When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The relationship between the six clans, who had formed an alliance led by the Baek Clan, was already chaotic and noisy due to the distribution of reparations.
The clans, who had barely endured the Mystic Ruler's tyranny, were now riding on their momentum, demanding that the Ju Clan be completely defeated and that the war should not end until that was done.
In the midst of all that, if it was to become known that the Clan Head of the Baek Clan, who was the leader of the six-clan alliance, personally went out to greet the Ju Clan’s successor, whose safety he was concerned about…
‘Oh my.’
With his face completely drained of color, the Chancellor knelt before the Clan Head and pleaded.
“Clan Head, please recall the ancient historical records! No monarch in the world has ever personally gone to escort a hostage of the enemy. Moreover, that you would personally attend to their needs. What are you saying? Please, withdraw this order!”
“Step aside.”
“Clan Head! The relationship between the six clans is extremely complicated due to the distribution of the reparations. At a time like this, how can you personally go to greet the successor of the Ju Clan, our enemy!”
“Who said the successor is coming?”
“……Yes?”
The only young member of the Ju Clan’s Clan Head’s bloodline was the Young Lord Ju Kyunghyun, who had not yet completed his exuviation.
That was the reason why they had deliberately limited the target and demanded a representative.
‘But what is the Clan Head saying right now?’
The Chancellor, who had been dejectedly hanging his head, unknowingly raised his head.
‘……!’
And he was startled.
Instead of the Clan Head, who was always sitting listlessly with a bored expression, there was his master smiling with a more vibrant expression than ever, looking more beautiful than ever.
……The Clan Head was smiling.
The Chancellor was so surprised by this fact that he couldn't say anything, his throat choked with emotion.
“I have urgent matters to attend to and will go ahead alone, so you must do your best to prepare for the arrival of our honored guest. Do you understand?”
With those words, Baek Giha passed by the Chancellor and quickly mounted his horse.
Hee hee hee-neigh-!
At its master’s mounting, the massive warhorse with its dark, rugged muscles raised its front legs and cheered.
“No, just, wait a minute. Why are you in such a hurry…… Clan Head! Please wait! Clan Head!”
The Chancellor hurried after him, but his master callously ignored him.
“Heavens! Are you really trying to go to the Ju Clan’s territory like this? Then just wait a moment. You can't go without an escort. Please, wait just a moment, and I will prepare things as quickly as possible!”
“It’s not necessary. You all can come slowly.”
“The successor isn’t supposed to depart until a month from now, so why are you in such a hurry!”
“I'm going to ruin a wedding!”
“Yes?”
……A wedding?
……Whose?
……No, more importantly, why?
Leaving behind the Chancellor’s questions, Baek Giha rode out of the garden alone.
The sound of him calling out, “Clan Head!” quickly faded behind him.
The swift warhorse picked up speed at a frightening pace.
The wind, full of the scent of trees, rushed past his face.
The hand that whipped the horse to gain speed was anxious, but his heart was lighter than ever before.
“Hyah!”
The ebony hair that had been curved in his vision was now vivid.
“Ju Sehwa.”
Baek Giha’s lips savored the three syllables that drew his heart like nothing else.
She did not hesitate to bend her pride to survive.
The woman who had prepared fiercely for the future with eyes like a burning flame.
That woman who felt so hot that it felt like she would burn him.
“Haha!”
Time had turned back!
She would not have been betrothed to Ju Kyunghyun yet.
It wasn’t too late.
She would be alive.
He would be able to hold her hand again.
“Ju Sehwa.”
The gaze of his eyes, muttering the three sweet syllables, intensely flashed.
This time, he would.
He would never let her go.
The Clan Head of the Baek Clan, who had never had anything to smile about, was now laughing heartily, as if his heart was being cleansed, and running forward, forward, at this moment.
“Ju Sehwa.”
He would meet her again!
‘Ju Kyunghyun!’
Meanwhile, Ju Sehwa, upon seeing the person who approached her, was just bewildered and unable to say anything.
His elegant and bewitching appearance was still the same.
The sweet gaze and the gentle smile that seemed to only be for her, as well.
“Why are your eyes red? Were you crying?”
Everything rapidly moved away except for his presence, as he called out her name with a kind expression.
‘When he needed it, he would put on such a kind face. And then he imprisoned me in the dungeon for five years and tortured me.’
After confirming that he was definitely there, the bewilderment disappeared, and all that remained was her boiling rage.
As if she had become a completely different person.
As soon as Sehwa had returned from the Baek Clan, without properly explaining the reason, Ju Kyunghyun abandoned his previous attitude and cruelly tortured her.
“How can I leave a capable elder who has become more renowned than the Clan Head?”
“And so, I needed to torture my loyal betrothed. Your father, who was always loyal to me no matter what I did, would never have pointed his sword at me.”
“But as I pulled out your nails, cut your fingers, branded your skin with a hot iron, and made you scream in agony, that great loyalty eventually began to waver.”
“And that was how I created the pretext I had been looking for.”
‘The ropes that were constricting my flesh and binding me, the warriors who were humiliatingly pressing down on my shoulders, and the personal guards who were tightly protecting that beast, are all not here now.’
What reason was there not to kill that beast?
‘There can’t be any?!’
But it was that moment.
“Young Lord, please forgive my daughter for not being able to properly show her respect, as she is not feeling well.”
Her father's strong, sturdy hand grabbed her shoulder.
Feeling his warm body temperature, she suddenly trembled.
……Father.
“Did something happen to her?”
‘I cannot send Father to the execution grounds again. ……So, not now.’
She could not have Sa Danyoon brutally murdered again either.
Ju Sehwa barely suppressed the surging rage beneath her throat.
She bit her lip hard to hide her hatred-filled gaze and clenched her fists so hard that the veins in them were bulging.
‘I have to endure it. Not here.’
Her nails dug sharply into her palms.
She was so busy suppressing her murderous intent that she did not notice that her palms had become covered in blood.
“Oh my, she really doesn't seem to be well. I will allow you to leave first. Take your daughter and return immediately.”
“Thank you, Young Lord.”
“Although she is beautiful to my eyes even when she is in pain, I am still worried, so please go back and rest well. I will come and see you soon.”
She was afraid that only curses would flow out of her mouth if she opened it, so she was unable to say anything, and she just kept her mouth shut.
She had no choice but to leave the place.
The fact that she had to leave that beast safe and sound was burning her heart from the inside out.
“Guards! Display the heads of this traitorous group in the plaza, tear their bodies into pieces, and throw them into the dog kennels!”
She wanted to cut off his head, tear his body to pieces, and throw them as dog food, just like her family had suffered.
But she had to leave without being able to do that.
Unable to contain her burning rage, the corners of her eyes became wet with tears.
‘Why am I crying over this? Don’t cry. Don't show your tears. There will be another opportunity. There will definitely be.’
Her father slowly guided her body, which was stiff with tension as she was busy trying to keep her murderous intent at bay, with a worried hand.
Her feet wouldn’t move, but she had no choice but to walk forward with his help.
‘Don’t worry. This will definitely not be the last time.’
In the end, tears fell again.
She did not properly remember how she had arrived home.
Her whole body felt hot, and she collapsed and was bedridden for two whole days.
While unconscious, she was seeing someone in her dreams.
After sending her father and brothers to war, she had pondered what she could do, even with her body that had not yet come of age.
And following her mother's advice, she had chosen to hide among the humans and experience their lives.
“If things continue like this, there may really come a time when we will have to move to the human realm. So wouldn’t it be beneficial for you to go down there first and learn about human life and their way of thinking? Therefore, Sehwa, you should be the first to go down there.”
The mystic beings had a lifespan that was far longer than humans.
And so, the speed at which their homeland, the Mystic Realm, was collapsing, was perhaps faster than the speed at which they were dying out.
“But isn’t the human realm where the criminals exiled from the Mystic Realm go? I haven't even completed my exuviation yet, so what if I run into those criminals?”
“Don’t worry. When they’re exiled from the Mystic Realm, the Clan Head directly destroys their source.”
“What happens after it is destroyed?”
“Since they can’t store spiritual energy in their bodies, they can’t adapt to the air in the human realm and suffer immense pain. If they were exiled when they were young, they wouldn’t even be able to complete their exuviation.”
So don’t worry and go. Those criminals won't be able to do anything to you.
At the time, she had been worried every day about her family who had gone to war.
Therefore, her mother had given her a task in order to reassure her, but at the time, she did not know that.
And for that reason, Sehwa had hidden herself in the human world.
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