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Chapter: 09
“Your Highness, you’re having a hard time because you can’t control that darkness on your own, right? You said that even when you don’t want to, you end up hurting other people.”
“…Yes. That’s right.”
“But just now, you controlled it. The darkness disappeared, and the lamps came back on.”
“That was…”
“So if you keep practicing, you’ll be able to control it from now on too.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened.
“Practice…?”
“Yes!”
I nodded vigorously and immediately grabbed his hand.
“I’ll be fine even if I’m inside your darkness, so let’s practice together.”
“…!”
“I’ll help you. Until the day you stop being afraid of your own darkness!”
The hand clasped in mine trembled slightly. Looking up at his black eyes, dark as the night sky, trembling before me, I thought,
‘You can do it.’
There’s actually no need to exorcise an Eodukseoni. If left alone, it eventually disappears on its own. That’s because the one who fears the Eodukseoni’s darkness the most is the Eodukseoni itself.
As it watches the creatures around it die or lose their minds, it naturally comes to fear its own abnormal darkness. That fear causes it to grow into an even larger Eodukseoni.
The larger it becomes, the greater the terror its darkness creates, and the more frightened the Eodukseoni becomes. Then one day, when its fear grows greater than the Eodukseoni itself…
‘It gets swallowed by its own darkness.’
It was just like me.
My body weakened because it was crushed under overwhelming power, and because my body grew weaker, it became even less capable of enduring that power. An endless vicious cycle.
So the Eodukseoni’s end would probably be much the same as mine.
‘But you can escape that cycle.’
You already succeeded in casting aside your fear once.
I’d heard that ordinary Eodukseoni could never overcome their own terror, and all of them eventually died after being consumed by their own darkness. But this little boy wasn’t some mindless monster. He was a human, capable of controlling his emotions through reason and will.
‘Besides, I’ll be helping you. I’m Princess Cheonmyeong—a great deity. You’ll be just fine.’
Helping someone overcome their fear or practice controlling their power was something I could do as much as necessary.
I beamed at the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, you’ll definitely overcome this!”
“…!”
The Crown Prince stared at me as if spellbound. The delicate lashes shading his lowered eyes quivered softly.
Just then…
Grrrrrr…
A loud rumbling echoed from my stomach.
“…”
“…”
“…My Lady, are you hungry?”
“…I haven’t eaten a single meal today…”
Now that I thought about it, it was kind of miserable.
I’d gotten up, prepared for the wedding, gone straight through the ceremony, and the moment it ended, I’d been sent into the bridal chamber.
I’d been starving all day.
‘I don’t particularly enjoy eating, but this is a bit much.’
This body wasn’t like my original one that had to fast whenever my condition worsened.
‘I need to eat well, grow big, and become healthy as soon as possible!’
The moment I realized it, hunger crashed over me.
The Crown Prince asked in surprise,
“There should have been a meal prepared in the bridal chamber. Didn’t you eat while waiting?”
What? Where?
I never saw anything.
Seeing my expression, the Crown Prince immediately stood up.
“It definitely… Ah, here it is.”
After looking around the room, he pulled out a table hidden behind a folding screen.
It was an evening meal neatly covered with an embroidered cloth.
Why on earth would they hide it like that?
“I heard it’s customary to prepare a separate meal in the bridal chamber so the bride can eat comfortably by herself. Didn’t the court ladies tell you?”
“…No, they didn’t.”
Well, they’d all disappeared after receiving heavenly punishment, so there hadn’t been any court ladies left.
‘No wonder nobody gave me anything to eat…’
I honestly thought they weren’t feeding me because they expected me to die soon.
“You must be hungry. Please, eat.”
The Crown Prince quickly placed the table before me and personally removed the embroidered cloth.
White glutinous rice.
Rich beef bone soup.
Kimchi.
Neobiani.
Sliced boiled pork.
Braised fish.
Pan-fried delicacies.
Seasoned cooked vegetables.
Fresh vegetable salad.
Pickled vegetables.
Seasoned raw beef.
Salted seafood.
‘That’s… pretty simple. Wait, no. By human standards, is this considered luxurious?’
My meals usually consisted of one hundred and twenty dishes, but I’d heard that kings in the mortal world were served only twelve dishes. A nine-dish meal was probably considered quite impressive.
‘Given the circumstances, it’s hard to be sure.’
As I tilted my head, a wonderful aroma drifted toward me.
Without realizing it, my mouth began to water.
This was the first time food had ever smelled this delicious.
I’d always hated mealtimes.
‘Is it because I’ve been starving all day?’
Or was this another difference between a healthy body and a sick one?
‘Everything smells amazing. What should I try first?’
While I hesitated, unable to decide, the Crown Prince clicked his tongue.
“The food has gone cold. I’ll have them prepare it again.”
“O-Oh, no. It’s fine.”
I hurriedly stopped him and picked up my spoon, taking a bite of rice first.
“…!”
The instant I chewed, every trace of drowsiness vanished.
‘It’s delicious!’
Rice…
Was rice always supposed to taste like this?
Even though it had gone cold, it was wonderfully chewy, with a subtle natural sweetness.
I absentmindedly chewed the plain rice, completely entranced.
The shock left my head tingling.
‘Rice can taste like this? Plain rice is this delicious?’
I already knew painkillers had dulled my sense of taste, but I’d never imagined the difference could be this overwhelming.
The thought that even cold, plain rice could taste so unbelievably good that it gave me goosebumps…
I hurriedly scooped up another spoonful.
The Crown Prince gently placed a side dish on top of my rice.
“You should eat it with the side dishes.”
It was a piece of fragrant neobiani.
‘Will this taste different too?’
I carefully studied the perfectly cooked meat resting atop the white rice before cautiously putting it into my mouth.
“…!”
It’s so good…
It’s really, really good…!
Even though I’d prepared myself, I couldn’t help being astonished.
It wasn’t just because I was hungry.
Compared to this, every piece of meat I’d ever eaten before was like chewing paper soaked in soy sauce.
‘Compared to this, that wasn’t even real flavor.’
The rice and the neobiani blended together perfectly inside my mouth.
Two different flavors combined into something entirely new.
‘So this is what real food tastes like.’
Only now did I finally understand why everyone cared so much about food.
Why they loved delicious meals so much.
‘I’ve lived all this time without ever knowing this?’
A shiver ran through my whole body.
‘Would everything else taste like this too?’
I moved my chopsticks frantically, tasting every dish one by one.
Every single one tasted different.
When I ate them together, they created entirely new flavors.
‘I know all these foods, but they all feel brand new… It’s amazing…’
If they tasted this good even after going cold, I couldn’t even imagine how incredible they would have been while still hot.
‘Coming down here was the right choice. It really was.’
If I’d stayed in my original body, I might have died without ever knowing food could taste this wonderful.
So overwhelmed that tears nearly welled up in my eyes, I barely managed to hold them back. Hugging my cheeks with both hands as I trembled with emotion, I finally noticed the Crown Prince sitting across from me.
“…”
“…”
I quickly lowered my hands from my face and gracefully said,
“Your Highness, you should eat too.”
“I’ve already eaten. You may have it all.”
Smiling faintly, the Crown Prince carefully picked the bones from a piece of fish and placed the white, plump flesh onto my rice.
It looked incredibly appetizing.
I stared at it blankly before popping it into my mouth.
‘This is unbelievably delicious too! What do you even call this flavor? Is this what umami is?’
Seriously…
Now I wanted to go back and eat every single dish I’d ever carelessly ignored.
Then I noticed the expression on the Crown Prince’s face as he watched me, and I froze.
That expression…
It looked exactly like the one I used to make while feeding snacks to Ruhwa.
‘I’m two hundred and nine years old, yet I look exactly like a nine-year-old.’
Well, I was in Ruhwa’s body, so of course I looked like a child.
Still, I had my dignity as Princess Cheonmyeong!
‘I boldly declared I’d help him just moments ago. If I act like this, he’ll lose all confidence in me!’
I tried my hardest to eat with elegance and maturity.
I really did.
But somehow, my chopsticks only moved faster and faster.
Everything I put into my mouth amazed me so much that I felt dizzy.
‘Only now do I understand what it means for something to be delicious…’
Before I knew it, I was full.
There was still plenty of food left.
I wanted to keep eating, but…
‘Why am I suddenly so sleepy…?’
The Crown Prince, Cheon Gyeol-woo, gently laid his young bride onto the royal bedding as she nodded off with a spoon still in her hand.
‘She should brush her teeth before sleeping… but after everything she’s been through today…’
After tucking the blanket around the little girl, the boy sat beside her and looked around the bridal chamber, illuminated by the warm glow of the wedding candles.
He couldn’t sleep.
It had been two years since he’d last seen a night filled with light.
For those entire two years, he’d lived in absolute darkness without so much as a single point of light.
‘I was planning to die today.’
Cheon Gyeol-woo ran his fingers over the small dagger hidden inside his robes.
Until just before entering the bridal chamber, he’d been practicing pressing it against his own vital point.
When the ministers finalized the marriage according to their proposal, Cheon Gyeol-woo realized that his royal father had approved his son’s death.
He understood his father’s decision.
He was a sinner.
An unfilial son who had harmed his own parents.
A cursed monster.
But he couldn’t accept the method.
If someone had to die, why couldn’t it just be him?
What crime had the bride done?
He’d heard she was only nine years old.
So he’d prepared the dagger.
If he never entered the bridal chamber, the ministers would undoubtedly send assassins to kill the young bride.
She had to die somehow so they could place the blame on him.
That was why he had to enter the chamber.
But before his own darkness could kill her, he intended to take his own life first.
He was going to die anyway.
At the very least, he wanted to save an innocent child.
He’d even written a suicide note beforehand, worried they might accuse his bride of murdering him.
The reason he’d told her not to be afraid before entering was only because he feared he might hesitate before taking his own life, allowing his darkness to consume her first.
‘I thought I had to die here.’
He truly…
Never could have imagined…
That the child who became his wife would remain completely unharmed inside his darkness.
‘…There’s no longer any need for me to kill myself.’
He still couldn’t believe it.
