When the Black Moon Rises - Side Story 28
Side Story 28
When the children arrived, Youngmu and other attendants were standing in the corridor outside the door.
"Youngmu. Why are you out here?"
"Are Mother and Father still sleeping?"
Kneeling, Youngmu straightened the two Young Masters' disheveled clothes and answered.
"No. They have just finished washing up. I came out for a moment while they are getting ready."
The children tilted their heads.
Why is she out here while they're getting ready?
"Then should we not go in either?"
"No. You two Young Masters may enter anytime. Shall I announce you and open the door?"
It was just last evening that they had received an earful from Baek Manyong, a sermon on the proper and calm demeanor a Young Lord should have.
Not wanting to hear such nagging for hours again, the children hesitated for a moment and said something they didn't mean.
"No. If Mother and Father are busy, we'll come back later."
"Yes. We can wait. We will wait."
"It's alright. The Mystic Ruler herself said to let you two Young Masters in anytime you come."
"Really?"
They didn't know their always-busy mother had given such an order.
The children's moods brightened, their eyes curving into half-moons.
"Still! Still, we'll see what they're doing before we go in!"
"That's right. We're dignified Young Lords! We don't just barge in anytime. We're good at being patient! We'll only go in when they're resting."
Despite that, they were both still in their nightclothes, as if they had run over the moment they opened their eyes.
Youngmu, smiling softly, agreed and opened the door just a crack.
Of course, Sehwa and Giha inside the room had noticed the presence outside.
But the conversation outside was so adorable.
The two, smiling slightly, pretended not to notice the spies outside the door for a moment and continued what they were doing.
A pair of small, round eyes first pressed close to the crack in the door.
They expected him to either open the door wide after a quick look or close it and say he'd come back later, but Sanyul surprisingly stayed with his nose pressed to the crack for a long time without moving.
Sanjin asked impatiently.
"What are you doing? Are they sleeping?"
"Shh. Shh."
Looking at his twin brother, Sanyul raised a finger to his lips.
"What are you looking at?"
"You look too."
Sanyul stepped aside, and Sanjin took his place.
Just as his younger brother had done, he put his eye to the crack in the door.
'Huh? Father isn't working, so what am I supposed to be looking at?'
Deep inside the bedroom, Baek Giha was kneeling on one knee, slowly moving his large hands.
His long hair, disheveled unlike usual, swayed behind his back with the movement of his arms.
His large father's back blocked the view, so he couldn't see clearly, but every time his hands moved, there was the sound of water.
As if he were washing their mother's feet.
Sanjin blinked.
Did he see wrong?
But a moment later, his father's hand took a cloth that was on a chair.
He pressed the cloth to their mother's bare feet, patting them to dry the water.
This time, Sehwa pulled Baek Giha over and sat him on the bed.
She sat facing his large back and then carefully combed down his long hair with a small comb.
Humming and murmuring filled the room, soon spreading into soft laughter.
"What's the matter? Shall I announce you?"
"Ah, no. We, we're..."
"So, we'll come back a little later."
"You're coming back? Why not go in now?"
"No. It's okay to come later. Sanyul, you think so too, right?"
"Yes. We'll go get changed and come back at breakfast time."
Sanyul closed the door, took Sanjin's hand, and turned away.
Puzzled by the children's sudden behavior, Youngmu also became curious for a moment about what they had seen inside, but now the door was closed, and there was no way to know.
Returning to their room, the children quietly changed their clothes.
After the attendants who had been helping them left, Sanyul, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"Why was Father washing Mother's feet?"
"That's something attendants do. It's something the Clan Head and Young Lords aren't supposed to do."
"Mother was combing Father's hair herself, too. But. But..."
Sanyul fidgeted with his fingers as he spoke.
"But. They kept smiling. Why?"
"......"
Their mother and father were the highest-ranking people in this Baek Residence.
No. Not just in Baek Residence, but the highest in this Mystic Realm, people whom everyone looked up to and bowed their heads to.
Why were they doing such things?
They didn't even look like they were doing something they disliked.
"Could that also be a duty of the Clan Head, not an attendant? Do we have to do that too when we become Clan Heads later?"
A mountain of things they had to do even if they disliked them, and things a good Young Lord should never do, was already piled up before them.
But they had to do things like that too?
"I don't know. I, I don't want to do it."
"Me neither."
"Or are they being scolded? Could they be getting punished?"
"Mother? Father?"
Sitting on their chairs, the children furrowed their brows in thought.
They disliked the idea of serving someone, like kneeling to wash their feet, and they disliked the idea of being scolded by their parents even more.
Of course, they knew because they had heard it so many times.
That having many attendants, eating delicious food at every meal, wearing fine clothes, and having others bow their heads was because they were Young Lords. So they had to act in a manner befitting that.
So the children also tried their best to endure what they wanted to do and not throw tantrums.
But even if they didn't throw tantrums and endured, did they have to do things like that later?
Then they didn't want to be Young Lords or Clan Heads.
From now on, they just wanted to do whatever they wanted and play.
While pondering this, they realized it was time for breakfast.
Sanjin got down from his chair first and held out his hand to Sanyul.
"Let's ask Father first. Ask if they were being scolded. We can ask during breakfast."
"What if we go in now and they tell us to do it too? What then?"
"Let's just ask first."
"......Alright."
Holding hands, the children walked amicably towards their parents' room again.
As they walked down the long corridor, before they even arrived, the door opened and Baek Giha came out.
"Father!"
Large arms scooped up the two children running from a distance in one go.
The children clung to his sturdy neck and shoulders.
Baek Giha planted a loud kiss on each of the giggling children's foreheads.
"My little acorns. Why did you just leave earlier? You should have come in."
"Oh, you knew we came by?"
"Of course, I know. I know everything about my little acorns."
"That's because. We came too early."
"That's right! We came early, so we went back to come again at breakfast time."
"Because Mother and Father worked late yesterday too."
Baek Giha smiled brightly at the children who answered bravely in unison.
"So, you ran over the moment you opened your eyes and then went back? Because you were worried Father and Mother would be tired?"
He laughed out loud and held the children up high again.
"Don't be too good. It's okay to throw tantrums and be mischievous. I'll love you no matter what you're like."
"We won't be bad children."
"That's right. We'll be good children."
"My cute little ones. Alright. Let's have breakfast!"
Baek Giha, who had been holding one child in each arm, tucked them side-by-side under his arms and went into the room.
Sehwa, who was talking with Youngmu, smiled and turned to look at them.
"Why did you just leave earlier? I was waiting for you."
"I asked them. They said it was because they were worried we'd be tired."
"Is that so? Next time, don't worry about that and just come in. Alright?"
The children's expressions brightened even more at their parents' affectionate words.
It seemed more food had been sent from the Human Realm, as a different menu than usual was on the table.
Sehwa and Giha began to add affectionate explanations for the children, who were marveling at the unusual foods.
What the green grass was, and where the fish over there lived.
It was when the family had finished their pleasant meal.
Sanjin, who had been quietly watching the attendants clear the empty dishes, looked back at Giha.
"But, Father."
The sound was closer to a child's lisp than a clear "Father," but Baek Giha answered readily without laughing.
"Yes."
"Earlier."
"Yes."
"Earlier.........."
"Yes. It's okay to speak comfortably. What is it?"
The children, looking at their father's face smiling affectionately at them, briefly met each other's eyes.
The children, who seemed to be pushing the task onto each other, soon got up from their chairs and bowed politely to their parents.
"We'll be going now. Please rest, Mother and Father."
"Yes. Please rest. We won't disturb you."
"......You're leaving? Weren't you about to say something just now?"
"It was nothing."
Even after the children had quietly left the room, Sehwa and Baek Giha, not understanding the meaning of their children's sudden behavior, just blinked.
"What was that? Weren't they about to ask something?"
"I know. Are they worried about something? Do they already have something that's difficult to tell us?"
"I wonder."
Around the time they were wondering about this, the two children, having sent their attendants far away, swung their held hands and calmly returned to their room.
"What if we ask first and they ask us if we did something to get scolded for?"
"Right. If we say we didn't, it would be a lie. And lying is bad."
"Should we not ask?"
Unaware of the children's worries, Sehwa and Baek Giha, who had moved to their office, received a letter from Choi Jangmyung, who was in the Human Realm.
In it was news of an enthronement ceremony to be held in the Human Realm.
Surprised by the news of her friend after so long, Sehwa immediately sent a reply saying she would attend.
Thus, a situation like a bolt from the blue occurred for the children, where both Clan Heads would be absent at the same time.
"Fifteen nights? We, we want to go too. We want to go too."
"Yes. The wedding in the Human Realm, we want to see it too. Please take us with you."
Baek Giha and Sehwa looked on, troubled, at the children clinging to them with tears welling in their eyes.
They, too, did not want to leave such small children for a fortnight.
However, the children's spiritual power was currently manifesting, and there were times they used their power unintentionally, without even realizing it.
Since it was an important ceremony held at the palace, everyone would be putting their utmost effort into it.
In the midst of that, if even one pavilion were to be blown away, what a nuisance that would be.............
"This time, only Mother and Father will go. Next time, let's definitely go together."
"That's right, my little acorns. After we get back, Father will take a break from work, and then we can go hunting and on picnics. How about that?"
"No. Please take us this time."
"We want to go hunting and on picnics now. Let's go together."
Usually, they would have agreed by now, but the children just kept shaking their heads.
Sehwa hugged the children.
"You've never been away from Father and Mother for fifteen nights, so you're anxious, right? Mother knows. Mother is also very scared and anxious when I'm away from you. But I'll endure the fear, spend just fifteen nights, and then hurry back, so will my little acorns wait for me?"
"That's right. Father won't stay a moment longer and will definitely come back after just fifteen nights. And then I'll stay with you always."
It was when Baek Giha and Sehwa were making troubled faces at the children's lack of response.
Baek Manyong, approaching quickly, sternly admonished the children.
"Why are our dignified Young Lords acting like this today? I've told you how those who will stand above others must act, haven't I?"
At Baek Manyong's words, the children clung even tighter to Sehwa's sleeve for a moment. But soon, they reluctantly nodded.
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