Heaven Will Not Forgive You
The paper sliding doors parted slowly to either side.
Just as Orye moved her gaze toward the entrance, Suk-jeong’s urgent whisper hissed in her ear.
"That is the child. That is the Hwang girl. Look upon her at once."
Here she goes again.
Orye felt a flicker of irritation at Suk-jeong’s frantic impatience. For all that Orye was a shaman by trade, Suk-jeong was far more obsessed with superstition than she was. She was an excessively emotional creature, frail of nerve, trembling at every trifling occurrence as if it were a dire omen.
Orye had long since learned how to play upon those vulnerabilities. To her, Suk-jeong was a lucrative purse of coin and a golden lifeline tethering her to the formidable power of Royal Noble Consort Hui-bin.
What could a mere four-year-old child possibly do to warrant such an uproar?
Orye wholeheartedly agreed with Hui-bin’s skepticism. Even when Suk-jeong had spat with fervor about the 'child court maid surnamed Hwang,' Orye hadn't taken the matter seriously. She had assumed Suk-jeong—a woman prone to hysterics over the slightest breeze—had merely spooked herself over a toddler’s harmless antics.
It was true that ever since the day Suk-jeong had entered the palace carrying the obanggi, only the yellow and black divination flags had appeared, and Orye's spiritual sight had inexplicably gone dark and blocked. Yet even then, Orye had never imagined that strange disturbance had anything to do with a little girl.
And so, even now as Suk-jeong poked repeatedly at her ribs, Orye felt no different.
A girl named Hwang, is it...? Let us see.
She expected nothing of note, but she still wished to leave a deep impression on Hui-bin. Deliberately widening her eyes into a severe, intimidating glare, Orye slowly lifted her gaze.
Padded white socks on tiny feet. Red coat strings draping down over a deep blue skirt beneath a jade-green jacket. Chubby, remarkably pretty cheeks, and...
A pair of large, round eyes that did not flinch from her piercing stare.
Gasp!
In that single instant, a violent shudder ripped through Orye.
Her spiritual eye, which had been locked in pitch-black slumber, was suddenly flooded with a golden radiance so blindingly intense she could scarcely endure it.
At the same time, a colossal force bore down upon her.
She couldn't breathe.
An invisible might pressed against her flesh as if to crush her whole body to dust. Helplessly submitting beneath its weight, Orye’s eyes stretched wide as saucers.
Emerging from that dazzling golden brilliance were countless ancient tomes—and spilling forth from those pages, tens of thousands of glowing characters.
Joseon. Veritable Records. Taejo.
Sukjong. Gyeongjong. Yeongjo.
And Daehan...
A few of the words were recognizable, but most were beyond Orye's ability to comprehend. The swirling vortex of characters spun dizzyingly before her vision before coalescing into a single dense mass. Then, those ink-black embers vanished, sucked straight into the child's tiny head.
Heh.
At that exact moment, the child smirked.
Her chubby face beamed with utter confidence and triumph, completely devoid of fear.
"Ah...!"
Only then did Orye discern the towering silhouette standing behind the child.
And clasped in that entity's hand was a thick book.
That volume was the very source of the swirling tempest of characters.
A revelation struck Orye like a bolt of lightning from the heavens.
A god...!
A mighty, transcendent divinity.
A god as vast and immovable as a great mountain—one that a lowly shaman accustomed to consorting with common child-spirits could never dare fathom, let alone approach. This deity possessed an all-seeing insight that pierced through all creation, spanning hundreds of years into the distant past and hundreds of years into the uncharted future.
And now, those divine eyes were staring straight into Orye's soul.
Orye forced her trembling lips apart, choking out a strangled whisper.
"That child... One must never... Never dare touch that child..."
Thud! Orye’s body collapsed heavily onto the floor.
What's her problem?
I had literally just been standing there.
She glared at me with such frightening intensity that I simply glared back, refusing to lose a staring contest. That was the entirety of what I'd done.
When she started trembling like a leaf, babbling nonsense about 'gods' and whatnot, I thought she might be channeling some spirit. I even entertained a brief flicker of hope that she was about to drop an earth-shattering prophecy.
Instead, she just passed out cold.
Still, I heard her parting words loud and clear: That child... One must never dare touch that child.
Can she actually see something?
Was she not a fraud after all?
Could she see my true self inhabiting Hwang Bong-bong's body, for instance...?
Even if she could, is that any reason to freak out like that?
Aside from having unusually sharp athletic reflexes, I was nothing more than a pitiful modern graduate student!
While I observed the spectacle with keen interest, Court Lady Han came rushing inside. Suk-jeong was already beside herself with panic, frantically shaking Orye’s limp form.
"Step aside."
Taking in the scene in a single glance, Court Lady Han picked up a basin of water and dumped it directly over Orye's face without hesitation.
...Court Lady Han truly didn't mess around.
The icy splash brought Orye sputtering back to consciousness.
"F-Forgive me! Please grant your mercy to this humble, foolish wretch!"
Orye pressed her forehead flat against the floorboards, shivering violently as she cried out.
Yet something about the whole display felt strangely off.
Why does it feel like she's begging me, and not Hui-bin?
It gave me the creeps.
Court Lady Han nudged me—still lingering just outside the threshold—into the room, then pulled the sliding door shut with a sharp click.
"Hold your tongue! Before whose royal presence do you think you stand, daring to let your shrieks spill outside?" Court Lady Han’s reprimand was cold and razor-sharp.
I quietly stole a glance at Hui-bin's face. Hui-bin was glaring down at Suk-jeong, her elegant brow knit into a severe scowl. She looked thoroughly displeased.
Hui-bin parted her lips.
"Suk-jeong."
"Y-Yes, Jaga..."
"Did you not claim you would prove your words to me?"
"..."
"Yet rather than any proof, what is the meaning of this unseemly spectacle?"
"Th-That is... Jaga! It seems Orye took ill quite suddenly..."
Suk-jeong jabbed frantically at Orye’s ribs before resorting to pinching her arms.
Ouch, that's gotta hurt...
Yet Orye uttered not a single peep. She kept her mouth tightly shut, her lips quivering in terror.
Watching the pitiful sight, Hui-bin turned her icy glare back to Suk-jeong.
"I warned you before. Should you insult my people, you would pay dearly for the wagging of your three-inch tongue."
At those words, Suk-jeong’s eyes rolled back in manic desperation. Flailing her arms as she scrambled halfway to her feet, she screeched like a madwoman.
"Hui-bin-jaga! That child is a wicked monstrosity—!"
Slap!
Suk-jeong’s head snapped to the side.
Hui-bin had struck her across the cheek.
"I placed my trust in you solely because you are my brother's concubine. I turned a blind eye even when your conduct grew insolent! Yet you do not know your place, daring to climb over my head!"
"Jaga... Th-This humble servant... I only..."
"Out of affection for my brother, I closed my eyes despite knowing how shallow and frivolous you are. That was my own foolishness."
Hui-bin’s furious command rang out like thunder.
"Court Lady Han."
"Yes, Jaga!"
"Throw Suk-jeong and that wench Orye out of the palace this instant."
"Understood, Jaga. Your orders shall be carried out."
"One more thing," Hui-bin added coldly. "Confiscate Suk-jeong’s palace entry pass. Until I summon her again, she is forbidden from stepping foot inside the palace gates."
"Jaga! Please, have mercy just this once...!"
Suk-jeong clasped her hands together, begging frantically.
Hui-bin, however, remained utterly merciless.
"Court Lady Han. Did you not hear me tell you to throw them out?"
"Yes, Jaga!"
While Orye scrambled out on her own two feet without resistance, Suk-jeong thrashed and wailed, calling out to Hui-bin.
"Go fetch Sun-rye!"
At Court Lady Han’s order, Sun-rye marched into the hall, her heavy footsteps echoing with the sheer bulk of her frame. In the blink of an eye, she hauled Suk-jeong out by the scruff of her clothes.
Suk-jeong’s hysterical screams faded down the corridor.
"..."
Taking advantage of the chaos, I quietly slipped out of Hui-bin’s bedchamber.
There was something I needed to confirm.
Orye.
She was shuffling down the corridor, shivering like an aspen leaf.
Without making a sound, I crept up beside her.
The instant her eyes fell upon me, she collapsed to her knees with a wet thud.
Right. With a reaction like this... It wouldn't hurt to throw out a little bait.
Swallowing down dry spit, I opened my mouth.
"Can you see it?"
I spoke in the most eerie, chilling cadence I could muster—a low, mature voice unbefitting a four-year-old child.
Orye nodded, her face pale with terror.
I was curious about what she had actually seen, but I saw no reason to pry.
It was time to get straight to the point.
"Never show your face near the palace again. Which means you are never to meddle in the Queen's affairs."
"..."
"Should you dare carry out that deed..."
I leaned in and whispered one final warning directly into her ear.
"Yes! Yes! I understand, I obey!"
Orye cried out, slamming her forehead against the wooden floorboards again and again with dull thuds.
All that was left now was to revert to being the innocent little aegi-nain, Hwang Bong-bong.
Right on cue, the courtyard of Chwiseondang was buzzing with palace maids who had rushed out, startled by the commotion Suk-jeong had caused.
Adopting an expression of naive, frightened innocence befitting a four-year-old toddler, I scampered over to Seol-hyang and buried myself behind the folds of her skirt.
Phew...
I pulled off something huge today.