Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 13

The Imryongjae had begun.

It was the day the priestesses of Hyunjingwan had meticulously chosen. The sun in the clear blue sky shone brightly, as if foretelling a bright future. A long procession of royal family members and officials on horses and in palanquins stretched from the palace to the road leading to the Forest of Vanishing Shadows (消影林).

But even that clear day was meaningless before the Forest of Vanishing Shadows, a region governed by the dragon. It was a forest where shadows disappeared upon entering. The soldiers guarding the Forest of Vanishing Shadows bowed their heads to the current emperor. The rope blocking the entrance was untied, and a seemingly endless procession continued into the dense trees. At the very front was the current emperor, followed by Kyungrak.

Gamyoung followed them. The Forest of Vanishing Shadows, which he had only heard of, was as dark and damp as its reputation. Completely filled with dense, giant trees, the forest seemed to swallow those who weren’t permitted entry, just as the stories said. Gamyoung, too, was born with the dragon’s power, but he wasn’t sure he could navigate this place without getting lost. However, even this path had an end.

The end of the procession, consisting of the royal family, high-ranking officials, court ladies, and priestesses, reached the front of the Hall of the Returning Hour (辰還署).

It was an ancient palace, impossible to guess how many years had passed since its construction. The priestesses and those without the dragon’s power, who were visiting this place for the first time, turned pale from the heavy energy that enveloped them, a sensation they had never experienced before. Gamyoung almost instinctively grabbed his knees. The sensation, as if gravity was pressing down on him, made even the royal family members shudder, so it wasn’t strange that several young priestesses, unable to bear the pressure, trembled and turned pale. Mohyun stepped forward.

“I am Ki Mohyun, the Head Priestess of Hyunjingwan. We beseech you to grant us permission for the Imryongjae.”

As if by magic, the oppressive energy disappeared. Mohyun, having given her greeting, stood up and said,

“From here on, only members of the royal family, the Crown Princess, high-ranking priestesses, and one civil and military official each to verify the dragon’s selection may enter.”

Following her words, the members of the royal family who possessed the dragon’s power, a few priestesses including Mohyun, the prime minister, and the general entered the Hall of the Returning Hour. Those who remained prostrated themselves, praying for the successful completion of the Imryongjae.

After passing through a seemingly endless corridor, they finally reached a room where an entire wall served as a door. Mohyun nodded, and the two priestesses who followed opened the doors on either side.

Gamyoung almost gasped in admiration. The room, which hadn’t seemed that large from the corridor, was as big as the main hall of Yeomnokgung, the emperor’s residence. However, what caught his eye first were the dragon patterns carved everywhere. Although well-maintained, the old wooden palace couldn’t hide its age, yet the dragons carved on the walls seemed so vivid that they might come alive and move at any moment. A dragon’s face was carved on the altar facing the door.

Gamyoung looked at Kyungrak. Even Kyungrak was meeting the dragon for the first time. His usually relaxed face was filled with tension. As the current emperor and Kyungrak stood before the altar, the others stood on either side. Mohyun spoke.

“We shall commence the Imryongjae.”

The emperor turned to Kyungrak. His blue eyes, proof of the dragon’s appointment, were now seeing their last Imryongjae. He looked at Kyungrak and then back at Mohyun. His firm gaze showed he was already prepared. It was time to hand over the throne to the young and ambitious next emperor.

“Proceed.”

With the emperor’s permission, Mohyun instructed Kyungrak.

“Your Highness, no matter what form the dragon takes, you must not be captivated by its appearance. The Dragon God will surely test you. You must not lose your soul.”

Mohyun spoke sparingly, but being consumed by the dragon meant losing one’s life. Gamyoung’s palms grew sweaty, even though it wasn’t his own affair.

“I understand.”

A heavy voice echoed. Soon, the two priestesses behind Mohyun sprinkled animal blood on the floor. Having drawn ancient patterns that weren’t letters or pictures, they prostrated themselves outside the patterns. Mohyun, standing before them, bowed deeply. Then, she began to call upon the dragon in a loud voice. An unfamiliar language, impossible to understand, flowed ceaselessly from Mohyun’s mouth. Then, the patterns drawn in blood glowed blue, and the dragon images carved around the room wriggled as if alive.

Gamyoung knelt. It wasn’t his own will. An unbearable pressure weighed him down, as if someone was pressing on his shoulders, forcing him to kneel. The others were the same. Only the current emperor and Kyungrak remained standing upright, enduring the pressure.

His forehead kept trying to touch the floor. An unbearable weight pressed down on him, already prostrate on the floor. Gamyoung put strength into his palms on the floor and somehow lifted his head. The louder Mohyun called upon the dragon, the more the sounds of struggling breaths filled the air. It felt like being trapped in deep water, unable to surface, his whole body crushed by pressure, making it difficult to breathe.

As the ritual to summon the dragon neared its end, people started screaming and fainting, unable to bear it. The number of those scratching their necks and vomiting blood increased.

Gamyoung realized that the dragon’s energy flowing within him was nothing before this immense presence. Before it, he was like a newborn, unable to control his own body. He had to exert all his strength just to keep his head up and not bow down.

He looked at Mohyun. Her eyes were rolled back, showing only the whites, and an endless incantation poured from her wide-open mouth. The priestesses behind Mohyun were the same. Blood streamed from every orifice on their faces, yet their lips, chanting the spell, didn’t stop. Just as everyone else in the room was prostrated, they, too, seemed to be acting against their will.

The floor beneath him trembled, and the dragons around them writhed as if entangled. Amidst the chilling incantations, screams, and cries he had never heard before, only the current emperor and Kyungrak remained still.

Gamyoung looked up at them. Neither of their white, upturned eyes held any trace of blue light. However, unlike the current emperor, whose face was contorted in pain, Kyungrak’s face was remarkably serene. His hazy eyes, as if he was dreaming, were unfocused. A faint smile played on his lips, and a soft chuckle escaped them. Then, his slightly trembling shoulders began to shake more violently as his laughter grew louder, sounding almost deranged.

Suddenly, Gamyoung felt that leaving Kyungrak like this would be dangerous. A chilling air brushed against the back of his neck, and an unpleasant sensation crept over him. Gamyoung swallowed the groans that escaped through gritted teeth every time he tried to straighten up, and finally managed to speak.

“…Ugh, Brother…”

Gamyoung called out the name through clenched teeth.

“Ky, Kyungrak…”

Kyungrak’s head, consumed by madness, snapped towards Gamyoung. His upturned, white eyes were bloodshot. An inhuman sound escaped from his grotesquely twisted lips. Gamyoung stared at Kyungrak, who was reaching out to him. A light, as if he was engulfed in blue flames, surrounded him, flickering wildly. It was Kyungrak, yet it was a form unlike Kyungrak, as if his soul had been completely taken over.

And then, Gamyoung saw what was behind him. A pure, shining blue light, without any definite shape, took on a human form. It, with no discernible eyes, nose, or mouth, grabbed Kyungrak’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The more it whispered, the more violently the blue light surrounding Kyungrak flickered. Gamyoung glared at it. His wide-open eyes stung, and his body, pressed flat against the floor, trembled uncontrollably, but he couldn’t look away. If he avoided its gaze, it felt like Kyungrak would approach and strangle him.

“Brother, Ugh, please… come to your…senses…”

A mouthful of blood welled up in his throat. Gamyoung forced his eyes open, fighting against the urge to close them.

“Kyungrak, Brother…”

But just as his consciousness, pushed to its limit, began to fade, the blue light, flickering like a tongue by Kyungrak’s ear, flashed towards Gamyoung. Then it whispered,

‘You’re quite something.’

At that moment, his fading consciousness, like a diminishing voice, snapped back, as if pulled out of water. Simultaneously, the trembling floor stilled, and the writhing dragons around them became mere old paintings, just as they were when he first entered the room. Those who were lying on the floor began to raise themselves one by one. Amidst the coughing, he could hear the faint sobs of those who hadn’t yet calmed down.

Then, the current emperor, who was inside the pattern, collapsed. The general beside him dared to support the emperor’s body. Among everyone who had been prostrate, only Kyungrak remained standing tall. The blue flames that had been raging around him were gone, as if they were merely an illusion.

Gamyoung watched Kyungrak slowly turn towards the people. His eyes, devoid of their usual playful glint, now shone with a blue light. Seeing this, Mohyun finally managed to speak, her voice strained.

“We greet the new emperor. Long live…”

Then, everyone in the room prostrated themselves before Kyungrak.

“We greet the new emperor. Long live! Long live! Long live the Emperor!”

The faint voices, suppressed by the pressure, grew louder. Gamyoung joined them, shouting “Long live!” And when he raised his head, he met the blue eyes that fixed on him. Instead of the warm, dark eyes he knew, cold, blue eyes shone brightly, like the blue flames that had emanated from his own body. He was no longer the Kyungrak he knew.

He was the new emperor of Won’guk, chosen by the dragon.