Even My Life Is Yours Chapter 43

It must have been when he was about ten years old. Back then, Kyungrak was also just a child who found playing more fun than studying. As a mischievous child, Kyungrak often hung out with the Fourth Prince, Munhyung, and the Second Prince, his second older brother. Among all their games, Kyungrak’s favorite was hide-and-seek. Looking back, the reason he liked hide-and-seek wasn’t anything special, but because it felt like a rehearsal for a hunt.

It was so thrilling to be the seeker and find the hiding children. It was funny and amusing to roam around like a predator searching for prey and see the Second Prince flinch in surprise and hide when he got close. Though, that game too, he stopped playing once he started going on real hunts around that year.

Kyungrak always wanted to be the seeker, and when he had to hide instead, his interest would plummet, and he would return to his quarters. Sometimes, when he wanted to skip lessons, he would use hide-and-seek as an excuse to fall asleep.

And that day was one of those days. Today, Munhyung was supposed to be the seeker, so the game wouldn’t last long. A child’s psychology is such that if you want to be the seeker, you just have to get caught quickly, but for some strange reason, his pride wouldn’t allow it. Thus, he decided that if he was going to be the prey, it would be better to hide in a place Munhyung could never find and then emerge triumphantly only after hearing him give up. For that, a completely unfamiliar place was better than a well-known space like their quarters or the academy.

And Kyungrak knew a place that perfectly fit that condition.

‘No one will be able to find me here.’

Kyungrak squeezed his small body into the old, now-closed archives of the Hyunjingwan. Although it was closed, only the door was locked, not the windows, so Kyungrak, who was small at the time, easily got inside. He chose this place primarily because it was a closed archive, but also because it was the Hyunjingwan. While not a completely male-forbidden zone, it was a space where not only outsiders and eunuchs, but also male members of the royal family, refrained from entering, as it was where the Mikos lived.

Of course, entry wasn’t completely forbidden. If an outsider was sent on an errand for necessary supplies, they were only allowed in the entrance area for visitors, and only when a family member was summoned was entry to a private chamber permitted. Royalty could also enter, but in such cases, a Miko would personally send a letter and decide on the location, which was mostly limited to the shrine.

In any case, this place, closed after a new archive was built, was the best place to hide. He doubted anyone would come this far, but just in case, he hid under a small desk. The space under the desk, with its back enclosed, was a perfect hiding spot for a ten-year-old child, and since it was in a corner of the archive, it wasn’t easily noticeable.

Holding his breath at the sound of Munhyung’s loud presence outside, Kyungrak waited for Munhyung, who soon disappeared, and then unknowingly drifted off to sleep. The warm sunlight streaming through the window and the quiet, cozy archive were perfect for sleeping.

How much time had passed? A very careful sound of a key turning was heard, and soon, someone entered the archive. Kyungrak, who had been in a deep sleep, was startled awake by the sound of the unexpected intruder. Could it be Munhyung? he wondered, but there was no way his younger brother would have the key to this place, so it had to be someone else. He wondered if he should stand up, but somehow, it felt like he shouldn’t. Soon after, a very soft voice, as soft as the turning of the key, whispered.

“What happened to that child?”

Kyungrak clamped his hand over his mouth. Even though it was a whisper, he couldn’t fail to recognize the owner of that voice.

“…With all due respect, she has passed away, Your Majesty.”

The reply that came a little later was sorrowful and grim. It was the voice of a woman he had never heard before. But the person opposite the woman was the emperor of this nation and his own father. The fact that the emperor, who never needed to lower his voice for anyone, was in such a place without even his usual escort and head eunuch was unbelievable. But a moment later, the person who let out a groan was unmistakably the august emperor.

“I see. In that case, what about the baby she gave birth to?”

“It is safe.”

“……”

“…For now.”

He couldn’t understand who was safe, but even to a child who knew nothing, it sounded very serious. After that, the two were silent for a long time. Just as Kyungrak’s knees began to ache and he was carefully rubbing them, the emperor spoke.

“What would happen if I grant ‘him’ what he desires?”

At those words, the woman was silent for a moment. The voice that followed was, unlike before, cold and composed, but within it was an undisguised, accumulated anger.

“Your Majesty may achieve your great cause, but I cannot guarantee the life of that child. No, perhaps it would be better for the child to die.”

Even after the reply ended, the other person remained silent for a long time.

“Did you not make a promise?”

“……”

“That you would no longer create meaningless sacrifices for the sake of Your Majesty’s greed.”

It was an incredibly audacious and punishable statement. It was a remark deserving of immediate punishment on the spot. It was then. The woman, who had been careful with even a single breath, suddenly knelt.

“I stake my life to dare to speak. I have no intention of ever having that child taken from me. Not by that man, and not even if it is Your Majesty.”

“……”

“That was the last promise I made with my friend.”

After she finished speaking, a deep, heavy silence fell. Kyungrak was more surprised than anyone at her attitude, which was deserving of being sent to the Geumbu for that statement alone. But what was even more surprising was the voice that followed.

“Absolutely no one must ever know of this matter. No one. Other than you and I.”

The voice, hoarse from how deeply he had contemplated, sounded incredibly tired and weary. It was a voice so wretched and gut-wrenchingly painful, it was hard to believe it belonged to the emperor who had the world at his feet. To that voice, the kneeling woman responded with equal earnestness.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will keep this secret until the day I die.”

That was the end of the conversation. Only after the two had left did Kyungrak manage to catch his breath, but the place no longer felt cozy. When he came out of the dim archive, the sunlight that had been burning with its last strength had set, and darkness was descending outside.

For some reason, Kyungrak felt uneasy, as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have. The game of hide-and-seek had long been over, but the riddle given to Kyungrak had just begun. The problem was that he couldn’t understand a single thing from the conversation he had heard that day. What on earth could it be that made the emperor use such a voice? What was the problem that even the one who held the world in his hands couldn’t resolve? He was incredibly curious about that secret. Maybe if he went back to the archive, he could find a clue.

But when he visited the old archive a few days later, even the windows were now blocked. Thick wooden planks had been meticulously nailed over them as if to forbid any entry, making the room so dark that not a single ray of sunlight could enter. It was perfectly sealed off, impossible to even peek inside, let alone enter.

However, it was not entirely without gain. Not long after, a new Military Commander was appointed to the Hyunjingwan.

“I, Ki Mohyun, Military Commander of the Hyunjingwan, will serve the Dragon God for all my life.”

Mohyun swore an oath to the dragon in the ritual that one must undergo upon becoming the Military Commander. And Kyungrak was able to identify the owner of the voice from that day.

But even though he had found the owner of the voice, Kyungrak, who was just a mere child, quickly lost interest in a riddle without clues.

As time passed, forgotten in his memory, he eventually passed his coming-of-age. One day, his most cherished younger brother, Gamyoung, brought home a shabby puppy, calling her a friend he met outside. As someone who cared deeply for Gamyoung, Kyungrak couldn’t allow his brother to carelessly befriend a strange child of unknown status, even if she had saved his brother’s life, so it was only natural to conduct a background check.

‘Well, raising a guard dog isn’t so bad.’

It was a process to see whether that puppy was a wild dog or had the qualities of a loyal hound, so there was nothing to hesitate about.

But in doing so, he discovered something interesting.

“The Military Commander’s adopted son?”

“Yes. That is correct, Your Highness.”

Kyungrak let out a hollow laugh. Gamyoung was truly Gamyoung. Even when he picked someone up, he had to pick up a peculiar one. That must be why he became interested.

“How did he become the Military Commander’s adopted son? The records say he has no parents and lives with his grandmother.”

“It is said that the Military Commander and the grandmother are acquainted. Through that connection, the Military Commander adopted him as her son.”

“How did the Military Commander come to know that grandmother?”

At that, the man who had been speaking without hesitation turned grim.

“That is… it is said that the grandmother was so skilled at making clothes that rumors of her reached the imperial palace. The Hyunjingwan commissioned her for work, and they became acquainted through that, but there is something suspicious about it.”

“What is it?”

“We could not find the grandmother’s past at all. No matter how much we dug, no such name existed in the household registry, nor was there any information about her family’s past. She apparently settled in that village while raising her grandchild, but no one knows where she lived before that.”

“……”

“It is as if someone intentionally erased all records.”

At those words, Kyungrak, who had been lost in thought, asked.

“Still, there must be at least one person who knows her face?”

“We also searched everywhere, but truly, no one knew.”

“…Is that so? Good work.”

Kyungrak, who had been tapping the table, stopped his fingers. Then, the eunuch beside him handed the man a small silk pouch. The man took the pouch, bowed deeply to Kyungrak as he always did, and disappeared without a sound.

“No one knows, you say….”

As long as one was born in Won’guk, it was not easy to hide one’s identity. Not only nobles and commoners but also privately owned slaves had to be registered, so one could not erase their past so cleanly just because they wanted to. But did it make sense that no one knew of an old woman who had lived to that age, one with no money and no backing?

“Ki Mohyun….”

Yes. Others might not be able to, but someone of the Military Commander’s stature could.

Mikos are beings who, in some ways, inherit the dragon’s power more strongly than the royal family. While royalty other than the emperor are mere vessels for the dragon’s power, Mikos are beings who can perform all sorts of sorcery. Needless to say, the Military Commander, the head of them all, was no exception.

“So she wasn’t just some mutt after all.”

And so, Kyungrak decided to find out for himself. Who Yeo Hongyo really was. Who she was that Ki Mohyun and the former emperor would go so far as to seal the old Hyunjingwan archive to erase some record.