The Imperial Sword's Long-Buried Womanhood
Even the Imperial First Sword, Yeocheong, once had someone she loved. It was only natural. Any woman without walls around her heart would feel her pulse quicken at the sight of a handsome or capable man, and Yeocheong was at the peak of her blooming youth when such a man appeared in her life.
But Yeocheong chose the path of the warrior. As the emperor's sword, as a member of the Imperial Guard, as a daughter of a guardian clan sworn to protect the imperial family for generations, she selected the way of "Warrior Yeocheong" over that of a woman. While other girls her age played with flowers starting at seven, she gripped a sword—and she had to stake her life on defending the imperial palace.
Then Yeocheong suffered a grievous wound. A madman attempted to assassinate the emperor, and in the process of subduing him, she took a massive gash to her abdomen. Miraculously, she survived. Because the man she had thrown her life away to save was the current emperor, the entire roster of imperial physicians was mobilized to save her.
Warrior Yeocheong lived. Fortunately, her lower dantian—the root of her inner energy—hadn't been critically damaged. Though there was some injury, Yeocheong already had her middle and upper dantians open, allowing her to mitigate the harm to some degree. As a martial artist, with proper rest and focused treatment, she could return to the field with what amounted to a light wound.
But according to the physicians...
No one knew what drove the assassin to such an act, but he hadn't truly meant to kill Warrior Yeocheong. As he lay dying, he'd aimed to kill "Woman Yeocheong," and his blade had pierced right through her womb. Thus, Yeocheong became a body that could never bear children. She could still clutch her sword, but she could never hold the tiny hand of a child born from her own belly.
She let go of so much. The man she'd secretly loved found out about her condition and sought out another woman for a lifelong union. Those who had shown her affection began to withdraw their feelings one by one. Whether they admired Warrior Yeocheong or hoped to win a high official's daughter from the palace, the inability to produce heirs ultimately turned men's eyes away from her.
Yeocheong had forsaken so much. A severed arm doesn't regrow, and destroyed innards can't be restored. It was, quite literally, incurable.
That was why Yeocheong, though her affliction differed, had personally attended the funeral preparations for Moyong Seol—the forbidden treasure of Moyong Sega, doomed by her own incurable disease. As someone who shared a similar pain, someone who could no longer grasp the joys available to a woman even as she clung to life, she wanted to offer even a sliver of comfort in their shared sorrow.
But what was this?
The incurable disease was cured.
She didn't believe it at first. Yet the miracle happened, and Yeocheong found herself resenting the heavens. Why had no such miracle come for her? Why did one woman regain her youth and fertility, while another recovered her lost hair?
It might sound petty, but she couldn't help the jealousy surging within her—a very human envy. A hundred out of a hundred would feel it, and perhaps one in that hundred might even think like this:
If I can't have it, I'll destroy it.
It could have been the kind of thought one of Cheonma's children might have, but the demon in Yeocheong's heart seemed to whisper it relentlessly.
And then, the moment Yeocheong faced the very man who had wrought that miracle...
"I will make it so you can bear children."
At those words, the demon in her heart screamed.
Mo-om!!
It felt as if Woman Yeocheong, dormant for so long, was finally awakening after endless years of sleep.
Ahh... I can have a child.
Even if the ones she'd loved had all left, even if no one saw her as a woman anymore. Even Geomhu had set out to find a new man, hadn't she?
Ahh, I see.
It wasn't unseemly. It was recompense for her new self—a tribute to the girl she'd ignored, had no choice but to ignore, while living as a warrior. To meet a good man, build a family, bear children, and live a simple, happy life. The mere chance to choose such a path again was already a miracle others couldn't dream of.
"I will... make it so."
Tears streamed from Yeocheong's eyes.
I'd said I'd make it possible for her to bear children, but to preempt any misunderstandings, let me clarify:
"Lady Yeocheong, I mean I'll restore your body so you can bear children. If there's any misconception, I'll be in a real bind."
"......."
From Yeocheong's tear-streaked nod, silent and wordless, I felt a whirlwind of emotions.
The patient has suffered so much.
Even as one of the Ten Masters of the World, she'd harbored such profound anguish and pain within.
Illness doesn't just strike the body.
Diseases of the heart. What martial artists called "heart demons." Even ordinary folk waste away when their minds break. And it was the same for the likes of Cheonma. In his case, his heart demon stemmed from refusing to accept his twisted desires and the limits of his station, leading to his own downfall. By contrast, the heart demon plaguing Imperial First Sword Yeocheong was one anyone could understand and pity.
"Before you take the Geukyang Jihwan, I have one question."
"Ask anything, Physician Seok."
She hadn't even swallowed the pill yet, but Yeocheong already spoke as if she were cured. Since we couldn't predict exactly how the miracle would manifest, we needed to guide it precisely.
"Is it enough for your body to simply be able to bear children?"
This was the prescription.
"Or do you wish for rejuvenation like Geomhu...?"
"I, Yeocheong, am not so lacking in conscience."
Yeocheong placed a hand on her chest and let out a small chuckle. A tear clung to the corner of her smiling mouth—a contradictory sight, yet it struck me that "laughing through tears" was a phrase coined for her.
"Wishing for rejuvenation like Geomhu would be for those fretting over wrinkles, sagging skin, bent backs, or lost elasticity."
"......."
"I'm quite satisfied with myself as I am, Physician Seok. If only my insides return to normal, then I'll build new bonds from there."
Yeocheong stroked her abdomen gently.
"Someone who can love even a woman like me."
"...Understood."
I pulled out the prepared box and handed it to her whole.
"This is the Geukyang Jihwan. Simply swallow the pill, and its effects will activate immediately."
"No need for a seated position...?"
"Lying flat would be better than lotus position. That's how Geomhu took it."
"...Got it."
Yeocheong obediently lay down right there and opened the box.
"Ahh..."
Her gaze on the Geukyang Jihwan was like one beholding treasure. The emperor had looked at it that way, Geomhu too. They didn't see it as mere medicine. It was the wish itself, the fulfillment of their deepest discomforts, shaped into a pill by my hands. Their fervent stares toward that tiny orb sent chills down my spine.
Sword Saint made the right call.
Yes. He was right. If those intense gazes turned from the pill to me, I'd be torn apart and devoured by the masses.
So we had to regulate it. Geomhu, the emperor, and now Imperial First Sword Yeocheong—people who had tasted its "possibilities" yet possessed the iron will not to spread word of the miracle recklessly. And we needed them to ensure those beneath them sought miracles through prayer to the heavens as before, viewing the Geukyang Jihwan solely as a cure for Jeolmok Jeong.
For me, for Moyong Seol, for Moyong Sega, and for the peace of the Central Plains martial world.
Gulp.
Yeocheong swallowed the Geukyang Jihwan.
Soon, a bright light shimmered from her body, and as I watched, I prayed inwardly.
Please, don't let her be someone with acting skills terrifying enough to fool even Sword Saint.
Like with Son Geun, the wish we intended might not perfectly match the recipient's deepest desire. What Yeocheong wanted was a body capable of bearing children—
Crack, creak.
"Ha."
Watching Yeocheong's transformation, Geomhui—who had been observing—let out a hollow laugh.
"Of course."
"......."
Geomhu's words dripped with sarcasm, but I schooled my expression and recorded the changes. Yeocheong's skin was clearing, her hips widening, and above all—
Her bones were groaning as they expanded.
"Um, Physician."
Moyong Seol pointed at my written hypothesis.
"Senior Yeocheong's wish."
"To become a body that can bear children, little one."
"...Couldn't that also mean wanting to be a good mother?"
"Hm."
Feeling Moyong Seol cling to my arm and flaunt her own motherhood, I realized Yeocheong's true wish.
"True. Raising several kids is easier with more than less."
Yeocheong. She had transformed from a "wu" (warrior) into a "yeo" (woman).
"A mountain has risen on the vast plain."
Yeocheong would make a fine wife and mother.