Chapter ~ 04
The carriage that had left the Imperial City headed north.
The farther north they went, the more the scent of spring faded.
White breath spread from their lips at the ends of the cold wind.
Unlike the Imperial City, where flowers had bloomed in abundance, the valleys in the north were still covered in frozen snow.
Soa looked at the man outside the window.
Throughout the long journey, he remained as endlessly quiet as ever.
Each time the horse took a step, his black myeokri and the hem of his long robe fluttered like the wind.
I definitely heard his voice.
They said he was an imperial prince who could not speak.
That he had lost his voice because he had been cursed.
But why……?
Could it be part of my ability?
Perhaps because she could hear the voices of beasts, she was also able to hear the voice of someone who could not speak.
Just then—
【Soa, are you really going to marry that monster?】
Unjo, perched on his stand, broke her train of thought.
Only then did Soa take her eyes off Seo Heon.
“……Yes.”
Soa gave a small nod.
She recalled the funeral of the man she could see outside the window.
“Besides, didn’t you keep taking the King of Muk’s side?”
A cursed bloodline.
A disgrace to the Imperial Family.
Those were the words Seo Gon used to describe Seo Heon.
And so, not long after Seo Gon ascended the throne, he finally drew the sword he had been holding onto for so long.
His target was clear.
The head of the master of the north, King Muk Seo Heon.
It was a cowardly move to call it a sword.
That was precisely why there was no one better than Seo Heon to share her revenge with.
The moment Seo Gon was forced to kneel at Seo Heon’s feet, there would be no greater humiliation for him.
But Unjo seemed deeply suspicious of her sudden decision.
【You haven’t fallen for that strange man, have you?】
At the hawk’s sharp, gleaming eyes, Soa let out a small laugh.
“Of course not.”
There was another reason she had chosen the King of Muk.
“To begin with, he doesn’t allow women to get close to him.”
In her previous life, Seo Heon had never kept a woman by his side even after reaching marriageable age.
Even Mokyeon, who was dragged to the Muk King’s residence, remained a jaein until the very end.
Soa quietly closed her eyes.
The pain of her throat burning was still vivid.
The betrayal of the person she had loved.
After experiencing that, to continue believing in people and love would be the height of foolishness.
That was why Seo Heon was a good partner.
He would never demand anything from her as a partner.
And the final reason she had chosen him was……
“We’ve arrived at the Muk King’s residence.”
The coachman’s shout broke her train of thought.
Before she knew it, the sun was sinking beyond the mountain ridge.
“There is a body of water ahead, so we’ll make a fire there.”
The carriage soon stopped beside a secluded stretch of water.
Since there was no inn nearby, the servants began gathering firewood, lighting a fire, and setting up tents.
Soa also got out of the carriage to stretch her stiff body after the long journey.
The red sunset flowed across the frozen river.
【I’m going to look around the area.】
Perhaps feeling cramped inside the carriage, Unjo took flight into the sky.
Leaning against the carriage, Soa gazed at the scenery at dusk.
Dry reeds swayed in the cold river wind.
Trees that had yet to sprout new leaves groaned in the dry breeze.
Then—
Woof! Woof!
The barking of a stray dog came from behind.
【There’s an ominous smell over there! Get out of here right now!】
A stray dog in the grass barked fiercely at the carriage.
“Damn it. The stray dogs are swarming around because the sun is setting.”
The guards reluctantly went to chase the dog away.
But—
【It smells like something that calls monsters! We have to bury it in the mud right now!】
The stray dog barked toward the carriage where Soa was leaning and began digging at the ground.
“A smell that calls monsters……?”
【That pouch attached over there. It’s Soyohyang. It calls monsters.】
The stray dog growled as it warned her.
A pouch……?
Soa examined the carriage.
Then she spotted a red scent pouch attached beneath it.
She removed the pouch, but it gave off no scent that a human could detect.
“Be careful on your way, Soa.”
Soa remembered Mokyeon as she folded her eyes in farewell.
Nothing has changed from before.
I wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for the stray dogs.
I need to take care of this quickly.
This was land bordering Yogok.
Unlike the Imperial City, which was safe from monsters, monsters occasionally appeared here.
Soa took the scent pouch and headed toward the riverside, away from the campsite.
A grassy area thick with reeds.
Would here be enough?
Just as she was looking for a good place to bury it in the soil—
Shing—
A bone-chilling cold clung to the back of her neck.
Soa slowly raised her head.
In a place where the reeds, dyed bright red by the sunset, cried out in the wind, a man with a black myeokri hanging down was holding a sword.
【……What are you doing right now?】
The cold voice rang out clearly.
Could I really hear his voice?
She did not know the reason.
All she could do was speculate that perhaps it was an extension of her ability to hear the words of beasts.
But—
……I mustn’t let anyone discover this ability.
It was the ability to hear the words of a prince whom no one else could hear.
If this became known, surely……
“How could they possibly make a witch who can understand the words of beasts the Empress?”
Soa tightened her grip around the scent pouch.
An ability that set her apart from others would only be exploited and then easily discarded.
Soa opened her mouth, pretending she had not heard his voice.
“Is it customary in the Muk King’s residence to point a sword at the bride?”
She gestured with her eyes toward the cold blade pressed against the back of her neck.
The blade slowly lowered toward the ground.
But—
“Ah……!”
A large hand roughly seized her wrist.
At the same time, tremendous force pulled Soa toward him.
Soa’s body staggered violently as she was pulled close against Seo Heon.
The long myeokri instantly came within inches of her face.
His tall stature and imposing physique were overwhelming.
【It’s Soyohyang.】
He immediately recognized the scent pouch.
【Did the King of Wei order this?】
There was deep suspicion in his voice.
And it was not an unfounded suspicion.
Seo Gon had indeed planted his own spies inside the Muk King’s residence.
There had even been a major conflict in the Muk King’s residence because of it long ago.
But Soa looked up at him with wide eyes.
“That scent will be dangerous if it isn’t buried immediately.”
“……”
“You must know that as well, Your Highness. Why, then, are you trying to interfere with me?”
Instead, Soa boldly scolded Seo Heon and questioned him.
Seo Heon fell silent.
Soa could not tell what expression he wore beneath his myeokri.
“Then may I bury it?”
When she took the scent pouch from him again, he willingly let her have it.
Holding the pouch, Soa dug into the mud of the reed bed with her bare hands.
Seo Heon quietly watched her bury the scent pouch.
【You bury the scent pouch you brought here yourself with your own hands?】
As expected, it will be difficult to avoid his suspicion with this.
After thinking for a moment, Soa opened her mouth as though talking to herself.
“Someone attached this to my carriage.”
She placed the scent pouch deep inside the hole and continued.
“If this scent pouch were mine, would I have come alone to this reed bed?”
【……】
For some reason, she felt as though the eyes beneath his myeokri had narrowed.
Still, he would have no way to refute her.
Soa remained crouched before the hole and turned her head toward him.
“Is this deep enough?”
At her calm question as she looked up at him, Seo Heon fell silent as if dumbfounded, then answered with a short, dry nod.
His gaze beneath the myeokri remained fixed on Soa as she finished burying the scent pouch and stood.
Mud covered the hands of the noblewoman.
Dark soil had lodged beneath her fingernails.
“I should wash my hands.”
Embarrassed by her dirt-covered hands, Soa hid them behind the hem of her clothes and began walking away.
At that moment, Seo Heon suddenly raised his head and looked toward the distant sky.
The myeokri, carrying the glow of the sunset, streamed behind him in the cold wind.
At the same time—
【Soa, run!】
Unjo, who had gone out to scout, gave a long cry of warning.
Soa looked in the direction Unjo had flown from.
Across the river.
Strange shadows were surging toward them.
“Monsters! Monsters have appeared!”
The servants and soldiers by the riverside began fleeing in panic.
But as though mocking the humans, the shadows swallowed the riverbank in the blink of an eye.
Pitch-black darkness covered Soa.
And within it—
She met a pair of beast-like, bright yellow eyes.
“Kieeeek—!”
Fetid breath brushed against her face.
A mouth split open as though its skin had torn apart.
A dark-red tongue lunged toward her throat.
At the moment she realized it was already too late to run—
Flutter.
Her vision was suddenly covered by black robes, and a clear, pure aura burst forth.
This is……
When she raised her head, the long myeokri was fluttering in the white wind.
A hand gripping a sword.
A pure-white lotus pattern was engraved upon the back of that hand.
At its tip, a dazzling white flash cleaved through the air.
Like a meteor, white sword energy swept through the black shadows.
A tremendous wave rose from the frozen river, sending shards of ice scattering brilliantly through the air.
A sword dance that lasted only an instant.
The long black veil was disheveled by the fierce wind.
Through the gap, Soa saw it.
Skin as pale as ice.
And above his straight jawline, a cold shadow cast over his face.
A half-mask made of meteoric iron.
And beneath it, eyes shining vividly.
Those eyes……
The moment their gazes met, the wind died down.
The fluttering myeokri settled, and his face disappeared beneath the shadows once more.
Still holding his bloodstained sword, Seo Heon turned his head toward her.
Only then did Soa realize.
She was clutching the hem of his clothes with her mud-covered hand.
Soa hurriedly released it and took a step backward.
【First, we need to wash away the Soyohyang that has seeped into you.】
Seo Heon muttered as he brushed the traces of mud from his clothes.
