A Kind Goblin's Bird

It is unknown where Sa Heon-yeong’s favourite will go in the future. There will probably be nothing between him and her sacrificial dedication. Even if no one knows, they are clearly a brother-in-law and sister-in-law. No one knew between a man and a woman, but the Crown Princess was sure. There is nothing between them. How could she have feelings for her brother-in-law, who had the same face as her cruel husband? Likewise, her brother-in-law sees no one as a woman except for his own wife, which has been lost.

So it was comfortable and nice. The Crown Princess was fed up with the man who abused her body. She was terrified of being owned by someone. So she wanted to stay like this for a long time. Then this brother-in-law must hold on even though it is painful, but he is precarious as if he was about to collapse at any moment.

“Wife, didn’t I say I’d be alone?”

At Sa Heon-yeong’s words, the Crown Princess sighed.

“I’ll take my leave, Your Highness.”

She bowed in accordance with the rules and strode past, standing next to Court Lady Yoon, who was kneeling on her knees.

“The concubinage now belongs to the main palace. The Crown Princess is the one who rules this palace. Court Lady Yoon, it would be better for you to keep your conduct straight.”

“…… If so, does Her Highness know?”

Court Lady Yoon asked with a trembling voice.

She realized the moment she entered. It was enough for her to see the prince’s face from afar. He wasn’t the prince. The prince doesn’t have such an upright posture, and he doesn’t even have deep eyes. She has been taking care of him since he was born. How could she not know She rejected him, but she always watched him.

“You can’t behave properly. It’s really unfortunate.”

The Crown Princess clicked his tongue and passed her. It was no different than foretelling her persecution in the concubinage. Court Lady Yoon looked back at the Crown Princess’ back, who was moving away from her, and turned her gaze back to the prince, Sa Heon-yeong.

It took a little while for the story to be complete. Meanwhile, Court Lady Yoon didn’t say anything. Eventually, when everyone retreated and the two of them were left alone, she looked up at Sa Heon-yeong with her unbelieving eyes.

“Your Highness.”

“…….”

“Your Highness, who has always been clear and lucid in understanding and faithful to the country, the emperor, the Empress Mama, and the Crown Prince, why have you come to such a deplorable state?”

Court Lady Yoon asked directly.

It was such a cold question. Sa Heon-young smiled brightly. That’s weird. After he breaks the goblin’s mask and puts on the prince’s mask, he feels more distant from human nature. No matter what kind of story he hears, he can only laugh languidly. How can he be called a human being?

“My wife was murdered, Court Lady Yoon.”

“Your Highness……, no matter how,”

No matter how? Sa Heon-yeong asked coldly, and Court Lady Yoon hurriedly bit her mouth. She knew well that Sa Heon-young hated her, but had he ever seen her with such cold eyes?

She was appalled. Court Lady Yoon suddenly had a foreboding. If she was wrong, today could be her funeral day.

Sa Heon-young said quietly.

“Yes, she’s just a goblin woman to you.”

Court Lady Yoon’s eyes widened. SSa Heon-yeong laughed a little and she spoke.

“For the prince, she must have been a female brought from somewhere, and for the mother, she must have been a bird that grants wishes. But for me.”

“…….”

“For me, she was a precious person that cannot be replaced even with the position of a heavenly ruler.”

Sa Heon-yeong slowly stood up from his seat.

His tears dried up. He could feel the tears of blood flowing from his chest, but strangely, only a smirk flowed from his lips. He really looked like a crazy person, and Sa Heon-young laughed again. Really. He’d rather be a little less unhappy.

“She was my one whole world..”

“…… Your Highness…….”

“Since the world is gone, it’s dark and I can’t no longer see loyalty and filial. All I can see is the face of the red goblin.”

“Your Highness, Your Highness, The Crown Prince…….”

Court Lady Yoon swallowed a gulp. Sa Heon-yeong smiled languidly as he looked into her eyes asking if he had committed a betrayal. Betrayal*? Wasn’t what they had done to him a betrayal?

Has he ever been given a familial relationship? How can it be a betrayal when a family relationship hasn’t been established?

“He became a fish.”

“What do you mean a fish, Your Highness.”

“He lives in a dark underground fish tank. I can’t say for sure how long he’ll live.”

Wa, water prison.

Court Lady Yoon covered her mouth without realizing it. Or a scream would explode.

Water prison is the most painful prison , among the prisons of the Sun dynasty. Did he mean that the crown prince was locked up there?

“Then, Em, Empress,”

“She became a tree. I was going to make her into a doll, but it was a little,”

Who is this person?

Court Lady Yoon looked up blankly at Sa Heon-yeong. The languid face looks like a prince, and the tone that comes out of his mouth is that of Sa Heon-yeong. No, no, it’s the first time she’s heard of it. A tone that sounds like a song, like a sutra. In the voice that seems to be extinguished at any moment, there is a curse in each letter.

Sa Heon-young has always been a loyal person. He didn’t enjoy drinking or anything, he just did his thing. He defended the country, supported the emperor, and became the prince’s sword according to the emperor’s command. If the Empress wanted it, no matter how busy he was, he even moved himself to verify the truth of the rumors. Everyone misunderstood him, but he didn’t even try to clear the misunderstanding. He just stood there silently and did his best. He was like that.

He laughed and spit curses, becoming a goblin.

“It’s a little boring.”

“What do you mean boring, Your Highness!”

“Court Lady Yoon. Many people died that night when the new fish was introduced into the underground fish tank. Everyone involved was killed.”

Sa Heon-yeong, who had been walking around her, knelt on one knee in front of Court Lady Yoon and made his and her eye level similar.

“My wife is going to Mang Mountain, and she has dark eyes and can’t walk well, so if I don’t light it with blood, she will fall.”

Madness was burning in his gentle voice.

“What did they do? They were just following the master’s orders. Why did they die? They met the wrong owner. So I showed mercy. I allowed death with one night’s pain. But who is responsible for all this, huh?”

“…… Your Highness…… ”

“My wife will never rest. There were no prayers for her, nor was she buried; she was buried mixed with the bodies of sinners. What rest is there with her?”

“… … .”

“I can’t kill easily, I can’t. It’s not like that.”

A lovely person that he can remember even when he closes his eyes. Can he make them pay back his sorrow for having her taken away with only death?

Sa Heon-young smiled bitterly.

He gave the empress medicine for her blood level. By the time the empress’s suppressed blood pressure was released, her body stiffened due to the drug. He gave her medicine every hour. The Empress rebelled, but she couldn’t resist with a body as hard as a tree.

And soon her body began to warp. It was a drug that turned people into trees. The skin becomes as stiff as the bark of a tree, and the body twists. The last emperor of the former dynasty had a bad taste of making people into human trees and seeing them, and it was the medicine he used.

“I thought I would kill you too.”

Sa Heon-young’s eyes moved once. It was as if a snake’s tongue touched her, and Court Lady Yoon was unable to speak properly and trembled.

“I don’t know what kind of wind blew you that day, but you didn’t really touch my wife. So, luckily, you survived. But I don’t want to see you in my palace, so get off this place. If I see you again, I will make you something non-human. Do you understand me?”

—-

*) So the word used for betrayal here is quite specific (패륜) which means a betrayal of a person in a family.