The Emperor's Favor
She bore the title of headmistress, but before that, she was one of a mere handful of Transcendents in the entire world—one of the few people I couldn't simply demand a private audience with on a whim.
Which was exactly why I had no choice.
So I'd been searching for another way in, when the reply came.
"Come whenever you like."
Seo Yebin had granted the private meeting without a moment's hesitation. And that was how I came to be standing in front of the headmistress's office.
"...You really are something else."
"...Honestly, I didn't expect it to happen this fast either."
"Haah."
Seo Wooju looked at me and let out a short sigh.
"No, that's not what I meant. And look—I'm the one who's been keeping tabs on you, but I'd rather you didn't go around telling people how often you meet Seo Yebin in private."
"Understood. I'll be careful."
"She is the Emperor. Countless heroes revere her. Even among demons and Villains, there are those who look up to her—not to mention the professors of this very academy."
Seo Wooju fixed his gaze on me.
"I don't mind, but the odds are good that others will. Winning the Emperor's favor means, in other words, that everyone who wants that favor for themselves will come to see you as an enemy."
"Yes, sir."
I nodded with a wry smile. I couldn't help remembering a professor who had glared at me like he wanted me dead when word spread that I'd be meeting Seo Yebin alone.
I wonder how he's doing these days.
That professor would go on to sell his soul to a demon for a chance at the Emperor's favor—and he'd been thrown out on the spot, seared by Seo Yebin's contemptuous gaze, the look one gives a cockroach.
"Enter."
A quiet voice slipped through the door. It swung open with a creak of its own accord, and a pair of violet eyes turned toward me. Her golden hair was gathered over one shoulder, a smile playing at her lips—a smile so radiant it made even me go blank for a heartbeat.
"It's been a while."
"Yes. It has."
With that, Seo Yebin turned her gaze to Seo Wooju.
"Instructor Seo Wooju, you may go."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
Seo Wooju replied as if biting his tongue and hurried out with a stunned look on his face. Probably because it was the first time he'd ever seen Seo Yebin behave that way.
Seo Yebin gave her head a small shake. Eyes brimming with violet mana settled on me, and her gaze swept over my body once before widening slightly.
"You've grown truly strong in such a short time. I know boys your age develop quickly, but still. This would be the martial art bestowed by that master of yours?"
"Yes, that's right."
"It's less a martial art than magic... no, closer to mystery itself. You've obtained something rare. See that you hone it well."
"I will."
"Though it is a shame. You've poured too much into tempering your body. Your heart method—the strength of your core, as it's commonly called—is lower than I expected."
"Nonsense. The Heukshinmu is a power complete and without flaw. Master, that woman only says such things because she wants your attention."
"Or perhaps it is simply the mark of someone deliberating what 'thing' to place there later."
Those eyes, as if they saw through everything, came to rest on my heart.
"What a shame. The higher your rank climbs, the more I can see your body—yet not your interior."
"My interior, you say?"
"There are ways. The bearing of your body, how violently the energy within you 'denies' all things—working backward from that to glimpse what lies beneath."
"..."
I could only stare at her, hollow-faced. Having awakened the Divine Star Eye myself, I knew exactly how difficult that method was.
If I trained nothing but the Divine Star Eye until it killed me, could I manage it in six months or so?
It would burn an absurd stretch of time, so it wasn't a good option either way.
I was still turning it over in my mind when an overwhelming gaze pressed against me. Seo Yebin was staring holes through my body.
"Master, that woman is dangerous."
"A woman who shows that much interest is extremely dangerous! From what I hear, she's practically on the level of the Heavenly Demon from your past life—you have to run before she devours you!"
Heukcheon and Yeongcheon chattered over each other. I ignored them both and met Seo Yebin's eyes.
"Now then. What business brings you to me?"
"There is something I would like to ask of you."
"Ask me anything."
"It appears the Witcheon Brigade is targeting me."
"Is that so?"
Seo Yebin tilted her head for a moment, then stretched out a slender finger.
"I shall inform my Stars."
"Might there be a way for me to summon them myself?"
The corner of Seo Yebin's mouth curled upward. She rose quietly from her seat.
"I see. You want the Witcheon Brigade swept away," she said, in a voice that could make the listener's head swim.
"Come here."
I approached her. Close—very close. Even with barely three steps left between us, those amethyst eyes stayed fixed on me, as if beckoning me nearer still.
I came closer. Her smile deepened a shade.
Seo Yebin drew a wooden case from her coat.
"This is my gift to you."
Inside the case lay a necklace. She glanced at me for a moment, then smiled playfully.
"Press the gem on this necklace, and the Stars will come to you. I shall inform the Third Star and the Fifth Star."
With that, she looked at me again.
"Come a little closer."
"Closer than this?"
"Yes."
One step.
Now we stood near enough to hear each other breathe.
"Hold still."
With those words, she fastened the necklace around my neck. Her fragrance brushed the tip of my nose—a scent that seemed designed to bewitch.
We stayed like that for a brief moment. Once the clasp was set, Seo Yebin looked me over.
"It suits you, as I knew it would."
"...But do you believe what I told you?"
My face felt hot for no reason at all, so I changed the subject.
"I do. You would never speak a falsehood to me. At worst, you can grant me one small favor."
"A favor?"
I tilted my head, wondering what she could possibly want from me.
"Yes. A very small one."
"What would that be?"
I watched her, tense. Her smile crept a little higher at my reaction.
"I would like you to grow your hair out."
"...I'm sorry?"
For a moment, nothing made sense. Grow my hair? Did she mean the hair on my head?
"It has bothered me since the first time I saw you. Your hair looks as though you simply let it do as it pleased—why not take this chance to trim it properly and grow it out?"
"...Yes. I'll do that."
I answered in a daze. Well, if growing out my hair was all it took to borrow her Stars, so be it.
"Heh. Good. Is there anything else you desire?"
"...Not at the moment."
"Come to think of it, you built a workshop recently, didn't you? I'll have it stocked with more equipment."
"...Thank you. I accept gratefully."
"Nothing else you need?"
"No, nothing."
"If there is anything you need, say the word. Anything at all."
"...There isn't."
This was starting to become genuinely overwhelming.
"The Vice-Principal finished crafting an alchemy kit recently. How does that sound?"
"...I want it."
"Then it is yours. Oh, and I discovered an elixir some time ago that does wonders for one's yang energy..."
"...If you give it to me, I will accept it gratefully."
Suddenly, a scene surfaced in my mind. From my past life—the time I'd met my ex-ex-ex-girlfriend's parents, and her mother had kept pushing food on me, dish after dish.
"And..."
"N-no, that's quite enough! I should be going now."
"Very well. You may go."
The feeling that Seo Yebin looked faintly disappointed had to be my imagination.
Seo Yebin watched Lee Seoha go. She settled into her chair, and the warm, radiant smile vanished in an instant, replaced by the expressionless face of the cold Emperor.
The Puppeteer, Seo Yebin. This was the expression that had forged her title. Partly because she wielded puppets known as Stars—but also because she herself showed nothing but a blank, frigid mask, like a doll given form.
"First."
The moment the word left her lips, a figure shrouded in white cloth appeared behind her. Its build suggested a tall, sturdy man. Both arms were elongated—long enough to hang past its knees—and three sword sheaths rode at its waist.
"Command me."
"As you command."
The Star called First bowed its head and vanished, departing to carry out the task it had been given. Watching it go, Seo Yebin smiled a chilling smile.
Cheongyeon had once said that Lee Seoha could never become a Star. Stars were, after all, a power that killed 'possibility'—and Lee Seoha, of all people, must never become one.
Seo Yebin gazed along the trail Lee Seoha had left behind. He was a star. He would bloom into a brilliance that none of her possessions could hope to rival.
And she would claim it for herself. Desire seeped slowly upward. She wanted to drape her own colors over that being named Lee Seoha. She wanted his eyes to hold her, and her alone.
Seo Yebin felt the desire gnawing at her heart—so fierce it bewildered even her. Not yet. The time was not yet ripe.
Well. In any case.
She could never forgive those who laid hands on what was hers. The Witcheon Brigade was strong. Strong, but only to a point.
Methodically. One by one. She would torment them and break them until living felt like hell itself, and make them atone for the sin of daring to touch what was hers.
Seo Yebin extended a slender finger toward the documents on her desk—papers concerning how best to make use of the Witcheon Brigade. The instant her fingertip touched them, they crumbled to dust. As if to demonstrate what would become of certain beings.
With a cold smile, Seo Yebin sank back into her chair.
And about an hour later, every existence with even the faintest connection to the Witcheon Brigade could no longer be found anywhere on Earth.