Chapter 51
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Chapter 51
My crimson eyes widened as I took in the boy standing before me.
He greeted me with a voice as gentle as a spring breeze—the very same affectionate Fifth Prince I had always known.
The Fifth Prince from those unbelievable rumors that he had brought bloodshed to the Imperial Palace, that he had murdered all his brothers to become emperor.
No—now he was the Son of Heaven of Taehwa Kingdom.
I didn't know what to say, my eyes trembling slightly as my lips parted soundlessly.
"Your Majesty."
As that low voice I had longed for these past days seeped into my ears, Sayeon's robes fluttered and blocked my view.
At the same moment, Baek Gahyun stepped forward in front of me, and Baek Gayul grasped my sleeve firmly.
Seol Yo glared sharply at the boy from behind my shoulder.
At the four men's immediate and guarded response, Tae Irim let out a languid laugh.
"How disrespectful, Sayeon. To block the Son of Heaven's path."
"She is my daughter."
Sayeon spoke as he shielded me behind his robes.
"Ah yes, I heard you adopted your youngest daughter just before the Mountain Lord Festival."
Unlike the tense men of Baek Ho Palace, Irim responded in that gentle voice.
Sayeon found something unsettling about that composure.
"Did you not visit Baek Ho Palace on official business? Please, allow me to show you inside."
Though he used formal speech, Sayeon's manner remained consistently sharp from the moment Irim had stood before me.
Yet Irim, seemingly aware of Sayeon's wariness, did not yield. With a faint smile playing at his lips, he gazed at me, then his eyes curved gently.
At that fresh, radiant smile, my eyes trembled.
Not only I, but all those who had come to welcome the head of the household were moved by that beautiful smile.
Even Baek Gahyun, Baek Gayul, and Seol Yo, who had just been guarding against him.
Amid it all, only Sayeon wore a displeased expression as he turned to his children.
"I have matters to discuss with His Majesty, so let us continue our reunion later. Guard your sister well."
Sayeon ruffled his children's hair affectionately, then led the emperor inside.
And in the space left behind.
"Fluffball, who was that person just now!"
"Soya. Do you know the Fifth Prince—no, His Majesty the Emperor?"
Baek Gahyun and Baek Gayul seized me at once, asking urgently.
Their faces were filled with curiosity and wariness.
"Ah... yes."
Coming to my senses belatedly, I answered with a bright smile.
"We knew each other when we were young."
* * *
Meanwhile, Sayeon was asking Irim the same question.
"How do you know my daughter?"
Irim gazed out the window as if recalling something from the distant past before answering.
"We have known each other for a very long time."
Sayeon scoffed inwardly. A very long time, yet the boy was barely eleven years old.
Of course, the young Emperor before me has displayed behavior over the past few months that defies belief for an eleven-year-old.
[I promise you, Sayeon. Before this year ends, I will ascend to the throne and give you the Dragon's Blood Grass.]
He had declared to Sayeon that he would become Emperor before the year was out, and he truly kept that promise.
After purging his brothers and confining the former Emperor, he became the Son of Heaven of Taehwa Kingdom himself.
Given his typically apathetic and serene temperament in all matters, no one could have imagined he would commit such acts.
Yet his ascension to the throne was not merely a matter of exploiting the carelessness of others.
Tae Irim uncovered the weaknesses of his brothers that no one else knew, seized complete military authority of the Imperial Family, and ascended the blood-stained throne.
This deed would be recorded in history as a stigma that would cling to his name for generations to come—even if he were to become a sage emperor dispensing benevolent rule.
Yet despite understanding this, there was not a moment's hesitation in the blade he wielded against his own blood.
Ascending the throne drenched in blood from head to toe, he truly resembled a yaksha incarnate.
I could not fathom what had caused such a transformation in the heart of this young Emperor....
"Though my daughter is young, she is already nine years old. With her first growth phase approaching, I believe it would be improper for His Majesty to associate with her privately."
For Sayeon in that moment, the only thing that mattered was that the young Emperor had shown interest in the fluffball.
"Mm."
Tae Irim tilted his head languidly.
As he did, his lustrous platinum hair cascaded softly with the movement.
"Is that truly what you believe?"
"?"
Sayeon furrowed his brow slightly as he regarded Tae Irim.
Tae Irim's eyes narrowed with amusement as he spoke.
"Baek Sayeon. You have not yet completed my command, have you?"
A pause.
Sayeon's face hardened in an instant.
[Go to the Southern Lands, to the Jujak Family's territory. Steal the most precious thing in that place.]
[You cannot possess it. You need only show me that it remains unharmed.]
To steal the most precious thing in the Southern Lands and show him it was safe.
Yes, that had been the extent of his imperial command.
He had said he would come to see what was stolen once the Imperial Palace was settled, but the matter had fallen through amid the bloodshed that engulfed the Imperial Family.
"What do you mean by bringing that up now, Your Majesty?"
"Nothing of great significance. I simply recalled it."
Tae Irim smiled faintly and lifted his teacup.
But Sayeon could not smile in return.
"...."
Could it be that this young Emperor had foreseen from the beginning that I would bring that child from the Southern Lands, and issued that command accordingly?
But he possessed no ability to see the future—how could he be certain of such a thing?
"I will give you what I promised."
Tae Irim changed the subject with a gesture, and his attendant brought forth a wooden box and set it upon the table.
Click. The wooden box opened, revealing the herb contained within.
Dragon's Blood Grass.
When Taehwa Kingdom's new Emperor ascends, the ceremony is conducted before the statue of the Imperial Dragon.
The direct bloodline of the Imperial Family has long been known as dragon-form beastkin. When they ascend the throne and perform the coronation ceremony, their existing scales shed away, and golden scales bloom in their place, awakening them as golden dragons.
During this process, the scales are forcibly shed and flesh tears, causing blood to flow. The flowers that bloom from this blood are none other than dragon's blood flowers.
Because of this origin, they were rare medicinal materials that could not be easily obtained.
"...."
Sayeon gazed quietly at the dragon's blood flowers contained in the box.
Despite finally encountering the dragon's blood flowers he had long sought, his expression showed no particular change.
Yet Tae Irim saw it.
The moment the dragon's blood flowers came into view, Sayeon's eyes trembled ever so slightly.
* * *
Jeok Soya was playing, arranging fallen maple leaves into shapes on the ground.
'What did Elder Brother Irim—no, what did His Majesty come to discuss with Sayeon?'
Jeok Soya's mind was filled with thoughts of Tae Irim, whom she had just seen.
'I heard he became the Celestial Emperor, and he seems more mature now. He must have been surprised to see me here, but he didn't show it at all.'
As Jeok Soya attached pairs of bright yellow ginkgo leaves to create a butterfly, she realized she was short on leaves.
"Oh no. One wing is missing."
"I'll go gather more for you!"
Seol Yo, who had been crouching beside Jeok Soya admiring the maple leaf designs, sprang to his feet at her words.
Without giving Jeok Soya a chance to say anything, he dashed toward the shrubland.
'Seol Yo really is something. So incredibly fast.'
Jeok Soya laughed softly, watching her friend move without hesitation, never minding the trouble, always acting for her sake.
She was left alone, waiting for Seol Yo to return.
"A flower and a butterfly."
Suddenly, a shadow fell over Jeok Soya's head.
"The flower is beautiful, resembling you, while the butterfly only waits for you—how perfectly that mirrors my own pathetic form."
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