Side Story 29
Translator: RaidenTL
Side Story 29
In her first life, her soul had been so tainted by her father that she was deprived of even the peace of death, forced to die in agony.
In several subsequent lives he remembered, she met her end because of the cuckoo; in others, she died at the hands of those sent by Hyeon Ra-baek.
Whether it was death by the resurrected clutches of evil or the countless times she perished because she could not heal her wounded spirit core despite avoiding every other crisis, her deaths were beyond numbering.
Yi-rim desired only one thing.
Even if it were for just one lifetime, he wanted So-ya to live out her natural lifespan and pass away peacefully in the arms of those she loved.
He felt a deep sorrow for the cruel fate imposed upon her and a burning resentment toward the heavens that had stood by and watched her tragic destiny unfold.
He cursed the figures of the Heavenly Realm who had allowed evil to flourish so rampantly, yet sought to take her life for the trivial reason that she had brushed against their authority.
[Do not be so conceited as to think you have defeated me, young Yellow Dragon of the earthly realm. The only reason the Heavenly Realm leaves you be is that they know you will eventually destroy yourself.]
“…I should have slit his throat right then and there.”
Yi-rim muttered in a chilling voice.
A bleak bloodlust flickered in his blue-green eyes, which were usually so gentle. It was a side of him he had never shown to So-ya.
At that moment, he bore the same expression the eleven-year-old emperor had worn—the boy who had slaughtered his own kin to ascend the throne, standing amidst a precarious whirlwind of blood.
[The price for defying heavenly fate shall be yours alone to bear.]
Yi-rim gave a light, mocking laugh.
The price for defying fate. He couldn't possibly fear such a thing.
If he could gain one day for her by selling one of his own, he would sustain her life to its natural end, even if it meant paying the price of thousands or tens of thousands of days.
If Yi-rim feared anything, it was only one thing.
That his own fate would run out before he could ensure her life was whole.
…Yes, that was the only thing he truly feared.
“But So-ya.”
Suddenly, he looked toward the White Tiger Palace and a faint smile touched his lips.
“I think I can finally keep my promise to you this time.”
There had been so many promises left unkept.
[This imperial palace is dangerous. Let’s leave together, So-ya.]
[Your Highness…?]
[Come with me, outside the palace walls, So-ya. I will protect you.]
Such was the promise made when they tried to escape the Imperial Palace together.
[I want to see the flowers, Your Highness… The ones that used to bloom in the garden of my family home…]
[Not right now. When you are healthy again, we shall go see the flowers together.]
Such was the promise made in the thatched cottage where they hid, unable to flee far because of her frail health, after escaping the palace and her father’s watchful eyes.
[Your Highness…! No, Your Highness…! Your Highness!]
[I’m—cough—I’m fine. I’m alright, So-ya, ugh… I will… I will definitely come back for you… I’ll be back soon…]
Such was the promise he spat out along with mouthfuls of blood, directed at her as she was dragged away while the Emperor’s soldiers rained kicks down upon him.
[Just a little longer. Please, wait just a little longer. The day I come for you is not far off, so just a little…]
Such was the promise he made every single day in his heart as he survived countless perils after being abandoned in the desolate Northern Land where demonic beasts swarmed.
And…
[I will save you, So-ya. Even if I must break the taboos of this world, I will surely save you.]
Such was the promise made on the day he offered the Yellow Dragon’s Orb to his dead beloved to turn back time to the very beginning.
And now, finally, the time had come to keep that promise.
Flake. Flake.
Black scales fell from his body.
Yi-rim glanced at his scales, which tirelessly repeated the cycle of festering, falling off, and growing back again.
The black scales that fell from his body scattered like petals in the gentle breeze.
So-ya.
The beginning of all the misery you had to endure was my father’s wickedness…
And the fact that you were turned away by those you loved began because I revived you by handing over the Yellow Dragon’s Orb…
How could I ever be forgiven by you for these many, many wrongs?
So-ya, my Consort…
His lonely voice dissipated among the scattering black scales.
Yi-rim turned away in agony.
*
6. Time Flows On, and the Baby Bird of the White Tiger Palace
The Southern Land of the Empire, the Vermilion Bird Mansion.
The Clan Head’s office.
A man with red hair sat in a composed posture, reviewing documents.
The man with the gentle face was the young new head of the Vermilion Bird Clan, Jeok San-yu.
He had poured all his strength into restoring the discipline of the mansion that had been disrupted during his absence and rebuilding the faltering clan.
He could not afford to waste a single hour or a single moment.
This was because he had a very important promise to keep.
[Som-som, aren't you going to come see her yourself?]
[…A bit later. The karma I must carry is still too heavy.]
His younger sister, whom he had parted with without even a proper goodbye because he had to leave the Imperial Palace in haste due to the fire that struck the mansion.
[When I can stand before her as a better man. I will definitely go to see her then.]
To reunite with her as soon as possible, he could not allow himself even a moment’s rest.
“Clan Head…!”
Just then, one of his subordinates approached him with a somewhat distraught expression.
“What is it?”
“It’s… news has arrived from the Imperial Palace. The prisoner held in the palace prison…”
The subordinate hesitated before speaking carefully.
Upon hearing the news of Ri-ri’s death in prison, a low sigh escaped San-yu’s lips.
“I see. So it has finally come to that.”
San-yu nodded with a weary face.
It had been said that a body stripped of its life force as the price for using evil arts would not last long.
On the day he visited the Imperial Palace to finalize his succession as Clan Head, San-yu had seen Ri-ri in the prison.
With half her body hideously withered and her eyes hollow, Ri-ri hadn't recognized him at all.
It was a gruesome sight—her staring blankly into space, muttering to herself, and occasionally convulsing from the intermittent bouts of physical agony.
She had been in a state where death wouldn't have been surprising at any moment, yet she had endured for three more years in that cold, dark palace prison. She had held on for a long time.
And San-yu knew. The reason Ri-ri had been able to endure that long… was the Emperor’s will.
[How could I forget the contributions the Jeok Clan has made to the Empire? Do not worry. The Imperial Family will see to it that the daughter of the Jeok Clan does not lose her breath easily.]
Thinking of the Emperor who had said those words often sent a chill down San-yu’s spine.
Was it truly a blessing to prolong a life spent in the agony of a rotting body, living through cold and dark days without a single visitor?
“Should we not inform the former Clan Head?”
At the subordinate’s question, San-yu pondered for a moment before standing up.
Leaving the office, his steps led him to a small building on the west side of the mansion.
There, a man with his eyes covered by a long cloth sat on the veranda.
Though he must have sensed San-yu’s presence, he did not turn around, instead staring out at something in the distance.
San-yu followed his father’s gaze toward the western sky.
A sudden surge of emotion hit him.
He felt he understood why his father sat in the small building at the westernmost edge of the mansion, staring endlessly at the distant western sky even though he could see nothing…
Three years ago. The day of the victory celebration banquet at the Imperial Palace.
A fire had suddenly broken out at the mansion.
His father had lost one eye in that incident, and the vision in his other eye had grown dim.
The flames that consumed the mansion that day were none other than the fire sparked by Jeok Ah-yun’s own rampaging emotions.
Originally, the flames of the Vermilion Bird cannot harm those of the direct lineage.
The reason his body was harmed nonetheless was that those flames contained his own will to destroy himself.
The burn scars remaining all over his body from that day’s accident were a punishment the father who had abandoned his child had imposed upon himself.
Had San-yu not rescued him in time, his father would have lost his life in those flames.
[You don't even have the right to die.]
[So do not die. Live. Please, live for a long, long time. If only for So-ya’s sake.]
San-yu knew how those words of his must have pierced his father’s heart.
Because of that single sentence, the man who had burned himself in the fires of hell remained trapped in the hell of his own making.
As if he were a man truly intent on living for a very long time, Jeok Ah-yun had let go of everything but his life.
San-yu ignored the ache in his chest and spoke slowly.
“Father.”
Then, in a calm voice, he delivered the news of Ri-ri’s death.
“The cuckoo is dead.”