Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 31

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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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31.

I blinked blankly, my mind struggling to focus.
Even as my thoughts and heart churned in such turmoil, my body remained faithful to its desires. When I closed and opened my eyes again, evening had already descended, the sun sinking toward the horizon.
Crimson light filtered through the window, casting a dusky glow across the room.
Rising from the bed, I walked to the window and opened it.
The cherry blossoms of the Kunlun Mountains—the ones I had recalled while gazing at the school’s blossoms—filled my vision.
Spring wind swept through, scattering cherry blossoms like rain.
Once, amid those gently falling petals, I had seen a young girl.
It was in this very room.
Just like now.

“….”

The girl from my memory overlapped with the young man.
He stood beneath the cherry blossom tree, gazing up at it.
Beneath the crumbling sunset scattered with falling petals, the young man standing there was captivating enough to hold my gaze.
I took in every detail of him with both eyes.
Then, he was Yerim. Now, he is Cheonhaerang.
I hadn’t understood it back then, when I was young.
But now I knew.
From that moment on, Ryujiho had loved Yerim—had loved Cheonhaerang.
And so the ending of this story was already written.
This heart I cannot hide will eventually reach him.
Even if our relationship were to shatter in the process.

* * *

I reached out my hand. A single cherry blossom petal lingered in my palm before scattering away.
Just as before, the cherry blossoms of the Kunlun Mountains bloomed in breathtaking beauty—so magnificent that my eyes could not turn away.
How wonderful it would have been to see these blossoms with Jiho.
When we were young, we would play beneath this cherry blossom tree and fall asleep together.
I could not hide my melancholy.
With an endlessly dark expression, I sat down beneath the tree.
I had thought that coming here, as I did in childhood, might lift my spirits a little.
Instead of improving, my mood only sank deeper into despair.
I leaned my head against the trunk with a soft thud and closed my eyes quietly.
Falling cherry blossoms tickled my face, and the crimson glow of sunset seeping through the gaps caressed my skin.
If one could call it peaceful, then it was peaceful.
Yet my heart could never know true peace.

“Cheonhaerang.”

A familiar voice. My eyes snapped open.
The girl who filled my entire vision was still unbelievable to behold.

“…Jiho.”

Memories overlapped. That young girl who would greet me as I sat here like this.
The girl who had once been nothing but a nuisance now held my entire life in her grasp.

“What are you doing here?”

As if my wrongs had been erased, as if nothing had ever happened, Jiho spoke to me.
Yes. Just like that, she remained unchanged.
Only I had changed.
Words circled in my mouth. I wanted to tell the girl cradling the sunset.
That I love you.
That your heart does not turn toward me.
That I feared you would drift further away from me.
That I could say nothing at all.
But I knew well that such words were utterly unsuitable now.
This was a silent forgiveness.
I smiled brightly, as I always did.

“I was admiring the cherry blossoms. Want to watch them together?”

What do you mean, watching? I had my eyes closed. I swallowed the words that had risen all the way to my throat.
Cheonhaerang was like that even when we were young. He’d sometimes be here, under the cherry blossom tree.
Even when the blossoms weren’t in bloom.
Rather than admiring the cherry blossoms, he seemed to be organizing something else entirely. I still didn’t know what that was.

“…Yes, let’s do that.”

I sat down beside Cheonhaerang. For a moment, his body flinched, but I didn’t notice.
It was a quiet time, watching only the falling petals. I was the one who broke that silence first.
I opened my mouth calmly.

“Cheonhaerang.”
“…Yeah.”
“I haven’t forgiven you for deceiving me yet.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry….”
“But still, we’re friends. Like you said.”
“….”
“Right?”

I turned my head to look at Cheonhaerang.
He glanced down at his own hands. My hand was so close to his, almost touching but not quite.
If I moved just a little, our fingertips would surely brush.
Perhaps this was the distance that defined them after all.
He lifted his gaze. Looking into the pure eyes of the girl before him, he smiled.

“…Yeah. Thank you, Jiho.”

The feelings that could never touch scattered like cherry blossoms.

* * *

Before long, the sunset faded beneath night’s curtain, and the vast sky filled with glittering stars and a luminous, round moon.
After parting with Cheonhaerang, I returned to my room and discovered food already laid out waiting for me.
Should I call this a welcome banquet? The table was completely laden with dishes.
I’d barely eaten lunch, too consumed with worry about Cheonhaerang, so the aroma of food made my stomach suddenly growl with hunger.
Still, I didn’t think I could finish all of this.
I considered calling Cheonhaerang to eat together, but something told me his room would be similarly prepared, so I abandoned the idea.
It was a shame to waste the food, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Settling into my seat, I began tasting the dishes one by one.
The eggplant, fried until crispy, carried the savory depth of sauce, while the rice, stir-fried until each grain glistened, was fragrant and nutty.
The golden beef patties melted on my tongue with tender softness, and the soup with its fluffy scrambled eggs warmed me from within.
Not a single dish lacked flavor. The cook of Cheongyeokgyeong possessed truly exceptional culinary skill.

As I ate mindlessly for some time, something suddenly occurred to me.

“That’s right. Yerim!”

Yerim—whom I’d completely forgotten about.
I hadn’t told her anything. Of course I hadn’t. I’d been in no state of mind to do so.

“What am I even supposed to say when I contact her?”

Chewing thoughtfully on a dumpling with a crispy exterior and soft interior, I pulled out my phone.
It was a new phone I’d received for use in the Human Realm, though it could be used outside the Human Realm as well.
But no matter how thoroughly I searched, there were no missed calls from Yerim, no messages, no chat notifications.
Truly, there was nothing.

“What’s going on?”

It was strange.
Surely considerable time had passed in the Human Realm. In fact, time must have flowed faster there than here.
If she’d come to the School to pick me up, she would have noticed my absence.
My expression grew serious as I set down my chopsticks, which had been moving busily just moments before.
No contact from Yerim. My phone wasn’t broken.
Then there was only one answer.
Something had happened to Yerim.

* * *

Yerim stared at the firmly closed door and swallowed hard. Despite having experienced this several times before, the nervousness was unavoidable.
A private audience with the Patriarch.
A private audience with the Supreme Celestial Sovereign—there was no way she could grow accustomed to it.
The eunuch standing before the door glanced at Yerim, then announced toward the interior.

“Your Majesty, the Immortal Yerim has arrived.”
“Let her enter.”

A weighty voice resonated through Yerim’s ears. She quietly closed and opened her eyes, then stepped through the open door.
With a soft click, the door closed behind her.
Yerim felt cornered with nowhere to escape, and she bowed toward the Patriarch standing in the distance.
The Patriarch did not look at her. His back remained turned.

“I, the Immortal Yerim, pay my respects to Your Majesty.”

No response came. Only silence filled the space between them.
Within that silence, Yerim steeled her resolve once more.
Regardless of the circumstances, she had failed to complete the task the Patriarch had given her.
Though the task had been assigned against her will, she bore the responsibility nonetheless.
Even if it was unjust, should punishment be handed down, she would accept it without complaint.
But it differed from her expectations.
After a brief silence, the Patriarch finally spoke.

“I know your return is because of Yeonhwa.”
“I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty.”

Yerim could not bring herself to deny it, even with empty words.

“Immortal Yerim.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do you know why I sent you down?”

The Patriarch, who had kept his back turned all this while, turned to face her. Though Yerim stood with her head bowed, she felt the Patriarch’s gaze directed toward her.

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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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