"Would it be alright for the scholar and her student to accompany us?" Kyeong'ui asked.
The mention of the scholar and the student made Ryang even more uneasy, but he'd already agreed, so there was no helping it.
"That would be fine," he replied.
Kyeong'ui instructed the soldiers to prepare to transport the chest of books and summoned Wu and Seo'oh. Before they arrived, Hongyoo cautioned Ryang.
"Even His Majesty treats the scholars of the Sanctuary with the utmost respect," he said. "So, be sure to show them proper courtesy, Lord Myeonghyeon."
"I'll keep that in mind," Ryang replied curtly.
Wu and Seo'oh, who had been waiting to depart at a moment's notice, soon appeared. Ryang quickly assessed them. The age gap between them was evident, making it easy to distinguish the scholar from the student. Wu had a naive, somewhat foolish appearance, but her eyes shone with intelligence. Seo'oh, though slender, had sharp features that made him seem far from frail. He appeared to be around Kyeong'ui's age.
"This is Royal Scholar Song'un Wu," Kyeong'ui introduced them. "And this is Seo'oh, a student who came to assist her."
Ryang bowed respectfully. "I am Ryang of House Myeonghyeon."
Wu and Seo'oh awkwardly returned the greeting, their eyes darting back and forth, scrutinizing Ryang. To them, he was like a living legend. The tales of House Myeonghyeon's demise, passed down through generations, were often exaggerated, and Ryang's unique appearance added to the mystique. Their fascination was understandable. Kyeong'ui observed their reactions, a mixture of amusement and annoyance. She had never received such attention, even when she first met them, but the amusement outweighed the annoyance.
"How did such a rare person end up here...?" Wu wondered aloud, her gaze traveling up and down Ryang's figure. "Such a rare face..."
Ryang blushed under her scrutiny and replied, "You are also quite a rare person within Birahng, Master."
"Do you know the ancestral home of House Myeonghyeon is not far from the Sanctuary?" Wu asked. "It burned down during the reign of Founder, so it's more of a wasteland now..."
Seo'oh nudged her, and she stopped abruptly. Ryang, unsure how to respond, looked at Kyeong'ui, flustered. Kyeong'ui simply shrugged, as if this was a common occurrence, and urged them to depart.
"Let's leave," she said.
Kyeong'ui offered Wu a palanquin, as she hadn't fully recovered, but Wu refused, claiming it would make her nauseous. The five of them, including Hongyoo, mounted their horses, followed by soldiers pulling a cart loaded with the chest. Ryang assumed Hyeok was on one of the two warships that had left the harbor.
Wu and Seo'oh, excited to see Nahmgyo up close for the first time, looked around with wonder. Upon arriving at Yeonyahng, however, their expressions mirrored Kyeong'ui's initial reaction: shock. Seo'oh, unsure where to look, fixed his gaze on the ground. A man and a woman, scantily clad and soliciting customers at the entrance, giggled at him.
"Let me guide you to the back gate today," Ryang suggested to Kyeong'ui.
She nodded, and Ryang led the way. There was no need to pass through the bustling inn since they were heading to the rear garden. Besides, Ryang himself didn't want to go through the inn, and more importantly, he didn't want Kyeong'ui to encounter Ryucheon. It wouldn't be good for Ryucheon to become familiar with Kyeong'ui's face in this unpredictable situation.
Even after entering the rear garden, Wu and Seo'oh continued to marvel at their surroundings.
"This place seems much larger than the site of his ancestral home in Sunyahng," Wu whispered to Seo'oh. "Although there's no comparison to a burned-down house."
"Master!" Seo'oh hissed, silencing her.
Ryang led them to the tea room, served them tea, and excused himself. While he was away, Wu and Seo'oh, like Kyeong'ui before them, examined the bookshelves with interest.
"I see even the Celestial Scions are pursuing Reason and Intellect now," Seo'oh remarked.
"Don't just focus on nature," Wu chided. "Read history as well. House Myeonghyeon has always been this way. They were close to Sungian scholars during the late Wi era. Although they eventually lost their position..."
"Why didn't they convert?" Seo'oh wondered.
"How would I know?" Wu replied. "They were popular among the people, and even the Founder believed they would convert, but they didn't, so he had them burned to death, or so the story goes... Expectations lead to great disappointment, you know."
"He didn't burn them to death," Seo'oh argued. "Their descendant is right here."
"Ask him when he returns how his grandfather survived the fire and became such a successful brothel owner."
"Master! Please, watch your words!"
Kyeong'ui chuckled as she listened to their conversation. The tea room fell silent when Ryang returned with a long box. He carefully placed it on the table, and the four of them watched with bated breath as he opened it. He removed the blue silk cloth covering the contents, revealing the sword of House Myeonghyeon. It had a black scabbard adorned with iridescent white fish skin, a gold-inlaid handguard, and a pommel bearing the circular emblem of House Myeonghyeon. A white jade pendant, also engraved with the emblem, hung from the tassel on the hilt. Apart from minor differences in the design and decorations, it was similar in appearance to the other swords of the Celestial Scions that Kyeong'ui had seen in the basement of the Court Library. The difference was that those swords were worn with age and neglect, while the sword of House Myeonghyeon looked pristine, as if it hadn't aged a day in a thousand years. Ryang lifted the sword with both hands, unlocked it, and drew it from its scabbard.
以淨 (Yijeong, By Integrity).
The two characters, inlaid in gold, stood out on the straight double-edged blade.
"The mission of the mirror," Kyeong'ui remarked.
She examined the sword for a long time. Although it was a beautiful sword, it seemed to have no connection to the High Emissary Divine's secret record. The color of the metal was clear but far from a radiant white. Ryang, assuming she was simply fascinated by the sword, spoke up.
"You must have seen more swords of Celestial Scions than I have, Your Highness," he said.
"Now that I think about it, you're right," Kyeong'ui agreed. She gently reached for the sword.
"Would a thousand-year-old sword break if I touch it?" she asked.
"I've seen this sword being mended at least three times," Ryang explained. "Only the blade and the jewels are original. The rest is no different from an ordinary sword. You can touch it if you wish."
Kyeong'ui immediately took the sword with one hand and twirled it, raising it to eye level. "It's well-balanced," she remarked.
Her index finger traced the edge of the blade, her gaze following its path. She aimed it like a bow, her eyes fixed on the vanishing point of the blade. Ryang, intrigued by her posture, asked, "Are you skilled with swords, too?"
"Moderately," Kyeong'ui replied, placing the sword back on Ryang's outstretched hands.
Ryang returned it to the box, and Wu and Seo'oh immediately gathered around it, examining the sword closely. Kyeong'ui had strictly forbidden them from mentioning anything about the Ji'uigeum, so they could only observe with their eyes. Hongyoo, standing back, glanced at the sword a few times but didn't seem particularly interested.
"It's a beautiful sword," Kyeong'ui remarked. "I wonder if the King of Wi's sword was similar."
"The King's and the subject's wouldn't have been the same," Ryang replied.
"The King's must have shone like a pearl," Kyeong'ui mused.
Ryang was inwardly startled by her casual remark.
"Everyone, leave for a moment," Kyeong'ui said to Hongyoo, Wu, and Seo'oh.
They bowed their heads and left. Kyeong'ui sat down, and Ryang followed suit.
"Actually, the Royal Scholar found something," Kyeong'ui began.
Ryang looked at her expectantly, and she retrieved a copy of the record from her sleeve and handed it to him, explaining the details. She told him that Wu was certain it was a secret record left by the first High Emissary Divine, based on the seal. Ryang, who had suspected a connection between the sphere and the record from the beginning since he'd seen Yeom'myeol himself, couldn't believe the record was false. However, the claim that Yeom'myeol could sever even the eternal life of the Celestial Scions was new to him. He felt an unsettling premonition that this record, like the sphere, shouldn't have fallen into Kyeong'ui's hands.
Why hasn't she mentioned the secret record from the start? Ryang looked at Kyeong'ui, a sense of threat emanating from her insistent gaze. If Yijeong, the sword of House Myeonghyeon, is also made of Ji'uigeum, like Yeom'myeol, or if I have refused to show her the sword, what would she have done? Her intentions were difficult to discern. Ryang chided himself for his carelessness. The guilt he felt whenever he saw Kyeong'ui was merely arrogance in the face of her oppressive gaze.
"If this record is true," Kyeong'ui said, "Wi Founder's eternal life might have been severed by Yeom'myeol."
"That's a plausible inference," Ryang countered, "if the claim that he received eternal life from Sahngjon isn't a fabrication."
"Do you think the Azure Scripture is entirely false?" Kyeong'ui asked.
"My surname is Myeonghyeon," Ryang replied, "so it can't be entirely false. But Your Highness..."
"This might sound crazy," Kyeong'ui interrupted, "but I can no longer dismiss the miracles recorded in the Azure Scripture as fiction. The things that are appearing, one by one, it's as if... someone planned it all."
"When you have faith, everything appears different," Ryang said. "But it's only your eyes that have changed. You are the Princess of Dahn. It's good that you have this passion, but do not abandon the foundation of Dahn."
Kyeong'ui scoffed. "Such advice from a Celestial Scion."
"What are you planning?" Ryang asked.
"It is said that the light of Reason and Intellect is ignited by inference and fueled by verification," Kyeong'ui replied. "What ignites and fuels the light of Sahngjon?"
"Only faith," Ryang answered.
"Verification is an arduous path," Kyeong'ui mused. "Until we prove our inferences correct, all we can rely on is faith. So even the light of Reason and Intellect cannot burn without faith. I believe the path of Reason and Intellect and the path of the Azure Scripture are no different. I intend to obtain Iridescent-black Stone and verify whether that record is true, whether the sphere is indeed Ji'uigeum."
Ryang was unsettled by her distant gaze. Kyeong'ui harbored anxieties different from his.
"As always, Young Master Gahngyun opposed further investigation," she said, her voice subdued. "He might seem frivolous, but somehow, he's loyal. Although I spoke boldly, if we attempt this verification and all our inferences turn out to be true, there will be a great upheaval within our kingdom, as he said. Although I don't believe that will happen, in the worst-case, the royal family, Yeongshin could be destroyed."
Finally she asked. "Is it right for me, a princess, to pursue this?"