episode_0122

“Kyahaha! Isn’t it fun, puppy? The clouds are all fluffy and bouncy! When you run around, your body bounces! Plus, I’m a goblin playing in the heavenly realm…! Hehe! If I brag about this, my goblin brothers will be so jealous!”

“I also… having fun with Hyangdan… is so much fun…!”

-Meow!

After the trials were over, the heavenly realm was somewhat noisy and lively, yet incredibly peaceful.

With this sudden warm atmosphere, it’s hard to adapt.

First impressions are first impressions, so I unavoidably had a slight prejudice that it was a somewhat strict and cold neighborhood.

Of course, the Cat Kingdom I visited during the trials was cute and fluffy, but… I thought of it as a rural place in the heavenly realm…

Well, now everyone warmly greets me unlike before, and each person I meet treats me kindly, so the prejudices have disappeared.

However… whether they are fresh or quarrelsome, everyone who meets me stares at my face as if piercing through me and then nods their heads as they pass by…

What’s going on? Why is everyone staring at me like that! Even though I’ve overcome difficult trials, it’s too overwhelming!

“Yomiya! Come here~”

-Meow meow…!

Hearing Hwiseon calling for Samseok, who was lost in thought, Samseok rushes over and jumps up on his knees to receive pets.

Sari and Hyangdan, despite missing one of the cats they were playing with, continue their running race without pause.

Hah… You guys are lucky not to have any worries, kids…

-Purr purr purr…

Ah! Come to think of it, our Samseok finally got a name.

Yomi, the cutie of cuties.

It feels familiar to the locals here who are accustomed to Chinese characters, giving off a sense of nostalgia.

Among various name candidates, Yomi resonated well.

-Meow~

“Hehe.. Sari is cute, and our Yomi is also extremely adorable, right? Ah, so pretty….”

‘Wow…’

Closing my eyes and petting Yomi on my thigh, Hwiseon looks at Yomi with a satisfied smile, making the scene so bright and happy that for a moment, it felt dazzlingly beautiful.

It’s good to see everyone getting along well…

At first, I was worried.

Hwiseon loves cute and whimsical things, so I thought it would be fine, but Yomi is quite wary.

Calming down Yomi, who growled at their first meeting, even without getting hurt, was challenging.

Fortunately, when Hwiseon cautiously accepted Yomi from me, whispering something into Yomi’s ear and gently petting with warm hands, Yomi, who had been listening to the whispers while twitching its triangular ears, soon relaxed and rubbed its face against Hwiseon’s hand.

Oh… How touching that moment was.

There’s something heartwarming about dumb animals being tamed and communicating through human touch, isn’t there?

Of course, our Yomi is a resident of the Cat Kingdom, so it can’t speak, but communication is possible…

Well, regardless, the meeting between Hwiseon and Yomi ended smoothly without any issues.

However, now that everything that needed to be resolved has been settled, it doesn’t mean peace of mind could be achieved just yet.

The real issue lies with our Hyangdan.

Always watching for the right moment, when Hwiseon seemed to be in a great mood, Hyangdan cautiously brought up the topic.

As if making excuses, we’re just friends, the altar says she’s playful, so don’t worry, but she keeps babbling on and on…

Ugh… It’s so obvious that it sounds like a flimsy excuse.

But then Heesun responds,

“Huh? Sir, are you really watching me right now? Ahaha! It’s okay, it’s okay! Since I’m just a concubine, what does it matter? I already knew that the goblin was disguised as you. I was just being careful because it was Uncle’s story. Hehe… From now on, don’t mind me and relax comfortably! As long as you don’t neglect me…”

Instead of getting angry, she even suggests accepting her as a concubine or something, which was quite bewildering.

“…Master…. Sir!”

“Huh? Huh..! What? Why? Why call me, Heesun?

Hmm… Seems like I got too lost in my thoughts alone.

I didn’t even hear Heesun calling me properly….

“Sir? What were you thinking about that you didn’t respond even after I called you several times?”

“Sorry sorry.. I was just thinking about various things. The heavenly atmosphere, our Yomi and the altar….”

“Oh..? I thought you were thinking about me… but you were thinking about the concubine in front of the altar?”

“Oh, no, of course I thought about you! And since the altar is a friend, not a concubine…. My wife is already two… no, three, but even this much would get me criticized by people.”

“Hehe.. What do other people care, sir! They must be jealous anyway, right? As I said before, I wouldn’t really mind if you accepted the altar as a concubine. I’ve already talked to the altar about it! I was really worried about being left alone, so it’s better this way.”

Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?

“Heesun? Being left alone? What on earth are you talking about? Are you trying not to come down to Earth with me?”

I don’t want that!

Or do I?

Certainly, it might be good for a pregnant woman here, and besides, since our Heesun is a princess, she’ll handle all the fuss….

Ah.. There’s no postnatal care center like back home here, so I was thinking of coming back up with the baby after giving birth….

It feels a bit early to leave Heesun here already, but it’s for my child and the child’s mother, so I guess I have to endure missing them a bit.

“Sir, that’s..! No no! Of course, we’ll go down together..! I’ve already told Mother-in-law that we’ll go back soon! Just.. um.. now that I’m pregnant.. well, in Heaven it’s fine, but on Earth, using magic is restricted, so marital life…”

Ah! Thank goodness! She wasn’t saying she’d stay here!

Phew….

But what does pregnancy have to do with magic? I don’t quite understand.

“But why is Sarie left alone? Neither you nor I, and now Yomi and the altar are here too….”

“Ugh… at night.. that’s.. haa.. it’s nothing, sir! Just forget about it..! By the way, sir! You should seriously consider the altar as a concubine. The child seems fine, and did you like her a lot? If you allow the goblin to come this far… well…”

“Cough, cough..!”

“In fact, I thought the altar would run away on its own before going up to Heaven. The goblins seem so scared of the fresh men….”

“Oh, right! The altar said the goblins have a really bad relationship with the fresh ones, right? Even though you said she’s fine… still, you should be able to tell her to stop disguising herself. If the goblins take the altar as a goblin, how will the fresh ones react? If they forcefully take such an active and lively child to a stifling prison….”

How kind the altar is.

[Title: The Otherworldly Bride]

She may be too dazzling to call her a child, but her heart was tender and pure.

It was pitiful how I refrained from playing pranks on her just because I was afraid of her, even though I didn’t hate her.

How guilty would that girl feel if she ended up in jail while trying to help me?

“Oh my! Please don’t worry about that, Master..! Ah… I’m sorry…. It’s true that our country didn’t make a good first impression on you, right? Everyone was so intimidating from the beginning… But rest assured! Heaven isn’t completely closed off as long as it’s not related to the story, right? Many people avoid it because the goblins play tricks! Even though there are those who play worse tricks than goblins here, you know? Once, a fresh deity ate all the precious celestial peaches alone….”

“……”

Listening to Huisun’s examples of mischievous deities, she reassures me, seemingly saddened by my prejudices.

Hmm.. Maybe I was a bit sensitive.

I thought my biases had disappeared, but they seem to linger.

After hearing Huisun’s words, it seems that although the relationship between deities and goblins is a bit awkward, it doesn’t seem bad.

However, to ascend to Heaven, one must obtain permission. Goblins often sneak in out of curiosity, disrupting the work of deities for fun, which has led to some deities scolding the goblins severely….

Hmm.. I remember Hyeongdani saying they were bad people because they didn’t take his jokes well….

What… I thought I was so scared because of some racial vendetta.

It felt more like a sulking child being scolded for playing a prank on an adult, right?

Well then, I can relax since Hyeongdani is a friend of the Princess of Heaven, so he doesn’t need permission. He doesn’t cause trouble with my requests, so there’s no problem at all.

“Hahaha! Puppy! You’re so fast! I lost again! How are you faster than a goblin? Huh? Let’s have another match! Get ready! Start!”

“……”

They may not be entirely well-behaved, but they are kind enough.

“Hehe…. Master, you understand now, right?”

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t really care about first impressions anymore. Since the trials, everyone has been kind, so don’t worry too much.”

“Oh.. That’s a relief…. So, do you have any other questions? Since you don’t know much about our country… Now’s the time, I’ll tell you everything about Heaven without holding back!”

“Oh really? I have many questions! Um.. what should I ask first… Well, why does everyone stare at my face so intently? I don’t know why, but they keep staring at me with a subtle feeling for a long time….”

“Uh..! Th-that’s.. th-that… umm..! Oh dear! They’re really nosy! Nosy!”

It was just a casual question…

Huisun seems embarrassed, awkward, rubbing her forehead with her hand and shaking her head helplessly.

“Why..? What’s nosy..?”

Suddenly turning red like that….

“Well… about your appearance….”

“Huh? I can’t hear you, Huisun? Is it such an embarrassing topic?”

“Uh.. Umm… They imagine the appearance of our future little one when they see you…. That… it’s a chronic issue in Heaven… focusing too much on appearances… to the extent that if you’re pretty or handsome, everything is forgiven….”

Ah! It was because of our future baby! They’re worried about resemblance!

I’ve heard that the birth rate here is terrible, and everyone seems interested in our baby….

Phew… Thankfully, it’s all because of our lovely Huisun..

“Ah… Is everyone feeling uncomfortable about this? Hmm… But if you looked like her, you’d be incredibly beautiful. I thought everyone was staring at me so intensely because they admired my perseverance through the trials… Uh… I apologize for looking like this…. Even if it’s unpleasant… If you resembled even a small part of her face, you couldn’t possibly be ugly, right..? Hmm… Come to think of it, Huisun, who married someone like me, now seems incredibly remarkable…”

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Apologize? Unpleasant? Someone like me?”

“Huh? Well, I’m just an ordinary person…?”

“……”

Why are you looking at me with such a serious expression?

“Husband….”

“…Yes?”

“I am also from the Heavenly Realm.”

Why such a cliché story…?

“Uh… I know that too?”

“I have always thought, acted, and lived as if I were from the Heavenly Realm, to the core. Do you understand?”

“Uh… Yes….”

Hmm… I don’t really understand, but let’s just nod for now.

That’s what our older sister said.

If you act that way, you’ll be halfway there, wherever you go.

“Phew… I’m glad you know. So… besides that? Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“Um… Oh! The final trial! I wanted to ask about that.”

“The final trial? The trial itself is one bestowed by Abamama, so even if you ask me, I don’t know much about it…”

“Rather than the trial… I’m curious about who the owner of that pure white hand is. It must be one of your sisters anyway.”

“The people there were indeed my sisters, but… a pure white hand? Was there such a thing?”

“Yes! There was a hand that was alluring as if tempting you. You wanted to choose that hand even though it wasn’t yours? Afterward, you were sweating profusely, wanting to see who it belonged to…”

“Uh… I don’t really understand…? Was there such a hand among my sisters? Um… no…?”

“Why, among the nine people standing behind the curtain, the person who extended their hand second from the left. That person’s hand was like that, right?”

“Nine people?”

“Yes, nine people.”

“……”

“Why no response?”

“… Husband.”

“Yes.”

“…There are seven sisters, not nine…? Behind the curtain, there were only eight people including me…?”

“… What?”

“……!!!”

“…!?!?!?”

And so, we remained silent for a long time without saying a word.