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Chapter: 26
“Could it be that when Your Highness is in a good mood, the darkness doesn’t spread? You’re smiling, so the shadows are behaving themselves.”
“…I see. I think I finally understand a little.”
A smile once again spread across the Crown Prince’s face as he stared blankly at me.
“So it really was a matter of my state of mind. In that case, depending on what I decide…”
The Crown Prince lowered his gaze and stretched out a hand. The gentle expression on the young man’s face froze into something icy in an instant. Between his long, delicate eyelashes, his black eyes became as cold as a winter night.
As those eyes looked at the shadow beneath his hand, it rippled before swelling all at once. The darkness spread like spilled ink across paper, covering the floor in an instant before crawling up the walls and blanketing the ceiling.
Before I knew it, the entire room had been swallowed by darkness.
Except for the space around me.
“Wow!”
In the pitch-black darkness without a single ray of light, only the place where I sat remained brightly illuminated. Even I, who wasn’t easily surprised, found the sight astonishing.
I reached my hand into the darkness rolling beside me.
The moment my hand touched it, the darkness retreated exactly that far.
“Whoa!”
As I moved my hand around, the darkness wriggled away from my movements, making everything brighter wherever I went.
It felt as though I had become the moon.
Everything I touched lit up, as if moonlight were shining across a starless night.
I stood up and spun around the dark room. Wherever my feet stepped, the darkness parted and light returned. It was strangely mystical.
It’s not completely dark like this. Even that eerie sense of fear is almost gone.
Darkness with light wasn’t frightening.
Just as a night sky filled with stars was beautiful.
When I traced a line through the air with my finger, the darkness retreated along its path before fading away, looking just like a shooting star.
“So pretty…”
The words escaped me naturally.
Excited, I turned to the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, this is incredible! How did you do it?”
“I didn’t know it would become like this either. I merely expressed exactly how I was feeling…”
He had been answering in an excited tone, clearly surprised himself, but his voice gradually trailed off.
“How you were feeling? Ah, because you’re not afraid of the darkness when you’re with me anymore?”
“…That is not entirely wrong. However, rather than simply not being afraid, My Lady is to me like the… in the night…”
His voice grew quieter.
Completely absorbed in creating light as I waved my hands through the darkness, I failed to catch the rest of what he said.
“Hm? What did you say?”
“It’s nothing. More importantly… would you help me?”
“With what?”
“I was trying to draw the darkness back in, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”
“Should I hold your hand?”
Ever since the day I’d taken off his gloves, we’d usually held hands whenever we practiced together.
He seemed much more stable that way.
“…Yes. Please.”
For some reason, the Crown Prince hesitated before answering, as though embarrassed.
I pushed through the darkness toward where he was sitting.
Since everything brightened wherever I touched, finding him in the darkness wasn’t difficult anymore.
Sitting down beside him, I said,
“If we keep practicing like this, we’ll be able to show Her Majesty the Queen when she wakes up.”
“What? That… His Majesty the King would not welcome that.”
“Even so, we have to show her that you’re getting better. And apologize too.”
“…What I did isn’t something that can be smoothed over with an apology.”
“But you didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident.”
“…”
The Crown Prince’s expression darkened.
Well, regardless of how the Queen might react, the King, in his current state, probably wouldn’t even agree to see the Crown Prince, apology or not.
I have to find out the treatment somehow from the Flower Overseer.
Actually, I could use the Eight-Week Bell and simply go straight to the Western Heavenly Flower Garden to ask.
But then they’d probably find out I’d run away from the palace.
I’ll send Ansi and have her ask indirectly.
Holding the Crown Prince’s hand tightly with both of mine, I declared firmly,
“I’ll speak to them first and ask for permission. Once we get permission, let’s go pay our respects together!”
“You don’t have to push yourself because of me, My Lady.”
“I’m not pushing myself. If Your Highness is acknowledged, things will be easier for me too.”
“But because of me—”
“No. I’m doing this entirely for my own sake. Don’t misunderstand, Your Highness.”
I deliberately lifted my chin and spoke with exaggerated haughtiness.
The Crown Prince let out a quiet laugh.
As his laughter echoed, the darkness rippled before shrinking away.
The candles were lit once more.
Bathed in the candlelight, the young man’s smile looked remarkably beautiful.
…At this rate, I might end up getting attached.
It’s already like this now.
If we spend several more years together…
I’d better be careful.
If I grow too attached, it’ll only make things harder when we have to part someday.
Seokran appeared exactly two weeks later, just as promised.
Even after realizing midway through the investigation that there were hardly any people on the Crown Prince’s side and adjusting the direction of the investigation, she still met the deadline.
No wonder she was a thousand-year-old fox spirit.
“Princess! Long time no see, kyeng!”
The sight of a white fox with mottled markings around its eyes and mouth, dressed in splendid clothing and sitting politely on a cushion like a human, was oddly comical.
Behind her sat an even larger fox in a dignified posture, making the scene even stranger.
His tail is black only at the tip.
“Is that the younger sibling you mentioned before?”
“That’s right! His name is Seokjuk!”
“He doesn’t seem to be… a Maegu.”
“He’s not a thousand years old yet! Keheng! He’s an aspiring Heavenly Fox!”
“Oh, so you’re still cultivating.”
“That’s right! Unlike me, he’s the scholarly type. Seokjuk, greet Her Highness.”
At Seokran’s words, the fox spirit behind her bowed with military precision.
“I greet… Ack… Princess… Ack… I am… Ack… Seokjuk… Ack…”
Huh?
Why does he talk like that?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Seokran smacked the back of Seokjuk’s head with her front paw.
“Keheng! You’re making such a ridiculous fuss! Just talk normally! The Princess is kind and won’t mind!”
Ah.
He was forcing himself to use pronunciations he couldn’t manage.
The poor thing had ended up like that.
After getting hit, Seokjuk growled angrily.
“Grrr… Do you think I’m as shameless as you, Sister? If I want to become a Heavenly Fox, I have to be careful!”
“What’s becoming a Heavenly Fox got to do with it? As long as you cultivate properly!”
“Cultivation is only the basics! You still have to pass the final interview to ascend! If I fail because I was disrespectful to Her Highness, will you take responsibility?”
“I’m telling you, the Princess doesn’t care about things like that! Isn’t that right?”
Seokran looked back at me, asking for confirmation.
I was about to nod when Seokjuk gasped in horror, leaped into the air, and firmly pressed down on his sister’s head with his front paw.
“You sister who can’t tell heaven from earth! Is Her Highness your friend? Show some proper respect!”
“Kyeng! The Princess herself said it’s fine! Why are you making a bigger fuss?”
“Even if she says it’s fine, there are still lines that shouldn’t be crossed! At this rate, I’ll die of stress before I even reach a thousand years old because of you!”
Watching the fox siblings growl at each other, Ansi whispered to me,
“That fox seems a bit better than the Maegu, perhaps because he’s training to become a Heavenly Fox, Princess.”
“I think they’re both fine.”
Shrugging, I beckoned the arguing siblings over.
“Enough. Just speak comfortably. Listening to you force yourself to talk like that is more uncomfortable.”
“See?”
“…”
Seokran looked triumphant, while Seokjuk silently glanced at me.
Smiling gently at the enormous fox who had practically shrunk into himself, I said,
“And don’t worry. Something like this won’t affect your final Heavenly Fox interview. If anything, if you help me well, I might even give you bonus merit for good deeds.”
“…! Thank you!”
The dejected Seokjuk perked up instantly, his eyes sparkling at the mention of bonus merit.
Still smiling, I added,
“Of course, if you don’t do your job properly, I might end up so disappointed that I complain to the Minister of Heavenly Foxes that there’s a fox like you down here.”
“…!”
Seokjuk’s fur stood on end.
Trembling violently, he immediately slammed his head to the floor.
“I’ll devote myself body and soul to serving you, Princess! Just give me any order!”
He’s easier to handle than his sister.
At least, as an aspiring Heavenly Fox, he could speak respectfully even while in fox form.
His pronunciation was a little strange, though.
Seokran looked at her younger brother as if he were hopeless before pulling out a book and handing it to me.
“Kyeng. This is the investigation you asked for. My brother and I worked on it together.”
“Good work.”
I opened the book and skimmed through it.
“I did most of the investigation, but Seokjuk organized everything. Seokjuk, explain it.”
“…Starting from the front: the list of those who died during the Black Pearl Incident, the list of those who suffered from madness at the time, the list of victims attacked by the Dark Spirit over the following two years, the current status of forces supporting the Crown Prince, and finally, as you additionally instructed, the investigation into the current factions within the palace. A table of contents has been attached at the very beginning.”
Even at a glance, the report was far more detailed and thorough than I’d expected.
The organization was also exceptionally neat, following Heavenly Realm standards.
They didn’t waste those thousand years. The younger brother must have studied hard for the Heavenly Fox examination.
A Heavenly Fox was a fox spirit acknowledged by the Heavenly Realm and allowed to ascend despite originally being a yokai.
Since they had to earn Heaven’s recognition, they naturally had to become thoroughly familiar with heavenly customs and laws.
In other words, aspiring Heavenly Foxes were basically the equivalent of humans preparing for the civil service examination.
This format is familiar. It’s easy to read.
I decided to examine it in detail later.
For now, I skimmed through to check the overall contents when something caught my eye.
“There are people marked with red dots. What’s that?”
“Ah. Those are fake victims.”
“Fake?”
“People rumored to have been killed by the Crown Prince. Keheng. But in reality, someone else killed them and shifted the blame onto him. There are quite a lot.”
“What? Is that really true?”
My voice sharpened before I realized it.
Startled, Seokran flattened her ears and hurriedly explained,
“We gathered information by questioning every yokai and wandering spirit living inside and outside the palace! We even tracked down all the earthbound ghosts! They said they saw it themselves! It’s accurate! Kyeng!”
Seokjuk added,
“For each entry, we’ve recorded who gave the testimony as well as the details of their statement. We also cross-checked everything, so it’s almost certainly accurate.”
Feeling utterly dumbfounded, I flipped through the pages.
Even at a glance, there were far more names marked with red dots than unmarked ones.
…Come to think of it, it never made sense that so many people had supposedly been killed by the Crown Prince after the Black Pearl Incident, when he’d practically been imprisoned inside Jamryong Hall the entire time.
If entering meant certain death, there was no way that many people would voluntarily keep walking in.
Looks like most of them killed their political enemies themselves and secretly dumped the bodies in Jamryong Hall.
Honestly, until now I’d thought that obnoxious palace eunuch had simply exaggerated false rumors.
But people had actually been murdered and framed on the Crown Prince.
“Humans really are capable of every kind of wickedness…”
I snapped the book shut irritably.
As I rubbed my forehead, I noticed both fox siblings had become extremely tense, so I waved my hand.
“You two did well. What would you like as a reward?”
“Kyeng… A reward? Princess, you’re going to reward us?”
“Did you think I was going to make you work for free? Tell me what you want. As long as it’s possible, I’ll grant it.”
