The Vixen
Night, with the incense burned halfway down.
In the Nogungak of Sangcheong Palace, where Baek Yeong — adoptive daughter of the Wulin Alliance Leader — had closed her eyes, a low chant of prayer rose and spread. It was a rite offered in person by Sect Leader Neung Hwaun for her passage to the heavens, yet the face of Alliance Leader Yu Baekheon, watching from behind, remained utterly composed.
…Father.
He still remembered the first time Baek Yeong had called him that.
A child who had been forced to hide in a narrow crevice and merely watch her birth parents die, swept up in the quarrels of martial men. How his heart had swelled when that child — who had spoken not a word under the weight of shock — fidgeted with small hands and caught hold of his leg.
So overjoyed had he been that Yu Baekheon lifted her with both arms and spun her round and round.
Yes. I am your father. Call me that once more.
The death of parents, and revenge. It had also been the moment when his adoptive daughter made him grasp the greater cause he had failed to see even through that long, grinding ordeal.
I will see to it that never again will children like me — and like you — be made in the Central Plains.
The righteousness and chivalry doled out by the powerful was not goodness but deception. Their virtue never reached the oppressed, nor arrived when it was needed. Therefore he would set order, not righteousness and chivalry, as the measure of the world, and leave no wronged soul under heaven.
That had been the plan. And yet—
When he shut his eyes, Baek Yeong’s face as she died bleeding began to form. Eyes emptied of life. Lips torn and burst, blood dried hard upon them.
…The work I began for you has instead destroyed you.
Enduring a heart that felt as if it would tear in two, Yu Baekheon swallowed a bitter mouthful of spit.
It had not been Baek Yeong alone. Those he had trusted and leaned upon as one leans on a master. Friends for whom he would have given his life. And disciples he had treated no differently than his own children, just as he had treated her.
How many precious people had he cut away with his own hands to drive his will through?
At first, tears had come. When every tear had dried, regret and blood began to pour. A loneliness and agony so terrible that those who preened about walking alone like the horn of a rhinoceros could never understand it.
And still he had not died. And still he had not broken his resolve. Even if his whole body were soaked in blood-soaked resentment, it was a thing that had to be seen through to the end.
When you cast aside every worldly care and desire and advance like the horn of a rhinoceros, I will gather up the pain and screams of the powerless and advance like an asura.
A man’s iron conviction. Or stubbornness and arrogance. Call it what one would — that mad flame had become a great wildfire, and it had begun to move upon the Central Plains.
Just as Yu Baekheon was steeling his resolve once more, a sound transmission brushed his ear from beyond the door.
—Alliance Leader. As you instructed, the Beggar’s Guild agent who was tailing them has reappeared at Wuhuahai.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of fingers drumming on a tabletop repeated at even intervals. The spacing was leisurely to a fault, yet somehow it bred impatience in anyone who heard it.
The one making the sound was none other than the Dang Clan’s cherished jewel. Even at a glance, Dang Sohye’s face looked thoroughly unsettled.
Cheongwol.
Why had this woman appeared as if dropped straight out of the sky, and why did she throw her into such disarray?
She had clearly been told that the infant born to her aunt, Dang Garyeong, was a boy. Yet the person who had brought the jade tied to the Dang Clan was, by every measure, a woman.
Oppa is right. Just because the face resembles hers a little and she brought the jade doesn’t mean she’s Aunt’s child.
The evidence was thin, and even the gender was wrong. So why did she keep fretting every time she saw Cheongwol?
Dang Sohye let out a long breath, rose from her seat, and looked out the window. This was not a matter she needed to torment herself over. In the end, everything would only be settled when her father, Dang Hyeongeuk, arrived. Thinking so, the weight on her heart seemed to lighten a little.
…Come to think of it, I haven’t seen his face these past few days.
A cool breeze stirred the tips of her hair, and Dang Sohye thought of the man who might yet become her fiancé. He was indifferent by nature, yet for the sake of the great clans’ affairs he had played the part of a fiancé rather diligently. The moment his hidden beloved appeared, though, he vanished without a trace — which felt thoroughly galling.
And of all people, that beloved had to be Cheongwol, the very one giving her a headache. What was one supposed to make of that?
The Central Plains was endless, yet these days it felt particularly narrow to Dang Sohye.
Isn’t that what the Buddhists call destiny?
Thinking that Dang Gangjin would certainly have said as much, she was about to close her eyes when a woman’s bright laughter and a man’s warm voice drifted in.
She opened her eyes at once and looked around. Sure enough, Seomun Hwi and Cheongwol were talking together.
…These two.
She had meant to look the other way for a while, given their long-awaited reunion. But Cheongwol had hold of Seomun Hwi’s arm and was dragging him this way and that, and Seomun Hwi followed without a word, his eyes dripping with affection.
…
They had not known each other long — but had Seomun Hwi ever looked at her that way, even for a moment?
They were so taken with each other they could barely live apart. If she barged in without tact now, she would only play the spoiler. She had boasted that she would guard what was hers, but the first move had already been stolen; there was nothing to be done about it.
There are plenty of men in the Central Plains who say they like me. No need to show lingering attachment to just one.
Her mood was not especially good, but Dang Sohye’s high self-regard would not permit her to become a tragic heroine. Of course, that did not mean she had the slightest intention of handing him over quietly.
She curled one corner of her mouth and drew a deep breath.
Once Seomun Hwi had sworn to treat her as a man no matter what, Cheongwol began to act as freely as she pleased.
“Hwi, I’m bored. Let’s spar a bit.”
“I think I ate too much at dinner. Let’s walk.”
“Alcohol? I’ve never tried it. Should I have a drink?”
Whatever she did was fine. The trouble was the strangely faint sense of distance. Because Cheongwol stuck right to his side at all times, Seomun Hwi had to wrestle, every moment, with the turmoil that rose in him.
But if he pushed her away now, she would surely take it to mean he was doing so because he saw her as a woman. In the end, able neither to advance nor retreat, he became a man dragged about at Cheongwol’s whim.
“Hwi! Look at this. The flower has such a strange shape.”
It was only a little troublesome, of course. Without so much as glancing at the flower, Seomun Hwi answered while looking at Cheongwol.
“There shouldn’t be any poison, but don’t touch it carelessly. There’s always the chance of something unexpected.”
Just as the mood was about to turn perfectly pleasant, a sharp, ringing voice struck both their ears.
“Take your hands off my fiancé!”
Startled, they turned. Dang Sohye was striding toward them. Only then did Seomun Hwi remember, once again, that he had come to the Dang Clan for an engagement — though no serious talk had yet taken place.
“Miss Dang, this is—”
Seomun Hwi tried to explain in haste, like a man caught in the act, but Cheongwol spoke first.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Having said so, she smiled awkwardly and quickly stepped back one pace. Cheongwol had done nothing wrong — so why did she wear a face as if she had committed a crime?
Dang Sohye, however, lifted her chin a fraction as if to say not a chance. Show a pitiful face in front of her beloved and cast only herself as a woman blinded by jealousy?
She flicked a glance at Seomun Hwi. Look. Already the man had fallen for it completely, gazing at the vixen as if she were pitiable.
Even if she meant to yield him eventually, she was far too annoyed to let go just yet.
“You say you didn’t mean it, but your behavior says otherwise. How am I supposed to believe you?”
Dang Sohye’s hand slipped between Seomun Hwi’s arms.
“I know the two of you are friends, but you’re standing far too close. What if a scandal breaks out?”
With a bright smile, her head dropped conspicuously onto his solid shoulder.
“From now on, both of you should be more careful. Especially you, Young Master Seomun.”
Having thrown her barbed words at Cheongwol, she turned her head and met Seomun Hwi’s eyes.
“Father won’t be very pleased if a scandal arises.”
“…”
When she brought up the affairs of the great clans, Seomun Hwi had no choice but to lower his head. At this rate, she could claim she had splendidly driven a wedge between the passionate pair. Looking at their faces, though, the discomfort that washed over her was greater than any satisfaction.
So you shouldn’t have treated me like I didn’t exist.
Dang Sohye linked her arm firmly through Seomun Hwi’s and turned her steps toward her room.
“It’s been a while. Let’s talk a bit.”
Though he nodded reluctantly, Seomun Hwi kept glancing back at Cheongwol, left standing alone. What might she be thinking right now? He wanted to run to her side that very instant — but he could not. If he were the friend Seomun Hwi that Cheongwol wished for, he would never act that way.