episode_0087

[Episode 087: Reason for Suggesting a Wish]

A strange silence has been lingering in the small kitchen for quite some time now.

Heesun was sitting by the fireplace, deeply lost in thought…

I was simply waiting quietly for Heesun’s thoughts to conclude.

The deer… still stood nervously with its feet tightly bound, watching our every move.

I was worried about bringing Heesun here, but fortunately, my aunt allowed Heesun to come with me.

Though she did mention to take care of the color a bit.

I think I got scolded quite a bit. I’m still reflecting deeply on it.

Although I’ve cooled down a bit, the marks on Heesun’s neck from my grip are still vivid.

…Don’t worry, Aunt! I’m a father now too!

From now on, I’ll restrain my desires and cherish Heesun more.

But Aunt… as odd as it sounds, please also treat Gil Yong well.

He keeps complaining to me that he’s been scratching his hat too much these days…

Hmm…! Well, Gil Yong, try to exert yourself a bit at night…

“Why did my husband suddenly bring you here? How exactly are you avoiding reincarnation?”

Oh… It seems Heesun’s dilemma has finally ended.

Heesun’s expression as she spoke to the deer looked different from usual, somewhat unfamiliar.

Her warm demeanor was replaced by a cold expression and an icy tone…

“I’ve been thinking about who you are. I know you entered Abamama’s library a long time ago and received the curse of becoming a beast as part of your karmic cycle…”

After pausing for a moment, Heesun erupted in anger.

“How dare you… how dare you! So skillfully… evade the punishment decreed by the heavens…! This is outrageous!”

“Wait…! Listen to me for a moment…! Just… just hold on…!”

“Shut up!”

“Uh…!”

Wow… scary.

Today was the first time I saw Heesun so angry.

Her fierce glare was enough to make me think of fear… I must treat Heesun well from now on.

What was even more surprising was the deer’s reaction.

If the deer could sweat, it would probably be drenched, given how nervously it watched Heesun’s every move.

While it had been wary of me before, it never seemed to have the luxury of negotiating or bargaining like it did with me when caught.

But the way it dealt with Heesun was like a giant weakness had been exposed, akin to a mouse in front of a cat.

As Heesun’s face reddened and her lovely eyebrows furrowed, she seemed on the verge of exploding again…

I understand her feelings, but I should intervene.

“Hee… Heesun, let’s calm down a bit, thinking about our baby.”

“Oh..! The baby..! Phew… I’m sorry… I got too excited and startled the baby…”

Heesun tried to calm herself by gently stroking her flat belly and taking deep breaths.

Yes, let’s stay calm… It’s not good if a pregnant woman gets angry like that.

“Heesun, is it true that he received punishment from heaven and turned into a deer for entering the forbidden library?”

“Yes… he entered the forbidden library. He received the punishment of becoming a beast and repeating the cycle of karma.”

“Is there anything like if you receive punishment from heaven, you can’t lie, or heaven’s people can’t lie?”

“What? Where did you hear such nonsense? There’s no such absurdity.”

Ah, that rascal… I knew it. He just can’t stop talking…!

He must have had a reason for constantly asking me to grant wishes since he came up here.

Well, he couldn’t have not known that the person next to me is a princess from heaven. He was trying to deceive me.

The moment you bring me, it’s obvious that my lies using the information gap will all be exposed before meeting Heesun, so it’s obvious that I tried to deceive and run away from someone who doesn’t know anything about me before meeting Heesun.

“…So, do you need Seongi to communicate with animals? Like that guy or a tiger….”

“Um.. Yes! Probably animals closer to mythical creatures may require Seongi for communication. However.. the author might have been able to converse even if the gentleman didn’t have Seongi…? Does the author also have Seongi?”

Ah… Now that I’ve calmed Heesun down, am I getting angry..?

Phew.. Endure.. Endure.. Even if I have to see our baby and Heesun’s pretty face…

“So… is it like kidnapping a fairy who comes down to grant empty wishes to bathe in order to make a woodcutter get the color thread?”

“That.. Oh! Could it be this deer you mentioned back then…? Goodness! I completely forgot about it! I was just thinking about how the author avoided the punishment of the bees sent by Abamama…”

“Yeah, that guy. Sorry for surprising you. Still, I think you have the right to decide how to punish this deer more than anyone else…”

“Yes, yes…? So, did you bring me here for that reason? Ugh.. Sniff..!”

Huh?

Heesun, whose voice grew louder as she was surprised by my words, suddenly approached me slowly with moist eyes and hugged me tightly.

“Oh.. Sir.. I have no interest in the fate of such a vulgar person. Just follow your heart.. do as you wish…. How could someone planning to do great things even bother to consider the feelings of a lowly woman like me? I will be happy just receiving the love you give me for the rest of my life.”

… .Oh! Why did I think that way..

Perhaps Heesun found my way of thinking unfamiliar from her perspective.

Well.. Heesun, I grew up learning like this. So, I don’t want to live ignoring even your opinions on such important decisions because I don’t think I’ll be happy that way.

We are a couple. We should be together for life.

“Where is the husband who considers the woman who will be the mother of his child insignificant? Did I marry a mediocre person then? The woman I married is smarter and wiser than anyone else. I will continue to move forward with you, discussing things together, so don’t say such things.”

“…Ugh! Oh, brother too. Embarrassing! Hehe.. You’ve already had the wedding ceremony, why are you trying to seduce and all that after catching all the fish?”

Suddenly blushing, Heesun hits my chest with her fists…

What did I do? I didn’t say anything special, did I?

“Oh! By the way, I said I would answer the question…! You asked if granting a wish to obtain the color thread is possible?”

“Huh..? Uh.”

“Well.. the idea of granting wishes is actually an unreasonable proposal, isn’t it? Think about it. What if the woodcutter wished to become a king? Or if he asked for not just one color thread but all the women in the world? Could this person really grant such wishes to the woodcutter?”

“Uh.. Well..? It seems impossible, but can’t this guy use Seongi? Compared to ordinary people, he can do a lot, right?”

Is that so?. I need to know about Seongi.. Just in case.

Heesun also has the ability to heal wounds on my body with Seongi, and I also find myself brightening up in dark places.. This is something I couldn’t have imagined before….

“The fairy is not omnipotent as the husband thinks. Well… Simply put, good people receive blessings. They receive blessings because they deserve them. That’s all. Of course, there are many things that can be done, but there are limits. Finding a hasty bride for a village man? Or perhaps tidying up a lumberjack’s rough appearance with some fairy magic to make it more presentable to women without causing too much aversion. Well, in the end, the lumberjack would have to get married to repay the favor from the author… It must have taken a long time for a human face.”

“He has to marry that guy… First, wash that smelly body… And… Face… Ugh, no, isn’t there fairy plastic surgery in Yuldoguk?”

Can you really make a person out of that face with plastic surgery?

Ah… This is difficult….

He’s asking for a wish like ‘grant any wish,’ how can he promise such grandiose things with such audacity?

“Because it’s a story that one can freely move within. If the lumberjack had gently persuaded him with words, he could have done a kind deed without losing anything and repaid the favor immediately…”

“Just provide information to the lumberjack?”

“Yes. Besides, he granted a ‘wish’, right? If I had been dragged along as is, the author would have received excessive gratitude. Perhaps with that, the author could have settled one of the burdens he carries.”

“Well.. what if that fails?”

“Perhaps the burden would have grown larger, or the story would have been distorted and caught by the fairies… And either way, a terrible punishment would have awaited. Well, even though the failure was like this, seeing that the fairies still haven’t found the author, maybe they were forcibly keeping the story open to try to make up for my failure.”

“Well.. why did he take such a risky gamble in the first place..? No matter how much virtue he could gain, this is almost like needing to know the future… He could have died when we first met, or he might not have met the lumberjack while running away, and I didn’t even know what wish the lumberjack would make. What on earth was he trusting in…?”

“He probably knew. If there is a cause or ability in one’s own story, there are parts where foresight is possible…. And as I mentioned, he stole the story. In Abamama’s library, there are stories with predetermined strong destinies. Having seen that, there were parts where foresight was unnecessary. Therefore, those stories can only be used and viewed by the sovereign who governs destiny and causality….”

“So.. couldn’t Okhwang Sangje foresee such events? According to you, he should be the one who knows these stories best. Or does he give punishments other than becoming a deer, like a bird or a shellfish or a pig….”

“No.. he didn’t know what kind of story the author had… and it was also efficient for post-event handling. Although it is very difficult to save people like me who have suffered damage… And once you enter the cycle of reincarnation, you forget all memories. The author’s initial form was probably not a deer. Probably, he waited to be born in the form I wanted without losing his memory through the long cycle of reincarnation. And… if he used the story he had to accumulate virtue, settle his debts, and break the cycle of reincarnation… then perhaps the world would have been thrown into chaos by the distorted stories the author created…”

“That’s quite a scary story.. But, do they just sit back and watch until such problems arise in heaven?”

“Not exactly. The fairies come down to the mortal realm once in a while to ensure that the awakened stories flow smoothly and to catch individuals like this.”

“But why wasn’t that deer caught?”

“Many have distorted the story as they pleased. However, among them, there was no one who sneaked into the library and stole the story. Someone with the power to distort the story must have known everything… It would have been easy to subtly distort the story so that it seemed to flow naturally on the surface… So there shouldn’t have been any problem with the story’s progression. That’s probably why it was difficult to catch. Of course, eventually, the distorted story would have started to unravel bit by bit.”

“Hmm… Heesun, suddenly I’m wondering… Could it be that saving you was also an act of distorting fate for me?”

“T-That, well… Maybe it’s different in your case. The mountain spirit didn’t say much… Mr. Dongbangsak also… Ah! Let’s pretend you didn’t hear that! Anyway! If we go to Heaven and explain things properly to Abamama, everything should be fine… Right, son-in-law?”

Ah..! I almost forgot..! I’m going to meet the Jade Emperor soon…! I feel quite nervous…

First and foremost, we need to somehow threaten that guy to make him confess and come down obediently.

But if everything he has said so far has been a lie….

Contemplating, I glare sharply at the deer listening in on our conversation while trembling beside me.

“Heesun, could you wait outside for a moment? I might say something harsh now. I’ll call you in a bit.”

“Yes, sir.”

If I want to hear the answers I desire from him without trouble, nice words probably won’t work.

Our baby shouldn’t hear bad words…