Chapter 31: One Who Must Be Cut Down

After parting ways with Eun-gyo, Lee Kang took only a few subordinates and headed to the hunting grounds.

He needed a change of mind.

The silver aura that had rippled around Eun-gyo’s body continued to bother him.

What had that light been?

Even if it was visible only to his eyes, he hadn’t misseen it.

More than anything, the moment Eun-gyo, wrapped in that light, had stepped forward to block his path, he had been unable to strike down the soldier.

Even with Eun-gyo in the way, if he had truly wanted to, he could have swung his sword easily enough.

The soldier was much taller than Eun-gyo, with his head positioned higher, and even if striking from the front wasn’t feasible because of Eun-gyo, he could have angled his body and struck only the soldier’s head.

But he had been able to do none of those things.

The silver ripple emanating from Eun-gyo had bound his body—or so it felt—and his sword had stopped.

It hadn’t been a conscious choice made to avoid hurting Eun-gyo.

That was what unsettled Lee Kang.

What could it have been?

Ha Eun-gyo—what was he?

He kept asking himself, but no answer came.

Only the frustration in his chest grew heavier.

‘Your Highness was born bearing the energy of the black dragon—a noble being.

No one can stand in your way.

But beware of one thing—the child born on the night of two moons.

That child will twist your destiny.’

An old woman Lee Kang had happened to meet on the road long ago had grabbed him and said this.

He knew the “Song of the Black Dragon,” already widespread throughout Sinhye Kingdom, which spoke of the black dragon and the child born on the night of two moons.

He had searched and found one.

A child born on the night of two moons.

Though not yet ten years old, Lee Kang had recognized it at a glance.

A faint light flowed around that child—a light like moonlight illuminating the night sky.

That light, invisible to others, had been visible only to Lee Kang.

So this child was born with the energy of the moon.

Having discovered it, he couldn’t leave it be.

This child would block his path.

So he could not let it live.

The child’s parents had been terrified at the Crown Prince’s visit.

They too seemed to know the Song of the Black Dragon.

If given even a moment, they would have fled with the child.

Certain of that, Lee Kang had cut them all down on the spot.

It had been around the time Lee Kang was barely ten or so.

The people who witnessed him slaughtering innocent civilians with an expressionless face were horrified, and the ministers submitted memorials about the Crown Prince’s cruelty.

Around that time, the Empress—Lee Kang’s mother—had begun to grow ill.

Everyone whispered that she was suffering for Lee Kang’s sins.

In the end, the Empress died, and when the woman who bore another royal grandson ascended to the Empress’s position, she and the ministers drove the cruel, bloodless Crown Prince Lee Kang onto the battlefield.

The light he had seen then was the same.

The silver aura rippling around Ha Eun-gyo was strikingly similar to that of the child he had cut down.

However, unlike that young child, because Eun-gyo was an adult, the silver ripple was far greater.

It had been only a moment, but strong enough to stop Lee Kang in his tracks…

Could that child have been alive all along?

The sudden suspicion made him frown and shake his head.

That was impossible.

He had confirmed the child’s last breath with his own eyes and watched the villagers bury the child together with his parents.

Then what in the world was Ha Eun-gyo?

He wasn’t even from Sinhye Kingdom.

Could it be…

As he entertained the possibility, Lee Kang let out a hollow laugh.

It was nonsense.

The prophecy never said there would be multiple children born on the night of two moons.

If there had been more than one, it wouldn’t have been passed down as legend.

Rustle. At the sound of branches shaking, Lee Kang spun around and swung his sword.

A wild boar that had been charging at him let out a strange squeal and collapsed.

Red blood dripped from the blade that had severed its neck.

The Shadowless Legion member following Lee Kang drove his sword once more into the boar’s writhing belly.

Once the boar went limp, several others moved to dispose of the carcass.

“Your Highness, your cheek…”

The Shadowless Legion commander, Mugi, held out a white handkerchief.

Taking the handkerchief with an expressionless face, Lee Kang wiped the boar’s blood from his cheek.

“Mugi.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Leave King Seongrim for now and investigate Ha Eun-gyo.

Anything at all.

His birth, his nationality, when he first entered Sinhye Kingdom, when King Seongrim began looking after him—find out everything in detail.”

“Yes.”

At first, he had thought he was just a dancer.

So he had intended to use him only to keep the Crown Princess at a distance.

Then he suspected a connection with King Seongrim.

If King Seongrim was trying to use Eun-gyo to stand against him, he thought he could use Eun-gyo as bait to catch King Seongrim, so he kept him close.

He had been tolerating King Seongrim’s return to the palace to watch over Eun-gyo, knowing that when he finally made his move, he would have solid grounds to strike.

But now, Ha Eun-gyo himself was what bothered him.

If even one of his suspicions proved true, he might have to cut down Eun-gyo regardless of King Seongrim.

To cut down Ha Eun-gyo…

‘Your Highness…’

His face came to mind—sprawled beneath him, utterly disheveled, calling out to him.

Flushed cheeks, tear-bright eyes heated with desire, slender arms reaching toward him…

He would cling to him with a soft, sensitive body that was hard to believe belonged to a man.

Ha.

Had he grown attached in such a short time?

He let out a wry laugh at his own thought.

That was truly absurd.

Within him, ‘attachment’ had never been an emotion that existed from the start.

***

After leaving the training grounds, Eun-gyo’s next destination was the library called Cheonseogwan.

Being the imperial library, its scale was also immense.

A single large L-shaped building was entirely dedicated to the library.

“Please rest comfortably, Court Lady Han and everyone else.

I’ll just browse around for a bit.”

It felt uncomfortable to have Court Lady Han and the other attendants trailing him through this vast space.

Since it was an enclosed place with nowhere to run, he told them they could rest, and Court Lady Han finally stepped back.

Running his fingers over the books packed tightly on the shelves, Eun-gyo let out a deep sigh.

It was a relief that the spoken and written language were the same.

If even the language had been different when he fell into Sinhye Kingdom, he would have truly suffered.

Being able to read any book was nice, but there were so many he didn’t know where to start.

When he was staying at King Seongrim’s residence, he had read some books on Sinhye Kingdom’s history and culture.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do—having fallen into an unfamiliar place, he thought he needed to learn to survive.

He couldn’t do much about his way of speaking, but at least by roughly understanding their way of life, he could blend in without standing out too much.

Fortunately, Eun-gyo was an actor.

Even in a strange environment, if he thought of it as being on stage, mimicking was easy enough.

But mimicry was only a short-term solution.

The longer he stayed here, the more anxious Eun-gyo became.

What if he could never return?

Was he really going to live out his days as the Crown Prince’s woman, trapped in this palace until he grew old and died?

Dark thoughts began to surface, and he shook his head.

Once he started thinking negatively, there was no end to it.

If he kept trying, a way might appear.

“Pull yourself together.

Stay strong.”

Stretching wide, he traced the tightly packed book spines with his fingers, checking each title one by one.

Since all of Sinhye Kingdom’s books were said to be here, surely there must be a book that explained why he had fallen here and how to return.

‘It’s not certain, so don’t get your hopes up.’

King Seongrim had told him without conviction.

‘There’s a treasure sword passed down through the imperial household, and there’s a legend that it opens a door to another world.

It’s such an old story that even among the imperial family, few remember it now.

So I don’t know if it’s true or not.’

In the past, he would have laughed it off.

A sword opening a door to another world—it wasn’t a key, so how could that make sense?

Yet he was in Sinhye Kingdom.

He didn’t know how he had arrived here, but his very presence here defied logical explanation.

If the key to another world in Sinhye Kingdom was the imperial treasure sword, then was there also a key in the Republic of Korea that opened the door to Sinhye Kingdom?

He couldn’t guess what coincidence had brought him here, and it was frustrating.

What was done was done, but if there was a way back, even if it was just a legend, he had to try.

He knew no other method anyway.

When would he ever finish all these books?

Pulling out a book at random and flipping through it, he sighed again.

“Why do you keep sighing like that?”

Startled by the calm voice from behind, a small yelp escaped him.

Turning around, he saw King Seongrim standing there, smiling.

“How did you get in here…?”

It felt like he’d asked the same thing before.

How did he appear and disappear so mysteriously?

Court Lady Han and the guards were stationed at the library entrance—it was amazing how he’d gotten in.

Looking around for another entrance, King Seongrim turned his face back toward him.

“There’s only the one entrance you came through.”

“Then how did you get in?

Did you spring up from the ground?”

He asked seriously, and King Seongrim burst into laughter.

“Something like that.”

“Really?”

Even though he doubted it, having experienced so many strange things lately, he wondered if people from Sinhye Kingdom possessed the ability to spring up from the ground.

“What were you looking for here?”

Having apparently laughed his fill, King Seongrim changed the subject.

“A way to return to where I came from.

You mentioned the imperial treasure sword, but you said it wasn’t certain.

There might be another way, right?”

“Hmm.”

King Seongrim let out a long hum.

“You think there isn’t, don’t you?”

When he spoke with a hint of sulkiness, King Seongrim smiled and patted his head.

“You truly want to return, I see.”

“…”

The wistful tone made him lose his words for a moment as he looked at him.

What if I don’t go back?

Could I really live well here for the rest of my life?

The words that had reached the tip of his tongue he swallowed back.

Saying them would be meaningless.

In this world, he was as good as nonexistent.

For now, the Crown Prince wanted him and had given him a place under his protection—but there was no telling how long that would last.

And he couldn’t keep relying on King Seongrim forever either…

“If I told you not to go, to stay here—if I held onto you, what would you do?”

King Seongrim’s hand cupped his cheek.

His expression, looking at him with something like longing—like a lover gazing at their beloved—made Eun-gyo’s heart drop with a heavy thud.

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