Chapter 6
“He was a foolishly loyal man.”
He had been an unusually tall man with broad shoulders. His voice, when he introduced himself as being from Baekho province beyond the western desert, and the way he laughed while talking about the younger brother who’d come with him from Baekho—all of it remained vivid in pilhwan’s memory.
pilhwan let out a sigh, suppressing the voice and face that visited him in dreams like a haunting.
That dear and gentle face clung to his soul like guilt, like debt, and suddenly choked him.
Swallowing hard, pilhwan pushed away the image of his former bodyguard and bit down on his lip.
“I didn’t survive the palace because of you, old man. It was because my bodyguard was stupidly loyal.”
“You arrogant fool! You think a lone bodyguard from the no-name, beggar-ridden Baekho province could’ve protected you, when your father the Yellow Dragon and mother the Blue Dragon were both trying to kill you as a hobby?”
“To my eyes, that wandering no-name bodyguard back then seemed a lot more reliable than you, old man.”
“Why you—!”
The old man, Yeonggwi, thumped his chest in fury with his wrinkled fist.
“I was your mother’s hairpin when she was dragged to Jungwonbu, and your bracelet after you were born! I suppressed my divine power so the emperor wouldn’t notice me and still did everything I could to help you! How ungrateful can you be!”
The old man’s rebuke echoed through the narrow, deserted alley. pilhwan didn’t reply. Only Yeonggwi’s huffing breaths and pilhwan’s tongue clicks broke the silence.
A sea breeze drifted between the two hidden in the shadows of buildings. It stirred an old, trivial memory buried deep in pilhwan’s subconscious.
‘Now that I think about it… I really did have a gold bracelet.’
He recalled the image of a bracelet with a turtle pattern wrapped around his wrist. His parents weren’t the type to give him anything like gold.
‘It was such a natural part of me, I didn’t even notice when I lost it.’
As he followed the salty breeze leading to the Soolibang where Onju stayed, pilhwan covered his left wrist with his right hand. Yeonggwi, watching him closely, let out a quiet chuckle.
“Just remembering now? I was stuck to your wrist, tipping over poisoned teacups and trays, slapping traitorous servants, and pulling maids’ hair! You lived because of me!”
pilhwan frowned, listening to the old man boasting.
“So you’re saying all those chaotic outbursts I had, which made people think I was insane—those were all because of you?”
He recalled the palace gossip branding him a mad prince. Yeonggwi didn’t even look sorry; instead, he puffed up with pride.
“Be thankful! Because you were already infamous for being crazy, no one questioned your behavior when you really acted out.”
“…….”
“The night your mother tried to burn you alive, the reason you and your bodyguard escaped the palace was because I protected you! That’s how I got trapped in the talisman in the first place!”
pilhwan, half-listening to the grumbling, missed the crucial part of Yeonggwi’s rant—that he had been sealed away in a “jeompae” (divine talisman).
Instead, pilhwan’s thoughts turned to the night the Crown Prince’s palace was engulfed in blue flames.
The acrid smell, the choking smoke and heat, the salty taste of his own tears, the bodyguard’s reassuring voice, the man’s melting body, the long flight from death… and the miraculous rescue by Onju.
pilhwan glared sideways at Yeonggwi.
“If you really are a prophetic divine beast, you should’ve warned me before the fire.”
“That’s not how prophecy works, you ignorant brat.”
“Big talk for someone with such a useless ability.”
pilhwan clicked his tongue and stepped out of the alley. Yeonggwi trailed behind, grumbling about immature kids.
“Listen closely! I knew the moment we passed the Vermilion Bird’s gate that your ship would wreck and that you’d end up on Dongrae’s beach!”
“Great. You knew all that and told no one. Real helpful.”
“Because I knew, the little miss of the Vermilion clan found you!”
pilhwan abruptly stopped, letting the wheezing old man catch up and grab his sleeve.
“You and that girl both need partners to fully manifest your powers. Do you know why the little miss turned into a child?”
“Why?”
Yeonggwi grinned and raised two fingers.
“First, she poured all of her Vermilion Bird power into you to save your life. Second, she has no partner to help restore her strength.”
Filhwan placed a hand on his chest.
“I thought I could feel Onju’s energy in me sometimes… So she really gave me everything?”
“Yes. She needs a male Phoenix to complete her powers, and you need someone to pour passion into your Dragon Pearl.”
“Passion…?”
“Your father’s forced obsession with your mother, and your mother’s hatred that still couldn’t reject him—those were all caused by the Dragon Pearl. Hate, like love, is also a passionate feeling.”
After watching pilhwan’s expression, Yeong-gwi sneered.
“It’s laughable how they pretended not to know their bond, even though it was all instinct.”
“I don’t even want to know about my parents.”
Running a hand through his hair, pilhwan snapped:
“So what you’re saying is, because Onju and I had to meet, you just stood back and let me suffer all that crap?”
“Not stood back—minimized interference.”
“Well, keep minimizing it. Stay invisible, like before.”
He resumed walking, cold and firm. Yeong-gwi, undeterred, clung to his sleeve.
“Then why did you save me? You freed me from that talisman, didn’t you?”
pilhwan raised an eyebrow.
“You were trapped in that paper thing?”
“Didn’t I say? I revealed my divine power saving you in the fire, so I was sealed away!”
“…….”
“Judging by your face, you didn’t even realize it. Just tore the paper in a fit of anger?”
The two stared at each other. A salty breeze swept between them again.
pilhwan shook his head.
“I didn’t mean to save you. I just ripped the talisman while twisting that assassin’s spine. Pure bad luck.”
“Such unlucky coincidences becoming destiny—that’s fate.”
“Fate, destiny, whatever—enough already!”
“You can’t reject fate just by saying no. That’s why I’m stepping forward to help you now. Accept it.”
“Hah…”
pilhwan, done talking, shook his head and turned away, face tightening at the sight of Yeonggwi’s white beard in his peripheral vision.
‘Onju’s body turned into a child… but why did her hair turn white like an old man’s?’
