Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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11.

Cheonhaerang was about to call out to Jiho again when sudden realization struck him.
Jiho had only seen that man yesterday. He’d thought he wasn’t too late, but he had no idea what that creature might have done to her in the brief time between. Moreover, that man had turned this very school into a trap. The moment Jiho stepped through the entrance, she’d fallen into it.
It was only natural that Jiho would be frightened.
And yet, standing here with her, I had been consumed only with the joy of being together with her, giving no thought to what today would bring. I had been foolish and careless.
Cheonhaerang berated himself, sinking into self-recrimination. But he quickly cast aside his despair and turned his attention to Jiho.
She still hadn’t taken a single step forward. I shouldn’t be standing here like this—I needed to guide her.
Cheonhaerang reached out his hand. A soft, delicate hand grasped his. Unlike yesterday, Jiho’s hand was cold.
The warmth enveloping her hand pulled her back from those long and brief memories that had consumed her.
She had thought it was fine, that it was nothing—but the moment she faced this entrance, yesterday’s memories came flooding in like a tidal wave, binding her tight.
And she found herself helplessly ensnared.
That sinister energy, so overwhelmingly dark it made her skin crawl.
That man whom not only she but her father and even Yeonhwa knew of.
That man who had never feared the Supreme Deity’s successor.
What he had planted in Jiho was a small spark of doubt.
Hesitation.
Jiho turned her head. Warm eyes gazed down at her.
Could these eyes, this warmth in his hand, truly belong to Cheonhaerang? Or was that man merely imitating him?
Was this entrance truly not that man’s trap?
Her mind tangled in confusion in an instant. As if sensing her turmoil, the gentle young man squeezed her hand and spoke.
My mind became tangled in confusion in an instant. As if noticing my state, the kind boy squeezed my hand tightly and spoke.

“….”
“It’s alright, Jiho.”
“It’s okay, Jiho.”

Jiho looked back at herself. This was nothing short of a dereliction of my duties as a divine being.
Though circumstances had twisted and turned to bring me here, the princess had to remain safe until I returned to the Heavenly Realm.
It was not the princess’s role to protect me—it was my duty as her servant to protect her. As a member of the White Tiger Clan of the Four Guardian Deities who safeguard the Heavenly Realm.
Jiho remained completely oblivious to the gazes fixed upon her and Cheonhaerang. In her eyes, only he existed.
She parted her lips, then spoke softly.
She moved her lips silently and spoke in a hushed voice.

“…Thank you.”

Warmth gradually spread through her once-cold hands. Seeing Jiho finally calm down, Cheonhaerang smiled with relief.

“We’ll be late at this rate. Let’s head in, shall we?”
“Okay.”

Jiho nodded obediently and followed the hand guiding her forward. The cheerful chatter of students filling the hallway faded entirely from her awareness.
The classroom arrived in no time. As I opened the back door with a creak, the class’s eyes briefly focused on Jiho and Cheonhaerang before quickly looking away.
In truth, the students hadn’t yet grown accustomed to the pair’s presence, but they would need to. None of them wanted to meet Cheonhaerang’s cold gaze.
Only after reaching her seat did Cheonhaerang release Jiho’s hand. Letting go was terribly reluctant, but this wasn’t the time to be greedy.
It seemed we had spent quite some time at the school entrance, for not long after, the bell signaling morning self-study rang out. The murmuring classroom fell silent as a mouse.
Scratch, scratch. Listening to the pencils moving quietly across paper, Cheonhaerang rested his chin on his hand and gazed at Jiho. She was focused on solving English problems as if she hadn’t been frightened at all just moments ago.
The problem set she’d prepared yesterday was proof of it. Yerim had made remarkably thorough preparations for Jiho’s school life. Jiho, who naturally enjoyed studying, was working diligently.
Without exaggeration, this time he might actually lose first place.

‘Though it doesn’t really matter.’

I hadn’t particularly aimed for first place. I hadn’t even studied that hard, yet somehow I’d ended up there. Being class president was just a bonus.
From the start, I had no intention of staying long in the Human Realm. The reason I chose this school wasn’t simply because my sister was here.
He’s targeting this school. More precisely, he wants what lies sleeping beneath it. I chose this place because I knew that.
And my suspicions were correct. He appeared.
But the timing was as if deliberately orchestrated.
He’d been lying low all this time. Yet he appeared at the school as if knowing Jiho would come.
As if Ryujiho knew that Jiho was Cheonhaerang’s weakness.
And moreover.

‘He set a trap.’

This school was part of the barrier protecting this place.
The barrier of this land that my sister had guarded for fifteen hundred long years.
That steadfast barrier had been broken.

‘How on earth?’

Could such a barrier really be broken by him alone?
If I went to the Principal’s Office after school today, I might get answers about this.
But to catch him, I needed to stay at this school longer, and to do that, I had to deceive Yerim.
Cheonhaerang’s eyes left Jiho and glanced at the phone on his desk, finally responding to his sister’s message from several minutes ago that he’d ignored.

Can’t make it today. Yerim planted a tracker on me.

* * *

After stewing in frustration for a while, Yeonhwa finally checked her younger brother’s message and furrowed her brow. Each word was too significant to overlook.
So the reason he couldn’t come was because of a listening device. And Yerim had planted it.
Yeonhwa tapped her fingers against the desk, turning over the information about Yerim in her mind.
Yerim. A celestial maiden my father sent to the Human Realm as Jiho’s guardian.
She had worked at Baekokgyeong but resigned not long ago. At one point, she had also worked at Cheongyeokgyeong.
And she has a connection with the eldest of the Baekho Clan.
This much common ground would be sufficient for her selection as Jiho’s guardian.
But somehow, I had a feeling that my father’s reasons for choosing Yerim went beyond just this.
Moreover, seeing that she’d even planted a listening device on Cheonhaerang, she was no ordinary celestial maiden.

‘But have the two of them ever met? Why would she suspect Cheonhaerang?’

Jiho had only arrived yesterday. Could Cheonhaerang and Yerim have already crossed paths yesterday?
If Yerim came to the school to pick up Jiho, she would have likely encountered Cheonhaerang, who sticks to Jiho’s side constantly.
But would she be able to connect Cheonhaerang to the princess, knowing Yeonhwa as the princess? She hadn’t even seen him in person—just a face in a photograph.

‘…No, she could recognize him.’

Yerim had worked at Cheongyeokgyeong. The timing was oddly coincidental—that very period. She would know Princess Yeonhwa’s face from childhood.
That’s why she harbored suspicion and planted the listening device.

“Sigh.”

Yeonhwa exhaled a long breath. Somehow, she felt trapped behind mountains upon mountains of obstacles.
Still, I had to do what needed to be done. I sent a message to Cheonhaerang.

Gihyeongrang showed up last night.
Things are about to get serious now.

* * *

I was intently watching the blackboard when my gaze suddenly shifted to my surroundings.
Unlike yesterday, the peaceful moments passed swiftly, and before I knew it, we were already in the fifth period class.
The fifth period was mathematics, taught by our homeroom teacher, but the students’ concentration was beyond even his patience.
At Jeonghyeon’s suggestion to get some fresh air, a spring breeze drifted through the open windows, and the students had all eaten a satisfying lunch.
Drowsy from the post-meal lethargy, the students found it difficult to endure mathematics—a subject demanding considerable focus—and the results were disastrous.
Only a handful of students in the class were keeping their eyes open and actually listening to the lesson. Jeonghyeon, as if accustomed to this, continued teaching without concern.
Scanning the classroom, I tilted my head in confusion. I couldn’t understand why these students were dozing off. We were studying something so fascinating—mathematics itself.
Imagining how the class would react if they knew my thoughts, I tried to refocus on the lesson. In that moment, my eyes met Jeonghyeon’s.
With so few students actually awake, it was only natural that I would make eye contact with him.
Yet strangely, this was the first time our eyes had met during this class period.
When our gazes connected, Jeonghyeon smiled gently.
It was an ordinary smile—the kind, considerate expression he showed to all his students.
But to me, it felt different. Just as it had the first time we met. A sensation like my hair standing on end.
This was no simple misunderstanding. The homeroom teacher was different from other humans.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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