Chapter 155
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 155
Meanwhile, Ri-ri woke up that morning and screamed at the sight of her own hideous reflection.
In the aftermath of the Evil draining her remaining life force, the left side of her body had shriveled and withered into a grotesque state.
Unfortunately, Ri-ri had no memory of anything that had happened since the Evil took over her body. Her last memory ended at the moment Do-cheol had come to find her.
It would have been better if she had never opened her eyes again—if her breath had simply stopped then and there. For now, only a miserable end awaited her.
Her crimes had been compounded; to the previous night’s demonic beast incident was added the charge of attempted regicide.
Ri-ri felt it was unfair. She had never intended to assassinate the Emperor. She had used evil arts, yes, but only to heal the injured. That Peril Beast must have used her to commit those acts.
“You have a visitor. Come out.”
The guard called for her. Ri-ri’s eyes widened at the word 'visitor.'
Was it her father? Or perhaps her brother?
Along with the sound of crunching footsteps, Hwa-yu appeared.
“Brother!” Ri-ri scrambled to her feet. “I knew you would come for me!”
The moment she saw his face, her sorrow overflowed. She began to sob, her voice thick with resentment. “Why did you take so long? You’re so mean. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”
“…”
“You’re here to get me out, right? This is all a misunderstanding. Let me tell you what happened…”
“Is it true?” Hwa-yu interrupted, his voice rasping. “Is it true you tried to harm her?”
“Brother…?”
“Did you really… try to kill her?”
Ri-ri gulped, taken aback by his reaction. It was nothing like what she had expected. She instinctively shrank back from the chilling aura radiating from him.
“It’s because she was trying to steal Father and you away from me again. That’s why I did it,” Ri-ri answered, her voice clear as she forced herself to endure the urge to turn and run. “You saw it too, Brother. Father started acting strange after we met her again… And if that wasn't enough, she even tried to take the position of the Bride of the Yellow Dragon…”
“Not this time. I mean five years ago.”
The words San-yu had spoken just yesterday swirled chaotically in Hwa-yu's mind.
[She tried to harm So-ya a long time ago as well. Regrettably, there’s no physical evidence, only circumstantial.]
San-yu had confronted the Three-Legged Crow Captain and uncovered the circumstances. Those facts overlapped with Ri-ri’s recent behavior toward So-ya, lending credibility to San-yu’s claims.
“Is it true that you used the Three-Legged Crow to try and kill her?”
“…!”
Ri-ri flinched, her body freezing at his words. But soon, she clenched her fists and raised her voice.
“S-so what if I did? You said you’d get rid of her too, Brother!”
“What…?”
“I was just trying to make sure she was gone for good! What’s so wrong about that?!”
Hwa-yu’s eyes wavered at her retort.
“I… I wasn’t trying to kill her! I just…!”
He suddenly fell silent.
I just… wanted to move her out of your way…
He couldn't bring himself to say those words aloud.
‘I… I abandoned her outside the mansion with my own hands…’
[How could I find it funny to watch you and your father discard that child as if she were trash?]
[You might find such a thing amusing, but I don’t. It wasn’t funny at all.]
So-ya’s piercing voice, as she looked straight at him, echoed in his ears. She hadn't stayed to listen to his pathetic excuses about how he hadn't "abandoned" her.
It was for the best. It was better that she hadn't heard those wretched, hollow excuses to the end.
What did he mean, he hadn't abandoned her?
On the final night of the Summer Festival, he had walked away after discarding her with his own hands. He had left her behind—the girl who had beamed with such pure joy over a single beaded bracelet he had carelessly handed her.
And So-ya, left all alone… what must she have thought as she fled from the Three-Legged Crow sent to kill her?
“Ugh…”
A sudden surge of nausea hit Hwa-yu, and he covered his mouth with one hand.
“Heugh… ugh…”
He felt so disgusted with himself that he couldn't bear it.
“B-brother? Are you alright?”
Startled, Ri-ri reached out tentatively to check on him.
Slap!
Hwa-yu struck her hand away.
“You…”
He lifted his head to glare at her, his bloodshot eyes brimming with moisture.
“You tried to kill my sister.”
“Brother…?”
“You tried to kill my real sister!”
“W-what are you talking about? I’m your real sister. So why…”
Ri-ri stammered, her lips twitching into an awkward smile.
Could it be? Has the real one returned? No, that’s impossible. She should be dead…
Confusion filled her mind as Hwa-yu suddenly brought up the "real" sister.
“So-ya! I’m talking about my real sister, the one you tried to kill!”
But Ri-ri’s confusion vanished the moment So-ya’s name left Hwa-yu’s lips.
“…Is that what she told you? That she’s the real one?” Ri-ri asked back, sounding utterly exasperated. “Look at this. She coveted my place, and now she’s even managed to bewitch you, Brother!”
“She coveted your place? Don’t talk crazy! You’re the one who stole So-ya’s place!” Hwa-yu screamed, grabbing Ri-ri by the collar.
“Let go of me!”
“You! You stole So-ya’s place and spent all this time pretending to be my sister!”
“I said let go!”
At Ri-ri’s scream, the guards stationed outside rushed in.
“Y-Young Lord! You mustn't do this…”
“That girl is a fake!” Ri-ri shrieked at the top of her lungs. “The real one must be dead! Her spirit core would have cracked and shattered the day you all accepted me into the mansion!”
“Dead…?”
Hwa-yu’s heart sank at those words.
“Stupid Vermilion Bird fools. You don’t even realize you’re being played by her. You fell for her tricks and treated me like this…”
As Hwa-yu stared blankly at Ri-ri, who was huffing and spewing curses, something suddenly occurred to him.
“Now that I think about it, you…”
That day at the Altar of the Yellow Dragon, when she was revealed to be a cuckoo, Ri-ri had spoken as if she were certain So-ya was a fake.
Hwa-yu instinctively felt that there was another horrific truth he hadn't known. Fear gripped him, but the need to know the hidden truth forced his mouth open.
“What… what do you mean? Why would the real one be dead…?”
“How do you think I was able to cross the threshold of your mansion? It was all because the Peril Beast helped me.”
Ri-ri threw off her mask of the sweet younger sister and revealed her true colors, letting out a mocking snort.
“The Peril Beast who helped me said so. The moment the brood parasitism is activated, the real one’s spirit core will crack and she will die.”
“…”
The color drained completely from Hwa-yu’s face.
“Then… the reason her spirit core was so damaged was…”
He remembered that So-ya’s spirit core had been broken.
A sudden surge of emotion overcame him, and Hwa-yu lunged at Ri-ri.
“You. You did that to her. Because of you, my real sister—So-ya—almost died!”
“Kyaah! Let go!”
“Oh, heavens, Young Lord! You can’t do this here!”
Between Ri-ri’s piercing screams and the guards trying to restrain Hwa-yu, the prison cell instantly turned into a scene of chaos.
The guards finally managed to pull Hwa-yu and Ri-ri apart, but the two continued to shriek at each other, their glares never wavering.
“You deceived us and even harmed my real sister! You cuckoo…!”
“Real sister, my foot! Long before I ever set foot in your mansion, that girl had already been abandoned by you lot and was hiding away like a filthy beggar!”
Hwa-yu gasped involuntarily at Ri-ri’s wide-eyed shout.
Thump…
He felt his heart drop into his stomach. No—it was the sound of his heart shattering.
“And you’re going to blame me after all that? You pathetic Vermilion Birds!”
Even as the guards dragged her back to her cell, Ri-ri continued to scream at Hwa-yu until the very end.
Jeok Hwa-yu clutched his shattered heart and stared blankly at the scene.