DKM 10

Seolhwa shook his head in horror.

“……I can’t do that!”

“Then decide quickly. Whether you will follow us to the Ice Palace, or stay here and die a dog’s death with your beloved friends.”

The man spoke with the same gentle smile as before.

“We will gladly follow whatever choice the Young Palace Master makes.”

We were so flabbergasted that we stared at the man with our mouths agape. To think that his only move against a kid much smaller than himself was blackmail. Isn’t this guy just a total thug? Are all Martial Artists like this? However, I couldn’t say a word. Even though I knew nothing about the world of martial arts, I knew that jumping at Martial Artists was a one-way ticket to getting wrecked. Right now, it felt like my neck would snap if that man applied just a little more pressure to his palm. The situation was already dire; how much worse would it get if my neck broke too? I’ll just stay still. As I stared blankly at the ground, Seolhwa spoke.

“……Come back tomorrow morning.”

“Hmm? Have you finally reached a decision?”

“Yes.”

“Then I shall see you tomorrow morning, Young Palace Master.”

Satisfied with the answer, the man removed his hands from our heads. He and his subordinates vanished in an instant. Once the courtyard became silent, as if no one had ever been there, Seolhwa reached out his hand to us.

“……I’m sorry.”

“…….”

Looking up at Seolhwa, I took his hand and stood up. I brushed the dust off my clothes and spoke.

“What are you sorry for? Those bastards are the ones at fault.”

“Exactly. What kind of Martial Artist is that? He’s just a street thug,” Myoryeong grumbled, [stolen content]pouting his lips. “Look at him, just barging into s[visit our site]omeone’s house and threatening them.”

“Pfft.”

Life returned to Seolhwa’s darkened face. Seolhwa nodded with a smile.

“You’re right. You’re both right. They really are bad people.”

“I feel dizzy just thinking about seeing their faces again tomorrow morning…….”

After roughly tidying up the ruined courtyard, I gave the two of them a light push on their backs.

“Let’s go inside. We need to eat dinner.”

“I’ll have to reheat the food. It’s probably all cold by now.”

We went back inside and ate dinner as usual. Afterward, as if by unspoken agreement, we lay down in a line in one room. It still didn’t feel real that we had gone through such an ordeal, nor that Seolhwa had to stolen unauthorized copy[visit our site]contentleave tomorrow morning. I stroked the head of the sleeping Myoryeong and called out to Seolhwa.

“Seolhwa.”

At my call, Seolhwa turned his head. I asked, “Want to use my arm as a pillow?”

“……Yes!”

Seolhwa lay back down, resting his head on my arm. However, sleep still wouldn’t come. How much time was left until sunrise? Will those people really show up as soon as it’s morning? How far is the North Sea from here? While I was struggling to quiet the tangled thoughts in my head, Seolhwa spoke.

“……My mother made a living through sewing since she was young.”

I kept staring at the ceiling, listening to Seolhwa’s story.

“I can’t say they were well-off, but my mother was reasonably satisfied with her life. Then one day, while walking down the street, she encountered a man. That man fell in love with her at first sight.”

“…….”

“The man would visit my mother’s house frequently and give her precious gifts. My mother felt burdened by the gifts, but her family didn’t. Blinded by wealth, her family sold her off to that man. My mother became miserable because of her family, and because of that man.”

I knew there was some story, but I didn’t know it was this cruel. To be betrayed by one’s own family of all people. I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

“The man tried every possible way to be loved by her, but my mother wouldn’t even give him a glance. Enraged, the man locked her in a small room, and my mother tried to take her own life. She thought that was the only way to escape him. But she soon had to give up on that, too. Not long after, she realized she was carrying me.”

As he spoke, Seolhwa’s expression was as calm as if he were talking about someone else.

“My mother plotted a way to escape the man. Then, a lifeline appeared from an unexpected place. Because the man was greedy and avaricious, he had many enemies, and they offered to help her escape the North Sea. With their help, my mother left the North Sea. After marrying a local man, she thought she could finally live happily.”

Seolhwa gave a small, bitter laugh.

“But who would have known? The kind man who said it was okay that she had a child was actually a tyrant who turned into a monster whenever he drank. My mother suffered under him until she passed away when I was seven. I think my mother really had terrible luck with men. Somehow, the people sent by that man eventually found me, but they just looked at me and left. So I thought I could keep living here, but I never imagined things would turn out like this. The fact that the entire North Sea is searching for me surely means something bad happened to that man. I’m glad something happened to him, but I don’t want to part with you guys.”

“…….”

“You know.”

Seolhwa gripped the hem of my clothes tightly.

“With me…….”

Just as Seolhwa was about to say more, our eyes met. A faint smile appeared on the lips of Seolhwa, who was gazing at me endlessly. The grip on my clothes loosened.

“You said you’re going to Hebei, right? Take care of yourselves.”

Seolhwa spoke in a forcedly bright voice.

“When the beautiful flowers are in full bloom, I’ll definitely come to see you.”

“……Seolhwa.”

Seolhwa wasn’t finished. He made one last request.

“So, until then, could you please not forget me? No matter what it takes, I will definitely come to find you…….”

“How could we possibly forget you?”

At some point, Myoryeong and I were hugging Seolhwa tightly. I patted Seolhwa’s back.

“Go with a light heart.”

“……Yeah, I’ll be back.”

The next morning, Seolhwa left the house with the man. When the man offered us time for farewells as if doing us a favor, we shook our heads. It was because we knew we would meet again eventually. Seolhwa knew it too, so his expression was much lighter. We stood at the door for a long time until Seolhwa and the man became tiny dots. And so, we were two again.

“Put that over there!”

“Tie it down tight. The road will be rough.”

But there was no time to feel the void. We, too, had to seriously prepare for our departure to Hebei. On the day we left for Hebei, Soseo, who was sitting in an elegant carriage, asked:

“Didn’t you say there was one more person? Why did only two of you come?”

“……He couldn’t come.”

“Why?”

I answered while deliberately keeping my gaze fixed on Myoryeong’s back as he said goodbye to Sister Jinmi.

“He went back to his hometown a while ago.”

“I don’t know the circumstances, but if he went back to his hometown, Read [unauthorized copy]on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">[Read on Read BL Novels]isn’t that a good thing?”

“…….”

I said nothing. Soseo, who had been looking down at me with his chin resting on his hand, beckoned with a finger.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come here.”

As I climbed into the carriage, Soseo offered a seat.

“Sit.”

I sat opposite Soseo. Soseo shook his head.

“Not there.”

Soseo pointed to the seat next to him.

“Here.”

“……Why?”

“Hurry.”

Urged by Soseo, I reluctantly sat beside him. Won’t Myoryeong misunderstand seeing this? I fidgeted and said, “Um, Soseo. I’ll just…….”

Soseo’s palm touched my cheek. Soseo asked with worried eyes, “Are you okay?”

“……With what? Ah, about him leaving?”

I nodded.

“Yeah. Of course I’m okay. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again for the rest of our lives.”

To be honest, until recently, I had felt a sense of repulsion toward him simply because he was the protagonist. We hadn’t spent much time together, nor did we have any special memories. There was no reason to be sad. I stood up from my seat.

“So, I’ll just…….”

Soseo suddenly pulled my arm. Caught off guard, I was pulled into Soseo’s embrace, my eyes widening. I was flustered by Soseo’s sudden action.

“Soseo, I’m really okay.”

Soseo patted my back.

“I’m telling you, I’m really okay. You don’t have to do this…….”

I couldn’t continue speaking. The reason Seolhwa said he’d come [stolen [stolen content]content]to see us when the beautiful flowers bloom must be because I like flowers. I mumbled with my face buried in Soseo’s chest.

“I didn’t know I was this sentimental.”

“…….”

“What if I miss him even in Hebei?”

“……You don’t have to worry about that, Myoha.”

Soseo continued to pat my back as he spoke.

“I don’t know what kind of person he is, but once you spend some time in Hebei, you’ll forget him in no time.”

My crying mind snapped awake. I questioned my ears.

“……What?”

“So don’t cry, Myoha.”

What did he just say? I reflexively lifted my face from Soseo’s embrace. Soseo smiled brightly while wiping my tears with his sleeve. Because of that incredibly gentle and innocent smile, my momentarily confused heart calmed down.

‘Right, Soseo probably didn’t mean it in a bad way. He surely said it because he didn’t want me to be sad.’

I subtly slipped away from Soseo’s arm and rubbed my face vigorously with my sleeve. I rubbed so hard that my skin stung a bit, but thanks to that, I woke up completely.

“I’ll stop crying now, Soseo. Thanks for comforting me.”

“No problem. I’m glad you feel better.”

Just then, the laborer loading the luggage spoke.

“Young Master, all the luggage is loaded on the cart. Shall we depart?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

I hurriedly got out of the carriage. Myoryeong, who was waiting for me in front of the cart, looked at my face and jumped in surprise.

“Did you cry?”

“Yeah……. I’m okay now.”

Right, it’s not like we’ll never meet again, so let’s not be depressed. We sat atop the cart.