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Chapter 35
“The maids of Unyeondang put in a lot of effort. There aren’t enough hands, so they can’t finish quickly, but at this pace, they say we’ll have a beautiful garden by spring.”
“My lady has worked hard.”
“It wasn’t me. The maids are the ones who worked hard.”
As they walked deeper into the garden, the maids pulling weeds hurriedly got to their feet. Every one of them wore a bright smile. Even that surprised the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, Crown Princess!”
“Your Highness, are you out for a walk?”
“Mm. Did everyone enjoy lunch?”
“Thanks to Your Highness taking such good care of us… Ah!”
The maids had been smiling brightly as they greeted Seruhwa, but the moment they noticed the Crown Prince, they stiffened.
Cheon Gyeol-u reflexively raised his sleeve to hide his face. Seruhwa linked her arm through his to stop him before speaking to the maids.
“His Highness is alright now.”
“Ah… H-has he recovered?”
“He’s been training all this time.”
At those words, the maids exchanged cautious glances before bowing deeply.
“May the Hidden Dragon Ascend to Heaven (潛龍昇天). We pay our respects to Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“We pay our respects to Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“…You may rise.”
Cheon Gyeol-u accepted their greeting in a daze.
Could something as simple as those few words really erase their fear of him?
That couldn’t be possible.
“Well then, we’ll be going. Don’t overwork yourselves—take plenty of breaks.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
After they passed the maids and continued farther inside, Seruhwa seemed to notice his confusion and spoke.
“They all knew that Your Highness and I have been meeting every day to practice. I told them.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I explained that Your Highness had gained a special ability but hadn’t been able to control it… that you’ve been training continuously, so you’ll soon be able to control it.”
“…And people accepted that explanation?”
“I told them Your Highness’s ability was a Night Aberration that the Seoljok were already familiar with. I even gave it a name—Dark Spirit Arts (暗靈術). From now on, Your Highness should explain it as Dark Spirit Arts as well.”
“What?”
Aberrations (怪異), Heroic Power (勇力), Rebellion (悖亂), Spirits and Gods (鬼神).
The collective term Goe-ryeok-nan-shin referred to strange phenomena or people who possessed powers capable of causing such phenomena.
Those who handled spirits were shamans.
Those who caused rebellion were practitioners of curses.
Those who wielded heroic power were martial artists.
Those who commanded aberrations were practitioners of Taoist arts.
Smiling gently, Seruhwa said,
“Abilities that control nature are generally classified as Taoist arts, so they’re considered aberrations. Calling the Eodukseoni’s power Dark Spirit Arts isn’t really wrong, is it?”
“That is true, but… why go so far?”
“Your Highness, people fear what they don’t understand the most. Fear usually comes from ignorance.”
Cheon Gyeol-u stared blankly at Seruhwa.
The top of her head, where her silver hair was neatly braided and tied with a colorful seven-jeweled ribbon, looked small and round.
His young wife was adorable and innocent like any child, yet every so often she casually said things that sounded as though they belonged to a wise old adult.
Just like now.
“Even something unfamiliar becomes less frightening once people understand it. The more it’s explained through something they’re already familiar with, the easier it is. Since Goe-ryeok-nan-shin is already a familiar concept, we’re simply explaining Your Highness’s power within that framework.”
“So that humans can accept it.”
“Within a familiar framework…”
“Yes. So they’ll see you as something they can understand.”
The boy unconsciously repeated her words in his mind.
Explain yourself through a familiar framework.
Become someone others can understand.
It felt as though something had clicked into place.
Perhaps he finally understood how he should live from now on… and how he should present himself to the world.
“If they understand… will other people stop being afraid of me?”
“It won’t happen overnight, but eventually, they will. Just like how you became less afraid of your own darkness once you came to understand it.”
“…!”
She was right.
Ever since he learned what he truly was, his fear had lessened.
At first, he had fallen into despair after being told he had become a real monster.
But there was an immeasurable difference between knowing nothing about himself and knowing he was an Eodukseoni.
The more he practiced…
The more he understood his own darkness…
The less afraid he became.
Now he understood why Seruhwa had explained his powers to everyone as a form of Taoist art.
“Of course, if Your Highness were genuinely dangerous, none of this would matter. Training comes first.”
“I will work even harder.”
“That isn’t what I meant. You’re already working hard enough. In fact, there’s already something you’re doing that helps people stop fearing you.”
“I’m already doing something?”
“Eating dinner with me. Thanks to that, the maids of Unyeondang have grown much more accustomed to Your Highness. In truth, Your Highness doesn’t even need to eat, yet you’ve been making the effort anyway.”
“…!”
Cheon Gyeol-u recoiled in shock and instinctively pulled his hand away from hers.
For the past two years…
He had never once felt hunger.
Right after the Black Curse, when he had locked himself inside his room without moving, he realized something after surviving an entire week without food.
He wasn’t hungry.
His body didn’t weaken.
That was when I became certain…
…that I had truly become a monster instead of a human.
Still, he never developed an aversion to food.
He could taste everything normally.
He simply… didn’t need to eat.
But living without eating at all felt too much like living as a true monster.
So he stubbornly forced himself to eat regular meals.
He thought he had hidden it perfectly.
Yet…
“W-You knew?”
“Didn’t I mention it when I explained the Eodukseoni…? Ah.”
Seruhwa looked troubled before letting out a quiet sigh.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I forgot to explain that part back then. I was so focused on explaining the darkness…”
“…So you’ve known ever since then?”
“Yes.”
“And despite knowing I don’t need to eat… you had meals prepared in Unyeondang and brought them all the way to Jamnyongdang every single day to eat with me?”
Even knowing he had no need for food.
Every single day.
Why?
What was her reason?
“Why?”
“Hm?”
“What were you thinking when you did something so unnecessary?”
A monster who could live without eating.
What had she been thinking while watching such a monster stubbornly pretend to be human and force himself to eat?
Like Head Eunuch Jang, who had pretended to be on his side for two whole years…
Had she secretly been thinking something else all along?
The very thought filled him with fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
It wasn’t that he feared Seruhwa had been deceiving him for some hidden purpose.
He was afraid…
Afraid that everything she had said—
That she would remain as Crown Princess.
That they would build a life together in the palace.
—might all have been lies.
He didn’t mind being used.
He didn’t mind if he had been deceived.
As long as she didn’t leave him.
As long as she stayed by his side.
Only then did the boy realize how deeply he had already grown accustomed to the peace he felt beside her.
If she disappeared…
It felt as though he would once again be imprisoned within endless darkness.
Unable to face another person.
Unable to hold another person’s hand.
Returning to those days when only despair and nightmares accompanied him.
Returning to the time when he didn’t even know what the weather outside was like.
As panic swelled uncontrollably inside him, he desperately tried to calm himself.
No… My lady wouldn’t leave the palace now!
She had been the one who told him he was an Eodukseoni.
She had been the one helping him practice this whole time.
Even after he had told her to run away, she had chosen to stay.
There was no way she would suddenly leave now.
I’m overreacting.
He understood that logically.
But his heart refused to calm down.
It felt as though the one person he had wanted to impress most had discovered the shame he had wanted to hide above all else.
As though, after pretending to be human for so long, he had finally been exposed as the monster he truly was.
…My lady knew I was a monster from the very beginning.
So it’s alright… It has to be alright…!
He felt the shadows beneath his feet begin to ripple.
The Crown Prince bit down hard on his lip.
Then Seruhwa’s flustered voice reached him.
“Huh? It’s simply because Your Highness’s meals were so poor.”
“You knew I could survive without eating. Why would it matter if meals I don’t even need were poor?”
“You aren’t unable to eat, and you haven’t lost your sense of taste. You simply don’t need food, right? Then of course it matters. It’s actually very important.”
“What?”
“If humans ignored everything that wasn’t necessary, we never would have developed into what we are today. Humans became extraordinary precisely because they devoted themselves to things that weren’t essential for mere survival.”
Once again…
Seruhwa casually said something no child should have been able to.
Almost as though she were a being that wasn’t human, one who had observed humanity for a very long time.
“When you eat something delicious, it makes you happy, doesn’t it? Even when I’m not hungry, I still want sweets. Aren’t you the same, Your Highness?”
“…”
“Out of all the sweets I’ve ever eaten, Okchundang is my favorite! It’s so pretty to look at, and when you let it slowly melt in your mouth, it’s filled with sweetness. It feels like I’m holding happiness inside me.”
“…”
“What sweet do you like best, Your Highness? Dasik? Jeonggwa? Yeotgangjeong? Yumilgwa? Songpyeon?”
One moment she sounded endlessly mature.
The next, she chattered away with the innocent enthusiasm of a child.
Cheon Gyeol-u found himself captivated by her bright expression, as sweet as candy, before finally managing to answer.
“I… I like Taraegwa.”
“Even now?”
“What?”
“Even now that you’ve become an Eodukseoni… do you still like Taraegwa?”
“…Yes.”
“See? Then it matters after all.”
Seruhwa smiled brightly.
“I simply wanted Your Highness to eat delicious food whenever possible. So from now on… let’s keep eating lots of delicious things together.”
“…Haha.”
The tension drained completely from his body.
Before he realized it, laughter escaped his lips.
