Chapter 6: . the white dragon of the concubines (1)

The woman with long, snow-white hair flowing down her back, Seoryeong, had to quietly shiver as she recalled the Emperor who had spoken to her with a playful smile a few days prior.

‘Ugh, that crazy bastard… I hope I never see him again.’

Even so, to openly treat a person like such a strange creature.

The Emperor was indeed a more dangerous being than she had imagined.

“By the way, the imperial harem, huh….”

She gazed at the garden outside the pavilion, which was splendid beyond comparison to the flower garden she had lived in back in Cheongsin, yet it was not chaotic, but tastefully restrained.

“…It sounds nice in theory.”

Seoryeong began to recall the facts she knew about the place she was in—the imperial harem.

The Imperial Harem (後宮).

The Emperor, by nature, walked a thorny path where his fate was uncertain, so in the sense of needing to widely spread his lineage, it was a place where women meant to bear the Emperor’s children—that is, candidates for the Emperor’s consort (妃)—resided.

Consort candidates, who fundamentally possessed outstanding beauty, refinement, and a status befitting them, were categorized into lower, middle, and upper ranks based on how often the Emperor visited them.

And among them, the one who bore a son to be the Emperor’s legitimate heir… or the one chosen by the Emperor, would ultimately become the Empress.

‘They say the current Emperor doesn’t have an Empress. Is that true?’

Seoryeong quietly recalled the stories she had heard from several court ladies during her stay in the imperial harem over the past few days.

It was said that the current Emperor had no particular romantic relationships with women.

She heard that about five years ago, there was someone he had taken as Empress… but perhaps due to a congenital illness, she passed away not long after being appointed Empress, without bearing any children.

Although he occasionally embraced a few consorts in the harem due to the urging of his ministers, there was also a rumor that he was the Emperor who visited the harem least frequently since its establishment.

Perhaps as a substitute, the current Emperor had a hobby of collecting and raising all sorts of rare creatures, as he himself had stated.

“…Thinking that I’m one of them, it makes me feel quite bad.”

Seoryeong had to grumble, her beautiful face contorted in a frown, as if recalling the Emperor’s gaze that had sparkled playfully as he looked at her like a child.

It was fine that he didn’t particularly see her as a woman.

In fact, she preferred it.

However… even so, being treated as non-human was quite hurtful for her, who had acquired an inhuman body later in life, even if she tried not to show it.

‘He likes pet shamanesses, does he.’

Deciding that she would attempt to escape someday when the opportunity arose… Seoryeong sat perched on the pavilion railing, pulled a long stick from her embrace, and tapped it with her fingers.

‘Coincidentally, Jina isn’t here for now… so I should light it up now.’

What she held in her hand was a long pipe, commonly known as a jangjuk.

Rustle, rustle.

Seoryeong, after flipping over the pipe, which was slightly longer than usual, and tapping it to shake out any remaining impurities… rustled as if searching for something, rummaging deep inside her embrace.

“Oh, there it is.”

Just in case—that her emergency luxury item, which she had kept in her clothes, might be confiscated under the pretext of a body search, she pulled out a piece of dried herb that she had tucked between her overflowing, ample breasts and began to crush it with her hands.

“Hmph….”

If someone had seen her expression as she crushed something with her hands, which were covered in blue scales, as if squeezing it, they would have probably made a fuss, claiming that an evil grand devil had appeared in the imperial harem… but unfortunately, no one was there to witness that sight now.

Squeeze… squeeze….

With practiced movements, Seoryeong carefully packed the crushed herbs into the end of the pipe… then took out a small metal rod and unhesitatingly struck it against the scales on the back of her hand, creating a spark.

Hiss…!

As the crushed herbs burned down at the lit end of the pipe, Seoryeong inhaled the escaping smoke with an ecstatic expression, as if drinking a sweet wine.

“Phew… I can finally breathe.”

Perhaps pleased with the refreshing yet bitter scent that filled her mouth, she began to enjoy the white smoke with an utterly relaxed expression.

“Ah—you there! What are you doing right now, Shamaness!”

However, was happiness but a fleeting sweet dream?

Seoryeong, who had been inhaling the herb smoke with a happy expression, had to furrow her wide-set brows as soon as she heard the voice of a young girl scurrying and pointing her finger at her from a distance, though not much time had passed.

“How can you burn such things dangerously in the garden!”

A green top and a dark blue skirt.

Thick skirt hem and sleeves.

She was one of the court ladies whom one could encounter dozens, even hundreds of times a day while walking around the imperial harem.

“Oh, come on! Are you listening to me!? I said you have to put it out quickly!”

“No, I won’t—this is expensive.”

Seoryeong pressed down firmly on the head of the court lady who had approached her and was chattering noisily, preventing her from reaching for the pipe.

“You’re in charge of feeding anyway.

This is my food.

So mind your own business.”

“Ugh…! You’ve been eating your meals well these past few days, so there’s no way I’d fall for that…!”

She met the eyes of the court lady who was in charge of feeding the rare creatures, including herself, in the imperial harem’s garden.

“By the way, aren’t you scared of me?”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind.

Your answer tells me enough.”

Certainly, on the day she first arrived in this garden… about 80% of the court ladies who managed the rare creatures in the imperial harem had fainted as soon as they made eye contact with her.

Amidst her memories of that time, she could easily recall the court lady in front of her, who was the only one whose eyes had sparkled instead of fainting.

Hiss…!

“Ah, that’s dangerous….”

“Do you think this is just a hand?

It’s fine.”

Seoryeong, with a regretful and lingering gaze, finally shook the clump of herbs from the end of the pipe into her hand and gripped it tightly.

“So, why are you here when it’s not even mealtime?”

“Oh, right.”

“…Hey.”

Had she only just remembered the reason for coming to find her?

Looking at the court lady who playfully stuck out her cute tongue and avoided her gaze as if trying to be charming.

“Well, you know that guard who was serving the Shamaness….”

“Jina?”

“Yes! She said she’ll be back to serve the Shamaness around tomorrow!”

Come to think of it, there was that story too.

Seoryeong, with the thought that her peace was truly over now—and with a hint of welcome.

Or perhaps, with a wistful expression of longing, she stroked the head of the court lady who was chattering away so well in front of her.

“That’s a relief.”

“Oh? Didn’t you say a while ago that the nagging was too much and you preferred it now?”

“…You, absolutely do not tell Jina that.”

“Hehe.

What should I do?”

“I’ll share snacks with you later.”

“Yes!”

Fortunately, seeing the court lady smile brightly without recoiling from her scale-covered hand, Seoryeong let out a sigh of relief… She was quite satisfied for the first time with her situation, perhaps because she was treated as the Emperor’s pet, using higher-quality items than most consort candidates in the imperial harem.

“From now on, if you have time, come visit occasionally and talk with me.

Being too bored is something I can’t stand either.”

She gently stroked the court lady’s head with a longing heart, thinking that if her younger sister, left behind at home, had grown up well, she would be just about this age now.

“Ehehe.

Yes! I’ll come often!”

“Don’t come too often, though.”

Thus, watching the retreating figure of the court lady who had kept her company for a long time afterward.

‘The Imperial Harem, huh.’

Seoryeong, once again sitting on the pavilion railing, hugged her tail, which now had a cold metal ornament at its tip, and thought.

‘What in the world am I supposed to do here?’

For convenience, the court ladies of the imperial harem called her “Shamaness,” but Seoryeong knew.

That as long as she remained in Lan, unlike in Cheongsin… she would never work as a shamaness again.

‘I wonder if my family is okay.’

At the same time, after her disappearance… she wondered if something bad might happen in her homeland, which no longer had an exorcist shamaness.

‘…But then again, when I think about it, even as an exorcist shamaness, I don’t really feel like I did anything significant.’

Thus, Seoryeong, spending her time thinking about various things with a lightly worried and idle mind.

“Well, I guess there’s no helping it.”

As if to somehow soothe her unnecessarily melancholic heart, she stood up, speaking alone in an exaggerated voice.

“Since I’ve come to the imperial harem after all this time, I might as well enjoy it as much as I can.”

A place that the original Seoryeong wouldn’t even have paid attention to.

Because it was a restricted area for men (禁男).

If they were consort candidates for the Emperor, they must all be exceptionally beautiful, so wouldn’t it at least be interesting to watch?

‘Besides, there’s also that child who said she’d keep me company so I wouldn’t be bored.’

Saying there was also a saying, “If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it,” Seoryeong… as always, supported her heavy chest with her arms tucked between her sleeves and savored the breeze blowing through the garden.

However.

The sight of the court lady who had cheerfully smiled, promising to keep Seoryeong company whenever she had time.

Was not seen again, not the day after Jina arrived at the imperial harem, nor the day after that… not even after nine days had passed.

Seoryeong’s reunion with that court lady would only happen on a rainy day, half a month later… after a drowned body, bloated and floating, was discovered in the moat outside the imperial harem’s walls.