Chapter 25
Looking at Jegaldam, Unyeong smiled and lifted her teacup to take a sip.
The taste of the tea wasn’t much different from what she remembered drinking with the former Grand Strategist, Jegaldam. Somehow, the flavor evoked a deep nostalgia, as if it had been from a long-distant past.
They had made an unspoken agreement to speak honestly, but neither of them took the first step.
After setting her teacup down, Unyeong smiled softly again toward Jegaldam.
“This kid’s expressions are so easy to read.”
The corners of Jegaldam’s lips twitched. It seemed like he was trying hard to force a smile, but Unyeong didn’t miss it.
Just looking at his face made her want to laugh. She clenched and unclenched her hands repeatedly to suppress her laughter.
The Grand Strategist Jegaldam was not someone who easily showed his thoughts or emotions to others.
He was quicker and more thoughtful than anyone else, so ordinary people couldn’t read him at all.
He was someone who could hide his emotions so perfectly that even he himself could be deceived, always wearing the same relaxed expression.
“Back then, it took me so long to read his emotions…”
She thought of a time long past.
— So, I’ve been thinking, you know?
Whenever the Sword Demon said he had an idea, the Grand Strategist would always start by sighing.
At first, Unyeong hadn’t been able to read Jegaldam’s expressions either.
She couldn’t pinpoint when it had changed, but over time, she began to understand his emotions little by little.
— No.
— Wait, just hear me out. It’s actually a great idea!
— I told you not to think… and yet, here you go again.
That was what it meant to have spent so much time together.
When the Sword Demon said he’d been thinking, it meant something troublesome was about to happen. And while the Grand Strategist would always object, it also meant he would help solve it anyway.
Even now, returned to the age of ten, Unyeong had come up with an idea.
Had the Grand Strategist Jegaldam been present, he might’ve wanted to faint. But this young Jegaldam couldn’t read her intentions yet.
Confirming that gap helped her settle her emotions.
“Yeah, I was just caught off guard earlier.”
The Sword Demon’s old friend was no longer here. There was nothing to feel hurt or offended about anymore.
“I’m just here to persuade a comrade—to prepare to block the Heavenly Palace together.”
Unyeong nodded and carefully opened her mouth.
“You came because of the letter, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“It was an amusing message, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Quite amusing.”
Unyeong nodded at Jegaldam’s reply. As expected, he had perfectly interpreted the message.
“Young master, may I ask—why did you send me that song?”
“Hm, why did I, I wonder?”
As Unyeong replied with a smile, Jegaldam clenched his teeth.
Seeing his impatience made Unyeong smile even more.
To be honest, she was starting to enjoy seeing this younger version of Jegaldam. It was a side of him she’d never seen as the Grand Strategist, and it felt fresh.
Seeing his face turn shades of red and blue, she realized it was time to stop teasing him.
“Before we talk about the song, may I tell you an old tale?”
“W-what kind of tale do you mean?”
“It’s a story told to me by someone I consider my teacher.”
“I’m listening.”
“Alright.”
Unyeong gently ran her hand over her teacup and chose her words carefully.
A teacher… Yes, he had been a teacher. The same person who had once been the Sword Demon’s teacher now sat before her in a child’s body.
— Long ago, the King of Qi thought himself a benevolent ruler.
The teacher who had once told stories in a soft voice was no longer in this world.
“The King of Qi is likely someone you know of. Though he was a tyrant, he considered himself virtuous. Even as his nation collapsed, he clung to the belief that his supposed virtue was the reason for its downfall.”
The Grand Strategist was someone who normally didn’t drink.
It must have been the day they lost a treasured item to the Heavenly Palace and uncovered the secret behind the song.
With a hollow expression, he asked for alcohol and began to speak of his childhood—a rare occurrence.
— The King of Qi had a son just as foolish as himself.
Unlikely as it seemed, it was now Unyeong’s turn to pass the story on to Jegaldam.
“The king had a son named Prince Jeonggak. He was so much like his father that he didn’t even realize he was a tyrant.”
Jegaldam looked at Unyeong with a surprised expression.
“The ministers, unable to endure it any longer, rebelled. Prince Jeonggak had a clever coachman who foresaw this and had prepared for their escape.”
Jegaldam had been born with everything.
An exceptional mind and innate martial talent.
At first, everything must’ve felt easy. His achievements surely came quicker than the effort he put in.
Unyeong had heard that even in his early teens, he already sensed the hidden dangers beneath the peace of the martial world. As he learned more about the world, he simply understood.
He had tried to warn the noble clans and the Murim Alliance, but no one listened.
That had been the first real setback for a genius unmatched in his time.
“When the rebellion began, Prince Jeonggak fled. While he was on the run, starving and trembling, the coachman gave him food he had packed ahead of time.”
Though people had high hopes for Jegaldam due to his talent, his influence within his own clan was minimal—just a child, after all.
And at the time, he hadn’t even known what exactly he was supposed to warn against.
“Prince Jeonggak, suspicious, asked the coachman a question. Do you know what he asked?”
“How did you know to prepare food?”
Jegaldam answered, as if entranced.
“Because the King ruled as a tyrant, the ministers had long been preparing for a rebellion.”
“Yes. Prince Jeonggak, who had a violent temper, was enraged by the answer and threw the food away.”
‘I’ve only ever been praised as virtuous. How dare you call me a tyrant?’
As Jegaldam echoed the words, his voice began to tremble. Unyeong’s smile faded too.
“Frightened by the prince’s fury, the coachman quickly apologized and made up an excuse.”
‘I misspoke. The King is a wise ruler. It is the foolish ministers who fail to understand his virtue.’
Now, Jegaldam’s face looked as though he were being strangled.
“Only then did Prince Jeonggak, pleased, eat the food. A truly foolish man, was he not?”
Unyeong continued the story with a bitter expression.
“I think the more important figure here isn’t the tyrant but the coachman who prepared ahead. What do you think, young master?”
Unyeong shut her eyes tightly after asking the question.
— Back then, I thought I was the coachman. I believed no one would listen, so I thought I’d just prepare alone. That made things easier on my conscience.
Even with her eyes closed, she could see the sorrowful face of the Sword Demon’s friend.
— But in truth, even my preparations were useless. I was just as foolish as Prince Jeonggak.
This must have been the time the Grand Strategist had referred to.
The time when he believed himself a cowardly coachman.
He had prepared, but changed nothing. So he thought of himself that way.
That guilt had weighed heavily on the Grand Strategist, a burden and a shackle.
— But if I had known this song back then… if I had this clue… would I have made a different choice?
“At least now, I can stop it.”
Unyeong slowly opened her eyes. When she did, she saw Jegaldam’s pale face staring back at her.
“You said we should discuss the letter, didn’t you?”
From now on, Unyeong had to be firm.
“Let me ask you, young master. Do you wish to become Prince Jeonggak?”
“I—I…”
“Young master!”
Maybe she didn’t need to go this far. Even if she had explained it gently, Jegaldam would’ve understood.
But considering the enemies they would soon face, Jegaldam had to become even stronger than the Grand Strategist the Sword Demon once knew.
In strategy, in strength—everything.
“You should not have come here after reading that letter. Isn’t that right? And yet, like Prince Jeonggak who did not trust his coachman, you came anyway.”
Unyeong’s hands began to tremble from the emotions boiling over.
“What were you hoping to hear? That the song was meaningless? That I was just testing you and there was nothing more to it?”
She let out a small sigh and clasped her hands tightly together.
“Yes, I understand. You must be curious. How did I decode the song? Do I know more than I’m letting on?”
Unyeong had said she would become the greatest under the heavens and stop the Heavenly Palace, but she knew the truth.
It wasn’t something she could do alone.
And so, even if it was difficult, even if it hurt, Jegaldam had to become stronger than before.
“But young master, what truly mattered… was what the song contained. It was your duty to uncover more about it.”
With a firm voice, Unyeong asked,
“Wasn’t it?”
