episode_0054

Princess Hongryeon’s hand, which had been stroking my head for a while, fell.

My hair was a mess, but my touch was gentle so it didn’t feel bad.

“Princess Hongryeon. It’s cold. Let’s go inside. I’ll treat you to a cup of tea.”

“What kind of car is it?”

“It’s black tea. I want to talk more with the princess.”

It was impossible to keep guests at Hyehwadang standing outside in the cold. I took Princess Hongryeon and entered Hyehwadang. In the kitchen, there was Stockholm brand Swedish black tea, which Sarah liked to drink. It was bought by Sarah’s father, who is Swedish.

“Please wait a moment.”

“Yes.”

I served black tea to Princess Hongryeon, who was sitting at the table. I also sat across the table and drank warm black tea. My body, which was cold from being outside, warmed up after drinking the tea. It was a black tea with a refreshing fruity and floral scent.

There was something I was curious about about Princess Hongryeon. It’s good that my anger has subsided, but I wanted to know when I would be replaced by Sarah’s spirit again.

“Let me ask you something. When will Sarah come back?”

“I will come to my senses before the sun rises. Sera is still lacking in training, so I won’t be able to contact her for a long time. I can’t stay in this world forever, so I have to go back to heaven.”

It was now two o’clock in the morning.

After some time, the reception ended and Sarah’s consciousness returned.

“I received divine blessings, but my practice is still not enough?”

“Although it has been accomplished, it is incomplete. If you want to communicate freely with me, you need to practice more. The reason Sarah can’t speak right now is because her nerves are incomplete. If the communication had been perfect, he would have been able to say what he wanted to say even while I was there.”

“What is Sarah’s condition right now? Are you conscious?”

“I have consciousness. I’m just watching you, pushed out of my body. The little brother who can’t say anything and just stays still is cute.”

Inside that body, Sarah was conscious. He was looking at his surroundings in a way that shared his vision with Princess Hongryeon. Because the release of the body was incomplete, control of the body was simply transferred to Princess Hongryeon.

“Then… How will communication take place in the future? Does Princess Hongryeon come when Sera calls?”

“Due to lack of training, I can’t come whenever I call, and I think the contact will be made in the form of my sudden indwelling.”

“You are coming suddenly from now on. Surely Sarah doesn’t have to suffer from a new illness every time?”

“I no longer have to suffer from a new disease. I’m the only one going in and out of my brother’s body.”

There is no way Sarah will suffer from a new illness anymore.

Princess Hongryeon would continue to come into contact with Sera in an unexpected way. It could be said that communication takes place irregularly. After breaking up today, I wasn’t sure exactly when I would be able to meet Princess Hongryeon again.

I would be very surprised if Sarah’s personality was replaced by Princess Hongryeon while she was going about her daily life.

I told Princess Hongryeon in advance to prevent accidents.

“I hope you use the same tone of voice when you visit in the future.”

“Why? Can’t I speak informally to my brother’s friend?”

“It’s confusing. If you don’t change your tone, you won’t really know who is who.”

Princess Hongryeon resided in Sarah’s body. If I didn’t change my tone, I couldn’t tell whether the person in front of me was Hongryeon or Serah. Life where I had to constantly doubt the identity of my childhood friend was so difficult that I couldn’t bear it.

“Haha. That’s a cute worry.”

Princess Hongryeon smiled brightly as she looked at me in confusion.

“I understand. I promise that from now on, whenever I stay here, I will use honorific language towards you.”

“Please.”

I was able to find out most of the things I was curious about.

But as we chatted peacefully, something suddenly occurred to me.

‘what?’

It was an offering.

I remembered the expensive offerings that Sera and I had prepared to appease Princess Hongryeon’s anger. When I actually got to see it in person, Princess Hongryeon was so gentle that there was no need to appease her.

‘If this happens, what happens to the offerings?’

I’m relieved of my anger, but is there a need to offer an offering? Still, it was possible to give it as a gift to encourage them to get along better in the future. I brought up the story about the offering to Princess Hongryeon.

“Princess Hongryeon. In the shrine of this house, there are offerings prepared to be offered to the princess.”

“Ah. You prepared an offering to appease me, right? I heard everything you talked about with your younger brother yesterday.”

Princess Hongryeon already knew that there was an offering in the shrine.

We also knew what we had prepared the offerings for.

“So what are you going to do? Will you accept the offering we have prepared?”

“Well… .”

Princess Hongryeon thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“Let’s do it like this. If you like the offering, I’ll take it. In return for the offering, I will give you and my brother a gift.”

“What gift?”

“You will know what kind of gift it is if you satisfy me.”

An unexpected answer came back.

If she liked the offering, Princess Hongryeon said she would give gifts to Sarah and me.

‘what?’

I was suddenly so curious that I felt like I was going crazy. It was a gift from a goddess, but it was not an ordinary item. Of course, you couldn’t receive it if you didn’t satisfy Princess Hongryeon.

“Let’s go together. I will take you to the shrine.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Jinwoo.”

I took Princess Hongryeon and went to the shrine.

*

“This is the new shrine of Hyehwadang. It is a space where Sera serves the spirits.”

“I see.”

After a while, I and Princess Hongryeon entered the room where the shrine was located. When I turned on the light, I could see the scenery of the shrine clearly.

The shrine usually had a solemn atmosphere, but today it was different. The shrine, decorated with lotus lanterns and flowers, had a splendid atmosphere as if a banquet could be held at any moment. There were many offerings placed in the room. All of these were offerings prepared solely for Princess Hongryeon.

“Now, let’s take a look. I prepared it as a Buddhist offering.”

Princess Hongryeon entered the shrine and looked around at the offerings. I didn’t sit still on the sidelines. We prepared expensive offerings, but it would be a waste not to wrap them in words.

Even people who have no intention of buying a product will be tempted to buy it if it is promoted well.

Even if the other person is a goddess, applying gold with your mouth will be effective.

“First of all, it’s the scent. Incense is an offering that symbolizes harmony and merit. I prepared this to praise the merits of Princess Hongryeon. The lantern symbolizes the princess’s wisdom, and the flower symbolizes praise for the princess. The fruit symbolizes enlightenment, and offering tea means that Princess Hongryeon is satisfied with her arrival. Rice… It is an expression of our joy and joy for Princess Hongryeon.”

I tried to embellish the words by connecting the meaning of the six offerings to Princess Hongryeon. While I was chatting to my heart’s content, Princess Hongryeon was just smiling softly. I secretly asked Princess Hongryeon.

If you’ve prepared this much, you can’t help but be satisfied, right?

“How do you feel? Is there something you like?”

“It is an offering that I can accept.”

It is an offering that can be received.

It meant that we had decided on the right type of offering.

The moment I was happy, Princess Hongryeon looked at me and asked.

“But is this all?”

“All… No. I also prepared pork and beef in the refrigerator. Should I offer that as an offering too?”

“Bring it.”

I took pork and beef out of the refrigerator. Contrary to concerns, Princess Hongryeon did not particularly refuse to eat meat. To begin with, meat-eating was never prohibited in ancient Buddhism. There was nothing strange. We were just being cautious.

“This is everything.”

Princess Hongryeon looked at all the offerings placed in the shrine and spoke in a soft voice.

“The quantity is not enough.”

“How much is lacking?”

“I need 300 seok of rice for the offering.”

She said it casually, but I got goosebumps all over my body.

Does it make sense to say 300 seok of rice as an offering?

To purchase 300 pieces of rice, 100 million won in Korean currency was needed.

Of course, it was impossible for me to prepare 300 servings of rice within today.

“No?”

“There is no such thing as 300 seok of offering rice.”

“It’s a shame, Jinwoo. Then, let’s pretend that we never received an offering.”

Princess Hongryeon left the shrine.

I followed Princess Hongryeon out of the shrine. If offering offerings became a thing of the past, receiving gifts from Princess Hongryeon also became a thing of the past.

“The weather is cold. Where are you going? Let’s talk more at our shrine.”

“I am not satisfied with the offerings you prepared, so I have nothing to talk about. I’m going to go for a walk outside.”

“Are you going for a walk outside at this time?”

“The last time I came to this world was 200 years ago. I’m going to go see how the world has changed in the meantime. I also want to know what the ‘interesting thing’ my younger brother discovered before his reincarnation was.”

When the day dawned, the reception was over and Princess Hongryeon had to return to heaven.

Until then, Princess Hongryeon seemed to want to take a walk outside.

“I’ll change my clothes.”

Princess Hongryeon entered Sarah’s room and quickly changed into her going-out clothes. Princess Hongryeon, who came out into the yard, opened the gate and tried to go out of Hyehwadang. If she was sent outside, the offering would have gone across the water.

As Princess Hongryeon moved, Sarah’s hand grabbed the doorknob of the front door.

It was right then.

There was a thought passing through my head.

‘You said you wanted to know how the world has changed, right?’

Princess Hongryeon came to this world after 200 years. Since it’s been a while since I’ve been here, I was probably curious about how the world has changed. Perhaps there was no need for a grand offering to satisfy Princess Hongryeon. The important thing was to satisfy Princess Hongryeon’s curiosity.

“Wait.”

I held Princess Hongryeon’s hand, which held the doorknob.

Princess Hongryeon looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Yes?”

“Not yet. There is one more offering I would like to offer to Princess Hongryeon.”

“Is this also a Buddhist offering? I don’t have any expectations because it’s all obvious when it comes to offerings. Actually, I’ve received it a lot since long ago… .”

“It’s different this time. Please do not think of it as an ordinary offering.”

“Isn’t this an ordinary offering?”

“You will entrust the menu of the offering to me from start to finish. There is a popular ordering method in restaurants these days.”

I said a catchphrase to Princess Hongryeon.

“This is Omakase. Let’s try an offering omakase.”

“Omakase… ? Is this a buzzword these days?”

“Yes. It means leaving the cooking to me. Offerings can also be made as omakase.”

“Um.”

Princess Hongryeon, who was about to open the front door and leave, turned to look at me.

“I wonder what Jinwoo will give me. Give it a try.”

The answer came back to Princess Hongryeon.

He said he was curious and wanted to try something called omakase.

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