NTH 87

“That’s right. When I first ran into him, I thought he was a heavenly maiden. I’m telling you, I thought I had finally died and gone to paradise.”

At the servants’ words, Meoru immediately recalled the name of the person he had been so eager to see for the past few days.

“I know… Are you perhaps talking about Sonyeong?”

When Sonyeong’s name came out of Meoru’s mouth, all the servants stopped talking at once and stared at him. Not knowing why, Meoru stared back at them with a blank expression.

A moment later, Jeombaegi, having come to his senses, harshly struck Meoru on the back.

“Where does this wretched lowborn think he is, spouting Mr. Gukbok’s revered name so casually! Where did you even hear that!”

“Ow, ow! Sonyeong told me himself! He said I could just call him Sonyeong…”

“How does that make any sense? Although he is bound for life to the work of divination, he is a Wang! He is of the precious bloodline of a founding contributor’s family, you ill-mannered brat!”

“I get it, so stop hitting me, you damn mister!”

Even while continuing to bicker with Jeombaegi, Sonyeong’s image kept lingering in Meoru’s mind.

Wang Sonyeong… So he was a noble. No wonder his every action seemed so extraordinary.

Meoru, who rarely had the chance to interact with people of high status, had never seen someone who moved so gracefully, right down to their fingertips.

So that’s why he couldn’t find him no matter how hard he looked. As someone entrusted with the important task of divining the nation’s fortunes, he must have been hidden away deep inside the separate building.

Thinking of a person he couldn’t even meet easily just made his heart more restless. Meoru quickly gobbled up the remaining sweet potato before anyone else could take it.

At dawn the next day, the first snow of the year fell.

Meoru, who had woken up before the rooster crowed, walked out holding a large bamboo broom to sweep the front courtyard of the main hall. The sun had not yet risen, and the surroundings were bluish. Every time Meoru breathed, his breath billowed out white like smoke.

He was about to start sweeping, blowing hoo, hoo on his hands that were already turning red from the cold, when he heard murmuring voices from inside the main hall’s paper-screen doors.

“The new moon will be here soon. I trust that you, Mr. Gukbok, know better than anyone that we cannot delay any longer.”

It was a voice familiar to Meoru’s ears. From what he had heard from Jeombaegi, it was ‘the Grand Tutor, His Highness the Crown Prince’s teacher and guardian.’

“I am aware.”

The calm, clear voice that replied to the Grand Tutor’s words was unmistakably Sonyeong’s. Wanting to hear more of Sonyeong’s voice, Meoru moved closer to the paper-screen door, held his breath, and listened intently.

“I simply do not understand. What is the reason for letting that lowborn fellow named Meoru wander around the temple grounds as he pleases?”

“…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just lock him up and keep him barely alive? What will you do if he tries to run away, tsk.”

“He is a person who originally lived without a fixed residence. Though he may have starved with nothing to his name, he has lived his whole life moving freely like the wind, wherever his feet took him. How distressed and pained would such a person be if he were locked up like a criminal?”

“I say, Mr. Gukbok. What kind of absurd talk is that? Have you forgotten that his use is solely as a shield against misfortune for His Highness the Crown Prince? As long as he does his part properly, that is all that matters. Why are you trying to consider his feelings!”

A shield against misfortune for His Highness the Crown Prince…?

Before Meoru could even be surprised by the unexpected words, Sonyeong’s composed and upright voice leaked out from beyond the door.

“I will never stand by and watch him be harmed by wicked things.”

“If you have so much energy to spare, use it on His Highness the Crown Prince, the future of this country! If it can save His Highness the Crown Prince, what does it matter if a hundred, or a thousand, fellows like that are sacrificed! He should know that even such a death is an honor!”

Ha, what’s the use of such honor and glory if you’re dead? Unable to hold back, Meoru flung the door open.

“I don’t need that kind of honor. I have no desire to croak just yet.”

Seeing him, the Grand Tutor’s eyes widened in surprise. After a moment of stiffness, he quickly regained his composure and shouted furiously.

“Well, I’ve never seen such a rude fellow! Where do you think you are, daring to open the door and interrupt!”

Compared to the greatly shocked Grand Tutor, Sonyeong simply lifted his teacup with composure and took a sip of tea. At Sonyeong’s elegant posture, which was like something out of a painting, Meoru was at a loss for words.

As the Grand Tutor glared at him with dagger-like eyes, Meoru opened his mouth with a brazen attitude once again.

“From what I hear, you two were talking about me. Since I’m the one involved, let me hear what this ‘shield against misfortune’ is all about. What, if I offer up my heart as a sacrifice, can I block some disaster that’s about to befall His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Guards! Is anyone there! Drag this lowborn fellow out at once—!”

“I will speak with this person.”

Sonyeong said as he rose from his seat, tossing the words out. It was as if he had known this would happen, showing not a hint of agitation. The Grand Tutor lost his temper with him.

“Forget it! What is there to talk about with a creature like this, with no background and no respect for his betters!”

“In any case, I need to explain the preparations before the ritual on the night of the new moon. I will take my leave first.”

Leaving the flabbergasted Grand Tutor behind, Sonyeong walked out of the paper-screen door. Meoru rested his chin on the top of the large bamboo broom and leisurely watched him walk out.

“It will be cold if you just stand there, so let’s walk. Put the broom down.”

At Sonyeong’s words, Meoru leaned the broom against the outer wall of the main hall and followed behind him with a slouching gait.

They walked for a long time in silence through the fir forest that surrounded the temple like a fortress wall. It was Meoru, unable to bear the stuffiness, who broke the silence.

“What is a shield against misfortune?”

Meoru was uneducated and ignorant, but he had picked up many words during his life of wandering here and there.

He had overheard various stories while roaming the marketplaces of many towns, so he had heard the term ‘shield against misfortune’ before. The term referred to an object or a talisman that blocked bad things like hardship, disease, and misfortune.

To think that he was a shield against misfortune for none other than the son of this country’s king, the crown prince who would be the next king.

However, Meoru did not know whether a shield against misfortune could block calamities just by being nearby, or if it had to receive the bad luck into its own body to block it.

“We haven’t seen each other since the first day. How have you found life here?”

At Sonyeong’s polite inquiry, Meoru made a deflating sound.

“It was unbelievably good. Until I heard the words ‘shield against misfortune,’ that is.”

“I see.”

“It sounds like something ominous. Don’t you even intend to explain it to me properly?”

“If what you say is correct, what will you do?”

“I’d have to knock you down and make a run for it. Even an uneducated, lowborn beggar knows how precious his life is.”

“Knock me down? You?”

Sonyeong chuckled as if he found it very amusing. Apart from the fact that Meoru had glanced at him, wanting to see him smile, Meoru had no idea why he was laughing.

“What’s so funny that you’re laughing? Do you think I’m joking right now?”

“It’s not that. It was just funny to see you confidently boasting that you could beat me.”

“Hah, what? You look so pale and skinny, like a gust of wind could blow you away. What are you talking about? Look at the difference in our sizes. Don’t tell me you think I’d lose to an unripe green apple?”

“A green apple, who are you referring to?”

“You, of course. Who else is here?”

“Why am I a green apple?”

“Uh…, because, you’re a green apple?”

“Do you even know how old I am?”

“I don’t, but I can pretty much tell by looking at your face. About seventeen? At most, you’d be around nineteen.”

“Then do you know how old you are?”

“Me? I’m an orphan, so I don’t know exactly, but I must be at least twenty.”

At those words, Sonyeong’s lips curved up slightly as he spoke in a flat tone, as if reading from a book.

“As of today, you have lived for exactly twenty years, minus three months and fifteen days.”

“You say it so seriously, anyone who heard you would think it’s true.”

“It is not in my nature to joke lightly. And to add one more thing, I am ten years older than you.”

Thinking that a joke of this level was close to fraud, Meoru let out a hollow laugh. Sonyeong glanced at him and turned his head away coyly.

“The truth does not change just because you do not believe it.”

“You have to say something that makes sense for me to even pretend to believe it. Or did you use some kind of ageless magic? I heard from the other servants that you’re the Gukbok who tells fortunes for the king in the palace? Something like that.”

“There is no such thing as ageless magic. However, there is a spell that can render a man who overestimates his physical strength helpless.”

“Then let’s see you try it.”

Meoru stopped in his tracks. Feeling inexplicably angry, he looked down at Sonyeong threateningly. At that, Sonyeong retorted with a snort.

“Seeing you provoke me like such a child, I am not sure who the green apple is.”

“What? This person, really…!”

“Stop wasting time and think carefully. You have a more important topic to consider than my age or magic.”

“Oh, right! I asked what that ‘shield against misfortune’ thing is, so why do you keep changing the subject? I need to know the details too.”

At Meoru’s belated urging, Sonyeong let out a light sigh.

“You must have heard from the other workers that the person residing in the separate building over there is His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Yes. Though I only heard it yesterday.”

“He is the sole legitimate heir of the current royal family, in which sons have been particularly rare.”

Sonyeong, who had emphasized the word ‘sole,’ continued to speak.

“However, His Highness the Crown Prince was born with a weak constitution and a disposition that easily attracts wicked things.”

“Wicked things?”

“To put it disrespectfully, his vital energy is weak, making it easy for things like lowly spirits or plague demons to inhabit his body.”

“Ah…”

“My master was the previous Gukbok who told fortunes for the royal family his entire life. Before he passed away, he spoke as if leaving his last will. He said that when His Highness the Crown Prince was on the verge of turning twenty, a great crisis would befall his lifespan. If he overcame that crisis well, he would live out his natural lifespan and bring great prosperity to the nation, but if he failed, he would die an early death at the age of twenty.”

“He was quite brave. Wouldn’t you get your head cut off for saying something like that in the royal family?”

“That could have happened, but the royal family chose to believe his words for the time being. It was because my master’s divinations had never once been wrong.”

“That is surprising.”

Meoru stared blankly at Sonyeong’s delicate ears, which were flushed red from the cold. Sonyeong’s calm voice continued.

“After my master’s death, the task of finding a way to save His Highness the Crown Prince was entrusted to me. After years of studying divination books imported from the Song dynasty and the Western Regions, I found a certain important record.”

“What was it?”

“It said, ‘A child born in the instant the star of the Great Inauspicious Constellation, which appears once every one hundred and twenty years, eclipses the sun, will have no yang energy in their body and be weak. They are likely to have their soul consumed by wicked things and die an early death.’”

“Don’t tell me His Highness the Crown Prince was born at that time?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Well then, isn’t there nothing that can be done? It’s his fate to be born that way. Wouldn’t it be better to have more princes before it’s too late and prepare an alternative? The king can have multiple wives, can’t he?”

To someone who had lived with a low status like Meoru, stories of kings and crown princes probably sounded as unrealistic as tales from another world. Sonyeong tried to understand his rude reaction.

“Of course, His Majesty has had several royal princes through his concubines. Even so, we could not simply stand by and do nothing about His Highness the Crown Prince, the eldest son. So throughout his growth, we served all sorts of precious foods and restorative medicines at every meal, but because he was always sickly and did not grow as well as his peers, Her Majesty the Queen’s worries were endless.”

“Does Her Majesty the Queen have only one son?”