Chapter 209
Chapter 209
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 209
Chapter Title: Under the Moonlight
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Under the moonlight, Baek Idan closed his eyes while hoisting a house-sized boulder onto his shoulder.
Even in the chilly weather, his body was damp like someone drenched in rain. He had been in this state for hours already.
Crackle, crackle—
The surroundings were silent and his eyelids shut, but he was in the midst of flames.
A manor engulfed in fire. The scorching blaze. Blood caked black from the intense heat.
And in that hell, a man looking down at him.
The man spoke as he gazed at himself sprawled flat on the ground.
"Why didn't you resist?"
Uncheon-geuk.
The lord of this castle and the one who had wiped out his sect.
As a mere novice back then, there was only one thing he could say to him.
"Pl-Please... spare... spare me."
He begged for his life.
Even as his sect burned and his fellow disciples and master died before his eyes, he couldn't dare resist.
From the moment the fight began, he had known the outcome.
"You have good eyes. Or is it good instincts?"
"Spare..."
"There's only one way."
Swish—
Feeling something approach, he lifted his head.
There, he saw Uncheon-geuk's bloodstained hand extended toward him.
"Come to me."
A hand stained with the blood of his brothers.
"Eat the salary I give you, do as I command, and swear to serve me with true loyalty like a dog. If you vow to become such a dog, I'll spare you."
He had invited him to Shinryeon Castle.
Flutter—
Slowly, his eyes opened. Once again today, he relived that day.
He must not forget. The moment he did, even if he lived, he would no longer be human.
Crack, crunch—
Crunch—
Cracks began to spiderweb across the boulder on his shoulder. Fragments fell one by one, then it exploded.
Boom—!
Baek Idan's eyes blazed red as he crushed the house-sized boulder with both hands.
"Un... cheon... geuk."
From within the rising cloud of dust, he murmured two names.
"Unhyang."
He would make them unfortunate.
If Uncheon-geuk proved too difficult, he would drag everything connected to him into ruin.
It didn't matter if she was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon.
No.
Precisely because she was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon, he had to do it all the more.
Unhyang's downfall would pull Uncheon-geuk into the abyss.
His body temperature, now adequately heated, screamed for him to rampage. There was still a long way to go. This was just the beginning.
But unlike his heart, there was a reason he had to suppress the urge to rampage right away.
'Tomorrow at the earliest. Two days at the latest.'
Uncheon-geuk would return soon.
Considering the life he had lived for this day, holding back this much was nothing.
He had turned half of Shinryeon Castle's warriors, including the Baekrang Unit, into his own faction.
Above all, Unhyang had fallen into his hands.
Now, victory was truly within reach.
Just imagining severing Uncheon-geuk's neck and mutilating his corpse filled Baek Idan with indescribable ecstasy.
At that moment, his heightened senses picked up a group approaching.
"What is it?"
If it was enough to interrupt his training, it wasn't some trivial matter.
One of the Baekrang Unit warriors handed him a thick, dry towel and replied.
"The young lady has disappeared."
"That girl wandering around at night happened yesterday too."
"Lee Soo-hyuk is also missing."
At the added information, Baek Idan's eyes changed.
"Those damn bastards..."
He had considered the possibility.
From the moment Lee Soo-hyuk arrived at Shinryeon Castle, he had anticipated something like this might happen.
So he had left a warning.
That he wouldn't let any funny ideas slide.
"Find them."
The heat he had barely suppressed boiled up again.
He had felt something off, and sure enough, they had stirred up trouble.
"Find them right now. Bring them before me."
Under the moonlight, time seemed to pause for a moment.
Lee Soo-hyuk's face, half-exposed from his mask. For the first time, he smiled at her.
He hadn't said it outright, but she knew.
This time too, he was extending his hand to her. Let's go back together.
"Must be the best view here."
Soo-hyuk, mask back in place, approached and sat beside Unhyang.
Looking around slowly, he nodded.
"Yeah. High places really are the best."
Unhyang flinched as they sat side by side.
It was the first time sitting this close to Soo-hyuk. Side by side, even.
"How did you find this place?"
"Searched hard."
Answering that, Soo-hyuk sheepishly changed his words.
"Actually, Cheongryang told me. I said I needed to find you and asked for her help."
At the mention of meeting Cheongryang, Unhyang's eyes trembled faintly.
What had he heard? Seeing Cheongryang locked in that dark, damp prison—what had Soo-hyuk thought?
Soo-hyuk said nothing. He was still gazing at Shinryeon Castle's scenery.
"Great view, but kinda noisy."
Somewhere inside the castle was rowdy.
The Baekrang Unit and Shinryeon Castle warriors roamed with torches, rummaging everywhere.
The atmosphere was tense and murderous.
"Do you really like a place like this?"
"Yes."
Unhyang gave the same answer as before.
"Sure. It's my home."
But Soo-hyuk didn't believe it.
"Lies are for people who lie. If you push something too absurd, it shows."
Are you really going to keep denying it?
Soo-hyuk's eyes behind the mask asked. Not to lose to that gaze, Unhyang clenched her fists.
"It's not a lie."
"What's so good about a place like this? Tell me."
"That's..."
She tried to answer but had nothing to say. Making up something false was hard enough, let alone saying it aloud.
See?
Soo-hyuk said triumphantly.
"See? You can't even say one word."
"...It's natural not to think of anything when asked so suddenly."
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"Is it so weird that I like my own home?"
"You know who I met today, right?"
At Soo-hyuk's question, Unhyang recalled that he had met Baek Idan earlier.
What had they talked about?
What could they have discussed for Soo-hyuk to be so certain?
"If this place is that good, does that mean you really hate being my manager that much?"
Soo-hyuk didn't yield an inch. He clung to her persistently, almost stubbornly.
Do you really hate it that much?
No way. It couldn't be.
Yes. She really didn't want to. She had to say that—but of all things, she couldn't say this.
Why go this far? Just for a manager? He could find someone better easily.
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.
If he truly saw her as a comrade.
And if he could save her from this cruel fate, she could do anything.
Soo-hyuk kept making her dream. But dreams could never last forever.
So she had to answer. Yes. She didn't want to.
But before Unhyang's hesitant reply, Soo-hyuk spoke first.
"I can tell even if you don't answer. True feelings often show on the face before words anyway."
Her expression having given her away completely, Unhyang protested unfairly.
"...And you, Soo-hyuk, always hide behind that mask like a coward."
"Guess I want to hide my true feelings too."
Saying that, Soo-hyuk lifted his mask slightly.
"That's why I'm only showing it to my manager, right?"
His face behind the mask was beaming.
And those words and expression shook Unhyang's heart more than any persuasion.
The more they talked, the softer her once-solid resolve became. Lips trembling, Unhyang squeezed her eyes shut.
'I can't win.'
She threw up her hands in surrender.
Truth be told, she had known from the start.
Anyone else maybe, but she could never beat Soo-hyuk with words.
Talking only made it clearer she couldn't face him with lies anymore.
So now, she had to speak her true heart.
Only then could she send him away, she thought.
"...I didn't come because I like it. I came because I had to."
For the first time since returning to the castle, Unhyang spoke sincerely.
The two, who had been running parallel, finally looked at the same thing and began talking.
"Had to?"
"Yes. Everyone has responsibilities to bear, right? I do too."
"What kind?"
"Everyone except me."
And naturally, that everyone included Soo-hyuk.
"That's far more important to me than myself."
Worried it might cause concern, Unhyang hurriedly added.
"Ah, but don't worry too much. You might not know, Soo-hyuk, but this is my life, my fight."
Unhyang believed in fate.
From the moment she was born as heir to this massive castle, and when she learned she was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon, she had been pushed by fate.
She couldn't defy or resist it.
"Nothing new about it. It's a fight I've been waging for a long time. I can handle it. So, Soo-hyuk."
So.
"Until now... really... thank you."
Now, she truly had to say goodbye.
Drip—
A tear fell from Unhyang's eyes as she bowed her head in thanks. The deep bow was less to show respect and more to hide her tears.
Once started, the tears wouldn't stop.
She had tried not to think about it, but fond memories kept surfacing like pictures.
It had been so much fun. The times with Cheongryang, with Soo-hyuk.
She was grateful just to have had those moments.
So she could endure. She believed those times with them would keep lifting her up.
"Why..."
Soo-hyuk looked down at Unhyang, who was bowed and shedding tears.
"...do you think you're the only one who has to sacrifice?"
He recalled Cheongryang in the prison.
The two were sacrificing for each other. One offering her entire life, the other ready to throw away his.
For the sake of friendship.
But their directions were utterly, terribly wrong.
If they were friends. Comrades.
They absolutely shouldn't do that.
"Why do you think it's all on you? Who decided that?"
"That's..."
"Have you ever thought about fighting back?"
Soo-hyuk's words threw a stone into Unhyang's heart.
"Never thought of fighting?"
It was a thought she had never entertained.
Of course.
Wiping her tears with her sleeve, Unhyang shook her head.
"...No chance of winning."
"Sounds like you want to come back if there was."
Soo-hyuk's voice softened.
Unhyang, who had been avoiding his gaze, lifted her head.
Even with the mask, she could now tell his expression just from his eyes.
He was smiling.
"Then say it. That's why I came—to hear those words."
Soo-hyuk extended his hand.
"If it's hard alone, I'll fight with you, so let's go back. If there's no chance, we'll make one."
And as always, he said confidently.
"Even if you can't, I can."
"..."
Unhyang stared at that hand.
Was it really possible? Could she take that hand?
Suddenly, she recalled a recent dream.
As always, it featured Uncheon-geuk and the Heavenly Demon. When she was suffering because of them, Soo-hyuk appeared in the dream.
Defeating Uncheon-geuk and the Heavenly Demon. Saving her.
"Manager."
Even in that dream, he said the same thing as now.
"Let's go back."
"Over there!"
At that moment, the Shinryeon Castle warriors searching busily spotted them.
Thud thud thud—
Once the location was exposed, the warriors quickly assembled.
Soo-hyuk looked down.
The warriors moved in perfect order under commands. They were first forming an encirclement to prevent escape.
There were so many. How many castle warriors had they mobilized to find them?
'Overkill.'
Even if they had ignored the warning first, this seemed excessive.
They hadn't caused any particular trouble or shown hostility to Shinryeon Castle.
Yet deploying hundreds of fully armed warriors?
'Not working?'
Soo-hyuk glanced at Unhyang's expression.
He couldn't read her thoughts. It seemed like his persuasion had worked, but no immediate answer came.
There was no time.
He couldn't just drag her away without hearing her reply.
Choosing one's life was always up to oneself. If Unhyang ultimately refused, there was nothing more he could do.
"It doesn't have to be now."
Soo-hyuk stood from where they sat side by side.
"When you feel like fighting and change your mind, I'll come get you then. Until then..."
Crackle—
Sparks flew from Soo-hyuk's fingertips.
"I'll fight alone, whatever."
Of course, regardless of Unhyang's will, he planned to take Cheongryang.
Leaving her here was absolutely unacceptable. Their care for each other was so great that they were only hurting one another.
By then, the Baekrang Unit warriors were almost upon them.
Soo-hyuk reached for his sword, preparing for battle.
And at that moment.
"I've decided."
Unhyang grabbed Soo-hyuk's hand.