Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 54

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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 54
“Sam-cheon, are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Gye-san turned Sam-cheon this way and that, checking her for injuries. Dizzy from spinning, Sam-cheon laughed as she answered.
“I’m really fine.”
“You always say you’re fine.”
To Gye-san, Sam-cheon was her lady-in-waiting, her friend, and her family. Though she had earned the honor of Undefeated General and led Gyeonhwon’s Forces, that had not changed the fact that Sam-cheon was her only one.
“Are you all right, Your Highness? I never expected you to arrive at Mokseo-gung before me.”
“I simply left and came straight here.”
Gye-san laughed as though it were nothing.
“Your Highness…”
“I held no expectations of the King, so there is nothing to be disappointed by. And I hear there’s a Victory Banquet tomorrow. The Crown Prince prepared it, apparently.”
“A Victory Banquet?”
Sam-cheon’s eyebrows shot upward.
Was she jesting?
By now, rumors about the Pardon Authority were spreading in real time.
People would be curious about why Gye-san had used it. Of course, the reason was clear: because she cherished Sam-cheon.
But those with tangled minds would be convinced she’d used it to cover up some wrongdoing. That she’d pardoned Sam-cheon to prevent her from confessing a crime.
Most of them would judge that it would have been better to simply send an assassin to kill her instead.
Because Sam-cheon was a lady-in-waiting.
The nobles would be fine. They might whisper behind her back, but wouldn’t dare open their mouths in front of her.
Yet Gye-san had thirty siblings, and eight of them remained in Sabi.
In such a situation, she had to attend the Victory Banquet.
Sam-cheon immediately turned to look at Buyeo Hui.
“Will you attend the banquet as well, Prince?”
“I must.”
Then the worst could be avoided. If anyone spoke carelessly to Gye-san, she trusted that Buyeo Hui would repay them doubly.
Sam-cheon smiled warmly at the dependable Buyeo Hui.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“Just… it feels good to be back at Mokseo-gung.”
It was an excuse, though it held truth as well. She could not say how much she had longed for this place on the battlefield.
Deok-sim, watching from the side, wiped away a tear with the edge of her sleeve.
“You must have missed a meal. You’re probably hungry. I was distracted—let me prepare something at once.”
“Let me help you.”
As Deok-sim went into the kitchen, Kkot-nim, a palace maid who handled the menial work, followed her in.
Neither Deok-sim nor Kkot-nim mentioned the Pardon Authority. Outside, it would be blazing with all manner of talk by now, but Mokseo-gung remained at the same temperature as always.
“I’ll change my clothes and be right out.”
Sam-cheon stepped into her room and moved toward the window where I-re rested.
“You worried a lot, didn’t you? I’ve come back safely.”
[So the King was throwing his tantrum, was he?]
It was a disloyal thing to say, but somehow it felt refreshing.
“I did return safely, but I’m sorry you had to waste the Pardon Authority on my account.”
[You wouldn’t have gotten it in the first place if it weren’t for me. It wasn’t like you were sent to war with the blessing to come back alive.]
“Don’t say such things to the General. It will upset her.”
[Even beasts don’t harm their own young. And he calls himself a father. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Anyway, thank goodness you’re safe. I was thinking about whether I should curse the King.]
Anyone else hearing this would be horrified. Fortunately, with I-re’s Curse Power elevated, the spirit could control whose ears heard her voice.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about exhausting your curses.”
[Since returning from the battlefield, my curses overflow. Damning one person is nothing.]
“Thank you, even if only in words.”
Sam-cheon was smiling when a small voice came from outside.
“Lady-in-waiting, it’s Kkot-nim.”
“Yes, wait a moment.”
Sam-cheon answered loudly and, straightening her clothes, opened the door. Before her stood Kkot-nim with a gentle face.
“May I come in?”
“Of course, come in.”
Sam-cheon stepped back to let Kkot-nim enter.
Once inside, Kkot-nim closed the door firmly and spoke carefully.
“The General sent me. Please remove your clothes.”
“What?”
“She ordered me to check carefully whether you were beaten. I’m to look for bruises or any wounds.”
Kkot-nim explained calmly, then stepped closer with her hands folded.
Sam-cheon retreated slightly and asked.
“The General ordered that?”
“Yes.”
Kkot-nim smiled innocently.
Hearing it was an order, Sam-cheon had no choice but to remove her outer robe, muttering to herself.
“I really am fine.”
“Last year, when your arm was broken, you said the same thing. Let me check your legs.”
Kkot-nim knelt and carefully examined Sam-cheon’s legs, lifting her skirts.
I-re watched and giggled.
[That’s what they call reaping what you sow.]
Sam-cheon sighed without thinking.
In any case, she had paid a steep price to return to Mokseo-gung.
The sky was ashen. The acrid stench of smoke hung thick in the air, and in the distance came cries heavy with sorrow.
Running frantically, Sam-cheon stopped abruptly before Nakwha Cliff.
“Hah.”
A sigh escaped between her burst and bleeding lips.
Everything beyond the Baekma River was burning. Houses and fields, forests, and smoke rose even from the tall wooden pagoda.
“The King truly has abandoned Sabi.”
Sam-cheon’s torn skirt hem fluttered in the wind, rustling softly.
‘I should circle toward the East Palace and climb the mountain.’
If that path was blocked, she would find another. She had to rejoin Gye-san no matter what it took. Just as she steeled herself thus—
“Sam-cheon.”
A calm voice sounded, at odds with the death-scattered scene.
At the sound of her name, she turned—and a man’s chest blocked her vision.
How had he drawn so close without her noticing?
The instant she raised her head to see his face, the man thrust his sword directly into Sam-cheon’s heart.
Violent agony bloomed, along with the thick scent of blood.
The sharp smell of iron.
“Forgive me. This Karmic Bond has three more meetings left.”
Sam-cheon, staring down at the blade that ran through her body, did not even scream as she fell from Nakwha Cliff. The moment she plunged into the Baekma River, water surged relentlessly into her mouth.
When she reached out, there was only the river to grasp. Her skirts tangled around her legs, and the blood from her wound spread through the water.
The blackened smoke that had smothered the brilliant moon and the burning palace emerged dimly in her fading vision.
Petals from the burning Mokseo-gung tree fell scattered with ash. Sam-cheon sank into the depths of the Baekma River, watching that sight.
Deep, deeper still.
The moment her breath ceased, Sam-cheon’s eyes snapped open as she jolted awake.
Her lungs screamed as though she had nearly drowned. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision.
As she gasped for breath, pain flooded through her chest where the blade had pierced.
Sight, sound, smell, and touch—all remained vivid in her mind.
‘A Premonitory Dream.’
Cold sweat ran down her spine.
The assailant had clearly spoken her name. It was not coincidence but deliberate pursuit and murder. The problem was that she could not see his face.
Why had he apologized? What did “three more meetings” mean?
Questions chained upon questions.
But that was not all.
In the dream, she had murmured that the King had abandoned Sabi. Supporting that claim, the city was engulfed in flame.
And beyond the fields, the enemy’s flags were visible.

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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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