down inside, Seungjo suspected he could not pass the gwageo because he lacked the connections and prestige that his classmates had.

However, whenever asked, Seungjo said nineteen was a blessed year.

Following the start of his relationship with Taeri, he finally reunited with his father. Touring the country, wanting to see his nation’s problems and highlights, he stopped by the small forest village to visit Teacher Seol, a former advisor in his court. Seungjo and Sukjong will always remember this visit.

The young man who resembled his Dohwa fascinated Sukjong. He had her eyes and smile, but they had a well-concealed sadness to them, unlike Dohwa’s warm features. His drawl attracted many, similar to how her sweet voice did. It was the man’s intelligence and astuteness that reminded Wang Ong of the many debates he spent with Dohwa. What confused him was the man’s name, only known as Seungjo, fueling the fantasy he had of his eldest son. Yet, he remembered his conversation shortly before Dohwa’s death. She told him he would never find their Wang Jo. However, Sukjong could only dream. Regardless of humble origins, the king saw the boy’s potential transcended his village. Before leaving the school, he knew he could not offer the boy a position in his court without angering any of his officials.

He did offer a piece of advice: to screw the elites, join the military.

Realizing his new strategy to power, he charged forth with this new path. From that day on, he was no longer Baek Seungjo, he was Seol Seungjo. It was Lord Seol and Sukjong who would connect Seungjo with the right mentors across Goryeo’s military. Taking Moon Taeri’s hand with his up to Kaesong, he rechristened her as Ban Songyi, the symbol of his happiness. They vowed to only look forward.

Seungjo was the Reaper in the battlefield. His every step forward unleashed a dark force as he slashed through his enemies with callousness. He was a brave leader, foremost in dangerous battles and missions. His courageousness was not one of foolishness, he was a strategist. Keen was one way to describe him. He wanted to protect his loyal troops, but would sacrifice them if the time came. He did all in the name of King Sukjong, the man who gave him his second chance, and Goryeo’s people, the sick and unforsaken, those who had no one to turn to. His many wins and personality had him rise through the ranks but also gained further attention from Sukjong.

To some extent, it surprised Seungjo that the palace was not too different from the village. His peers and superiors, repulsed by his confident ambition despite his humble background, treated him with disdain. Seungjo did not allow himself to be a pushover, armed with a well-practiced smile and a knife behind his back, ready to strike at any minute. He allowed his work to speak for himself and against his critics, which the king noted while keeping a close eye on the latest recruit. Seungjo was a man of merit, whose achievements allowed him to keep a close relationship with the king. The king’s interest stemmed from more than a mere resemblance to Dohwa. Oftentimes, Sukjong asked for Seungjo’s insight, knowing that it would be different from many in his court. The young general would be willing to call out the wrongs amongst the noblemen, whose tight circle allowed corruption and incompetence to continue. Apart from his wisdom, Seungjo understood the working class’s plights and resonated with them, which made him popular with the people. While a nightmare for his enemies, many would call him the Voice of the Voiceless and the People’s Hero.

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Seungjo’s fierce loyalty to the king was known, yet its depth remained a mystery to some. What they did not know was Seungjo’s constant rejections of the King’s offer of joining the Royal Guards. While a prestigious position, only reserved for Goryeo’s most elite soldiers, Seungjo felt it did not serve his purpose or push forward his plans or destiny of taking over the throne. This changed five years ago.

Covered in blood, lost in plumes of thick black smoke, Seungjo scrambled to find Sukjong on the battlefield. Seungjo panicked when he got separated from an explosion, unlike any battle he had experienced before. He did not care who he had to slay in his way, coating his sword in thick layers of blood as he hollered for the king. He had to find his father.

The world went dark.

Days had passed. Waking up, he found himself back at home base. Songyi was by his side, humming lullabies as she held his hand, but Sukjong visited his tent later that evening for one last attempt to sway the young general to a position in the Royal Guard. Seungjo’s potential position ensured safety. He remained defiant, rejecting the king.

Fate was tricky, working in ways never intended. A few nights later, late in the evening, Seungjo was in the king’s tent, discussing potential strategies. They were not alone. An assassin ambushed the tent, aiming for the king. The killer never expected Seungjo’s appearance, leading to a fight like no other. Protection kicked into the general once again. He had to save his father. Swords clashing and slashes made, it was a breathless fight that showcased the men’s form and craft, ending in Seungjo cutting off his rival's head and sending it back to the enemy's camp. Realizing that the king would need protection outside of the battlefield, he finally accepted the long-awaited offer, not too long after becoming the Chief Commander and Overseer of the Royal Guards.

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By his side was Ban Songyi, carefully crafting her beloved’s rise as an advocate for the people. Many were enchanted by this rags-to-riches story, one who served the country and its people with heart and dedication. While not serving the king, Taeri and Seungjo ran a soup kitchen and shelter, which further cemented their image along with the donations. To Songyi, giving a little was nothing if it meant the kingdom at the end. Seungjo, on the other hand, was difficult to truly read. To the people, he was a kind hearted protector. He did empathize with them. Yet, little did they know was his twisted manipulative nature, one that acted with reason and logic.

They did not know of Seungjo’s smile. His public presentation felt polished, yet strangely distant, a detail few noticed. He had two true smiles - the first was a warm one only shared with his children and Songyi. Second was perhaps the most genuine of them all, demented and twisted, unsettling to those that have seen it. One that was shown in his natural environment, one of deceit and cruelty. Seungjo would argue at times was he truly cruel? After all the ends justified the means, even if it meant him being the judge and executioner.

From his popularity, success, and close relationship with the king, Seungjo rose in rank. Initially offered to be the king’s royal guard, it was a prestigious role he turned down. As he told Sukjong, he needed a position that would allow him to directly serve the people. Despite his insistence for Seungjo's new position, it was these words that eased the king, believing that he finally had someone that did not see him as a stepping stone, one that had purer intentions than most in his court. It was with that, he made Seungjo his general and Chief Commander down the road, one that allowed the official to serve both king and citizens equally.

Despite her own popularity as being the Chief Commander's woman and the mother of his two sons, Songyi was never fully content with Seungjo. Regardless of the time they spent together and her possessing his heart, she would never become his official wife or the lady of the house. Such a title was given to Fujiwara Haruna, the youngest daughter of the chief regent in Heian Japan. Songyi found some comfort in knowing that the marriage between the two was that of business, Seungjo relying on Haruna for her family’s power and resources. This family vowed to help Seungjo take the throne when the time came.

What initially brought the unofficial lady of the Seol household relief was Haruna’s inability to produce sons. It was something that Songyi had no problem rubbing into Haruna’s face, even naming her youngest son, Mireu, meaning dragon, to prove the greatness of her sons. However, the women remained unaware of Seungjo’s schemes. He paid shamans, priests, and physicians to ensure that they gave his wife every method and information possible that would only produce daughters. In his mind, he believed that his throne was only deserving of sons with Songyi.

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That all changed in 1103 when Haruna birthed a son, Seol Gaon, the center of the world. In the mother’s language, he was to be called Fujiwara Koryu, an imperial dragon. Koryu was Haruna’s dragon, one greater than the sons of two lowly nouveau riche noblemen. Blessed with the grandson and heir they had planned for, the Fujiwara clan pressured Seungjo to take over his rightful throne and to make Gaon his heir.

Threatened by the child’s birth and her years catching up to her, Songyi was desperate. This birth would ruin all her planning and efforts. Despite the risks, she poisoned the baby gradually. A young handmaiden’s discovery foiled her plan. Unsure of whom to trust, she reported it to Seungjo, but it was an act that went in vain. Angered by the harm done to his youngest son, he imprisoned Songyi in a place that no one knows until this day, many believing that she moved to the seaside as she needed a break from Gaesong. Soon followed was the mysterious death of the young handmaiden and the physician that determined the poison used on Gaon. No one could explain the sudden deaths and disappearances in the household, even Lady Fujiwara, who was more focused on her cherished son’s constant illnesses.

The succession was a touchy subject for many. Seungjo sought his throne, intending to right past wrongs. He had disdain for Sukjong’s sons, finding them unworthy of the throne. The pampered sons of Sukjong never suffered. Even their war efforts were dismissive. After all, it was only the bare minimum for them to fight and protect their father and kingdom.

Contrary to his beliefs, Seungjo was hesitant to take the throne just yet. While angered that he was separated from his throne, father, and mother; the Chief Commander held his two parents up to a pedestal. He could not disappoint them. Seungjo was unsure if he could take over his father’s throne while the man was still alive, but alas pressure finally came down onto the longing son.

Although planned for years, it gained speed in the last year thanks to the Fujiwara family’s push. Now, Wang Jo, without Songyi by his side, fueled by anger and vengeance, will need to take the difficult step of reclaiming what is rightfully his with the help of outside forces from the palace. Will Goryeo rise from his ashes or will he burn it down to the ground if it cannot be his?