A young brother and sister who had lived their entire lives in the Forbidden City.
The blood of the Son of Heaven was called Dragon Blood, and those who inherited that blood were not mere humans, but descendants of dragons.
County Princess Sang-ye and her younger brother were the same.
There was no one who did not bow their head before them.
They had been wrapped in silk swaddling clothes from birth. From the moment they took their first steps, those around them bowed their heads.
To be served was their daily life, and they were children who felt not the slightest sense of discomfort about being served.
It was only natural that such children would become ‘spoiled brats’ by the standards of the world.
County Princess Sang-ye was the same.
She was always causing trouble, and like the children of powerful figures who grew up under the threat of assassination, she had a twisted temperament.
Had there not been Yi-gang, who disciplined the siblings as the Crown Prince’s Teacher, she likely would have remained a headache for the imperial family for a long time.
But the daily life that had seemed as though it would never change collapsed.
The emperor died, and a bloody massacre took place in the Forbidden City.
The Evil Cult toppled Ming and established Shang.
In that process, King Gye-yeong and his family became fugitives.
They survived by leading the few imperial soldiers that remained and holding out under siege.
They lived for years in a place filled with the stench of blood, rotting corpses, and the filth excreted by soldiers and yokai.
Children change even faster than adults.
King Gye-yeong’s children, who had lived in such an environment until they came of age, changed greatly.
County Princess Sang-ye, no, she who had now become a princess, was the same.
She was no longer a foolish girl.
She became someone who carried darkness in one corner of her heart, yet knew how to see the world differently.
That said, she had also developed unusual hobbies and tastes.
The problem was that such things were not originally permitted to a daughter of the imperial family.
“Kik kik.”
Baek Sang-ye.
She, who was going by that name, giggled.
The youthful look had not yet faded from her face. She was at an age that could be called midway between a girl and a woman.
She was reading a book.
At times she grinned to herself, and at others she furrowed her brow as though concentrating.
And in the end, she let tears roll down with an overwhelmed expression.
“It’s so moving.”
On the cover of the book she was reading, a title was written in bold, unrestrained script.
‘Tale of Returning Three Times.’
A Baek-clan martial artist known as the Divine Spear regresses thirty years into the past.
Swearing that this time he would not live as before, he roams Kangho and smashes his enemies apart.
Along the way, as a bonus, he even enters cooking competitions and eats the finest delicacies in the world.
In other words, it was a cheap marketplace wuxia novel.
Baek Sang-ye had read that vulgar, low-class wuxia novel dozens of times.
Because that book suited Baek Sang-ye’s tastes perfectly.
She held fantasies about Murim and Kangho.
She was still steadily practicing the martial arts she had learned long ago from Yi-gang, the Crown Prince’s Teacher.
After returning to the imperial family, she asked her imperial father for elixirs that increased internal energy, and also invited all manner of masters to learn martial arts from them.
She had long since overwhelmingly surpassed the younger brother who trained alongside her.
Other than matters of Murim, her only hobbies were gourmet food and cooking.
In the end, after pleading for years, she was allowed to come out into Kangho.
Under the pretext of going to Azure Forest to learn martial arts and scholarship, then returning.
Since she had already left the Forbidden City, she had no intention of heading straight to Azure Forest.
Baek Sang-ye toured the Central Plains with her one and only escort.
They were days of pure joy and happiness.
Only recently, after that sightseeing journey ended, had she finally set out for Azure Forest.
Swaaaaaa-
The sound of the rain was fierce.
She was taking shelter in a cave in the mountains of Sichuan.
It was a sudden night out in the wild, but it was not all that uncomfortable.
A well-dried cloth had been spread on the ground, and a fire had even been lit beside it.
Watching the rain from a warm place even had a certain charm to it.
“You should be getting some sleep.”
Someone spoke to Baek Sang-ye, who was drunk on the mood.
It was a beautiful woman, though one with a long sword scar across her face.
Anyone could see she was a swordsman. There was a sharp aura about her like a blade itself.
She was So-ryu.
“It is late. We must leave again tomorrow……”
“Sis. Are you going to do that again?”
Baek Sang-ye addressed her, her escort and swordsmanship master, in a familiar way.
So-ryu was expressionless, but she still felt awkward about being called Sis.
“Who uses honorifics with her younger sister?”
“There is no one around right now, Your Majesty.”
“Habits are what matter most. While we’re out in Kangho, we’re sisters. We even have the same surname now, after all.”
So-ryu’s head spun at the princess’s easygoing words.
The name ‘Baek Sang-ye’ was a temporary identity. The story was that she was a daughter of a collateral branch of the Baek Clan.
And So-ryu’s current name was none other than Baek So-ryu.
After the chaotic times passed, she had truly been adopted into the Baek Clan.
She was now a proud member of the Baek Clan.
“That may be so, but even then, Your Majesty……”
“Don’t call me Your Majesty either. What if someone hears? Just call me Sang-ye.”
“Underst……ood.”
She had belonged to the Murim Alliance and performed great feats.
Her deceased elder sister So-hwa had been merely an attendant, but So-ryu had, before she knew it, become a true martial artist of the Baek Clan.
Thanks to those achievements, she had even been secretly invited by the imperial family to serve as the imperial princess’s instructor.
Receiving the emperor’s favor, she had eventually even taken on the role of escort.
“Look at your face.”
“……It feels awkward.”
But it was no easy task.
Rather than punishing evil people, acting as Baek Sang-ye’s older sister was far harder.
Because she had always been the younger sister, never the older one.
So-ryu steeled herself.
It was not something she could tell anyone, but she pitied Baek Sang-ye.
She might now delight even in watching raindrops fall, but she had been different in the Forbidden City.
She had always worn a gloomy, tense expression.
‘I have to do this properly to the end.’
Though it was only a brief amusement, So-ryu supported Baek Sang-ye’s journey to Azure Forest.
Baek Sang-ye lay down and asked So-ryu.
“Sis……”
“Shh.”
So-ryu placed a finger before her lips.
“Be quiet.”
Then she quickly threw dirt over the fire and put it out.
When Baek Sang-ye tensed and shut her mouth, only the sound of rain quietly echoed through the cave.
It was a rainy night.
Nothing could be seen beyond the cave.
Though she could not even sense anyone approaching, So-ryu stepped to the mouth of the cave.
After some time, someone indeed began to appear up ahead.
After having Baek Sang-ye stay back, So-ryu rested one hand on her sword.
‘Five. No, six.’
It was one carriage and six people.
All of them wore rain capes and carried lanterns.
So-ryu focused her internal energy into her eyes and heightened her vision.
They were clearly heading toward the cave.
Were they suspicious people? They might be a threat.
‘A merchant caravan…….’
They did not appear particularly threatening.
One of them wore a horse-chopping saber at his waist, but even merchant caravans had guards.
At last, the warrior at the front came right up to the cave entrance.
“What in the world is this rain……. What the!”
He only belatedly noticed So-ryu standing in the darkness and jumped in shock.
“I-I thought you were a ghost.”
The middle-aged warrior’s voice shook, perhaps because he was timid.
If that was an act, it would have been an impressive one.
Behind her, Baek Sang-ye let out a small laugh.
So-ryu spoke with a straight face.
“We are staying here. Please turn back.”
“I never even dreamed someone had already gotten here first.”
The middle-aged warrior in a rain cape looked troubled.
He looked back and forth between So-ryu’s cold expression and the sword at her waist.
Perhaps he had not grown old for nothing, because he seemed to realize at once that she was a martial artist.
“What do we do now…….”
Judging by the way he wore the most pitiful expression possible instead of acting stubborn, that seemed to be the case.
The warrior spoke in an earnest voice.
“You see, we have to cross that pass and get to Chaesang County. But the cargo in that carriage cannot be left in the rain for too long.”
“……”
“I know you got here first, but would it be all right if we just sheltered from the rain for a little while……?”
In truth, there was no reason not to allow it.
The cave did not belong to So-ryu, after all.
But in this world, power was everything, and if So-ryu drew her sword and drove them off, they would have no choice but to leave in the rain.
The middle-aged warrior seemed to realize that too, which was why he was pleading.
So-ryu glanced back at Baek Sang-ye.
-Shall I drive them away?
Hearing the Voice Transmission, Baek Sang-ye gave a slight shake of her head.
-Wouldn’t that make things inconvenient for you?
Baek Sang-ye opened her mouth and answered instead.
“Come in. Sheltering from the rain for a bit should be fine.”
“Oh, thank you!”
So-ryu respected Baek Sang-ye’s decision.
The middle-aged warrior was not a threat. So-ryu had judged that much through their exchange.
He expressed his gratitude while bowing deeply.
“Everyone, come in!”
The others, who had been standing there blankly in the rain, entered the cave.
The entrance to the cave was large enough that there was no issue bringing the carriage in as well.
The coachman fed fodder to the horses, while the others skillfully started a fire.
Then a young man jumped out from inside the carriage.
“Fuck, it’s cold as hell.”
It had looked like a cargo carriage, but it seemed there was also space for a person inside.
Even though he had been alone inside it, he started grumbling at once.
“Hey, Warrior Jang.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“The roof was leaking. I got soaked, damn it.”
The young man called Young Master seemed to be the middle-aged warrior’s employer.
“What do you expect me to do about it? Just get some rest.”
“Tch.”
Though theirs did not seem to be a very strict superior-subordinate relationship.
“These ladies were here first, and they let us share the space, so at least greet them, Young Master.”
“Oh? Well then…….”
The young man stepped forward.
As he moved to greet them, he froze in the middle of making a fist-clasp salute.
His gaze was fixed on Baek Sang-ye, standing behind So-ryu.
His mouth hung open as though a drop of drool might fall at any moment.
“Y-you are very, very beautiful. We’ll be troubling you for a bit.”
So-ryu frowned.
She did not like him.
But Baek Sang-ye burst into a little laugh.
The young man’s face turned bright red, and he foolishly laughed along with her.
“Hehe, ha, haha. I am Geum Yang-bae, Vice Merchant Guild Master of the Golden Measure Merchant Guild. And this young lady is…….”
“I’m Baek Sang-ye.”
Baek Sang-ye only kept smiling, as though she found the situation amusing.
The young man’s face turned as red as a carrot.
He tried to strike up a conversation, but the middle-aged warrior stopped him.
“Dry your clothes first. We need to leave the moment the rain stops.”
“Oh, r-right?”
Fortunately, the middle-aged warrior had a decent grasp of the situation.
He led the young man to the fire beside the carriage.
So-ryu let out a sigh and spoke.
“Are you enjoying this?”
Baek Sang-ye nodded.
“Yes, completely.”
“In Kangho, you must always be careful. Even people who look normal can turn into robbers depending on the situation.”
“They don’t look that dangerous, though?”
“That’s true.”
The young man introduced himself as the Vice Merchant Guild Master of the Golden Measure Merchant Guild.
The merchant guild’s name sounded respectable enough, but at a glance they were not anything impressive.
Even if he called himself vice guild master, he was probably just the merchant guild master’s son, and judging by the size of the escort and caravan, it seemed to be nothing more than a small, insignificant merchant guild.
“Anyway, go back and get ready to sleep.”
“What about you, Sis?”
“I’ll sleep later, after I see those people off.”
Baek Sang-ye seemed curious about the merchant guild that had suddenly appeared, but So-ryu spoke sternly.
So-ryu watched from a distance as the middle-aged warrior and the young man talked.
She really did not like the way he kept glancing at Baek Sang-ye with his face still red.
‘Still, they said they’ll leave once the rain stops.’
It was a connection that would soon scatter.
But as things in this world so often did, it would not proceed only as expected.
Rumbleee-
Thunder rolled.
The rain, which they had thought was just a shower that would soon stop, did not let up and instead grew even stronger.
The young man came over to So-ryu, who was sitting in front of the fire that had been lit again.
“Um…….”
Holding a well-roasted duck and a bottle of liquor.
“The rain just won’t stop, so perhaps we could have a late-night meal together…….”
So-ryu let out a sigh.
