Chapter 69
Two days after the banquet.
The first results of interrogating Hong Jae-young—no, I should say the former elder who had now been expelled from his position—had come in.
It turned out that he had smuggled out the exam papers, causing his grandson to commit fraud.
The traces of the magical signature were so clear that he couldn’t deny it until the end.
Naturally, his grandson, Hong Soo-il, was summoned to the palace as well. Unlike his grandfather, the grandson refused to admit his crime until the end.
Even if Hong Jae-young had stolen the exam paper, he claimed he had solved the questions himself.
“So he kept insisting?”
“Yes. There’s evidence that Hong Jae-young stole the exam paper, but none showing that Soo-il actually solved the problems using it.”
Sneaky!
As I furrowed my brows, Hwi-rok gently rubbed the tense spot, soothing me.
We were currently sitting comfortably together in armchairs, having eaten our fill. I was practically leaning my entire body on Hwi-rok’s lap, trying my best not to fall asleep from the sheer comfort.
“Why is Hong Soo-il insisting so much?” I asked.
“Because if he admits to cheating, he’ll never be allowed to take the civil service exam again?”
If he can’t take the civil service exam, he won’t become an official, and he’ll lose his chance to inherit the head of the family.
From his perspective, his life was on the line, so he insisted stubbornly.
But there are always bigger fish—and bigger dragons glaring from above the flying fish.
Hong Soo-il, who tried to wriggle out like an eel, got caught properly by His Highness the Crown Prince.
“They say the Crown Prince gave him an impromptu test, asking him to prove he deserved second place.”
“Did he manage to solve it?”
“Almost.”
“Almost? That’s still really good, isn’t it?”
“His Highness wasn’t aiming for that.”
Hwi-rok revealed a terrifying fact to me with a tilt of his head.
“What His Highness needed was a messy answer sheet showing the process of solving it.”
“Ahhh!”
Right.
The Crown Prince initially suspected cheating because Hong Soo-il’s first answer sheet was too neat.
But if the new answer sheet was messy, that in itself became new evidence of cheating!
I shivered at the meticulousness of the Crown Prince, who had orchestrated this entire process.
“The royal palace is terrifying!”
“It is a tiring place, indeed.”
When I snuggled closer, Hwi-rok laughed and hugged me tighter.
The punishment for the grandson was, unsurprisingly, disqualification from office.
He was spared further punishment because he was still a minor; if he were an adult, it would have been straight to prison.
“Was there an official announcement?”
“No. They decided not to announce it.”
Hmm. It seemed they planned to quietly bury the cheating incident.
Understandable. No one gains from revealing a breach of palace security.
Instead, they planned to reward the student who should have been second place with additional gold bars as a scholarship.
After barely wrapping up the cheating incident, they began investigating Hong Jae-young’s corruption—and problems arose.
There was far too much.
As they went through the records, corruption kept emerging at an insane rate, leaving Minister Hong practically in shock.
“They said if he had spent the time studying instead of committing all these crimes, he could have been both the family head and a minister.”
Why do villains always dedicate themselves so diligently to wrongdoing?
In any case, failing to keep his house in order had put Minister Hong in hot water.
If this incident became a problem of the Hong family rather than just Hong Jae-young, the family head would have to step down.
If Minister Hong stepped down, the administration would naturally fall into chaos.
The remaining officials could manage through overwork and overtime, but it would inevitably creak and groan.
Moreover, Minister Hong had gained his current power after surviving countless assassination attempts in his youth.
He had no intention of losing his hard-earned position because of a reckless cousin.
Finally, there was Hong Ram.
Knowing that his adopted daughter had scored quite highly as a potential Crown Princess, he had to ensure she wasn’t held back.
Although the odds were low, if by chance she stood beside the Crown Prince in the future, the Hong family would become the family to produce the Crown Princess.
From a broader perspective, it would benefit not only their family but also their species.
If the adopted daughter became Crown Princess, hostile glances toward the winged race would soften, gradually mending old grudges.
After hearing all this from Hwi-rok, I muttered:
“Wow.”
I felt both respect and a sort of creepy awe at the Hong family’s scheming intelligence.
Just as things seemed to settle, news of Hong Jae-young’s death arrived.
Suicide? Or murder?
“Natural causes.”
Hwi-rok, who had hurried to the palace to investigate, reported a cause very different from what I expected.
“It seems he used too much life force in a magical contract.”
Simply put, it was his own fault.
Since the culprit was dead, there was no one left to punish. The Hong Jae-young incident was closed.
Of course, that didn’t mean everything was completely resolved.
They couldn’t track the sorcerer who contracted with Hong Jae-young.
In fact, the royal family had intensely investigated this, but Hong Jae-young had strong protective seals.
The enemy’s skill was so great that lifting the seal would have required two high-level sorcerers a month of work.
Thus, the royal family made a decisive call: the Crown Princess selection was temporarily halted.
The sorcerer was strong enough to infiltrate the palace; the candidates could have been at risk.
The families had to make a choice: wait or move on.
“Ri-hwa has found another match this time,” Hwi-rok said.
Among the prominent candidates, Gong Ri-hwa of the Gray Bear clan moved quickly.
I looked at Hong Ram in front of me.
Having lost a family elder, Hong Ram wore mourning clothes but still had a fresh and serene expression.
“Hong Ram, you were going to become friends with Gong Ri-hwa, right?”
“Yes. We got along well and have been exchanging letters.”
At the previous banquet, Hong Ram seemed satisfied that he not only gained an exemption from the preliminary test and gold bars, but also a good friend.
“Do you know why Gong Ri-hwa gave up being a candidate for Crown Princess?”
“Yes.”
Having become close, Hong Ram knew the reason for her choice.
“Although His Highness is very handsome, he wasn’t to her taste.”
Gong Ri-hwa’s preferences were firm.
She wanted a more muscular macho type, not a mysterious, smooth-faced beauty.
“Apparently, Yeong-sik had also been eyeing the bear clan. But due to family encouragement, she attended the banquet hoping the dragon race would be impressive. I guess it wasn’t what she expected.”
“I see.”
I nodded, though I couldn’t hide my sympathy.
Hong Ram, with Gong Ri-hwa stepping down as a candidate, was essentially the leading candidate for Crown Princess.
But our naive little sparrow was busy complaining about how awkward she felt at the last banquet, unaware of this fact.
“Who would have thought that was the Crown Princess selection banquet?”
“Half the ladies seemed to know.”
“I didn’t!”
The little sparrow trembled with indignation.
“I thought all I needed was the gold bars!”
“Haha.”
“Well, I wasn’t on His Highness’s radar anyway. The food was good, I made friends, so no real loss.”
“….”
“Hye-on?”
Unable to tell the truth, I offered Hong Ram the snacks.
The clueless little sparrow happily indulged and left.
After seeing Hong Ram off, I slumped into an armchair. The spring breeze coming through the open window was gentle.
By mid-April, the fickle spring weather had stabilized, and only warmer days remained.
“Phew.”
The reason I had been able to stay in the capital until now was that my family had already given their permission.
It was my first long stay away from home, and with the long distance, they told me to stay and settle in properly.
Hwi-rok, as the heir of the family, was performing his duties in the capital.
There were many things to formally take over in preparation for becoming family head in the year after next.
Once Hwi-rok finished his work, I planned to return with him.
So, now my remaining task was one thing I had been eager for since before coming to the capital!
To visit the Haetae gathering place.
I learned the exact location at the end of last year.
I had wanted to go earlier but kept postponing, partly because it was near the royal palace and partly because the date and time were fixed.
The Haetae gathering was located near the city center, a bit off the market.
The instructions were clear: come on the 15th of every month, in the morning.
Last month, the Crown Prince’s birthday was on the 14th, so I couldn’t go the next day. I simply didn’t have the energy.
With the royal banquet, meeting the Crown Prince, and palace matters, how could anyone remain upright?
At that time, I was like a black sesame rice cake—completely exhausted.
Missing the one-day opportunity in a month was okay. I knew I couldn’t make it in March anyway. I was aiming for the April gathering!
When April 15th finally arrived, I woke up at dawn and prepared my supplies.
First, ten volumes of Camellia books.
I neatly wrapped them in a cloth and called Hwi-rok.
“Do I have to go alone?”
“The Haetae gathering is for Haetae only.”
“But…”
“We’ll go together nearby, but no further.”
Before my worried fiancé, I transformed into a small dog.
I turned into a dog because my human form was too conspicuous.
During reconnaissance, whenever I went near, all eyes would fix on me, forcing me to flee.
Even wearing plain clothes didn’t help.
I realized it was due to three generations of striking looks—my grandfather, father, and me. So this time, I chose to take on an animal form.
“Woof!”
Hwi-rok secured the bundle of ten books onto my small dog body.
It was almost the size of my body, but it was okay. Haetae are strong!
“Woof woof!”
Let’s go!
The capital has paths designed for small anthropomorphic beings. There were two routes, like during palace inspections—one for under one foot, one for taller beings.
I trotted along the path for small beings.
“Be careful,” came the voice of my lingering fiancé. I turned and wagged my tail while barking softly.
Then, confidently, I followed the map I had memorized.
Carrying the bundle, I waddled to my destination: a bookstore.
The sign read Full Moon Bookstore.
“Woof woof! Anyone here?!”
My shout rustled something inside, and the door opened.
“Woof woof!”
“Oh my.”
The moment I faced the bookstore owner, I immediately knew he was a Haetae.
No one else in this world could speak English like this unless they were a Haetae reincarnated from Earth.
“Who’s this? A new face, huh?”
