Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 16

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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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16.

It was only natural that Yerim’s car, rarely seen on ordinary streets, would draw the attention of students today as well.
But perhaps receiving the fleeting gaze of strangers was better than enduring the unwavering focus of a single person.
Throughout the drive, I was acutely aware that Cheonhaerang’s eyes never left me. So I couldn’t even turn my head.
Keeping my gaze fixed out the car window the entire time, my neck had begun to ache.
I felt a twinge of regret about what I’d said yesterday.
It wasn’t enough that he clung to me all day at school—now we were sharing the ride home together.
Of course, Yerim was there, but it was still an enclosed space, unlike a bus.
But now that I knew we lived in the same apartment complex, I couldn’t just abandon Cheonhaerang and ride off with Yerim alone.
As I was composing myself before getting out of the car, Yerim said goodbye to me.

“Call me when you’re done. Pay attention in class.”

It was the typical farewell of an older sister seeing off her younger sibling. I felt an unexpected warmth in my chest as I replied.

“Got it, unnie.”
“You too, Cheonhaerang. Pay attention in class.”

Yerim looked after Cheonhaerang with the same care she showed me. In doing so, she felt a quiet sense of pride. This was her being mature.

“Yes. Thank you, unnie. Drive safely.”
“Sure. See you later.”

Yerim waved coolly and sent us off, then pressed the accelerator.
The expensive car glided smoothly down the road without a tremor.
I watched the purple car disappear without hesitation, then turned around. The gazes of students heading to school briefly converged on me, then drifted away. For that, I was grateful.

“Oh, right. Jiho, would you go to the classroom first? I need to stop by the Principal’s Office.”
“The Principal’s Office? Why the Principal’s Office?”

As I asked, I belatedly realized something. At the time, I’d been too flustered to notice.
The board director of this school was Yerim. Her name was Cheonuyhua. If this wasn’t an alias, she was definitely the First Princess, Yeonhwa.

‘I didn’t even greet her properly…’

Just two days ago, I had recalled my appearance before the Board of Directors and rushed to answer Cheonhaerang, filled with regret.

“Oh, no. Go ahead. I’ll wait here first.”
“Okay. Sorry we can’t go together, Jiho.”

I assured him it was fine and watched his retreating figure grow distant.
As Cheonhaerang’s form receded further and further, I felt an unexpected pang of regret.

* * *

“Are you here now?”

Cheonhaerang regarded Yeonhwa with a pouty expression as she contentedly sipped her tea, oblivious to his reluctance at having to leave me. The moment he’d entered the school gate, he’d felt the overwhelming presence of his older sister directed at him with intensity. He couldn’t possibly refuse her.
He quickly composed his expression and settled onto the sofa. A teacup, already full, awaited him.
Cheonhaerang wasn’t in the mood for tea. The interference from adults had reduced the time he could spend alone with me.
But he couldn’t show his displeasure to his older sister.
Something more pressing had emerged than the diminished time with me.
Moreover, his younger sister had told him something.
As the youngest with a significant age gap, he hadn’t seen much of his older sister, but his younger sister, who saw her more often, had assessed her character as anything but ordinary.
She’d warned that touching his older sister would be very troublesome.
And this older sister was helping him, no less. How could he dare voice complaints against her wishes?
Of course, he occasionally rebelled against her, but his older sister showed enough magnanimity to overlook such things for her youngest brother. He was grateful for that.
Of course, there were times when I occasionally rebelled against my older sister, but she was generous enough to overlook such things for the sake of her youngest sibling. I was grateful for that.

“Did you sleep well, noona?”

At his greeting, Yeonhwa, who had been sipping her tea, regarded him with an unfamiliar gaze. She undoubtedly knew he was frustrated about her interference with my commute to school with Ryujiho.
Though slightly irritated, she decided to overlook her youngest brother’s grievance with adult magnanimity.
Although she was slightly annoyed, she decided to overlook her youngest sibling’s behavior with the generosity of an adult.

“Yeah, so it seems like the suspicion about Yerim being a celestial maiden has been cleared up, right?”

I can’t say for certain, but judging from how she looked this morning, it seemed that way. Haerang nodded.

“Still, be careful going forward. Yerim might remember your face from when you were young.”
“What? How?”
“She worked at Cheongyeokgyeong before. When you were there.”
“Because I used to work at Cheongok-gyeong before. When you were at Cheongok-gyeong.”

A chill silence fell over us, as if ice water had been poured down our spines.
Cheonhaerang, who didn’t know the details about Yerim’s information, looked at Yeonhwa with a bewildered expression. His sister appeared remarkably composed.
Words of reproach rose to Cheonhaerang’s throat—why was she only telling him this now—but his lips merely trembled before he opened his mouth to speak. Of course, the words that emerged were not those that had caught in his throat.

“…I understand. I’ll be careful. But sister, Gihyeongrang appeared? How is that even possible?”

At her brother’s trailing question, Yeonhwa set her teacup down on the table with a sharp clink.
Then she regarded her brother with eyes that had grown infinitely grave.
The barrier was broken. Yet there were no traces of Gihyeongrang touching the barrier.
She pondered this fact deeply. And finally, she reached a conclusion.

“The barrier wasn’t broken.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means he infiltrated inside the barrier without breaking it.”

Cheonhaerang’s words caught in his throat. His breath seemed to stop abruptly.
Infiltrating inside the barrier without breaking it.
This premise led to only one conclusion in his mind.
Someone he had suspected.
The Jade Emperor.
Their father.

“…Are you saying Father was involved? Why on earth?”
“I’m not certain. But what is clear is that he had enough power to shatter the peace of the Heavenly Realm. He may be even stronger now.”

‘Besides, even rotten fish is still fish. That creature….’

Yeonhwa cut off her trailing thoughts abruptly. It was something she could never tell Cheonhaerang.

“And….”

As Yeonhwa continued speaking, the landscape around us transformed in an instant. Beneath a blackened sky, the world lay desolate.
A voice as dark as the black sky brushed against Cheonhaerang’s ears.

“If he obtains what sleeps beneath this land, he may finally become a complete being.”

What Yeonhwa was showing him was an illusion.
Or perhaps it was the appearance of a distant, ancient past.

“To surpass my father.”

Was it even possible to surpass the Jade Emperor? Wasn’t that essentially becoming the world itself?
To him, it sounded far too unrealistic—nothing but absurd nonsense.

“Of course, I can’t simply allow that to happen.”

As if nothing had happened, her heavy voice lightened. Yeonhwa picked up the teacup she had set down. Only the soft sound of her sipping tea broke the silence.
Cheonhaerang fell into quiet contemplation.

Time flowed in silence, with no one speaking.
Finally, after finishing his thoughts, Cheonhaerang opened his mouth. The image of someone flashed through his mind.
It was a hypothetical—a what-if. What if he could appear at this school without breaking the barrier?
Then…

“Sister, what if… just what if, he could already be infiltrated somewhere within this school?”
“What…?”

Yeonhwa paused and looked at Cheonhaerang as if asking him to explain properly. Cheonhaerang continued.

“He’s been hiding from us all this time. But the moment Jiho arrived, he revealed himself as if he’d been waiting. As if he knew Jiho was coming to this school. Down to the exact day.”
“…”
“That means one of two things. Either he still has an insider in the Heavenly Realm.”

Their eyes met. Yeonhwa’s hand holding the teacup trembled faintly.

“Or someone close to us is gathering information.”

As Cheonhaerang spoke those words, Jiho’s image surfaced in his mind.
Because he was always watching, he could sense it. Jiho, who seemed distinctly uncomfortable around her homeroom teacher.
It didn’t seem to be merely because she was unfamiliar.
And yesterday, the appearance of her homeroom teacher in the Faculty Office.

“By the way, I think our Jiho would be perfect for the Shooting Club, don’t you think?”

As he said those words, Cheonhaerang also saw her eyes gleaming strangely for a brief moment.

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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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