When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
She couldn't understand what she had just heard.
‘What is this nonsense? ……The Baek Clan's Clan Head. He's here? That Baek Giha? That Baek Giha who was reborn as a divine beast?’
“I don’t know why he came all the way here alone, without an escort or an attendant, in this kind of situation. What is he thinking? And I don’t know what to say about this to the Clan Head.”
“Ah, Father, did you just say that, that Baek Giha has arrived?”
“Yes. I don’t know what scheme he’s plotting, but since he came alone, I’m most worried that the Clan Head might try to capture him, forgetting that he's a divine beast.”
Ju Myoungyoon murmured bitterly.
“With the warriors’ spiritual power not being the same as before after the long war, I need to prevent anything that might cause harm to the members of the bloodline.”
“……”
“For now, it seems that I must go to the Clan Head. I’ll go find out more about the situation.”
Ju Myoungyoon patted her head, apologizing for not being able to stay by her side after she had woken up.
After that, Ju Myoungyoon, having straightened his attire, left the residence with Sa Danyoon.
Sehwa stared blankly at her father’s departing figure.
She was still dazed, unable to understand what she had just heard.
The Baek Clan’s Clan Head was here?
Now?
He was coming to the Ju Clan's territory?
‘……How could he be here?’
Actually, she had been thinking that this place was the underworld.
She did not have any proper information about the underworld, other than that it was a place where the dead went.
And so, even though the people she knew were here, she had thought they had all died and had started a new life here.
‘But the Baek Clan’s Clan Head, Baek Giha, is not.’
No one could kill him.
Because he was a divine beast. A divine beast that was said to be immortal.
‘Yes. No one can kill him. Since he cannot die, he cannot be in the underworld either.’
But he was here.
That one fact told her something.
The people who had all turned young, including herself.
The Baek Clan’s Clan Head, who could not go to a place where the dead went.
If this was neither the underworld nor a panoramic view, then this was…….
‘Good heavens. Could it be that time has actually been reversed?’
Sa Yeonju, who had fainted from being beaten, groaned in extreme pain.
When she slowly opened her eyes, the room was completely quiet, and she couldn't feel anyone’s presence.
‘What. Could it be that they just abandoned me like this?’
“Ugh.”
The pain that she had never experienced before made her hair stand on end.
She scratched the floor with her well-maintained nails, desperately suppressing her urge to scream.
‘What is it? What caused this mess?’
But she could not hold back her tears.
Because it was too frightening.
She was so relieved when she noticed that Ju Sehwa was not in the room that she couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
‘What’s the problem? Did she find out that I took her accessories? Or that I stole the Madam’s things?’
And yet, anger welled up inside her.
‘Was it that I used her name every time I attended those vulgar banquets? Or that I sold off brother Gayoon’s nameplate at the gambling hall?’
Sa Yeonju was a daughter of the Sa Clan, a distant branch of the Ju Myoungyoon’s family.
Sa Yeonju's parents had died early, but around the time of their funeral, Ju Myoungyoon was passing by and had taken notice of her.
After seeing the young member of the bloodline who was left alone, Ju Myoungyoon was reminded of his own daughter.
And so, he could not leave her and brought her to his mansion. He asked her to be his daughter’s companion.
Since there was a war going on, the Ju Clan’s territory had lost a bit of its usual splendor.
But in Sa Yeonju’s eyes, who had arrived there for the first time, everything was more luxurious than she had imagined.
Her cousins, whom she had met, were all kind to her as well.
The beautiful clothes that she had seen for the first time. The accessories that shone so brightly they made her eyes flash. Delicious food and parties that went on every day.
Sa Yeonju had quickly adapted to life in the Ju Clan.
She had been eager to respond to all of the invitations that arrived for Ju Sehwa.
But that only lasted for the first few years.
The arrogant members of the Ju Clan, although they did not dare ignore Sa Yeonju, who was under the protection of the elders, did not treat her with the same respect as they would treat their fellow members of the Ju Clan, either.
Sa Yeonju soon realized.
That this kind and reliable couple of elders were not her parents, and that this beautiful mansion did not belong to her.
Even though she enjoyed the things that belonged to the Ju Clan, her position was merely that of a houseguest of the elders, and that she was by no means a real member of the family.
‘I’m more beautiful and more intelligent than you. Wouldn’t it be better for me to push you away and take that place?’
Her anger at this unfair situation was directed towards Ju Sehwa.
A girl who had been lucky enough to be born a Ju, a descendant of the dragon race.
Although she was more outstanding than her in both beauty and intelligence, she was the cousin who possessed everything just because she was a dragon while she was a snake.
As time went on, she became more and more hateful.
It felt as if this cousin was taking everything that was originally hers.
Since she could not dare to live extravagantly in front of the elder couple, putting on an act as a kind and thoughtful younger sister, she had no choice but to covet Ju Sehwa's things.
It started with a very small act, but after she realized that she was not being caught, her actions became bolder.
Because she was not dull, but was rather someone who had never been lacking anything from birth, Ju Sehwa had generously shared the things that Sa Yeonju coveted, or had easily forgiven her for her mistakes.
Therefore, whatever she had been discovered for, the reaction she had just experienced was definitely excessive.
‘Wait. Did they perhaps find out that I bought the poison to feed to the Madam?’
Ju Sehwa would soon be leaving for the Baek Clan, and the elders and the two brothers were also always traveling near the border as generals, so if she could do something about the Madam, this place would be hers.
As soon as she had that thought, Sa Yeonju had hurriedly and secretly acquired the poison with a joyful heart.
‘No. Even if they found out that I bought the poison, they shouldn’t know who I was planning on feeding it to yet.’
Sa Yeonju's tear-filled eyes were moving busily.
‘Or is there something else? There are so many things, it's too difficult to guess what they found out. What on earth could it be?’
After thinking hard, she moved with gritted teeth.
‘I don't know when that bitch will come back again.’
Therefore, she had to escape this place first.
It was then, when she stood up, that she realized.
That Ju Sehwa's two attendants were standing at a distance behind her.
“……Ah.”
There was a moment of silence.
Looking at their cold and sharp gazes, Sa Yeonju, forgetting that she was crying, became flustered.
‘I definitely thought that inside my head just now, right? I didn’t say it out loud, right?’
It was that moment.
The door burst open, and Ju Sehwa, with her face completely wet, ran into the room.
“Yeonju!”
And then, she immediately embraced Sa Yeonju with strength.
“I’m sorry. Without checking. How could I have been so rash?”
Her voice, as she said that, was trembling a lot.
Sa Yeonju, who was frightened by the fact that she looked different than she had earlier, cowered.
‘What is this? What is up with her today?’
She couldn't figure out what had been going on since the beginning of the day.
‘Judging by this reaction, it doesn't seem like she found out about the things that I did, right? Then what was the problem?’
If it had been up to her, she would have liked to pay back the pain that she had suffered several dozens, several hundreds of times over.
But right now, what was more important was solving her doubts.
Greed that had preceded her anger and hatred pulled Sa Yeonju back to her senses.
‘Not yet. There’s still more that I can take. Now’s the time to endure.’
And so, instead of pushing away Ju Sehwa, who was embracing her, Sa Yeonju wet her own cheeks with tears first.
“What was that all about? Sister, why are you doing this to me, why?”
She trembled her voice with pain and gentleness, putting on a pitiful act.
Ju Sehwa also answered emotionally, with tears in her eyes.
“You heard that I was going to be going to the Baek Clan, right?”
“That’s…… Yes, I heard about it.”
“I was so scared since I will have to live in the territory of those rebels alone. But then, someone told me something strange while I was leaving the palace.”
“……Something? What?”
“That the reason why the Clan Head was sending me to the Baek Clan instead of the Young Lord was because he wasn't the one who thought about it, but because the idea came from our family first. That the story had been spread from someone in our family.”
“What?!”
Sa Yeonju hurriedly covered her trembling mouth with her hand.
Because she was the one who had spoken about it at the meeting.
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