What You Possess Is Not Yours
I gasped for air, chest heaving violently.
At some point, Jeong So-hee had been running without end.
Her breath scraped at the back of her throat. Her heart hammered so hard it felt ready to burst. Each step dragged like her legs had been forged from solid iron, strength bleeding away with every movement.
The ground itself seemed to clutch at her feet like thick mud, making every stride a battle. Though darkness swallowed everything and she could see nothing, her instincts screamed that this was no ordinary earth.
Whatever it was, it terrified her.
Every so often the ground beneath her twisted and writhed. Goosebumps exploded across her skin.
Where the hell was this place?
She had fallen asleep in the opulent chambers of the royal palace. So why was she sprinting through this nightmare?
She had run so long that even lifting a single finger now felt impossible, yet stopping was not an option.
Something was chasing her from behind.
Slowly. Relentlessly. Keeping just enough distance to prevent her from resting, forcing her to keep running.
It was terrifying.
She had to escape.
That single thought had kept her legs moving until now, but her body had finally reached its limit.
She staggered, pitching forward, when something shot out from behind and seized her.
It was thin. Like strands of hair, yet coarse to the touch. It carried the damp, earthy stench of wet soil.
“What is this?!”
She screamed and thrashed, trying to tear free, but the slender tendrils refused to budge. Instead, more and more of them snaked toward her, wrapping around her body in tightening coils.
At first she fought desperately to break loose, but soon even that became impossible. The strands multiplied endlessly, binding every finger, every limb.
“...Stop… who are you… please, stop…”
Tears of pure terror leaked from her eyes. Then the thin tendrils forced their way into her mouth and ears.
She struggled with all her strength, clamping her lips shut. It was useless.
The strands pried between her lips, slipped into her nostrils, invaded her ears. Pain bloomed everywhere. It hurt. It was unbearable.
Unable to close her eyes or move, she could only endure as the strands continued their invasion. Then, suddenly, voices emerged from each individual filament.
What you possess right now is not yours…
The voice carried no emotion whatsoever. No hatred, no malice, yet it chilled her to the bone.
A strangled scream slipped from her throat. Because her mouth was sealed, the sound never escaped outward. Instead it echoed endlessly inside her skull, reverberating like a scream trapped in an endless cave. The effect only amplified her terror.
She realized in that instant that the owner of the voice had done this on purpose.
The voice continued, calm and indifferent.
It is troublesome to use what is not yours as if it were. You must live in this world with only what is truly and completely your own…
The moment the voice fell silent, a sharp prickling sensation stabbed through her fingertips.
It’s piercing me. It’s piercing me. It’s piercing me.
The thought floated through her mind as the things coiled around her body began to withdraw. They slithered away with a wet, rustling sound, and the ground itself shifted beneath her.
Only then did she realize the entire floor had been made of countless slender strands woven together.
Just how many of them were there?
Her body trembled. As the strands retreated, faint light gradually returned to her surroundings. In the distance she could see the withdrawing tendrils.
…Tree roots?
They were so thin it was hard to be sure, but they looked like roots.
A strange sensation drew her gaze to her hand. From the spot that had stung moments ago, a single tiny droplet fell.
A faint voice echoed once more inside her head.
…One…
One?
Was this droplet not hers either?
The moment the thought formed, a voice spoke right beside her.
“Saintess… Saintess…”
Her eyes flew open in shock.
An unfamiliar man’s face hovered inches from her own. She sat up and looked around. She was back inside the royal palace.
It was a dream.
So-hee let out a long, shaky breath.
Thank goodness. It had only been a dream.
“Saintess, are you all right? You suddenly seemed to stop breathing…”
The man asked with clear concern.
Who was he again…?
So-hee searched her memory for a moment, then let out a small sound of recognition.
That’s right. She had met him yesterday.
He was the second son of some count’s family. Tired of spending every day studying and only meeting the same boring men, she had asked the prince to let her attend a banquet.
She had never been allowed to participate in banquets before, on the grounds that her etiquette was lacking. The prince had reluctantly arranged a small gathering of about twenty people, and she had met this man there.
He had mentioned being married for two months. The way he bragged about how cute and lovely his wife was had irritated her, so on impulse she had dragged him into bed.
Love, affection, all of it is a lie.
If his feelings for his wife had been genuine, he would have pushed her away while her charm ability was still weak. But he hadn’t refused. Which meant his love was false.
Almost every man in this world was the same. At least, So-hee had never met one who turned down the chance to cheat.
No matter how much they claimed to love their wives, men were all alike.
The man gave her a sticky gaze and pressed his lips to her shoulder.
The sun was already high in the sky, but the only other thing waiting for her was tedious studying. Spending time pleasantly like this was far better.
“I had a scary dream,” she said in a deliberately spoiled, nasal voice.
The man pulled her into his arms. As she draped her arm over his shoulder, the tips of her fingers suddenly stung and throbbed.
Curious, she looked down. There was a tiny red dot, as if something had bitten her.
“…”
That was exactly where the voice had pierced her in the dream.
How strange.
The dream had been unusually vivid, and now this uneasy feeling lingered.
“Saintess…?”
The man embraced her more tightly, calling her in a sweet voice.
So-hee gave a small shake of her head.
No, there was no need to overthink it. It was probably just a bug bite. Dreams often reflected reality. There had even been experiments showing that sleeping in damp sheets caused dreams of drowning. So this nightmare must have been caused by the bite.
She nestled deeper into the man’s arms and sank back into the soft bedding.
By the time we left the house, well past noon, the villagers’ eyes were burning with knowing looks.
Well, of course. When newlyweds emerged late on their first morning, everyone could guess exactly what they had been doing.
Their grinning, we know what you did expressions made both Marguerite and me blush furiously.
Ji-geu, who had been running an errand, stopped dead in his tracks and simply stared at me.
Normally the boy would come racing over, but his behavior was odd today. He studied me carefully, then tilted his head at Marguerite.
The villagers burst into laughter at the child’s antics.
I was about to ask what was wrong when Ji-geu ran over but stopped a few steps away.
“Teacher, did you turn back from being a beast? Are you human again? You won’t bite me, right?”
“…”
Who the hell told the kid that nonsense?
“People don’t turn into beasts. Who said that to you?”
“Coward Uncle said it. He told me Teacher turned into a beast and that’s why you came out so late this morning. Are you really human? Are you really our teacher?”
Ji-geu stared at me suspiciously, refusing to come any closer as if he didn’t quite believe me.
Kkoma Daejang crept up stealthily, then suddenly jabbed Ji-geu in the back.
“Boo!”
“Kyaaah!”
When Ji-geu jumped in fright, Kkoma Daejang bared his teeth in a huge grin and laughed loudly.
“Idiot, you actually believed Coward Uncle?”
“It could be true! Teacher’s a mage, so maybe he really can turn into a beast. Right, Teacher? Mages can transform into huge monsters, can’t they?”
No, they cannot. I’m not some kind of werewolf.
Marguerite’s face had gone bright red, but she was laughing along with everyone else. The whole village had turned into a sea of laughter.
I ruffled Ji-geu’s hair once, then headed into the village hall.
Inside, the peddlers were examining the hides and meat we had decided to sell.
“Oh, Village Chief. The hides are fine, but this meat… it’s truly incredible. It’s every bit as excellent as the boar we tasted before. What on earth is your secret? No matter who I ask, they only give me the same canned answer: Spirit’s Blessing.”
The older of the two peddlers spoke as if he were dying of curiosity.
“Of course, as a merchant I won’t ask you to reveal your secret. That would be shameless. But aren’t you curious too? Just give me a rough idea. How do you make meat taste like this? Is there some special seasoning? Or perhaps something unique that grows in this forest?”
Even as he said that, it was clear he didn’t actually expect to hear the real story. He thrust forward a pouch of coins and leaned in eagerly.
“Take this as a down payment. I’d like to keep buying meat from you. It would also give your village a nice side income. Let’s make a deal!”
We had already discussed this during the village meeting. Since the beasts were being caught more easily than expected, we had decided it would be good to sell a little at a time.
The villagers claimed that game was far more plentiful here than where they had originally lived. Whenever they saw Popcorn, they bowed deeply, claiming it was all thanks to the spirits. Of course, only on days when the little spirit actually showed himself.
When I gave my approval, the two peddlers were so overjoyed their backsides practically bounced with excitement.
“We’ll sell it at a very good price. I guarantee it.”
Seeing how delighted they were, one of the village men quietly asked me,
“Chief, should we bring out a bit more of the reserves?”
“That’s fine, but make sure we keep enough for ourselves. Money is good, but we still need to eat.”
“Of course.”
As the man went to fetch more meat, the others in the hall hurried after him in a flurry.
I hoped they wouldn’t drag everything out at once.
“Leave enough for us to eat!” I shouted.
They answered loudly that I shouldn’t worry.
The down payment wasn’t a huge sum, but Kenson quietly told me it was actually quite generous for what peddlers usually paid.
The meat the villagers brought was weighed on a scale with additional weights, and prices were set accordingly. To me the amounts seemed small, but the villagers were overjoyed when they heard the total.
About half chose to receive their payment in coin, while the other half took goods instead. I chose goods. Living alone was one thing, but with a woman in the house, there were many things we needed.
Marguerite and I decided on the items together: soap, coarse woolen cloth, low-grade linen, salt, and sugar. We also purchased seeds for the entire village.
It was already a little late in the season for planting, so we were able to buy everything the peddlers had at a steep discount on the condition that we took it all.
“Buying seeds at this time of year… are you sure that’s wise? Well, if you insist, we’ll sell them to you.”
The peddler sounded worried, but the villagers all laughed and assured him it was fine.
The decision to buy seeds had come from the villagers themselves. They all seemed utterly convinced that thanks to the spirits, our village would be all right.
Since I knew little about farming, I left the matter entirely to them. At this rate, the crops would probably grow so well we’d end up doing double-cropping out of nowhere. After the harvest there would be nothing to do anyway, so that was fine. And we had bought the seeds cheaply.
“Don’t worry. They’ll grow beautifully,” I said.
For some reason Marguerite was nodding vigorously along with the villagers. Above her head, Popcorn clenched both tiny fists in fierce determination.
My lovely wife had managed to blend in with the villagers in just a single day. How reassuring.
I smiled softly at Marguerite, only to feel countless eyes on me. When I looked up, every villager, both peddlers, and even Kenson were watching us with warm, teasing gazes.
How embarrassing.
Marguerite entrusted the peddlers with a letter to send to her family. They wouldn’t deliver it themselves, but would pass it to a merchant heading in that direction. Normally it would have cost a small fee, but since we had just signed a contract, they offered to do it for free.
I received the village chief’s seal and the slave documents for the brides from Kenson. When a chief stepped down, the seal had to be passed to the next one. It seemed Kenson double-checked the chief’s name each time.
Both Kenson and the kingdom kept wax copies of the seal, making forgery nearly impossible. Documents issued by the chief apparently carried the weight of official papers.
If the village ever disappeared, the chief’s seal would be collected and destroyed.
To free the women from slavery, I simply had to write that their status was no longer that of slaves and stamp the document with the chief’s seal. That would officially make them commoners.
After explaining everything in detail, Kenson left the village together with the peddlers.
With only three people gone, the village already felt a little emptier.
Someone muttered quietly,
“I hope we’ll hear the sound of babies crying in our village soon.”
I thought so too.
But before that, we would need to prepare. We needed a midwife, and we had to stockpile enough food so that no child would ever go hungry.
For no particular reason, my heart suddenly felt restless.