The Harem's Ghostly Commotion (2)
By the time the Ryu Hong incident—her attempt to assassinate another concubine candidate with poison inside the rear palace—was beginning to fade from memory.
“Lady Priestess.”
“...Don’t tell me you’re here again?”
Along with the Emperor’s increasingly frequent visits to the rear palace, which had once been rare, Seoryeong had unintentionally—no, through her own karma—become famous because of the Ryu Hong incident.
“Yes. You have an invitation to a tea gathering.”
“Ugh, they just keep coming. Seriously… Tell them I’m not going this time either.”
She was being hounded by invitations to tea parties from the concubine candidates, who seemed to appear almost every single day.
“Well… um…”
Today, however, something felt different. Jina, who would normally nod in understanding and send the waiting attendant away, was hesitating.
“...What is it?”
Only then did Seoryeong release the tail she had been clutching to her chest. She looked at Jina with a puzzled expression.
“This time, it’s a bit difficult to refuse outright.”
“Who is it?”
“...It’s Lady Yerim, the Sukbi among the senior concubine candidates.”
“Eek.”
“She even sent word that she wishes to express her gratitude for the previous incident… Shall we attend this time?”
At Jina’s reply, Seoryeong’s face crumpled. She took an involuntary step backward.
If it’s Concubine Candidate Yerim, she’s the one Ryu Hong tried to kill with poison.
It was checkmate. Refusing now would paint Seoryeong as an arrogant fool who dared ignore even the gratitude of a senior concubine candidate.
“Tea parties and the like are such a hassle…”
“It can’t be helped.”
Jina’s gaze pressed her for an answer, as if asking what she intended to do.
Ugh, a tea party… It’s just women gathering together, laughing and chatting, right?
The last time, when she had met Ryu Hong to provoke her, there had been a clear purpose, so she had endured it. But attending a harem tea party with a body that had once been male… she wasn’t at all confident she could survive it gracefully.
“W-well… If I don’t go…”
She tried to avoid Jina’s steady, expressionless stare—the one that seemed to ask whether she truly meant to refuse.
“Lady Priestess.”
Crack…!
“...I’ll go.”
At the sight of Jina lightly cracking her knuckles while calling her name in that chilly voice, Seoryeong swallowed the rest of her protest and nodded obediently.
“A wise decision.”
After straightening her disheveled clothes, Seoryeong did as she always did: she wrapped her large robe around herself to conceal the scales on her feet and her tail.
“I suppose I don’t need the gat, do I?”
“You’ve already gone out looking like that several times.”
With a hand covered in blue scales, she gave the yellow horn on her head a couple of light taps.
“...Can I at least smoke once before we leave?”
“No.”
She had been hesitantly reaching for the pipe hidden in her robe when Jina snatched it away.
“I’ll return it when you come back.”
“Ugh, that’s too cruel.”
Once she was ready, Seoryeong followed the attendant who had arrived with Jina at her side.
“This is Lady Yerim’s residence.”
“Wow… The senior candidates really are on another level.”
“Lady Priestess. That’s rude.”
“Oops.”
In the center of the rear palace, before a building that radiated an antique elegance alongside a refined garden.
“Then I’ll be back.”
“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”
Because of her status as a foreign guard, Jina could not enter the area where the concubine candidates resided. Leaving her behind, Seoryeong followed Yerim’s personal attendant, who maintained a silent, respectful bow.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Seoryeong. I hope the journey here wasn’t too inconvenient?”
In a reception room that perfectly preserved the building’s antique atmosphere, she came face to face with a beautiful woman who greeted her with a lovely smile.
Whoa.
Her hair, black as polished silk, was neatly gathered and pinned atop her head. Her obsidian eyes curved gently, brimming with warmth and delight.
A touch of vivid red rouge graced her pale skin, visible above clothing that revealed no skin at all. It only enhanced her already small, delicate features.
Yerim. Just as her name suggested, she possessed a radiant, rainbow-like beauty.
“Inconvenient? Not at all. If anything, I’m sorry for the delay in visiting. Besides, I am merely a priestess who happened to catch His Majesty’s eye. Please speak to me comfortably.”
Seoryeong carefully lifted the hands tucked inside her sleeves and offered a polite greeting. As she did, her gaze met Yerim’s bright smile.
“That’s right, Seoryeong. There’s no need for you to be overly formal either. The rank of senior concubine candidate only matters inside the harem. Outside these walls, I’m nothing more than an ordinary woman.”
“...If you put it that way, then I’m nothing but His Majesty’s pet.”
“Oh my, hehe. Such a sharp reply—I’m left speechless.”
Guided by Yerim, Seoryeong sat demurely across from her.
“I originally intended to visit you the moment I heard about the incident, but circumstances delayed me. I’m sorry.”
Yerim first expressed her gratitude for the previous event—the attempted poisoning by Ryu Hong—and for revealing that the woman had dared bring poison into the imperial palace.
“It’s quite all right. I didn’t act with any expectation of thanks, and even if I hadn’t been involved… His Majesty’s subjects would have uncovered the truth soon enough.”
Seoryeong shook her head gently while gazing at the fragrant green tea the attendant had placed before her.
Come to think of it, she’s the only one among the senior candidates who is the daughter of a high official.
Among the three senior concubine candidates currently in the harem, she held the highest family status—the daughter of a minister who could request private audiences with the Emperor.
Whoever that minister was, the ability to meet the Emperor alone essentially meant she stood closest to becoming the next empress.
And someone tried to poison a person like this? That woman?
The more she considered it, the more absurd Ryu Hong’s actions seemed. While Seoryeong offered appropriate responses to Yerim’s story, she inwardly clicked her tongue at how utterly ridiculous the whole affair had been.
“Oh my, my story must have been boring.”
“...How could that possibly be?”
Yerim changed the subject the instant she noticed Seoryeong’s expression. Seeing this, Seoryeong realized that anyone the Emperor visited multiple times could not possibly be ordinary. A cold sweat trickled down her back beneath her snowy white hair.
“Hehe. In any case, what I wanted to say is this. I hope we can meet often like this from now on.”
At the sound of Yerim’s still-gentle voice speaking with that lovely smile.
“It would be an honor. If you summon me, I will gladly come anytime.”
“Does that mean you won’t come unless I call for you?”
“......”
All Seoryeong could do was press her lips tightly together, praying this dreadful conversation would end soon.
“I’m only teasing, Seoryeong. Talking with you feels exactly like speaking with my younger brother back home. Even the way you look like you hate it is the same. Hehe.”
Fortunately, it seemed she had truly come only to express her gratitude. After wrapping up the conversation shortly thereafter.
“Ah, one more thing, Seoryeong?”
“Please speak, Lady Yerim.”
“Please take good care of His Majesty in the future.”
“Pardon?”
As Seoryeong rose to leave, Yerim leaned close and whispered softly into her ear.
“His Majesty may seem mischievous at times, but he is a man of profound depth. Just as much, he carries many burdens alone.”
“......”
“Seeing you in person made me certain. I finally understood why His Majesty summoned you here.”
Though the Emperor called her a pet priestess, he would never treat Seoryeong as a mere animal.
“This is something neither I nor the other senior candidates could accomplish.”
With a smile laced with subtle concern, Yerim placed a finger against Seoryeong’s lips just as she opened her mouth to ask a puzzled question.
“Shh. Even saying this much will earn me a severe scolding from His Majesty. He’ll surely claim I spoke out of turn. Hehe.”
Even as Yerim’s hand gently pushed her out, Seoryeong couldn’t help noticing the way the woman spoke of the Emperor. It wasn’t the manner of a concubine candidate, but of someone addressing an old friend.
What is this?
Seoryeong quietly turned Yerim’s words over in her mind, disturbed by an inexplicable sense of unease.
Saw me in person and became certain? What does that even mean?
Yet with only the information she had been given, reaching any clear answer felt impossible.
“Lady Priestess. Why have you been making that face since you returned? Did you hear something strange?”
“Ah, sorry. I just… have something on my mind.”
Even after returning to her quarters with Jina, who had been waiting outside the building, Seoryeong sat with her chin propped on a hand covered in faint blue scales. She stared at the imperial palace sky where darkness had now settled.
Carries many burdens alone. Please take good care of His Majesty in the future. As if I could somehow ease the Emperor’s worries.
It was truly a strange thing to say. She was merely the child of a humble herbalist, chosen by the dragon to become a priestess… a human from another country.
Saw me in person and became certain…? Does that mean it’s connected to my current appearance…?
Could her present form—this monstrous body she now possessed—be related to the Emperor in some way?
“Ugh…! I don’t get it…!”
In the end, Seoryeong thrashed about on the bed, clutching her throbbing head with both hands as if it might burst from the confusion.
Thud!
In the midst of her flailing, she must have struck the bed’s corner with the horn on her head.
“Ow!”
The impact shot down her horn and rang through her skull. Seoryeong shot upright with a scream.
“...This won’t do.”
Tears stung her eyes from the pain, yet she gazed at the moon rising beyond the window with faintly glowing golden eyes and made up her mind.
“I’ll have to look into it. I won’t be able to sleep like this. Not a chance.”
She would investigate the Emperor’s past—just enough that she wouldn’t get caught and scolded.