Chapter 86
Yuseol, who had been reminiscing, said absently.
“But why would such a thing have happened to Myoyeon?”
Yanghui thought carefully, then tilted her head and answered.
“Perhaps he wandered around the entrance, became exhausted and lost consciousness, so someone carried him back?”
No, there was no one among the village people who had gone out….
Yuseol, who had been thinking, answered without finding an answer.
“I’d rather it were something like that.”
Yanghui nodded and looked outside again.
“It’s regretful that Lord Mu-yeong didn’t accompany us either.”
The name that had been shimmering in Yuseol’s mind throughout climbing mountains, descending, and riding horses flowed out again. She withdrew her gaze that had been on the green bamboo shoots and closed her eyes. It seemed like that particularly calm low voice was quietly circling around her ears. Farewell…. Could those words be so hollow?
It became around sunset like that day. Emptiness began to rise in her heart. Was it because she couldn’t say a final goodbye to that man? She silently recited the words she had wanted to leave then.
…Still, thank you. Because I’m alive thanks to you.
She exhaled a calmly settled breath.
Then Yanghui, who had been looking outside, furrowed her brow. She looked startled, then soon puzzled. Her voice echoing in the palanquin trembled.
“Lady, those men with masks behind the hill, th-they couldn’t be bandits, could they?”
Thud! The palanquin suddenly collapsed to the ground. The swaying candle went out helplessly.
Yuseol’s hand gripping the curtain shook. Through the gap, she could see men in black masks approaching while drawing their swords.
In the palanquin where pitch-black darkness had descended, Yuseol’s sigh spread. The private soldiers of Museolwon who had been in charge of escort until just before had returned to the village. They were supposed to pass through the relatively safe bamboo forest and meet the capital’s escort soldiers. How had they appeared at such perfect timing?
At that moment, a man’s loud voice exploded.
“What scoundrels are you! We’re entering the palace under royal command, so get lost!”
It seemed like the palanquin bearer’s bluff. But no answer could be heard.
“If, if you value your lives, get lost!”
Yuseol opened the curtain with trembling hands. The masked men were tightening their encirclement.
The curtain fluttered in the footsteps of the palanquin bearers who fled, overwhelmed by their momentum.
All around became quiet. It seemed like all the palanquin bearers had fled in an instant. Yuseol let go of the curtain and breathed heavily. If Kim Seon had sent assassins.
She’d rather they be a starving bandit group. She wanted to give them the money she had and continue on her way. She urgently groped the back corner of the palanquin. Soon she found and gripped the sword she had received from Mu-yeong and unwrapped the cloth that covered it.
The only thing she could rely on now was the sword. She had to threaten them with the sword and make them choose money. She wanted to give them money and flee with Yanghui. Yes, as long as they weren’t assassins sent by Kim Seon…
Yuseol whispered urgently.
“Yanghui. When I tell you, run without looking back. Until then, you must stay as if you’re dead.”
At those words, Yanghui’s eyes widened.
“What? Lady? Wait, what are you trying to do!”
Yuseol lifted the curtain. Without hesitation, she went outside and drew her sword.
The long scabbard fell mercilessly to the ground. The men’s gazes all turned toward Yuseol at once.
She was holding a sword that gleamed with a deadly blue light. Though it was a crossroads of life and death, there was no fear in her.
The approaching men stopped in place. Yuseol opened her mouth coldly.
“How dare you block the path without fear. Are you bandits?”
She felt a sensation she had forgotten. Maddening tension and heat. It was the reason she had originally taken up the sword. Because when facing death, one could desperately feel the desire to live.
Yearning began to dwell in Yuseol’s hand gripping the sword. That she could protect Yanghui without injury and safely enter the palace. She had to save her sister and find the truth to enlighten Kim Seon. For the sake of those who had helped her so far, she couldn’t stop here.
A sharp voice rang through the forest.
“If you want money, I’ll give you enough that you won’t regret it. But if you harbor greater greed than that, I’ll risk my life to cut you down.”
The fifteen or so men didn’t waver. She felt an ominous premonition.
Then another man walked from far away between the bamboo forest. He looked like a young scholar. No, seeing the sword at his waist, he wasn’t an ordinary scholar.
It was the moment when the sun was setting and the sky was being dyed purple. In the gradually darkening vision, the scholar’s figure approached.
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