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Chapter: 07
The Crown Prince of the Black Day, Cheon Gyeol-woo.
Since Luhwa had never crossed paths with the Crown Prince in her life, even after using the Mirror of Karma, all I knew about him was his name and title.
‘The only other things I know… are that he’s the legitimate son of the current queen, and those strange rumors.’
The moment the Crown Prince appeared, the murmuring died away, and the atmosphere became as thin and tense as ice over water. It was as if everyone feared him, yet at the same time despised him.
Even the musicians’ performance faltered ever so slightly.
It was hard to believe that all this was directed toward an eleven-year-old boy. The mood was as though an actual ghost had appeared.
‘He just looks like an ordinary kid… though something does feel strange. Is it because his face and hands are completely covered?’
If I could see his eyes, I could examine him with my Heavenly Insight. But the thick black veil hid everything.
“Bow to one another!”
At the nervous official’s shout, the Crown Prince and I alternated bows across the wedding table.
I had the distinct feeling that he was staring straight at me from behind the veil.
Your Highness… that human child… feels ominous…
Ansi’s voice echoed anxiously in my mind.
‘If even a phoenix, who is sensitive to evil, finds him ominous… then something really is wrong.’
Just what was he?
‘I don’t think he’s a monster, though…’
If he were a yokai, neither Ansi nor I would have been deceived no matter how well he hid himself, just like the fox spirit disguised among the musicians earlier.
“The ceremonial wine!”
A gourd cup tied with a red cord was placed into my hands.
Across from me, the Crown Prince received the matching cup tied with a blue cord.
The ceremonial wedding wine.
We were far too young to drink real alcohol, so it had been diluted until it was little more than flavored water.
Still, it was wedding wine.
Once the bride and groom shared it, the red and blue threads of fate would become one.
Shielding the cup with my wide sleeve, I pretended to drink while secretly pouring about half of it onto my robe.
‘This is exactly why I wore Vermilion Bird robes.’
Ordinary clothing would have become soaked immediately.
But robes woven from Vermilion Bird feathers evaporated every single drop without leaving a trace.
The court lady exchanged my cup with the one the Crown Prince had partially emptied.
I pretended to drink that one as well and quietly poured it onto my clothes.
‘Perfect.’
As I lowered the empty gourd, I noticed the court lady across from me panic.
The Crown Prince wasn’t taking his cup.
He simply stared at it silently.
The court lady trembled in terror as she urged him.
“Y-Your Highness… y-you… must drink…”
“…”
After remaining motionless for quite some time, the Crown Prince slowly lifted the cup and drank the wedding wine behind the veil.
The gloved hand holding it trembled faintly.
‘He knows about the conspiracy surrounding this marriage too, doesn’t he?’
By tomorrow he would become the groom who had murdered his bride and be sentenced to death.
No wonder he didn’t want to accept the wedding wine.
‘Still… if they’re planning to frame the Crown Prince for killing me… will another curse attack come tonight? Or another assassin?’
If it was a curse or an assassin, I had ways of dealing with both.
But…
‘If the Crown Prince really is insane and tries to kill me himself…’
That would be troublesome.
Not because I couldn’t stop him.
Because it would ruin my plans of living here as Crown Princess.
The two gourd cups were joined together, their blue and red cords intertwined.
Beyond the pair of mandarin duck figurines on the wedding table, I quietly watched the Crown Prince.
The young groom never revealed his face until the ceremony was over.
The moment the wedding ceremony ended, I was escorted alone into the bridal chamber.
They even locked the main doors, apparently intending not to let me leave until morning.
Of course, it didn’t matter whether humans stood guard or not.
Ansi simply transformed into a tiny bird and flew over the walls.
“Take this.”
I handed the Eight-Jewel Bell to Ansi.
“Bring it with you when you capture the fox spirit.”
A thousand-year-old fox was a dangerous great yokai.
But it was no match for a fully grown phoenix.
Unfortunately, Ansi was still young.
Seeing the bell, Ansi lowered her brows unhappily.
“May I remain by Your Highness’s side tonight and catch the fox spirit tomorrow instead?”
“If I’m still alive tomorrow, everyone will know something went wrong. The fox spirit might realize something’s happened. You have to catch it tonight.”
“Then shouldn’t Your Highness keep the Eight-Jewel Bell instead? You’re in far greater danger.”
“I’m just staying here quietly. What’s dangerous about that?”
“You said humans are plotting to kill you! And that Crown Prince feels unsettling too…”
“Don’t worry.”
I lifted the hem of my robe slightly, revealing a decorative charm with a tiny scarecrow doll attached.
“Ah! Is that Lord Cheoyong’s protective talisman?”
“Mm. I borrowed it from the royal treasury.”
Cheoyong had originally been the Dragon King’s son of the Eastern Sea.
After defeating the plague spirits, he became the god who drove away calamities.
This scarecrow charm had been personally crafted by Cheoyong himself and given to me as a divine treasure.
“It’ll take any curse or attack in my place, so don’t worry and go. Besides, you can sense whether I’m safe no matter where you are, can’t you?”
“…Understood. I’ll return as quickly as possible.”
Looking somewhat reassured, Ansi took the Eight-Jewel Bell and departed.
Left alone, I looked around the bridal chamber illuminated by the wedding candles.
‘There’s only one blanket.’
The bride was nine years old.
The groom was eleven.
It wasn’t as though anyone expected anything to happen.
‘They simply assumed the bride would die here anyway.’
When children were this young, wasn’t it normal for them to sleep separately after the ceremony instead of sharing the bridal chamber?
‘If Sohwa had truly awakened instead of me…’
The thought of such a tiny child sitting alone in this empty room, swallowed by oversized wedding robes while waiting for death, made me sick.
‘Humans really are something else…’
‘No wonder Hell is overflowing.’
These days Hell had so many sinners that people practically needed numbered tickets just to wait in line.
‘The ones who killed Luhwa… I’ll ask Father to send them straight to the Eight Great Hells without waiting in line.’
As I wondered how I should track them down and send them to the underworld, the sun finally set.
As dusk deepened, I heard movement in the courtyard.
The Crown Prince had apparently arrived.
Standing on tiptoe, I opened the window just a crack.
He had come alone.
Only a single shadow stood in the dim courtyard.
‘Why is it so dark? I can barely see.’
Although evening had fallen, torches and lanterns were burning everywhere.
Yet around the Crown Prince, it looked like the middle of the night.
Even without the veil covering his face, darkness clung so thickly around him that I couldn’t make out his features.
The Crown Prince, who had been standing silently in the middle of the courtyard, finally began walking.
Reluctantly.
Very slowly.
The moment he stepped onto the stone path—
The bonfire blazing in the courtyard suddenly dimmed.
When he climbed onto the wooden porch—
The blue silk lanterns hanging from the eaves lost their light.
As he walked through the corridor—
Every lantern lining the hallway went out one after another.
‘That’s…’
Everywhere the boy passed, light died.
Darkness deeper than night spread behind him.
It was an eerie, horrifying sight.
‘He wasn’t like this… during the wedding this afternoon.’
He was almost here.
Closing the window, I sat upon the bed and looked toward the door.
Darkness that grew on its own.
Lights extinguishing without cause.
Perfectly normal during the day…
Yet revealing its true nature after sunset.
Suddenly, I understood why such dreadful rumors surrounded the Crown Prince.
At the same time, I became certain that no curse or assassin would come tonight.
‘If my guess is right… there’d be no need.’
This was completely beyond my expectations.
Even if the Crown Prince had truly been a murderous madman intent on killing me himself, it wouldn’t have shocked me this much.
‘There can’t have ever been a precedent for this… But that phenomenon is definitely…’
Soft footsteps approached.
The glow shining faintly through the paper door disappeared as pitch-black darkness swallowed everything outside.
The footsteps stopped before the door.
After a long silence, the Crown Prince finally spoke.
“…My lady. Are you inside?”
His voice still sounded youthful, yet it was as cool and clear as water resting in deep shade.
“Yes— I mean… yes, I am.”
I answered casually before hurriedly correcting myself into formal speech.
Our marriage might be fake, but married couples generally spoke politely to one another.
Mother and Father certainly had.
“Do you know why you were married to me?”
“I do.”
“I…”
The Crown Prince paused.
Then, as though making up his mind, he continued.
“I do not wish to harm you.”
“…”
“So I beg you.”
“…”
“Please… do not fear me.”
His voice trembled ever so slightly.
‘He’s terrified.’
The boy was telling me not to fear him…
Yet he himself was gripped by overwhelming terror.
“If you fear me… you will die. Even if I do nothing… it will happen on its own. Even if I don’t want it to… even if I never wish to hurt anyone… it still happens. So please…!”
The Crown Prince almost cried the words out before drawing a ragged breath.
Then he inhaled deeply, struggling to calm himself, and continued more slowly.
“When I enter this room… every light will go out.”
“…”
“You won’t be able to see even an inch before you. You’ll feel uneasy… frightened.”
“…”
“But nothing will actually happen. It’s only a feeling. Only darkness.”
“…”
“You may close your eyes. Yes… that’s better. Please keep them closed.”
I heard the rustle of fabric.
He seemed to be rubbing his face anxiously with his sleeve.
“Simply close your eyes and go to sleep. I won’t touch you, not even with a fingertip. I’ll stay quietly in the corner without moving.”
“…”
“That will be enough. Everything will be fine.”
“But… if, by any chance, you begin to feel even a little afraid…”
“…!”
“…then the darkness will grow.”
“…”
“You can already see the darkness surrounding me, can’t you? It feeds on fear. The more frightened you become, the larger it grows. The more you fear it, the more monstrous and violent it becomes… until it devours you.”
“So please…”
“Whatever you do…”
“Don’t be afraid.”
I had suspected it before.
Now I knew for certain what the Crown Prince really was.
Why such terrifying rumors surrounded him.
Why everyone feared him.
Why someone had gone to such elaborate lengths to have him killed.
Why both Ansi and I had sensed something ominous from him.
‘So… something like that… could actually be born among humans.’
It was just as unprecedented as my own existence.
And just like me…
He had probably suffered through countless unprecedented troubles.
‘His fate is every bit as miserable as mine.’
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I rose from my seat.
Then I walked over…
And immediately opened the door.
