Chapter 9: . the white dragon of the concubine (4)

The next day.

“Hey. Did you hear the news?”

Among the palace maids, a rumor began to spread.

–In the imperial garden, where His Majesty the Emperor’s collected pets reside… a new white dragon maiden has arrived.

That dragon maiden, with skin as clean as her hair, and white hair flowing down, was freely roaming the palace in a graceful posture, unlike the other pets.

Her horns, golden eyes with eerie snake-like pupils, and blue scales on her hands were truly alien, yet they exuded an otherworldly beauty.

“Furthermore, they say it’s quite something.”

Most notably, even wrapped in a long scroll that covered her body, the luscious fruits on her chest couldn’t be hidden.

“They say she’s more beautiful than the high-ranking consort candidates… I want to see her too….”

From dawn till night, the palace maids were filled with stories of the beautiful, pure white dragon maiden.

“…What did you do?”

“Pardon?”

It was not surprising that Jina, who had returned from her daily routine of patrolling the imperial palace, asked Seoryeong, who was leisurely sitting and smoking her pipe as usual.

“Right now, rumors about the Shamaness are endlessly spreading throughout the imperial palace.”

“Oh, that?”

Perhaps Seoryeong liked Jina’s appearance, as she didn’t flee from her side while she smoked her pipe, and instead asked her questions with a poker face full of curiosity.

“I merely took a leisurely stroll around the imperial palace yesterday on my way to meet Consort Candidate Ryuhong.”

Seoryeong turned her head to puff out the smoke from her mouth, ensuring it wouldn’t reach Jina, then spoke lightly as if it were nothing.

“Women naturally love to spread rumors, don’t they?”

As if she wasn’t a woman and couldn’t quite understand such things.

“Not to brag, but… I’m pretty, aren’t I? And I have a good figure.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“Add these horns and eyes… well, this much rumor is only natural, right?”

She subtly avoided Jina’s bewildered gaze and quietly mumbled the rest of her words.

“So.”

“Yes?”

“You still haven’t told me why you did such a thing.”

Perhaps noticing that Seoryeong was plotting something from her demeanor, Jina, as her escort, felt she needed to know the reason, and took a step closer to Seoryeong, who had put down her pipe.

“Ugh… alright. I’ll explain, so don’t come too close. It’s overwhelming.”

Seoryeong’s face flushed slightly at Jina’s proximity, who stopped approaching only when their long eyelashes were almost touching.

“…Yesterday, I thoroughly provoked the pride of that consort candidate named Ryuhong.”

“……?”

Perhaps not understanding her words, Jina kept tilting her head, prompting Seoryeong to place a hand on her chest, as if to calm her rapidly beating heart, and let out a soft sigh.

“It’s still a guess, but she’s someone who secretly brings poison into the palace and treats maids like disposable pawns.”

It’s an unpleasant and utterly undesirable thought to imagine, but the way such a person treats those they deem beneath them is generally fixed.

“If such a person, someone who’s never seen me before—and what’s more, someone who entered the palace as a ‘pet’ like me—were to provoke their pride, would they truly remain still? Moreover, if I, who they already find annoying, were to monopolize all the palace rumors?”

She added that, most likely, something would be set in motion in the near future. Perhaps even today.

“…….”

However, had Jina perhaps not yet received a satisfactory answer? Or was it simply that she didn’t understand? She merely continued to tilt her head.

“Simply put, in the worst-case scenario, she might try to kill me. That’s a possibility.”

“Ah.”

It was then that Seoryeong watched Jina, who seemed to finally understand her words, step back and nod, and she let out another soft sigh.

“…But is assassination even possible in the imperial palace?”

To Jina’s question, asking if anyone with such abilities in the palace wouldn’t immediately be dragged away for treason, Seoryeong replied.

“With someone like you here, there’s no law saying there can’t be others capable of such things, is there?”

“Oh.”

Seoryeong, on the contrary, looked at Jina, a being she still couldn’t understand why she was even here, and thought with a sense of absurdity.

‘Normally, is it okay to keep such a dangerous person within the palace? Or is it that for a great nation like Lan, this is nothing? Is that it?’

To be honest, she was happy to have Jina by her side.

However, how could Jina, who was merely a simple escort warrior, follow her all the way to the imperial palace of another nation? That was something she couldn’t even imagine.

‘I don’t know. She went through all the procedures for several days to get in, so there shouldn’t be any problems.’

It wasn’t just anyone; it was the emperor of a great nation and his ministers. They were far smarter than her, not lacking in any way… so they must have handled it properly. She decided not to waste thoughts on unnecessary worries.

“Anyway, I’ll just trust you, Jina. I can’t do anything regarding that.”

“Leave it to me.”

At Jina, who, as always, exhaled through her nose with a poker face, telling her to just trust her, Seoryeong merely let out a chuckle.

****

At the same time.

“Speaking of which, Your Majesty.”

“I am busy. Can you not see this damned mountain of wooden slips and paper, my good sir?”

Calling out to the Emperor, who sat in a space that was overly modest for an imperial office, grumbling yet silently examining only the documents placed before him.

“It’s about the Shamaness’s escort from Cheongsin.”

“…So you don’t listen to a word, do you? Fine. Speak your mind.”

“Why did you permit her entry into the palace?”

Geumsa, a man with a stern countenance, dressed in golden martial attire as his name suggested, quietly guarded the Emperor’s back and asked with a puzzled expression.

And it was understandable… this was no ordinary place, but where the Emperor’s future consorts gathered. To permit a foreign warrior to reside in such a place, even under the pretext of being a pet shamaness’s escort—it was beyond his comprehension.

“Initially, I intended to disregard it as Your Majesty’s will… but after reviewing a recent report, my thoughts have somewhat changed.”

Geumsa spoke, recalling the recent report he had received—a report concerning Seoryeong, the Shamaness from Cheongsin, and her escort warrior.

“Doesn’t it seem interesting?”

“…….”

“Don’t worry unnecessarily. That one isn’t flexible enough in the head to plot schemes. It’s the kind of monster that can be dealt with as long as it’s within sight.”

To Geumsa’s question, the Emperor… quietly pointed to the documents before him and replied.

“And such dangerous things, you see. Wouldn’t it reduce the sacrifices of our precious soldiers if we kept them safely confined within our grasp as much as possible?”

He referred to a map, enclosed with the tactics that had been reviewed multiple times by the military a few days prior, detailing the major geographical features of Juryeon and Cheongsin.

****

That evening.

“Well then, I’m going to bed now. Jina, you should sleep too.”

“Yes. Sleep well.”

Unlike usual, Seoryeong, dressed in a plain white robe with a hole near her buttocks, spoke with a languid expression, covering her mouth with her hand as if suppressing a yawn.

‘It’s almost been a month since I came here, but I still can’t get used to this.’

After lightly surveying the bedroom, which was so vast and opulent that she doubted if it was truly her own room.

“Ugh….”

Perhaps due to the two large fruits that had unintentionally appeared on her chest, her shoulders, which were particularly stiff today, were constantly massaged with her scale-covered hands as she quietly sat on the bed.

“Haa… this is all well and good, but it’s just too heavy….”

Knead, knead. With familiar movements, she began to rub her chest.

It wasn’t to gain any sexual pleasure, or for such a reason. It was simply because touching them brought her true peace of mind… so it had become a complete habit to rub them.

‘Tomorrow, I should ask Jina to massage my waist… Hmm… that would kill me, wouldn’t it.’

Seoryeong, who had been muttering to herself like an old person in the back room.

“…….”

Soon, her golden eyes, which emitted an eerie glow even in the darkness of the unlit room, began to stare intently at something.

“Is anyone there?”

There was no sound, no presence. Only a strange energy that pricked her skin.

Shhhk….

There was also no answer. But, bathed in the moonlight streaming from outside the window… something in the deep shadows began to gather like dust, forming a shape.

“…….”

Seoryeong quietly watched the figure… and tried to maintain a nonchalant expression as much as possible, but the tip of her tail, which had emerged from the back of her robe near her buttocks, was trembling uncontrollably.

“…If only I had fallen asleep without knowing, there would have been no pain.”

Perhaps sensing Seoryeong’s fear, the shadow in the form of a woman—Heukmu—who confidently walked out, answering her question without being asked.

Rustle….

She held her hand as if gathering the black mist scattering around her… and slowly approached Seoryeong.

Swish—!

As Heukmu swung the intangible dagger held in her hand, what caught her eye was.

Crunch…!

Behind Seoryeong—the wall of the bedchamber, which must have been sturdily built, was crushed like tofu. And… a woman in black martial attire, emerging through the crumbling wall.

CRASH—!

Heukmu looked at the wall fragments that burst outwards a beat too late and thought.

‘…What was that?’

Normally, are humans… creatures that can break through walls like that?

“C-Gasp…!”

Unfortunately, as a consequence of her thoughts momentarily halting due to absurdity… Heukmu, whose neck was seized by the woman who had burst through the wall, Jina, desperately swung the dagger in her hand, trying to stab Jina’s arm, but.

“Hup…!”

Faster than that, with Jina’s small cry of effort… Heukmu experienced the strange sensation of her world turning upside down.

CRACK—!

After briefly examining Heukmu, who had been slammed into the ground as if every bone in her body was crushed, and fainted without offering any resistance.

“So.”

The escort warrior who had flipped her upside down and slammed her—Jina—turned around with her characteristic poker face and spoke.

“Why would you die if I massaged your waist?”