Chapter 13: The Masked Intruders and the State Altar

The curtain covered the window, hiding Yun-jo as he sat by it from the guards’ view.

His heart nearly dropped, but he barely held it together, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. He looked down at the object on the floor and widened his eyes.

It was a short dagger with a goblin-face pattern engraved on the scabbard.

‘I didn’t hear a thing.’

From inside the curtain, the Crown Prince’s indifferent voice answered.

The guards looked around the room, found nothing, and moved to search elsewhere.

“Two of you stay here and guard His Highness. The rest, search the rear garden.”

“Yes!”

Meanwhile, Yun-jo carefully picked up the dagger. The blade, drawn from the scabbard, was freshly sharpened and gleaming.

‘This… he wants me to cut the cord?’

He pressed the blade against the golden cord and applied force. The cord, which had been tightly wound, snapped easily. At the same time, the oppressive feeling that had weighed on him vanished as if it had never been. The golden cord had indeed been hindering his movement. Finally free, Yun-jo lifted his head.

The window, shrouded by the curtain, was dark inside, but he could tell two guards still stood by the door. The Crown Prince, too, remained silent, his back to the window as before.

Unbelievable as it was, the Crown Prince had spared him. Not only had he hidden Yun-jo from the guards, but he had also given him the means to escape.

The heavy footsteps of the guards approached from not far away. Unable to hesitate, lest he be discovered again, Yun-jo quickly sheathed the dagger, placed it neatly on the windowsill, and slipped away silently before the guards burst into the garden.

The day after falling into the water, Yun-jo actually showed up at the camp. It was around half an hour after the appointed time of four.

He appeared out of nowhere, spent the whole day talking to Sahyeon, who was reading, making trivial jokes, and wandering around the camp as he pleased before leaving.

He came not just that day, but the next, and the day after that. If Sahyeon was in the main hall, he appeared there; if on the pavilion, he showed up there. Sometimes he emerged from the pond, and occasionally he walked boldly through the main gate.

There was no pattern to his appearances, but one thing was common: no one could tell when he came or how he entered.

The camp dwellers gradually grew accustomed to Yun-jo’s presence and no longer found him surprising or sudden. Unlike Sahyeon, who only lingered in the main hall and rear garden, Yun-jo freely roamed the camp. When bored, he would go to the kitchen to snatch snacks, joke with the servants, laugh, then return to the main hall to watch Sahyeon read.

Then, at some point, he would vanish. Just as he came without anyone noticing, he left without anyone realizing.

A few days later, Ju Pyeong-gi visited the camp. It was around noon, with the sun high in the sky, and Yun-jo was there too. As usual, he sat in the main hall, watching Sahyeon read, passing the time.

A servant announced from outside the inner gate.

“The county magistrate has arrived.”

Since servants were forbidden from entering the main hall, Seo Sang-yak went out to welcome Ju Pyeong-gi. Seeing him enter through the inner gate, Yun-jo, who had been getting bored, wore a curious expression.

Yun-jo had seen Ju Pyeong-gi’s face at the shrine on Mount Yulsi, but Ju had only seen a shadow sitting in a tree and hadn’t actually seen Yun-jo’s face. So he didn’t recognize Yun-jo even when they met. He glanced briefly at the young man sprawled on the veranda as if it were his own home, found him odd, then, assuming he was a guest of Jang San-hu, nodded politely and passed by.

Ju Pyeong-gi reported to Sahyeon, who was sitting behind a bamboo blind on the main platform.

“A report to the Marquis. The date for the Sajikje has been set. It’s the day after tomorrow, the first day of next month.”

“Oh, I heard the Sajikdan was buried in mud due to heavy rain in early spring. Is the restoration complete?” Seo Sang-yak interjected.

Ju replied respectfully.

“Yes, sir. It finished just in time. It’s west of the county seat, so it’s close to the camp. If the Marquis permits, we will proceed.”

From behind the blind, Sahyeon answered briefly.

“Understood.”

The answer was so short that Ju hesitated, unsure if it was over. Seo Sang-yak called him.

“Magistrate Ju, follow me. I have something to ask and I’ll treat you to a meal, so take some with you.”

“I am grateful, sir.”

As Ju followed Seo away, Yun-jo looked at Sahyeon.

“Sajikje?”

Sahyeon paused for a moment before answering.

“A sacrifice to the state altar.”

“What’s a state altar?”

“…”

No answer to the second question. Apparently, he had asked something too basic again.

Yun-jo was slowly realizing he was somewhat ignorant here. If he asked something a five-year-old wouldn’t ask, he could tell from others’ reactions.

Whenever Yun-jo asked something, the servants would be dumbfounded or laugh, and Seo Sang-yak, though trying to hide it, often made a strange face.

Sahyeon… Sahyeon just didn’t answer.

What a prickly guy, Yun-jo thought. He wondered if Sahyeon had a pen name, but if he were to give him one, it would be ‘Grumpy.’

Grumpy Sahyeon.

Wow, totally fitting.

Admiring his own naming sense, Yun-jo chuckled. At the sound, Sahyeon looked up at him, so Yun-jo quickly shut his mouth and pretended not to have laughed.

“Anyway, what was ‘state altar’ again… I definitely heard it…”

Yun-jo stared into space, trying to remember. He couldn’t recall clearly, but he felt he had heard it somewhere.

If this were a game, a footnote or help text would have appeared on screen, but since it was a dream, no such convenience was provided. About to give up and search later, unexpectedly, Sahyeon spoke.

“‘Sajik‘ refers to the gods of the earth and grains, respectively. The Sajikje is a sacrifice to those gods, and the Sajikdan is the site.”

“Now that you mention it, I remember where I heard it. It’s the same ‘sajik‘ as in ‘Jongmyo and Sajik,’ right?”

Counting the days, it wasn’t far. If it was the first day, that was two days away. Yun-jo straightened up and stood.

“I want to go too.”

“Only certain people can enter the Sajikdan.”

“I’ll just watch from outside.”

He was curious and pleaded, and Sahyeon looked at him silently before slowly nodding.

“Then come exactly at the hour of the Dragon.”

“The Dragon hour?”

The Dragon hour was exactly seven in the morning. That early? Yun-jo asked in surprise, and the answer came as if it were obvious.

“Auspicious rites must be held in the morning.”

Yun-jo thought for a moment and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

About a moment after, Sahyeon heard a faint bell sound.

Ding…

He looked up at the spot where Yun-jo had been, but no one was there. As always, he had disappeared without a word. Sahyeon stared at the empty space for a long time.

The faint bell sound came from the small golden bell on Yun-jo’s hair tie.

The colorful cord with a golden bell, given along with the clothes some time ago, was originally an ornamental ribbon for hanging incense pouches or jade pendants, but Yun-jo, liking it, always tied his hair with it, regardless of its intended use.

His hair, tied carelessly, not even properly wearing a hat, in a way even a child wouldn’t, was utterly disrespectful in anyone’s eyes, but Sahyeon didn’t stop him.

Because of the small golden bell at the end of the cord, every time Yun-jo moved, a faint bell sound remained. It was so quiet that only those who listened could hear it, but Sahyeon almost always caught it. Thanks to that, Sahyeon was the first to notice when Yun-jo came and went.

Each time, Sahyeon felt strange.

It wasn’t unusual for him to hear small sounds better than others. What was strange was that he couldn’t ignore them even if he pretended not to.

Seo Sang-yak returned after sending off Ju Pyeong-gi and widened his eyes at the now-empty veranda.

“Has he gone back?”

“Yes.”

“It’s amazing every time. How he disappears in the blink of an eye without making a sound.”

“There is a sound…”

“Pardon?”

Sahyeon opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“No, never mind. What do the officers say?”

“They say they haven’t seen him. Every time I ask, it’s the same. They claim they’ve never seen him once.”

Quite some time had passed since Yun-jo started coming to the camp. Except when he deliberately passed through the main gate, strangely, no one in the camp had ever seen him come or go, nor found any trace.

The officers guarding the camp insisted that Yun-jo, who appeared and disappeared abruptly each time, must have slipped through the cracks in the wall as smoke or flown out through the sky. Of course, none of this had any basis.

“He says he’ll come to the Sajikje?”

“He didn’t even know what it was.”

“What?”

Recalling Yun-jo asking what the Sajikje was, Sahyeon frowned imperceptibly.

“Anyway, he said he’d come, so he will. He keeps his promises.”

“Good. On the first day, we’ll be able to confirm his identity clearly.”

Seo Sang-yak spoke with an eager voice.

“As I mentioned before, I’ll station demon-catchers at the Sajikdan. I’ve already informed Magistrate Ju.”

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