“Yes. Very…… excellent morning greeting. Truly…….”
“Why is Father’s face so red?”
“Who said it was red? Hurry and give me your wrist.”
Father quickly took my wrist and checked my pulse.
After finishing the examination, Father finally nodded as though satisfied.
“Good. It looks like you can go out today.”
Then he suddenly spread both arms.
“Come here. Up you go.”
“I can walk.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you carrying me!?”
“Being able to walk and actually needing to walk are two different things.”
Without giving me a chance to argue, Father scooped me up into his arms.
“Time is precious. At the rate you walk, the sun will set before we get there.”
“M-My walking isn’t that slow……!”
“Yes, yes. My daughter’s feet are as fast as lightning.”
Anyone could tell he was teasing me.
I briefly wondered whether I should ask him to put me down, but Father looked far too pleased with himself while carrying me.
In the end, I said nothing and simply wrapped my arms around his neck.
That was how I arrived at the central medicinal herb repository, still nestled in Father’s arms.
“Wow…….”
I looked up with my mouth slightly open at the towering building rising beyond the high walls.
I had seen it from a distance a few times in my previous life, but seeing it up close, its sheer scale was even more overwhelming.
The central medicinal herb repository was a place that could only be entered after passing through several layers of walls and security even within the heart of Yakryeongga.
The family crest was deeply engraved on either side of the massive iron doors.
The warriors guarding the entrance immediately bowed when they spotted Father.
When Father gave a slight nod, the tightly closed iron doors slowly opened.
Creaaak.
The moment a gap appeared between the doors, a thick, cool scent of medicinal herbs rushed out all at once.
“Wow…….”
A gasp escaped me before I even realized it.
Medicinal herb cabinets that seemed to reach all the way to the ceiling and rows upon rows of drawers covering the walls stretched endlessly into the distance.
I had expected there to be many rare medicinal herbs, but seeing it in person, the scale was beyond anything I could have imagined.
“Are you surprised?”
“Yes. It’s huge.”
As I looked around in amazement, Father’s lips curled up slightly.
“All the medicinal herbs Yakryeongga has collected from all across the land over hundreds of years are kept here.”
“Then there really must be nothing you don’t have.”
“Almost.”
Father walked deeper inside as though he had been waiting for this moment.
Then, suddenly, he took out a long wooden case.
“Ryeonghwa.”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever seen this before?”
His voice sounded strangely cheerful.
But without the slightest suspicion, I poked my head out from Father’s arms.
“What is it?”
“It’s a very precious medicinal herb.”
“Show me.”
“All right. Take a good look.”
Click.
The lid of the wooden case opened.
And then—
“Waaaaah!”
I screamed and clung tightly to Father’s neck.
Inside the wooden case was a large snake, dried stiff and curled up.
“A-a-a snake!!”
At that moment—
“Puhahaha!”
Father burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as though he had been waiting for this.
“Father! How could you suddenly show me a snake like that?!”
“It’s not a snake. It’s a medicinal herb.”
Father played innocent as he slightly lifted the wooden case.
I instinctively clung to his neck and jerked my body backward.
Father’s lips curled up even more.
‘Father is teasing me……?’
When I pouted, Father looked even more delighted as he brought the wooden case slightly closer to me.
“Would you like to take a closer look?”
“No!”
“It’s a precious medicinal herb.”
“It looks precious enough from far away.”
“Hm. A child who wants to become a physician shouldn’t be afraid of medicinal herbs.”
“I’m not afraid!”
Father brought the wooden case even closer.
I recoiled in horror and quickly turned my head to the side.
“Why are you doing that? You said you weren’t afraid.”
“It’s not that I’m scared! I just don’t want to get close to it!”
“Isn’t that the same as being scared?”
“I told you it’s not!”
Father shook the wooden case mischievously.
“Boo. The snake is coming back to life.”
“Eek! Nooooo!”
In the end, Father could hold it in no longer and burst out laughing again.
After laughing for quite some time, he finally closed the lid of the wooden case and returned it to its place.
“All right, all right. I’ll stop teasing you.”
Even as he said that, his face was still full of mischief.
I looked at Father suspiciously.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Father opened the next medicinal herb cabinet with a completely innocent expression.
“Now, there’s something even more interesting over here.”
“……It’s not another snake, is it?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yes. This time, it’s a centipede.”
“Ahhh! Father!”
Father’s laughter once again rang loudly throughout the medicinal herb repository.
After causing quite a commotion, we continued farther inside the repository.
“The medicinal herbs near the entrance are commonly used ones, such as licorice root and atractylodes. The farther inside you go, the rarer or more difficult-to-handle herbs you’ll find.”
My eyes sparkled as I looked around.
Father explained the name and effects of every medicinal herb I pointed at.
From herbs commonly used in decoctions, such as licorice root and atractylodes, to Cheongmaekcho, which could actually harm the body depending on one’s constitution.
He explained without hesitation when each herb should be harvested for the best medicinal effect, what symptoms it was used for, and what it should never be combined with.
The knowledge I had secretly pieced together by sneaking glimpses at medical texts finally felt as though it was taking shape into a single, coherent framework.
‘Amazing……! This is fun.’
I fired question after question without noticing how much time had passed, and Father answered every one without showing even the slightest sign of annoyance.
“Father, you seem excited.”
Father’s steps faltered.
“I do?”
“Yes. You’ve been telling me things I didn’t even ask about.”
“……That’s because I’m worried you’ll recklessly pick up and eat some medicinal herb without knowing anything.”
“I won’t do that anymore.”
“Hard to believe.”
Father cleared his throat and resumed walking, but there was a faint smile at the corners of his lips.
As we went deeper into the medicinal herb repository, some of the medicinal herb cabinets had red cords or golden seals wrapped around them.
The number of apothecaries standing guard also noticeably increased.
“From here onward, we keep rare medicinal herbs that are difficult to obtain.”
Father opened a black box.
Inside, a red fruit about the size of a walnut rested on a soft cloth.
“This is a Jeokyang fruit. It is used to open blocked qi and blood that have been chilled and to restore severely depleted energy.”
“But why is there only one?”
“Because it takes thirty years for the fruit to grow. The family’s apothecaries spent half a year traveling through the southern regions just to obtain this one.”
I stared at the Jeokyang fruit before murmuring quietly,
“Then it must be really expensive.”
“Even so, there is no medicine more valuable than a human life.”
Father answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Those words struck strangely deep into my heart.
Suddenly, I thought that Father must have searched for my medicine with the same feelings in my previous lives.
I silently fiddled with the collar of Father’s clothes.
“What is it? Are you tired?”
“No.”
“Shall I put you down?”
I quickly shook my head.
“No. I want to stay here.”
Father paused for a moment, then tightened the arm holding me slightly.
“You little thing. As long as you’re not uncomfortable, that’s all that matters.”
I rested my chin on his shoulder and looked around again.
That was when I noticed a set of drawers in one corner that looked distinctly different from the others.
A small centipede-shaped emblem was carved into each dark-red wooden plaque.
“Father, what’s over there?”
When I pointed, Father’s expression became serious.
“That is where poisonous herbs are kept.”
“They have poisonous herbs in the central medicinal herb repository, too?”
“Poison can also become medicine depending on how it is used. If you want to study medicine, you need to know about poison as well.”
Father approached the cabinets containing the poisonous herbs, but he did not open them.
“There are poisonous herbs in there that can harm your body simply by smelling them. You must never approach them alone.”
“Yes.”
Even as I answered, I memorized the names written on the dark-red wooden plaques one by one.
[Jeoksacho, Muhyangyeop, Hyeolgogeun]
As my gaze skimmed over the unfamiliar names, it stopped at one particular bottle.
Inside the transparent bottle was a medicinal herb with dark-blue leaves streaked with red veins and a winding black stem.
When my gaze lingered on it for a while, Father asked,
“Are you interested?”
“A little.”
“It’s too early for you to study poisonous herbs.”
Father spoke firmly, but then added another word.
“Still, it would be good for you to at least know what they look like. It’s better to know what they are and avoid them than to touch them without knowing.”
He pointed toward the bottle placed on the outermost side.
“That is Jeoksacho. It was given that name because its leaf veins are red and its stem curves like a snake.”
“What kind of poison is it?”
“When boiled, almost all of its color and scent disappear. A single dose doesn’t cause any major symptoms, but if consumed for a long time, the internal organs gradually harden.”
I held my breath.
“Then…… could someone not even realize that they’re being poisoned?”
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