GMLS Ch 1

That was the year I turned fifteen.

It was also the last year of the great famine. People who had starved for ten days begged for food, and emaciated bodies like dry firewood were kicked underfoot.

Our family’s fortunes, which couldn’t be called affluent but were never particularly lacking, also began to decline. The last of the last farmland we had held onto was passed to the richest man in the capital.

A few days after that, my second older brother, who had a bad leg, died. It was a sudden death, with no prior signs. On my brother’s neck was a strange mark, as if several caterpillars had been pressed into it. I comforted my crying younger brother and pretended not to see it. The younger brother I comforted then starved to death three months later.

All that was left were my eldest brother, who had grown big before the famine and was able to do proper work; my youngest brother, who had been given food bit by bit from the four of us older brothers, including myself; and me, who had been pointed at since birth for being born with the wrong ‘color’.

So, on the day the merchant came to the village. I already knew that it would be me who was sold to him.

“A human deserves to live only if they are useful.”

The callous hand of the father who said so grabbed and pulled me. And what use are you? I swallowed the words that had come to the tip of my tongue. They were flimsy, powerless words. Nothing would change.

He, dressed in old, worn-out clothes, sold me, dressed in even older clothes, to a certain merchant. Buying and selling people was forbidden by law in the Geumguk nation, but for the destitute, an empty stomach is more feared than the law. I don’t know exactly how much he sold me for. I don’t even know if he received a worthy price.

The merchant, who had nitpicked every flaw to devalue me in front of my father, beamed with a smile as soon as my father left.

“To get my hands on something this rare. I truly am blessed with wealth.”

He had me washed clean and fed me generously, then made me get into a mother-of-pearl box that was almost a crate.

“It will be stuffy, but bear with it.”

My wrists and ankles were tied, and I was given a single water pouch and a rice cake. The merchant soothed me, who was terrified. Never make a sound. Behave as if you aren’t there. If you do as I say, I’ll let you eat lots of delicious things again.

Delicious things.

To a starving child, those words held more power than anything. I endured my fear and nodded my head.

The lid closed. Despite the instinctive terror that came from the enclosed space, I remained a ‘good boy’. That was how dreadful an empty stomach was.

However, no matter how long I waited, the mother-of-pearl box was not opened.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed. The full meal I had eaten was all for naught. The rice cake, which I had tried to eat sparingly, had long since been digested. The water pouch, which I had sipped from sparingly, was also empty before I knew it.

Now, not a speck of energy remained. What I had thought was a mother-of-pearl box was my coffin. It seemed the merchant intended to make me into a moknae-i (mummy) and sell me.

Was this the usefulness my father had spoken of? Or conversely, had my usefulness already run its course? My thoughts, which had been connecting in fits and starts, came to a complete stop at some point. Death was drawing near. So, I’m dying now. After living like this, I die so meaninglessly. I felt wronged, sorrowful, and terrified.

Just as I was waiting for my last breath to be extinguished, it became noisy outside. I belatedly realized that the shaking had stopped. The murmuring of people grew closer. Someone was rummaging through the cargo wagon. I came to my senses with a jolt.

“This bastard, he’s taken quite a lot.”

“Hah. You’re telling me all this is confiscated goods? The nation’s coffers fill up even during a famine, I see.”

The droning voices of two men were right in front of me. Someone placed a hand on the mother-of-pearl box I was in with a thud.

“What’s this mother-of-pearl box? From the size, it looks like a crate.”

“Huh? I hear some kind of sound from inside…”

“Really? I don’t hear anything.”

The voices were close. I moved my dry lips. But aside from a wheezing breath, no words came out.

“No. It was a faint sound, but I definitely heard it.”

“Well then, let’s try opening it.”

“Let’s see… ah, this won’t work. The key is broken off inside the lock.”

“Then let’s just take it. It’s not like we can have it just by looking at it. They’re all items to be confiscated and moved anyway, is there a need to check them in detail? He probably caught some rare animal and put it in there.”

A small hope crumbled. The breath I had barely let out was trampled upon. I struggled in desperation. But that was only in my thoughts; my body didn’t even twitch.

Please. I’m here.

Look here. Open it. Save me.

I’m here.

My desperate cries swirled inside my mouth. My faint groans couldn’t penetrate the thick mother-of-pearl box. Precious moisture flowed out as tears. Once the hope I had held was gone, my remaining life force drained away rapidly.

Just as my eyes were about to roll back and death was draping its cloak over me—

“Where is it.”

“He-here, sir.”

“Is it this mother-of-pearl box.”

“Yes. Yes, Your Highness.”

BANG!

A loud noise jolted me awake. Startled, death scurried away, and my soul returned to its wretched body.

CRACK!

Something white was embedded in the lid of the mother-of-pearl box. It was an object I had never seen before in my life, but I knew what it was called. A sword.

CRUNCH!

On the third strike, the lock was completely destroyed and the lid of the box flew open. Though the light nearly blinded me, I did not close my eyes. Through the bright light, I saw a man. He had a face that made it an impiety to even dare compare it to the common villagers I saw.

The man, who looked like a celestial god wrapped in a hero’s scarf, reached his hand out to me. His fingertips were trembling.

He, who had carefully embraced me, soon let out a deep sigh. It wasn’t just his hands that were trembling. His entire body was trembling.

The reason for that trembling, I did not yet know at the time. I was just grateful, so grateful, that a strange man would cradle me so preciously.

“It’s all right now. It’s all right. I have come.”

When he said that, it truly felt like everything was all right. I contorted my face. In that moment, I finally felt the reality of being alive. The man commanded the soldiers to bring water, to bring a blanket.

I received devoted care that I would never have received in my entire life. For every meal, I ate porridge made of pure white rice and wore clothes made of soft silk. They were strangely androgynous clothes, but I didn’t notice that at the time either.

The man was someone of high rank. I didn’t know exactly how high his rank was, but he was at least the highest among those present.

I called the man ‘My Lord’. Upon hearing this, the man’s eyebrows arched strangely. It wasn’t a pleased reaction, and my heart sank. Was my politeness lacking, or was the simple title ‘My Lord’ not enough to express the man’s high stature? I didn’t know what was wrong and put on a tearful face.

At that, it was the man who was surprised and flustered. He quickly extended his arms and lifted my wretched, shabby body. Patting my fleshless bottom, he said, ‘It’s not because of you. It’s just a habit I can’t fix, so call me whatever is comfortable for you’.

The man held me in his arms and showed no intention of letting go. When he worked, he always had me seated on his lap. It was the same when he took a light stroll or sat down to rest. He seemed oblivious to the astonished faces of those who guarded his side.

I, on the other hand, shrunk my shoulders every time their furtive glances landed on me. Still, the thought of getting down didn’t cross my mind. After my mother died, the man was the first person to cherish me like this.

Even a mere beast knows how to distinguish goodwill from hostility. I did not doubt that the man’s devotion was pure goodwill. There was no need to. If the man wanted to, doing something to me right away would be a simple matter. If he had intended to harm me in any way, there would have been no need for such a troublesome act.

The man was right about everything. Everything was all right. No, it wasn’t just all right, it was so perfect that I wondered if it was even okay for things to be this good. The sweets the man gave me were sweeter than any other. His broad chest was cozy and serene, making me want to be held there forever.