Chapter 146
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Chapter 146
Riri was dragged away by the Imperial Palace guards and thrown into the Western Palace Dungeon.
Riri felt utterly wronged.
At the time, I was so preoccupied with the fact that my identity as a cuckoo had been exposed that I failed to think deeply about what had truly happened.
But upon reflection, I realized this entire trap had been orchestrated by Jeok Soya, that wretched girl.
She used illusion magic to deceive me with false visions, recorded it, exposed me before everyone, and then lured me onto the Altar with promises of an apology.
Her reason for setting such a trap was obvious.
"Because I'm the Yellow Dragon's bride, she covets my position. If I can just escape this place, I'll make that girl pay for this."
"Tsk."
At that moment, a soft clicking sound of a tongue echoed through the cell.
Riri's head snapped up.
"So you failed to obtain the orb after all."
"You...!"
It was Dochul, draped in a black cloth.
"Get me out of here! I was wronged! That wretched girl trapped me!"
Riri gripped the wooden bars and shouted.
"You said you needed the Yellow Dragon's orb too, didn't you? You can't obtain it without my help!"
[I need your help, cuckoo. If you assist me, I will help you become the Yellow Dragon's bride.]
[...So what do you want in return?]
[The Yellow Dragon's orb.]
In exchange for making me the Yellow Dragon's bride, the evil beast desired nothing but the Yellow Dragon's orb.
That mystical jewel the Yellow Dragon bestows upon his chosen companion.
"Well."
However, contrary to Riri's expectations, Dochul spoke in an indifferent tone.
"I never had high expectations for you from the beginning, cuckoo."
"What...?"
"How foolish. As if a mere cuckoo could accomplish anything of significance."
"A cuckoo...why...!"
Riri cried out indignantly.
"And I'm not a cuckoo—I'm the Yellow Dragon's bride! I will become the most noble woman on this continent as the Yellow Dragon's bride! Just wait and see. Even though I'm locked away like this, if I wait just a little longer, Father and my Older Brother will..."
Riri's words suddenly cut off.
The memory of Father's expression—his eyes filled with pale terror as he looked at me—surfaced in her mind.
She knew the truth.
Father and her Older Brother would never come to rescue her.
They would never consider her family.
Simply because of those grey eyes and that grey hair!
'How could they? All the kindness they showed me until now... was it all a lie?'
As Riri clenched her teeth and gripped the wooden bars tightly, Dochul spoke.
"The seeds of evil have bloomed magnificently."
Dochul chuckled softly, murmuring to himself.
"What are you even—cough!"
Before Riri could finish her question, her windpipe suddenly constricted with a searing pain, and she collapsed to the floor.
"What... have you... done... ugh..."
"Do not resent this, cuckoo. You shall become magnificent sustenance and fulfill your final purpose."
"...!"
Riri's pupils dilated enormously before her body abruptly went rigid.
Black veins writhed and pulsed around her spiritual core, which had turned corpse-like.
Soon the black veins spread throughout her entire body, consuming her skin.
Riri's stiffened form gradually loosened, and she rose slowly to her feet.
"Oh, my lord!"
Dochul knelt before Riri, his voice trembling with reverence.
―Dochul...
A low, thick voice emerged from between Riri's teeth.
―This body... is far too weak...
"Fear not, my lord. Tonight, great chaos shall erupt within the Imperial Palace."
Dochul bowed deeply before Riri, a sinister smile playing at his lips.
"I shall seize that opportunity to offer you a far stronger vessel, my lord."
* * *
After Riri's imprisonment, a somber shadow fell over the Jujak Family.
"She attempted to harm Jeok Soya long ago as well. Unfortunately, without physical evidence, we have only circumstantial proof."
Before his father and younger brother, who stood in stunned silence with pallid faces, San Yu revealed what he had investigated over the past few days.
"On the final day of the Summer Festival five years ago, Samjokoh tried to kill Jeok Soya, and the head of the Baek Family saved her and took her to the Western Lands."
"...That is a lie."
Jeok Ahyun, who had been listening silently, finally spoke.
"It cannot be. Such a terrible thing could not have happened within our family..."
"How amusing. You committed far more terrible deeds while I was away."
San Yu's voice turned glacial.
In his gaze toward his father lay the faintest hint of contempt.
"Jeok Hwayou, do you not agree with what I am saying?"
"..."
Jeok Hwayou kept her mouth firmly shut, her head bowed.
One by one, the questions that had been gnawing at her regarding Riri were finally finding their answers.
How a child whose spiritual core was damaged could not even transform, yet manifested the power of a Divine Beast; how she showed such indifference toward her mother, to the point of seeming cold; how she feared and avoided her mother's grave.
And why she had referred to Jeok Soya as "the child I thought died five years ago"—now it all made sense.
From the very beginning, she had crossed the threshold of this family with the intention to deceive them.
And for five years, we remained completely deceived, blind to the truth.
I thought I could do anything for that child. No—I believed I had to.
After sending Jeok Soya to the Cold Palace, the Jujak Estate had become as desolate as hell itself, until Riri arrived and finally made it a place where people could live.
So what lengths did I go to for Riri?
To her request that I eliminate Jeok Soya... what did I do to that child?
"...."
Jeok Hwayou squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.
One more question lingered in his mind.
Why had Riri spoken with such certainty that Jeok Soya was a fake?
Though she was so self-centered that it might mean nothing at all....
"Master! Master!"
Just then, Ga Bok came rushing in, breathless.
"What is it?"
"The cuckoo has disappeared from the dungeon!"
"What...?"
The faces of the three men of the Jujak Family hardened like stone.
* * *
Several hours earlier, upon receiving Ga Bok's report, Jeok Ahyun had set out immediately to investigate the matter.
Though the sun had long since set, he had not yet returned home.
San Yu gazed up at the round moon hanging in the darkening sky.
'A full moon.'
The night of the month when yin energy was strongest—a full moon.
Throb, throb—
At that moment, pain flared from the bandaged palm of his hand.
It was a wound that Riri had treated not long ago.
Though it had healed cleanly, it had begun to fester again these past few days.
'They said she used sorcery—perhaps that's why.'
He had summoned the Physician for treatment, but there had been little improvement.
He was thinking he would need to receive treatment again soon when he found himself strolling through the front courtyard.
"How did she deceive everyone so completely? It gives me chills."
The whispers of servants reached his ears.
"That cuckoo even lied about being the Yellow Dragon's bride. And that purifying power of hers was apparently fake, achieved through sorcery."
"And she tried to poison that young lady—Jeok Soya, the one who was recently adopted into the Baekho Family. She's so young, yet capable of such terrible things."
"She must have known she was a cuckoo all along. Now that I think about it, I actually...."
San Yu glanced at them briefly, then turned away.
On the day Jeok Soya had first transformed into her human form, had they whispered about her in this same manner?
Finding it unbearable to listen further, he slipped out of the pavilion and wandered through the sparsely populated Palace Garden.
His expression was dark.
A darkness from which not a trace of laughter could be found.
He wanted to see Jeok Soya.
But it was not his place to comfort her—that duty belonged to her new family.
'If I go there carelessly, thoughts of Father and Riri might dampen my mood....'
At that point, San Yu let out a bitter laugh.
'This is truly frustrating. She looked so much in need of comfort, yet as her older brother, I cannot even console her.'
As he walked with a gloomy expression, he suddenly lifted his head, sensing a presence approaching from ahead.
Gaya stood before me with a lukewarm expression.
San Yu greeted him with a gentle smile, as though he had never worn such a dark countenance.
"Good evening, Gaya."
"Good evening?"
At this, Gaya's expression darkened.
"What nonsense are you spouting with that corpse-like face?"
"Ha. You are as sharp-tongued as ever today."
"Don't force a smile. It's unsightly."
"...."
San Yu released the false smile he had been forcing, letting the corners of his mouth fall slack.
"You're right. When did this habit of smiling falsely become so ingrained in me?"
He murmured in a melancholic voice, then offered Gaya a faint smile.
"Thank you for your comfort."
"Comfort? Me comforting you? When?"
Gaya blinked his eyes in genuine bewilderment.
"After all, you and I are close companions whom Jeok Soya herself has acknowledged."
"Don't say such dreadful things."
"Ha ha ha."
As expected, his recoil elicited a refreshing laugh from San Yu.
"Ugh...."
A sudden sharp pain made San Yu wince.
"What is it?"
"This cannot be...."
San Yu frantically unwound the bandages wrapped around his palm.
Blackened, festering scars were revealed beneath.
"False purification energy. It seems I have fallen victim to dark sorcery...."
Thump―!
In an instant, San Yu's heart raced violently, and his pupils constricted.
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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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