Chapter 148
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 148
“Grrr…”
“Grrrrr…”
Demonic beasts appeared out of nowhere, surrounding Sa-eon and Ah-yun.
“Clan Head! It’s dangerous!”
Jeok Yeong, who had previously drawn a line by claiming he didn’t know such tigers, shouted toward Sa-eon from a distance.
Sensing the instinctive danger of the situation, Sa-eon and Ah-yun immediately ceased their bickering.
“What is that now…?”
Just as Sa-eon frowned and reached for his sword, Ah-yun stepped in front of him.
“Wait.”
Ah-yun blocked him, his voice trailing off.
“They aren’t demonic beasts. They’re…”
At the sound of his hesitant voice, Sa-eon narrowed his eyes. Soon, a voice laced with bewilderment escaped through his teeth.
“Humans…?”
They weren’t demonic beasts. They were people.
*
Though it was late in the evening, So-ya did not go to sleep. Instead, she paced in front of the pavilion, waiting for Sa-eon.
Due to the events that had occurred earlier that day, Sa-eon had been summoned again immediately after escorting So-ya back to her quarters. She had expected him to return before dinner, but his homecoming was taking longer than anticipated.
Anxiety began to gnaw at her.
Ri-ri had been taken into custody, but So-ya didn’t think this was the end. The Peril Beast Do-cheol, who must have given Ri-ri the power of evil arts, was likely still lurking nearby.
Just then, a black ponytail moving stealthily through the darkness caught her eye.
“Oh? Seol-yo!”
“So—So-ya?”
Seol-yo flinched and spun around to look at her.
“Where do you go every night lately?”
“Wh—what?”
“Su-ri mentioned it. He said you go out every night and come back soaking wet. Are you practicing swimming in the pond or something?”
When So-ya asked with an innocent smile, Seol-yo’s face instantly flushed bright red.
“It—it’s just a secret…”
Seol-yo avoided her gaze, answering hesitantly.
“Hey, that’s not fair. They say real friends don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“…”
At those words, Seol-yo’s shoulders trembled. To be honest, there was a secret he had kept for two years that he couldn’t tell So-ya. Hiding his heavy heart, Seol-yo mumbled a response.
“It’s just… there’s something I need to find.”
“What is it? I’ll help you.”
“Uh, well…”
“If we look together, we’ll find it much faster!”
“Uh… okay…”
Seol-yo didn’t know how to make an excuse. He had always been with So-ya in situations like this; refusing her now would only make him seem more suspicious.
Oh no. What do I do?
If Seol-yo were a better talker like Hyeon, he could have come up with a plausible lie. Or, if he were as brazen as Ga-yul, he would have shouted a flat "no" and bolted away.
However, unable to find an excuse or the courage to run, Seol-yo had no choice but to head toward the pond with So-ya trotting along beside him.
“It must be really important if you go looking for it every single day.”
“Ye—yeah. I guess so…”
“But isn’t it hard to find things when it’s this late?”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t help it today… Huh?”
As Seol-yo answered while scratching his head, he spotted a boy standing frozen across from them, staring their way. No, the boy’s gaze wasn’t on him—it was fixed on So-ya.
That man… the red hair…
Realizing it was the person from the Vermilion Bird Clan he had seen during the Innate Nature Gathering, Seol-yo glanced at So-ya.
“Let’s go, Seol-yo. Quickly,” So-ya said, her voice somewhat stiff as she took Seol-yo’s hand.
“O—okay!”
Just as Seol-yo began to follow So-ya, who was trying to leave the area with hurried steps, a voice stopped them.
“Did you know?”
Hwa-yu’s voice halted their progress.
So-ya let go of Seol-yo’s hand and slowly turned around. She stood face-to-face with Hwa-yu.
Though she had encountered the Vermilion Bird Clan again at the Imperial Palace, this was the first time she had faced Hwa-yu this closely.
[…Thank you so much, Brother.]
[I’ve always wanted to go to the summer festival. Thank you for remembering and bringing me here.]
The memory of the summer festival five years ago was her last with him.
[I have somewhere to go for a moment, so wait here.]
He had left her and never returned. That was how she was abandoned.
It was the day she had carved into her heart the fact that she, who had already been cast aside long before that, was now completely abandoned.
So-ya still couldn’t forget that day. The final day of that sweltering summer festival. The lonely, painful emotion she felt the moment she realized she had been left all alone…
“Tell me the truth. You knew, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That she was a cuckoo.”
Hwa-yu barely managed to ask, as if even speaking the words was repulsive.
His father hadn’t come, his brother hadn’t come, and his mind was in such turmoil that he had been walking alone when he spotted So-ya. And the moment he saw her, he had reached out to stop her without even thinking.
“How could I have known something that even you didn’t?” So-ya replied in a calm voice.
“You lured her onto the altar with the promise of forgiveness,” Hwa-yu countered immediately. “Like a well-planned game of chess, you exposed her identity.”
“…”
So-ya responded with silence.
“I suppose I must have looked pathetic to you, being fooled by a cuckoo.”
Hwa-yu let out a mocking laugh, his lips curling bitterly.
“Not at all.”
“Are you pitying me?”
He suddenly flared up at her composed reply.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. You, that cuckoo—both of you deceived me—”
“Don’t say such strange things. Why would I pity you?” So-ya interrupted, looking at him as if she had just heard the most bizarre thing in the world. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, acting as if you’re the most miserable person on earth?”
“…”
Hwa-yu flinched at the words that pierced right through him, his fists clenching tight.
“And besides, what would be so funny about it?”
A faint trace of emotion entered So-ya’s voice as she asked.
“How could it be funny to watch you and your father abandon that girl, just as you abandoned me?”
“What…?”
“You might find something like that funny, but I don’t.”
“…”
“It wasn’t funny at all.”
“…”
Hwa-yu stared at So-ya with a dazed expression.
Abandoned…
Because those words sounded so agonizingly poignant…
“I…”
He managed to open his mouth, fighting against the sensation of his lips parching and his throat tightening.
“I didn’t abandon you. I just…”
Even as he spoke, the excuse felt pathetic and wretched.
But at that moment, So-ya flinched and whipped her head around toward something.
“So-ya…?”
Hwa-yu called her name, confused.
“Seol-yo!”
Poof!
At So-ya’s cry, Seol-yo instantly transformed into a massive black wolf. So-ya immediately climbed onto his back.
“Where are you going all of a sudden…?”
“And one more thing, Young Master Hwa-yu. I never deceived you.”
“What…?”
But So-ya didn’t give a more detailed answer. No, she didn’t have the time.
“That way, Seol-yo!”
Leaving the bewildered Hwa-yu behind, So-ya began to race off atop Seol-yo.
Standing there in a daze, Hwa-yu eventually sensed a strange atmosphere as well. A chaotic energy was emanating from the direction So-ya had run. Snapping out of it, he chased after them.
When he reached the scene, he found people who had turned into demonic beasts.
So-ya was standing ahead of him, biting her lower lip as she stared at the transformed humans. Seeing this, Hwa-yu instinctively lunged forward.
“It’s dangerous, go back to your quarters—!”
Poof!
Before he could even finish his sentence, So-ya’s body transformed into a small bird in an instant.
“Pya!”
So-ya let out a chirp and soared high into the sky.
Hwa-yu froze on the spot.
Under the dark night sky, a single red feather fluttered down, brushing past his eyes.
*
Yi-rim sat leaning against the window frame.
Above the high, round moon, the image of So-ya’s face appeared—the way she had looked when she asked him in that pure, clear voice.
[Your Majesty, you knew from the beginning, didn’t you? What kind of power… I possess.]
A faint smile suddenly bloomed on Yi-rim’s face.
Yes. Of course I knew.
How could I not know, my Consort?
I recognized you from the very first moment I saw you.
That you were my bride.
Words he couldn’t bring himself to say in front of her surged restlessly within his chest. It was a sensation that was both painful and joyful… a lingering turbulence he still couldn’t quite define, even after passing through so many veils of time.
Just then, he sensed someone approaching.