Chapter 066. The Lost Kingdom (5)
At that same time, a long line of nobles and foreign merchants waited outside the palace to enter the banquet grounds.
Among them, the people who attracted the most attention were clearly the exotically dressed members of the Rang Merchant Group.
"Why exactly are you refusing to let me inside?"
Bam was arguing loudly with the officials blocking her path.
"I was entering this palace freely and delivering all kinds of goods until yesterday."
She pointed toward the gate.
"And now, on the day of the festival, you're telling me to stay outside and suck my fingers?"
An official sighed.
"How many times must we explain it?"
He frowned.
"People carrying the Rang Merchant Group's identification plaques have already entered."
He pointed toward Bam.
"If you continue causing trouble, we will call the soldiers."
Bam held up her plaque.
"Look at this properly!"
Her voice rose.
"I am the owner of the Rang Merchant Group!"
She glared at them.
"Who exactly is pretending to be me?"
Then she clenched her teeth.
"Should I storm the palace myself and teach them a lesson?"
At that moment, Bam realized something was wrong.
The Rang Merchant Group's mercenaries suddenly surrounded her.
Their scarred and battle-hardened faces looked unusually serious.
Even Bam could no longer move freely.
"What is this?"
She looked around.
"Why are you all acting like this too?"
One mercenary bowed his head.
"Lady Rang, we apologize."
"But this once, we cannot obey your order."
Bam froze.
"It was agreed from the very beginning."
Another mercenary spoke.
"We are returning to Buwan Port."
His expression became firm.
"Captain Hoyeon ordered us to take you away across the distant sea."
Bam's eyes widened.
"Hoyeon's order?"
The mercenaries grabbed Bam's arms and shoulders and tried to drag her away by force.
Men she had hired with her own money were refusing to obey her.
It was impossible.
Bam's lips trembled with shock and rage.
Somehow, Hoyeon had taken control of the Rang Merchant Group's people and turned them into followers loyal to him.
There was no denying that he possessed extraordinary leadership and ability.
But from Bam's perspective...
It felt as though her entire world was collapsing.
Everything she owned had been stolen from her.
"When did this start?"
She glared at the mercenaries.
"How long have all of you been working together and deceiving me?"
Her voice shook.
"Did you already know who Hoyeon really was?"
"We don't know exactly who the captain is."
One mercenary shook his head.
"Nor do we know everything he intends to do."
"But we came to trust the kind of man he is."
Another spoke.
"The captain said this decision was made for your safety."
Bam laughed bitterly.
"He dares send me far away?"
Her eyes flashed.
"Absolutely not."
She shook off their hands.
"Treating me like an idiot until the very end..."
Hoyeon had decided everything himself.
He had not even given Bam the chance to learn the truth.
That made her furious.
She could not simply leave like this.
Hoyeon.
Whatever your real identity is...
Whatever you are planning...
I will see it with my own eyes.
Bam glared at the mercenaries.
"You're all fired."
They froze.
"I'll take care of my own safety from now on, so get out of my sight."
She slapped away the hands grabbing her.
Then she kicked wildly through the air.
Finally, Bam pulled a handful of suspicious powder from inside her clothes and threw it over the men.
A thick, irritating smoke exploded.
The mercenaries began coughing and choking.
Bam immediately ran.
She was so quick and agile that she looked exactly like a thieving cat.
The Rang Merchant Group's mercenaries and palace officials started chasing her.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside the grand banquet hall had reached its peak.
There were no empty seats on the raised platforms.
Tables filled with magnificent food and alcohol had been brought out.
Splendid royal ceremonies were being performed in the courtyard.
But behind the celebration...
There were signs that something else was about to begin.
People were sitting in seats under names different from those written on their plaques.
Huge porcelain jars carried by palace servants were filled with arrows.
Suspicious shadows waited behind the temporary toilets covered with black curtains.
Thick ropes had been placed across rooftops.
Seongha carefully watched everything happening inside the banquet hall.
Secret looks passed between the people involved in the coming uprising.
Tension filled the air.
[Our target is the corrupt king and ruling class.]
Crown Prince Nam Hyeon had gathered everyone and explained the final operation for the uprising that would begin during the Fifteenth Day Festival.
[Evacuate unrelated people safely and minimize casualties.]
Afterward, Hyeon had called Seongha aside.
[I have something to ask of you.]
On the night they infiltrated the palace to seal the well, Hyeon had managed to regain his sanity because Seongha called out to him.
[Protect me with your nobility.]
Those words showed Hyeon's trust in Seongha.
Seongha had silently nodded.
At some point, hope for a new ruler had begun growing inside him as well.
If the rebellion succeeded...
If the crown prince regained royal authority...
Perhaps they could punish the forces of evil.
Perhaps they could create a new future for Hui Kingdom.
More than anything...
Seongha wanted a world where he could protect Cheongyeon.
"Nothing will happen."
He murmured quietly.
"Even if I'm not beside her..."
His body stood inside the palace banquet hall.
But his mind remained with Cheongyeon at Beopsindang.
He had asked his subordinates where her procession currently was.
No one had heard anything.
His chest felt increasingly uncomfortable.
But he could not simply abandon his position.
[Priest Jin...]
Suddenly, he heard Cheongyeon's voice.
A weak, desperate cry seemed to pierce straight into him.
Powerful emotion resonated through his chest.
It tingled.
Ached.
At that exact moment, festival gourds burst open.
A rain of flower petals scattered through the air.
Seongha's vision blurred beneath the endless falling petals.
He felt as though he had missed something.
Something important.
Yet he could not understand what it was.
While Seongha stood beneath the flower rain with a pale face, Chancellor Jin Sangwon watched his son from a high platform.
Unlike his usual cold and rational expression, Seongha looked deeply troubled.
Sons.
What are you thinking now?
When destinies cross, where should a man's sword point?
Then pale purple petals began drifting around Sangwon.
A clear fragrance touched his nose.
Had there always been a tree with purple flowering branches somewhere beyond the palace wall?
Or...
Was the memory of his long-dead beloved creating an illusion?
A bright white smile appeared before him.
Sangwon took a small sip of alcohol.
"My soul is trapped in the life of a nobleman."
He stared into the distance.
"In middle age."
"In this rusted body."
His voice became soft.
"Yet you remain exactly as you were."
Time had seemed to stop on the day he lost everything.
He never imagined decades would pass so meaninglessly afterward.
A petal landed on Sangwon's rough hand, covered with hard muscles and calluses.
What would be wrong with surrendering to a little drunkenness on a day like this?
If one cup of alcohol could allow him to hold onto the illusion of his beloved...
Sangwon's memories returned to a day several decades earlier.
Small hermitages belonging to the followers of State Preceptor Wongwang were scattered across green mountain peaks.
Deep inside a thick forest, beside a cliff where a waterfall poured down, a woman practiced sword techniques.
Every time her sword moved, a breeze carrying flower petals followed.
It was a mysterious sword art that did not harm the grass or trees around her.
She wore a simple gray cotton robe resembling a monk's garment.
Rather than hiding her appearance, the plain clothing made her beauty stand out even more.
Her face looked as though it had been carved from brilliant jade.
Her features were neat and perfect.
But more than anything, her clean and graceful atmosphere made her unforgettable.
Sangwon stood like a stone statue and silently watched her training.
Eventually, she noticed him.
She lowered her sword, approached, and bowed politely.
[My lord, it has been a long time.]
Sangwon's lips had felt impossibly heavy.
Eventually, he managed to speak.
[Hoeryeon.]
[I came because there is something I wish to tell you.]
Sangwon was skilled at reading people's hearts and accomplishing his goals.
Yet he had never spoken his own raw feelings to anyone before.
[On the way back after taking you here, I thought about something.]
His hands tightened.
[I should have kept you beside me.]
Hoeryeon's eyes remained on him.
[Because I could not remove you from my heart.]
Sangwon had already been arranged to marry a daughter of the In Clan.
But that marriage had nothing to do with his wishes.
It was simply a political arrangement between noble families.
A man of Sangwon's rank could have taken a concubine if he wished.
But he did not want that.
So he decided to break off the engagement.
After sending the cancellation letter to the In Clan, both his heart and footsteps felt unbelievably light.
Then he dismissed his servants and came alone to find Hoeryeon.
[Will you stay with me?]
The moment the words left his mouth, Sangwon realized how foolish and embarrassing they sounded.
Still, a man could not take back words he had already spoken.
Hoeryeon originally stood expressionless without avoiding Sangwon's gaze.
Then she noticed his hand trembling slightly.
She smiled.
The nervousness looked strange on such a large, powerful man with a fierce appearance.
Sangwon did not understand why she was smiling.
That only made him more embarrassed.
[You know I possess the ability to see parts of the future, don't you?]
Hoeryeon's smile disappeared.
She lowered her head.
[My lord and I are not destined to become husband and wife.]
Sangwon's expression darkened.
[I will remember your kindness in helping me escape for the rest of my life.]
She spoke calmly.
[So please allow our connection to remain something that simply passed by.]
Sangwon released a heavy sigh.
He had understood her words as rejection.
Pain appeared in his face.
[I only asked about your heart.]
He looked at her.
[Why are you using predictions of the future as an excuse?]
Hoeryeon remained calm.
[I believe seeing the future is only an ability.]
Sangwon's voice strengthened.
[A person's will decides their fate.]
Hoeryeon looked directly at him.
[Even the young lord of the great Jin Clan cannot change fate.]
Her expression became firm.
[Your choices may hurt the people you love.]
She continued.
[And divination is the principle of understanding the relationship between heaven and earth, people and nature.]
[It is not an unholy power.]
Sangwon said nothing.
[If you are destined to become a high official, should you not understand the fate of the nation in order to care for its people?]
Sangwon was a promising official and the future head of the Jin Clan.
Was it truly too greedy for him to seek happiness simply as one man?
A dry smile appeared on his face.
[Then what is this fate I need to know?]
Hoeryeon brought both hands together.
Eight bamboo divination sticks emerged from her sleeves.
They rotated through the air with auspicious energy.
Then they stopped in a certain pattern.
The principles of the universe had appeared as symbols.
Hoeryeon spoke.
[In the twenty-eighth year of Gimu, darkness will come to this kingdom.]
Sangwon's expression changed.
[Darkness...?]
[Does that mean the day of destruction will come?]
Hoeryeon shook her head.
[No.]
Her eyes became clear.
[It will be the day of awakening.]
She continued.
[The day when power awakens.]
Now that the prophecy involved the fate of the kingdom, Sangwon became serious.
Hoeryeon smiled.
[When the time comes, my lord can see for yourself whether my prediction was correct.]
She had possessed the ability to see the future.
Perhaps she had known that only a few years later she would die.
Then how could you smile at me so brightly?
Whenever Sangwon remembered that smile, it felt as though something was carving pieces from his heart.
He looked toward the king's throne high above.
Some people would try to gain something from the king.
Some would try to cut off the king's head.
Others would chase after them.
It was a day so confused that no one could see even one step ahead.
"The twenty-eighth year of Gimu."
Sangwon sat upright on the platform like a mountain standing against the cold northern wind.
"The Black Shadow Heavenly Maiden finally descended to earth and reached the Fifteenth Day Festival."
His gaze became distant.
"Hoeryeon."
"Your prophecy will soon come true."
