Chapter 141
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 141
Under the shattering moonlight, his swaying platinum hair and gently curved turquoise eyes were unrealistically beautiful.
It was a beauty that felt utterly inadequate to describe with mere human words like handsome, striking, or distinguished.
The Young Emperor, a boy of a mysterious aura that made it hard to believe he was only sixteen, looked at So-ya with an elegant smile.
“Did you really intend to just check if I was alright and then leave?”
So-ya, who had stepped close to the window, gripped the windowsill with both hands and asked.
“Because it was so late.”
“That’s mean. You were going to make me a child who couldn't even offer a proper thank you to her savior.”
So-ya spoke with a hint of playful grumbling, then soon broke into a bright smile as she greeted him.
“I heard it was Your Majesty who saved me today. Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Yi-rim merely replied with a deep smile.
The sound of insects chirping mingled with the quiet, cozy night air.
So-ya tucked a strand of hair swaying in the spring breeze behind her ear and asked him in a soft, gentle tone.
“We agreed to see each other again at the Innate Nature Gathering, but yesterday was so chaotic. Your Majesty must have been very busy and distracted as well, right?”
“Mm.”
Yi-rim closed his lips, unable to answer easily.
“Your Majesty?”
At So-ya’s call, he wore a troubled smile.
“……What should I do?”
He muttered in a perplexed voice, then looked at So-ya and let out a short laugh.
“Do you know, So-ya? The Yellow Dragon cannot tell a lie.”
“……?”
“It is a restriction placed by the Heavenly Emperor when He created the world. Thus, I do not know how to answer your question.”
At those cryptic words, So-ya blinked her eyes, wondering if she had asked such a difficult question.
“About the banquet yesterday. You seemed a bit busy and distracted, so you might not have seen me, but……”
Yi-rim answered affectionately in his characteristic low, quiet voice.
“In my eyes, I only saw you.”
“Pardon……?”
“Because you were so beautiful. Even from a distance, I could only see you.”
“……!”
At that unreserved answer, So-ya’s face instantly flushed bright red.
“However, even for me, giving such an answer is a bit embarrassing.”
Despite saying that, Yi-rim’s face didn't look embarrassed at all.
Unlike him, who explained in a calm voice, the embarrassment was entirely So-ya’s burden to bear.
“Th-that kind of joke is very wicked. You’re just teasing me……”
“I told you, So-ya. The Yellow Dragon cannot lie.”
“…….”
“Mm. It seems saying such things is indeed quite embarrassing. The ancients said a ruler knows no shame, but it seems the words of the sages are entirely false.”
Yi-rim replied with a gentle smile.
At this, So-ya’s face, which was as soft and pale as fine rice flour, heated up all the way to her eyes.
So-ya fanned herself with her hand to cool the heat, thinking it was a relief that her face wasn't clearly visible due to the distance.
The night air, which she had thought was still chilly, felt strangely hot.
“It is enough that I have seen you in good health.”
“U-um, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, So-ya caught Yi-rim’s footsteps as he was about to turn away.
“Five years ago, when Your Majesty came to the White Tiger Palace. Back then, you helped me awaken my supernatural ability.”
Five years ago.
There was a time when So-ya, who had just overcome her fear of beast transformation, thought she wanted to manifest her ability quickly to be of help to her father and the people of the White Tiger Palace.
However, things didn't go as she wished, making her feel a bit gloomy, and the one who helped her then was none other than Yi-rim.
[Borrowing power from beings with great strength—that is your true ability.]
She still remembered the advice he had given her that day.
Yi-rim had clearly seen through the true nature of the power she possessed.
[‘The Flame that Purifies All.’ That is its name.]
He was also the one who told her about the Purification Flame.
There was no way such a person wouldn't know.
That she was the owner of the oracle, the one who would awaken the Ancient Divine Beast and bring peace with that power.
In other words, that she was the ‘Bride of the Yellow Dragon.’
“Your Majesty knew since then, didn't you? What kind of power…… I have.”
“Yes.”
Yi-rim answered immediately without hesitation.
Even though she had expected it, So-ya reflexively gulped at that answer and asked cautiously.
“But why…… did you pretend not to know?”
“Because you didn't want it.”
So-ya froze at those words.
“It’s the same reason you are hiding that power.”
“I-I don't exactly not want this power, I just……”
So-ya excused herself in a flustered voice.
She was worried that hiding the fact that she was the Bride of the Yellow Dragon might sound like she was rejecting him.
“So-ya.”
Yi-rim cut her off in a low voice.
“I want you to be unburdened by anything. I will not let the walls of this Imperial Palace dare to cage you.”
“…….”
At that unexpected answer, So-ya’s mouth fell open slightly, like a small bird's beak.
“So, fly far away. To wherever you want to go, freely.”
As she listened silently, a slightly sad hue appeared on So-ya’s face.
“Your Majesty…… why do you say such kind words so sadly?”
At that, Yi-rim wore a flustered expression for the first time.
“I suppose I looked that way to your eyes.”
Soon, his eyes crinkled softly as he looked at So-ya.
When he did, his curved eyes held such a sorrowful and tender light that So-ya felt her heart being stained by that emotion.
“If I look sad to you, it is all an illusion, So-ya.”
“…….”
“Because I am happier than ever before.”
His low voice drifted to So-ya on the night air.
So-ya found it hard to believe his words that he was happier than ever, but she couldn't not believe him either.
Because he was the Yellow Dragon.
The Yellow Dragon who could not lie and must only speak the truth.
For a while, only a quiet silence flowed between the two.
The one who broke that silent air was none other than Yi-rim.
“A long time ago, So-ya. When I visited the Vermilion Bird Mansion. Do you remember encountering me in the middle of the night?”
“Yes, I remember.”
So-ya nodded.
How could she forget?
The day when she, who had been treated coldly by her family for three years, felt the kindness of another for the first time.
“That day, I said I would go to the Imperial Palace as I had something to look into urgently. There was something I needed to check in the Imperial Palace Library.”
A bitter smile appeared on Yi-rim’s face as he recalled the promise he ultimately couldn't keep.
“It’s an old story from before you and I were even born. There was a race of gray feathers that was driven out of the Southern Land.”
Flinch.
So-ya’s eyes widened at those words.
When she was very young…… back when she was still the beloved young lady of the Vermilion Bird Clan.
Every night at her bedside, her father and brothers used to tell her old stories.
Among the stories they told were fun fairy tales or legends tailored to a child's level, but occasionally, there were actual events that had happened in the Southern Land.
She felt like she vaguely remembered something about the story Yi-rim had just brought up.
But…….
‘There’s no way a common avian beastkin could deceive the Vermilion Bird.’
So-ya’s brow furrowed at the hypothesis that came to mind.
‘But what if they weren't common? What if they obtained uncommon power through some means?’
Then, the moment she remembered the thick scent of evil arts she had smelled earlier today.
“Your Majesty, may I ask a favor?”
So-ya asked with a face that looked as if she had made a decision.
“I heard that in five days, there will be a ritual and incense will be burned at the Altar of the Yellow Dragon to commemorate this victory.”
The altar where the ritual would be held was the very same one where the Emperor’s enthronement ceremony had taken place, featuring a large stone statue of the Yellow Dragon.
“The Altar of the Yellow Dragon is the most sacred place in the Imperial Palace, so all beastkin abilities are nullified there, right?”
“Yes. More accurately, all abilities are nullified when passing between the two stone statues of the Yellow Dragon erected in front of the altar.”
Generally, beastkin abilities were divided into two types: those that appeared as immediate techniques the moment they were activated, and those that continuously maintained a specific state.
“On that day, could you order not only the generals but all the guests who attended this banquet to observe the ritual?”
At that request, Yi-rim’s eyes curved.
“Of course.”
Yi-rim nodded readily.
“There is nothing I cannot grant if you are the one asking, So-ya.”
At that tender reply, So-ya’s stiffened eyes curved into a smile.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
A beaming smile bloomed on So-ya’s face.
* * *
Seol-yo, who was soaking wet, rolled up his sleeves and squeezed the water out.
He had plunged into the pond and searched for So-ya’s light bead, but in the end, he had to come out without finding it.
It was late, and above all, it was too dark.
‘Let’s look again when it gets light tomorrow.’
Seol-yo nodded to himself as he walked.
He knew that finding a lost bead in that large pond was a very difficult task.
But Seol-yo hated it when So-ya was upset.
He wanted So-ya to do nothing but smile every day.
Because So-ya was pretty normally, but she was much prettier when she smiled.
He wanted to protect that lovely smiling face, which felt like it could melt the whole world into softness.
Walking aimlessly with those thoughts, Seol-yo suddenly stopped.
He discovered So-ya and Yi-rim talking with a window between them up ahead.
‘So-ya is……’
Her softly curved eyes and the faint lift of her lips drew his gaze.
‘Smiling……’
Seol-yo stared at her blankly.
She was so lovely that he couldn't take his eyes off her.
After watching her for a while, Seol-yo glanced over at Yi-rim, who was standing a short distance away from her.
“…….”
It was strange.
So-ya was smiling so beautifully, so why did his chest feel like it was tightening with a stinging pain?
Clearly, until just a moment ago, he was filled with the thought of wanting to protect So-ya’s smiling face…….
But seeing the two of them together made him feel incredibly small in an instant.
Feeling as though he shouldn't interrupt their conversation, Seol-yo turned away soundlessly.
Drip, drip.
Wet pond water soaked the floor where he passed.