Chapter 40
“Wana. Your face.”
“Does that even make sense right now? Were you really that short on excuses? You could’ve just pretended to be sick. Why injure your leg like that…?”
“You know an invitation from the Emperor is the same as an order, right? And you know what happens if you go back on that using a cheap excuse like pretending to be ill.”
…That, I hadn’t thought about. Sometimes, I forgot how much weight the Emperor’s words carried.
“Ah, I know. So then—why are you trying to skip the hunting festival?”
Jin Suo tilted his head and stared straight into my face, so close it felt uncomfortable.
“You’ve lost too much of your memory. This is a problem.”
“Suo.”
“Even so, I think you deserve to be told, Your Highness.”
Jin Suo suddenly reached out his hand. Without thinking, I placed mine on top of it. He wrote characters into my palm.
瀋, then the next character followed—王.
Prince Sim?
Why is he involved now? Come to think of it, even during the Gu-Hua Poison incident, Prince Sim seemed to be connected.
Could it be that Prince Sim is trying to kill all his grandnephews?
Did he set something up at the hunting festival, and Crown Prince Wang Aseon found out, so he decided not to attend?
“That’s as much as you need to know for now. You’ll understand when the time comes. And it seems His Highness doesn’t want to burden you with more than necessary.”
I didn’t like that answer. I didn’t want vague, half-formed information like this. But at the same time, I was honestly afraid of knowing more.
I shut my mouth and lowered my head. Feeling worthless never stopped feeling awful, no matter how many times it happened.
It hurt even more to feel like an outsider among the few people I thought I was close to in this unfamiliar world.
“Wana, I just—”
Wang Aseon spoke in an anxious voice.
“Oh, right. I almost forgot. Her Highness told me to return this to you.”
He placed a small bundle on my outstretched hand. Just from the weight, Wang Aseon seemed to realize what it was, and his expression darkened.
“I’ll return this too. They say jade takes on misfortune in place of its owner. This time it was an artificial accident, but still… I don’t feel comfortable keeping it.”
When I removed the jade bracelet and offered it back, Wang Aseon only stared at it. He looked strangely hurt.
“Keep it.”
“It’s a little big for me.”
“I’ll be bedridden for at least a month. Do you think I need jade to ward off misfortune right now? You should have it instead. Who knows what might happen at the hunting festival.”
I looked back and forth between the bracelet and Wang Aseon, then slipped it back onto my wrist.
“Alright. Then I’ll return it when you can walk again.”
When I shook my wrist, the jade bracelet struck the hundred-thread cord and rang out with a clear sound. Only then did Wang Aseon’s expression finally soften.
“Yes. Do that.”
Just as the moment ended warmly, Jin Suo cut in.
“By the way, that’s a Sea Dragon Jade, so don’t lose it.”
“What’s that?”
“Master searched all the way from the Black Dragon River down into the sea to obtain it.”
That was insanely valuable. Was it really okay for me to have it?
“I-It’s not expensive, is it?”
“It’s not about the price. It’s hard to obtain. It helps balance yin and yang, so it’s useful for people like us who cultivate yin techniques. Keep it well.”
“Then I really think I should give it back—”
Would anyone casually wear something that precious?!
“Who would object to Master giving it to his disciple?”
“Still, wasn’t it given to His Highness because he needed it? For me to keep it feels a bit—”
“Why are you like this… You give your own things away so easily, yet you never consider what’s given to you as truly yours.”
…Did I step on some kind of unspoken history between the two of them?
Once the dam broke, Wang Aseon couldn’t stop talking.
“It’s always been like this. Even when my mother prepared things for you. At first, I thought you had no greed because you were a disciple of Baeksan. But more than that—”
“Your Highness.”
Jin Suo cut him off in a low voice, as if Wang Aseon was about to say something he shouldn’t.
“Wani has already stayed too long. If she remains any longer, misunderstandings may arise.”
Wang Aseon spoke stiffly.
“Right. Seonhwa must be worried too. You should go.”
“…Yes.”
Leaving like this didn’t sit well with me, but I forced myself to stand.
“Um… do you have any message for Her Highness?”
“To Seonhwa… just tell her I’m fine. Don’t say anything about being injured on purpose.”
Why do these siblings care for each other so deeply, yet hide things about themselves?
Wang Seonhwa hid the Gu-Hua Poison, and Wang Aseon hid Prince Sim’s threat.
Well, when I gave Seonhwa the note in Sangdo, she seemed to understand. It should be fine… right?
“Yes. I’ll take my leave.”
When I bowed and turned away, Jin Suo stepped ahead to open the door. I hesitated, then turned back.
“Your Highness, please recover safely. Please.”
Before he could reply, I hurried out.
As soon as I rushed out, Jin Suo glanced behind me, shut the door, and smacked my back.
“Seriously.”
“Ow.”
“I’ll walk you this far.”
“Senior brother.”
“You should call me big brother.”
He hadn’t even sheathed his temper yet. I puffed out my cheeks.
“At the training grounds—where were you?”
“Cleaning up.”
“Cleaning up what?”
“Just… various things. You didn’t suspect me, did you?”
My heart skipped. I had doubted him the entire way here.
“This brat. You doubted your own senior brother?”
I braced myself for a flick on the forehead, but Jin Suo did nothing. He only sighed.
“Don’t take His Highness’s words too seriously. He’s just worried about you.”
“Yes.”
At the last corridor, Jin Suo stopped.
“I don’t have anything to give you today. I’ve been… unusually busy.”
“You don’t need to give me anything.”
If it was a weapon, I’d rather not. It wasn’t intentional, but I felt a bit relieved knowing the water sword and judgment brush were gone.
“Well. You’ll have a bow at the hunting festival, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
Please stop saying things that sound like something bad is going to happen.
“There shouldn’t be any reason to use a bow.”
“Haha, right. You shouldn’t shoot recklessly. When you do shoot, think ten times—no, a hundred times. No one accepts ‘my hand slipped’ as an excuse.”
“Senior brother, do you really think I’d shoot a person?”
Jin Suo’s face grew serious in a way I hadn’t seen before.
“Wana, in the palace, you never know how things will turn out. That’s why I wanted you to leave the royal family and return to Baeksan as soon as possible, but…”
If ‘Shin Wan’ hadn’t followed Wang Seonhwa, would I ever have woken up here at all? If we had returned to Baeksan, Shin Wan wouldn’t have died like that.
“Even Master couldn’t bend your stubbornness. What could I do? All I could do was watch over you from behind.”
Jin Suo looked exhausted, like someone burdened with too much responsibility.
“Among countless people, who can truly escape the net of Indra?”
“No one is free from cause and effect. That’s why we must take responsibility for the choices we make.”
Well, staying in the imperial palace wasn’t my choice—but I’ve done plenty here myself.
“And someday, I’ll return.”
“Yes. Baeksan is our home. We should return before we die.”
I’d rather return to Baeksan Temple than Baeksan itself. Either way, just escaping the palace felt like it would bring peace.
“We won’t see each other for a while, until you return from Bifangbaek. Travel safely.”
“It’s not like we met that often anyway. Take good care of His Highness. He’ll be very uncomfortable.”
“Yeah. I can already see the hardship ahead.”
We smiled at each other. Only then did Jin Suo gently ruffle my hair, his expression finally relaxed, before turning away without hesitation.
I hope nothing happens to any of us. Isn’t there really no way for Wang Seonhwa to avoid the hunting festival?
“Ugh, whatever. Let things happen as they will.”
I’d stayed at the Imperial Medical Office for quite some time, so I needed to hurry back. If I was any later, who knew what Cho Jinroe might say.
“Oh—right. The tonic.”
It was only at the entrance of the Medical Office that I remembered the tonic again. I almost forgot the most important thing.
That night, when everyone was asleep, I took advantage of Cho Jinroe’s absence and headed to Wihui Garden.
The moment you enter the garden, Mo Yong Biyun’s training begins. For one hour, you face her—starting from sudden ambushes that could come from anywhere.
But today was strange. Mo Yong Biyun wasn’t hiding at all. And unlike usual, when she trained bare-handed, she was wearing a sword.
As I stood there in confusion, Mo Yong Biyun slowly drew her blade.
“This is the final training before we go to Namwon.”
