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Chapter: 16
I rested my chin on my hand, my elbow propped on the table, and carefully laid out the thoughts forming in my mind.
“Then it’d be better if there were some time between the moment he realizes he’s going to die and his actual death. During that time, you can say everything you’ve always wanted to tell him. You’ll feel relieved, and he’ll understand exactly why he’s dying.”
“…”
“Poison would probably be the best option. Get him alone somewhere, cut off any outside interference, and poison him. Since you’re one of the Emperor’s consorts, arranging a private meeting with him shouldn’t be difficult, right?”
At my question, Seol Deunghwa’s expression became resolute.
“If you can obtain the poison, I’ll make him take it somehow. Even if I have to feed it to him mouth-to-mouth…”
“No, wait, wait a second. What good is it if you die along with him while trying to kill the Emperor? You can’t die.”
Startled, I waved my hands and interrupted her. It sounded like she’d already decided to die together with the Emperor, but that would defeat the whole purpose. Sohwa would be heartbroken up in Heaven.
“The reason I said to get him alone is so you can say everything you’ve wanted to say to him without holding back.”
“Then… how will the poison work?”
“There’s a poison that can intoxicate someone without them having to ingest it. Even defensive techniques that grant immunity to all poisons won’t block it. Of course, there’s a way to make sure you won’t be affected, and when the Emperor dies, the cause will appear to be a heart attack or seizure rather than poisoning.”
“What? Such a convenient poison exists?”
“Not in the mortal world. But I have it.”
I smiled and added,
“After you’ve had your revenge, you’ll escape the palace and start a new life. I’ll help with everything—from getting you out to creating a new identity. So start thinking about what you want to do from now on.”
Seol Deunghwa stared at me as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
Even so, she had no choice but to believe me. As a member of the Snow Tribe, she could tell I was completely sincere.
“…You truly mean it.”
“Why would I lie? Especially in front of someone from the Snow Tribe.”
“To really do something like this…”
Some color had finally returned to her face. Muttering softly to herself, she wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. After remaining silent for a while, she looked straight at me and spoke.
“What should I give you in return?”
“I’ve already received my payment. I inherited this body and Seruhwa’s life.”
“Wasn’t that transaction already completed when you placed that child’s name in the celestial register? This is a new deal.”
That was a surprisingly sharp observation.
I looked at her in mild surprise before shrugging.
“Sohwa made one final request. She asked me to tell her mother she was sorry.”
“…She did?”
Her eyes swelled with tears again, as if she were about to cry.
I hurriedly continued,
“That means you’re the one thing Sohwa couldn’t let go of.”
“…Couldn’t let go?”
“If someone still has lingering attachments to the human world, they can’t properly become a celestial maiden. I promised to make Sohwa one, so seeing you become happy is part of my reward.”
A strange expression crossed Seol Deunghwa’s face.
“That’s… an interpretation that’s extremely favorable to Ruhwa and me. Aren’t you taking a loss?”
“A loss?”
I let out a snort.
“Should a great god like me worry about profits and losses when making a deal with tiny, fragile humans like you? I have my dignity as Princess Cheonmyeong. Something like this doesn’t even qualify as a loss.”
“…Great…”
Seol Deunghwa repeated the word under her breath as she gazed down at me.
She was looking at me exactly the way one would look at a child, so I protested loudly.
“I only look small because I’m using your daughter’s body! I’m originally an incredibly magnificent and enormous god!”
“But you said my parents liked Ruhwa because she was a friend your own age.”
“Th-that’s only because my body never grew properly for my age! And from now on, call her Sohwa instead of Ruhwa whenever possible! If you keep calling her by her human name, she’ll develop lingering attachments!”
“So… you truly intend to make Ruhwa—no, Sohwa—a celestial maiden.”
“Of course I do. She’s one of my followers now. She’s one of my people, listed in the registry of Sangra Palace. A great god like me keeps promises and takes good care of those under my protection.”
A tiny smile finally appeared on Seol Deunghwa’s face.
“Thank you. Then… may I call you Princess Cheonmyeong?”
“Just call me Princess. Carelessly speaking my divine title puts quite a burden on the soul of a little human.”
“Yes, Princess.”
Her face looked far better than before.
I was beginning to feel relieved when she asked another question.
“Um… Princess, why did you choose to inherit Ruhwa’s life?”
“I already told you. I was curious about what it was like to live as a human.”
“That’s a lie.”
“…”
For a moment, I was speechless.
Being curious about human life wasn’t entirely false, so I hadn’t expected her to see through it.
Seol Deunghwa continued gently,
“There’s a more important reason than the one you told me, isn’t there? That’s what your scent says.”
“…The Snow Tribe’s abilities are even more incredible than I thought.”
Looks like I couldn’t just dodge the question.
I let out a deep sigh before quietly answering.
“My original body… is very sick.”
“…What?”
“I’m not going to live much longer.”
The truth slipped out before I realized it.
Lies didn’t work on her.
She was a human in the mortal world who would never meet my parents, someone who had no particular attachment to me and couldn’t truly understand my situation.
Perhaps because of that, feelings I’d never even shared with Ansi came spilling out with surprising ease.
“I’ve died many times. My parents revive me every time using their power, but even that is reaching its limit.”
“…You’ve… died? What do you mean?”
“The intervals between my deaths keep getting shorter, and each resurrection takes longer than the last. I think… the next one will be the final time. It’s just a gut feeling, but my instincts are usually accurate.”
“…”
“Before that final moment comes… I wanted to experience living in a healthy body, even if only once. And I thought it might be better to spend some time away from my parents.”
“…”
“So when I happened to meet Ruhwa, I thought it was my chance. That’s the biggest reason.”
Seol Deunghwa parted her lips slightly before closing them again.
She stared at me for a long time with eyes still marked by tears before cautiously asking,
“Um… Princess… you’re the daughter of the Jade Emperor and the King of the Underworld, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. You’re wondering why I’m sick.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ve heard that question countless times. People always wonder why the greatest gods couldn’t cure the illness of their only daughter.”
There had once been a time when I heard it so often I grew sick of it.
People said it was impossible for even the Jade Emperor and the King of the Underworld to be unable to cure an illness. Rumors spread that perhaps I wasn’t really their daughter.
Some lesser gods tried to tempt me by whispering that my parents didn’t truly love me and deliberately refused to heal me.
Some monsters claimed my parents must have committed some terrible sin and that I was suffering the karmic punishment in their place.
Others even spread absurd rumors that I wasn’t really their daughter at all—that I was some strange artifact they had created, and my illness was merely an excuse to keep me hidden.
Every last one of those stories was nonsense.
Once people saw how my parents treasured me more than anything, those rumors gradually disappeared. The chattering lesser gods and monsters were all torn to pieces by my parents and Ansi. Nowadays, no one in the Celestial Realm dared say such things anymore.
It had been a long time since I’d heard words that would only make my parents sad.
“My mom and dad did everything they possibly could. The only thing at fault is my illness.”
I cut the matter off there and changed the subject.
“I don’t intend to ask anything from you in return, but there is something I need you to do.”
I took out the royal decree I’d received from the king and placed it on the table.
After hesitating for a moment, Seol Deunghwa sat across from me and read it.
My feet, which couldn’t quite reach the floor, swung back and forth as I waited for her to finish.
Back in my original body, swinging my legs like this would have made my ankles ache. But this body felt perfectly fine. Even such a trivial thing made me strangely happy.
My mood, which had dipped a little, brightened again, and I smiled.
“I’m the one who’s going to wake the Queen. All you have to do is pretend you’re treating her.”
“But that would mean taking credit for your achievement, Princess.”
“You think I’d covet achievements among humans?”
I chuckled.
“It has to become your accomplishment so you can stay in Unguk a little longer. There’s something you need to learn while you’re here.”
“What is it?”
“How to assassinate the Emperor with poison… and then escape the Imperial Palace in a way that absolutely no one can ever trace.”
“What? Is something like that even possible?”
“No one ever goes looking for a dead person.”
A secretive smile spread across my face.
“I’ll teach you how to die… and then come back to life. That’s my specialty.”
After finishing my discussion with Seol Deunghwa, I left the guest palace.
Chief Court Lady Kim was already waiting outside with a new palanquin.
“Your Highness!”
The moment she saw me, she hurriedly looked me over from head to toe.
“I heard what happened. You weren’t injured anywhere, were you?”
“You’ve already heard about the assassin?”
“Yes. I heard there had been an attack and that an investigation was underway. It gave me quite a fright. You must have been terribly startled as well. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m used to things like that.”
“…Pardon?”
I was practically an expert at being attacked.
I had been born with overwhelming power and unmatched divine authority, yet because I was a frail child who couldn’t even properly support my own body, much less protect myself…
‘I was the most tempting prey imaginable, with monsters and rogue gods drooling over me.’
The Jade Emperor and the King of the Underworld, the greatest gods in existence, guarded me with unwavering vigilance.
But if anyone somehow managed to break through their defenses and devour me…
They would instantly become a great demon so powerful that even those supreme gods could no longer stop them.
My parents made examples of those who attacked me, displaying their heads and exterminating entire bloodlines as punishment.
Even then…
There would always be more whose greed blinded them.
‘Then again, if they were capable of restraining their greed, they would’ve cultivated the Dao instead of remaining wicked beings.’
In any case, because of that, I’d witnessed every bizarre assassination method imaginable.
‘Anyone who used ordinary methods—or who was weak—couldn’t even get past Sangra Palace’s outer defenses in the first place.’
Those who managed to penetrate Sangra Palace’s absurdly tight security were naturally either incredibly cunning or unbelievably powerful.
Even so, most of them never made it anywhere near me before the celestial maidens or Ansi dealt with them.
The reason Ansi had grown into such an un-phoenix-like personality was because of everything she’d gone through protecting me from creatures like those.
Compared to them, a human assassin who knew a little magic was so ordinary it was almost cliché.
I deliberately snorted with a calm expression.
“This isn’t even worth being surprised over for someone like me, so you don’t need to worry.”
“Your Highness…”
Chief Court Lady Kim looked at me with eyes full of pity.
Huh?
I hadn’t meant for her to pity me.
‘…I think she’s misunderstanding something. She probably thinks I grew up suffering because I was constantly attacked.’
In reality, I’d been a treasured princess raised in luxury within the Ninefold Heavenly Palace.
But the real Ruhwa had indeed grown up mistreated and neglected, so it wasn’t exactly something I could deny.
I’d wanted to leave the impression of being brave and strong rather than a pitiful child, but somehow things hadn’t gone according to plan.
‘Maybe I’m just too young.’
If only this body had belonged to a fully grown adult instead.
‘I don’t want people seeing me as a helpless little child anymore.’
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I quickly changed the subject.
