GMLS Ch 56

“It seems you’ll have to go to the south yourself.”

“……Myself?”

“Weren’t you planning on leaving anyway?”

That’s right. I had intended to hide myself away before I breathed my last, one way or another. But why? Hearing those words, I was surprised anew, as if thinking, Was I really thinking that?

“I’ve prepared everything, so all you need to do is go.”

“The other day, you said that if it was meant to be, it would find its way to me on its own.”

“The situation has changed. When you’ve seen a glimmer of hope, shouldn’t you do your best to grasp it? Don’t be foolish. If you leave for a short while now, you might be able to spend the rest of your life with Muryun. But if you stay, you will be parted forever in a few months.”

As always, everything Yeo Yullyeong said was right. And yet, even knowing that, the words “I’ll go” wouldn’t come out. Who was it that called me clever? I’m turning my head away, pretending not to see the answer that’s staring me right in the face.

“For now, just rest. I’ve sent someone to the imperial palace, so don’t worry.”

Thump. Something fell onto the silk bedding. It was the folktale collection I had bought yesterday.

“If your heart is unsettled, read this. There’s no need to overthink it. Just remember that if you want to live, you must leave for the south as soon as possible.”

I placed my hand on the cover. It was the cover with the drawing of the lotus pond, the one that had reminded me that we had shared an identical copy of the same book.

“What is happening with Tarahan?”

Yeo Yullyeong’s expression was blank. But I didn’t miss the slight twitch of his eyebrow.

“There is nothing for you to worry about. Don’t I know how to handle things myself?”

“Then do you believe the current Geum Empire can stop The Jihan Kingdom if they truly start a war?”

There was no answer. That became the answer. It was likely the same reason Tarahan wasn’t seeking me out and was acting so relaxed. There was no way Yeo Yullyeong wouldn’t know what even I knew.

“Nonsense.”

He left my chambers. In his hand, he still held the folding fan I had bought.

I lay still and closed my eyes. After regulating my internal energy, I ate. I dozed off for a bit and woke up late in the afternoon. Just then, Dongbok, who opened the door and came in, entered with his hands full of a box wrapped in silk cloth. When I asked what it was, he staggered over to place it on the round table and said it was sent from the imperial palace.

From the imperial palace meant, ultimately, that Muryun had sent it.

I hurriedly got up and unwrapped the cloth, revealing all sorts of glistening snacks like yakgwa and sweets. The other box was filled to the brim with medicinal herbs. Even after Dongbok said he would take his leave and left, I stared at them for a long while.

Was it because I was suddenly idle after being swamped with work until just yesterday? Time seemed to pass particularly slowly.

I rolled around on the silk bedding while eating yakgwa, and eventually opened the folktale collection I’d bought yesterday. I knew the beginning, so I read through it quickly. My eyes stopped near the end of the initial part, where the two characters, at the lotus pond on the first day of the month, resolved to go their separate ways.

The warrior who hid his family.

The princess who hid her status.

The two, who parted at the lotus pond after only exchanging a norigae, meet again as a princess and a royal guard. The ten days the princess travels to the provincial lord’s land. That was the main part of this folktale collection.

The princess and the warrior reaffirm their feelings for each other and decide to run away. However, another royal guard, who realizes this first, sends a message to the king and the provincial lord. As a result, the warrior is dragged to the royal palace, and the princess is imprisoned by the lord.

Several years pass. The warrior, who had caressed his norigae until its pattern wore down, was sent to the battlefield. Even while rolling through the front lines, he still missed the princess.

Around the same time, the princess dies after giving birth to the provincial lord’s child following a difficult labor. The warrior, upon hearing the news, throws himself into the midst of his enemies in a suicide that was not quite a suicide.

After I finished reading, a sigh escaped me automatically.

“There was a reason I closed the book without finishing it before. How is this one of the best-selling folktale collections?”

I couldn’t understand it at all.

“Because it’s a story based on true events.”

“You’ve arrived.”

I had sensed his presence. Yeo Yullyeong, pulling his official’s hat down firmly, let out a long breath.

“I came to check on your condition. You seem to be well enough to live now.”

“You, on the other hand, Father, do not look well at all.”

“It’s because I have to change and go to the banquet. I don’t see why I have to change my clothes when I could just go in my official robes.”

“Because that is the proper etiquette.”

“Oh, is it? Once the envoys return this time, I suppose I’ll have to take a look at the Ministry of Rites.”

Yeo Yullyeong smiled. I offered my silent condolences to the officials of the Ministry of Rites. Yeo Yullyeong’s gaze fell on the book sprawled across the silk bedding.

“Did you finish it?”

“Ah, yes. But was this a true story?”

“It’s an adaptation based on a true story. As most tales of this kind are. Well, it is quite different from the facts, though.”

I recalled the story of The Ice and Snow Qilin that Yeo Yullyeong had told me in the ancestral shrine. Suddenly, I was intrigued.

“Then what is the original story?”

“Do you know why the title of that folktale is ‘The Words of Protecting Jin’?”

“No.”

“Because it is the love story of Wi Munhyeon and Geum Yunju.”

Wi Munhyeon? The name had a familiar ring to it.

“You’re right, it’s that bastard’s family. It was the story of the eldest son of the Wi clan, who hid his family, and a princess of The Geum Empire, who hid her status. Back then, the imperial family of The Geum Empire used the surname Geum.”

The current imperial family has no surname. It is unknown when or how it changed. Perhaps as a substitute, it is forbidden by law to have the same name as a member of the imperial family. In this Geum Empire, ‘Muryun’ was the only Muryun, and the same was true for the other royals.

“Ha… It’s a miracle it’s being sold as a folktale collection.”

“Because it’s such an old story. It was from over 400 years ago, I believe? Besides, even though it’s based on a true story, few of the details are accurate. Only the broad strokes are the same. The two were in love and ran away. But in the end, they were caught. Wi Munhyeon was dragged to the imperial palace, and Geum Yunju was imprisoned in her maternal family’s home, the Joomun family.”

A servant brought in his clothes. Yeo Yullyeong waved his hand in annoyance, dismissing him, and carelessly threw off his clothes.

As I gaped at him, dumbfounded, he looked at me with a “Why, what is it?” expression. I turned my head away, disgruntled. I was surprised to see that his body, which I had only glimpsed, was quite firm. It was even more so considering his age. Then again, his face alone made him look twenty years younger than his actual age.

“And then, Wi Munhyeon borrowed the power of The Ice and Snow Qilin and founded The Jihan Kingdom.”

“……?!”

What? Wait, what?!

I was flustered by this result that suddenly skipped over the middle. I whipped my head around to look at Yeo Yullyeong. He had just finished changing and was tightening his belt. I could see the long, dangling straps of the belt. Yeo Yullyeong’s story, drawn out like those straps, intertwined with Tarahan’s.

“The Ice and Snow Qilin, not Sangseon?”

“Yes. That’s why Wi Munhyeon could read others’ thoughts, lift things like timber into the air, and manipulate local weather. All of it is the power of The Ice and Snow Qilin.”

“Then the promise of Sangseon that Tarahan spoke of… that ‘ideal’ is…”

“Do you remember that there was a human The Ice and Snow Qilin loved?”

A chill ran down my spine. I stared at Yeo Yullyeong, frozen, unable to move a single finger.

“The Ice and Snow Qilin did not purely believe Sangseon’s words. To be precise, it did not believe that Sangseon would do such a cruel thing to the humans it held so dear. So, while it wandered the northern snowfields searching for a tiny bead of a soul, it also kept in mind the possibility that its lover might have been reincarnated in the mortal world.”

“……”

“So it always harbored the desire to put some kind of measure in place. Wi Munhyeon wasn’t chosen for any grand reason. It just happened to be Wi Munhyeon who was there at the right time.”

How do you know all of this?

A coldness seeped into my chest. From the first moment we met until now. The strange feeling I sometimes got from Yeo Yullyeong was clearer than ever before.

“Father, you are-“

“I’ll be late. I must be going now. Continue resting.”

He cut me off with his calm eyes. As if an invisible hand had covered my mouth, no more words would come out.

“……Heukwol.”

Only when I spoke of something else could I speak again. With a rather pale face, I asked something that I had been continuously curious about.

“Where is Heukwol?”

Thinking about it, it was strange. I had collapsed, vomiting so much blood in front of him, yet he hadn’t shown his face once. It wasn’t like Heukwol. It was one thing for him not to be by my side when I woke up, but it would have been normal for him to come running as soon as he heard the news.

“I sent him on a short errand.”

Yeo Yullyeong said in a casual tone.

“To the south.”

It was a destination that was anything but casual.

────୨ৎ────

There was no explanation, one way or another. Yeo Yullyeong scurried off, saying he would be late for the banquet, and I summoned the family’s Ammukdan and questioned them.

It was a meaningless act. They all became mute as if they had eaten honey, only shaking their heads. In the end, I waited for Yeo Yullyeong, fuming. Where else would he go after the banquet was over? Only home.

However, the one who came looking for me was not Yeo Yullyeong, but a member of the Ammukdan with blood on his clothes.

Screech, thud!

The door opened without any warning, and he half-rolled into the room. I shot up from my seat. The first thing that hit me was the overwhelming smell of blood. The panting Ammukdan member lifted his head and reported.

“The banquet hall has been attacked!”

“What?!”

For a moment, my vision went blank.

“His Majesty, is His Majesty safe!”

“His Majesty is safe. But-“

The Ammukdan member’s face contorted. The spreading despair was vivid even above his mask.

“The Shangshuling has been abducted.”

────୨ৎ────

The heart of the imperial palace. A gathering of envoys from various nations. I couldn’t believe such a place had been attacked, but the identity of the attacker was even more shocking. It was the 2nd Prince. The one who had lost his legitimate right to the throne and had fled just to save his own life had returned.

I couldn’t believe it, and even though I knew it wasn’t a mistake, I asked the Ammukdan member again and again.