Chapter 4: A Fateful Awakening

Tock, tock.

The sound, initially as faint as if coming from a great distance, grew gradually clearer.

‘It must be raining outside….’

Huiyeon listened vacantly to the rhythmic patter.

It was only after some time had passed that she realized it was different from the sound of rain. As she recognized this, her groggy mind sharpened, and sleep vanished instantly.

‘I was definitely….’

Her last memory was of plunging into the river to escape the assassins, then choking as she sank toward the bottom, unable to reach the surface. Everything after that was a pitch-black void, as if painted over with ink.

She was currently lying in a cave, seemingly moved there while unconscious. She knew it was a cave thanks to the bonfire flickering beside her; every time the amber flames danced, the cave walls shimmered.

‘Did Choyong bring me here?’

Huiyeon tried to sit up, thinking of the most likely person. However, no strength came to her body. A groan escaped through her teeth from a pain that felt as though she had been beaten all over.

“Nngh….”

She had only let out a fragment of a groan, yet it felt as if fingernails were scraping the inside of her throat. She barely managed to lift an arm to feel around her neck. There were no wounds on the outside. It seemed the issue was only with the interior of her throat.

Her relief was short-lived.

“Your throat is injured; it would be best not to speak for a while.”

At the sudden, unfamiliar voice of a man, Huiyeon’s body went stiff. She was not alone in the cave.

Contrary to her expectation that her savior would be Choyong, it was a stranger. Nor could she believe it was the voice of a guard. The party traveling with Huiyeon to the Hoye Kingdom was not large; she knew the faces and voices of the ten or so martial guards.

Was he an assassin?

Huiyeon barely managed to turn her head toward the sound. The owner of the voice was far from the bonfire. Since he wore black, she wouldn’t have even known he was there in the darkness if he hadn’t spoken.

The fire was only large enough to provide a hint of warmth, so the man’s face sitting in the distance was not visible. All she could see were his legs. Sitting with his back against the wall, the man had one leg stretched out and the other bent at the knee, resting his arm upon it.

Seeing his relaxed posture, he didn’t seem to have the intent to attack, yet Huiyeon did not lower her guard.

‘If only my throat didn’t hurt, I would have shouted “Who are you?” immediately.’

Huiyeon clutched her neck as the pain from that single groan lingered. Since she couldn’t speak, she had no choice but to convey her intent through her eyes.

Who are you?

Whether the man understood or not, Huiyeon cast a sharp gaze. Perhaps reading the meaning in her eyes, the man spoke.

“There is no need to wonder who I am. Anyway….”

Since Huiyeon’s face was near the bonfire, her expression was likely quite visible to him. However, the man stopped mid-sentence and fell silent for a long time.

‘Anyway? Could it be… because I’m going to die here?’

There was only the man and herself in this place. If he intended to, he could easily take her life. Right now, it was difficult for her to even move an arm, and she couldn’t even scream for help properly.

As she realized her predicament, fear surged.

Whether he saw Huiyeon’s pale face or not, the man let out a long sigh and clicked his tongue.

“If I intended to kill you, I wouldn’t have saved you.”

Then why?

“Let’s just say it was a mere whim.”

It was uncanny how he read the thoughts in her eyes. But a whim? Why on earth would he think that upon seeing someone drowning?

The man did not answer this time, despite surely reading her gaze. Once the man fell silent, the only sounds in the cave were the crackling of the logs and Huiyeon’s labored breathing.

No, there was one more.

Tock. The sound she heard before waking up returned. What Huiyeon had heard in her sleep was the sound of water droplets, formed on stalactites that grew long like animal teeth, hitting the floor.

Huiyeon rolled her eyes to survey the cave. Each time the bonfire flickered, the shadows of the protruding rocks moved as if they were alive. They seemed to be dancing.

‘I feel like… I’ve seen this scene somewhere.’

It was her first time inside a cave, yet strangely, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. The peculiar dampness and the darkness felt excessively intimate. Even this silence did not feel awkward at all.

‘Ah! A dream! It feels similar to what I felt when I woke up from a dream….’

The sensations that had remained only vaguely after waking were now telling her: the place in her dreams was a cave. But could one dream of a place they had never been to?

Of course, she had read about caves in books, but she was not someone with such a vivid imagination. Could it be that when she lost her memories as a child, the accident happened in a cave, not the Cold Palace?

Huiyeon moved her hand to feel her chest. Specifically, where the wound—now only a red scar—resided. Lady Go had told her she was injured by a sharp stone after falling while climbing a tree. Huiyeon had lost her memory after falling seriously ill from that accident.

She had believed Lady Go’s story as a child. But as she grew older, doubts persisted. There were no large trees in the Cold Palace, and she didn’t know how to climb trees.

[I… I cut it down. Since the Princess was hurt, how could I just leave it?]

That was what Lady Go had told the questioning Huiyeon. But that wasn’t the only strange thing. The wound said to be caused by a stone from a fall…

‘No matter who sees it… this is a blade mark.’

The elongated scar was a shape that could never be made by a stone. Of course, that was only a guess.

‘I couldn’t even leave the Cold Palace… there’s no way I could have gone to a cave and gotten hurt. Didn’t they say there was a spell to keep me from going outside….’

However.

[There is always a loophole in everything.]

It was likely no coincidence that Jeongcheon’s words came to mind now. If only she could find a bit more of a clue, she felt she could regain her lost memories…. Would she know if she had that dream again?

But having just regained consciousness, sleep was unlikely to come. Furthermore, wasn’t a man whose identity she didn’t know sitting right there in the cave?

Perhaps reading her anxiety, the man stood up. His face was still not visible. She could only tell that he was very tall. Huiyeon rolled her eyes to observe him.

Pitch-black hair swayed at his waist with his steps. Somehow, it seemed to glint with gold. Was it because of the fire? She tried to look closer, but the man had already disappeared into the lightless area.

Huiyeon assumed that direction was the exit. Once she was alone, her keenly sharpened senses relaxed, and her tension slowly dissolved. The crackling of the bonfire felt like a lullaby, and she seemed to catch the scent of fragrant flowers from somewhere.

It was quiet and cozy. Though she thought sleep wouldn’t come, Huiyeon did not resist the heavy drowsiness that settled over her. To recover her injured body, she had to rest when she could. She quietly closed her eyes.

A while later, the rhythmic sound of Huiyeon’s breathing echoed softly in the cave.

After Huiyeon fell asleep, ‘Yuon,’ who had gone outside, returned. The soft rustle of his clothing mixed with the sound of Huiyeon’s breathing. Approaching without a sound, Yuon knelt beside her.

The eyes looking down at the sleeping Huiyeon appeared calm at first glance, but a closer look revealed a tangle of complex emotions.

“What shall I do with you…?”

Yuon asked, knowing the sleeper wouldn’t answer. No matter what answer came, it wouldn’t satisfy him. His pale hand reached out as if to clutch her throat.

But he only grasped the air. He wanted to kill her, and he wanted to save her. He wanted to discard her, and he wanted to keep her.

“You should have stayed there forever. If you had….”

Yuon, who had spoken through gritted teeth, stopped and let out a long sigh at a presence felt outside the cave. His unrefined emotions vanished like smoke with his exhaled breath.

Rising with a cold face, Yuon had moved a few steps toward the entrance when hurried footsteps were heard, and someone entered. The man, as large as a bear, had disheveled hair and labored breath, as if he had come in a great rush.

Upon finding Yuon standing calmly, the anxiety shimmering in his eyes turned into relief.

“Lord Yuon, why are you already awake? As soon as I felt your energy, I rushed here, fearing something had happened.”

The act of treating him like a child left near water was so absurd that Yuon let out an involuntary chuckle.

“Something happening, you say. It’s not as if nothing happened….”

At Yuon’s low murmur, the man finally turned his gaze toward the inner cave. There, he discovered Huiyeon lying by the bonfire. His sharply honed eyes glowed orange, catching the light of the fire.

“If something happened, is it because of that thing? I shall immediately….”

Instantly, a murderous aura and a growl like that of a beast spread through the cave.

“Hogyeom.”

Only his name was called, but the displeasure and anger within it made a chill run down his spine, making his hair stand on end. Cursing his rashness—his body always moving before his mind—Hogyeom watched Yuon’s reaction.

“It is not something for you to worry about.”

“But….”

“I am the one who decides what to do, not you.”

A line was clearly drawn. Knowing Yuon was right but feeling hurt that his lord didn’t recognize his loyalty, Hogyeom slumped his large shoulders.

“I have acted thoughtlessly.”

He had rushed here after feeling the energy, but instead of praise, he was told not to worry; it was enough to drain his spirit. Yuon let out a small sigh. He did, in fact, have an errand for him.

“Thoughtlessly, you say. I happened to be in need of you, so it is good you arrived.”

Hogyeom, being simple-natured, forgot his hurt and his eyes lit up again at the words that he was needed.

“What is it? Please give your command immediately!”

His booming voice echoed in the cave. Yuon frowned slightly and checked on the sleeping Huiyeon. Fortunately, she didn’t seem likely to wake. He had used a few minor tricks, and they seemed to have worked well.

“You go and….”

Yuon gave Hogyeom several orders. The man’s glowing eyes turned dull again at the commands, but that was of no concern to Yuon. Since he had been awakened by an unexpected event….

He had to either go back to sleep or do the work he had set aside. Yuon chose the latter.

“They say the one who tied the knot must untie it…. Perhaps awakening like this is fate.”

Watching Hogyeom leave the cave, Yuon’s eyes turned back to Huiyeon. His eyes, filled with complex emotions, shone with a mysterious light.

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