The Harem's Ghostly Commotion (3)
By now, she had grown somewhat accustomed even to the leisurely life in the rear palace.
“Priestess! Priestess!”
“Hmm? What is it this time?”
Seoryeong lay sprawled across the pavilion railing as usual, tilting her head at the voice of one of the maids. The girl who had once feared her now eagerly sought her out, chattering away and competing to offer treats.
“Have you heard the rumor?”
“Why are there so many rumors in this damn rear palace? I stopped listening long ago—it was too much of a hassle.”
“Oh my. Priestess, sometimes you speak just like the men in the marketplace.”
Since Seoryeong had originally been a man, she twitched the tip of her dangling tail instead of answering and awkwardly turned her head away once more.
“Anyway, this rumor is truly strange!”
“Yes, yes. Let’s hear it, then.”
She smiled brightly and stroked the chattering maid’s head with her blue-scaled hand.
“They say a ghost has appeared in the rear palace recently!”
“A ghost? Someone who couldn’t sleep probably just mistook a shadow for one.”
“No, they say it’s real!”
“Pfft. I don’t believe in ghosts.”
The maid puffed out both cheeks as Seoryeong laughed as if it were all a joke.
“It exists.”
“Pardon?”
“Ghosts. They really do exist. I saw one myself back in Cheongsin.”
Until then, the woman in black martial robes—Jina—had been standing silently behind Seoryeong. Now she added the words with her usual expressionless face.
“…….”
Seoryeong looked up at Jina with golden eyes that shook as if struck by an earthquake.
“…Really?”
“Is there any reason I would lie to you, Priestess?”
“No, but… why are you so calm about it…?”
A ghost, she said. The kind that lingered after death with only a soul remaining. Why was this woman so utterly serene? Unable to comprehend it, Seoryeong asked with a pale face.
I find it far more surprising that you, a priestess, do not believe in ghosts.
“You encountered them often while you were in Cheongsin, didn’t you?”
“?”
“During your first ritual as priestess, for one.”
“???”
“When you first arrived in Ran. There was one inside the carriage on the way to the imperial palace as well.”
“?????”
It was the first time she had heard any of this. A chill swept across her entire body; Seoryeong hugged herself tightly.
“I thought you were deliberately leaving them alone.”
“T-that’s impossible!”
“Have you forgotten? One of a shrine’s primary duties is exorcism.”
“I have no memory of doing anything like that.”
She gazed at Jina with desperate eyes, praying that everything she had just said was a joke.
“…Hmm.”
Unfortunately, Jina seemed to wonder whether she had spoken out of turn. She broke into a cold sweat, pondering belatedly.
“I-it’s nothing. There are no such things as ghosts, so please rest easy…”
“That only makes me more anxious!”
Seoryeong shot to her feet, her face ashen as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Her chest heaved dramatically.
“Wow…”
The young maid who had been listening quietly to the two women glanced down at her own utterly flat chest for a moment.
“Priestess.”
“What?!”
She called out to the nervously snapping Seoryeong.
“…How can I make mine grow that much?”
“Ugh, it’s not like I wanted them to grow, you know?”
“People who already have them always say that.”
“This…!”
“Ah, it’s already this late. I’d better get back to work!”
With a quick glance at Seoryeong—who was hastily covering her chest with the sleeve of her robe—the maid scampered off with swift steps before her mistress’s anger could erupt.
“Aargh…!”
“You truly possess an enviable figure. You can be confident in it.”
“If it were someone else’s body, maybe. But having this as my own is… ugh… never mind.”
Seoryeong grumbled while watching the maid’s rapidly retreating back, then turned to Jina with a strange look in her eyes.
“Sigh… such is my fate…”
Seeing Jina tilt her head in confusion, she could only let out a sigh heavy with every possible emotion.
A few days later.
“Hmm… As expected, it was never going to be that easy.”
Seoryeong held the wooden tablet that had arrived for her in one blue-scaled hand, shaking it gently as she stroked her chin in thought.
The request to access the archives has been denied by order of His Majesty.
“They said I could move freely about the rear palace, yet they’re so strict about something like this…”
“That’s because we are still outsiders. There’s no way they would easily permit entry to a place like the archives.”
Just as Jina said, after meeting Yelim, Seoryeong had requested access to the archives to resolve the many questions that had arisen. But as expected, the only answer that returned was refusal.
“Besides, look at this.”
Seoryeong pointed to the red seal engraved on the wooden tablet she held by one end, waving it slightly.
“That is…”
“Why would His Majesty’s personal seal be stamped on something like this…?”
“…Indeed, that doesn’t make sense.”
At first she had simply thought the imperial palace used exceptionally fine wooden tablets. But the moment she saw the red three-legged crow emblem—the Emperor’s seal—she found herself harboring an even greater doubt.
“There’s something more to this.”
There was no reason for the Emperor’s seal to be used on a simple denial of archive access. Of course, since she was the Emperor’s favored priestess, it wouldn’t be entirely strange if he handled matters concerning her personally.
“You saw it too, Jina. The person who delivered this tablet.”
“……”
“When he was leaving, I caught a glimpse—the chief eunuch was bowing and scraping before him.”
Seoryeong recalled the man in white who had delivered the tablet directly to her—the one with one clouded eye—and met Jina’s gaze.
“…Priestess.”
“Yes?”
“It would be best to abandon this investigation.”
With her usual blank expression, yet cold sweat beading on her forehead, Jina slowly shook her head.
“It’s not as if I’m trying to uncover some hidden past. Why…”
“You must stop.”
It was nothing new, but Jina had never been particularly skilled at using her head. Naturally, she was also poor at conveying hidden meaning through words or actions.
“This is a warning.”
However, before she had become Seoryeong’s escort, there had been one occasion she witnessed something similar.
Cheongsin was a nation where sorcery had advanced greatly. That also meant there existed a great deal of knowledge that had to be strictly guarded.
“It is a warning to quietly withdraw your hand and never show interest again.”
Once, the high priest of Cheongsin had sent a letter to someone in exactly this manner. She had heard that a promising wandering sorcerer had sought instruction in Cheongsin’s arts.
Even though it was a task any shrine member should have been able to handle, the high priest had deliberately written a personal letter bearing his own seal and handed it to Jina.
The contents had likely been a simple, outright refusal—just like the one Seoryeong had received now.
And not long afterward, Jina learned that the sorcerer to whom she had delivered the letter had vanished from the world without a trace.
“Therefore, you must stop.”
Jina’s obsidian eyes met hers with a grave expression.
“…All right. I’m not foolish enough to push forward after hearing all that.”
Seoryeong nodded in understanding, yet her tail flicked irritably, thumping against the floor. She clearly wasn’t pleased.
“Well, now that there’s nothing to do… shall we look into that ghost incident the maid mentioned?”
She suddenly recalled the story one of the maids had told her a few days earlier. Her previously drooping tail shot straight up as she spoke.
“…Hehe.”
“Hey, what? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
Jina was simply relieved that Seoryeong wasn’t the type to willingly step into dangerous situations.
“Still… a ghost, is it?”
She stroked her chin while gazing into Seoryeong’s golden eyes, which sparkled with curiosity.
“Will you truly be all right? You seemed quite frightened last time.”
“Frightened… Ha! Who, me? I’m not a child. There’s no way I’d be scared of something like a ghost.”
At moments like this she resembled a young boy trying to act tough despite his appearance, which made Jina smile despite herself.
“If you say so, I won’t try to stop you.”
Seoryeong’s tail shot upright again at her words. After glancing at it,
“Then could you gather information as you did before?”
“Huh?”
“As you know, I’m the one who captures and disposes of them once they appear. I’m not particularly skilled at finding them.”
If she wanted to see a ghost so badly, she could try locating one herself.
“Of course, since you’re not scared, you’ll be perfectly fine, won’t you?”
Looking at Seoryeong’s lovely face, which had turned deathly pale in an instant, Jina allowed a faint smile to curve her lips.