Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 28

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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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28.

* * *

With no choice but to send Jiho to her mother, Cheonhaerang found himself alone—face to face with Yeonhwa.
He regarded his older sister with a jaw clenched tight.
Her atmosphere was far from ordinary. It felt as though something might fly through the air and strike him at any moment.
If he borrowed the words of his younger sister, he’d probably touched a nerve with his older sister—a very delicate situation indeed.
But this was neither Baekokgyeong nor Cheongyeokgyeong.
She couldn’t act on her whims freely while avoiding their mother’s gaze.
Besides, he’d have to face her eventually anyway.

“Sister.”

Cheonhaerang called out to Yeonhwa softly.
Yeonhwa, who had been staring at him with an unwavering gaze, finally exhaled a long sigh and turned away.

“Follow me.”

Cheonhaerang quietly followed as Yeonhwa led the way.
They passed through a corridor lined with azure pillars standing in neat rows, arriving before a chamber door.
Yeonhwa opened the door naturally, as though it were her own.
Cheonhaerang trailed after her into the room.
He glanced subtly around the space.
It was a room that emanated warmth and coziness.
The owner of this room was probably….

“Sit there.”
“…All right.”

Cheonhaerang obediently took a seat at her command, sitting across from Yeonhwa.
He averted his gaze from her piercing stare, lowering his eyes.
Now that things had come to this, he’d made his peace with it.
He believed his sister wouldn’t do anything to harm him.
And yet.
Now he could fully understand what his younger sister had meant.
This silence—this was far more terrifying.

Yeonhwa let out a silent laugh at Cheonhaerang’s demeanor, as if he were carefully gauging her reaction.
What difference would it make now to read her mood after causing such a massive disaster?
Her insides were already seething with fury.
Yet she couldn’t very well strike this naive young man down.
And because of her mother, there was nothing she could do.
Yeonhwa recalled her mother’s words.

“I want to watch the world that child will overturn, Yeonhwa.”

“It seems like it will be quite entertaining.”

Ever since then, her mother had lived as though perpetually bored, resigned to her fate.
Because it was her mother’s request, Yeonhwa had no choice but to grant it.
Moreover, those words about the world Cheonhaerang would overturn.

“Help me, sister.”

“I don’t want to follow Father’s will.”

The child’s plea flashed through her mind.
That he didn’t want to be swayed by Father’s intentions. That he didn’t want to marry, in other words.
So capturing Gihyeongrang was meant to negotiate with Father.
But did her mother see some other purpose in Cheonhaerang?
Like Father had. Was it not a conclusion born of mere hollow love?
…No, setting all of that aside.
Yeonhwa reflected on her own actions.
No matter how much she didn’t want to lose the child.
Wasn’t she doing the same thing as Father, using the child’s wellbeing as a pretext?
In the end, she had only imposed her own thoughts.
While believing that was the path for the child’s sake.

“So I’ll leave it as is.”

Mother likely had words she swallowed after that.
Words about not wanting me to live as you do.
Not wanting me to live a life helplessly swayed by Father’s will.
It felt like my heart, weighted down by a heavy plumb bob, was plummeting into an abyss.
I had despised resembling Father so much, yet here I was, becoming just like him.
Self-loathing washed over me.
I didn’t want him to live the same life as I had.
So the ending of this story was already predetermined.

As Yeonhwa exhaled a long sigh, Cheonhaerang flinched for a moment.
And Yeonhwa caught that reaction entirely.
Yeonhwa sighed once more and called out to Cheonhaerang.

“Cheonhaerang.”
“Huh? What?”

Caught off guard, Cheonhaerang found himself stammering without thinking, lifting his gaze to meet Yeonhwa’s eyes.
His head wanted to feign indifference, but his mouth betrayed him.

“Did you do something wrong, or didn’t you.”

Her tone was like coaxing a misbehaving child.
Of course, compared to Yeonhwa, Cheonhaerang was still quite young.
Cheonhaerang bit his lip hard.
His heart screamed that it was unfair, but his mind told him to apologize for his mistake.
After the internal struggle, Cheonhaerang finally spoke.

“…I did something wrong.”

Despite his words, Cheonhaerang’s face was full of resentment, but Yeonhwa decided to overlook it with a generous heart rather than point it out.

“Will you keep disobeying your sister like this in the future?”
“…”

His answer came in silence. Cheonhaerang was far too honest to say otherwise.
Seeing that Cheonhaerang couldn’t even lie, Yeonhwa shook her head as if to say there was nothing she could do.

“Fine, what am I going to do with you.”

After all, Cheonhaerang was still nothing more than a newborn in her memories.
Besides, the Kunlun Mountains might actually be safer.
It was a place Gihyeongrang’s hands could not easily reach.
And there was him as well.

“So then. What were you thinking, coming all this way without even listening to your sister?”

The sister’s atmosphere, which had been frighteningly rigid, began to soften.
Moreover, she was willing to hear his opinion.
For Cheonhaerang, it was a joyful thing.
Yet, deliberately concealing his excitement, Cheonhaerang spoke with a face full of resolve.

“I’m going to become stronger.”

Golden eyes shone with sudden clarity. Yeonhwa listened silently to her younger brother’s determination.

“Strong enough to defeat Gihyeongrang.”

Though it was a resolve bordering on the impossible.

* * *

The moment we stepped outside, a bright voice pierced Jiho’s ears.

“Jiho!”

It was Cheonhaerang.
Standing beside Cheonhaerang was Princess Yeonhwa.
Jiho hurried to greet Yeonhwa, but her words cut her off.

“That’s enough. You don’t need to greet me each time.”
“Oh….”
“Don’t treat me so formally either. Before being a princess, I’m also your friend’s sister.”

Jiho couldn’t find the right words to say in such moments.
And it wasn’t just Cheonhaerang—it was Princess Yeonhwa. How could I possibly be at ease with her?
By age alone, Princess Yeonhwa was older than my father.
They said that when my father was my age, Princess Yeonhwa had already held her wedding ceremony.

‘…Now that I think about it.’

It was a thought that had suddenly surfaced in my mind.
Yeonhwa’s consort.
The Heavenly Realm had been abuzz with talk of it back then, or so I’d heard. But there was no word of what happened after.
Some said they had divorced. Others claimed Yeonhwa had been widowed.
Of course, the truth of either was unknowable. It hadn’t been a matter of great concern in Baekokgyeong anyway.
In any case.
Yeonhwa was someone I could only treat with difficulty.

“…Thank you, Your Highness.”
“I’d prefer if you called me sister.”
“Pardon?”

Her voice carried a hint of playfulness.
I widened my eyes and looked at Yeonhwa.
At my innocent reaction, Yeonhwa let out a soft laugh.
Compared to the rigid General Gihyeongrang, she was far more endearing.
It seemed she would genuinely be pleased to hear me call her sister.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way. And no more causing trouble—stay quiet, Cheonhaerang. Understood?”
“Got it!”

Cheonhaerang answered with such clarity.
Yeonhwa shook her head with a wry smile as she departed.
Cheonhaerang grinned brightly and extended his hand to me. I looked at his hand, then glanced away.
The celestial maiden who had been guiding me was gone.

“Huh?”
“The maiden went with my sister. I’ll show you to your room, Jiho.”
“Oh…”

I answered with a bewildered expression and took Cheonhaerang’s hand. His smile deepened.

‘I didn’t see her follow…’

I walked along as Cheonhaerang led the way, lost in such thoughts.
The distant chirping of birds reached my ears, and a warm breeze swept across my cheeks before passing on.
The Kunlun Mountains were peaceful.
So much so that everything that had happened felt like a dream.
Yet the sensation of my entire body’s hair standing on end at merely the thought of it proved it was no dream.
It was a sinister, suffocating yin energy that seemed to devour everything.
Naturally, I had never encountered such yin energy in all my life.
Yet I had already witnessed it twice since coming to the Human Realm.
The cause was likely.

“See you again, Jiho.”

That man.
The one entangled with Cheonhaerang.
Teacher Kim Jeonghyeon.
Now I had decided to follow Cheonhaerang.
So it was only right that I hear all the answers from him.

“Cheonhaerang.”
“Hmm?”

I asked Cheonhaerang, who turned to face me with that still-bright expression.

“Who exactly is that man?”

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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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