GMLS Ch 51

“I’m certain I told Shangshuling to bring it himself, so why have you come?”

My fingertips flinched. My head lowered out of habit.

Was he scolding me? Was the document that important? If so, I’ve made a mistake. What do I do? Will he think I overstepped my bounds? But the milk was already spilt, so I forced my stiff hands to unclench and spoke.

“I said that I would bring it to you.”

“Even so, are you trying to cover for Shangshuling because he’s your father?”

His voice, tinged with amusement, sounded like a joke. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. It was the usual Muryun. Relieved, I told him the truth.

“No. I really did say I would do it. Because I wanted to see you, Your Majesty.”

“……”

“Your Majesty?”

Instead of answering, he kissed me. Unlike before, it was a wet kiss, tongues and saliva mingling.

My eyes crinkled. A firm arm coiled around my waist like a snake. When his tongue pressed hard against the roof of my mouth, my back arched. As my strength gave way and I staggered, the force holding me grew stronger. Muryun was as unmoving as a sturdy pillar.

The kiss continued for a long while after that. Muryun let my half-limp body lean against his chest.

“What am I to do with you?”

He murmured as if groaning.

“Really, what am I to do with you?”

How sweet those words sounded in my ears. Without a word, I burrowed into his embrace, acting like a spoiled child.

⊹ ࣪ 💮⊹₊

Tanakhan hummed a tune. His steps were light as he crossed the courtyard. He was restraining himself as much as possible, but in his current state, he wanted to climb onto the palace eaves and laugh out loud.

‘My goodness.’

He clutched his chest.

‘He really existed.’

He was so startled he felt his heart drop. It was the first time Tanakhan had seen a face that so perfectly matched his ideal. The shock was beyond his imagination.

From the time he began to walk and was able to think, the first thing he thought of was someone. A someone he didn’t even know. It was an indescribable feeling. And a truly bizarre thing.

When he asked those around him about it, everyone was delighted and said it was because he was born with the makings of a king. And to a still-puzzling Tanakhan, they told him the founding myth of The Jihan Kingdom.

Most of the words were incomprehensible, but he understood one thing. He was destiny. It was no coincidence that the portraits of all the past empresses looked similar. At the time, Tanakhan had just thought, I see, and moved on.

His path from the moment he drew his first breath until his death was already decided. It wasn’t particularly strange for a partner to be added to that.

The problem came with time. As his body grew, his longing for that someone deepened. Where in the world was he, and did he even really exist? As the days spent yearning increased, the image of his ideal became clearer and more specific.

And then the headaches began. Sometimes they were so bad it felt like his head would shatter, and other times they were so faint they could hardly be called pain, but they never stopped. It was maddening.

While he was about to go crazy and jump out of his skin, the court officials were once again delighted. They said that being able to recall the image in such detail and the unexplainable headaches were proof of his strong ancestral bloodline.

Tanakhan was seething, but this time too, he eventually thought, I see, and moved on. He was fundamentally level-headed. As long as he knew there was nothing he could do about it, getting angry was only a loss for him.

And then, when he came of age. Consort candidates flocked from all over The Jihan Kingdom. Regardless of gender, they all resembled one person. The person all the empresses of The Jihan Kingdom throughout history had resembled. Yet, he was a person whose face no one actually knew for certain.

But not one of them pleased Tanakhan. Then, a court official advised him.

‘I fully understand your dissatisfaction, but we have selected those deemed closest to the ‘ideal’ from all of The Jihan Kingdom.’

Another official added.

‘All the past kings have done the same. The perfect ideal does not exist.’

On the spot, Tanakhan beheaded both officials. Everyone was shocked, and Tanakhan was shocked too. The moment he heard those words, the anger he had suppressed all along erupted. He could no longer just think, I see, and move on.

Doesn’t exist? The thing that had touched the indifferent and apathetic dragon’s reverse scale was none other than that single phrase.

Looking down at the sword in his hand, he turned his gaze to the hall. The officials were trembling, not daring to even lift their heads. A smile appeared on Tanakhan’s lips. At that moment, the frustration that had been with him like karma eased just a little.

The palace was thrown into an uproar. But that was all. No one could punish Tanakhan. The king was already in decline, and Tanakhan was the rising sun. Who could punish the one who would soon be above all others? After that, Tanakhan walked the path of a despot.

When this same Tanakhan offered to go as an envoy this time, the high and low officials, who knew his temper, chose a cowardly silence. It was the royal elders who were appalled. Amidst the pouring roars, Tanakhan didn’t even bat an eye. Instead, he calmly watched their antics.

The noise gradually subsided. One by one, the old fools, their words trailing off into silence, looked at Tanakhan and felt a chill. Tanakhan looked down at their pale faces.

‘I have reviewed all the laws and statutes of The Jihan Kingdom. There is no reason why the Crown Prince cannot go as an envoy. Nevertheless, if there is anyone who is dissatisfied with my going to The Geum Empire, speak now.’

Tanakhan said, scanning the silent crowd.

‘Because I will remember it.’

The old men remained silent until the day Tanakhan left.

As they should. Hmph. Tanakhan scoffed and returned his thoughts to the starting point. His ‘ideal’ that he had just seen. He was Shangshuling’s son and the Captain of the Guard for Muryun, who had become emperor. His name was said to be Yeo Yihwa.

“How can his name be as lovely as he is?”

At his mutter, those following behind him flinched in unison.

“It was worth coming all the way to this distant Geum Empire. Don’t you think so too? Migur.”

“Your Highness is always right.”

Migur’s expression was stiff as he said this. To be precise, he looked confused. It wasn’t just Migur. The face of that man called the Captain of the Guard must be lingering in the minds of everyone he had brought this time.

Tanakhan smiled with satisfaction. In truth, he had been in a rather complicated state of mind when packing for the journey. This was because the circumstances of his coming to The Geum Empire were not exactly pleasant.

After his awakening, Tanakhan hated it more than anything when a plan he had laid went awry. Especially if it was due to uncertain factors like an unforeseen natural disaster or a human’s change of heart.

And recently, an incident had occurred where a plan went awry due to the latter. It was the matter of The 5th Prince Muryun’s defection.

‘Come to think of it, it was right around this time.’

Two years ago, Tanakhan had received a letter from Muryun stating his wish to defect. It was not long after Muryun’s mother, The 2nd Imperial Concubine Sirihan, who was a princess of The Jihan Kingdom, had died, and he had been confined to The North Palace.

Muryun felt a strong sense of disillusionment with The Geum Empire’s imperial family. He had good reason. From a young age, his life had been threatened by court intrigues, he ended up losing his younger sister, and after being worked like a dog by his father, the emperor, he was immediately cast aside the moment his power seemed to grow a little too large.

But such things happened in any royal family.

Tanakhan couldn’t understand Muryun. From his perspective, Muryun was a weak loser. It was a wonder he was still alive.

It was probably because of his unique trait of being a top-class warrior despite his status as a prince, but in a place like the palace, one couldn’t survive with that alone. Furthermore, a prince needed to be cunning rather than brilliant, and venomous rather than strong.

‘Well, since he couldn’t manage that, I guess that’s why a prince of all people was used as a hunting dog.’

Thus, Tanakhan lost interest in that direction. Instead, he thoroughly calculated the gains and losses of accepting Muryun’s defection. He also reviewed all the information on how to maintain his claim to the throne and on the other princes.

And he decided. He would accept his defection.

Once the plan was set, the execution was unstoppable. He provided everything necessary and monitored the situation, while meticulously preparing in secret to set a date. The process alone took about half a year. As long as it took, everything was perfect.

‘That plan, which was…’

At the very end, Muryun overturned it. My apologies, and whatnot. When he received the letter stating that he ultimately couldn’t come, Tanakhan scoffed and tossed the letter aside. He also ordered that no reports on The 5th Prince be made at all until he asked for them himself.

‘What’s a castrated dog with its limbs cut off going to do? Soon enough, he’ll be crying and begging me to take him back just once.’

Tanakhan’s predictions were usually accurate, but this time was different. Not just slightly. It was completely off.

A short while later, Tanakhan spat out the tea he was drinking upon hearing the news from The Geum Empire. So startled he could have jumped, he ordered all materials regarding the current situation in The Geum Empire to be brought to him. Soon, a report filled with dense text was presented. Tanakhan read it down to the last syllable.

After reading to the end, Tanakhan casually tossed the report aside and uttered his first words.

‘One lucky son of a bitch.’

It could truly only be described as luck.

No, and what’s with this country anyway? This is The Geum Empire, the strongest nation on The Yeon Continent. You decide the head of that empire with a running race? Are they crazy? Ha. Heh. Ha.

After sighing his fill and cursing his fill, he quickly regained his composure. He then summoned people and gave them secret instructions. He did what he ought to do as the de facto ruler of The Jihan Kingdom, which bordered The Geum Empire, and what only he could do. After that, he calmly observed The Geum Empire.

The result, once again, defied Tanakhan’s expectations.

The actions of Muryun, which he learned of through intermittent reports, were unparalleled. It was to the point where he wondered if this was really the Muryun he knew. In the end, Muryun was the first to reach the summit of Mount Cheontae and became the new emperor of The Geum Empire.

That Muryun.

The mangy hunting dog who was confined to The North Palace, wasting away!

It felt like he had been hit hard on the head. I see. So this is the limit of what can be understood from information gathered from the outside and exchanged letters.