Chapter 68
A young girl came running down the rain-soaked road.
In the middle of the road, a young girl lay collapsed.
The girl was covered in dirt and filthy, but the girl paid it no mind as she hurried over to her. Then she sank down beside her and pulled the boy into her arms.
The girl desperately called out to her. Her small voice trembled helplessly.
“Unni, please wake up, Unni…”
The girl, Pyeonghyeon, had a face streaked with tears.
Pyeonghyeon… was not actually his name.
His real name was Lee Sahyeon.
He was a man.
Lee Sahyeon had been a boy from birth. It was just that, for certain reasons, he was currently disguised as a girl.
The reason Sahyeon dressed as a girl was simple.
“Do you understand? You must not let anyone discover your identity. No one can ever find out who you are.”
It was to conceal his identity.
Sahyeon had lived in the mountains ever since he was born.
The group Sahyeon belonged to had originally lived somewhere else, but after losing their home due to an ‘unfortunate accident,’ they had entered the mountains and were now wandering from place to place.
When Sahyeon was young, he hated it. So he would often complain to his father.
“Father, are we moving again? Why do we always have to move? It’s not like we’re running away or anything…”
Even when Sahyeon complained like that, his father merely smiled kindly and soothed him.
“I’m sorry. But please bear with it just a little longer. We must find the Divine Treasure. Once we find it, we will go to the place where we truly ought to live, so please wait for me.”
Sahyeon believed his father and waited, hoping that his father would find that Divine Treasure soon.
But in the end, his father failed to keep his promise.
In the year Sahyeon turned six, his father died of illness.
His father had always been physically weak. He had been born with a frail constitution, and after his vitality was greatly weakened on the day of the unfortunate accident, he never recovered and eventually succumbed to death.
Sahyeon was devastated.
His mother had died after giving birth to him and suffering complications during her recovery, and now that his father had died as well, he was left alone.
Sahyeon cried for days on end.
The person who came to see Sahyeon like that was Eom Papa.
“Young Master, how long are you going to keep crying? Do you think crying like that will somehow bring the late Second Young Master back to life?”
Sahyeon found Eom Papa intimidating.
Partly because she was the second-in-command after his father, but also because Eom Papa’s expression was exceptionally cold.
Unlike the others, Eom Papa never doted on Sahyeon. Whenever the others saw Sahyeon, they would want to give him even a piece of rice cake, but Eom Papa would simply frown and walk away.
That was why Sahyeon found Eom Papa more difficult to approach than anyone else, but now Eom Papa was comforting him.
“From now on, you must keep your wits about you. The Second Young Master entrusted everything to you. You must fulfill that responsibility.”
“Eom Papa…”
“Young Master, you are still young, so this Eom Papa will shoulder your duties in your place. Therefore, you must grow up safely. Only then will the Second Young Master be able to close his eyes in peace. Do you understand?”
In other words, Eom Papa was saying that from then on, she would take care of Sahyeon.
Sahyeon was young, but he was exceptionally bright for his age, so he understood what Eom Papa was saying.
He could even sense the faint concern hidden within those words.
“…Thank you.”
Eom Papa merely snorted. For some time, Sahyeon remained awkward around Eom Papa.
Even putting it nicely, Eom Papa was not a particularly gentle person. She had spent so long living alone that she had become both domineering and eccentric.
Sahyeon was sometimes bewildered by her temperament, but before long, he came to realize that Eom Papa was actually a good person. Because Eom Papa secretly tried her best to take care of Sahyeon while pretending otherwise.
Once he realized that, Sahyeon opened his heart to Eom Papa. Eventually, he even made a suggestion himself.
“Eom Papa, please don’t speak formally to me anymore. I’m much younger than you, and you’re practically my grandmother anyway.”
Eom Papa readily agreed.
It was around then that Eom Papa began calling Sahyeon not ‘Young Master,’ but ‘Hyeonah.’
Before long, the two became like a real grandmother and grandson.
Sahyeon was satisfied with his current situation. Except for one thing.
“Eom Papa, can’t I come along too? I want to see the outside world as well…”
“No. You know why, don’t you?”
Sahyeon wasn’t allowed to go outside.
It had been the same when Sahyeon was young. Because of ‘that bloodline,’ both Sahyeon and even his father had avoided going outside as much as possible.
When he was younger, Sahyeon hadn’t found it particularly frustrating.
Naturally, since this mountain was his entire world. But Sahyeon soon learned that there was a much larger world beyond the mountains by reading books.
Living in the mountains could get boring, so Sahyeon usually spent his days reading books in his father’s study. There were so many books in his father’s study that it was astonishing how they had even managed to move them all there.
Sahyeon read all sorts of books there. Martial arts manuals from various sects, history, philosophy, politics, astronomy, medicine, divination… Of all those books, if he had to choose the ones he liked best, there was no question.
‘This is so interesting!’
They were hero novels.
They mainly described the adventures of chivalrous heroes traveling throughout the martial world, filled with thrilling adventures, deep friendships, and heartbreaking love. Everything about them was fascinating, but Sahyeon especially loved it when the heroes helped people in trouble.
Whenever a hero received thanks for his deeds, Sahyeon felt proud as though he himself had done it. And deep within his heart, a longing began to bloom.
‘I want to become someone like that too.’
He wanted to become a hero who never lost his convictions or sense of justice regardless of the circumstances, who cultivated his strength and used it to help people in need.
From that point on, Sahyeon began pestering Eom Papa. He repeatedly tried to persuade her, saying that surely he was old enough by now, and that he would stay quietly by her side and cause no trouble.
At first, Eom Papa was firm.
“Do you know how heartless the outside world is? It is filled with vile people who will stab you in the back the moment they get the chance. You must be especially careful. If your identity is revealed by accident, everyone could be put in danger!”
At the words ‘everyone could be put in danger,’ Sahyeon hesitated. But young Sahyeon was still immature, and his longing to go outside only grew stronger.
After Sahyeon refused to give up and continued begging, it was eventually Eom Papa who surrendered.
“Haa… Fine. Then dress as a girl.”
“Whaaat?”
“If you pretend to be a girl and play the part of a grandmother and granddaughter with me, we can deceive people’s attention, even if only a little. What? Can’t you do it?”
“No! I can do it. I can!”
And so Sahyeon ended up dressing as a girl despite never having imagined such a thing for himself, but he was still happy. Because he was finally going outside, something he had dreamed of.
Of course, he wasn’t going traveling through the martial world like the heroes in his novels. He was only going to a nearby village. But even that was enough to make Sahyeon happy.
He was so excited that he couldn’t sleep properly that night. And so, the first world Sahyeon encountered was…
‘Huh?’
Ordinary.
Perhaps because it was a small village, or perhaps because people’s lives were all fundamentally the same, the sight of houses lining the roads was utterly ordinary.
Still, there were things that fascinated him.
First, Sahyeon saw roadside vendors for the first time. It was the first time he’d seen merchants calling out to attract customers, and the first time he’d seen people lining up at a large restaurant. The delicious smells drifted through the streets. The lively voices of the people. The vibrant energy.
Sahyeon suddenly thought,
‘I want to come see this again.’
After that, Sahyeon would occasionally dress as a girl and accompany Eom Papa to the village.
At first, Eom Papa often refused, but as Sahyeon began returning from the village without incident, Eom Papa seemed to relax and started taking him along without saying much. Every time, Sahyeon would stick closely to Eom Papa’s side and look around the village.
The world seemed the same yet different every time he visited, and the more he saw, the more fascinating it became.
That day as well, he had just finished looking at the goods displayed at a street stall.
“Eom Papa? No, Grandmother? Where are you?”
Sahyeon had lost Eom Papa. He had become so distracted by looking at the stall that he let go of Eom Papa’s hand.
Sahyeon was flustered by the sudden situation.
And then he became anxious. He had never been separated from Eom Papa before.
He hurriedly searched for Eom Papa. But there were more people than usual on the streets that day, and finding Eom Papa among them was not easy.
Just as Sahyeon was beginning to grow exhausted…
“Child, are you lost?”
Sahyeon met a man. A man with a warm-looking face and a benevolent smile.
Sahyeon would regret it many times afterward. If only he hadn’t said what he said then. Or, at the very least, if only he had been even slightly suspicious of the man.
But Sahyeon at that time was far too innocent and knew little of how frightening the world could be. So, thinking that the man was someone who wanted to help him, Sahyeon smiled brightly and answered.
“Yes! I lost my grandmother. I was so distracted looking around that I ended up letting go of her hand…”
It was the first mistake of Sahyeon’s life.
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