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Chapter 94
"J-Jeok Soya? What are you doing here...!"
Ahan asked in bewilderment, stumbling backward.
"I'm disappointed, Ahan. I never thought you'd resort to harming innocent civilians."
"What, what?"
At that ‌‌‌moment, screams erupted from the surroundings, and Ahan ‌‌‌spun around in shock.
The Blue Shark Family soldiers he'd brought were being overwhelmed by Qinghai Palace warriors hidden within the small boats.
A trap! It had been a trap all along.
"The civilians were evacuated beforehand. The soldiers in the boats are from Qinghai Palace. I had ‌‌‌a feeling you'd ‌‌make your move against the people tonight."
Jeok Soya explained calmly to Ahan.
"The underwater ‌‌cave beneath this place—that's the Blue Shark Family's hideout, isn't it?"
"H-how did you...!"
This too was something I'd learned thanks to Jjak Jjak.
They had been using an underwater cave beneath the Cheong Hae Sea as their hideout, raising soldiers there.
So I'd guessed that if Ahan fled, he would go there. When Baek Gahyun heard ‌‌‌‌this, he devised a plan.
He spread word that the interrupted festival would be extended, and suggested holding a fireworks display near their hideout.
He predicted that ‌‌‌cornered as they were with nowhere left to retreat, they would make their move then.
And Baek Gahyun's ‌‌prediction had proven correct.
"Then surely you also noticed beforehand when I suddenly disappeared from the Coral Garden!"
"Words spoken in daylight are ‌‌‌heard by birds, and words spoken at night are heard by mice, my lord."
As Jeok Soya smiled and spoke, a small lark flew down and perched on her shoulder.
"Chirp chirp—!"
Jjak Jjak chirped arrogantly, ‌‌puffing out his chest.
"Damn it."
Ahan glared at Jeok Soya.
This small woman had ruined all their plans.
"If that's ‌‌‌‌how it is, I'll have to take your life."
He drew the sword at his waist and lunged at Jeok Soya.
"Don't blame me for this!"
His ‌‌‌‌blade descended toward Jeok Soya's head in that instant.
Clang!
Jeok Soya swiftly drew Baekho and blocked his strike.
Clang, clang, clang—!
After exchanging several blows, their blades locked, and they began testing each other's strength.
"You won't have your way, Ahan."
Though in terms of raw strength, Ahan's superior build should have given him the advantage, Jeok Soya's expression remained serene.
"I will protect it all. The festival ‌of the Eastern Lands, ‌its peace—everything."
The moment Jeok Soya's ‌‌‌lips curved into a smile, steel-like power answered her ‌‌resolve and flowed into her blade.
Soon Baekho began to glow ‌‌‌‌‌‌with a pure white radiance, and Jeok Soya poured her strength into the hilt, driving Ahan's sword back.
"Ugh!"
Splash! ‌‌‌‌
Ahan's sword plummeted beneath the surface of the water.
Ahan stood frozen, unable to believe that someone as diminutive as Jeok Soya ‌had disarmed him with such force.
But Jeok Soya granted him no time to collect himself.
She raised her blade high into the air and brought it down in a sweeping arc.
Crack!
As ‌‌the small boat shattered beneath her, Jeok Soya nimbly launched herself onto a nearby boulder, landing with practiced grace.
Unlike Jeok Soya's fluid escape, the recoil sent Ahan hurtling upward into the air before ‌he plunged beneath the waves.
Splash!
The tremendous spray of water extinguished the falling flower fireworks that had been burning above Jeok Soya's head.
Not only ‌‌‌Ahan, ‌‌‌‌but members of the Blue Shark ‌‌Family scattered throughout the area found themselves helplessly overwhelmed as water erupted all around them.
Jeok Soya watched with calm composure as soldiers from Cheonghae ‌Palace fished them out and led them away under guard.
'Now the rest falls to the Eastern Lands.'
As an outsider, my involvement could only extend this far.
It was Mother and Cheonghae Palace's responsibility to interrogate the criminals and mete out their punishment.
Jeok Soya sat upon the boulder where shallow water lapped gently, gazing up at the dark sky.
Though I was glad to have helped Mother thwart the Blue Shark Family, I deeply regretted missing the ‌fireworks display I had anticipated most.
The scattered battles that had erupted moments before had drenched all the fireworks, making it impossible to relight them.
"What a shame."
Jeok Soya murmured with a touch of disappointment.
"But I can always ‌‌‌‌come back next year to see the fireworks again...."
Just then, a small boat appeared in the distance, approaching her.
Jeok Soya assumed it was one of her older brothers or a Cheonghae Palace soldier who had ‌‌‌‌spotted her, and watched it drift closer from afar.
The small boat drew steadily nearer.
'Is it Baek Gahyun? No.... It's not my older brother....'
Sitting atop it was a boy who appeared to be a couple of years older ‌‌‌‌than Jeok Soya.
Beneath the black hat upon ‌‌‌his head, platinum blonde hair reflected the moonlight in elegant cascades.
When the boy lifted his hat slightly, a refined youth with soft teal eyes revealed ‌‌his face.
"Hello, Jeok Soya."
"Your Majesty...?"
Jeok Soya's eyes widened in astonishment.
It was ‌‌Tae Irim.
Why was this noble personage, who should have been at the Imperial Palace, here of all places?
Moreover, not a single guard accompanied him.
As I stared blankly ‌‌at his face, which had grown so much in my absence, he smiled gently and asked.
"It seems you could use ‌a boat."
"Ah...."
"Would you care to ‌‌‌‌come aboard?"
Though I could have spread my wings and flown, I was exhausted, so ‌‌‌I crossed over to his small boat and traveled with him.
Whoosh— ‌‌whoooosh—.
The small boat cut through the water, moving forward.
Soya asked something she had been curious about since earlier.
"What ‌‌‌‌brings you to this place?"
"I came to keep a promise."
"A promise? With whom?"
Tae Irim smiled softly instead of answering.
'...?'
As the sky suddenly brightened without warning, Soya lifted her head.
'...!'
In an instant, Soya's eyes ‌‌widened in astonishment.
A falling flower display began along a long rope suspended in the air.
"The flower torches were definitely soaked earlier...."
"Who knows. They must have dried in the meantime."
At Tae Irim's response, Soya blinked her eyes.
Could seawater dry that quickly?
It seemed unlikely, but....
Regardless, seeing the beautiful flames lifted her spirits.
"It's so beautiful."
"Indeed. Truly beautiful."
Tae Irim smiled softly as he watched Soya's flushed face reflected in the firelight.
The falling flower display continued for quite some time.
Soya and Tae Irim watched it from the small boat floating on the water's surface.
The sparks falling onto the water, embroidering the black night ‌‌‌sky in crimson, warmed Soya's heart with a gentle glow.
After some time had passed, the falling flower display came to an end.
With the ‌‌‌‌light gone, the surroundings felt unusually quiet.
In that strange silence, Soya spoke first.
"Oh, that's right, Your Majesty. I can now control the flames freely like this."
Soya summoned purifying flames at her fingertips and showed them to him.
"Impressive."
Tae Irim reached out and touched Soya's ‌‌‌flames.
At that tender touch, as if he were handling something precious, Soya felt her heart skip strangely.
Caught in that peculiar sensation—ticklish yet slightly warm—she was ‌‌‌‌lost in thought.
Whoooosh―
"Oh...!"
A sudden gust of wind loosened Soya's hair ‌‌‌ribbon, and it flew away.
It must have come loose during her earlier exchange of ‌‌‌‌blades with Ahan and been carried away by the wind.
Watching her hair ribbon fall onto the distant water's surface, Soya shifted her feet anxiously.
The water was too dark to retrieve it safely.
Tae Irim, who had been watching silently, slowly ‌‌‌‌untied his own hair ribbon.
"Turn around for me, Soya."
"Your Majesty, you needn't trouble yourself...."
"It's no trouble. Go ahead."
At his gentle voice, Jeok Soya turned around without protest.
Tae Irim combed through her tangled hair with his fingers and tied it back for her.
Swish. Swish. Swishhh―
His hands moved through her hair with a gentleness and dexterity that surpassed even that of her Father and Mother. ‌‌‌‌
Had His Majesty handled women's hair so many times before?
'This feeling is rather strange.'
At last, we had reached our destination.
"Ah, we're ‌‌finally here...."
As ‌‌‌‌I rose without thinking and turned to look back, I noticed he was no longer behind me in the Small Boat.
"What?"
In the empty Small Boat, I blinked in bewilderment.
For a moment, I wondered if I had been dreaming.
The hair ribbon in my hair fluttered in the wind.
Upon discovering the traces he had left behind, I suddenly realized that what had just happened on this Small Boat with him was no dream.
"He must have been ‌‌‌in such a hurry that he left without even ‌‌‌saying goodbye."
Though I ‌‌‌‌felt a slight pang that he had departed without a word, I couldn't help but smile softly at the thought.
The black scale lying on the boat's floor went unnoticed in the darkness.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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