Ch.57Candy

# 1.

That day was exceptionally bright.

“You lazy bum!! Even if Ilhong asked, how could you grant her request so easily!!”

“…My lady.”

“Yes, you fool! Even if I asked, you shouldn’t agree so readily!”

“…My lady?”

It was noon when the young lady personally came to visit the idle young man who had been sulking after being scolded by the master for his lengthy walk the previous day, and offered him dried persimmons.

“Pfft.”

“…Why are you laughing?”

“I was imagining you, big as a mountain, nibbling on it carefully like a rabbit.”

“…Thank you anyway.”

“Yes, later you can repay me with that Western can-di? Can-dy? That confection.”

“…Isn’t that only presented to the king and the Jangseung officials?”

“Hush. Anyway, later repay me with ten candies… no, a hundred.”

Since she had lost her sight in a fire incident, the young man looked at her pink irises and murmured softly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm? For what?”

“Because I failed to protect you properly, your eyes…”

…Chomp.

The young man bit his lip.

If only I had stopped the young lady when she ran to save that child that day, or if I had rescued the child first myself.

“You should never have ended up like…”

Snap!

His gradually lowering face was grabbed by both cheeks and lifted up again.

“What did I tell you before?”

“…But.”

“Tsk. You stubborn bear. Stop overthinking and just answer me.”

Faced with Ilhong’s serious expression, the young man reluctantly opened his mouth.

“You said it wasn’t my fault. That it wasn’t your fault or the child’s fault either… that it was just something that happened in the past.”

“And?”

“…You said if I still felt guilty, I could serve you for the rest of my life. That’s what you said.”

“That’s right.”

Only then did the corners of Ilhong’s lips curl up slightly.

“What, have you grown tired of serving me?”

“H-how could that be! You’re far too good for someone like me!!”

“Hmm? How am I too good for you?”

“Th-that’s…!!”

The young man racked his simple mind and answered, pounding his chest.

“Even if you asked for my life, I would give it without hesitation!”

A rough but spirited answer.

“…Is that so?”

Following his voice, Ilhong’s hands reached out and gently wrapped around the back of his neck.

“Give it to me.”

“…Pardon?”

“Tsk, a man shouldn’t speak with two tongues. You’re not living up to your size.”

“No!! Even right now I would…!! Uh…? Ah, m-my lady, wait…!!”

As the young man panicked at Ilhong climbing onto him and drawing closer.

Tap.

Soft lips touched the lips of the young man who had his eyes tightly shut, then pulled away.

“……Huh?”

“You said you’d give me your life, so I took it with a kiss.”

A playful smile, though her face flushed with her own embarrassment.

In that moment, without concern for status, circumstances, or worries, true feelings surged, and the young man, unable to suppress them, spoke to Ilhong.

“You, who are always captivating, are my eternal, unchanging love.”

His face turned bright red at the words that escaped his lips without thinking, and Ilhong, feeling the warmth through his embracing hands, burst into laughter.

“You lazy bum. Did you know how to say such sweet things? Didn’t you once say you’d live alone forever?”

“…My lady.”

“Pfft. How cute. Alright. I won’t tease you anymore, so come closer.”

Following her words, as the young man leaned forward, Ilhong kissed him again and naturally pulled him into an embrace, whispering.

“You, who are always captivating, are my eternal, unchanging love.”

After circling around for a long time, their hearts finally connected to each other.

“…My lady. I… I don’t know if I deserve to be this happy…”

“…A grown man crying. Still, I do like your softness.”

Even though it was something they couldn’t publicly announce yet, the two loved each other for several months.

During those months, the young man thought deeply.

Among the reasons they couldn’t be together, the biggest was the barrier of social status.

Though he had been picked up as a slave and became a commoner, that alone was far from enough.

“I want to apply for the special military examination.”

“…The special military examination?”

“Yes, my lady.”

If he passed the military exam and became a ‘Jangseung’ of the East, if he could return in glory.

“Then I could love you properly as a worthy companion to the only heir of the Cheon family, the guardian house of the East.”

“…A Jangseung.”

One of the highest official positions in the East, which only those with immense martial prowess could pass.

After pondering for a moment, Ilhong asked.

“Must you do this?”

The young man knew.

That she had persuaded her father for his sake, and that Master Cheon had acknowledged him.

But,

“The reason Master hesitates is only one: the difference in our social status.”

As the Cheon family was a high-ranking family suppressing chaos in the East, they needed to maintain appropriate power at all times to avoid danger.

“I’ll return soon.”

“Yes, don’t worry about me and go.”

“…I’ve always thought this, but you’re really not good at acting, my lady.”

“……Was it that obvious?”

“Yes. Quite a bit.”

“……”

The young man vowed to alleviate that one worry with his own body.

“So, how long do you expect it to take?”

“Fortunately, the master said the teacher he assigned to me said my talent is overflowing, so it should take about 3 years.”

“…That’s long. Truly long.”

The gloomy atmosphere lingered only briefly before Ilhong smiled bravely as usual.

“But I can’t always depend on you either. I’ll learn to stand on my own.”

“…My lady.”

“…A grown man crying again.”

That day, with Master Cheon’s tacit consent, the two spent the night together.

“Return safely, you crybaby.”

With the lady’s farewell, the young man departed to become a Jangseung.

The three years passed surprisingly quickly, making their tender times seem distant.

“First place, Hanryang!!!”

Having placed first in the military examination, Hanryang set off for home with excited steps after the appointment ceremony.

“These are Western candies.”

“I’ll take them.”

“Of course, now that you’re a Jangseung, you should taste them. How many would you like?”

“A hundred.”

“…Pardon?”

“Give me a hundred.”

“Th-thank you very much!”

With both hands full of gifts for Ilhong, he proudly headed home.

‘What should I say first?’

‘Can I call her Ilhong now, instead of “my lady”?’

‘When should we have children?’

‘Five? Maybe even six would be nice.’

Though it was a month-long journey, to Hanryang it felt so short.

‘…Alright. I’ll call her “my lady” at first, then whisper “Ilhong” that night.’

No matter how confident she was, she would still be a little embarrassed.

“My… the Jangseung smiling so brightly, I think it’s the first time since you passed the exam.”

“Ahem…!”

At the servant’s teasing, as Hanryang slightly raised his head.

Five fires rose from the beacon built on the Cheon family’s ancestral mountain.

“…Huh?”

Engagement with the enemy.

5 out of 5 beacons.

“My lady…!!”

BOOM!!

Dismounting from his horse, Hanryang donned his battle mask and rushed forward using the power of a ‘Jangseung’.

“Please…!! Please!!!”

She was a lady who valued a child’s life more than her own eyes.

That’s why she went blind, and he promised to stay by her side for life as a belated atonement.

“Please!!!”

Training that pushed him to the brink of death.

The image of the lady with her light pink flower-like appearance that he recalled whenever he wanted to give up.

The promise he whispered to return as quickly as possible and make her happy for the rest of her life.

After a long, long time, he returned to keep that promise, but.

“My lady!!!”

“……Don’t come!! Please, please don’t make me kill you..!!!”

You, who had massacred the villagers, stood there covered in blood.

“Something’s wrong…!! I was stabbed with something, and my body, my body is moving on its own…!!”

Trembling hands.

Unfocused, wandering eyes,

And,

“Get away!!!”

CRACK!!

A vast amount of dark, malicious energy erupted, threatening to crush everything around.

“I…!! People died because of me…!!”

Stuck in the lady’s side was what appeared to be a ceremonial dagger bearing the seal of the Babylonian Emperor, seemingly a medium for a curse.

“No, no…!!!”

BOOM!!

Hanryang, wearing his battle mask, rushed forward to subdue Ilhong.

Though powerful, the shadows enthralled by the curse were too easy to avoid, and Hanryang, now a Jangseung, caught her within minutes.

“Ugh, aaagh…!!!”

“My lady!! Please!!! It’s me!! Hanryang who promised to serve you for life!!!”

“Let, let go…!!!”

Sharp shadows spreading in all directions tore through Hanryang’s entire body, but he paid no heed and embraced Ilhong.

He had to think of a solution.

-Did you say a curse, Master?

-Yes. It manifests through a medium, and once manifested, there’s no way to reverse it. It’s a filthy tactic of the Western barbarians.

The knowledge he had gained to become a Jangseung screamed that it was impossible.

-It can’t be that filthy.

-Of course it’s filthy. They capture the enemy’s family alive and use a spell to make them kill their own family with their own hands.

-My… Is there really no way?

-None. You have to kill them.

Only the fact that there was no solution became clear, and he could do nothing.

He could only desperately wish while tightly embracing the struggling lady.

Please let this all be a dream.

But making that wish futile, the curse grew stronger, consuming all of Ilhong’s life force.

“Must, kill…!!! No!! This, this isn’t my thought!!!”

“My lady!!”

“No, this isn’t me…!!”

Finally, as sharp shadows were about to pierce the injured people again.

Plop.

Hanryang’s bundle tore open, and its contents poured out like rain.

Those contents were,

“Candy… so… so it was you, Hanryang…”

In an instant.

Life returned to the lady’s eyes, which had been clouded since the fire, and Ilhong finally asked the man before her.

“…Hanryang.”

I’m truly,

truly sorry, but,

“Could you kill me?”