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Chapter 19
#19. Tear Them to Shreds and Throw Them to the Hounds of the Underworld!
Looking down at Eunhye, who was sleeping with even breaths, a faint smile lifted the corners of Gwangjo’s lips.
“Who are you calling Harabeoji?”
In over five hundred years of wandering the palace, this was the first time a young descendant had spoken to him. Not only that—she parted her tiny, chick-like lips to call him her grandfather.
How utterly adorable.
Yet, how could something so cute have become entangled in such dreadful matters?
Gwangjo’s eyes widened as he scanned Eunhye’s room again, spotting the black mass hiding in a corner, waiting for an opportunity.
[You wretch!]
Kiiiii!!!
Was Eunhye awakened by the sudden vanishing of the spirit? Her clear, star-like eyes sparkled as she looked up straight at Gwangjo, standing tall in the center of the room.
[So, you’ve woken.]
Perhaps unsure if what she was seeing was a dream, Eunhye sat up, rubbing her eyes with her shell-like little fists. After blinking slowly, a bright smile spread across her face.
“Harbama!”
[Heh heh heh, you little one, were you so happy even though we were just together a moment ago?]
Whether the palace attendants had dressed her or not, her previously dirty green jeogori and bright pink skirt were now clean, the jeogori a cheerful yellow and the skirt red.
[That outfit suits you nicely.]
Eunhye looked down at her clothing, smiling shyly, and then rose with a petite, charming posture.
“Harbama, please take the upper seat. And thank you kindly.”
Eunhye bowed deeply to Gwangjo as she stepped aside.
[Heh heh heh, what is there to thank me for?]
Gwangjo, now seated where Eunhye had vacated, asked with an approving gaze.
“You really came, didn’t you? I was a little worried you might not come.”
Eunhye’s eyes sparkled with joy, her sleep fully shaken off, as she sat in front of him.
[Heh, didn’t I say I’d come? This grandfather never lies.]
Nodding at his words, Eunhye slowly looked around the room and smiled again.
“Thank you, Harbama.”
[Hahaha! What are you thanking me for?]
Eunhye pointed her small index finger to various corners of the room.
“That one, that one over there, and even that one. Did you drive away all the gishin? They used to hide here every day, but now there’s not a single one left.”
Gwangjo’s brows furrowed.
[So those things used to swarm your room even when you didn’t provoke them?]
Eunhye nodded vigorously with her round little head.
“Yes! They didn’t attack me, but they were always here. But now that you are here, Harbama, they’re all gone!”
Her eyes curved like bows as she smiled with pure joy.
Gwangjo, looking at her with a mixture of fondness and sorrow, closed his eyes briefly and sighed.
What could Heaven’s will be, allowing such cruelty for a child too young to bear it?
Eunhye, sensing his sudden silence, timidly called out in a small voice.
“Harbama, can you also drive away the gishin that’s riding on the new maid in my room today?”
Gwangjo smiled warmly at Eunhye, whose lower lip protruded as if on the verge of tears.
[Child, didn’t I say that I am by your side? You have nothing to fear anymore. Understand?]
She nodded vigorously.
Eunhye’s curiosity persisted.
“But Harbama, why did you become a gishin?”
A bold question only a child could ask.
Gwangjo laughed silently at the sight of her black eyes shining with curiosity.
[You want to know why this grandfather hasn’t attained Nirvana and remains in the palace?]
Every nod of her plump cheeks made her adorable.
If only he could touch those cheeks just once…
Gwangjo suppressed the urge to reach out and laughed again at her small, red lips slightly parted.
[If I explained why I became a gishin, would I even be here with you?]
Eunhye’s expression showed confusion at his laughter.
[Gishin are spirits whose deaths leave grudges, wandering the world of the living. Some do not know why they remain and cannot ascend.]
Eunhye, worried, asked carefully:
“But Harbama, you’re not the only gishin, are you?”
Gwangjo laughed heartily at the sudden question.
[Hahaha! I can’t speak for others, but for you, child, I am absolutely not a bad gishin. Indeed.]
Reassured, Eunhye’s small lips curved into a shy smile.
From now on, her 6th-generation grandfather, King Gwangjo, would protect her!
“Bad gishin! You all, now leave!”
Inside Hyeshin Palace, the residence of the princess of Taeshin, something unimaginable was happening.
The soul of the 6th King of Taeshin, Gwangjo I-hyeol—who had once ruled the nation with iron authority over five centuries ago—had become the protective gishin of the young Princess Eunhye, 17th in the royal line.
Perhaps news traveled instantly, for the restless spirits and wandering ghosts that had haunted the palace fled into the deep shadows, screaming their invisible laments.
Near the princess’s quarters, no spirit dared appear, as if a powerful ward had been set.
Eunhye, unaware of this, simply smiled proudly at her 6th-generation grandfather.
[By the way, child, who was that rogue I mentioned to the maid who carried you from the East Palace?]
Gwangjo suddenly asked, recalling their conversation.
“Who, Harbama?”
Eunhye blinked innocently, unsure.
Gwangjo stroked his thick beard.
[The one who didn’t recognize you in the palace. Was that one also a gishin who tormented you? Shall I teach him a lesson?]
“Ah!”
Eunhye’s eyes widened as she remembered Jihoo, the son of her teacher.
“You mean that bad child? He’s not a gishin, just a human, but he had a strange mask.”
Gwangjo tilted his head at her cryptic words.
[A human with a strange mask? Hahaha, what does that mean?]
“Well, the mask had the scent of a gishin. Not bad, but a good scent.”
[A gishin scent? Hahaha, what’s that then? Whoever he is, he carries a relic infused with spiritual power.]
“Spiritual relic?”
Eunhye’s eyes widened in surprise, and Gwangjo laughed again, shaking his body.
[Not a monster, but a spiritual relic. Someone must have made a protective talisman using their own life force and given it to that rogue.]
“Oh… that makes sense!”
Eunhye recalled Jihoo misusing the mask on her nose and face, her mouth slightly open in astonishment.
The warm, fragrant wind she felt had been the energy of the talisman.
Gwangjo watched Eunhye gaze into the distance, amused.
[Then why call him a rogue? Did he tease you with that mask?]
Eunhye frowned, remembering the incident.
“No, it wasn’t that. He used the mask to poke my nose, grab my hands, and shake me around!”
[What! How dare any mortal lay hands on the body of the Princess of Taeshin! I will tear that soul to shreds and cast it to the hounds of the underworld!]
Startled by Gwangjo’s fierce anger, Eunhye clamped her hands over her mouth.
All the spirits hiding in the palace darkness let out silent screams and fled outside, even in the middle of the day.
Gwangjo I-hyeol, 6th King of Taeshin, had once been known in history as “a violent king, unmatched in power and ferocity, feared by neighboring nations.”
During his reign, Taeshin never lost a territorial war, and over one hundred tributary states submitted to him.
His reign combined terror with prosperity—a unique balance.
Perhaps because of his fierce nature, he preferred comfortable magoja over restrictive dragon robes and enjoyed fine cuisine.
Now that such a mighty soul had raged, how terrifying he must have seemed!
Eunhye, trembling in fear, involuntarily leaned back in her seat.
“Ha… Harbama.”
Though she knew he meant no harm, the icy aura emanating from Gwangjo frightened her so much that she nearly wet herself.
Realizing Eunhye’s fear, Gwangjo quickly suppressed his energy and anxiously checked on her.
[Ah, child! Lift your head, alright?]
Slowly raising her gaze, Eunhye’s eyes were already filled with tears, glistening like dewdrops on her long lashes.
Even the “Blood King” in life, Gwangjo, was helpless before such a sight.
[Child, this grandfather was wrong. I will never show anger before you again. So now, stop crying, alright?]
