202. The Chancellor and the Disciple
202. The Chancellor and the Disciple
- 1 -
Amid the slowly rising mists of Fate (緣), Yuran sat with her back straight and moved her brush with deliberate care.
With her other hand, she stroked her proud black hair.
She had briefly returned to Libertas's dungeon to fill the seat left empty when Evangeline departed on campaign to the south, and to assist Sonia.
Seureureuk.
The dye seeped into the yellow talisman paper.
Everywhere the dye spread, it left a trail of purple—not the commonly used red.
In a moment, what lay upon the paper was a talisman imbued with her sorcerous power.
"It's done."
A smile played on her lips.
Ever since she had come to serve her Lord Libertas, her sorcery had deepened further than ever before.
The Foxfire Sorcery, a refined fusion of Eastern sorcery and Western magic, had undergone repeated change and evolution, just as her relationship with Libertas had.
Hwaryuk!
Her three tails blazed brilliantly through the air, summoning the flames that consumed the talisman.
At the tip of each tail, golden or purple flames flared up and then subsided.
As a shaman, her technique was remarkably excellent—far out of proportion to her still-limited power.
'Ha.'
The occasional flare of golden flames still bothered her.
But now, Yuran could face it.
She did not like it, but she was no longer the young Fox she had been in her past life.
[I loved your golden hair, too.]
Because her master and eternal love had loved even that trace she had inherited from her blood.
'Yes. Even this filthy power.'
In her past life, after meeting the one she loved and after her power had stabilized, she had set about altering the very root of her existence.
The purple foxfire she now wielded was the fruit of that effort.
A different flame, born from the process of evolving the original golden fires into something of even greater power.
[But, my Lord. I detest it. So very much...!]
[Of course, I shall respect your wishes. But do not overdo it. I will love you no matter what form you take.]
The process of altering her existence had dyed her golden hair completely black.
She could not change her golden eyes—proof of her Blood Clan lineage—and had she gone that far, she might truly have made her Lord worry.
For merely changing her hair had twisted her power forever, and she could not know what aftereffects might have remained had she changed her eyes as well.
'The meaning of my existence lies in loving that person.'
Yuran lifted her gaze and looked out the window.
The stars, floating in the black sky. She traced them with her eyes, waiting for inspiration to seep into her.
A moment later.
Sararak...!
Her eyes shone brilliantly with gold and purple light.
The first thing her shining gaze pursued was the largest and most radiant star.
It was the star she had assigned to the master of her fate.
"Still beautiful."
That largest and most beautiful star was shining in the very center of the Milky Way.
The Milky Way swirled around it, drawing a great vortex.
A vortex of fate.
Among the countless stars caught within it, there were those that possessed a brilliant light.
Among them, Yuran spotted her own star, still emitting a golden light, and she frowned slightly.
But soon, her eyes sparkled as she discovered the stars of her comrades moving alongside it.
'That one is Evangeline. That one is Lin Xue.'
Though they bickered with her daily, they were lifelong comrades she would never meet again across both of her lives.
'Those... belong to Elena and Kamaya.'
Though she had barely exchanged words with them in her past life, they were ones who had nonetheless followed her Lord loyally.
'Beautiful.'
A few stars running ahead, and dozens of stars following behind.
And the Gumiho, moving her eyes along that trajectory, soon discovered two stars following from a great distance away.
Green and pink.
Familiar colors.
"They have come."
A look of gladness appeared on Yuran's lips.
A star that thought itself brilliant, but had always been swept up in the murky current.
A star that was brilliant from birth, but lost its light and grew dim.
The two stars were approaching the center, where the great purple star resided.
"My dear friend. Come quickly."
Yuran's gaze lingered longer on the green of the two stars.
Though it was the same with the other comrades—whom she could trust for a lifetime—the green star and she shared a more special bond of friendship.
The two had nothing in common in terms of birth or upbringing, yet unlike the other comrades, they had formed a deep bond of friendship with a texture all its own.
Of course, the other comrades had also built friendships among themselves, but theirs was a particular friendship—more special, even among them.
"This time, I will go to save you, faster than before."
Although between the two, Yuran had been the one to regain her memories first, that was only due to position and circumstance—not because of any difference in the depth of their devotion or loyalty.
So Yuran felt a restless eagerness to help her friend regain her memories as quickly as possible.
"Hoo..."
But Yuran could easily quell that restlessness.
Not because the restlessness was weak, but because her self-control had grown that strong.
"Next."
Yuran's gaze continued to scan the sky.
To read both the glory and the crisis that lay ahead of Libertas.
And.
"Those."
Soon, she observed two stars from a constellation that had lost one of its seven approaching Libertas.
Things concerning hostile stars that she had to share with her comrades.
"More prey."
What surfaced on her fine face this time was a cruelty that smelled of blood.
From her hand touching the communication orb meant for Baroness Hailey and Talhan—who had become a necromancer—purple flames blossomed.
- 2 -
"Haa..."
Dalgak.
With the sound of a fine teacup being set down, a letter was spread open upon the desk.
The grey-haired woman was checking its contents, tracing the letters with her finger.
"It seems there is no problem..."
Sonia smiled, a look of longing on her face, as she held the letter.
It had already been four days since Libertas left. In that time, three letters had arrived for her.
Letters filled with detailed instructions concerning the management of the dungeon. But interspersed among them were words that showed consideration for her, or the affection of a teacher.
'But...'
Her gaze out the window clouded for a moment.
What troubled her were two concerns.
One of them was something she could not tell the others.
"Where are you looking, Lady Sonia?"
"Unnie Yuran! Don't startle me...!"
Before she knew it, the black-haired Fox had drawn near the desk where she sat.
As always, dressed in flamboyant attire of the Western Continent's Eastern style and wearing an enchanting expression.
"I spoke because you seemed to be troubled alone. What is the matter?"
"..."
Sonia and the three close aides who served her master were now quite close.
They had no hesitation in respecting Sonia and serving her as a superior. Whether it was because she was their master's disciple or for some other reason, she did not know.
Perhaps it was a natural turn of Fate that Sonia, too, no longer hesitated to call them unnie.
To that extent, she could open up about at least one of her concerns.
"The three of you unnies always seem to be achieving something... I... I feel as though I am the only one who cannot do anything."
Yuran's eyes curved slightly.
With the fingers that grew those sharp claws, she carefully caressed Sonia's face.
It was a gesture filled with affection and consideration.
"My Lord... that is to say, do you wish to do something for Lady Sonia's master?"
"Yes."
"For your master... I see."
Yuran held a kind smile on her lips.
Her touch stroked Sonia's gray hair.
The sound of her tail tips parting the air as flames flared up and subsided filled the silence for a moment.
"My Lord always says: to do your best, but not to overdo it. And Lady Sonia is already doing what she can—sufficiently."
"What do you mean? I am just..."
Sonia's eyes wavered.
When Sonia tried to avert her gaze out of embarrassment, Yuran gently took her face and turned it back toward her.
"Do you not know how much My Lord trusts Lady Sonia? Entrusting someone with the management of the dungeon is not something done with a small measure of trust."
Warmth seeped into Yuran's voice.
It was a voice that carried not simple comfort, but sincerity.
Not a single lie could be found in her eyes as she looked at Sonia.
Just as when she dealt with her comrades.
"But unnie is in charge of intelligence and also oversees another dungeon... Miss Evangeline achieved another merit this time. And it goes without saying for Unnie Xue..."
"Fufu. Those are not everything."
The Black Fox cut off Sonia's words and let out a laugh.
One of Yuran's tails gently swept against her nape.
The sensation—like brushing against high-quality fabric—and the warmth were enough to dissolve the tension that had crept into Sonia's expression.
"What My Lord desires is not simply strength or ability. It is what you are showing here and now. That sincerity and loyalty. That is what is most important."
Moonlight seeped in through the window.
Beneath that light, Yuran's golden eyes shone brilliantly.
"Furthermore..."
Yuran's fingers moved as if dancing in the air.
Purple flames traced their movement, drawing a single emblem.
A shape as if two women were intertwined as one.
"As that person's first disciple."
For a moment, Sonia glimpsed something well up and then vanish within Yuran's eyes.
She could not be certain, as she had not observed it precisely, but it seemed like a trace of jealousy.
Yet, even so—even feeling that jealousy—Yuran's eyes as she looked at her remained warm.
There was none of the hostility that humans often burn with when consumed by jealousy.
"Do you not already occupy a special place in My Lord's heart?"
Sonia's face flushed red.
What welled up in her eyes was not mere embarrassment, but deep affection, respect, and...
"Still, I... to the master, more..."
Meanwhile, Yuran could also clearly read the emotion that had already bloomed within her heart.
Not simply affection between master and disciple, but something deeper.
At the very least, it was not a simple desire for recognition.
But now was not the time to speak of it.
"Do not be impatient. When the time comes, everything will come to pass naturally, according to Fate."
Whether she grasped the meaning in Yuran's words or not, Sonia's face grew even redder.
The Gumiho simply smiled.
For in the future her sorcery had foreseen, Sonia's star was shining ever more brilliantly.
At Libertas's side.
"I should return now."
Yuran rose from her seat.
The hem of her black silk robe swayed elegantly beneath the moonlight.
Looking at Yuran's figure, Sonia felt that her beauty existed on a different dimension from her own.
'How are Master and the unnies...'
But what she felt was not envy. It was respect.
Because Yuran—and all of the master's close aides—were sincerely concerned for her and cherished her.
There were times when such consideration felt burdensome, but now it was simply warm.
'By now, the master...'
Sonia's heart turned once more toward that person who was far away.
The longing and loneliness did not easily subside.
But now, hope was blossoming a little larger. The hope that someday, she too could be a source of strength to her master.
"Thank you, Unnie Yuran."
Yuran answered with a gentle smile, and then vanished from the spot as if swallowed by the shadows.
Her three tails fluttered beautifully through the air, leaving an afterimage of purple flames, and a subtle scent lingered beneath the moonlight.
"..."
Sonia stood by the window for a while, gazing at the stars.
In one corner of her heart settled the longing for her master, and in another, the will to become a better version of herself.
The moonlight softly illuminated her hair—as if blessing her resolve.