The Red Sleeve

Seong Deok-im is a court lady who intends to leave the palace on her own terms, not as one more name in a king's household register. Yi San is King Yeongjo's grandson, already being measured for a throne that cost his father everything. He keeps a ledger of what a good king should be and a shorter list of what he is allowed to want. Hong Deok-ro teaches him, dresses the part of the man court ladies invent for their novels, and plans to stand at San's right hand once the crown settles. Deok-im keeps being in the rooms where those plans break. A red cuff on a sleeve is palace work. It is also what you see when someone reaches for a person they were not supposed to keep.