Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 56

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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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56.

* * *

Yerim sat deeply nestled into the sofa, and soon checked the time on her phone. Midnight had already passed.
The Jade Emperor was still absent.
I couldn’t fathom what he was doing out there to come home so late.

‘Maybe I should just tell him tomorrow….’

It wasn’t as though I absolutely had to tell the Jade Emperor today.
But now that I’ve come this far, it felt wasteful to give up. I hadn’t slept all this time, and it felt like a shame.

‘No. Still, let me just sleep. I have to wake up early tomorrow anyway.’

Just as I was trying to soothe my regretful heart and rise from my seat—

“Huh? What? You didn’t sleep?”
“Ah! You startled me!”

I was truly startled. So without thinking, I let out a scream.
Then I hurriedly covered my mouth. Cheonhaerang and Jiho must be sleeping soundly—I couldn’t wake them.
Turning around, I pressed my index finger to my lips and whispered a soft shush, then urgently grabbed Hand Ogeong’s sleeve and pulled him into my room.
Hand Ogeong was dragged along without resistance.
In the deep of night, a man and woman in one room, yet there was not a trace of sticky tension between them.

“How can you come in so silently like that?”
“What do you mean. It’s my prerogative. Who said you weren’t sleeping?”

Ugh, that mouth of his. I wanted to twist those overly talkative lips shut, but I held back.
In any case, he was my superior, and I had something to tell him.

“But why weren’t you sleeping? Were you waiting for me? Why? Don’t tell me you….”

Hand Ogeong’s gaze shifted subtly as he looked at me.
Reading the meaning in those eyes, I bounced up indignantly.

“Have you lost your mind? What are you saying right now!”
“Strong denial is strong affirmation….”
“No, no, really! The Jade Emperor is absolutely not my type, you understand?”
“Preferences can change, after all….”
“Not at all. They haven’t changed one bit!”
“Then your preferences remain the same, which means my proposal is worth reconsidering.”
“….”

The light atmosphere shifted in an instant. Yerim flinched and met Hand Ogeong’s gaze.
His eyes had grown distant, as if gazing into the darkness of a deep night.
His lowered voice pierced through her ears.

“You felt it today, but Gihyeongrang has his sights set on you. Perhaps he still hasn’t forgotten you. It didn’t seem like he was trying to kill you.”
“….”
“And because of today’s events, Princess Yeonhwa is reconsidering your usefulness.”
“….”
“Of course, she highly values your resolve.”

Yerim listened to Hand Ogeong’s words in silence. He took a step closer to her. He recalled Yeonhwa’s expression from moments before.
Eul’s three-inch tongue had cunningly provoked Yeonhwa.
The longer time dragged on, the more cracks might form in Yeonhwa’s heart.
He knew better than anyone what Yeonhwa truly desired.
And he had become the leash around Yeonhwa’s neck, breaking her will.
Just as Yeonhwa had been Hand Ogeong’s leash, Hand Ogeong was equally Yeonhwa’s leash.

“Yerim the Celestial Maiden.”

He did not wish to see Yeonhwa’s carefully concealed wounds exposed once more.

“Could you become Gihyeongrang’s lover again?”

For a moment, Yerim’s pupils trembled.
Soon after, she answered with a face full of resolve.

“…Without hesitation.”

* * *

Jiho couldn’t believe it. Cheonhaerang’s confession still echoed in her ears.

“Jiho, I….”

“I want to date you.”

I thought I was dreaming. But the warm hand that touched my cheek was no dream.
There was only one word I could say in response to his confession.

“Me too.”

“I like you too.”

“I want to date you, Cheonhaerang.”

Cheonhaerang smiled as he took my hand. And so we became lovers.
As if the tension had finally released, Cheonhaerang soon fell into a deep sleep.
I turned my head to gaze at him. Even as I looked at him like this, it felt like a dream.
It felt as though I could never truly reach him.
I had always known I would one day watch an unnamed woman stand by his side.
I had always known we would remain just friends forever.
The Patriarch’s bloodline. The White Tiger of the Four Guardian Deities.
The balance of Heaven and the Four Directions.
I knew that such reality would soon bind us both.
I also knew that we might have to remain just friends again.
Yet, despite all that, I could not give up. I wanted to stay in this moment.
Perhaps someday in the distant future, I would regret today. But for now, I wanted to stay by his side.
As I gazed quietly at Cheonhaerang, I soon lifted the corners of my lips. And I recited the farewell I had not yet spoken.

“Sleep well, Cheonhaerang.”

May your dreams no longer be sorrowful.

* * *

When Hand Ogeong woke in the morning, he discovered Cheonhaerang and was quite startled. He was delighted that Cheonhaerang had awakened.
But when he heard why Cheonhaerang was in this house after supposedly awakening last night, he was left speechless.
The moment he woke up, he came to see Ryujiho. How could his younger brother be so thoughtless when his sister was running about so frantically?
To Yeonhwa’s misfortune, Cheonhaerang was an ungrateful man who valued love over family.
Moreover.

‘Something feels off….’

Hand Ogeong narrowed his eyes, observing Cheonhaerang and Jiho. The atmosphere between them felt distinctly unusual after whatever had transpired last night.
As he watched the two of them radiating an even more intimate aura than before, Hand Ogeong attempted to speak but found his mouth suddenly covered by Yerim’s hand.
He looked at her with eyes that asked what on earth she was doing. Yerim whispered.

“They’re dating, so stay quiet.”

But why? Shouldn’t I be allowed to ask? Hand Ogeong’s eyes conveyed this sentiment, but Yerim remained unmoved.

“For someone so old, you lack perception. Stay quiet until they tell us themselves.”

Question marks still floated through Hand Ogeong’s mind, but he complied.
After all, it was their affair, and he had no intention of making a fuss about it. He hadn’t failed to anticipate this outcome either.
How long the two of them would last remained uncertain.
They faced an enormous obstacle ahead.
Baekho and the Patriarch’s bloodline. The balance of the Four Guardian Deities and all that. But the greatest obstacle of all was none other than Jiho’s father, Ryuibum.
Rumors abounded that no father was more devoted to his daughter than he was. It wasn’t uncommon to hear that Ryuibum would keep his youngest daughter by his side for life.
And such a man would vehemently oppose Cheonhaerang not because of his connection to the Patriarch’s bloodline, but because he was Ryujiho’s boyfriend.
Hand Ogeong clicked his tongue, the outcome painfully obvious without even looking.
In any case, it was their choice, and this too was a problem they would have to navigate.

‘I wonder what the princess thinks.’

Hand Ogeong found himself pondering this. Judging by how Yeonhwa treated Jiho, she didn’t seem likely to object.
But one could never be certain. She was someone who valued principles.

‘Well, this is also a problem they’ll have to work through.’

Hand Ogeong decided to stop worrying about the two of them. He had far more pressing matters to attend to.
After sending Cheonhaerang and Jiho outside first, Hand Ogeong spoke to Yerim.

“The fastest way to approach Gihyeongrang is through Eul of the Heavenly Realm. Get close to Yueul. He likely already knows about you.”
“What do you mean by that? That he knows I’m a celestial maiden, or….”
“That he knows you were once lovers with Gihyeongrang.”

She’d suspected as much, but the suspicion turned out to be true. Yerim let out a sigh.
She’d thought it was a secret romance, but it seemed like the entire Heavenly Realm knew about it.

“How on earth would you know that?”
“He was the first among the Heavenly Realm to become Gihyeongrang’s limb. There’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

Simultaneously, Eul could also be seen as Gihyeongrang’s first experimental subject. However, there was no need to mention this.
Hand Ogeong patted Yerim’s shoulder with a solemn expression. Then he spoke.

“Then I wish you luck, Yerim.”
“….”

For some reason, Yerim felt irritated by Hand Ogeong’s encouragement.

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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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