What Could Never Reach Forward Begins to Advance
With a blade at her throat, Hoeyeon whispered.
"…Sixty-seven to one."
"…I did… it…."
Yujeong, who had beaten Hoeyeon for the first time, spoke through her exhaustion—but joyfully—and grinned.
"Sajeo."
"Hm?"
Slowly withdrawing her sword, Yujeong said,
"I… want to fight more."
"Funny. So do I."
They sheathed their blades, and without either of them needing to go first, both collapsed onto the dirt.
"But seriously, seriously, I'm so tired."
"Yeah. Me too."
Even sitting up felt impossible. In the eastern sky, the morning sun was already rising.
"Tomorrow… will you fight me again?"
"Anytime."
"Hehe…."
Yujeong's two horns glittered in the sunlight.
"Hoeyeon-sajeo."
"Hm?"
A spar would have ended with proper etiquette. What the two of them had done all night was a fight.
"I love you more than anyone in the world."
"Good girl."
"Hehe… I said it."
Yujeong closed her eyes then and there and fell asleep. She looked content—peaceful.
A rustling sound reached them. Footsteps Hoeyeon had grown used to by now.
"Well done, Hoeyeon. Though I suppose 'well done' undersells it—you achieved something monumental. In any case, you worked hard."
"To think you'd weather the crisis by fighting a Gwiin until she collapsed from exhaustion… I can scarcely tell which of you is the human."
"If Yujeong's a demi-human too, that makes me the only one here who isn't, you know."
Gayul and Arang each tossed out a line. Hoeyeon sighed.
"About Yujeong suddenly becoming a demi-human… no, explain later. My head isn't working. You two finished up all right?"
"I once sat the throne, and Arang is a vessel I myself acknowledged. How could it have gone poorly?"
"…You didn't threaten them too hard, did you?"
"Hardly. We were only appropriate."
"Appropriate."
"Indeed. Only appropriately so."
"Yeah, okay… if you say so…."
What would I know… Hoeyeon sighed again.
"But honestly, Yujeong and I are probably going to be out cold for a few days."
Both of them had drained every last drop of their internal energy. It was the same as when Gayul had emptied her magic a week ago and lost consciousness for days.
"All the better."
"What?"
"Hoeyeon, listen carefully. Of the four of us, have not this one and Gayul alone been the ones always receiving care, never giving it?"
"Therefore, if we tend to the two of you here, we can settle the balance all at once."
"What do you mean, two birds with one stone of caretaking… ah."
Hoeyeon felt the edges of her consciousness darken.
"Haa… don't overdo it."
"We shall be only appropriate."
"I shall consider it."
"I'm getting nervous about this—"
—before she could finish with so I'm going to pass out, Hoeyeon's consciousness cut out.
By Hoeyeon's own sense of time, she woke from one deep sleep to find herself lying in a bed in a room that looked like a palace.
"………………?"
It was lavish.
Everything was lavish, opulent; it seemed as though if you pried off any single ornament and walked away with it, you could live without working for a very long time.
"…Huh?"
Hoeyeon rubbed her eyes. Nothing changed.
"…What is this…?"
As she tilted her head and looked around, someone sleeping beside her entered her field of vision.
Yujeong was breathing softly in her sleep. Pink hair lay gently spread across the plush bedding.
Slowly, Hoeyeon touched a fingertip to the tip of one of the new horns that had sprouted on Yujeong's forehead.
"Ow—sharp."
Fortunately, it didn't seem to have drawn blood. As she reached to touch it properly again, her eyes caught something moving on the other side. She turned her head. Gayul was sleeping there.
"…."
What? Why are the three of us in the same bed? It was large enough that even Arang could have fit, but still.
Hoeyeon looked down at herself. At least she was fully dressed.
Should I wake Gayul first?
She was carefully about to try when Arang slid the door open and stepped in, making no effort to hide her fluffy fox ears and tail.
"Awake, are you?"
Seeing that Hoeyeon was up, Arang smiled with open delight.
"Yeah. But Arang, where is this?"
Hoeyeon gestured around the room. Arang indicated Gayul with a glance.
"It is Gayul's."
"Hers?"
"Gayul's secret residence. The caretaker is one who has personally attended her since her days upon the throne."
"Attended her? Personally?"
Knock, knock.
This time, a white-haired old woman entered. She looked eighty—no, ninety at least.
Meeting Hoeyeon's eyes, she smiled, bowed in greeting, set a tray laden with tea and sweets on the table beside the bed, and withdrew without a sound.
"…Who was that?"
"Originally, she was my nurse."
Gayul spoke without opening her eyes.
"Eek!"
"'Eek' wounds me somewhat… and from my lover, no less."
"If you're awake, give some sign… wait… lover, that's…."
Hearing for the first time a word that directly named what she and Gayul were to each other, Hoeyeon could only stammer.
Gayul smiled faintly at the sight of her, sat up in bed, and picked up one of the sweets from the tray.
"You two should try some as well. Excellent confections. Though they are, admittedly, all things I myself favored."
"Uh… then I'll…."
Hesitating, Hoeyeon chose the most brightly colored one and took a bite.
Happiness, in the form of sweetness, exploded in her mouth.
"!!? !!!!!!!!!!!????!?!?!??!?"
Watching Hoeyeon's eyes sparkle, Gayul laughed low again, and Arang raised an intrigued brow.
"Did you always love sweets so?"
"Hoeyeon has always loved eating delicious things."
"That's not—gulp—true! This is just objectively amazing, okay!?"
"You say that while holding one in each hand. How am I meant to believe you…?"
"Yujeong. Hey, Yujeong."
"Nngh… huh? Sajeo, you're up? Wanna fight?"
"Later. First, try this."
"What? All of a sudden—ooooh…… that's good."
"That's all the reaction I get!?"
"Huh? Sajeo, people who get so moved by food they cry like you are a minority."
"Is that so? Has she always been this way?"
"Ugh, Sajeo's love of good food was famous. One time, Master—"
"That's enough!"
Hoeyeon shouted. Gayul, who could hold it in no longer, clutched her stomach and roared with laughter.
"Five to zero! We're done!"
"Sajeo! Sajeo! Just one more! Only one more!"
"No. Tomorrow. We'll go again tomorrow."
"Kuuuuuuaaaaaaah…… I really feel like I could win if we just did one more!"
Yujeong threw a tantrum, but Hoeyeon—having crossed blades the promised five times—returned her sword to its sheath.
"She's become rather stable."
Gayul, who had been watching their martial display in the residence courtyard with a mixture of observation and appreciation, spoke.
"You mean Yujeong?"
Gayul nodded in answer to Arang.
"Perhaps because Hoeyeon spent that entire day matching her—she has grown rather capable of restraining her own bloodlust, has she not?"
"I do not even wish to imagine what might have become of her without Hoeyeon…."
"When a Gwiin suddenly appeared, I nearly leapt out of my skin. And when I realized it was Yujeong…."
Gayul let the words trail off. Arang sighed.
"This one felt the same."
"A Gwiin—a demi-human—who broke away alone, married a human, and hid herself."
"…Are you overlaying her with someone?"
Gayul's gaze rested on the lover she had only recently taken.
"Perhaps a little."
"Hmph."
"Arang, I will say it again: your heart is something you yourself must bring to Hoeyeon."
"……………Are you truly all right with this?"
Winter would come within a few weeks. The autumn wind felt especially cold against her uneasy heart.
"Have I not said it several times already? If she is someone I acknowledge—splendid, wise, beautiful, and full of charm—what cause have I to take offense?"
"Flattery will earn you nothing from me."
"You are truly arrogant yourself."
"As if you are any less so?"
Arang snorted a laugh. Her expression had lightened considerably.
"Saaaaajeooooooooooo…."
Out in the courtyard, Yujeong was clinging to Hoeyeon's pant leg and throwing a fit.
"Very well. This one shall follow wherever her heart leads."
"Do so. Though—unless you truly do not care—you may wish to hurry, within reason."
"What?"
"If you do not mind being third rather than second, then by all means, take your time."
"…."
In the courtyard, Hoeyeon had seized Yujeong's two horns and was scolding her.
"I told you not to throw tantrums!"
"Hyaat!? Hyat—Sa, aah, Sajeo, the horns—ahh!"
Arang averted her eyes. Gayul muttered beside her.
"I ought to tell Hoeyeon not to casually touch a demi-human's body parts."
"And whose fault is it the first button was fastened wrong, you pointed-ear?"
"Ahem!"
"'The child has gone to sleep—'"
"Arang, isn't that a little harsh—'ya-yo'?"
"…."
"…."
Gayul's old nurse watched the two of them snarl at each other with a gentle smile.
"My only blood relative stands among the enemy."
Over a lavish meal, mid-sip of tea, Gayul dropped the words like a bomb.
Everyone froze, speechless. Gayul alone slowly swallowed her tea and continued.
"His name is Hyeoneum. A foolish, self-absorbed man—and my elder brother, whom I once pitied for my own mistakes and failed to punish sufficiently. And…."
Gayul studied Hoeyeon's face.
"That thing last night was my grandfather."
Hoeyeon spoke first, sparing Gayul the difficulty of saying it.
"Gayul."
"What is it?"
"The ringleader of the rebellion you came to catch that day—it was him, wasn't it?"
"…It was."
A thorn driven too deep to pull out carelessly hurts least when, once you start, you wrench it free in a single motion.
"Our village turning to ash—that was because of him too, wasn't it?"
"Why do you conclude so?"
"Because there's no way you would have dragged innocent people into it."
"…As you say."
The soft drip of water was the sound of Hoeyeon's tears falling, drop by drop.
"…I…."
Hoeyeon wiped her eyes, but as fast as she wiped them, new tears came. It was useless.
"Just a moment…."
Still dabbing at the corners of her eyes, Hoeyeon rose from her seat and headed for her room.
"…."
Gayul reached out a hand but could not find the words. Her fingers wandered in empty air.
"Will you not follow her?"
"…Arang."
Arang spoke to Gayul.
"Knowing your nature, you are surely thinking some nonsense about how you have no right, having been even partly the cause. Discard it."
"…But."
"Will you not go after her at once and comfort her? Of the three of us, you alone have yet to bare your heart to Hoeyeon."
Arang sighed.
"So it is right that you go now… and sending you is the greatest kindness this one can offer Hoeyeon."
Gayul rose from her seat.
"As expected—you are someone I can acknowledge."
"Hmph. Go on, then—tease her, cling to her, do as you please. For now, this one shall step aside."
Watching Gayul's back as she went after Hoeyeon, Arang spoke inwardly.
This one will follow at her own pace.
"…Um, Arang-ssi."
"Yujeong. There is much I must explain, so stay with this one a while. I shall tell you everything before they return."
"Ah, yes! But so—Arang-ssi, do you like Sajeo too?"
"…."
—If you do not mind being third rather than second, then by all means, take your time.
Gayul's words from earlier that day flickered through Arang's mind.
…I may need to hurry, just a little.