“You scoundrel! How dare you!”
At Lee Young’s roar, Baek Mungi waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed.
“You’re mistaken because of the Sacred object.”
I changed the ring into a sword and held it up.
“Then, did that Crown Prince make this sword?”
“That’s not it. Judging by the time they died, this sword was made before that. I don’t know what happened while I was inside the sword, but… the vengeful spirit of the Crown Prince who died unjustly might have seeped into the sword. Of course, he’s not in there now.”
“Your Highness, but what is that monster?”
Baek Mungi continued, ignoring Lee Young’s question.
“Or maybe they’re reacting to the Royal Family’s sword. Since the vengeful spirits were bound to Changdeok Palace.”
“Then can we just conclude that it’s a misunderstanding?”
“As Jaga wishes.”
Ignored by Baek Mungi, Lee Young this time prostrated himself towards me and raised his voice.
“Your Highness, keep that monster, neither beast nor human, far away. It will bewilder Your Highness’s wisdom with its flamboyant appearance and words.”
What’s so flamboyant about Baek Mungi’s appearance? The white hair? I don’t think I’d be swayed by that white hair.
Anyway, I needed to smooth things over so we could get along.
“Lee Young, first of all, I’m not that Crown Prince. I’ve never been in a position like Crown Prince or Crown Prince. So, please don’t call me ‘Your Highness’ anymore. This isn’t the Joseon Dynasty you lived in. Jang Ha-woon, please explain to Lee Young why this isn’t Joseon and about my situation.”
Saying that Joseon had fallen would probably make Jang Ha-woon wail again like he did before, so I passed the task of telling him to Jang Ha-woon.
He’ll explain it nicely, I hope.
“And there’s the problem of the outfits… Jang Ha-woon, you’re getting caught in photos.”
I was careless, thinking they wouldn’t show up in photos even if they were visible, but they were captured very clearly.
“Jaga, I will use illusion magic on them.”
“You said you didn’t like using spiritual power.”
“I’ll only use a tiny bit, so you don’t have to worry.”
Baek Mungi looked happy to use illusion magic, so I thought it was a good thing.
However, unlike me, Lee Young seemed very displeased.
“How dare you!”
“Lee Young, Baek Mungi is a power that one of the Joseon Dynasty’s kings arranged within the Four Evil Beheading Sword for future generations. He’s helping me. He’s even saved my life.”
“Are those wicked beings targeting Your Highness again?”
“Your Highness, stop!”
* * *
Contrary to my expectation that Kim Woo-jin’s main job would be security and his manager duties would only involve driving, the amount of manager work he had to handle increased day by day.
As my recognition increased, various requests came in, and in terms of advertisements, there were many offers for Hanbok, traditional food, and traditional accommodation advertisements.
They were all proposals that had to be rejected.
Even filming a promotional video for the Cultural Heritage Administration was met with comments like, “Even if she’s a descendant of the Royal Family, she’s not at the level to film that.”
In the current situation, I didn’t know what people would say if I filmed those kinds of advertisements.
“It would be fine if you were going to film a few commercials and retire.”
Some of the staff suggested that there was no need to avoid those kinds of advertisements, but the CEO immediately dismissed the idea.
“I’m going to keep Lee Young active until she receives a lifetime achievement award.”
“Even singing?”
“Of course, she has to do that too. I’ll take responsibility for her dinner show, so don’t worry.”
“Are you going to run the company until then?”
“I’m taking so many nutritional supplements these days. I’m trying to live a long time.”
I was happy to hear this from the CEO, whom I’d known longer than even the head nun.
I hoped that good people would stay by my side for a long time.
“Scripts and scenarios keep coming in, and I’ve brought some too. Should I sort them for you?”
Until now, not many scripts or scenarios had come in to the point where the CEO had to sort them. This seemed to be another special effect of being a descendant of the Royal Family.
“Are there any good ones?”
“I don’t see anything that’s definitely great, but there are some that could be moderately successful. And if our Lee Young appears in it, the work will shine brightly.”
Actually, I was worried about whether I should even take on a project. If the filming period was too long, it might be difficult to move around if a Demon appeared in the middle.
{As you saw before, Demons will rush at Jaga first. So, you don’t have to worry about missing them.}
If a Demon came to the filming set where I was, another accident would happen like at the production presentation, right?
{That was before I woke up. Now that I’m by your side, that won’t happen. You can do whatever Jaga wants.}
It would be nice to continue my work, but should I?
I scratched my head for no reason and said,
“I’ll read them all, as long as they don’t focus too much on the Royal Family aspect.”
“Okay. As you read, you’ll develop an eye for seeing scenarios.”
The CEO handed a stack of scenarios to Kim Woo-jin.
* * *
After learning that I was a descendant of the Royal Family, Lee Young grilled Jang Ha-woon to explain the relationship between Joseon and the Empire.
Pressed by his former boss, Jang Ha-woon explained as much as he knew, diligently.
Watching that, I wondered how the two Joseon ghosts would react to other members of the Royal Family.
So, I sat Lee Young and Jang Ha-woon down and played a video of the Imperial Family Association’s press conference.
Seeing the press conference content about the many incidents targeting the Royal Family, Lee Young and Jang Ha-woon teared up, saying it was because the country had fallen.
“That person is also a descendant of the Royal Family, did you feel anything? Like when you saw me?”
“No, I did not.”
“I did not, Your Highness.”
“Hmm, so it’s not a matter of bloodline.”
“Jaga, I think it’s more likely that the Sacred object and my spiritual power associated with it called them.”
“You scoundrel! Are you saying that I, who closely attended to Crown Prince, mistook your wicked energy for His Highness’s voice!”
Lee Young shouted at Baek Mungi’s words, and Jang Ha-woon secretly covered his ears from behind.
I spoke up to calm Lee Young’s excitement.
“Lee Young, you were a member of the Royal Family, so you must be sad that the Joseon Dynasty disappeared.”
“No, Your Highness. Seeing what happened to Crown Prince, I thought the country’s future would not be bright. However, that monster…”
“Baek Mungi waited a long time inside the Sacred object to do good things. So, whatever he was before, don’t be too harsh.”
“I understand, Your Highness. However, I advise you not to believe everything that monster says.”
I nodded silently, as if I understood.
It was time to end the exhausting power struggle and address the things I had been worrying about.
Endlessly slashing at one or two Demons was too inefficient.
“Let’s think together about how to find the exact location of the Demon in the shadow. I’m also curious about why the Figurines disappeared from each palace building.”
I showed Lee Young and Jang Ha-woon the CCTV footage of Gyeongbok Palace that I had saved as a video.
“Seeing the shadow flickering and the Figurine exploding, it’s clear that it’s the Demon’s doing. However, as I said before, it seems stronger than a Stage 3 Demon.”
Jang Ha-woon took over Baek Mungi’s words.
“That’s right. They didn’t have that much power. If they did, they wouldn’t have just wielded swords, they would have used the surrounding terrain.”
“So, it’s certain that there’s something stronger than Stage 3.”
I didn’t want to believe it, but I had to acknowledge that Stage 4 existed and prepare for it.
“Hyung-nim.”
Lee Young, who had been watching the video intently until then, spoke up.
Lee Young was twenty-four years old, the same age as me, but he decided to call me Hyung-nim because his birthday was in the fall.
“The shadow took the fragments after the Figurine exploded. Although the palace was rebuilt and restored in later generations, the Figurines that protected the palace each had sacred energy.”
Come to think of it, the cultural commentator Kim Joo-chan said when he was possessed by a ghost that making new Figurines would not be as effective.
“In particular, the Figurines at Changdeok Palace, which are said to be relatively well-preserved, would have had stronger energy. That’s why I and Woo Si-jik were able to preserve even our souls.
Destroying those Figurines and taking them all seems to be for them to take the energy inside the Figurines. Especially if you look at that shadow, there’s a concentration of ghostly energy slightly to the right above.”
At Lee Young’s words, we all stared intently at the location he mentioned.
We couldn’t see anything. There was only a dark shadow.
“I can’t see it.”
The Baek Mungi doll was also silent.
“Is that so. I failed to mention that His Majesty entrusted me with the cases of Crown Prince’s poisoning and Woo Si-jik’s disappearance because I am good at seeing things that others cannot.”
“Huh? Can you see ghosts or something?”
Jang Ha-woon was surprised and asked Lee Young back.
It was funny to see Jang Ha-woon, a ghost, say that, so I burst out laughing.
“It is not a lie.”
Lee Young seemed to have misunderstood my laughter.
“In my youth, I gained a deep understanding of and immersed myself in the Book of Changes, one of the Five Classics. As a result, I realized that the identity of what others cannot see but I can see is spirit.
So, I wrote charms to defend against places with wicked ghosts and was able to prevent epidemics in my family. Knowing this, His Majesty called me to the Crown Prince’s Guard.”
“So, you can see where the ghostly energy is in that shadow?”
“That is correct. And I also have the skill to write charms, so I may be able to bind it.”
“With charms?”
“Ah, so that’s why you held an official position even though you were a military commander.”
Jang Ha-woon nodded as if he finally understood.
“However, since I am in a soul state, I need to check whether the charms will have the same effect as before.”
“It will work. Seeing that the Sacred object called those two souls, it means it’s useful.”
“Baek Mungi, you shouldn’t say things like ‘useful’ or ‘useless’ to people.”
“I’m sorry. But they’re not people, they’re ghosts…”
I gathered the hair on the Baek Mungi doll’s head and tied it into one.
“Jaga, I was wrong!”
* * *
Late at night, I was in a car driven by Kim Woo-jin.
I received a call from the team member guarding my maternal grandmother 15 minutes ago.
– “Since a few days ago, people have been glancing at the elder’s house and leaving. It’s different people every time, but it seems our identities have been exposed.”
They said that people were laughing at the security team’s vehicles for no reason or touching them as if by mistake.
– “And their smiling faces are a bit unpleasant… If necessary, we will go into the house and provide close protection to the princess.”
Kim Woo-jin, who was sharing the call on speakerphone, made eye contact with me and shook his head.
Was he telling me to prevent them from entering the house?
Suddenly, Baek Mungi’s words about not trusting the officials too much came to mind.
Kim Woo-jin in front of me was technically an official, but it was right to be wary of the invisible officials.
“No. Don’t surprise my grandmother, so just wait outside the house.”
As soon as I hung up, Kim Woo-jin checked his firearm.
“The security team doesn’t call the madam ‘princess’.
Even if we haven’t set a password, they would never use that title.”
He was saying that the security guard who contacted us was suspicious.
I was glad I trusted Kim Woo-jin.
I immediately called my maternal grandmother.
“Don’t let anyone into the house except me. Not even the security guards. I’m going to go near Grandma’s house now.”