Dankyeong bitterly smiled without outright denying Sahyeon’s words.
“Well. I understand His Majesty’s concern for the dignity of the royal family, but since the child’s mind is restless, I also think living so leisurely isn’t a bad thing. Hani Baek Munhak, don’t feel too pressured. I doubt His Majesty’s true intention is to force him to study.”
At least it was certain that Dankyeong did not want to “force Dan Ijae to study.”
Was it because she saw Dan Ijae as a potential threat to herself, or because she was watching over all the siblings remaining at Unkyunggung?
Dankyeong’s position, after guarding the place of eldest daughter for nearly fifty years and still without certainty, was truly pitiful.
But a tree that has not rooted deeply is easily shaken even by a gentle breeze.
Would a bird seeking a branch to nest consider the state of the tree?
‘I should look around at other trees nearby, too.’
The place where she fluttered in was a forest.
***
When the master Chae Gong decided the route, her senior and juniors said about ‘Pasa’: “That place is a land of half-human, half-beasts, so the master need not go further.”
It was probably about the founder of Pasa, Grand Duke Dan.
About 900 years ago, the old empire’s third emperor Hyeje had three sons.
Hyeje loved the wise and kind third son the most and wanted him as his successor.
However, the empire was newly established and weak at that time.
Fierce bandits lurking in the northern border repeatedly invaded, stealing food and killing people, even turning skulls into ornaments.
The empire sent troops to defeat the bandits but suffered several defeats.
Eventually, Hyeje announced that anyone who could eliminate the bandits would be made the northern lord and their wishes granted.
Many nobles sent private armies north, but they often fought among themselves, succumbed to the cold, and were chased away by bandits.
When the bandits realized the empire’s forces were weak and started to desire conquering the continent, a black wolf approached the hunting Hyeje.
“If I eliminate the bandits, will Your Majesty keep the promise?”
Hyeje was amazed to hear a wolf speak and gladly accepted her offer.
The black wolf gathered a brave group and headed north.
They fought the bandits for three days and nights, biting their necks and tearing their flesh.
Over half the bandits died, and none survived.
Hyeje rejoiced and held a grand victory ceremony to welcome the black wolf.
He named the northern territory Pasa (Breaking Evil), made the black wolf the first lord of Pasa, Grand Duke, and gave her the name Dan, meaning the end of northern darkness.
During the festive atmosphere, the black wolf Grand Duke Dan stepped before Hyeje and said,
“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s grace in appointing this beast as lord. But is there not one more promise?”
“Yes, you asked for one more wish. Speak it.”
“I wish to marry Your Majesty’s third son, Lord Hyegang.”
Everyone immediately froze cold.
Hyeje, who had appointed the beast as lord, drew a sword to kill it, calling it a filthy beast ignorant of its place.
Grand Duke Dan neither criticized the emperor’s reversal nor left the place but sat straight and repeated, “Did you not promise?”
If Lord Hyegang had not run forward to block Hyeje and begged to go north with her, Hyeje might have killed Grand Duke Dan, and the world would have abandoned a foolish emperor who broke promises.
The next day, Lord Hyegang went north with the wolf pack without waiting for Hyeje’s answer.
Seven children were born between Grand Duke Dan and Lord Hyegang.
The rest resembled Lord Hyegang in human form, but the youngest had the ‘wolf’s eyes’ like Grand Duke Dan.
Everyone adored the youngest, who looked like his mother, but the child could not suppress his beast nature and, one day, threw off human clothes and disappeared into the northern forest.
Since then, it was said that children with the ‘wolf’s eyes’ were occasionally born in Pasa’s royal family.
Like Dan Ijae.
Come to think of it, most children with wolf’s eyes went mad before adulthood and ran away from the palace.
The previous king, who had those eyes and ascended the throne, must have had diluted beast instincts over hundreds of years.
“The black wolf wasn’t even a ‘real wolf’ anyway.”
Old stories about beasts were meant to belittle barbarian tribes.
In the south, a stranded general drifted to Monkey Island and became the monkey leader, and in the west, the emperor’s sister mated with a snake deity and laid two eggs…
So rumors that those with ‘that eye’ had beastly habits or were insane are nonsense.
Though they coldly cut off fingers without flinching, who nowadays doesn’t like blood?
Dan Ijae isn’t the only one.
The late king with those eyes committed horrible massacres, but there were reasons for each.
“Sigh…”
As soon as they reached Unkyunggung, Sahyeon sighed deeply.
Until he received the post and spoke with Grand Duke Dankyeong, he was so focused on understanding the king’s true intent that he hadn’t thought about how to teach a prince who hadn’t even learned elementary learning by age twenty-five.
Sahyeon already knew from Ogwang how unrewarding and difficult it was to teach a stubborn grown person.
Ogwang at least pretended to obey when in front of him.
How difficult must Dan Ijae be, who only twisted words when first met at the inn?
Sahyeon shook his head and handed the jade token to the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper ignored the token and stared intently at Sahyeon’s hair.
Rumors had spread that a disciple of Chae Gong, who already had white hair at a young age, was coming to Unkyunggung.
“You must be the new Jangseogam lord?”
Seeing the friendly recognition, being assigned to Unkyunggung was both an opportunity and exile.
Being able to enter where future powers gathered was beneficial for Sahyeon, but having to stay in the library with herbivore-like scholars instead of Jeonghangung where politics mainly took place was a disadvantage.
Sahyeon needed these people to carry ‘information’ so he wouldn’t be isolated from the political situation as a stranger.
Rumors usually start from below.
First, he needed to build rapport with soldiers and palace officials.
The easiest way to build relations was spending money, but Sahyeon’s entire wealth was ten bolts of silk received at appointment.
One bolt was taken by the innkeeper who eyed Sahyeon’s poor state and offered the ‘best room’ cheaply.
Well, Sahyeon accepted the offer to watch over Ogwang to prevent accidents.
One bolt of silk was cheap for keeping Ogwang under control.
Anyway, two bolts went to making clean clothes and official robes, and two bolts to buy a sick horse.
Slowly, all was spent.
So there was no choice but to trade cheap smiles.
Sahyeon smiled brightly at the hesitant gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper’s eyes became like marbles in confusion.
“I was worried about attending the palace for the first time today without knowing anyone, but I feel relieved that you recognize me.”
They say a person’s face changes with their character as they age, but luckily Sahyeon was still young enough to comfortably wear the disguise of a gentle lamb.
The face Chae Gong liked so much.
White hair and gentle eyes gave a clear and elegant impression, but when lowering his eyebrows sadly like now, he conveyed a heart-wrenching sorrow that even Sahyeon’s enemies lost words at seeing.
So how could the gatekeeper harbor bad feelings toward Sahyeon?
“Th-th-the, no, how could the Jangseogam lord honor a lowly person like me? I…”
The gatekeeper’s face turned bright red as he stammered excuses.
“Your lordship’s noble dignity shows that, ah, Chae Gong elder’s disciple must be this person…”
“So this is who you are, huh…”
To Sahyeon, it was an embarrassingly cringeworthy thing to hear.
But now wasn’t the time to scold someone for saying such a thing.
Sahyeon nodded gently without wiping the smile from his face.
“It’s something I’m grateful for. Since Ungyeonggung still feels unfamiliar to me, I’ll be relying on you from now on.”
“I-I always guard the gate from myosi to oshi, so anytime, ah—no, whenever you need, please come by…”
“I’ll be seeing you every time I report to the palace, then.”
“…Y-Yes.”
Maybe it was the way his face, which had seemed a bit cocky earlier, was now flushed bright red—but right now, he looked oddly innocent.
Thanks to that, Sahyeon felt a small pang of guilt, but well, it wasn’t like he’d done anything bad to the guy, right?
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