– Look over there, it’s the Vermilion Princess. She looks elegant today as well.
– Even though she is wielding a sword as a woman, she exudes a calm demeanor when she puts on her court robes. How could such a woman exist in this world?
– The mistress of the Vermilion Bird Palace and the most authoritative crown princess consort. I’ve never seen anyone so perfect in my entire life.
Respect and admiration.
Those were the emotions reflected in the eyes that followed Vermilion Princess In Ha Yeon her entire life.
Yet she found those eyes burdensome.
Not once had she ever shown it, but she had been at war with the world’s expectations of her for her entire life.
Staying up all night to study the classics, wielding a sword whenever time allowed, shooting arrows late into the night, learning tea ceremony, mastering poetry, calligraphy, and painting, cultivating virtue and etiquette… Never once had she allowed herself to grow tired.
Even after living so rigorously like that, the only thing that had allowed her to endure was the pride she took in being a member of the Jeongseon clan.
Starting with her uncle In Chang Seok, countless members of the Jeongseon clan had brought honor to Cheongdo and become heroes who saved the people in times of despair.
Amid such noble and loyal individuals, she had always believed she too must live up to their legacy.
In her entire life, she had never slept more than half a day in one go.
Like a swan gliding gracefully across the water, she had fought more fiercely beneath the surface than anyone else.
Thanks to her favorable circumstances, her efforts had always borne fruit.
But… how could life always follow the path of fairness?
The essence of life lies in its irrationality. Yet, the privileged environment she had enjoyed was far too affluent and abundant for her to grasp that truth early on.
Eventually, she had to learn the hard truth. That some things simply couldn’t be achieved through effort alone.
– Vermilion Princess… has been standing outside for an entire hour. The Crown Prince is truly heartless.
– Where could you find someone like the Vermilion Princess, only to treat her so coldly…?
– Shh… she might hear us….
Outside the courtyard of the Jade Tiger Palace, the sound of maids whispering reached her ears.
Hyeon Dang who had been kneeling behind the Vermion Princess furrowed her brow.
When Hyeon Dang stood up and rolled up her sleeves to punish the maids for their absurd gossip, the Vermion Princess stopped her with a shake of her head.
“Vermilion Princess…”
“…….”
The Vermion Princess had been sitting outside the paper doors of the Jade Tiger Palace for over an hour while holding the Great Star Sword she had brought as a gift.
Though her position as a crown princess consort meant she should have been closest to Crown Prince Hyeon Won, he hadn’t spared her a single glance, leaving her to sit in the cold outside.
It was the onset of winter.
The chill seeped into her until the blood drained from her fingertips, but she remained perfectly still.
As the mistress of the Four Palaces, her existence held no meaning if she could not support the Crown Prince.
The reason she held the title of Vermilion Princess was to fulfill that duty.
Coming from the resolute Jeongseon clan, she was not the type to let such cold indifference disturb her.
And Hyeon Dang understood better than anyone how strong-willed the Vermilion Princess was.
Brave yet gentle, bold yet poised, In Ha Yeon was the mistress Hyeon Dang had sworn to serve for life.
But now, the current In Ha Yeon… looked as unsteady as a branch swaying in the wind.
“Vermilion Princess, perhaps it is best to return to the Vermilion Bird Palace for today.”
“..….”
Had the Crown Prince’s rejection at the door shocked her so deeply?
No, that wasn’t it.
The woman she served was not someone so fragile that her spirit would break from a trial of this magnitude.
Even when faced with far more shocking and terrifying sights, In Ha Yeon had never lost the flame of vitality that burned in her eyes.
The Crown Prince’s act of turning her away at the door was nothing more than a catalyst.
The root of the unease lingering deep within her heart lay elsewhere.
Kneeling before the paper door with her sword laid down, the Vermilion Princess closed her eyes quietly.
Her pupils trembled faintly. A storm of emotions churned within her.
– That may be a shortsighted view, Your Highness.
– Not everyone from the Jeongseon clan is of the same caliber. A person’s origins do not fully define who they are, so it is the individual themselves who must be judged.
– Vermilion Princess In Ha Yeon is a woman of value who has not lost her dignity despite her noble position. As someone who has long served as the Inner Palace Inspector, I can assure you of this.
The words of Seol Tae Pyeong that were spoken in counsel to the Crown Prince from beyond the paper door had struck her heart like a dagger.
Seol Tae Pyeong, of all people, should have harbored resentment toward her as a member of the Jeongseon clan. And yet, he had been the first to step forward in her defense.
By now, In Ha Yeon was more than aware of the workings of politics.
For Seol Tae Pyeong, there had been no need—none whatsoever—to advocate for her so insistently in front of the Crown Prince who trusted him.
In fact, from a political standpoint, it was a blunder, a move that might have earned him the Prince’s anger.
Seol Tae Pyeong too was a man well-versed in the treacherous undercurrents of Cheongdo Palace’s political arena.
No one knew better than him that his words and actions offered him no personal advantage. Even so, he had chosen to stand by her without hesitation.
Why had he done so?
Because he believed it to be the right thing.
That man was someone who pursued what he deemed righteous with unyielding conviction.
But that didn’t mean he was naive to the bitter realities of a complex world.
He knew, and still, like an iron horn, he charged forward along the thorn-strewn path.
What did it mean to be righteous?
She had spent her entire life believing in the righteousness of the Jeongseon clan, but now she understood the evil schemes hidden beneath their facade.
She had known all along that one could not live forever as a pure, untainted, and noble Vermilion Bird.
Someday, she would have to soil her hands with mud.
Now, she felt as if cracks were forming in the beliefs she had relied on all her life.
A wave of disappointment washed over her pride in being a member of the Jeongseon clan, which she had carried so fervently.
The sight of Chief Councilor In Seon Rok rushing forward to seize Seol Tae Pyeong’s weakness left her with a bitter taste of disgust.
She despised the hypocrisy of the Jeongseon clan, who claimed to uphold righteousness yet were more deceitful than anyone.
And yet, she could not deny the truth. She too was a part of the Jeongseon clan, and it was thanks to them that she had risen to her current position.
When she finally accepted that truth, she raised her head, and what came into view was the firmly shut paper door.
Turning to look behind her, she saw the distant silhouette of the Vermilion Bird Palace.
She could also see the path leading to the Jeongseon clan’s main mansion and the streets of the Imperial Capital stretching out before her.
There were many paths to take.
But she couldn’t tell which one she was meant to follow.
Even the Jeongseon clan felt like strangers to her.
The grand Vermilion Bird Palace seemed no more than a hollow, fancy prison.
Crown Prince Hyeon Won had no intention of opening the firmly closed paper door for her.
There was no one who truly understood her.
Despite having lived in this palace for so long, there was not a single person who could embrace her heart.
After spending countless nights here, there wasn’t a single place where she could find peace.
What then was the point of all of this?
“Hyeon Dang-ah.”
In Ha Yeon called for her Headmaid in a quiet voice.
Hyeon Dang who had been bowing her head behind her approached.
“I feel… stuffy. Could you hold this for me?”
“Yes…?”
After saying that, the Vermilion Princess gently set down the Great Star Sword she had brought with her, then carefully removed the golden hairpin from the back of her head and placed it in Hyeon Dang’s hands.
“Th-This… Vermilion Princess …”
The Vermilion Princess’s neatly tied red hair cascaded down like a curtain. It looked like a veil hiding her heart.
She let the collar of her court robe fall slightly. Finally, she lifted her head just enough to show her face.
The moment Hyeon Dang’s eyes met her mistress’s eyes, she couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
Those eyes that had once burned with unyielding intensity in any crisis.
The eyes of the most authoritative crown princess consort, who had smiled even with a parade of demonic spirits before her and retained her composure amidst any political upheaval.
Now, those eyes looked empty, as though they had lost their light entirely.
Hyeon Dang felt the deep emptiness that had taken root in her mistress’ heart and hesitated before bowing her head and reluctantly answering.
“Your Highness, I… This golden hairpin is far too precious for me to hold onto.”
“It’s fine.”
“Your Highness…”
“I just… want to feel the breeze for a moment.”
The Vermilion Princess dismissed all the maids. She then quietly disappeared behind the Jade Tiger Palace.
She left the Great Star Sword behind and placed the golden hairpin into the Headmaid’s hands. She then faded silently into the shadows behind the palace.
The Vermilion Princess had walked the path of righteousness her entire life.
Not once had she strayed, nor had she ever violated a single rule or regulation. She had always adhered strictly to principles and discipline.
That’s why everyone thought this incident would soon pass.
Yet, not even an hour later, the Headmaid of the Vermilion Bird Palace Hyeon Dang noticed something was wrong.
The Vermilion Princess had told them she was heading to the back garden of the Jade Tiger Palace for a brief respite.
However, she was nowhere to be found in the garden where she should have been.
***
“No matter how I think about it, Crown Prince Hyeon Won doesn’t seem to be the Plague Demonic Spirit.”
“…Is that so? Are you sure you’re not jumping to conclusions too quickly?”
“It’s just… he’s exactly the same as the Crown Prince I know.”
As soon as I returned to my mansion in Hwalseong District, I sought out Yeon Ri.
She was sweeping the yard while lost in thought, but the moment she saw me, she bombarded me with questions and pressed me for answers.
I told her to bring out some tea, then sat beside her on the wooden porch, and we began to talk.
“…Isn’t that reasoning a bit too flimsy?”
“No… I don’t think so….”
The Crown Prince Hyeon Won I was referring to wasn’t the Hyeon Won of the present.
It was the Hyeon Won depicted in the Heavenly Dragon Love Story.
In the Heavenly Dragon Love Story, the reason Crown Prince Hyeon Won became completely in love with Seol Ran was simple. It was because she restored color to his eyes.
Hyeon Won was slowly sinking into the darkness. Then Seol Ran grabbed his hand, pulled him up onto the tiled roof of the Crown Prince’s palace, and showed him the beauty of the world.
That scene where she revealed the splendor of the world became a memory the Crown Prince carried in his heart for the rest of his life.
Yes, that was the Hyeon Won I knew.
The Hyeon Won of “Heavenly Dragon Love Story”.
—And there was no way the Plague Demonic Spirit could know about the existence of the Heavenly Dragon Love Story.
“No matter how smart the Plague Demonic Spirit may be, it couldn’t possibly know the contents of the Heavenly Dragon Love Story.”
Yeon Ri had identified two methods for detecting the Plague Demonic Spirit.
First, it would be someone aware of this world’s cycle of reincarnation.
Second, it would be someone who suddenly began acting in a way completely different from their previous self.
The latter method held more importance for me.
It allowed me to compare what I saw in the Heavenly Dragon Love Story with the behavior of the people here.
No matter how skilled the Plague Demonic Spirit might be at acting, it couldn’t imitate actions inspired by a text it didn’t know existed.
If someone’s behavior aligned with the events in Heavenly Dragon Love Story, the likelihood of them being the Plague Demonic Spirit would diminish greatly.
Superficial actions and judgments may coincide or even be imitated, but inner values such as those displayed by the Crown Prince this time could never be so easily replicated.
Such things could only be understood by the person who truly experienced them.
By methodically eliminating suspects through deduction like that, it would be possible to exclude several figures of Upper Third Rank or higher from the list of suspects.
“Well… if you’re saying that, Tae Pyeong, then… I suppose that must be the case… Hmm…”
Yeon Ri crossed her arms and reluctantly accepted my reasoning.
Even so, perhaps due to lingering unease, she glanced at me nervously and asked another question.
“Then… it’s best to start at the top and work our way down, right? Starting with Emperor Woon Sung…”
“Though, I think there’s a fairly low chance it’s Emperor Woon Sung.”
If it were someone as influential as him, there would likely have been some subtle sense of unease in even the smallest details.
However, in all the long years I’ve observed Emperor Woon Sung, not once has he ever given me such an impression.
That was because he had always acted precisely in line with the flow I was familiar with.
Still, that alone felt like a weak basis to dismiss the possibility entirely.
“Still… it’s better to tread carefully, as they say. Like I said before, It can copy external actions as much as it wants.”
If the Plague Demonic Spirit could be discovered early, it could be killed before its revival without unnecessary sacrifices.
This could be the key to ending all these trials.
“In that case…”
“T-T-Terrible news! Vice General…no, Inner Palace Inspector!”
At that moment, a maid ran in from the entrance of the Hwalseong mansion. I was just about to go deeper into the discussion when I was interrupted by this commotion.
It was quite late at night. For someone to burst in with such urgency at this hour, it clearly wasn’t an ordinary matter.
“What is it?”
“Th-The Vermilion Princess of the Vermilion Bird Palace… she has gone missing!”
“What…?”
Not just anyone, but the mistress of Vermilion Bird Palace herself had gone missing.
As the Inner Palace Inspector tasked with protecting the princess consorts, this was a situation that could not be ignored.
The structure of the inner palace was like the palm of her hand. She knew it very well; she spent half of her life there after all.
By the time news of the Vermilion Princess’s disappearance began to spread in earnest, she was already calmly walking through the bustling market streets of the imperial capital.
How could she so effortlessly leave the grand and vast Cheongdo Palace which was swarming with soldiers like that?
No one in the palace could have imagined that someone like the Vermilion Princess, who had lived her life with strict discipline and unwavering respect for rules, would disappear like this.
Had it been someone like the Black Princess, or the Azure Princess, the palace people would have reacted quickly.
But for the Vermilion Princess to act so out of character? Even the most steadfast senior maids could hardly believe their ears.
That disbelief was exactly why, when she told the soldiers to step aside, they obediently moved out of her way without a second thought.
She didn’t have many maids with her, didn’t have a hairpin, and her hair was hanging down.
Her demeanor lacked its usual majesty and commanding presence. This made her seem strangely different from usual.
Yet, despite all that, the soldiers complied without an ounce of suspicion.
After all, she was Vermilion Princess In Ha Yeon.
The woman who was the embodiment of the rules of Cheongdo Palace. The model that everyone had admired for as long as they could remember.
In any case, her identity was certain, and if she was doing something, it surely had a reason.
Doubting her in that moment was no easy task.
The trust and authority she had built over a lifetime had, in this instance, become her greatest weapon.
“……”
***
The imperial capital late at night.
The streets were deserted, with not a soul in sight.
A girl who had spent her entire life as the lofty Vermilion Bird was now looking up at the sky. She was lost.
Her empty eyes were fixed on the sky where a solitary brilliant moon hung. It was casting its cold light upon her as if judging her pitiful state.
What was right, and what was wrong?
If one came to understand what was right, could they act on it? Could they, like “him”?
It felt as though the moon itself was asking her these questions.
Leave a Reply