Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 93

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter Ninety-Three
Wol-ya spoke with a calm tone, yet sadness clung to him. Sam-cheon thought his eyes resembled the midnight sky—heavy, suffused with a darkness that had settled deep and thick.
“I and my subordinates—the twelve members of the Wol-rang-dan—became trapped in that era.”
If all of his words were true, it meant they had lived for more than five hundred years.
Sam-cheon did not ask whether such a thing was possible. At Cheon-gwang-san, she had glimpsed him in passing, and he had not changed in the slightest since then—as though time itself had stopped.
There existed curses born of affection, and there was herself who saw death. A person whose death had been deferred could surely exist as well.
She only felt a pang of sympathy, thinking what an arduous span of time it must have been.
“In searching for Ho-dong’s reincarnation, I came to understand this: the target of my vengeance is only Ho-dong, who led Nakrang to ruin with a three-inch tongue—not his reincarnation.”
Wol-ya recalled the reincarnations of Ho-dong he had encountered all this while. Some had been virtuous, some mere children, some deeply unfortunate.
Wol-ya had taken their lives—each living their own existence.
It was less vengeance than divine punishment visited by heaven itself. At some point, Wol-ya had come to realize that such revenge—hunting down the reincarnated to obliterate their soul—was something a human being should not do.
And that it carried a price.
“Rather than clinging to an irrational task whose completion might take five hundred years, or six, or longer still, I decided to seek a new breakthrough.”
Sam-cheon thought she knew what that answer was.
“Another Celestial Maiden?”
“Correct. I found the previous Celestial Maiden, but her illness had already progressed far. She said she would pray at the Moment When Fate Touches, but feared her own wish might not be intense enough to overcome Nok-hwa’s desperation.”
Looking at Wol-ya sitting across from her now—
“It didn’t work, then.”
“The bond was brief. Nok-hwa had lost everything; her longing was too great to overcome with a shallow connection. That is when I found you—eleven years old at the time.”
Sam-cheon could now understand why they had protected her all this time.
“When the Moment When Fate Touches comes, I ask that you pray for us.”
His request was neither difficult nor unreasonable. Yet it felt vague to her. Did the Moment When Fate Touches mean when she would die?
“What exactly is the Moment When Fate Touches?”
“The dreams I have dreamed until now have been of events that will occur in the near future. I dream only when death becomes nearly certain, when countless variables align.”
Seeing Sam-cheon understand, Wol-ya continued his explanation.
“But if a dream shows distant death, it means that fate has solidified into unchanging reality. The instant that dream becomes real is what we call the Moment When Fate Touches.”
Sam-cheon had dreamed of distant futures before. Now she understood why they had appeared at this moment. She must have already seen the Moment When Fate Touches.
‘Is Nakhwa-am my final place?’
To share the same end as Sabi-seong—it felt strange.
“When that moment arrives, I simply accept death while hoping that time flows again for the members of the Wol-rang-dan?”
“I do not ask you to create danger deliberately. Since much time remains before that moment, changes may arise and I will dream again. By dreaming repeatedly, you may yet evade it.”
“Then I would never face that moment at all.”
Wol-ya’s lips relaxed slightly.
“I have time. A great deal of it.”
It seemed he meant he would wait until she died of natural causes.
How much help would she receive by then? And how many bonds and debts of gratitude would need to accumulate before her wish could grow intense enough to grant them freedom?
Sam-cheon wanted them to find freedom even now. But she knew her current wish was not nearly enough.
She would have to surpass that terrible thirst for vengeance—the despair and rage of one who had lost everything surrounding her. It felt overwhelming.
Yet difficult or not, it was something she had to accomplish.
“I have another question.”
“Please, speak.”
“Must I overcome Nok-hwa’s will in a single moment? Could we not surpass it gradually, by building up this wish layer upon layer?”
For the first time, Wol-ya’s expression wavered.
“I do not know. The idea that one Celestial Maiden’s will can counterbalance another Celestial Maiden’s final wish—it is merely hypothesis.”
“Then I will try. I truly wish to repay this debt.”
Sam-cheon pressed her palms together and offered her first prayer.
That their time might flow forward naturally. That they might come to live their lives fully.
It was not a grand prayer, but she poured her heart into it.
And when she opened her eyes, she met Wol-ya’s gaze—eyes like the midnight sky.
“I hope I can become the breakthrough you need.”
Faced with such guileless sincerity, Wol-ya felt his throat tighten.
“It will be possible. The Celestial Maiden purifies the present and untangles the past that has become knotted.”
“I don’t know how to do such things.”
“The Celestial Maiden need only exist. By existing, she straightens what has twisted and warped. The Prophetic Dream is merely a means for the Celestial Maiden to remain in this world.”
His words answered one of her long-standing doubts.
Why did she see only her own death?
“…To survive. To remain alive.”
Wol-ya’s words sent ripples through Sam-cheon’s heart. The notion that mere existence could benefit the world made her pulse race.
“Among all past Celestial Maidens, your awakening has been the swiftest. Had you been born when the Cheon-do was still intact, you would have enjoyed honor rivaling the gods and wealth beyond reach. Now the line of Celestial Maidens has been severed.”
Regret glimmered in Wol-ya’s eyes.
Yet Sam-cheon did not yearn for the honor and wealth that should have been hers. She preferred her present self—a palace attendant at Mokseo-gung—to the version of herself who might have lived as a Celestial Maiden in the Cheon-do.
“If I were to pledge that I would protect you from all harm, would you come with us? I can guarantee you riches, glory, and safety.”
She had imagined it before—Wol-ya, who had always appeared in her moments of danger, one day asking her to go with him. She had lain with her eyes closed and pictured the new life that would begin that way.
And so Sam-cheon could refuse at once.
“You truly refuse, then.”
“I prefer to be at Your Highness’s side.”
Wol-ya found no hesitation in Sam-cheon’s words. Having watched her for so long, he had already divined the answer she would give, so he felt no regret.
“Should your heart ever change, please tell us. We would gladly become your refuge.”
Sam-cheon’s smile deepened.
That is why Gye-san treasures Sam-cheon as Sam-cheon.
But they care for her because she is a Celestial Maiden. Gratitude aside, it could not justify abandoning the life of the palace attendant Sam-cheon.
“I cannot go with you, but I will do my best in this place.”
Wol-ya gazed at Sam-cheon quietly before finally parting his lips.
“We are in your debt.”
When our supplies had been cut off and we faced hardship,
the provisions you sent allowed us to endure the winter and achieve victory.
I shall never forget the kindness of my brother Buyeo Hui.
Though meager compared to the heart you showed, this is my sincerity.
— With gratitude, Gye-san
“Please see that this letter is made public during the interrogation. Reading it aloud would be even better.”
Sam-cheon held out the silk pouch, and Ju-hong accepted it, examining its contents. After reading through to the end, Ju-hong carefully secured it and tucked it away.
“The prince will likely bristle at this, finding it awkward.”
“He’ll actually like it.”
Especially the word “brother”—she thought he would like that most of all. With so much weighing on his mind, she hoped that when he read this letter, he would at least smile at ease.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————