Chapter 54

Chapter 54. A Deal of Hatred and Sorrow (4)

Dawn slowly spread through the forest after the wave of evil energy from the previous night had disappeared.

The white wooden buildings of Beopsindang stood peacefully.

They looked completely unaware of what had happened.

Behind Cheonsingak, in a separate residence, Cheongyeon stood alone in the middle of the courtyard.

She was practicing the Heavenly God Dance.

Cheongyeon moved in a circle.

Her arms swept through the air like a bird beating its wings and creating wind.

Her jade-colored skirt fluttered.

Her slender ankles occasionally appeared beneath it.

She raised both arms toward the sky.

Holding a flower in her hands, she looked upward with longing eyes as though offering it to the Heavenly God.

Bright sunlight touched her smooth forehead and face.

Finally, she scattered flower petals through the air.

With that motion, everything that had been tightly held inside her seemed to loosen.

The Heavenly God Dance ended.

Seongha happened to be returning to the administrative office.

He stopped.

For a moment, he simply watched Cheongyeon dance.

His silver priestly robes gave him the elegant appearance of fine white porcelain.

Cheongyeon soon sensed someone watching from behind a pillar.

Their eyes met.

Happy to see him, Cheongyeon was about to greet him.

But Seongha shook his head slightly.

He pretended not to notice her and continued walking.

Whenever many people were watching, he never abandoned his distant and indifferent manner.

A playful thought suddenly entered Cheongyeon’s mind.

She placed both hands around her blue necklace and sent spiritual power into it.

A spherical barrier appeared around the residence.

Its surface moved like blue waves.

Pure, clear energy protected the entire area.

When Seongha saw the barrier blocking his path, he remembered what had happened in Cheonhui Kingdom.

A gentle wind swept past him.

It brushed his ear.

Then tugged lightly at his robe.

It almost felt like someone calling him with their hand.

Seongha hesitated.

Then he glanced at Cheongyeon and slightly raised one corner of his lips.

He pulled his fan from inside his clothes.

He waved it several times toward her.

A long storage bag hanging from one of the poles prepared for the Fifteenth Day Festival suddenly opened.

Flower powder poured out.

White and sparkling...

It scattered through the blue barrier like snow.

Like a brilliant blessing.

Cheongyeon stared at the beautiful scene.

Then she suddenly dropped backward into the pile of flowers.

Her skirt spread around her.

Flower powder drifted gently over her body.

Seongha walked over.

Then he lay down beside her.

With a completely calm expression, he said,

“This will be troublesome to clean.”

The pile of flowers was warm and soft like a blanket.

It tickled against their clothes.

Inside the blue barrier, the courtyard was completely silent.

Cheongyeon stretched both arms and legs.

“Who is going to complain?”

She smiled.

“There’s nobody here.”

It had been a long time since she had felt this peaceful.

The two looked toward Cheonhui Kingdom, which floated beyond the deep blue sky like a pale moon visible during the day.

Cheongyeon spoke softly.

“It has been quite a while since I left Cheonhui Kingdom.”

Seongha turned toward her.

“Do you miss the heavens?”

His expression was serious.

“Sometimes.”

Cheongyeon pressed her small lips together.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she could still clearly imagine the endless scenery of Cheonhui Kingdom.

Floating islands above a vast sky where clouds moved like an endless ocean.

The memories felt warmer because she remembered caring for Seongha there.

Walking together with him.

It was strange.

She had lived alone there for such a long time.

So why did every memory of that place now contain both of them?

Seongha quietly listened.

Then his eyes remained fixed on Cheongyeon’s face.

Without looking away, he moved a little closer.

Cheongyeon was surprised by the sudden movement.

Her fingers tightly gripped her sleeve.

Then Seongha raised one finger.

He gently brushed the tip of her nose.

A flower petal had been stuck there.

The simple, elegant gesture immediately eased her tension.

Warmth spread through her.

Seongha smiled.

For a moment, he looked almost like a boy.

A smile as bright as the moon.

A gentle face no one else knew.

One that belonged only to her.

Seongha spoke as though he had already planned something.

“When all the festival preparations are finished...”

He looked at her.

“Give me some of your time on the night before the festival.”

Cheongyeon blinked.

“I will take you to the most beautiful place in Hongyang.”

He lowered his head slightly.

“It is somewhere only the two of us can go.”

His voice seemed to wrap softly around her ears.

It made her heart itch.

“I’m curious what kind of place it is.”

Cheongyeon’s face filled with interest.

For a moment...

She wished time could stop.

But perhaps the happier she became, the more her anxiety grew as well.

She had no idea what was waiting for them.

“Nothing bad will happen on the day of the Fifteenth Day Festival, right?”

Her voice trembled slightly.

The city was noisy with preparations.

Yet around Cheongyeon, there had been strangely little movement.

It felt like the silence before a storm.

Seongha looked upward.

“I also have no idea what will happen that day.”

He could not predict what kind of danger might be waiting for the Heavenly Maiden now that she had appeared before the world.

The thought made the woman lying beside him feel even more precious.

Seongha reached behind Cheongyeon.

He pulled her closer.

Then he offered his inner arm as a pillow.

Cheongyeon’s eyes briefly widened in surprise.

But soon...

She rested her head against his shoulder.

Her cheek slowly settled against his chest.

The distance between their hearts was already close.

There was nothing awkward about it anymore.

The autumn sunlight was clear.

Birds sang in the distance.

The two lay side by side inside a pile of flowers.

Seongha spoke quietly.

“No matter what happens...”

His voice was low and steady.

“I will protect you.”

Cheongyeon’s eyes softened.

Seongha continued.

“Trust me.”

Instead of answering, Cheongyeon closed her eyes tightly.

She buried her face against his shoulder.

Seongha gently stroked her hair.

As they lay together, even their heartbeats and breathing seemed to slowly begin following the same rhythm.

A sleepy, peaceful feeling surrounded them.

The short afternoon passed.

Eventually, the blue barrier became faint.

Then it was absorbed back into Cheongyeon’s necklace.

With the rich scent of flowers still clinging to her clothes, Cheongyeon left the separate residence.

Her expression looked lighter than before.

She hurried onward.

After returning from the plague village where she had met the people of Jeongilhoe, Cheongyeon gave up the largest room in Cheonsingak.

She turned it into a sickroom.

It was for Jeongyo.

When Cheongyeon entered, she heard irregular, wheezing breaths.

Only later had Cheongyeon learned how badly Jeongyo had been bullied.

The spies planted by Huyeong could simply be punished or driven away.

But Jeongyo’s damaged health could not be restored so easily.

According to the physician, Jeongyo had developed an extremely severe cold illness.

She had ignored her health for far too long.

Now her body barely had enough strength left to fight the disease.

On the outside, she looked like a girl in her early teens.

Inside...

Her body was already like that of an old woman.

The physician said that even if her condition improved, she would need at least a full year of complete rest and treatment to drive the cold energy from her body.

“Heavenly Maiden.”

Jeongyo saw Cheongyeon enter and tried to sit up.

Cheongyeon immediately stopped her.

“Don’t.”

She gently pushed her back down.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to force yourself.”

Seeing Jeongyo’s cracked lips and pale, peeling face made Cheongyeon’s heart hurt.

She felt guilty for not noticing the girl’s pain sooner.

“I’m sorry.”

Jeongyo lowered her eyes.

“I deceived you all this time.”

Cheongyeon shook her head.

“You’re only a child.”

She adjusted the blanket.

“What do you have to apologize for?”

Then she smiled gently.

“Instead, promise me you’ll become healthy again.”

Jeongyo gave a faint smile and nodded.

“There is something I need to tell you.”

Her voice was weak.

“It is about how I came to Beopsindang.”

Jeongyo slowly began telling an old story.

Bulnae had once been a peaceful village surrounded by enormous barley fields.

At the center of the village stood a huge rock shaped like a flame.

The villagers considered it sacred.

One day, Jeongyo and the other children played a terrible prank.

Using sharp stones, they scratched drawings into the back of the sacred flame rock.

The adults reacted seriously.

They locked the children inside a storage room as punishment.

A shaman performed a ritual in front of the rock.

His voice had been severe.

He declared that because the children had disrespected the sacred rock, Heaven would punish them.

And as though his words had become reality...

Disaster struck the village.

The barley fields were swallowed by pitch-black fog.

Roads connecting one village to another disappeared.

Strange phenomena occurred everywhere.

Darkness had descended upon Bulnae.

“The darkness was frightening.”

Jeongyo looked down.

“The ghosts were frightening too.”

Her hands trembled.

“But the people became frightening as well.”

She swallowed.

“Everyone slowly became worse people.”

While the villagers of Bulnae suffered inside the darkness, a man eventually arrived.

His name was Heonwon.

Heonwon led the residents.

He became their spiritual pillar.

He told them that he was a disciple of State Preceptor Wongwang and the final survivor of Jeongilhoe.

He said he would soon gather people and rebuild Jeongilhoe.

He also told them something else.

Soon...

A Heavenly Maiden would descend from the heavens.

She would lead them into the Golden Lotus Kingdom.

By following Heonwon’s guidance, the villagers miraculously escaped the village covered in darkness.

However...

Someone else reached Cheongyeon first.

They brought her down from the heavens and made her the Heavenly Maiden of Beopsindang.

Heonwon’s plan fell apart.

In a hurry, he selected Jeongyo because her age and situation were suitable.

He sent her into Beopsindang as a maid.

She was meant to become the link between Cheongyeon and Jeongilhoe.

After hearing everything, Cheongyeon finally understood how Jeongyo must have felt when she entered Beopsindang.

She also understood why the girl had lived so desperately.

It had not been because of some foolish belief that she would someday enter the Lotus Kingdom.

It had not been simply because she believed she had a holy duty to serve the Heavenly Maiden.

Jeongyo felt guilty.

She had spent years believing that perhaps the darkness descended on her village because of the prank she and her friends had committed.

“Heavenly Maiden.”

Jeongyo looked at her.

“Do you remember what you asked me inside the carriage?”

Cheongyeon nodded.

Jeongyo had never told anyone her true wish before.

“You asked what I wanted.”

Her eyes became gentle.

“I want to see the seeds planted in the courtyard of Beopsindang bloom next summer.”

She smiled weakly.

“Together with you.”

It was such a simple wish.

And because of that...

It felt painfully precious.

Cheongyeon wiped the sweat from Jeongyo’s forehead.

“We will.”

Her voice was certain.

“We will definitely see them bloom together.”

A short while later, perhaps because of the severe cold illness, Jeongyo’s entire body began shaking.

She coughed.

Blood appeared.

Cheongyeon immediately tried to call the physician.

But Jeongyo grabbed her hand and shook her head.

The girl struggled to breathe.

Then she forced out the words with everything she had left.

“Leader Heonwon said he would come tonight to take you with him.”

Cheongyeon stared at her.

“Senior Brother?”

Her expression changed.

“He is coming to take me?”

Jeongyo nodded weakly.

“Leader Heonwon also sent news about Jeongilhoe.”

Her breathing remained rough.

“State Preceptor Namwan’s pursuit force is still chasing them.”

Cheongyeon’s face darkened.

There were more than a hundred people in the group.

Many were wounded.

Many were elderly.

Escaping constant pursuit would not be easy.

Jeongyo still refused to release Cheongyeon’s hand.

Then she added quietly,

“Heavenly Maiden...”

Her eyes became strangely serious.

“Do not let anything bind you.”

Cheongyeon looked at her.

Jeongyo squeezed her hand.

“Put on your winged robe...”

A faint smile appeared on the sick girl’s face.

“And fly freely wherever you want to go.”