Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 29

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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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29.

In an instant, Cheonhaerang’s expression hardened.
When I thought about it, Jiho’s question was entirely reasonable.
She had been swept along without knowing anything until now.
It was Jiho who had said she would follow me completely.
For her sake, I had to tell her about Gihyeongrang.
The fundamental reason for my running away… I would have to keep that hidden.
Cheonhaerang’s lips trembled as he hesitated.
Before his answer could come, Jiho asked first.

“Kim Jeonghyeon. That’s ‘that man,’ isn’t it?”

He was no longer my teacher.
Startled by Jiho’s question, Cheonhaerang was taken aback.

“You knew?”
“I had a bad feeling about him from the start. So it was him after all.”
“Did that bastard do something to you?”

Sparks flickered in Cheonhaerang’s eyes as he asked.
It was the kind of look that suggested he could beat that man to a pulp at any moment.
Of course, I wouldn’t have minded if he did. But first, I needed to calm Cheonhaerang down.
There was so much I needed to tell him.

“No, it’s not like that. My instinct just… felt off about him. But anyway, what exactly is that man?”
“Hmm… I don’t think this is the place to talk about it. It’s going to be a long story.”

We were still walking through the corridor. It meant our surroundings were far too exposed.

“That’s true.”

Jiho nodded in agreement.

“I’ll tell you in my room later, Jiho.”
“Well… okay.”

She had enough time to wait since she would arrive at the room soon anyway.

Passing through the corridor and hallway, she finally arrived at a certain door.
Cheonhaerang opened the door without hesitation. The door swung open quietly.
I looked around the room. The interior was not unfamiliar to me.
It was Cheonhaerang’s room.
The room, which I visited for the first time in a long while, remained largely unchanged from before.
Yet somehow, I felt strangely out of place.
Led by Cheonhaerang’s hand, I awkwardly settled into a chair.
Cheonhaerang produced a teapot from nowhere and poured tea into the cup already placed before me with a gentle pour.
Unlike when I faced Seowangmo, this time I felt I could drink the tea comfortably.
I lifted the cup and savored the subtle fragrance of the tea before taking a sip.
My body, which had been rigid with tension, seemed to relax slightly.
Setting the cup down, I looked at Cheonhaerang sitting across from me.
The smile that had been on his face had vanished.
I asked him.

“So can you tell me now?”

As if steeling his resolve, Cheonhaerang nodded.

Soon after, Cheonhaerang began to speak.

* * *

Shortly after, I carefully organized what Cheonhaerang had told me.
First, Kim Jeonghyeon’s true identity was indeed that man.
That man had secretly infiltrated Seonhwa High School without anyone knowing.
And that man was Gihyeongrang, the leader of the Heavenly Realm who had started a war decades ago.
That was his name.
Defeated in the war, Gihyeongrang fled into the Human Realm, and Cheonhaerang came to the Human Realm to find him.
The runaway was labeled as such because the Supreme Deity opposed it.
I imagined the Supreme Deity must have opposed it fiercely.
She was the youngest princess whom the Supreme Deity cherished so dearly.
Moreover, the person this youngest princess was trying to find was Gihyeongrang.
How could there be no opposition?
But there was one thing that puzzled me.

“But why are you the one looking for Gihyeongrang?”

No one had ever commanded Cheonhaerang to find Gihyeongrang.
Then why was he trying to find Gihyeongrang himself?
Especially when the Supreme Deity was so adamantly opposed to it.
At Jiho’s question, Cheonhaerang’s pupils trembled for a moment.
It was an entirely reasonable question. He had anticipated such inquiries to some degree.
Jiho had said she would follow him anywhere, but to her, he remained nothing more than a friend.
So he could not speak of his feelings toward her.
That I wish to marry you, that I plan to capture Gihyeongrang and strike a bargain with the Patriarch.
The words rising in Cheonhaerang’s throat were the very essence of his heart for Jiho.
That I love you, Jiho. From then until now.
Still, you.
But because he could not, Cheonhaerang swallowed those words down, pressing them deep within.
Instead, he began with different words.
The beginning of a shift in the power structure that would come with his marriage to Jiho someday.
For this, he had to make the most crucial confession.
Cheonhaerang swallowed hard. Jiho might feel betrayed by his confession.
But if he did not speak now, this relationship could not move forward.
He gazed solely into Jiho’s eyes and slowly opened his mouth.

“…I intend to strike a bargain with the Patriarch.”
“A bargain?”
“Yes. In exchange for capturing Gihyeongrang, I will have myself stripped of my position as heir. And in doing so….”
“…?”
“My sister can ascend to the throne.”

It felt as though she had just heard something momentous.
Jiho was briefly confused.

‘Heir? Cheonhaerang is the heir? I understood that the Supreme Deity had not yet designated an heir. How could Cheonhaerang become the heir? Princess Yeonhwa and Princess Suho already exist. No matter how much the Supreme Deity favors him….’

Wait, could it be…?
Jiho’s pupils shook violently as she stared at Cheonhaerang.
She had thought he was disguising himself as male to avoid being easily discovered while in a state of running away.
But thinking about it, even after coming to the Kunlun Mountains, Cheonhaerang still maintained his male appearance.
His form of address toward Princess Yeonhwa remained as “sister.”

“You, you…!”

Jiho sprang to her feet. Her trembling finger pointed directly at Cheonhaerang.

“Isn’t that right?”

It was a sentence laden with multiple meanings. And Cheonhaerang had read every nuance contained within it.
Cheonhaerang said nothing. His silence was affirmation.

“A man? You’re saying he’s a man?”

Cheonhaerang quietly lowered his gaze. A final confirmation.
Jiho was utterly lost in chaos.
Cheonhaerang wasn’t a princess. He was a prince.
A prince.
So even back then, he had actually been a prince.
Not a princess, but a prince, and yet I held hands with him and let him embrace me like that!
In an instant, heat flooded Jiho’s face.
It was one thing when we were children, but now, now that we’re both grown—a man and a woman together…!
Men and women shouldn’t sit together after seven years of age!

“You, you just grabbed an unrelated woman’s hand so carelessly…!”

It was different from when I’d learned he was a woman on the inside despite his male exterior. Jiho had become conservative.
At Jiho’s outburst, Cheonhaerang looked at her with eyes that had grown misty.

“What’s wrong with that? We’re friends.”
“….”

Jiho was at a loss for words.
Could friends hold hands?
Thinking it through calmly again, yes, they could.
We are friends, after all. Childhood friends, no less.

‘Right, friends. We’re friends. Friends can hold hands. They can, but…’

The problem was my own heart.
Because I’d thought he was a woman, I’d at least been able to draw a line in my mind.
But Cheonhaerang was a man. A man with such a delicate face.
The large hand that had held mine—it wasn’t a transformation. It was Cheonhaerang’s real hand.
Thump. Thump. My heart began racing uncontrollably. I was even worried he might hear it.

‘This is insane…’

A curse slipped out unbidden. My heart was losing its restraint.

‘No. He’s still a prince. A prince.’

Since Cheonhaerang was of the Supreme Deity’s bloodline, I could never reach him.
I could never reach him, but.
Suddenly, an image flashed through my mind—Cheonhaerang standing beside a woman whose name I didn’t know.
It was the same as always. The world spun dizzily before my eyes.
Moreover, the Heavenly Realm was filled with countless beautiful celestial maidens.
As a man, Cheonhaerang might not refuse beauty.
After all, his reason for running away didn’t exclude an unwillingness to marry.

“Jiho.”

Cheonhaerang’s soft voice pierced through her ears.
Jiho startled, snapping out of her thoughts.

“Huh? What?”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to deceive you.”
“….”
“But there were reasons I couldn’t reveal. I still can’t tell you yet…. I’m sorry for that too.”

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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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