Chapter 46: Heavenly Maiden Part 3

When I left the Heavenly Dragon Hall and entered the main palace, the moon was already high in the sky.

I hadn’t done anything special; I just had an audience with the Heavenly Maiden at the Heavenly Dragon Hall.

Even that made me feel strangely drained, so I could understand why people said she wasn’t someone just anyone could meet.

Thud, thud.

As I walked towards White Immortal Palace, the sound of late summer insects tickled my ears, and a few raindrops hit the tip of my nose.

It was that time of year. The weather was bound to be unpredictable.

Though it wasn’t pouring rain, the pattering raindrops were annoying enough that I shook my head a few times. I then entered the central gate of the White Immortal Palace and walked quickly to the porch.

Thud, thud.

There was a refreshing coolness in the summer’s heavy rain that swept away the mind.

Had it poured down, it might have broken the heat but the intermittent raindrops falling from the eaves only made me feel lethargic.

Night approached.

Standing quietly on the porch of the empty White Immortal Palace and bathed in the moonlight, it felt as though my clothes were drying quickly.

As I reflected on the stories I heard at the Heavenly Dragon Hall, I began to question whether what I had just heard was really true.

I found it difficult to decide where to start or how to organize everything.

Anyway, what the White Immortal wanted was to ensure that the Heavenly Maiden could maintain this imperial capital well in his absence.

According to Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun, it seemed possible to hold out at least until Seol Ran took her place as the next Heavenly Maiden. After she confirmed the fading energy of the Heavenly Dragon…. she seemed to have no desire to push herself further.

Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun seemed to understand it herself.

While she used the energy of the Heavenly Dragon to protect the Imperial Capital, it would be counterproductive to overuse the energy.

If she were to collapse before Seol Ran was ready to take on her role as the Heavenly Maiden, her initial goal of protecting the imperial capital would become meaningless.

As long as she was aware of this, it was enough.

“Going on an errand to the Heavenly Dragon Hall and not showing your face all day. Now, late at night, you finally return to White Immortal Palace?”

It was then.

I shuddered and then I adjusted my clothes.

Anyway, the White Immortal never acted as anyone expected.

Today, contrary to my expectation that he would be out for a casual stroll, he was sitting quietly at the end of the porch while gazing silently at the courtyard of the White Immortal Palace.

When I looked at the sky, the moon could be seen through the raindrops. If the sun had been shining, it might have been a sunshower.

The drizzling rain that was imbued with the subtle moonlight occasionally looked like scattered jewels.

“How is the Heavenly Maiden?”

“…I was planning to report as soon as day breaks…”

It seemed that the White Immortal was very curious about the state of the Heavenly Maiden.

Usually, it was impossible to find him even if you tried, but here he was, sitting directly on the porch and waiting for the news.

Well, it was understandable given that it was a matter concerning the fate of the imperial capital…. But his lack of reaction to more severe issues in the past made it quite strange.

I sat at a distance on the porch and started talking while looking at the full moon. We sat side by side.

“As you feared, her illness looked quite serious, but she was fully aware of her condition. There were reasons for the weakening of the Heavenly Dragon’s energy, and she could somewhat control it, so there is no need for great concern.”

The issue of the Plague Demonic Spirit will require further consideration in the future.

However, at least she was not suffering from an unidentified disease; she merely overexerted herself, so it was unlikely that the situation would worsen beyond the current state.

“The circumstances leading to the Heavenly Maiden’s condition are… It’s a long story that starts from last autumn…”

“Enough. I’m not particularly curious.”

As usual, the White Immortal didn’t ask about the circumstances. He only confirmed the essential facts.

Sometimes it seemed as if he already knew all the details, and other times it looked like he was genuinely uninterested.

Though I had observed him for half my life, never once did the old man reveal his true intentions. Despite this, the burdens he carried were unimaginably heavy.

“Her Highness seems to have everything under control, so I am relieved.”

“……”

“It’s just that I was worried she might face great trouble after I passed away.”

The White Immortal never complicated his stories from the beginning.

The demonic spirits were starting to stir and the energy of the Heavenly Dragon started to weaken recently. Those things just caught his attention.

“Elder, perhaps…”

Therefore, I couldn’t just sit and listen quietly.

“Why? Do you feel pity because I seem like an old man about to die?”

“……”

“Is that why you have the luxury to worry about an old man who has lived long enough? When you first came to Cheongdo Palace, you were so happy just to eat a bowl of soup rice and made a fuss like it was the greatest joy in the world….”

Despite his grumbling, the White Immortal fell silent for a moment. His words were swallowed up by the sounds of the insects.

“Well, what does it matter if I don’t live much longer? The ones I took into White Immortal Palace have all grown to take care of themselves.”

“Do you really see it that way?”

“Of course. You are doing well, Yeon Ri has places to go even outside of White Immortal Palace, the old Eunuch is about ready to retire, and Wang Han is sharp enough to secure a good position in the main palace and live well. Isn’t that enough?”

That’s how life is.

Living is like that.

The White Immortal reflected on his life as if it were nothing.

People tend to reflect on their past rather than plan for the future once they reach a certain point in life.

The days they have lived are much longer than the days they have left. It was only normal.

“I’ve lived a long life.”

I didn’t know the life of White Immortal Lee Cheol Woon.

He was an old friend of the late emperor and a master of high-level Taoist magic.

He was also the one who rescued me and Seol Ran from a bandit den and brought us to Cheongdo Palace. My connection to the White Immortal was just that.

In his life, the man called Seol Tae Pyeong was merely a late-comer. A fleeting connection.

Before he became the White Immortal, he lived as the old man Lee Cheol Woon, and before that, he lived as a man in his prime, and even before that, he lived as a young man.

Just like everyone else.

“Well, I won’t be around much longer. When I leave this world, you should take my Jade Leaf Sword, the one I’ve been using since my youth. I’ll leave it in a place you could find quickly.”

“……”

“Seeing you make such a bitter face when you’ve always said whatever you wanted, it’s giving me goosebumps. Are you expecting some sentimental encouragement from me now, after all this time?”

The White Immortal spoke in a mocking tone. His demeanor was so irritating that it made me want to laugh. It was indeed quite like him.

I knew exactly what to say to make him the most uncomfortable at times like this.

“I fear the day when you pass away, Elder.”

For a moment, the White Immortal was silent.

“Thinking about such a future is not very pleasant. Even though you pretended otherwise, you helped me a lot while I was at Cheongdo Palace.”

“…….”

“For me, White Immortal Palace was like a cradle. So… sometimes I fear such a future.”

“Why are you stating the obvious?”

However, the White Immortal always stood one step ahead and responded slyly.

The light of the full moon in the middle of the sky appeared diffused due to the mist. It seemed as if a faint yellow halo softly painted the night sky.

“The past is always nostalgic, the present is confusing, and the future is scary.”

“……”

“That’s how it always is. Were you planning to lie in your cradle until you die of old age?”

The White Immortal said this, then stood up from the floor and patted his waist a few times.

After groaning a few times, he walked toward the garden where the rain had almost stopped.

“Elder, it’s still raining a little.”

“I have eyes too. Do you think this drizzle is enough to hold a funeral?”

He shuffled across the dirt ground and then asked without looking back at me.

“So, if you have time to worry about this old man’s remaining days, why don’t you prepare some food in advance? We shouldn’t let an old man die hungry, should we? Let’s have some seaweed tomorrow.”

“Of course. I’ve already prepared everything for your breakfast tomorrow.”

“Alright. Oh, it’s giving me goosebumps. Two grown men talking about this. Aren’t you embarrassed, Tae Pyeong-ah?”

“Right … it’s not the right time to be talking about such things.”

When I said that, he laughed heartily.

Yes, it was time to focus on overcoming the current situation with all my might and think about surviving first.

One day, when the White Immortal passed away, it would be enough to stand before his grave and say that I had lived my life to the fullest.

He was a harsh old man who was difficult to get close to from the beginning, so even that would be paying him proper respect. Yes, that would be enough.

“Go inside and get some sleep. I’m going for a walk on the White Immortal Mountain.”

That would be enough.

Even the White Immortal himself seemed relieved… as if he was saying the same thing.

Yes.

It was a fact I had repeated many times.

White Immortal Lee Cheol Woon never acted according to anyone’s expectations.

“Elder! The seaweed salad you mentioned yesterday…”

The next morning.

I brought breakfast to the inner chamber of the White Immortal Palace with Yeon Ri…. but as expected, the White Immortal was not there.

“……”

“……”

However, the scene in the inner chamber was different from usual.

The normally lively chamber was quiet and clean.

There, in the midst of it all, lay a single neatly placed treasure sword. The Jade Leaf Sword.

At the mystical Moon Viewing Pavilion atop the White Immortal Mountain and under the moonlight. It was a sword honed with Taoist magic to cut through flows and energies. The Jade Leaf Sword.

It was the lifelong masterpiece of the White Immortal Lee Cheol Woon.

News of the White Immortal’s passing spread quickly.

Due to that timing, the tea gathering where the mistresses of the four great palaces gathered for the first time in a while was greatly simplified.

For decades, he had fulfilled his role as the senior of Cheongdo Palace. He was a figure akin to a great elder.

He was a person difficult to fathom, yet no one could deny the great effort he had put into protecting Cheongdo Palace from demonic spirits for many years.

The Emperor also highly valued his contributions and offered him the highest possible honors as a subject.

At the main gate of the White Immortal Palace, where his funeral was being held, a condolence message written by the Emperor himself was displayed, and high officials and imperial family members visited to pay their respects.

Though he had no surviving family members, he regarded the people of the White Immortal Palace as his own, which perhaps explained why there were many reports of them being deeply saddened.

“There’s a lot of turmoil inside and outside the palace these days.”

“Yes… I hope that the White Immortal Elder finds peace in the afterlife…”

The Vermilion Princess who was sitting at the tea gathering responded to the Black Princess who seemed saddened.

But among them, the most saddened person was the Azure Princess. She had been a disciple directly taught by the White Immortal in the arts of Taoist magic.

The sudden and unexpected news of his death was a great shock to the mistresses of the four great palaces.

Just as he had suddenly appeared in the palace one day, White Immortal Lee Cheol Woon had disappeared just as suddenly.

Like a beast that disappears unnoticed when its death approaches, he quietly vanished like an immortal. Without leaving a proper will, he left saying he was going for a walk on the White Immortal Mountain, which was his last act and truly just like him.

His body was discovered at the summit of the White Immortal Mountain.

The warrior who had been guarding him appeared, claimed to know where he was, climbed the White Immortal Mountain alone, and carried his body down.

His body was found sitting against a standing stone at the summit of the White Immortal Mountain, with two cups filled with rice wine beside him.

He appeared to be calmly gazing at the scenery of Cheongdo, as if sharing a drink with his long-lost friend, the former Emperor who was no longer in this world.

Indeed.

The White Immortal entered Cheongdo Palace and took on his role because the former Emperor, Emperor Woon Joo, had asked him to ensure that Cheongdo Palace remained peaceful before he passed away.

Perhaps thinking he had done enough, it was said that he was smiling faintly as he departed.

“………”

“………”

For a while, silence enveloped the tea gathering.

The gloomy atmosphere within Cheongdo Palace seemed to have spread even to the tea room of the Vermilion Bird Palace.

The headmaids, who had attended the funeral at White Immortal Palace on behalf of the crown princess consorts, reported that the people of the White Immortal Palace appeared deeply saddened. This was because they all trusted and followed the White Immortal like a father.

The old eunuch overseeing the funeral had a somber expression on his face.

The senior maid who usually managed household affairs had swollen eyes as if she had cried all day.

The scribe who normally handled paperwork sat quietly with his head bowed and without moving an inch.

On that rainy day of the funeral, in that place where not even the sound of wailing was heard…. the people of the White Immortal Palace just stared endlessly at the floor.

It was as if they had lost a part of themselves and were quietly coming to terms with their loss.

“……”

And so, the silence continued to fill the tea gathering.

Though no one voiced it out loud, worries about Seol Tae Pyeong suddenly surfaced. Big or small, everyone present had received something from that warrior.

He too had served the White Immortal as if he were his life companion, so it was clear that he must have been deeply grieved.

They wanted to check on him personally, but with all the high officials gathering at the White Immortal Palace, the crown princess consorts could not all rush there.

Just as the Emperor had sent his most trusted servant to commend White Immortal’s hard work, the best the crown princess consorts could do was to send the headmaid they trusted the most to pay their respects.

People with established authority, when they visit any place, often cause a commotion just by their presence.

It was not polite to burden the already deeply grieving people of the White Immortal Palace with such disturbances.

Still, they wanted to make sure Seol Tae Pyeong was not struggling too much.

Suppressing such personal feelings was a heavy burden for the concerned crown princess consorts.

Creak

It was then.

Did the heavens read their minds?

A senior maid entered the tea room, bowed her head, and spoke.

“The warrior from the White Immortal Palace is in the inner courtyard of the Vermilion Bird Palace.”

“…What?”

The Vermilion Princess was slightly taken aback by the sudden report.

The other crown princess consorts also seemed a bit bewildered. It was already a busy time due to the White Immortal’s funeral, so why would he come to the inner palace?

But unless there was a compelling reason, there was no way that man would come to the main palace like this.

Although she wanted to immediately invite that warrior into the tea room, the Vermilion Princess first asked the reason for the visit.

“With White Immortal’s funeral keeping them busy, why has the warrior from the White Immortal Palace come here?”

“He said he had something to return and handed it over before leaving.”

After she said that, the maid placed the wooden tablets given by the man neatly on a wooden tray and set them on the tea table.

The Vermilion Bird Tablet, the Azure Dragon Tablet, the White Tiger Tablet, and the Black Tortoise Tablet.

These were the very wooden tablets that Seol Tae Pyeong had desperately requested during the last tea gathering when he came under the pretext of inspecting the protective charms.

The White Immortal wished to check on the Heavenly Maiden’s condition. His wish was so sincere that Seol Tae Pyeong wished to help him in any way possible.

And Seol Tae Pyeong’s earnest plea had left the crown princess consorts no choice but to hand over the tablets. Although they were items that should not be given away lightly, they had thought that Seol Tae Pyeong could be an exception, as they all owed him in one way or another.

“Thanks to all of you, we were able to check on the Heavenly Maiden’s condition, and the White Immortal was able to pass away without any regrets… He conveyed his gratitude very respectfully.”

The crown princess consorts couldn’t help but nod their heads in response to the senior maid’s words.

The White Immortal’s body had already reached its limit. He had been merely holding on.

He had been so worried about the Heavenly Maiden that, in his final moments, he had wanted to check on her somehow.

It was only after confirming that the Heavenly Maiden could somehow manage her own health that the White Immortal was finally able to pass away in peace.

And it was due to White Immortal’s perseverance during the time when the energy of the Heavenly Dragon had weakened that Seol Tae Pyeong was finally able to become a sword master.

“A word of gratitude…”

The White Immortal did not close his eyes in worry and fear, but rather in a sense of reassurance that everything would be okay. From Seol Tae Pyeong’s perspective, this was all thanks to the help of the crown princess consorts.

Warrior Seol Tae Pyeong was so grateful that he came to the Vermilion Bird Palace during the middle of the funeral to express his gratitude.

“Is Warrior Seol in the courtyard now? I wish to check on his condition briefly.”

“… Th-That, well…”

When the Vermilion Princess asked this, the senior maid responded in a flustered manner.

“He only delivered the tablet and said he had to finish the funeral, then immediately headed out of the courtyard.”

Thud.

The one who stood up at that moment was the Black Princess.

Tap, tap, tap.

Slide.

The Black Princess strode out, brushed off the sleeves of her fancy court robe, and threw open the sliding door leading outside the tea room.

“……”

Seol Tae Pyeong had already passed through the central gate leading out of the palace and was leaving far away in the distance. They could barely make out his small, retreating back at the far end.

“…. I just opened the door because I was feeling warm.”

She made this belated excuse…. but those present could only silently watch the retreating back of Seol Tae Pyeong.

The back of a man who was wearing simple mourning clothes and walking briskly with the Jade Leaf Sword attached to his waist.

That figure seemed like… a filial son bidding farewell to his long-departed parents.

The crown princess consort of a country and a mere guard warrior.

Though the difference between their status was as vast as the distance between heaven and earth,

They could not bring themselves to call him back.