Unknown
"Your Highness, you know of the Seol tribe, do you not? I am of the Seol tribe's bloodline."
"The Seol tribe."
Light momentarily returned to the King's murky, bloodshot eyes.
The Seol tribe had originally been a reclusive minority people dwelling in the snowy plains of the north. Reliable information about them was all but nonexistent, and what had made the Seol tribe famous was the Pyeong Empire's conquest. Rumors had spread like wildfire that the Empire had forcibly annexed that supposedly worthless land precisely because of the threatening abilities the Seol tribe possessed. Of course, since exactly what abilities the Seol tribe used was kept strictly secret, speculation alone had run rampant.
Even within the Empire, only the Emperor and a bare handful of people know the truth.
A descendant of a clan whose power was threatening enough for an empire to covet, yet shrouded in mystery. In a situation like this, a perfectly convenient identity to exploit.
It's not as if I can tell them I'm the only daughter of King Yama, who travels to and from Samdocheon as a daily routine, and that's how I can bring back the Queen.
Besides, with the Seol tribe's abilities, reviving someone from such a state was not entirely impossible to begin with.
"My mother, who is of the Seol tribe, told me that if one wields the Seol tribe's abilities well, even someone who has slept this long can be awakened."
"……Is that word true?"
A thread of hope surfaced on the King's face. Seok-ran had told her that after being touched by the Eodukseoni, the King who had lost his mind clung to one obsession alone — waking the Queen. Countless physicians, Daoists, and shamans had come and gone, every one of them had failed, and it had been quite some time since there was no one left to call upon.
So the King would be unable to let go of the hope I was offering.
"The Seol tribe's abilities…… the Seol tribe's abilities……" The King murmured, the fury drained from his face, then asked, "What manner of ability, exactly? Can that power truly cure the Queen?"
"I don't know the details myself. I'm still young, so I can't use the ability properly yet. But my mother knows it well."
It wasn't that Seol Deunghwa was actually needed — but this was the only way to save Ruhwa's mother.
At my answer, the King pressed anxiously. "Who is your mother? Where is she? Is she far away? Send a courier at once and bring her here! The sooner the better!"
Because the wedding had been held yesterday, Seol Deunghwa was staying at the Yeongbingwan within the palace, together with the Pyeong envoys — lodgings for honored guests that one could not occupy without the King's permission. And he asks where she is. He truly knows nothing at all.
Once I've saved the Queen, I'll need to find a way to treat the King as well.
The flower officials of the Western Heaven flower fields would know how. When I had asked Mother what became of the immortals who went mad after being caught up in the Eodukseoni, she'd said the old Flower Inspector of the flower fields cured them.
In any case, that was a matter for later. Right now, the Crown Prince and Ruhwa's mother came first.
"If Your Majesty writes me a royal writ, I will bring my mother here."
At my words, the King immediately summoned the Chief Secretary and had the writ drawn up and handed over.
Well, that moved at breakneck speed. Without even knowing who I am — without properly verifying whether I'm really of the Seol tribe.
Judging by the King's condition, the Crown Prince's wedding hadn't been properly decided through normal channels, either.
He probably just stamped the royal seal on whatever plans his ministers submitted, without knowing what they were.
There was a vast difference between the King approving this wedding knowing what it was, and merely pressing a seal in ignorant compliance.
I should verify it later with the Cheonmyeong-an.
If she used the Cheonmyeong-an now, the King — whose condition was already poor — might react unpredictably.
And besides — two years on, with both the Queen and the King in this state, and the Crown Prince shunned by all because of the Eodukseoni……
Who holds the real power in this country right now?
Would that person wish for this precarious situation to stabilize? Or would they want it to remain unstable? If the Crown Prince were smoothly executed and Prince Waneon became the new Crown Prince, what would become of that person's power?
The mastermind behind the attempt on Ruhwa's life — besides those loyal to the Crown Prince, I'll have to look into this side as well.
Crown Prince Cheon Gyeol-woo's eyes fluttered open. It was broad daylight, bright in every direction.
How long was I asleep?
He hadn't meant to fall asleep, and he couldn't remember when he had. Startled, he pushed himself upright, and the blanket that had covered him slid softly away.
This is the blanket I draped over my wife……
The Crown Prince clasped the blanket in a daze and looked to his side. The spot where his young wife should have been sleeping was empty. My wife is gone.
"……!"
Goosebumps raced down his entire body. Is she dead? Did my wife die — and vanish? While I slept senselessly, did the darkness that crawls out of me kill her? Then where was the body? Had the maids already carried out my wife's corpse? Terror seized him until he could hardly breathe.
Cheon Gyeol-woo threw off the blanket and bolted outside in a frenzy. The eunuch and maids stationed there took one look at the Crown Prince and collapsed to the ground, nearly fainting.
"GYAAAH!"
"KYAAA!"
Reflexively, the Crown Prince raised his sleeve to cover his face, then stopped on the veranda and shouted, "Where is my wife? Where is my consort!"
"H-Her Highness the Consort has gone to pay her morning respects!"
"……She went to pay her respects?"
At that answer, the Crown Prince's heart — which had been pounding in raw panic — settled a little. She wasn't dead. He hadn't killed her. He wiped his face dry and asked again, "Why did you not wake me?"
"Hiiiik — spare my life!"
He hadn't even asked sharply, yet the eunuch prostrated himself and trembled violently. The maid beside him squeezed her eyes shut and answered as if screaming, "H-Her Highness said she would be tired, and instructed us not to wake Your Highness the Crown Prince, and then departed!"
"……I see."
"Th-Then we shall take our leave……"
The eunuch and maids retreated as if fleeing, watching the Crown Prince's face. The prostrate eunuch couldn't even manage to rise and crawled away until another servant helped him up, and the three of them vanished.
The Crown Prince stared blankly as they fled as though they had seen a monster, then returned to the bridal chamber. The blanket that had covered him lay rolled up just inside the door.
Did my wife tuck me in before leaving?
Only now was his mind working properly. He gazed down at the blanket for a long moment, then sank quietly down before it. Morning sunlight pierced the paper doors and fell over the boy.
So it really is morning.
The night he had always feared had ended while he dozed without realizing. His young wife hadn't died, and neither had he. The very situation in which he would have been falsely accused had ceased to exist.
It wasn't a dream.
As he sat dazed in disbelief, he suddenly realized that for the first time in ages, he had slept extraordinarily well. So deeply had he rested that his whole body felt refreshed.
Ever since that day…… I haven't been able to sleep properly.
The Crown Prince's nights, without a single point of light, had always been horrifying. Afraid his darkness might harm someone while he slept, or that if he surrendered to sleep the darkness would swallow even him, haunted by the memory of people who had raved and collapsed inside his own shadow — he was too terrified to fall asleep easily. Fearing the darkness seething around him, he would curl up alone in his room with his eyes forced wide open, and only collapse into sleep when exhaustion reached its limit. Even asleep he stayed taut with tension, and waking always left the back of his neck stiff and aching.
And yet I slept this deeply.
He who leapt awake at the faintest rustle had slept so soundly he hadn't even noticed the person beside him tucking the blanket over him and slipping away. He hadn't even had that recurring nightmare of that day.
Probably — thanks to his wife.
"I'll help you!"
The image of the girl who had grasped his hand with a radiant smile surfaced again.
If my wife stays by my side…… will I be able to sleep peacefully from now on, too?
The Crown Prince gazed down at his own hands for a long moment, then shook his head and sprang to his feet.
No. That is greed.
He knew. The only reason he — a boy turned monster — had not been deposed on the spot was that his royal father had not permitted it. And now even that father had ordered him to die. That was what this marriage meant to the Crown Prince.
If I keep her near me, my wife will be in danger, too.
He could not tie to his side someone he could not even protect. As he had resolved last night, he had to send his wife out of the palace — as soon as possible. Ideally, today.
First, I must summon Eunuch Jang……
He hurried out of the bridal chamber and made for the Eastern Palace.
The moment I emerged from the Junggungjeon, the palanquin carrying me headed for the Yeongbingwan.
Under normal circumstances, the imperial envoys would have manufactured excuse after excuse to keep me from ever meeting Seol Deunghwa.
But in my hand now was the King's royal writ, written in the harshest of terms. With it I would meet Seol Deunghwa and, under the pretext of treating the Queen, stall the Pyeong envoys from carrying her off. I had already worked out a way to pull her out of the Pyeong imperial family while talking with the Maegu earlier.
I only need to persuade the woman herself.
Her own daughter was already dead, and another person had entered Ruhwa's body — would Seol Deunghwa be able to accept that?
How do I explain this properly?
"Your Highness!"
Ansi's sharp voice rang out abruptly. At the same moment, the palanquin I rode lurched and dropped to the ground.
"Ow!"
The impact of the fall had me banging my elbow and forehead. The skin had split a little, and it was bleeding. What on earth is going on?
"Your Highness, do not come out! Assassins!"
Assassins attacking in broad daylight, in the middle of the palace? Their security is a total mess.
I clicked my tongue and waited quietly inside the palanquin. I wasn't particularly worried — after all, this was Ansi, the one who beats down Maegu.
"GRAAAGH!"
"Ughhh……"
Outside, screams and groans rang out one after another amid loud crashes. A short while later, Ansi opened the door.
"Are you well, Your High— KWAK! Your forehead is bleeding! Waaaah, an injury to your precious face — however shall this be borne!"
Ansi fussed frantically, examining my forehead. Over Ansi's shoulder, I glanced outside. Surrounding us on all sides was a bamboo forest — the promenade between the Junggungjeon and the Yeongbingwan, by the look of it. Littering the ground were no fewer than four assassins in black stealth garb, all dead. Every one of them had evidently fallen from a great height — unmistakably Ansi's handiwork.
Ansi is a phoenix. A divine beast that gave the world the very character for "wind" — and so Ansi wields the wind like hands and feet.
"Did you catch them all?"
"Yes, Your Highness. This Ansi dispatched every last wicked human. I shall treat your wounds, so pray step out for a moment."
Helped out of the palanquin by Ansi, I found both bearers dead on the ground, bleeding from arrow wounds.
"The assassins targeted the bearers first?"
"They aimed for the bearers and the palanquin at once, but in concentrating upon Your Highness, they failed to guard that side."
"Even so, if you couldn't block both at the same time……"
I crouched down and examined the arrows lodged in the bearers' bodies closely. Just as I thought — traces of sorcery.
A wicked energy clung to the arrow fletchings. Was this the same mastermind as the one who had fired flesh-seeking shots at Ruhwa the night before the wedding?