Chapter 073. The Sleeping Girl's Prayer (2)
After the Fifteenth Day Festival suddenly ended because of the spreading darkness, Nam Huyeong remained inside Beopsindang.
Everyone found it strange that she did not return to the Buddhist Holy Land where State Preceptor Nam Wan was staying.
Some servants even ran away during the chaos.
Huyeong did not care.
"The world became dark?"
She laughed.
"I don't understand what everyone means."
Her eyes shone like an excited child.
"I feel as though I finally opened my eyes."
She stretched her arms.
"This feels wonderful."
Huyeong breathed deeply.
"Even breathing feels exciting."
She had successfully lured Cheongyeon from Beopsindang and hung her at an execution site.
Now...
Nothing stood in Huyeong's way.
At last, she decided to carry out the plan she had held for many years.
Late at night, when every priest should have been asleep...
The wooden gate leading into the rear garden of the administrative quarters creaked open.
Huyeong passed the bookshelves and headed directly toward the inner residence.
Her face covered in white powder floated through the darkness like a mask.
Seongha's bedroom was simple and neat.
A bookshelf, storage chest, and wooden desk stood along one wall.
A painting hung behind the bed.
The burning wick of a lamp made a faint sound.
A sweet and heavy fragrance filled the room.
It felt completely out of place.
Huyeong approached the bed.
Seongha remained perfectly still.
A satisfied smile appeared.
The hallucinogenic incense she had ordered the maids to burn had apparently worked.
Huyeong narrowed her eyes and stared at Seongha for a long time.
His head rested lightly on the pillow.
His sleeping face was flawless.
Unchanged.
The sacred and ascetic feeling around him resembled a pale snowy field.
Huyeong wanted to jump into his arms.
She wanted to greedily take his nobility.
Dirty it.
Disturb it.
Her outer robe slowly slipped from her shoulders.
Huyeong bent over the bed.
Her hair fell around them.
Heat spread across her cheeks.
"You're mine now."
She took a purple fruit from her sleeve and placed it between her lips.
Then brought her face close to Seongha's as though about to kiss him.
Suddenly...
Her lips touched something rough like hemp cloth.
Huyeong's eyes shot open.
The fruit fell to the floor and was crushed.
A presence appeared behind her.
"I experienced many threats from childhood."
A familiar voice came from the darkness.
"So I've developed resistance to many poisons and fragrances."
Huyeong spun around.
Seongha stepped from behind the wall where the painting had hung.
He wore only a light white inner robe.
It emphasized his slender, elegant body.
"So I decided to place you under an illusion instead."
A calm smile rested on his face.
"How was it?"
He did not seem surprised by the intruder at all.
Apparently...
He had been watching Huyeong from the beginning.
I was the one trapped in an illusion?
Huyeong looked toward the bed.
The fake festival doll, Uui, lay there.
Almost as though mocking her.
She had kissed a doll while Seongha watched.
It should have been humiliating.
But Huyeong was already too excited.
Even Seongha reacting to her felt like a game.
As though he had finally agreed to play with her.
"Interesting."
She gathered her loose hair and fixed it with a hairpin.
Her white neck became exposed.
"We have plenty of time anyway."
Seongha looked at her.
"It seems the young lady greatly enjoyed the Fifteenth Day Festival."
He spoke calmly.
"That is what your attendants told me."
Huyeong smiled widely.
She sat in the exact place where Cheongyeon should have been.
[I am the true Heavenly Maiden.]
[No one can stop me now.]
During the festival...
Beneath her brilliantly decorated palanquin, people had fled from darkness with terrified faces.
The streets were filled only with screams.
And Huyeong had bloomed like a flower among them.
"Of course."
She smiled and approached Seongha.
"You should have seen me that day."
Then she gave him a flirtatious look.
"And I never expected Seongha to help my plan."
Seongha turned his body away from her approaching form.
For a moment, his brows tightened.
Then he regained control.
"...Help you?"
"Publicly, you claimed you were protecting Beopsindang's Heavenly Maiden."
Huyeong smiled knowingly.
"But in truth, you were watching that woman's evil power."
She leaned closer.
"You can be honest with me."
Seongha stared at her.
"What exactly made you think that?"
"I saw you leaving Cheonsingak."
Her eyes sparkled.
"You convinced that woman to enter the carriage I prepared."
Seongha carefully considered her words.
Was this a clue about what happened on the day Cheongyeon disappeared?
Or simply another one of Huyeong's delusions?
But Seongha had remained inside the palace helping Nam Hyeon's rebellion the entire time.
What she described was impossible.
There was no need to become insane simply because he was dealing with a madwoman.
Seongha calmed himself.
"I will be honest."
He looked directly at Huyeong.
"Claiming I wanted to protect the Heavenly Maiden at Beopsindang..."
His blood felt cold.
His stomach twisted.
Yet his face remained calm.
"That was merely an excuse."
Huyeong's eyes widened.
"Everything was an excuse so I could keep Cheongyeon beside me."
His gaze became deep.
"Because I loved her with all my heart."
Huyeong's face instantly flushed.
Her heart began beating so quickly it felt ready to burst.
"Wait!"
She raised her hands.
"I don't want to hear any more."
Her voice became frantic.
"You don't need to deliberately say something like that!"
To Huyeong...
Seongha's words sounded wrong.
