Chapter 143
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Chapter 143
Jeok Soya appeared to be in remarkably good health.
'How is this possible?'
Riri bit her lower lip hard, her anxious eyes fixed on Jeok Soya.
That girl was not supposed to appear so healthy.
[I have brought what you requested, Miss Riri. Once this toxic powder is inhaled, the limbs will lose all strength, preventing movement from one's place. Over an extended period, death will come slowly, as if from a grave illness. The moment it is absorbed into the body, it will leave no trace whatsoever, so have no concerns.]
After all, she had coaxed a maidservant into obtaining the toxic powder and fed it to that girl.
Yet at this moment, Jeok Soya also turned to look in her direction.
The gazes of the two children met in the empty air between them.
Confronted by those eyes piercing directly into her, Riri flinched involuntarily and hastily averted her gaze.
'Why does she look at me like that? Surely she doesn't know something, does she?'
A sudden anxiety gripped her.
'No, it's fine. What could she possibly know? Besides, it was definitely as promised—a poison that leaves absolutely no trace.'
The patriarch of the Baekho Family, holding Jeok Soya's hand as they entered, did not take his seat but proceeded directly toward the Altar.
Sayeon ascended the Altar, passing the two Yellow Dragon stone statues facing each other with the child, and knelt in prostration before the Emperor.
"Your Majesty."
"What is the matter, Sayeon?"
Tae Irim asked in an unusual tone.
"I am Sayeon, master of the Baek Family who governs the Western Lands, and I dare present a matter before the all-powerful Yellow Dragon."
"Speak."
"The young lady of the Jujak Family attempted to harm my daughter."
Riri's body went rigid at being suddenly named.
"What nonsense is this, Baek Sayeon!"
Jeok Ahyun, standing beside him, leaped to his feet and cried out.
Yet Sayeon paid no attention to Ahyun and spoke only to the Emperor.
"I present the evidence, Your Majesty. I humbly beseech you to judge this crime with absolute clarity."
At Sayeon's gesture, Jeok Young brought forth a jar.
'What is that...?'
Riri squinted as she stared at it, when suddenly Jeok Ahyun stepped forward with his neck flushed crimson.
"Your Majesty, how can you lend ear to the baseless ravings of this man who seeks to shame my daughter before so many? I beseech you... please reconsider."
Yet despite his loud outcry, his voice trembled as if he sensed something.
"I swear by the name of the White Tiger Mountain Lord, guardian of the Western Lands, Your Majesty. Should there be even the slightest falsehood in what I have presented, I shall surrender my position as patriarch and accept punishment in this very place."
"Sayeon, present your evidence."
Tae Irim nodded lightly and commanded.
What Jeok Young brought forth was an illusory jar used every summer during the Mountain Lord Festival on Horim Mountain to conjure phantom beasts.
The phantom beasts served two purposes.
One was to serve as safe prey for young beastkin hunters.
Thus, the moment a phantom beast's vital point was struck, it scattered into pure white light.
The other was to record what it witnessed and reproduce it as an illusion to show to the people.
This was originally intended to determine the victor of the Mountain Lord Festival.
I believed that the record of this phantom water could show me how Riri healed people.
I told Sayeon my thoughts, and he ordered Jeok Young at Baek Ho Palace to bring the jar.
Then he created a phantom water in the shape of my form.
As long as the vital points weren't struck, there would be no risk of discovery.
I laid the phantom water mimicking my appearance on the bed, deliberately darkened the chamber, and welcomed Riri.
But I never expected that Riri, left alone in the room, would attempt to harm me so brazenly.
I had known of her hostility toward me since that day at the pond when she pushed my back, but I thought she would at least pretend to treat me....
The phantom faithfully recreated before everyone's eyes the wickedness of Riri feeding poisonous herb powder to a sick baby bird.
"Jeok A of the Jujak Family attempted to poison her own daughter. This is an undeniable crime and an unforgivable grave offense."
"But, but there's no evidence that it's poison...."
"The evidence is here as well."
At that moment, San Yu, who had remained silent all along, stepped forward before the Emperor and produced something.
"Poisonous herb powder found in Riri's chamber."
"Older Brother!"
"San Yu!"
"Brother!"
The members of the Jujak Family each turned pale as they called out to San Yu.
Yet he gazed at the Emperor with an impassive expression and continued his accusation.
"The investigation of the components has already been completed. The route through which the poisonous herb powder was smuggled in has also been confirmed."
Sighs echoed from all around.
"I, I'm innocent!"
Even though Riri's guilt had been completely exposed, she stubbornly insisted that she was wronged.
"The phantom shown by the Baekho Family could have been fabricated!"
"That jar was a gift from the first Emperor to the Baekho Family."
Tae Irim softly interrupted her words and spoke.
"There is no fabrication. The phantom's record is the truth."
Silence descended in an instant.
Because the Yellow Dragon could not speak falsehoods, his words were always absolute.
Thus, the Yellow Dragon's other epithet was none other than "the Judge of the Earth."
"I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty...!"
Jeok Ahyun, grasping the situation, struck his head against the floor with a thud and apologized.
"My daughter, being young and foolish, has committed a grave crime."
"Father!"
Riri, who had been denying everything to the end, let out a shriek as her father apologized in her stead.
"I, I really didn't know! I didn't know anything! It wasn't me! It, it wasn't me but...."
As Riri flailed her eyes desperately in protest, Jeok Hwayou suddenly came into her view.
My second older brother, who would do anything for me, who would even pretend to die at my request.
"Yes, Hwayou Older Brother! Hwayou Older Brother gave it to me. I didn't even know that powder was poison!"
At Riri's desperate cry, Jeok Hwayou hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"...That's right. The truth is, I, I orchestrated it all."
Jeok Hwayou answered without a shred of hesitation, even as all the blame suddenly crashed down upon me.
"I despised that woman from the Baekho Family with such intensity that I sought to kill her. When I learned that Riri was visiting that woman, I commanded Riri to feed her this powder."
His manner of referring to Jeok Soya betrayed not the slightest wavering.
"Riri used it without knowing it was poison. I beg you, please forgive my younger sister Riri. Punish me instead."
Jeok Hwayou appealed to the Emperor with a voice stripped of all pretense.
It was precisely when Riri began to feel a glimmer of relief.
"Do you now mock the Yellow Dragon with such pathetic falsehoods?"
A voice tinged with barely restrained fury descended upon them.
A shudder ran through the assembly.
The tone was so desolate that not only Jeok Hwayou and Riri, but everyone gathered in that chamber trembled in unison.
"...Your Majesty. I invoke the immunity granted by the late Emperor to the heads of the Four Great Families. I beseech you—show mercy to Riri, my daughter, this once."
Jeok Ahyun spoke in defense of Riri, pleading for clemency.
"Truly, such paternal devotion."
Tae Irim's lips curved into a slant smile.
"Yet the victim of this affair is a daughter of the Baek Family. It would be unreasonable for me to forgive you on her behalf, would it not?"
A sharp intake of breath.
Jeok Ahyun lifted his trembling gaze toward Jeok Soya.
His eyes met those of Jeok Soya, who had stood silently beside Sayeon until that moment.
"What is your will in this matter, Soya?"
Tae Irim inquired of Jeok Soya's wishes.
"Soya..."
Jeok Ahyun squeezed his eyes shut as he beseeched her.
"Shameless though it is, I implore you. Forgive my daughter this once."
"How dare you..."
Sayeon, consumed with fury, could not contain his rage and ground his teeth together.
He seemed ready to hurl himself at the man who dared make such an unconscionable request of his daughter.
Yet Jeok Soya gently seized the hem of Sayeon's robe, restraining him.
Then, with a composed expression, she gazed at Jeok Ahyun and asked.
"Do you understand what you are asking of me?"
"To forgive Riri..."
With each syllable Jeok Ahyun uttered, his throat constricted painfully.
"Please, I beg you to forgive Riri."
He too understood the magnitude of what he was asking—how utterly unreasonable this plea was.
Riri had sought to kill Jeok Soya.
The Baekho Family's phantom had testified, and the Yellow Dragon had confirmed the truth.
My own daughter, Riri, had committed such a heinous act.
And now I was asking Jeok Soya—the girl who had nearly died by Riri's hand—to forgive my daughter.
How utterly shameless such a request was.
"Riri tried to kill me. If I had truly been there instead of a phantom, I would have died. I really would have."
“....”
"And yet, you shield Riri before me?"
"I'm sorry..."
"Are you certain you won't regret this request now?"
"Riri is... my everything."
She was everything the Late Lady left behind, having exchanged her very life for it.
She was a child I must protect, even if I wagered all that remained of me.
When I met Soya and fell into brief confusion, I lost my center and wavered, which made Riri anxious.
Had I not even harbored doubts about how the child bore no resemblance to the Late Lady or myself?
The child was already prone to anxiety from her early years, so how much suffering must my such attitude have caused her to drive her to commit such a terrible act?
Therefore, all of this was my fault.
"In the end, you chose Riri consistently in every single moment."
"..."
"Not once was I ever among your choices."
"I'm truly... sorry..."
Jeok Ahyun could not bring himself to lift his head and look at Jeok Soya.
To him, who answered in a subdued voice while staring only at the ground, Jeok Soya spoke in a cold tone.
"Fine. I'll forgive you."
"...!"
In an instant, Jeok Ahyun's face brightened.
"Instead, bring that child here yourself and apologize to me directly."
"Why should I...!"
Riri protested with a humiliated expression.
"Riri. It's alright. Come with Father."
Yet Jeok Ahyun spoke in an affectionate voice, gently grasping Riri's hand.
Riri truly did not want to apologize.
But there was no other way to overcome this situation than to apologize to Jeok Soya.
Jeok Ahyun held Riri's hand firmly and moved toward Jeok Soya standing upon the Altar.
Just as they passed between the two Yellow Dragon stone statues facing each other and stepped up onto the Altar.
Suddenly, the air around them trembled strangely.
The murmuring voices of people could be heard.
Jeok Ahyun turned his head absently, then froze in shock.
"Father? What's wrong?"
"..."
Riri looked at him with a bewildered expression, unable to understand, but Jeok Ahyun could offer no answer.
Riri's hair and eyes, which had been a crimson red...
"How is this possible..."
...had transformed into a murky gray.
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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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