GMLS Ch 22

I woke up startled by the darkness. Even after waking, the surroundings remained pitch black. My heart rattled. Ever since the incident with the mother-of-pearl box, I felt a subtle fear of the dark.

I first realized it while staying at Yeo Yullyeong’s mansion. Waking up in the middle of the night, I opened my eyes in a panic without knowing why. The encroaching darkness made it impossible to breathe. Clutching my throat and gasping, Heukwol immediately lit a lamp and opened the door.

Soaked in cold sweat and trembling, I asked him how he knew. He brought sikhye to my lips and said it was Yeo Yullyeong’s instruction. He knew what I would go through and even how to handle it to make it better.

Thanks to that, the frequency of my episodes decreased. Later, I only had nightmares occasionally, but nothing like waking up in a panic like this.

Yes. It definitely hadn’t happened… until now.

Panting, I looked around. A confined space, not small but with a narrow entrance. Darkness filled the space. *Gasp.* I sucked in a sharp breath. Sleep vanished instantly. At the same time, I noticed the warmth of the presence in my arms.

Lowering my head, I saw his face, the one I was holding so preciously. My anxiety washed away as if it had never been. His presence alone was more perfect than opening all the windows and doors, lighting a lamp, or drinking sweet sikhye. Perfectly, he made me feel okay.

At my movement, Heukwol turned his head.

“Young master, there’s still time before your turn. Sleep a bit more.”

I nodded, pulling Muryun tightly into my arms and closing my eyes again.

⊹ ࣪ 💮⊹₊

The seventh day. The rain didn’t stop. Monghyul and Wi Junghyuk moved swiftly around the area hit by the landslide. Their goal was singular: to rendezvous with The 5th Prince Muryun.

But no matter how much they searched, there was no trace of him. After the landslide, the places that should have been there were gone, debris was scattered everywhere, and the ground was completely muddy.

“If he’s unharmed, he likely moved from here. If there are injured, he’d be hiding somewhere, keeping quiet.”

“Well, anyone caught in that landslide would likely be injured.”

The best they could do was pray that “anyone” wasn’t Muryun.

That Monghyul and Wi Junghyuk were unharmed could only be described as divine luck. The torrent of earth pouring down as if the mountain itself was collapsing had split apart at the point where they stood.

They waited on a triangular patch of land, like an island, until the landslide stopped. After that, it was all about searching.

“Let’s move upward first. If there’s a cave along the way, we check it thoroughly.”

“Got it.”

They didn’t particularly like each other, but they weren’t fools who couldn’t read the situation.

Like comrades who’d fought side by side for a decade, Monghyul and Wi Junghyuk raced through Cheontaebaek Mountain with perfect coordination. They kept their senses sharp, checking every possible hiding spot without fail. They were like two agile leopards.

Then, something unusual caught their attention. Quickly hiding, Monghyul and Wi Junghyuk observed the other party. About ten men, each one a top-tier warrior.

‘The Second Prince’s side?’

‘No, their attire is completely different.’

‘The Third Prince, then?’

‘We confirmed when we set out- there weren’t any like them.’

If that was the case…

Monghyul and Wi Junghyuk’s eyes met. A group of top-tier warriors, unseen at the start, wandering Cheontaebaek Mountain, which should have been under Yeo Yullyeong’s control as the overseer. At that moment, their thoughts aligned perfectly.

The Second Prince or the Third Prince. One of them had broken the rules of the trial.

⊹ ࣪ 💮⊹₊

Yihwa closed his eyes, still holding Muryun tightly. Heukwol quietly watched him. Under the cloak, Yihwa’s skin was like ivory or pearl. The smooth, radiant whiteness of his bare feet was etched into Heukwol’s eyes, impossible to shake off.

In truth, Heukwol had seen Yihwa’s bare body a few times. When Yihwa first came to the mansion, Heukwol had even bathed him. But back then, Yihwa was completely different. A frail, emaciated body that looked far younger than his actual age.

Perhaps that was why. On the way back, carrying Yihwa, Heukwol gently patted the sobbing boy’s backside, who clung to his chest. He didn’t even notice the odd looks from a fellow member of the Ammukdan.

He only realized something was off when he carefully wiped Yihwa’s tear-streaked cheeks with a damp cloth after the boy had fallen asleep from crying.

What’s this? Wasn’t this unnecessary? Come to think of it, patting his backside to soothe him was just as pointless. Why did I do that? He thought blankly.

Surprisingly, finding the answer wasn’t hard. It was the first time he’d seen it. A boy around his own age, with a body even frailer and more pitiful than his own had been.

When Yihwa told Shangshuling he was fifteen, Heukwol didn’t believe it. How could that be fifteen? At twelve, in the training camp, Heukwol himself had been bigger, with more flesh and muscle.

What had this boy been through? Heukwol asked Shangshuling about Yihwa’s circumstances. He didn’t realize it was the first question he’d ever asked Shangshuling.

With an odd expression, Yeo Yullyeong explained Yihwa’s story. A boy sold off to a distant place by adult greed, enduring hardship and threats to his life.

It was a near-forced connection, but what mattered was that Heukwol felt a similarity. Yeo Yullyeong saw through Heukwol’s heart in an instant and assigned him to Yihwa, saying it was temporary.

Living side by side, Heukwol’s feelings toward the boy became clearer. It wasn’t camaraderie but something closer to cheap pity. Like a beast grown with one leg missing, looking at a puppy born without both.

That’s why his heart ached in a way it shouldn’t have.

He’d give Yihwa an extra piece of candy or quietly hold his sleeve when Yihwa was down, unable to forget old ties. Bit by bit, he gave himself away… until his entire heart belonged to that boy. Perhaps because there wasn’t much left to begin with, it was easy to give it all.

Heukwol was flustered. But he didn’t dislike it.

Yet, having given everything, his heart, which should have been empty, began to fill even more from that moment. It made spring flowers seem more beautiful, the shimmer of a lake draw gasps of awe, and the sight of dark gray objects remind him of the boy’s smiling face.

What he thought he lacked bloomed everywhere, leaving him unable to think straight.

Shangshuling had said his heart had gone far away and would take just as long to return. Heukwol wondered: when his heart, sent on that long journey, returned, would he then know what he wanted to do with Yihwa?

Heukwol tightly gripped the sword in his arms. His gaze, resting on Yihwa’s white forehead, slid down the bridge of his nose and stopped at his lips, red like spider lilies.

If that were true- if Shangshuling was right this time, too…

‘…Even if it returns, it should be far in the future.’

He didn’t want it to never come. But he was afraid of it coming too soon.

Yes, afraid. Heukwol felt fear in Yihwa’s presence. He, who could face even death with calm, feared only one thing in the world- Yihwa.

Heukwol, gripping the sword, sprang to his feet. Yihwa, who had been quietly closing his eyes, snapped them open. In the dim dawn, multiple presences approached the cave.

Yihwa first adjusted The 5th Prince’s clothing neatly, then immediately grabbed his sword. The presences were already at the cave’s entrance.

Heukwol flinched at the sight of Yihwa standing without a single cloth covering him. But before he could say anything, the intruders appeared. Their aura was formidable.

‘The Second Prince?’

No, it wasn’t. Nor could it be the Third Prince’s group, who had been lagging from the start.

“Whose men are you?”

“You don’t really expect us to answer that, do you?”

Their cackling was no better than street thugs.

Yihwa adjusted his grip on his sword. Two top-tier warriors on their side, about ten first-class warriors on the other. The problem was Muryun, still unconscious. Heukwol and Yihwa had to protect Muryun while taking down all the enemies.

‘At least it’s a confined cave- should we be thankful for that?’

As they strategized, the thugs’ gazes raked over Yihwa.

“Damn, that guy’s pretty for a man.”

“So that’s why The 5th Prince keeps him close.”

“No wonder they brought a kid with no blood on his head to something this important.”

Vulgar taunts flew. But neither Heukwol nor Yihwa blinked. The intruders, their fun spoiled, charged with gleaming blades.

“Subdue that one lightly so we can have some fun.”

“No need to repeat it. Don’t knock him out- it’s no fun if he’s unconscious. Just press his pressure points. Let’s have a good time.”

Watching them move in unison, Yihwa gleaned one more piece of information: they didn’t know his or Heukwol’s skills.

No matter their numerical advantage, a single rank difference meant a five- to tenfold gap in ability. Heukwol and Yihwa’s tension stemmed from Muryun’s defenseless state. If they could fight freely, ten first-class warriors were manageable alone.

*Swish! Slash!*

Their swords carved precise paths. The three warriors charging at the front met their end in an instant.

Yihwa leaped forward, cutting down five in the second row as they hesitated. By his third leap, the rest finally grasped the situation. But only two remained.

Heukwol swiftly felled one, and as Yihwa moved to strike the last, the warrior threw his sword at Yihwa.

*Clang!* Yihwa, startled, deflected the flying blade, creating an opening. In that split second, the warrior pulled a small pellet from his robes and threw it deeper into the cave.