Chapter 19: The Horn of the Dragon

The moment the library doors thudded shut, the smile that had played on Yu-on’s lips vanished without a trace.

With an expressionless face, he ascended the stairs and perched himself on the window frame, which he had thrown wide open. Papers he had haphazardly stacked fluttered in the breeze blowing through the opening.

He had assumed she would depart for the detached palace immediately, but Huiyeon was sitting on a stone bench—a spot perfectly visible from the second-floor window. Though the thick foliage likely hid him from her view, the density of the leaves mattered little to his eyes.

<May I ask benefactor? my name of the>

He could have easily given her a fake name, one of those Cheong-mun threw around at his whim. And yet.

Perhaps it was because she had been raised in a cold, secluded palace all her life. Confronted by eyes so clear and untainted by the world—eyes that seemed remarkably pure for one of the Ju bloodline—he had found himself revealing his true name before he even realized it.

It felt strange to watch her mouth move, silently repeating the name over and over as if to engrain it in her memory, thinking he wouldn’t notice.

“Foolish…”

Yu-on stood up from the windowsill, uttering a word that left it unclear which of them he was calling a fool. He didn’t close the window, nor did he pull his gaze away from the path outside. Just as he had stopped in his tracks on the way to Mount Mureung days ago, his eyes kept drifting toward her of their own volition.

“It’s strange to fall and only hurt a wrist, isn’t it?”

Her voice, carried by the wind, reached his ears. Yu-on let out a dry, low chuckle. “So, she isn’t completely dim-witted.”

When she had first opened her eyes, she had acted like a cat with its fur standing on end. He thought she had completely abandoned her suspicion after a few smiles and a handful of words, but it seemed she had noticed the inconsistency after all.

“Tell me everything you know about a man named Yu-on.”

Then again, seeing her ask a question that no one would dare answer truthfully made him think she might be a fool after all.

“Well, it’s because she’s that foolish that she offered up her own life.”

Though, thanks to that, he had found his freedom.

Yu-on saw the young maidservant flinch as if sensing his gaze, and he finally pulled the window shut. There was nothing more to see.

With the window closed, the lightless library reminded him of the cave where he had been imprisoned for so long. The only difference was that back then, he was surrounded by absolute darkness; now, even without light, he could see everything as clearly as if it were midday.

Yu-on slumped against the wall and ran a hand through his hair, pushing back the strands as unpleasant memories resurfaced. Where his pale hand passed, a golden horn revealed itself. Growing amidst his black hair, the shimmering horn was roughly the size of two adult knuckles.

Yu-on had once slept half-submerged in a shallow pool deep within a cave, fed by water dripping from ancient stalactites. Thorny vines, radiating an eerie, dark-red energy, had wound around his body like shackles. Every time he moved, the thorns dug into his flesh, greedily drinking his blood as if they were sentient, blood-sucking parasites.

The more he struggled to escape, the stronger the spell on the vines became. The blood that seeped into the pool only served to fortify the barrier guarding the cave. It was a perfect deadlock.

After countless failed attempts, Yu-on had been forced to realize a bitter truth: he would never leave this place unless someone rescued him.

<I a have human… shouldn’t trusted>

Yu-on had ground his teeth, chewing on his regret. He should have listened to his vassals.

<Master Heavenly Realm, You, Yu-on, and be be. can cunning despicable do have how humans. in kind know lived not of the their wary who>

<Even What are could dare do if is me? not possibly so, that they to weak?>

Yu-on had thought it arrogant to think a human could oppose him. And why shouldn’t he be arrogant? He was a Dragon. Unless it was another of his kind, nothing could harm a Dragon. The idea of fearing a mere human was laughable.

<Unless Dragon Heavens, a down from happen humans me. nothing summon the to will>

He had laughed off their worries. The Dragons who ascended to the Heavenly Realm had no interest in the earth. Unless they were an oddity like Yu-on—who had grown bored of that place—they wouldn’t spare a glance for the world below.

And so, he had been complacent. The result? He was betrayed by the one he trusted and lured into a trap that left him rotting in a cave.

‘My followers likely believe I’ve simply fallen into another long slumber to gather my strength.’

Given his past habits, it was a reasonable assumption for them to make. Realizing help was far off, he changed his strategy.

‘I will simply sleep, whether it takes decades or centuries.’

He reasoned that if the spell grew stronger by drinking his blood, it might weaken if he remained perfectly still, denying it its fuel. Yu-on relaxed his body and fell into a deep sleep.

He was just beginning to think the spell had weakened enough for an escape attempt when it happened. Someone entered the cave.

The footsteps were light, almost weightless. Yu-on opened his eyes slowly and widened them as he saw the human approaching. It was a girl, appearing to be about fifteen or sixteen.

His shock didn’t stem from the fact that a child had entered the dark cave. It was what she held in her hand as she walked with glazed, hollow eyes.

If he wasn’t mistaken…

‘Where did she get that… No, more importantly, how can she even touch it?’

It was a dagger forged from his own right horn, which had been severed long ago. A weapon made from a Dragon should be unusable by anyone other than its original owner. Yet, the girl held the Dragon-horn dagger as if it were a common tool.

Before he could process the situation, the girl reached him. She stepped into the pool, heedless of her wet clothes, and—

<Ugh!>

She grabbed the horn that had just begun to regrow. He wanted to roar, to ask what she thought she was doing, but as he moved, the vines instantly tore into his flesh. The thorns drank greedily, as if they had been starved for centuries. In an instant, his physical freedom was stripped away. The vines wrapped around his throat, stealing even his voice.

Perhaps that was a mercy.

<Why deer does have horn? one only the>

The girl murmured nonsensical words and swung the dagger without hesitation. A sickening schlick echoed in the cavern.

Yu-on let out a silent scream of agony. Only a Dragon can wound a Dragon. That meant a weapon made from a Dragon’s body could indeed draw his blood.

The blood pouring from the severed horn drenched his body and stained the pool crimson. The spell he had spent decades loosening tightened its grip, stronger than ever before—as if to ensure he would never leave.

And that became his reality.

With every new generation, a girl of the Ju Ya-yul bloodline would find the cave. Sometimes they were the same age as the first girl; sometimes younger, sometimes grown women. Regardless of their age, their purpose was the same: to cut off Yu-on’s horn.

Because no human could be brave enough to harm a Dragon’s body, they were always drugged with hallucinogens before entering. They were made to believe a single lie:

‘The thing in the cave is a deer.’ ‘I must cut the deer’s horn.’

They had been brainwashed since childhood. There is a deer in the cave, and one day, you must go and take its horn.

‘A deer.’

The insult of being mistaken for a deer never grew easier to swallow, no matter how many times it happened. While the horn would eventually regrow, the agonizing pain and the cold, repulsive sensation of the blade never became familiar.

‘I’m tired of this…’

He grew weary of this forced immortality. The one he had intended to spend eternity with had surely turned to dust centuries ago. Perhaps they had even been reborn elsewhere. Yu-on fell back into sleep, thinking it might be better if he could simply expend all his energy and die.

Tap. Tap.

Small but distinct footsteps echoed through the cave. Yu-on, drifting awake, thought idly, ‘Is it that time again…’

It had been a long time since he had bothered to check who was entering. He kept his eyes closed and relaxed his body, preparing for the impending pain. He found himself wishing that, for once, they would drive the blade into his heart instead of his horn.

But the pain never came.

Sensing a presence that hadn’t left, Yu-on slowly opened his eyes. He found himself looking into the eyes of a child, who was sitting by the pool, quietly watching him.

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