Chapter 50 …
“What…? A Blood Rift appeared at the academy…?”
Having barely completed her mission and returned to Myeonggyeong with lingering unease instead of relief, Seon-oh was met with even more troubling news.
A Blood Rift had formed at Yoonhan’s academy, and he had nearly been caught in something terrible because of it.
Seon-oh’s face drained of color. She immediately grabbed Yoonhan by the shoulders and examined him from head to toe, searching for injuries.
“I am perfectly fine. Not even a scratch,” Yoonhan declared proudly.
Only then did the tightness in Seon-oh’s chest ease. It seemed she wasn’t the only one shaken—her father, visibly moved, reached out and ruffled Yoonhan’s hair.
“And our Han even saved another child, you know.”
Seon-oh’s brows knit together.
“What do you mean by that?”
“One of the children couldn’t escape the academy in time and became a target for a yokai. Han took care of it.”
At their mother’s explanation, Seon-oh turned back to Yoonhan in disbelief. He rubbed under his nose awkwardly and gave an embarrassed smile.
Could it be… Yoonhan awakened too?
“It was nothing, really.”
“How did you…?”
“Well, there was a pickaxe in the storage shed, so I just—wham! Really wham! I dealt with one that way. But then a bigger one came charging at me and I nearly got a glimpse of the afterlife. Of course, this body of mine isn’t so easy to take down, so here I am, alive and well.”
Seon-oh stared at him, dumbfounded.
Without any yin power… with just his bare body?
“The child’s parents even came by last night,” their father added. “They were so grateful to Han.”
“Our Han… when did he grow up so much… sniff…”
Unable to contain his emotion, their father abruptly left the room. Their mother shook her head as if to say he was impossible and followed after him.
Once they were alone, Seon-oh fixed Yoonhan with a look of disbelief. Sensing the gravity in her gaze, Yoonhan’s smile stiffened.
“Did I… overdo it?”
His playful tone gone, he asked timidly. Seon-oh’s thoughts grew tangled.
The mere thought that Yoonhan could have been harmed by a yokai made her vision spin. But she couldn’t criticize him either.
Still…
There was no guarantee something like this wouldn’t happen again. Depending on what she said now, Yoonhan might choose to protect himself next time—or continue stepping forward for others as he had today.
Then Yoonhan added awkwardly,
“Maybe I shouldn’t do that again? You already have enough worries, noona. I wasn’t thinking.”
The apologetic tone struck Seon-oh hard.
In that moment, she came to a selfish realization.
From the moment she decided to participate in the Phoenix Competition until now, her family must have endured these same feelings.
They must have waved at her with smiles when she left, only to spend sleepless nights worrying something might happen to her.
Thinking of how they had welcomed her back with more joy than anyone, Seon-oh’s chest ached.
And yet, they had always let her go. They never stopped her. Because they believed the path she chose was the right one.
The answer was clear.
Even while carrying each other’s worries, one must still walk the right path. Just as she had felt compelled to help the innkeeper and his daughter, Yoonhan must have felt the same toward his classmate. It was not arrogance.
At last, Seon-oh accepted it and spoke.
“You did well.”
“I won’t do it again—… Huh?”
“I said, you did well.”
She nodded in affirmation and raised her thumb.
Yoonhan, who had no idea what that gesture meant, stared blankly at her raised thumb.
“Whose little brother are you? You’ve grown up so upright. Saving a friend—sending you to the academy was worth it.”
Stunned by the unexpected praise, Yoonhan’s face lit up.
“Ah, come on. It was nothing! As the only younger brother of the future Phoenix, I merely did what I should. How could I let some brat tarnish my sister’s reputation?”
Watching him recover instantly and puff up with pride, Seon-oh let out a soft, helpless laugh. She was grateful to have such a resilient younger brother.
“But what about the bigger yokai? How was that handled? Did the supers help?”
Seon-oh knew roughly how Blood Rifts worked.
When one formed, a guard unit made up of supers would rush in to handle the yokai and buy time until a member of the imperial family arrived. Since this was the capital, Myeonggyeong, the defenses would be even stronger.
However, an answer she never expected slipped from Yoonhan’s mouth.
“Ah! You know Young Master Wi, don’t you, noona?”
Seon-oh’s breathing faltered.
Young Master Wi…?
Surely not…
“…Wi Gong-un?”
“Yes, that’s right. He appeared at the perfect moment and saved us.”
“…Wi Gong-un? You mean the young head of the Wi family? One of the Seven Supremes? That Wi Gong-un saved you?”
“Y-Yes… that’s correct…”
Damn it.
At the sudden mention of Gong-un’s name, the anger Seon-oh had barely suppressed surged up again.
Why is Wi Gong-un showing up here?
She was grateful he saved her brother, but surely he had ulterior motives.
“He just saved you like that? Didn’t say anything strange? Wait—did he touch your neck or anything?”
“Huh?”
Now it was Yoonhan who looked bewildered by her sudden barrage of questions. Did she know Wi Gong-un personally?
“N-No. He didn’t touch me… But he did ask about your type.”
Yoonhan scratched his head as if even he found it absurd. Seon-oh’s breathing stopped for the second time.
“What…?”
“He asked what kind of man you prefer.”
My type…?
At that, something she had once said to Gong-un flashed through her mind.
“Well, what should I do? Our Young Master Wi just isn’t my type.”
…Did that sting him too?
So he ran to Yoonhan’s academy the moment a Blood Rift formed just to find out?
Which meant he had thoroughly investigated her background—enough to know where Yoonhan attended school.
“That lunatic, seriously,” Seon-oh muttered under her breath.
Yoonhan perked up, trying to catch what she’d said. She looked at him again.
“So?”
“So… when I said I didn’t know, he told me to think carefully. It felt like he wouldn’t let me go without an answer, so I just made something up. I did well, right?”
“…What did you say?”
“I said my sister hates scheming men. I mean, what woman likes a scheming man? Right?”
Ha.
At the absurd coincidence, Seon-oh pressed a hand to her forehead.
Of all things to say…
He’s going to have another fit.
Recognizing how obsessively persistent Gong-un was, Seon-oh felt her headache returning.
It seemed he had no intention of giving up his suspicion of her. She needed to remove the poison in his neck as soon as possible—but there was no way he would cooperate willingly. That would be troublesome as well.
But even if he found out my type, what was he planning to do…?
Then Yoonhan brightened with yet another piece of news.
“Oh! And something really important! Do you know who eliminated the Blood Rift at our academy?”
“…?”
“It was His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Seon-oh’s previously indifferent eyes widened.
“What? The Crown Prince?”
“Yes, that’s what they’re saying.”
“He came in person?”
“Well, I didn’t see him myself, but the entire capital is buzzing. They say His Highness eliminated the Blood Rift at the academy in a single stroke. When the First Prince handled the last one, it took him a full hour!”
Seon-oh’s heart dropped.
The Crown Prince revealing himself—this was different from the original story.
She had known for some time that events were shifting because she had gradually twisted the situation. But the Crown Prince’s appearance was on an entirely different level from simply drawing suspicion from the Supremes.
If things continued like this, the future plot could no longer be guaranteed.
But she had no idea why the story had diverged this way, and the uncertainty left her utterly confused.
