When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 86
Chapter 86
A pleasant fragrance wafted from Seowol’s body. Just smelling it made him feel languid all over.
“You haven’t given me heir training yet. You said it could wait until after my exuviation and just made me wait.”
Seowol’s low laughter flowed out like a clear melody.
“The Mystic Ruler simply wished for the Young Lord to have a more comfortable childhood.”
“I know. How could I not know that deep and affectionate heart? But after seeing Clan Head Baek today…”
“What is it? What did Clan Head Baek do?”
Behind Ju Kyunghyun's lowered eyelids, something had been moving since the afternoon.
It was the lingering image of Baek Giha, etched as if branded.
The spiritual power that had surged within the hunting grounds. The gentle movements that controlled it. That power. His swordsmanship. His majesty and bearing.
There was not one thing that wasn't astonishing, and he was so envious that he couldn't help but grind his teeth.
“I need to exuviate as soon as possible.”
Then that majestic figure that captivated everyone at once could become his.
“You will soon, Young Lord. Seowol will do her best to help you. But what about today's hunting competition? And what happened with Lady Sehwa?”
Ju Myoungyoon's face contorted.
“Don’t even mention Sehwa, that bitch! That face is all she has. Even if she kneels at my feet begging to be accepted, I will refuse!”
“But the Mystic Ruler personally selected her as your betrothed. Wouldn’t it be better for the Young Lord to soothe her and bring her back? Seowol would be very happy if Lady Sehwa returned.”
“……”
At those words, Ju Kyunghyun’s gaze drifted into his memories.
“This is the Ju Clan’s matter, so you should take care of it. So, come quickly and tear these people to shreds. Let’s establish the Ju Clan's dignity and make an example.”
‘That bastard who’ll have to bow his head to me and address me with respect when I become the Mystic Ruler. How dare he try to teach me?’
Ju Kyunghyun's insides churned, but he agreed with the opinion.
Since he was the one who discovered the Ju Clan’s traitors, shouldn’t he be the one to finish them off?
Drawing his sword, Ju Kyunghyun slashed the clothes of the hundred people who could no longer escape.
Not one was without a mark.
“Ha!”
He had guessed from their desperate attempts to flee, but it was so absurd that he could only let out a hollow laugh.
Now with nothing holding him back, he cruelly cut off the rest of their limbs.
Thwack!
Thwack!
His face and clothes were splattered with a fierce spray of blood, but he didn't care at all.
To establish the dignity that had been pushed aside by Baek Giha, he had to act as if such brutal slaughter was nothing.
That’s why he tore apart the limbs of the very people he had been meeting daily and patting on the shoulder and left only their lives intact.
His weak-hearted father seemed unable to bear watching that sight.
“…Now, take care of the rest yourself.”
Leaving those words behind, he tried to leave the place with a few warriors guarding the hunting grounds.
“Father, please wait a moment!”
“……What is it now?”
“Now that things have come to this, the warriors who guarded the hunting grounds must also be investigated. We don’t know where those bastards might be hiding, and they might remove their marks if we delay.”
“You…! You…”
At that moment, Clan Head Baek interjected once more.
“Mystic Ruler, the Young Lord is exceptionally intelligent. If we delay, we’ll give them time to hide their identities, so we need to eliminate even one more of their forces now. Please heed the Young Lord’s words!”
“Father. It’ll only take a moment to check. It won’t take long.”
But as soon as he finished speaking and called out to the warriors, a few of them started to run away again, desperately trying to escape.
And so, Ju Kyunghyun killed them without even checking for the marks on their bodies, just as Clan Head Baek had done.
When he checked after, they indeed had marks on their bodies.
His father, greatly shocked, didn’t say another word.
With his face contorted, he left the scene, leaving it up to the Young Lord to clean up the chaotic hunting ground.
While clearing away the blood-soaked corpses and trying to disperse the spectators, one of them asked.
“But what about today’s competition?”
Did he really need to spell it out? It was obvious from the situation.
Ju Kyunghyun, furrowing his brow, shouted, “As you can see, this has happened, so the competition will have to be rescheduled for another-!” when he was cut off by Ju Sehwa, who was being supported by Ju Myoungyoon.
“What is it?”
“Before you make that announcement, I would like you to see this first.”
At her gesture, one of Sehwa's maids brought something from a bundle tied to a horse.
“!”
“I found this before I was poisoned and captured it. What should we do?”
What the maid held up was a small, bright red snake, with an arrow piercing its triangular head.
It was a Crimson famine, a snake rarely found in the Ju Clan's territory, and especially in the Mystic Ruler's hunting grounds.
“You, how did you get this?”
They were extremely small and fast, and they had a habit of quickly burrowing into the ground when in danger, making them difficult to catch.
Eating them enhanced one's spiritual power, and because they only established themselves in this forest, it became the Mystic Ruler's hunting ground.
‘No, even experts have trouble catching a Crimson famine, how did this girl…?’
Gasps erupted from the onlookers.
“Good heavens. Isn’t that a Crimson famine? I’ve never seen one before.”
“My word. Seasoned hunters can’t catch them, and they say even the Mystic Ruler periodically deploys warriors to catch them, but how on earth did that young lady…?”
“Ah. The Young Lord was under a threat of assassination and out of his mind, so I thought that no matter what the Elder’s daughter caught, it wouldn't be a fair match, but if it’s that…”
Ju Kyunghyun was also listening to all those whispering voices.
“I offer this to the Young Lord, who must have had a hard time today. It is a rare treasure caught in the Mystic Ruler's hunting ground.”
Sehwa slowly walked over and placed the Crimson famine, with an arrow precisely piercing its nail-sized head, at Ju Kyunghyun's feet.
“What should we do? Is the competition nullified?”
She asked, her round eyes looking up at him.
Ju Kyunghyun could clearly see the mockery within those eyes. His fist, tightly clenched, trembled.
This girl was giving him a warning.
That she could wield a bow well enough to hit the head of this small Crimson famine.
So, if he dared to have another competition, she would crush him in front of all the Ju Clan's blood relatives.
That he had better be prepared to be completely disgraced if he dared to face her again.
“……”
He felt resentful, indignant, and furious to the point that his body trembled.
Since Crimson famine could only be caught here, he couldn't even claim that she'd caught it beforehand.
Just when had she trained her archery skills to the point she could catch a Crimson famine?
‘I can’t allow another competition to have this kind of girl humiliate me, the Young Lord, in front of everyone.’
Although he didn't want to admit it, his only way out was now.
Ju Kyunghyun opened his mouth with a heart-wrenching feeling.
“…It’s not appropriate to reschedule it. Not in a time like this when we’re busy finding the people with marks. The Mystic Ruler’s safety is the utmost priority.”
To show everyone that he was being humiliated by a mere girl.
He gritted his teeth.
‘I will not let you get away with this.’
“Even though there was a threat to my life, a match is a match. Since you caught at least one, you won. So-.”
“Then, you won’t propose to me anymore, will you? If you consider my heartbroken state for having to refuse the Young Lord.”
‘This bitch!’
His jaw trembled.
“Isn’t that so?”
“Y-yes.”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
“……!”
“It seems that you’re having trouble with your voice because of everything that happened today. But the others also have to hear the results, so please try a bit harder and announce it loudly, then return to your manor and rest peacefully.”
Ju Kyunghyun gritted his teeth, remembering her urging and the way her eyes had widened.
Unable to contain the surging rage once again, he punched mindlessly.
When he came to his senses, he was in the bathroom, feeling the squishy sensation.
“Young Lord, your face is very red. It seems you've been in the bath too long.”
“Ah, no. It’s because of something so infuriating that I couldn't stand it.”
“This competition is your victory. I will never propose to you again, so you are free to handle your marriage as you wish!”
Just thinking of that humiliating moment when he had to shout those words out loud in front of all the Ju Clan’s blood relatives was enough to make him bolt upright from his sleep.
‘It’s a good thing Father had returned to the mansion beforehand.’
Saying that he could rest before his exuviation, that he didn’t need to study now, he was not only preventing him from receiving heir training but also preventing the proper teachers from being assigned to him.
If his father had seen such a humiliating scene as this one, he might have been banned from leaving the manor, let alone receiving heir training.
‘It’s alright. Father wasn’t there at the time, anyway, and I was handling things very well until that bitch Sehwa intervened.’
He must be very worried about yesterday's events, and wouldn't have the energy to think of anything else.
‘Right. My actions in revealing the truth must have been a great support for him, so even if that reaches Father’s ears, well, it’ll be fine this time.’
Thinking so, Ju Kyunghyun did his best to suppress the fury that had been making his lips tremble.
He leaned deeply into Seowol and took a deep breath.
Her slender white fingers were still caressing his body, and the more she did, the more languid his body became.
“Yes. Ah, yes. There. Press there harder.”
At the Young Lord’s instruction, Seowol’s hands massaged his exposed muscles even more diligently.
Her touch was so relaxing. Just as Ju Kyunghyun was about to drift deeply off to sleep, momentarily forgetting all his frustration.
Seowol, who had been gently caressing his wet body, slipped into the water like a snake.
Startled by the movement, the Young Lord frowned and opened his eyes. Seowol was holding something out in front of him.
“Young Lord. Seowol brought this. Please take this, too.”
“Gasp. What is this? A spirit orb?”
Ju Kyunghyun asked in surprise, looking at the five orange spirit orbs clustered together on Seowol's hand.
“Isn’t this someone from the Ju Clan’s spiritual power! Where did you get this?!”
“Actually, it’s not from Seowol. The Mystic Ruler was very worried about the Young Lord today, and he gave these orbs to me when I came in here. It seems he did it in the hopes that it would help you recover a little.”
“Father made it by cutting his own spiritual power? He’s the only one who thinks of me so deeply.”
“Please take them now. Shouldn’t you exuviate at least a little bit faster if you consume a lot of spirit orbs?”
“That’s right. That’s right. Give them to me.”
Afraid that even one of the precious spirit orbs might be lost, Ju Kyunghyun quickly took them and swallowed them.
In an instant, his stomach was burning hot, and his whole body overflowed with vitality.
Just as Ju Kyunghyun was focusing on absorbing his spiritual power, intoxicated with that power…
Thwack!
A long needle pierced the Young Lord's back neck in one swift motion.
Because he was completely defenseless while absorbing spirit orbs, he couldn't defend at all. With his eyes rolled back, the Young Lord could not even cry out as he collapsed into the water.
Seowol pulled the Young Lord's body out of the bath.
It was at that moment.
The bathroom door opened, and the Mystic Ruler walked in with a frozen expression.
The old man’s lips twisted cruelly as he looked at the collapsed Ju Kyunghyun and Seowol, who was supporting him.
“Lock him in the secret chamber! And make sure he does not wake up until we need him!”
The old man's eyes, like those of an old tree, twisted sharply.
“And you bring that bitch Sehwa to me yourself.”
Yes. There was no point in delaying any further.
He had to drain her spiritual power before she could become a Divine Beast by using a Spirit Stone.
“Use any means necessary. Break her arms and legs, regardless of the Baek Clan! So bring that bitch before me!”
Comments
Post a Comment