“I assume you want something from me,” the King said, setting the scroll down. “What is it?”
Min-jun smiled but it held no true humor. “Perceptive as always, your Majesty.” The fingers of his undamaged arm clasped the hand of the injured one. “I’ve decided to take your advice.”
The King raised a brow, skeptical as ever. “Oh? And in what measure have you decided to take it?”
Min-jun’s arm stung the more he thought about it, so he forced his thoughts away from the irritation for now. “I want to make amends with your shaman.”
“I see,” the King replied, his eyes tracing the length of Min-jun’s arm. “Has the medication stopped working already?”
So much for subtlety. Not that Min-jun had planned to keep it a secret, but he sometimes wished the King would stop squandering every drop of mystery Min-jun crafted for himself five seconds into their conversations. Indeed, the King didn’t seem fond of beating around the bush.
“It’s started to, and I’m not looking forward to the day it loses all potency.”
The King rested his chin on his hand. “What made you decide to give up on killing our dear friend?”
Min-jun crossed his arms, wishing his cheeks didn’t feel so warm all of a sudden. “It seems my spirit is not fond of murder.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Now, there’s a twist,” the King teased. “And so the brilliant assassin is defeated with an indirect brush with the Afterlife Envoy. I suppose the attempted cleansing doesn’t help either.”
Upon hearing the last bit, Min-jun froze. “What do you mean?”
The King brought his fingers up to his chin. “Sometimes, there will be side effects from a purification, especially an incomplete one. There haven’t been many cases of someone escaping from Sun-woo, so our sample size is rather small, but from the few that had, they were often plagued by voices and thoughts that were meant to eventually draw them back to Sun-woo to be completely purified.” The King nodded to himself. “You having a hand in that man’s murder probably gave them something fresh to target. Something your mind had already latched onto. Fascinating, isn’t it?” He tilted his head to the side. “Any other symptoms?”
Min-jun grimaced. He supposed given the circumstances, he was a perfect test subject for the King. It didn’t mean he had to enjoy it.
“Just the pain and the voices.”
“What do they say?”
He didn’t want to tell him. Hell, most of the time he didn’t even want to acknowledge them himself.
The King seemed to understand, allowing the subject to shift. “Do they sound like your own voice or someone else’s?”
Mother’s, sometimes. Other times, it sounded like Soo-jin, or Gyeo-wool himself. But he heard their voices even before he’d arrived at the Palace. How were they to know it was a side effect of the purification? Min-jun answered truthfully.
“Well,” the King said, “there’s only one way to find out if it’s Sun-woo’s fault. I suppose I can help you make amends with him, but he’s rather stubborn.”
“I noticed.”
The corners of the King’s lip seemed to twitch up. A smile, or a trick of the flickering candlelight? “I’ll deal with it. At least part of the way.”
“Part of the way?”
“Part of the way. No, I won’t elaborate.”
Min-jun sank back, slouching as his mood worsened. “Is there a reason to keep it to yourself or are you being purposefully obtuse?”
“Both, I suppose.”
Min-jun gnawed on his bottom lip. “How long do I have to wait?”
“Sun-woo recently sent you an invitation, did he not? Go meet him. Sun will protect you. From there, who knows, perhaps you’ll take a fancy to one another. A platonic one, of course. Romantic affairs bring nothing but trouble, and I already have my hands full.”
“I doubt it will ever come to that,” Min-jun said, unamused by the implication. He doubted he could be friends with someone who tried to kill him, never mind lovers.
After a moment of silence, the King offered him his bed for the night.
“Jangmi Villa isn’t so far,” Min-jun replied. “I can manage. Besides, I have one of your men guarding me. I doubt anything can happen to me while he’s around.”
The King considered his words, his eyes darting to the side as if he were still scheming how to get him to stay. For what purpose? It wasn’t as if they were actual lovers, necessitating flirtatious remarks that climax in romantic acts.
Did the King also benefit from their false relationship somehow? Perhaps the officials have been bothering him with his lack of interest in his consorts, and the King smoothly replied that he was, in fact, quite interested in Min-jun. That wouldn’t solve a thing.
“Then, take this,” the King said, fishing out a small parcel from the drawer of his desk. Min-jun took hold of the package, fingers running over the silken cloth as he untied the knot at the top. The cloth unraveled, revealing an expensive jade bangle.
“Is it magical?” was the first thing out of his mouth. It made sense, after all. There were apparently hundreds of gifted individuals, and many of them have found their way into the King’s ranks. Who was to say at least a few didn’t specialize in creating magical jewelry.
“No, I simply thought it might suit you,” the King said. “Put it on, won’t you?”
Min-jun raised a brow.
The King sighed. “I promise it’s not cursed. If I wanted to kill you I’d do it with a bit more flair.”
True. The King was the type of monster who finds artistry in murder. Min-jun picked the bangle up, feeling the smoothness of the jade underneath his fingerpads. At the center, a silver vine adorned it, and at the center of the vine, a winking blue stone had been set. It gleamed as if it had been bought new. Even his own prints couldn’t be found. Feeling the same as moments ago, he slid it onto his wrist. No clear reaction, but he would have to look out for a delayed one.
“Thank you, I suppose,” Min-jun said.
The King smiled, seeming almost sheepish. “Somehow, coming from you, those words worry me.”
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
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thank you !
Thank you for commenting ❤
Is it the bracelet that you forgot about?? 😂
maybe 😅