Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 26

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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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Chapter Twenty-Six
“If I’m discovered, I’ll let them follow me. They won’t kill me. You stay hidden there and find your chance to escape.”
Even as she spoke, Gyesan gathered fallen leaves and draped them over Samcheon. It wouldn’t hide her, not really, yet she moved with careful purpose.
“Something feels different.”
“Don’t die. Not ever. Keep your promise—that you’d live longer than me.”
…….
“That’s an order.”
Samcheon’s eyes stung with tears, and she bowed her head low. She resented herself for the twisted ankle that made her helpless now.
Gyesan crouched in front of her, still tossing leaves into the gaps, blocking her from sight. The moment she heard movement, she’d have to bolt toward the sound, drawing pursuit away from Samcheon.
She was coiled tight, alert to every rustle around her.
Growl.
Gyesan’s hand flew to her belly.
“I haven’t been this hungry in ages.”
Just then, Samcheon’s stomach answered with its own rumble.
“Me too.”
“When we get back to Mokseo Palace, I’m eating two bowls of rice.”
“Please, Your Highness—buy me pickled jujube.”
Gyesan let out a soft laugh.
“……You know? This is the first time you’ve ever asked me for something.”
“Is it?”
“I’ll get you a whole basket of pickled jujube. I promise.”
The certainty in her voice struck Samcheon as solemn, and something in her heart ached.
“Yes. Your Highness. I’m counting on it.”
“Thank goodness Deoksim didn’t come.”
“That truly is a blessing.”
We’ll make it back.
They’d gather in the inner courtyard of Mokseo Palace again, laughing together. Eating the rice Deoksim made, listening to someone grumble, seeing an innocent smile. She wanted all of it back.
Samcheon gripped her swollen ankle, then shook her head. Her eyes burned, and she was reaching up to wipe them with her sleeve when a clear voice came from above.
“You’ve hidden yourself well.”
Samcheon’s head jerked up of its own accord.
Gyesan leaped to her feet, scanning the surroundings. Branches rustled, and Yongyong emerged from between the shadows.
“Yongyong?”
Gyesan murmured in disbelief.
Samcheon’s shock was no less than hers at the unexpected arrival of their escort.
“Why are you both so startled? After seeing what happened to the villa, didn’t you know I’d come back?”
Half a day. That was all they’d spent together.
Long enough to recognize Yongyong’s skill, but far too short to build real trust.
And yet he had returned.
“I thought you would,” Samcheon said simply.
Yongyong laughed loudly at her honesty.
“I earn my pay. You’ve had a hard time. You’re safe now.”
“Truly?”
Gyesan asked, as if she couldn’t quite believe it.
“I dealt with most of them while I was looking for you. You see the torches are gone? A few might still be around, but I can handle that level.”
Samcheon blinked once.
Yongyong hadn’t turned mercurial, hadn’t suddenly drawn a blade. He simply stated, plain as fact, that he would protect them.
When Gyesan understood that she had someone to lean on, her tears broke free.
“Samcheon nearly died. Huh. She’s hurt. Ugh.”
Fear that had accumulated piece by piece came pouring out all at once. Gyesan wept, tears and snot streaming.
Samcheon crawled out from the crevice where she’d been crouching and offered her sleeve.
“I don’t have a handkerchief. Use this.”
“It’s got blood on it. Ugh.”
“Oh no. I’m sorry.”
Samcheon looked down at the dried blood on her own sleeve and grimaced.
Yongyong, watching the two with an odd expression, produced his own handkerchief.
“Blow it out, don’t eat it.”
“Right. Heh.”
Gyesan blew her nose thoroughly and looked up at Yongyong with wet eyes.
“Thank you for keeping your word.”
Yongyong, with a puzzled look, wondered why any princess would express gratitude so easily. He spoke.
“Open your hand.”
“What? Why my hand all of a sudden?”
“Your hand. Ahem. Forgive me, Your Highness.”
He stepped closer to the wary Gyesan and took her hand, gently straightening her fingers one by one.
As he forced her to release the sword she’d been gripping so hard her fingers had lost all feeling, her uncontrolled hand began to shake violently.
“Why is my hand—?”
“This is your first time killing someone, isn’t it?”
Gyesan’s eyes widened.
“How did you know? Is it written on my face that I’m a murderer?”
“Of course not. But both of you have blood all over your clothes, and you don’t appear to be wounded or stabbed.”
Gyesan, deflated, confessed like a penitent.
“You’re right. I killed two people.”
“You don’t regret it, though.”
“No.”
“A sword is a tool made to harm those who need harming. You used your tool for its purpose. In such moments, I think about what deserves protecting.”
“What deserves protecting?”
“It’s foolish to say all lives have equal value. My own life has the most value to me, and my brothers’ lives rank next. Then innocent people, the weak. The more wickedly someone has acted, the less value they hold in my eyes. Anyone who swung a blade at defenseless children has no right to live, whatever their reason.”
“Is that how you see it?”
“Yes. By removing the worthless, I protect what matters most.”
Yongyong’s voice carried absolute certainty.
To have such a clear standard of one’s own—that was admirable. Gyesan decided she too would forge her own standard someday, and she nodded.
“I understand.”
“So today’s killing need not weigh heavy on you.”
“You’re right.”
Gyesan’s trembling began to ease.
Samcheon, watching them both, finally let the tears she’d been holding back begin to fall.
“I’ve become a burden. Because of me…….”
“Without your help, I’d have lost. That arrogant fool was stronger than me. And where would I find such a cute burden?”
“Even if I’m cute, I’m still a burden.”
Yongyong burst out laughing.
“You won’t deny being cute, then. Let’s move. Where should I take you?”
“Samcheon sprained her ankle. She can’t walk.”
Gyesan conveyed this with a look.
I’ll carry her.
Gyesan stood blank for a moment at Yongyong’s explanation, then leaned toward Samcheon with a whisper.
“Do you understand what he said?”
“More or less.”
“Good. One understanding is enough.”
Gyesan relaxed and looked around the inn with easier eyes.
It was the largest inn in Jeonghyeon Fortress, and Yongyong had rented the entire annex with its own garden for security. The room was spacious, and the bedding was as soft as what lay in Mokseo Palace.
Yongyong had arranged it.
‘What is Yongyong, really?’
For the first time, even Gyesan, who’d had no reason to wonder before, grew curious.
Swordsmanship that surpassed her master, a military man. The ability to rent places like this without hesitation. And yet his face looked barely past his twenties.
As Gyesan studied Yongyong from different angles, Samcheon, who had been lost in thought, spoke up.
“So the Jin Clan was smuggling iron ore, and you found evidence of it, but had no proof? The investigators you sent never returned. Then you decided to use our princess as an excuse to search the Jin residence and move the military.”
“Correct.”
Yongyong’s answer came with clarity that seemed oddly at odds with the situation.
“……By fabricating the kidnapping of Your Highness, they mean to have grounds to search the Jin house.”
“Precisely. You’re quite sharp, aren’t you?”
If the King truly deserved the title, he’d suppress the Jin Clan openly. Instead, he’d chosen this cowardly path of using his own child. Samcheon couldn’t believe it.
She forced down the anger that boiled up inside her.
“He could have explained the situation to Your Highness and asked for her cooperation.”

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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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