Ch.13Side Story) Jahan. 9 Years Ago

========[Jahan]=========

I first met Lady Haschal nine years ago.

I was a newly appointed warrior, full of immature pride.

Winter rain poured down as if the sky had been punctured, soaking the ground cold.

It was the day of the funeral for Lady Imelia, the third wife of Ser Khan and mistress of the Golden Flower Palace.

With only the palace maids and twenty warriors in attendance, a rough wooden coffin was carefully placed inside the grave.

It was an unremarkable tomb that hardly seemed fitting for the Khan’s consort, the mistress of the Golden Flower Palace.

Not a single member of the Aishan clan came.

Not even Ser Khan, Aishan-Gioro Orhan himself.

As I shivered in the bitter cold that seemed to freeze my lungs, I was secretly grumbling about why I had been assigned to this place.

Then suddenly, a girl caught my eye.

In the middle of the burial ground where maids were kneeling and wailing,

A girl stood alone, staring expressionlessly at Lady Imelia’s coffin on the ground.

Her white cloth garment, soaked through by the winter rain, clung to her pitifully thin body.

The maids tried to shield her from the rain with oiled leather cloths, but she refused, silently enduring the raindrops that drenched her hair.

Only her pale fingertips trembled slightly.

Is that Lady Haschal, Lady Imelia’s daughter?

I heard she’s only nine years old. What remarkable endurance. Even seasoned warriors would struggle in this cold.

Looking at that skinny body, she’ll never make a warrior though.

That’s what I was thinking as I witnessed the scene.

—-

The late winter rain finally stopped after ten days.

Among the warriors, rumors about Lady Haschal spread quietly from mouth to mouth.

I heard she had been standing there for ten days, staring at Lady Imelia’s grave without eating or drinking.

I snickered and drank my ale, thinking it was just a baseless rumor.

It wasn’t possible for a person, let alone a young girl.

Late at night.

Why did I go there? My drunken, stumbling steps led me to Lady Imelia’s grave.

Perhaps I intended to boast to my fellow warriors that I had confirmed with my own eyes that the story was just a rumor.

For a mere warrior to trespass on a grave where an Aishan relative was buried—it was a foolish act that would result in immediate beheading if discovered.

The crude cemetery built in the northeastern corner of the city was as quiet as an abandoned house.

There wasn’t even a guard watching over the grave.

Even for a westerner, this seemed like too much of an insult for the grave of someone who had been the Khan’s wife.

Why was Ser Khan allowing this?

Ignoring the disloyal questions that arose in my mind, I headed inside the tomb.

She was there.

A shock resembling fear pierced through me.

I felt my drunkenness vanish instantly and found myself kneeling without realizing it.

That was not the form of a human.

Her hair and clothes were frozen with frost settled upon them, and her body had barely any flesh left, just skin and bones.

She looked like a corpse that had frozen while standing.

There was no sense of witnessing a miracle.

Rather, my spine trembled at the feeling of facing something bizarre and incomprehensible.

“…What are you?”

I looked up at her faint voice that seemed about to break.

Our eyes met as she turned toward me.

She looked like a skull with just a thin layer of cloth draped over it.

Her sunken, pale cheeks revealed the shape of the bones beneath, and beyond her deeply hollowed eye sockets, a blue light flickered like a will-o’-the-wisp.

Even if one starved for three months, not just ten days, they wouldn’t look like this.

It was a strange phenomenon that couldn’t be explained by human logic.

I just trembled, unable to say anything.

Only then did I understand why not a single maid or warrior was here.

Anyone who faced such a thing would have fled in terror.

Then why wasn’t I running away?

“…Do you not intend to answer?”

She urged me.

I hurriedly bowed my head and spoke.

“I-I am Jahan, of Ser Khan’s warrior corps.”

“…Ah, yes. I remember now. Among the warriors who attended my mother’s funeral, there was one particularly large man. That was you.”

The warriors present then weren’t there voluntarily; like me, they had been assigned as guards.

I too wouldn’t have given it a second thought if it hadn’t been an order.

Lady Imelia was a woman who, due to her fragile nature, was supported by her maids but not by the warriors.

And she always carried the label of being a former Imperial slave.

“…So there was at least one person who came to visit my mother.”

Surprised by the voice that contained a hint of warmth, I raised my head to look at her again.

Was it my imagination, or had the ghostly blue light in her eyes subsided somewhat?

Only then did I realize anew.

What stood before me was not some strange monster, but a child on the verge of death from freezing and starvation.

An unfamiliar emotion tightened heavily around my chest.

Only later would I realize it was sympathy and guilt.

After much hesitation, I finally spoke.

“…Lady Haschal. You must return to the palace.”

“Are you going to say the same things as those servants? I grew tired of their whining and drove them all away.”

Lady Haschal, as if she didn’t want to speak anymore, turned her head back to look at the humble grave.

In her blue eyes, directionless hatred and deep longing were mixed.

“Look at your condition, my lady. It wouldn’t be strange if you collapsed and died right now. Do you intend to throw away your life like this?”

No miracle or strangeness can last forever.

Even this incomprehensible phenomenon that was holding onto the princess’s life would eventually reach its limit.

“I understand how you feel, but…”

I tried to persuade the princess somehow.

“-You understand? My feelings? How amusing.”

The princess gritted her teeth so hard they might break.

“You know nothing.”

Her voice was like a growl.

“No. No one could possibly know!”

Lady Haschal wailed miserably, coughing up blood from her dry, cracked throat.

Fierce killing intent streamed out.

I couldn’t give any answer.

After all, I didn’t really know much about Lady Haschal or Lady Imelia.

After breathing heavily for a while, Lady Haschal slumped her shoulders.

“…Very well. You need not urge me so; I will return in five days anyway.”

“Five days? But why…?”

If you’re going to return anyway, why not go back now?

She was in a state where she could die at any moment, let alone wait five more days.

“My mother suffered for fifteen days before she passed away. So I too will guard this place for fifteen days.”

I couldn’t stop her.

It wasn’t something that someone like me, a mere warrior, could prevent anyway.

“…I will visit you again. Please take care of yourself.”

So I decided to come here every day.

—-

The first day.

Perhaps she didn’t really think I would come back, as Lady Haschal stared at me blankly for a while.

I spent time looking at the grave with her.

The long silence was awkward, so I forced myself to speak, telling her various stories.

Stories about everyday life. About my life. Even rumors and folk tales I had heard.

“You talk more than I expected.”

Lady Haschal, who had been listening quietly, shook her head.

I need to think of some way to pass the time quietly.

Maybe I should train.

The second day.

Lady Haschal’s physical condition showed no significant change.

It was still incomprehensible, but now I was rather grateful for it.

In a corner of the tomb, I trained my body by swinging a thick club carved from wood.

Lady Haschal occasionally looked at me with interest.

The third day.

I gave Lady Haschal a coat made of wolf fur.

She stared at it silently for a while before accepting it and draping it over her shoulders.

“…My mother once made me such a garment. She called it a cloak, I believe.”

As if longing for the warmth of memories, Lady Haschal pulled the coat around herself.

And on the fourth day.

“Who the hell are you?”

An unwelcome visitor came to the tomb.

—-

I looked down at the boy who barely reached half my height.

He was a child wearing elaborate clothes that didn’t suit him.

Golden ornaments sparkled all over his small body.

He even had a dagger strapped to his waist.

Behind him, two warriors who appeared to be his guards were awkwardly looking away.

Who is this kid?

“I’m asking you. Are you deaf?”

The boy tapped his dagger mockingly.

I barely suppressed the urge to kick him.

I didn’t want to cause a disturbance at the place where the princess’s mother rested.

“…My name is Jahan.”

“Do you think that’s what I’m asking? Why is a mere warrior here? I came to see that half-breed bitch.”

I was speechless at the unexpected vulgarity.

Half-breed? Did he just call Lady Haschal that?

“Prince Amin, you shouldn’t speak like that outside. She is still half your blood relative.”

The guard standing behind advised the brat.

Judging by how he looked at me while speaking, he was probably saying it for me to hear.

Blood relative, is it? So this is Aishan-Gioro Amin.

The third son of Ser Khan.

I almost kicked him according to my temper, which would have caused a major incident.

“Then what should I call her? I’m being generous by calling her a half-breed instead of a slave because we share half our blood.”

Amin grumbled irritably, then turned to me and pointed accusingly.

“So, what about you? Why is someone who isn’t an Aishan-Gioro relative snooping around a relative’s grave?”

This was awkward.

Indeed, I had been committing an act punishable by execution, though I’d gotten away with it because there had been no guards at the tomb until now.

“You don’t seem to have permission from my father… since you’ve been wandering around our family’s tomb without permission, you have no right to complain even if you die, right?”

Amin drew his dagger.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

It would take just one strike to turn this youngster into a corpse. I could even handle both guards if they attacked simultaneously.

The problem was that if I laid hands on a direct descendant of Ser Khan, my entire home village would be massacred.

Even if I killed all three and buried them, once a member of Ser Khan’s bloodline disappeared, they would turn the city upside down to find the culprit.

Many people would remember this boy’s movements because of his flashy clothes.

As they investigated, it would eventually come to light that Amin had been killed here.

While I hesitated, unable to act, Amin raised his dagger high.

…Should I kill him first and think later?

I clenched my fist tightly.

Even if it would be impossible to deal with the aftermath, I had no intention of offering my neck to a child’s dagger.

That’s when it happened.

“…Stop, Amin.”

Having heard Amin’s voice, Lady Haschal walked over.

Amin, who had been snickering as if the tension had dissipated, put away his dagger and was shocked at Lady Haschal’s appearance.

“…What is this? Are you a ghost?”

“I have no interest in joking with the likes of you. Why are you here?”

Lady Haschal stared at Amin expressionlessly.

Perhaps intimidated by her corpse-like, eerie appearance, Amin’s lips twitched.

“I-I came to see the half-breed’s face, but this is beyond my imagination. Yes, you look ridiculous.”

Amin forced himself to act tough.

“If you’ve seen enough, then leave. Don’t linger. You’re annoying me.”

Lady Haschal frowned with contempt and jerked her chin as if telling him to get lost.

“This half-breed bitch has been…!”

As if humiliation had overcome fear, Amin’s expression twisted with anger.

Lady Haschal turned away, ignoring Amin as if he wasn’t worth her attention.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“I told you I have nothing to say to you. And Jahan is my guard, so don’t interfere.”

“Guard? That’s laughable. By what authority does a half-breed like you…?”

“……”

Lady Haschal didn’t even bother to respond.

“Jahan, follow me.”

I glanced at Amin, then moved to follow Lady Haschal.

Grinding his teeth, Amin shouted, spittle flying.

“I wondered what you were doing in front of your mother’s grave, but you’ve been fooling around with a man?”

Lady Haschal stopped in her tracks.

Seeing this, Amin gained confidence and continued his taunts.

“Your mother was a lowly slave, so what else could her daughter be? I guess you learned one thing properly from your mother—how to sell your body?”

Lady Haschal turned around and walked slowly toward Amin with her head slightly bowed.

Sensing something ominous, Amin’s guards tensed.

Amin continued to hurl insults at Lady Haschal.

“She must have been better than whores at it to bewitch my father. I should have seen it for myself!”

Lady Haschal approached until she was right in front of Amin.

His guards placed their hands on their sword hilts.

I tensed my body and glared at them.

“Amin.”

Lady Haschal spoke.

“What, are you going to show me yourself? One man doesn’t seem enough for you—should I lend you my subordinates too?”

“I think you should be the first.”

The hatred that had been suppressed finally erupted with ferocious killing intent.

Amin’s eyes were torn out.