Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 17

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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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17.

* * *

His tastes truly hadn’t changed. The man chuckled softly as he watched the vivid purple car receding into the distance from the school.
Even after decades had passed, she remained etched in his memory.
Standing on the railing, he continued watching until the car disappeared from view, then turned his body.
With a light tap, he descended to the ground and looked down at the woman bowing before him.
She was beautiful enough to rival a celestial maiden. His surroundings were filled with such beautiful women.
Yet only one woman had ever captured his interest.
His face grew languid, as though he’d lost interest in the world itself. But his eyes as he gazed down at the woman were sharp and piercing.
The man opened his mouth slowly.

“Gyeong.”
“Yes, Master.”
“It seems you may move now.”

At his words, the woman’s head snapped up. Seeing the expressionless man gazing down at her, she grinned so widely her face nearly split in two.
Her eyes gleamed with an unfathomable, mysterious light.
How long had she endured this thirst? The woman giggled with delight at mere imagination, then quickly bowed her head respectfully.

“I am eternally grateful.”

Then the woman vanished without a trace.
The man leaned against the railing. As he lifted his gaze, a brilliant azure sky stretched across his vision.
There was once a time when he yearned for that sky, desperate to reach it.
Not anymore.
Why should I struggle to reach the sky?
If I become the sky itself, that is enough.
If I can possess everything beneath this earth completely, then I will be sufficient.
The man laughed.
Once he was despised as the child of a demon-god. But now he would become a true god.
Gihyeongrang.
A name no one would dare disrespect.
A name that no one could stand above.
Not even his father.

* * *

Yeonhwa tapped her armrest with her index finger, lost in thought, recalling what Cheonhaerang had said.

“Noona, what if? Just hypothetically—could that creature already be infiltrated inside this school?”

“Or still have collaborators in the Heavenly Realm.”

“Gathering information from close to us.”

It wasn’t merely a possibility—it was something she could safely consider confirmed.
Would a creature capable of entering without breaking the barrier simply remain outside it?
It might already be deeply embedded within this school.
Perhaps while she remained obliviously unaware, it was already dismantling the barrier from within.

“I find our homeroom teacher a bit suspicious.”

That’s what Cheonhaerang had said. His class was 2nd Year Class 4, and the homeroom teacher was Kim Jeonghyeon, who taught mathematics.
She was a young teacher hired new last year with no particularly notable background.
I’d heard that Kim Jeonghyeon was extremely popular with the female students.
In a school where most students disliked mathematics, it was no small feat for a math teacher to be popular.
I could guess why she was so popular. I’d thought the same thing when I first saw her resume photo.
She had a face rarely seen in the Human Realm. In reality, she was quite tall and appeared to be in excellent physical condition, likely from exercise.
That also meant she possessed an appearance that easily garnered human favor.

‘But something is very different.’

It wasn’t simply that her appearance differed from what I knew.
Each being emanates its own unique aura. Unless it were my father or mother, even if someone deliberately concealed their aura, I could detect it.
From Kim Jeonghyeon, I sensed neither the creature’s aura that I knew nor any malevolent energy whatsoever.

‘…No, wait. That’s the problem. Now that I think about it, I felt nothing at all.’

Like an empty shell.
Yeonhwa’s fingers, which had been tapping the armrest, stopped.
Kim Jeonghyeon.
It seemed I would need to have her sit before me at least once.

* * *

The hallway buzzed with chatter as the morning assembly ended and break time began.
Cheonhaerang weaved through the clusters of students, lost in thought.
If Kim Jeonghyeon really was that bastard—if he truly was Gihyeongrang—
Had Gihyeongrang been mocking me and my sister in this way all along?
But how in the world had he managed to slip past the barrier?
Had Father truly helped him?
He was the one who violated the taboo and shattered the peace of the Heavenly Realm.
My sister said she wasn’t certain of Father’s involvement, that the bastard might have possessed enough power to breach the Heavenly Realm on his own, and could be even stronger now—but it felt like there was more to it than that.
Perhaps my sister was hiding something from me.

“It would be the greatest honor if I could become your brother-in-law, Your Highness.”

“Your Highness, shall I tell you something? Trust is not given so easily.”

His feet stopped.
Ancient memories clawed through his mind, and Cheonhaerang clenched both fists tightly. A sharp, stinging pain shot through as his nails dug into his palms, but that wasn’t what mattered.

“Cheonhaerang.”

A familiar voice pierced his ears, and the scent of a familiar person tickled his nose.
Cheonhaerang’s eyes met those of the man smiling kindly before him.

“Did you have a good meeting with the Board Director?”

Kim Jeonghyeon. I could no longer see him as merely a homeroom teacher.
Gihyeongrang. You told me yourself. So I’ll act accordingly.
Of course, I hadn’t trusted Kim Jeonghyeon before. Whether I trusted him or not had been outside my concern.
But now that he’d entered my sphere of concern, Kim Jeonghyeon was someone I could not trust.
Cheonhaerang greeted him with an innocent smile, as always.

“Yes, sir. Hello.”
“What did the Board Director want with you?”

It wasn’t common for a student to be summoned to the Principal’s Office.
Cheonhaerang decided to use this fact to dangle some bait in front of Kim Jeonghyeon.
I’d probably be scolded by my sister later, but now that suspicion had taken root, I couldn’t simply sit idle.
He glanced around before gesturing to Jeonghyeon. Jeonghyeon looked bewildered and took a step closer, leaning toward him.
Cheonhaerang looked around once more, then whispered as if sharing a closely guarded secret.

“Actually… the Board Director is my older sister. My eldest sister.”

Then he pressed his index finger to his lips and continued speaking.

“Only the teacher knows about this, so you absolutely have to keep it a secret. You understand, right?”

I don’t know who you are. I trust you.
That was the bait Cheonhaerang had cast.
Cheonhaerang observed Jeonghyeon. Her eyes were wide open as if in surprise. Cheonhaerang didn’t believe that expression.
Jeonghyeon glanced around cautiously before pressing her index finger to her lips just as Cheonhaerang had done.

“Right, shh. I’ll definitely keep it a secret, teacher.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
“Don’t mention it. Now pay close attention in class today too.”
“Yes.”

It was a conversation between a diligent student and a kind teacher.

Soon, watching Jeonghyeon’s retreating figure grow distant, Cheonhaerang entered the classroom.
For a moment, the students’ gazes turned toward Cheonhaerang, but they quickly looked away. It was merely a glance to confirm who had opened the door.
The students focused intently on enjoying their break time.
Cheonhaerang didn’t see the other students. Only one girl captured his attention.
He walked toward his seat with a gentle smile. His previously sunken mood seemed ready to lift in an instant.
His gait was as light as a butterfly fluttering through the air.
Jiho, who had been concentrating on previewing her textbook, lifted her head as a familiar scent tickled her nose.
Cheonhaerang, smiling brightly as always, filled her entire field of vision.
Thump. Thump. Ignoring her heart pounding heavily, Jiho whispered to Cheonhaerang sitting beside her.

“Hey, um… the Board Director is Princess Yeonhwa, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”

Unaware of her turmoil, Cheonhaerang answered cheerfully.
Jiho, caught off guard, struggled to compose her crumbling expression as she asked carefully.

“So nobody at school knows that you and Princess Yeonhwa are siblings…?”
“Yeah, nobody knows. Why?”
“Oh, thank goodness. I was wondering whether to say you went to the Principal’s Office when people asked where you went, so I just made up that you went to the Infirmary instead.”

If I say I went to the Principal’s Office, you might ask why I was called there. I added that thought.
Cheonhaerang understood immediately upon hearing my words.
The bait hadn’t been cast by him alone.
Gihyeongrang had cast it too. Deliberately. As if mocking both him and his sister.
And a clear truth surfaced in his mind.
Kim Jeonghyeon is Gihyeongrang.
Gihyeongrang’s eyes and ears exist within this school.

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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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