Grant me Your Grace Chapter 113 - Side Story 2

 

The air, condensed for a long time, poured out all at once through the gap in the open door. 

 

The smell of old dust and paper wafted strongly from within. 

 

After exchanging glances with Hissin, Dahlia carefully stepped inside.

 

The space illuminated by the lamp was vast enough to feel enormous at first glance. The further they went in, the stronger the smell of paper became.

 

“Dahlia, look over there.”

 

Hissin lifted the lamp and shone it somewhere. Upon closer inspection, there were bookshelves filled with thousands of books.

 

This place was none other than the emperor’s secret archive.

 

“It looks like it will take too long if we examine it just by ourselves.”

 

Hissin looked at Dahlia as if asking for her understanding. 

 

The surroundings were far too dark, and there was no telling what dangers might be hidden. When Dahlia nodded, Hissin soon began calling Hovan and the Moon Lions using the oath of the heart.

 

“Lord Levitzenna. Lady Dahlia.”

 

Before long, Hovan came down with the Moon Lions. The torches they brought brightly lit up the area.

 

“What on earth is this place?”

 

Hovan looked around with wide eyes. 

 

He couldn’t easily close his mouth at the sight of the countless books, easily numbering in the millions, as well as the sacred relics that couldn’t even be compared to the treasures found inside and outside the palace.

 

Moreover, ‘Levitzenna’s Tears,’ the sacred relic of the Zanna that had disappeared long ago, was also there. 

 

‘Levitzenna’s Tears’ was a jewel that condensed the power of the Zanna people. 

 

There was a legend that even those who were not of Zanna royal blood could use their power if they used this relic.

 

It seemed that Khankundra, having lost all the Zanna people, had continued experimenting with this jewel in various ways to use the power of the Zanna royalty.

 

All without knowing that without the blood of the Zanna, it was nothing more than an ordinary stone.

 

“He kept denying he had it, yet he hid it in a place like this.”

 

Hissin broke the thick glass tube and took out ‘Levitzenna’s Tears.’ 

 

As if the relic recognized its owner, the jewel, which had been murky and dull, changed into a red light exactly like the color of Hissin’s eyes.

 

Holding ‘Levitzenna’s Tears’ in his hand, Hissin turned to look at Dahlia. She was staring, as if entranced, at the books densely filling the archive.

 

“Have you ever heard about this place?”

 

When Hissin approached and asked, Dahlia shook her head without taking her eyes off the books.

 

“No, I’ve never heard of it. There was a room called the emperor’s secret vault on the palace blueprints, but this place wasn’t marked at all.”

 

She had meticulously inspected everything ahead of the palace reconstruction so as not to miss even the smallest detail, and remembered every single thing. 

 

Yet there was no record of this secret archive anywhere.

 

“Hovan, do you know anything about this?”

 

When Dahlia asked, Hovan stared intently at a book written in a foreign language and said,

 

“There is one story I heard when the former High Priest promised me the position of the next High Priest long ago.”

 

His touch as he traced the spine of the book with its title was somehow cautious.

 

“Whenever the emperor invaded another country, he would always plunder precious treasures or historically valuable records from that country, but even the historians didn’t know where they were hidden.”

 

Hovan, who had been looking at the book with unreadable eyes, finally took it out from the shelf. 

 

The book, releasing a cloud of dust, turned page by page at his fingertips.

 

“It seems all the things stolen back then… were gathered here.”

 

Looking at the book written in Maia, the language of his destroyed homeland, Hovan clenched his jaw. 

 

Facing his mother tongue again, one he thought he would never remember, forgotten words seemed to echo in his ears.

 

“So Othha’s last sin was here.”

 

Dahlia looked at the archive with trembling eyes. 

 

At the far end of the endlessly wide archive was a mysterious room. 

 

Unlike the others, the entrance was sealed with chains, and the door was so heavily rusted that it clearly hadn’t been opened for a very long time.

 

An unusual feeling brushed across her chest. Dahlia slowly approached the tightly sealed room.

 

Clank… 

 

A thick padlock hung on the iron chains. There was a keyhole, but it was so rusted and corroded that even if there was a key, it probably couldn’t be inserted.

 

“Breaking it will be faster.”

 

Hissin, who had come beside her to inspect it, called a Moon Lion and had him bring a hammer. 

 

Shortly after receiving the large hammer, he began striking the padlock with all his strength.

 

Bang! Bang!

 

Even with the fierce hammering, the padlock did not break easily. It meant there were that many secrets inside that the Baran imperial family wanted to hide. 

 

Hissin did not give up and struck the padlock even harder.

 

After striking it dozens of times like that…

 

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

 

Clank…!

 

Finally, the padlock, unable to withstand the persistent force, broke completely. After cutting off all the tangled chains, Hissin even smashed the tightly locked door handle.

 

Creeeeak…

 

The unsightly broken door opened with a rusty sound. Unlike the vast archive, this space was so narrow that it was hard to believe anything was hidden here.

 

The room was completely covered in mold, as if it had not been maintained for a long time. 

 

In this room with nothing special, there was only a single book and a wooden box.

 

“I’ll open it.”

 

Dahlia signaled to Hissin not to worry and approached the box. 

 

Perhaps trusting only the tightly sealed door, the wooden box had no lock at all and was ordinary. 

 

However, its decayed and mold-covered appearance made it clear that it was an object that had endured for a very long time.

 

Swallowing dryly, Dahlia opened the wooden box. When she lifted the thickly dust-covered lid, a white porcelain bottle was inside. 

 

Unlike the wooden box that was on the verge of crumbling, the porcelain bottle was flawlessly clean, as if it had been made yesterday.

 

And the moment she saw the bottle.

 

‘My heart… feels strange.’

 

Dahlia’s heart pounded unusually hard. 

 

An overwhelming emotion rose within her, as if she had found something precious she had forgotten for a long time.

 

She carefully lifted the bottle as if handling a fragile glass bead. She could feel liquid sloshing inside. Something very heavy, warm, and never-drying.

 

Feeling her eyes gradually growing hot, Dahlia examined the bottle closely.

 

Baran Hinna.

 

Written in the ancient Baran language, it was the name of the fifth girl.

 

“…Hissin. It wasn’t just a simple founding myth.”

 

Dahlia said in a tearful voice.

 

“Baran Hinna… the fifth girl of Goddess Nuit, was my real ancestor who actually existed.”

 

Dahlia lifted the bottle and showed it to Hissin. 

 

Seeing the name “Baran Hinna” clearly engraved on the porcelain bottle, even Hissin looked at it with disbelief.

 

There was no need to open the bottle to know. What was inside was the blood of Baran Hinna.

 

Dahlia hurriedly examined the book placed in front of the box as well. The book, which looked three times thicker than the others, seemed to contain thousands of pages.

 

The cover was tightly wrapped in tough leather and silk, and filled with the highest-quality paper made from mountain mulberry. 

 

It looked like a book compiled by someone very precious.

 

Dahlia carefully turned the pages one by one. 

 

They were all written in ancient Baran language, so perfect interpretation was difficult, but it was clearly a record of Hinna, who had disappeared from this land.

 

The story of them, personally recorded by Baran Hinna.

 

Tears fell from Dahlia’s eyes.

 

“You were waiting here all this time…. Until your descendant came looking for you.”

 

Her touch as she stroked the old paper was infinitely tender. 

 

Dahlia carefully embraced the book and the bottle containing Baran Hinna’s blood and left the narrow room. She then placed the book and bottle into a sturdy and safe box that Hovan had obtained from somewhere.

 

Hissin entrusted the box containing the book and bottle to Hovan and ordered him to keep it in a safe place. 

 

They decided to examine the inside again when the sun rose, and Hissin led Dahlia out of the archive.

 

Having encountered an unexpected secret in such a short time, Dahlia’s legs had lost strength, and she left supported by Hissin.

 

The bright full moon, already high in the sky, quietly illuminated the imperial palace. 

 

Looking at the moon that softly lit up the surroundings, Dahlia said,

 

“Once everything is organized later, I want to conduct research on Hinna.”

 

“Of course we should. Hinna is your root and the foundation of this country, so everyone needs to know about them.”

 

“Do you think that book… also contains things about the price of blood?”

 

Hissin, who could now erase the red spots at any time, was by her side, but the price of blood was still an eternal homework that Dahlia could never solve.

 

If only the price of blood could be resolved, she would be able to heal even more people than now.

 

“Who knows. Perhaps that was the last lock Goddess Nuit placed for Hinna.”

 

“The last… lock?”

 

Dahlia looked at him with puzzled eyes. Hissin gently pressed his lips to her forehead and answered.

 

“If you are to endure pain, carry only as much as you can bear.”

 

Only as much as one can bear. 

 

Hearing Hissin’s words, Dahlia thought that might indeed have been the purpose of the red spots.

 

People each have a weight of burden they must carry, and Goddess Nuit probably did not wish for them to easily escape from it.

 

“While researching, we will surely find the real answer to this question as well.”

 

“Yes. I believe so, too.”

 

Dahlia leaned deeper into Hissin’s arms and looked up at the night sky.

 

She prayed deeply in her heart for a long time while gazing at the moon with Hissin, hoping that Goddess Nuit would reveal all the hidden truths, just like that bright moon.