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Chapter: 14
Seeing the sedan carrier who had died instantly without even being able to close his eyes made me sigh.
“I should at least pray for their souls.”
“Your Highness? You were not the one who killed them. Is there any need for that?”
“They died because of me.”
If I, the Princess of the Underworld, prayed for their peaceful rest, it would help them in many ways when they were judged in the afterlife. It would add a bit more karma to my own burden, but these people had been dragged into this because of me. They deserved at least this much blessing.
“They did not die because of Your Highness! They died because of those assassins!”
“That’s true if you look at it logically, but emotionally it doesn’t feel that way. I ought to compensate them somehow. Otherwise it just feels too unfair.”
“…Your Highness is far too merciful.”
“Of course I should be merciful. Compared to these fragile humans, I’m a god who exists on a much higher plane. The greater the god, the more carefully they should watch over those beneath them.”
“Regardless, you should receive treatment first.”
Shaking his head, Anshi supported me and softly began to sing.
The song of a phoenix calmed the mind, purified evil influences, and promoted healing.
The cuts that had been bleeding slowly closed.
After carefully checking the wounds that had vanished without leaving even a scar, Anshi finally let out a relieved sigh.
“Your injuries appear completely healed on the outside, but just in case, I shall treat you once more with the Phoenix Voice tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
After praying in Princess Cheonmyeong’s name for the souls of the dead sedan carriers, I walked toward the assassins’ corpses.
Now then, let’s find out who sent them.
It hadn’t even been a few hours since word spread that I had survived the previous night.
Who could have reacted this quickly?
Did someone have a reason why I absolutely had to die as soon as possible?
Standing beside one of the assassins’ bodies, I performed Soul Summoning.
Normally, Grim Reapers awakened the dead by holding a Red Death Writ—a crimson paper listing the deceased’s name and lifespan—but someone like me, a princess of the Underworld, could do it with my bare hands.
Even if I’m only half a god who can’t properly use divine power, the authority of my title isn’t half-baked.
His name was plainly written on the severed thread of life fluttering nearby.
“Kim Makjo. Kim Makjo. Kim Makjo.”
I called his name three times in a quiet voice.
“I, Princess Cheonmyeong Sang Rahuiyo, command you. Rise.”
A translucent soul rose from the corpse.
The dead man looked down at his own body in confusion, then screamed when our eyes met.
“Aaaah!”
There was no reason for me to explain the situation to an assassin.
Ignoring his panic, I took out the Eightfold Bell and retrieved my Karma Mirror through the bell connected to the treasury.
“W-What are you trying to do?!”
“Anshi, hold him down.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Anshi leaped into the air and slammed the assassin’s soul onto the ground.
“I-I’m dead… then how… h-how—”
“Urgh!”
“Quiet.”
With one small hand, Anshi grabbed the much larger assassin by the throat and forced his mouth shut.
“Ghk… ghk…”
Unable to breathe, the assassin—or rather, his ghost—rolled his eyes back and foamed at the mouth.
Since he was already a ghost, it wasn’t really a problem, but it looked disturbingly like torture.
Anshi really is rough for a phoenix.
He hadn’t always been like this.
At first, he had been an ordinary phoenix who hated killing.
The reason he had become like this was entirely because of me.
Because he had become my phoenix.
He had gone through countless dangerous incidents while protecting me.
Anshi is especially sensitive in situations like this.
So even if he seemed a bit violent, I didn’t stop him.
He needed to vent his anger somehow.
When I reflected the now-subdued assassin in the Karma Mirror, it didn’t take long to discover who had given the order.
The Karma Mirror replayed the deceased’s memories backward from the moment of death, so the answer appeared almost immediately.
That outfit… a palace eunuch? There’s no way he was acting on his own. Someone must be behind him too.
I memorized the eunuch’s face before putting away the mirror.
“Anshi, that’s enough.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Anshi released the assassin’s throat.
“Cough… cough… damn it…”
“You…”
I had just begun to speak to the coughing ghost when I suddenly felt a chilling cold.
A Grim Reaper? Why are they here so fast?
Startled, I immediately shut my mouth and retreated toward the bamboo grove.
“Your Highness?”
“Come here! It’s the Grim Reapers! We have to hide!”
“What? They’re this quick? But why must we hide?”
“Because they’ll find out I ran away from home! Hurry!”
“…Yes.”
Anshi reluctantly shuffled over.
This stupid chick… He’s probably hoping I’ll get caught so I have to return to the palace.
“Are you coming or not?”
The moment I glared at him and Anshi unwillingly hid himself in the bamboo grove—
A large group of Grim Reapers suddenly tore through the air and appeared.
“Seriously… because of that bastard, we don’t even have time to catch our breath.”
“What can we do? It’s not like the trouble he caused was anything minor. We’ll have to work overtime and stay on our best behavior for a while.”
“I heard that idiot grabbed Her Highness by the collar because he didn’t recognize her. Damn… even eight thousand years rolling around in the Eight Great Hells wouldn’t be enough punishment.”
“Considering what he did, aren’t we lucky this is all that happened?”
“True enough. When I heard about it, I was sure our entire Northeast Division would be boiled alive for several years in the Hot Hell reserved for immortals.”
“We got off easy. We’d better keep our heads down for a while. Come on, let’s get to work.”
As they chatted among themselves, the Grim Reapers dispersed toward their assigned corpses.
They’re definitely talking about that Grim Reaper who tried to beat up Ruhwa and got caught by me.
Looks like they’re working unusually hard because they got punished.
Normally, Grim Reapers only had to collect souls within three days after death.
That was why they usually took their time.
I’d thought it strange that they had arrived so quickly today.
The Grim Reapers held up their Red Death Writs and summoned the souls assigned to them.
“Huh? What’s this? Why is he already awake?”
The Grim Reaper assigned to Kim Makjo looked startled upon discovering that his soul was already standing there.
“Kim Makjo. What’s going on? Who summoned you?”
Please don’t say anything unnecessary!
They probably didn’t hear the Soul Summoning chant, so they won’t know who I am anyway…
Please. Just let this slide.
Watching nervously, I saw the assassin, who was still clutching his throat, finally speak.
“W-When I regained consciousness… my target… no, a little child… was standing in front of me. I believe that child was the one who summoned me.”
“A child? How could that be?”
Another Grim Reaper, who had been tending to a different soul nearby, joined the conversation.
“Maybe the kid was a shaman who knew Soul Summoning. Or some kind of supernatural being.”
“But there are no traces of a ritual. Something’s strange…”
“Hey, we’re busy enough already. Why are you interrogating him here? Just take him back and question him there.”
“Good point.”
Just as they had appeared in a crowd, the Grim Reapers disappeared in a crowd again, taking all the souls with them.
Only after they had completely vanished did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“I thought they were going to catch me…”
“If Your Highness must suffer like this, it would have been better to be caught and simply return home.”
Anshi answered with a pout.
Surprised, I looked up at him.
“Suffer? Do I look like I’m suffering right now?”
“In this shabby place, Your Highness is treated disrespectfully. You must entrust work not to immortals but to a mere fox spirit. Some king or whatever dares to summon Your Highness as he pleases! You were even attacked and injured by assassins! Of course Your Highness is suffering!”
As if he had been holding it in for a long time, Anshi poured out every complaint at once.
I listened quietly before replying.
“But I don’t have to take medicine.”
“…What?”
“When I woke up today, I didn’t take a single dose of medicine. I didn’t throw up even once. I didn’t collapse. I didn’t even get a nosebleed.”
Anshi stared at me as though someone had struck him in the back of the head with a hammer.
I took a step forward.
“Look, Anshi.”
Gathering up my full skirt, I stepped into the bamboo grove.
One step.
Then another.
Gradually faster.
Finally, I ran down the narrow path with all my strength.
The wind rushed past my ears.
Only after I was breathing hard did I stop and turn around.
Anshi was staring at me as though witnessing something beyond imagination.
I beamed, my shoulders rising and falling with my heavy breaths.
“See? I ran!”
“…”
“I used to have to be careful even when walking, but with this body, I can run!”
Anshi opened his mouth in shock before pressing his lips tightly together.
As I walked toward him, I continued talking excitedly.
“When I grow older, I’ll probably be able to run even better than this, right? If I can get this out of breath without collapsing, then later I’ll be able to do all sorts of other things too.”
My cheeks felt warm.
It wasn’t just because I had been running.
I cupped both cheeks with my hands.
“Like riding horses… shooting arrows… playing the flute… all the things I had to give up because I couldn’t breathe properly.”
“…!”
“You know, Anshi? Yesterday was the first time food ever tasted delicious to me. I slept soundly without waking up once. And when I woke up… nothing hurt.”
“…Your Highness…”
“My body feels as light as if it could fly.”
“It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like this.”
“Your Highness…”
Anshi bit his lip, his eyes turning red.
I simply shrugged.
“This is a healthy body. If I can live in a body like this, I don’t care what humans do. None of this feels like suffering to me.”
“Waaah… Your Highness…!”
Anshi burst into tears.
Making strange sobbing noises, he threw himself into my arms.
“Y-Your Highness! This foolish Anshi… sob… even though I am Your Highness’s phoenix… I never understood how Your Highness truly felt… sob… this foolish Anshi deserves to die…!”
“Don’t cry. And don’t die.”
I hugged him back and gently patted him.
“Anyway… that’s why I don’t want to go home yet. I want to live in this body for as long as I possibly can. Will you help me?”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness! This Anshi was foolish! I shall do everything in my power to help Your Highness! Waaaah…!”
Anshi completely broke down into loud, uncontrollable sobs.
It took me quite a while to calm him down.
As soon as we arrived at the Royal Guest House, I informed the soldiers that I had encountered assassins in the bamboo grove.
The horrified soldiers immediately rushed off, while I went straight to meet the envoys from Pyeong.
Apparently they had already heard that I had survived, because none of them looked surprised.
The head envoy looked down at me as though I were something filthy and bizarre before arrogantly stroking his beard.
“Your Highness the Crown Princess is now a married woman. You may not meet Lady Seol.”
So they had heard I survived, but not that I had received the king’s royal decree.
Without saying a word, I took out the decree and held it toward him.
“…?”
As the envoy read the document with growing confusion, the tip of his beard trembled.
Naturally.
No matter how arrogant an imperial envoy might be, he couldn’t ignore a royal decree bearing the king’s unmistakable seal.
Although Un was smaller than the Pyeong Empire, it was still an allied kingdom of equal standing—not a vassal state.
The envoy reluctantly stepped aside.
“It cannot be helped. However, Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“Young though you may be, you surely understand the current situation. Do not make any futile attempts. Even if Lady Seol urges you, you must not follow her.”
He was telling me not to run away with Seol Deunghwa.
“I know.”
I answered briefly.
As I turned away, I secretly stuck out my tongue.
Yeah, I won’t run away.
But I am going to make sure Seol Deunghwa escapes.
