Chapter 221: East, Hwaseong (9)
In a ramshackle alcove, two airborne spirits and a living human were having a conversation.
Oh, and let’s not forget the black, furry elemental.
“So you’re saying I’m not a virgin?”
“Not a virgin, from what I recall of your withered visits with your wife.”
They were in the middle of a pretty ‘deep’ conversation.
“I didn’t have children, did I…?”
Zetto asked, knowing that in his previous life, he had fathered a child and that his blood was passed down through the generations.
“That was a strange thing. The king was obligated to have a successor, so I thought it wouldn’t be long before you had a child, but for some reason it never happened. I’m sure there must have been a lot of pressure from his subjects.”
“Still, I’m glad I didn’t have a child, for there is nothing more miserable than a child who has lost a parent.”
“I think your answer explains why you didn’t have children. Since you were going on an expedition, you must have been using birth control. If you did have a child, I doubt it would have been a happy one, and with your death, the unity of the Kingdom was all but lost. You certainly wouldn’t have carried on the dynasty well, and you were expecting to die. You’re so…hard on yourself.”
“Haha…I guess it couldn’t be helped.”
Hanzo complied with Zetto’s wishes and told him about his previous life, the Conquering King, and his wife, Dao Hua.
[My disciple was that ‘Conquering King’…?]
Sierra was the only one who didn’t join in the conversation, for it was all new to her.
[Weren’t you supposed to be an otherworldly human?]
“Well… I thought so too, but it’s complicated to explain. Come to think of it, wasn’t Master from the Moon Country? What was your evaluation of the Conquering King?”
[Evaluation…? That’s… better not to ask…]
“Well, nothing good can be said about him. At best, he unified the East and promised to destroy the demons, but then he left and turned to dust without leaving any descendants.”
“Ah…”
Hanzo added, and Zetto understood the meaning and let out a sigh.
[A Conquering King, yes, but that’s the judgment of other nations, and it’s hard to hear good things from the people of Moon Kingdom, for the massive conquest went badly, and the repercussions have been felt to this day, making Moon Kingdom one of the weakest nations in the East.]
“A lot of people must have died…”
[Don’t take it too much to heart. It’s not uncommon for some to say that the Conquering King was right, and there was even a war a decade ago, so maybe the assessment is different now.]
“Still, it doesn’t change the fact that many of the soldiers who followed me are dead, even my wife, who I don’t remember.”
Zetto’s words bring a somber pause.
“That… Would you like a drink? I have a bottle of something I saved before I died. It’s been aged for a couple hundred years, if not more…”
“…No, thank you. I’m not much of a drinker.”
“I can’t believe you’re not drinking…”
“Baek Cheon Seol, was that the name of the Conquering King?”
“Yes. His wife was Baek Dao Hua.”
“Baek Dao Hua…”
A sudden headache struck Zetto as he muttered to himself, and he grasped his forehead.
Once again, memories of his past life began to flood into his mind.
***
I was riding a horse, somewhere in the East, judging by the buildings and landscape around me.
As I slowly turned my head, there was Dao Hua on horseback.
I smiled at Dao Hua, who was twisting and turning in the reins as if he wasn’t used to riding a horse, and I opened my mouth to speak.
“By the way, swordsman, I’d like to hear your name.”
“You can continue to call me swordsman, just like you’ve always done.”
The Dao Hua painting I saw now was different from the one I remembered seeing before, blunt and cold.
Perhaps it was a memory from even earlier.
Was this the Dao Hua before they became a couple?
“I don’t think that’s what I was asking. I don’t even know the name of the woman who will be my wife.”
“I never said I was going to be a concubine to the king…”
I persisted, and Dao Hua stopped talking and glared at me.
“Why a concubine?”
I shrugged.
“This king doesn’t have a wife yet.”
“Who cares about the order, it’s where you come from, and I’m well aware of my humble origins, so stop teasing me.”
“What if I don’t care where you come from?”
“Then no.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because it’s not worth it. It’s not that I’m uneducated, but I know that I, with the blood of so many people on my hands, shouldn’t be queen of a country. For the Conquering King who united the East, you don’t seem to understand something so simple.”
“Simple things…”
She was like an iron fortress.
I guess that’s what I thought at the time.
“Then I will show you what I, Baek Cheon Seol, am in this country, and how much we can accomplish if we set our minds to it.”
“Hah…As you wish.”
In my previous life, I was a bit unlucky.
Maybe it was because I was a king, maybe it was because it was my first past life.
I was full of confidence.
In any case, Dao Hua at the time thought so.
“Your Majesty, you’re going to take Sword Demon as your queen?”
“If you take a woman of such lowly status as your wife, the country will be in turmoil. There has even been friction between the kingdom and the sword guards!”
“If you really want to embrace the Sword Demon, then take the princess of the Ho Kingdom as your consort first…”
Indeed, it seems that the opposition from the subjects was quite strong.
I could feel my mouth hanging over my ear as I listened to their unspoken words with one ear but I was laughing.
“Shut up, everybody. This was not a discussion, but an announcement. This king will crown her queen. The decision has been made, and I hope you will not interfere further. And as for the princess of Ho Kingdom, do you really think I can take a woman who looks like her as my wife?”
At my question, the vassal who brought up the subject of Ho Kingdom bowed his head deeply.
Green ghost was an Eastern word for a goblin and judging by his trembling reaction, the princess of the Ho Kingdom must not have been very beautiful.
“I dare to ask… Sword Demon… what is it about that woman that has drawn you to her?”
“Hmph…Well…She slaughtered all the mighty men of Naro, so it’s good that she doesn’t need an escort.”
That’s what I said, but my mind was on Dao Hua’s chest.
“”……””
My vain ramblings silenced the courtiers, who had grown accustomed to my behavior.
With that, the meeting ended, and I immediately ran toward Dao Hua.
“There you are.”
“Why are you running around like an excited puppy now that you’re king, please behave yourself.”
“Now that I’m the king, I can run around like an excited puppy. Isn’t that right?”
“…Are you still saying that?”
“This king has never given up.”
“Then how are you going to give up? What was it about me that you liked so much in the first place? I don’t have any womanly charms… I’m just a cold, cruel ‘sword demon’ as many people think…”
“Your charms as a woman…”
I trailed off and glanced at Dao Hua’s chest.
“…Your Highness?”
Sensing my covert gaze, Dao Hua covered her chest with her arm and frowned.
“Oh, no. Anyway, I have good news.”
“Even if you don’t, I’ve heard a rumor that you’re going to take a princess from the Kingdom as your queen. I hope those rumors are good news.”
“I don’t know who would spread such a rumor. Don’t believe the rumors that circulate within the palace. They’re all full of lies.”
“So it’s good news?
“Before I tell you…I don’t think I’ve heard your name yet.”
“……”
Dao Hua hesitated.
It’s my theory that she was probably much more comfortable being called a Sword Demon than being called by her real name.
She may have separated her identity as a woman, Dao Hua, from that of Sword Demon, who was known to be cruel and without mercy.
“…Dao Hua. Of course I don’t have a last name. How can you be satisfied with this?”
“Dao Hua. Peach blossom…It’s a fitting name.”
Just then, a cool breeze blew in, ruffling Dao Hua pink hair.
“Then I suppose we can call you Baek Dao Hua now.”
“Baek…Dao Hua…?”
“Baek Dao Hua, what’s wrong with you, or are you planning to use the King of the Moon Country as a pawn?”
“I am not an ordinary woman who can bear children, take care of them, and feel happy.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“In fact, I’m a very jealous woman, so jealous that if His Majesty were to take another wife, I would cut her throat.”
“Haha, how well you know my tastes, I’ve been looking for just such a woman, and it seems I was not mistaken. And don’t worry, you won’t have an innocent woman’s blood on your sword. At the very least, I will never have another wife.”
Listening to this now, I felt a sting in my heart.
“I’ve spent my entire life looking at swords, so I’m sure I won’t be able to satisfy your majesty when I have to serve you at night.”
Dao Hua continued to deny my suggestion.
“That’s a good thing,” he said, “because I thought the queen was a virgin.”
I countered, nonchalantly turning the negation into an affirmation.
“…I am a sword demon. I am so terrifying that I can be used to stop a child from crying.”
“That’s a good thing.”
I stepped closer to Dao Hua and placed a hand on her cheek.
“I’ve been worried about the number of men who want this king’s life. So if I’m going to make a woman my queen, I want her to be a swordswoman who can keep them at bay.”
“You mean there are forces that dare to threaten you, the Conqueror King?”
“Try being the king of a unified country. If a rock rolls by accident while you’re riding through the mountains in your carriage, you’ll have to kill it.”
“Wow, for a king, you’ve been living quite a hard life, I didn’t realize that.”
For the Sword Demon, Dao Hua, killing was just another day in the life, so she swatted my hand away and sneered at me with a surprised expression.
“I’m trying to find a little happiness in such a hard life…Only because you are behaving like this…”
“As promised, I am the king’s sword, and a king’s sword is an escort who protects the king with her life, not a wife who slashes children in the night.”
“Well, there is now an escort named the Queen. And this king told you that the position belongs to a young lady named Baek Dao Hua.”
“Hmm… What did the servants say?”
“They said it was a match made in heaven.”
“……”
Dao Hua narrowed her eyes at the obvious lie.
“I told you I wouldn’t give up.”
I grinned into her murderous gaze.
The memory ended there.
When I came to, I could see the desk in the alcove.
Then I heard Hanzo’s voice.
“Are you awake?”
“…Yes, I was just dizzy for a moment.”
The name Baek Dao Hua must have been a trigger.
My progress jumped by a whopping 5 percent, reaching 15 percent.
What’s more, the word “King” on the progress bar had been replaced with “Conquering King Baek Cheon Seol”.
It seems that what we learned from the past has been applied.
‘By the way, that was quite the proposal.’
As I thought that, I stood up.
“You…If you don’t mind, could you help me stop these vicious women…?”
Hanzo uttered the meaningful words ‘vicious women’, and at the same time, the three women’s aura entered my senses.
I didn’t even have to turn my head to realize it.
Aizel, Kaen, and Yuri had suddenly appeared, their bodies radiating killing intent like a snarling beast.
“This old ghost must have done something terrible to Zetto.”
“How do we kill a ghost, anyway?”
“I don’t know, maybe we should exorcise it…Zetto, are you okay?”
Zetto turned his head slowly, and saw Yuri and Aizel forming a magic circle at the tips of their palms toward Hanzo, and Kaen with her sword raised.
What were they doing here?
Or more importantly, how did they get here?
The absurdity of this situation demanded an explanation.