“Yes, I am Jang Seogam Naeuri!”
Just as I was about to enter the palace after receiving the jade tablet back, the gatekeeper urgently called out to Sahyeon.
“I heard you are going to be the teacher of the 8th Prince…”
Only now did it seem like he was about to give some useful information.
“Yes, somehow I ended up taking on that responsibility.”
“Please be careful…”
“Careful? What do you mean?”
The gatekeeper glanced around nervously, then hurried over and whispered softly.
“It’s a ridiculous rumor, but there are talks that on nights when the full moon rises, one turns into a wolf and eats people…”
…Not exactly valuable information.
“And they say that people who look as tender as you, Jang Seogam Naeuri, are secretly cut into pieces and given as food to the white hawk that is always carried around.”
Despite that, the white hawk had fiercely resisted trying to eat Son Mogaji from Baeksonggol.
No, more than that—did he just call Sahyeon a “tender-looking person”?
“That’s strange… It’s a strange matter. I will be especially cautious on full moon nights.”
“You shouldn’t only be careful on full moon nights!”
The gatekeeper suddenly grabbed Sahyeon’s hand.
The hand was cold.
The coarse skin, damp with lukewarm sweat, rubbed roughly against the back of Sahyeon’s hand.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Sahyeon’s spine, and he awkwardly smiled as he twisted his hand free.
The feeling that something had been touched wrongly… wasn’t just an illusion, was it?
“I-I’m sorry for the rudeness…”
“No, I will keep what you said in mind.”
The gatekeeper smiled faintly as if relieved by those words.
Sahyeon turned his body, deliberately ignoring the yellowed teeth showing awkwardly between his slightly parted lips.
A chilly coldness ran down his back.
It was a familiar feeling.
The creepy feeling when someone stares intently at your back.
As Sahyeon walked quickly away from the main gate, a mocking voice echoed in his ears.
“Wearing that face, you’ll suffer a great misfortune someday.”
A hateful touch on his cheek.
A twisted mouth.
Cold ridicule while looking down on Sahyeon…
Sajeo, Yoon Gyuhwa’s figure.
It was the time when he had sold everything he had gathered to raise money to see the teacher who had been arrested because of Yoon Gyuhwa’s slander, and visited the prison.
While trying to bribe the guard and smiling pitifully to persuade him, Yoon Gyuhwa appeared with soldiers.
She dragged Sahyeon in front of the teacher’s prison cell and threw him down, saying: “Where? You’ll face the misfortune today, won’t you?”
In her glaring eyes were flickering flames and behind them the yellow teeth of soldiers grinning.
I knew.
No matter how much she tried, Yoon Gyuhwa, who could never gain the teacher’s recognition, hated Sahyeon terribly, who was favored only for his appearance.
If the teacher, Chae Gong, had crawled out to the bars with her aged body and done such a thing, and if someone hadn’t warned that imprisoning her was not a political matter but Yoon Gyuhwa’s personal revenge, she might have shown how Chae Gong’s most cherished ornament was broken and ruined in front of her.
“Hu…”
Whenever recalling that time, I felt sick inside, because I remembered how pathetic I was, trembling without firmly confronting Yoon Gyuhwa back then.
What was I so afraid of?
Even when my life was hanging by a thread, I could pull myself together.
So what was I scared of then…?
Screeeech!
The sharp cry tearing through my ears brought me back to my senses.
Looking up, a white hawk from Baeksonggol was gliding through the clear blue sky, wings fully spread.
Baeksonggol…
Right, Danijae.
This was no time to be standing still.
How many people would look at the newcomer Sahyeon with displeasure?
To calm their dissatisfaction, from the first day at Deungcheong, Sahyeon must show he can complete the assigned task.
First, the task that the scholars of Pasa had failed countless times: teaching the 8th Prince.
***
“The prince is out.”
There was a reason all the scholars of Pasa had failed.
“He… hasn’t returned yet.”
Isn’t it necessary to at least see his face to study?
“…He will probably be late today. Should I send a message to the office when he returns?”
They say even the greatest talent will be met if you go three times.
But this cursed 8th Prince hasn’t even shown his face once.
Unkyung Palace, Gamcheondang (鑑泉堂).
The place where the 8th Prince Danijae resides.
The palace official who first guided Sahyeon here said the name Gamcheondang comes from the small pond in the garden.
Among the cold northern palaces, it’s located at the northernmost edge, and when the chilly late autumn winds begin to blow, a frozen layer rises on the water’s surface and stays frozen until spring flowers bloom, so they call this pond the “Mirror Pond.”
The place had a quite beautiful name.
The small pond and the quaint pavilion with long eaves hanging over it could have felt even more serene, if only all the pillars from the pavilion to the main hall hadn’t been painted black.
Behind the main hall stood pale white birch trees stretching out like bare skeletons.
In front, the Gamcheondang building showed a dark silhouette like the underground mansion from folklore, existing only as a shadow.
Because of this bleak appearance, every time I entered the gate of Gamcheondang, the cold air clung chillingly to my skin.
Though sometimes I would relax when palace officials would share a long cloak and sit on the floor sewing drowsily, only to jump up quickly when seeing me.
At first, I thought the palace officials at Unkyung Palace had a freer atmosphere compared to Jeonghang Palace.
But seeing the other officials move briskly, it seemed that wasn’t exactly the case.
Maybe because the master of the building was often absent and the place became lax.
A small palace official struggled to free herself from the cloak, shivering in the chilly air as she hurried to Sahyeon.
“Naeuri, what will you do? The prince is still out.”
“Has the prince not returned yet, or did he come back and go out again?”
“Well…”
The official glanced at her hesitant colleagues behind her, then quickly shifted her eyes between the building and the gate.
So, after returning and hearing that Sahyeon had come three times, he just left again?
Sahyeon stared at the sunset staining the western sky red and spoke decisively.
“I will wait here until the prince returns.”
Then he strode toward the pavilion.
The official was startled and grabbed his sleeve.
“Oh dear, if he left now, he probably won’t come back all night.”
“He’ll come back tomorrow morning. I’ll wait here, so just consider me not here and relax…”
“Please stay.”
“That’s not it, but realllly….”
An urgent voice echoed from behind just around that time.
“You must not go up to the Mirror Pond pavilion after it gets dark!”
Sahyeon, startled by the loud roar that shattered the quiet atmosphere, turned around.
A large-built palace guard, holding sewing materials carefully with both hands, was shaking his head earnestly toward Sahyeon.
The palace guard next to Sahyeon also nodded vigorously and pulled him toward the wooden floor where they had been sitting.
Taken along without much choice to where the guards were gathered, Sahyeon timidly and cautiously asked,
“Why did you say I shouldn’t go up to the pavilion…?”
The big palace guard glanced at the pavilion over Sahyeon’s shoulder, then bent his waist and whispered secretly,
“There’s a ghost living in the Mirror Pond.”
“…What?”
“If you sit in the pavilion at night and look into the Mirror Pond, you’ll see restless spirits. A few palace guards have already been possessed by that ghost…”
Possessed by a ghost and gone mad?
Or, no way, dead?
“They say they ate up all the dried persimmons stored through the winter!”
“Of all things, why did a glutton have to possess them?”
If they were dead, they probably died from their belly bursting from overeating.
“The pavilion is cold. Please come inside the sarang (main room).”
The palace guards smiled warmly and gently pushed Sahyeon’s back one after another.
“No, I’m fine just sitting on the wooden floor…”
“Would you like some dried persimmons? New mistletoe tea has just come in, and if you have it with dried persimmons, it makes your body feel nice and relaxed.”
“Guards, I don’t want to trouble you…”
“Bring a basket of dried persimmons for Master Jangseogam! And light a fire in the sarang!”
A little later, Sahyeon understood why the palace guards had forced him into the sarang.
They came bustling in, claiming to entertain a guest, sitting in the warm sarang heated up nicely, and kept eating dried persimmons from the basket placed next to Sahyeon.
“Oh, the sewing? When Master Gongja receives silk, he says he doesn’t need it, so he shares it with us. We sew clothes with it to sell little by little.”
“We do it after finishing our work. As you can see, the building is small and there aren’t many guests, so we don’t have much to do.”
“It would be nice if more guests came so we could have snacks. Still, it’s good that we have a teacher visiting after a long time.”
The cheerful palace guards were good at chatting without being asked, but when Sahyeon tried to ask about Danjae, they immediately closed their mouths.
Whether it was because they didn’t trust Sahyeon yet or because of loyalty to their master.
“Shall I prepare your bedding?”
From around the Dog hour (19:00–21:00), it seemed like work was slowly ending.
Most of the on-duty palace guards disappeared somewhere, and at the Pig hour (21:00–23:00), one on-duty guard came crawling on his knees and quietly spoke.
Sahyeon, who was staring blankly at the bamboo slips, shook his head at the words.
They were probably waiting so he’d feel some guilt, but if Sahyeon just stayed warm and slept, Danjae would only laugh at him.
“You said you’re from the south, right? Gamcheon Hall is especially cold at night, so never go outside the door. Especially, don’t go near the Mirror Pond.”
The guard seemed worried Sahyeon might be possessed by a glutton and eat the basket of dried persimmons all by himself.
Of course, he didn’t say it aloud, just smiled gently and nodded.
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