Chapter 93
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Chapter 93
Jeok Soya's eyes fluttered open in an unfamiliar place.
'Where am I?'
No—it was unfamiliar yet strangely familiar.
'Ah, yes. This is....'
But then, she sensed someone's presence.
When Jeok Soya lifted her head absently, her eyes widened in an instant.
'That person is....'
A man approached Jeok Soya.
Platinum-blonde hair cascaded down smoothly.
"How is your body feeling?"
At the low, resonant voice, Jeok Soya blinked her eyes.
'My body? Why would my body....'
The moment awareness struck, pain surged through her in a wave.
"Ugh...."
Along with a faint whimper, crimson blood trickled from between her lips.
'What? Blood?'
"Bi...!"
The man cried out in anguish and pulled me into a tight embrace.
'Huh?'
The man dropped his head onto my shoulder.
The large body holding me trembled faintly.
'Is he...crying?'
Jeok Soya gazed intently at the man's heaving chest and tilted her head in confusion.
Then, her lips opened of their own accord.
"...Your Majesty, my wish is ...please...this coming spring...."
'Huh? What am I saying?'
Jeok Soya strained to listen to those words, but couldn't understand them clearly.
Even speaking those few short phrases exhausted her, causing her to pause and breathe intermittently.
"Yes. I promise you."
The man held my body as if crushing it, whispering as though on the verge of tears.
"I will make that promise. I will surely keep it."
This is strange.
"Hani, let us recover together soon, my...."
Why does my heart ache so at the sound of his voice, as if he were weeping?
As Jeok Soya stood there in a daze, turning it over in her mind—
Suddenly, Jeok Soya's eyes snapped open.
'...!'
It seemed as though she had been dreaming something just moments before, but the instant her eyes opened, all memory of it vanished.
Yet her body felt remarkably refreshed, as if she had slept deeply and well....
'Huh?'
Suddenly, memories of the situation before I fell asleep came flooding back.
'Why am I on the bed?'
I had been waiting for my older brothers to come find me....
"Soya!"
"Cotton ball!"
At that moment, Baek Gahyun and Baek Gayul, who had been anxiously waiting by the bedside for me to wake, called out my name and suddenly swept me into their arms.
"Aaaah!"
I barely managed to wriggle free from the crush of my older brothers who had rushed at me simultaneously.
"How do you feel, Soya? Is there anywhere that hurts or feels uncomfortable?"
"No, not at all."
At my spirited response, Baek Gahyun exhaled in relief.
"Thank goodness, truly. We almost had a disaster on our hands."
"That's right, cotton ball. Because that Blue Shark bastard switched out the sea pearl, if we hadn't found you in time...!"
Baek Gayul shuddered as if he didn't even want to think about it, shaking his head vigorously.
"But my older brothers did find me, didn't you?"
"It wasn't us."
Baek Gahyun answered in a calm voice.
"Seol Yo found you."
"Seol Yo?"
At those words, I poked my head out and looked for Seol Yo.
But Seol Yo, who would normally be right beside me with my older brothers, was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh?"
As I looked around, I belatedly discovered Seol Yo crouching in the corner with his back turned.
"Seol Yo!"
At my call, Seol Yo's body trembled slightly as he sat facing away.
"Seol Yo, what's wrong?"
But Seol Yo didn't turn around at my call.
"Seol Yo?"
When I called again, Seol Yo slowly turned his head.
His eyes were tinged red.
"Huh? Seol Yo, are you crying?"
Seol Yo's large eyes were glistening with tears, and the moment our eyes met, his sobs burst forth with a 'splash!'
"W-Seol Yo?"
I was flustered by Seol Yo's tears falling like drops of chicken droppings.
"Sob, sniff, whimper. I, I couldn't protect you."
Seol Yo wiped his eyes with his sleeve and wept bitterly.
"Huh?"
"I said I was the one who protects you. I'm supposed to protect you. But I...."
"No, that's not true! You protected me just fine! Completely safely!"
Jeok Soya raised both arms high, showing that she was perfectly fine.
At the sight of her, Seol Yo's sobbing gradually subsided.
'Goodness. Seol Yo doesn't look the type, but he certainly has a lot of tears.'
Jeok Soya smiled softly as she watched her kind-hearted friend's tears.
Seol Yo, who had stopped crying at some point, hung over the edge of Jeok Soya's bed and looked up at her.
"You're really okay now?"
"Yes, yes, Seol Yo. I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for finding me."
Jeok Soya smiled warmly at the sniffling Seol Yo, then turned to Baek Gahyun and asked.
"What happened to the Blue Shark Family?"
"The family head was arrested for stealing divine relics and threatening the life of a distinguished guest."
"Does that mean you recovered the Blue Dragon Extreme Sword?"
"Yes."
"Wow, what a relief!"
Jeok Soya's face brightened.
"However, the young master escaped. The one who switched your sea pearl with a fake."
"That's alright. I think I know where he went."
Jeok Soya spoke with confidence.
Yet Baek Gahyun's expression darkened further as he watched her.
"Jeok Soya. Did you intentionally do that knowing the Blue Shark Family was plotting something dangerous?"
He had found something odd about it.
How Jeok Soya, who had gone to reject the Blue Shark young master's courtship proposal, suddenly changed her mind and accepted his offer.
How Jeok Soya, who had trained in the Baekho Family for the past three years, was deceived so easily into switching her sea pearl.
And how she disappeared without a trace.
If the Blue Shark Family had truly switched the sea pearl intending to harm her, they should have returned Jeok Soya safely to Cheonghae Palace.
Their true purpose wasn't simply to harm her, but to shatter the bond between Mother and the Baekho Family.
"I had no choice. It was the fastest and best method. And I believed my older brothers would find me."
Jeok Soya, whose scheme had been instantly seen through by Baek Gahyun, explained herself that way.
"But an unexpected variable arose. The sea scent was so thick that neither I nor Gayul could find you."
Yet Baek Gahyun's stern face remained unyielding.
"And such variables could arise again, anytime, in any amount."
"So you're saying I should have pretended not to find a way to help Mother?"
"That's not what I mean."
Baek Gahyun gripped Jeok Soya's hand firmly as he spoke.
"From now on, let's do this together, Jeok Soya. Don't try to solve things alone."
"...?"
"We're family, after all. I'm your older brother."
"...!"
Jeok Soya's eyes widened in surprise.
"I was truly worried about you after you disappeared like that, Jeok Soya."
Baek Gahyun explained in a calm voice.
"If you had told me beforehand, we could have found a safer and better way together. At the very least, if I had known where you were hiding, we wouldn't have ended up in such a dangerous situation like yesterday."
"Ah...."
Jeok Soya let out a short exclamation at those words.
'That's right. Why did I try to handle this alone?'
I had vaguely believed that I needed to resolve this through my own strength.
It wasn't that I distrusted my older brothers.
It was simply that I thought awakening the Blue Dragon, and retrieving the Blue Dragon Extreme Sword for that purpose, were all burdens I had to carry myself.
Even knowing that my older brothers, who held me dear, would worry if I suddenly disappeared, I deliberately exploited that concern to accomplish my task.
Of course, I had planned it believing they would find me immediately, but as my older brother said, if I had shared my plan with him beforehand, I could have handled unexpected variables without panic.
'I was wrong in my thinking. I thought that was the best way, but it wasn't. The truly best way is....'
Jeok Soya gazed at the back of Baek Gahyun's hand, which he held firmly around mine, and thought.
'To be with people who trust me.'
Looking back, a wave of remorse for having worried them washed over me.
"I'm sorry. I was shortsighted, older brother."
Jeok Soya apologized with her eyebrows drooping sadly.
"From now on, I won't try to handle things alone."
"Thank you, Soya. I'm glad you understand how I feel."
In response to Jeok Soya's apology, Baek Gahyun gently stroked her head.
Jeok Soya, who had been smiling bashfully among her older brothers, suddenly spoke as if remembering something.
"Speaking of which, about that young master of the Blue Shark Family. By now, he's probably...."
"Hmm, that's right."
At Jeok Soya's words, Baek Gahyun fell into thought for a moment, then smiled with his eyes narrowing as if a good idea had come to him.
* * *
The festival had been temporarily suspended while searching for the missing young lady of the Baekho Family.
However, after all matters were settled, Chung Ha declared that she would hold the Dragon God Festival even grander and more splendidly than before.
Thus, on the final day of the extended festival.
Jeok Soya went with her older brothers to watch the finals of the martial arts tournament and also to see the "Song of Purmir," the ceremonial ritual of the Dragon God Festival.
As Chung Ha wielded the Blue Dragon Extreme Sword before the great altar of the Dragon God, the withered plants of the Eastern Lands came alive again, blooming with verdant vitality.
Among the cheering crowd, Jeok Soya applauded more enthusiastically than anyone else.
"You're so cool, Mom!"
Jeok Soya's cry was drowned out by the people's cheers, but Chung Ha smiled gently as if she had heard it, looking toward where she stood.
At that, Jeok Soya's face flushed with a rosy blush.
After enjoying the festival for a while, as the sky began to darken.
"It seems like it's time. Shall we head out?"
"Yes, older brother!"
At Baek Gahyun's suggestion, Jeok Soya's group boarded a small boat to watch the falling flower display.
And beneath that sea where the falling flower display was scheduled.
The young master of the Blue Shark Family, who had fled, and his associates were hiding underwater, waiting for the falling flower display to begin.
The moment the fireworks fell would be their signal to launch a surprise attack on the festival participants.
'With Father captured and things having gone this wrong, I must rescue Father even if it means taking civilians as hostages.'
Soon, fireworks cascaded down onto the sea, suspended from long ropes attached to falling flower torches.
Ahan and the soldiers of the Blue Shark Family burst through the water's surface.
Splash―
Ahan leaped from the water onto a small boat with a violent splash. But then....
'Huh?'
The small boat was empty.
Bewildered, Ahan glanced around before jumping onto another small boat nearby.
Yet that too was an empty vessel without a soul.
"How is this possible...."
He muttered in confusion.
"We meet again, Ahan."
At the voice from behind, he turned to see Jeok Soya sitting alone on a small boat, smiling warmly as she greeted him.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org