Chapter 47. Dream of the Jade-Blue Sea (4)
Several carriages left the capital and headed toward a village on the outskirts of Hongyang.
Every time the carriage shook, the water inside a fishbowl swayed dangerously.
Bam rested her chin on her hand and stared at the pitch-black fish swimming inside.
Her blue eyes beneath thick eyelashes followed its slow movements endlessly.
Raising and caring for something did not suit her rough personality at all.
However, Elder Gyeon’s claim that the fish would someday become a dragon had strangely bothered her.
Because of that, feeding the fish had somehow become one of her daily hobbies.
Could it really become a dragon?
This tiny fish?
A guard standing beside the road shouted,
“We will soon enter the village abandoned because of the plague! Cover your faces with cloth and be careful!”
On the other side of the road from the Lang Merchant Guild’s carriage was a carriage belonging to Beopsindang.
Cheongyeon and Jeongyo were inside.
“You’re finally going to see the people from your village again after all this time.”
Cheongyeon smiled.
“You must have missed each other terribly.”
Jeongyo neither agreed nor disagreed.
She merely lowered her head, her face slightly red.
Cheongyeon pulled her closer and gently fixed her hair.
They behaved almost like sisters.
But today, something about Jeongyo seemed unnatural.
She answered weakly.
She could not focus on what was happening around her.
She seemed strangely dazed.
Cheongyeon placed a hand on Jeongyo’s forehead.
It was surprisingly hot.
Her lips were also dry and pale.
Cheongyeon’s expression immediately became serious.
“You’re sick. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Jeongyo quickly waved both hands.
“No, Heavenly Maiden. I’m fine.”
She forced a bright smile.
“It’s only a small cold.”
What had happened at Beopsindang while Cheongyeon was traveling between the sacred sites?
Jeongyo’s condition had become this bad, yet she had hidden it the entire time.
The thought hurt Cheongyeon.
“Why don’t you leave Beopsindang and stay with your village people for a while?”
Jeongyo’s eyes immediately changed.
She raised her voice.
“Staying beside the Heavenly Maiden is my duty.”
She bowed deeply despite the cramped carriage.
“Please let me remain at Beopsindang, at least until the Fifteenth Day Festival ends.”
Her behavior was almost blind in its devotion.
She was desperately begging to continue serving her master despite being sick.
It was completely different from children her age, who would normally complain or seek comfort.
Cheongyeon fell silent.
Jeongyo was the first young maid Cheongyeon had grown genuinely attached to after arriving at Beopsindang.
Cheongyeon had lived alone in Cheonhui Kingdom for so long that the affectionate and obedient girl sometimes felt like a younger sister.
Until now, Cheongyeon had treated her without suspicion.
But she could no longer ignore her doubts.
“Jeongyo.”
Cheongyeon looked directly at her.
“Why did you enter Beopsindang?”
Jeongyo looked surprised by the unexpected question.
But she quickly collected herself.
“To help the Heavenly Maiden rescue the people trapped in villages covered by darkness.”
The answer sounded memorized.
To Cheongyeon, the girl looked as if she were carrying a burden far too heavy for her age.
“If someone ordered you to do this, you don’t have to continue.”
Jeongyo looked away.
“...I don’t understand what you mean, Heavenly Maiden.”
Cheongyeon lowered her voice.
“I can only help you if you tell me the truth.”
Jeongyo hesitated.
Then determination entered her eyes.
“Everything I did was my own decision.”
Her voice was firm.
“I do not follow anyone else’s will.”
She looked at Cheongyeon.
“The only person I believe in is you, Heavenly Maiden.”
Cheongyeon let out a long sigh.
There was no point asking further.
By then, the carriage had entered the center of the plague-abandoned village.
Because nobody had lived there for such a long time, the entire village had become ruins.
Homes had collapsed until only their foundation stones remained.
Wild bushes and trees had swallowed the fences.
Because the dead had been buried together without proper gravestones, the village was almost a gigantic cemetery.
Most people would have felt frightened simply looking at it.
Bam, however, wandered around the village without the slightest concern.
As she walked, tall boots made from the finest leather appeared beneath the moving folds of her skirt.
She swept her beautiful platinum-blond hair back with both hands.
The servants of the Lang Merchant Guild finally spoke nervously.
“My Lady, aren’t you frightened?”
“If we stay here too long, you might catch the plague.”
“What if the angry spirits of the dead are still wandering around?”
“Why don’t we leave the Heavenly Maiden’s group here and return to Buwan Port?”
Bam did not believe in superstition or things she could not see.
To her, this village was simply an interesting place to investigate.
“Didn’t all of that happen decades ago?”
The servants fell silent.
Bam pointed around the village.
“It’s stranger that they used the plague as an excuse to abandon perfectly usable land this close to the capital for so many years.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t you think?”
She pointed toward several walls.
“Look at the black burn marks on the ground and buildings.”
“Someone set fires here.”
Her expression grew sharper.
“Powerful people have probably been using this place for years to dispose of people they didn’t like.”
Bam looked around.
“And there’s something suspicious about those people following the Heavenly Maiden.”
Around a hundred people sat together in the open space at the center of the village.
They had only settled in their new village a few days ago.
They still looked like wandering refugees.
Because the Fifteenth Day Festival was approaching, supplies were scarce throughout the kingdom.
They could not even receive proper household goods, much less useful pieces of metal.
If they wanted to settle here and live like ordinary people, they would have to start everything from the beginning.
Yet Bam saw no desperation for survival in their eyes.
Whenever the servants from Beopsindang handed out food and clothing, the people bowed toward Cheongyeon in gratitude.
But the gestures felt formal.
Almost as if something else was more important.
