A Child, Once More
Gayul had grown up in the palace.
Among the high ministers and great officials, those who kept more than one spouse were hardly rare, and it made no difference whether the official in question was a man or a woman. The imperial house to which Gayul herself belonged was no exception.
The notion that one person ought to marry only one other person, and that the relationship should then exclude anyone else from entering it, was to Gayul something foreign, alien, and utterly impossible to sympathize with.
Gayul had veiled a few of her words out of consideration for Yujeong, but Hoeyeon, who had successfully guessed at what was going through her mind, thought to herself:
This isn't something we can sort out with a quick talk right here.
Of course, there was no way Yujeong could have known that.
"Th-then, I mean!"
Yujeong cried out.
"So Gayul, you're fine with Sajeo living with other people too?!"
Why did she—
"Why is my name coming up there of all places?!"
The thought burst out of Hoeyeon's mouth on its own.
"And what exactly do you mean by 'living with'?"
"I mean! Like, l-like… holding hands, or…."
"Hands can be held whether there is affection or not, can they not?"
"That's not what I mean! Then kissing! Are you fine with Sajeo kissing other people?!"
"Again, why is my name—"
"It depends on who the other party is. If they are wicked, or unclean, or ignorant and dull-witted, and thus unworthy of Hoeyeon, I would be furious."
Gayul's voice carried such force that anyone of weak will or uncertain conviction might well have been persuaded by that force alone.
"Conversely, if they strike me as excellent, intelligent, beautiful, and charming—if they are the sort of person for whom it would only be natural that Hoeyeon fall in love—then what cause would I have to take offense?"
Yujeong lost her words, stammered for a moment, then tilted her head.
"Is that so?"
A person of weak conviction was sitting right there in front of them.
Well—the fact that there was no contradiction in Gayul's words or manner certainly played a large part as well.
"It is so."
Gayul stated it as fact. Water flows from high to low, and a romantic relationship is not something that must shut others out. To Gayul, the two truths stood at the same level of self-evidence.
"Is that so…?"
"All right, let's put a pin in this for now."
Worried that her junior sister's head might end up a complete mess at this rate, Hoeyeon stepped in between them.
"Let's go see Arang. I'll be right back, okay? Come on?"
Whether it was better to go alone or all together, she had no idea.
"Sajeo, wouldn't it be better to leave her alone?"
"I don't know either."
Hoeyeon wanted to sigh.
Still, they couldn't stay in Yujeong's house forever, and even setting aside the matter of taking to the road, she wanted to settle the discussion of when and how they would leave as soon as possible.
When Hoeyeon started walking along the wooden corridor, Gayul and Yujeong followed behind her. At the door of the room where Arang had shut herself away, Hoeyeon laid a hand on the wood.
—If you refuse to take a mate! Then this humble one may simply take one herself!!!!
The words Arang had spat out before storming into the room seemed to ring in her ears again.
A sudden tension seized her. Hoeyeon drew a breath and knocked lightly on the door.
"Arang?"
She tried calling, but no answer came back.
"Arang? Can I come in?"
When Hoeyeon spoke again, a sound came from inside this time.
It was not, however, anything that could be called an answer.
"Kyauuung?!"
"…."
Hoeyeon looked back. Gayul's and Yujeong's faces were both saying, What did I just hear? She was quite certain her own expression was identical.
"…Arang? I'm coming in, okay?"
"H-Hoeyeon, is that you-yo?"
"…………………you-yo?"
It was a voice higher and thinner than the last one she had heard from Arang.
Like a little child's.
It can't be.
Hoeyeon carefully opened the door.
Inside the room was a small child wearing clothes far too large for her body, white fox ears and a fox tail attached.
"Hoeyeon? Gayul? Where is this place-yo?"
Child-Arang asked, her eyes brimming with tears.
"The magic that had made Arang a child was largely dismantled that day," Gayul said beside the lantern lit in the courtyard.
The countryside went fully dark once night fell, and Yujeong's house stood alone even farther removed from the village proper, so everything beyond the lantern's light was pure black.
"However, the formula was so complex that it could not all be erased in a single stroke, and there were several constructions even I had never seen before woven into it. We had been removing the remainder line by line, consulting with Arang as we went."
Gayul sighed.
"And somehow, what remained managed to activate again."
"Any idea what triggered it?"
"That Arang's own violent emotions served as the fuse is certain. But as I said, even I do not fully understand this magic…."
It was an autumn night, but the sun had not been down long, so the air was cool rather than cold.
Hoeyeon, Gayul, and Yujeong sat side by side, and Arang—now a child—was asleep with her head pillowed on Hoeyeon's thigh.
"Huniyaaa…."
Dressed in the childhood clothes they had found in Yujeong's house, Arang looked, fox ears and tail aside, like any ordinary country child. All the more so for how peacefully she was breathing in her sleep.
Yujeong beside them still wore a dazed expression, but her guard had come down; she was no longer flinching and fidgeting the way she had at first.
Given the unavoidable circumstances, they had given Yujeong only a brief explanation of the existence of Demi-humans, and of the fact that Gayul and Arang were among them.
"So… how do we get Arang back to normal?"
"In all likelihood, she will return within a few days even if we do nothing."
Gayul gave Arang's fox ear a light stroke. Yujeong watched, swallowed hard, and looked very much as though she wanted to try it herself.
"The magic as it stands was reactivated by chance, forced into place, and is only barely holding on. It will not last long before it unravels and vanishes on its own, and Arang will return to her original form."
"And by a few days, you mean?"
"As little as a day, as much as a week."
Gayul answered Hoeyeon's question.
"I am sorry, Yujeong, but we must impose on you a little longer. Taking Arang back onto the road in this state would be far too dangerous. I ask this of you."
"There's nothing to ask! Please rest easy, and don't feel burdened at all!"
"You have my thanks. I shall repay you in a manner you will not find wanting."
"No, not at all! You're Sajeo's close…."
The word friends that Yujeong had been about to say trailed off into vagueness, and she mumbled the rest of the sound away.
"…people! Just enjoy yourselves while you're here!"
"Then I must thank you all the more."
"No, no! If anything, I feel bad I can't do more than—"
"Yujeong."
When Hoeyeon called her name, Yujeong turned with a "Yes?"
"Any more of that and we'll have to start preparing a vault."
"…."
Yujeong broke into a cold sweat and fell quiet.
"Hmm. A vault. An excellent idea."
Gayul murmured to herself, and Yujeong began sweating even more violently.
Well—it was a cool autumn night. It would dry soon enough.
"Mungyaaang…."
Arang, who had been sleeping so peacefully, rolled over with a little sound.
"Come to think of it, Arang's memories right now seem to pick up from the last time she was like this, don't they?"
"So it would appear."
The last time Arang had been in a child's form. That is, the period when they had been deliberating how to cross the border.
So from Arang's present point of view, her memories ran from living with her parents after she was born, to being separated and alone at the age of six, to meeting Hoeyeon and Gayul and traveling with them, to fretting over how to cross the border—and then straight to now.
Hoeyeon stroked the head of the Arang sleeping on her thigh.
Come to think of it, she did not know all that much about the life Arang had lived.
It was not that Arang had been deliberately hiding anything. The subject had simply never come up.
"This must be terribly confusing for Arang as she is now. And she is enduring it with a child's body and a child's heart…."
Even Gayul's gaze as she looked at the child Arang held a note of pity.
"We wait. Just as the two of you waited for me."
"Yeah."
"It's getting a bit chilly—shall we go inside? Arang might catch a cold."
"Let's. Arang, wa—"
"Hush. I shall carry her."
Gayul gently lifted Arang from where she lay pillowed on Hoeyeon's thigh.
"Ungmyaa…?"
"Hush. It is all right."
"Ungmyaang……"
After laying Arang down on the bed in the sleeping room, Gayul started to leave, then paused.
"One of the two of us ought to stay in this room, I suppose."
Hoeyeon, who had followed her in, nodded as well.
"If she wakes up in the night and panics, it could be a real problem."
"Then I shall sleep beside Arang tonight."
"You only just woke up yourself."
"But you have been watching over me this whole time. Are you not tired?"
Just as the two of them were about to sink into a thoughtful hmm, Yujeong made a suggestion.
"Why don't we all just sleep in here?"
Now that she said it, it was the most reasonable option.
They brought bedding from the next room, and just as Hoeyeon and Gayul were about to lie down, Yujeong casually settled herself in the middle and pulled the blanket up over her head.
Gayul glanced at Yujeong but said nothing. One eyebrow, however, twitched ever so slightly.
…She looks a tiny bit annoyed?
It did not seem like real anger, so for now it was probably best to let it pass. Once the light was out and the two of them had lain down on either side, Yujeong spoke.
"It's been a long time since I've done something like this."
At the words of her junior sister, who lived alone in a spacious house set even farther apart from the village, Hoeyeon felt a small ache in her chest.
"Want to spar another round tomorrow, same as today?"
In the dark, she heard the sound of Yujeong drawing a sharp breath.
"Is that all right?"
If she had not been worried about waking Arang, she looked ready to shout.
"Yeah."
"If Sajeo is fine with it…!"
"Good. Everyone sleep well."
Hoeyeon debated whether to say it, and in the end did not.
That among all the disciples who had left, their master Yu Eunha had only ever let slip that one of them was a waste—and that one was Yujeong alone.
And that she in fact knew Yujeong had had her reasons for leaving, even though she herself had wanted to keep practicing the sword.
…This is hard……
Hoeyeon thought, and closed her eyes.
"…………Hunyaa…."
The carefree breathing of a little child drew the three of them, each sunk in her own thoughts, one by one into sleep.
The last to fall asleep was Yujeong, giddy with thoughts of tomorrow.
Until she drifted off, her fingers formed the grip of a sword again and again.
I'll be in your care again tomorrow, Sajeo.