Chapter 29 "The new clothes I just received are about to be soaked."
Tilting the umbrella toward where Namgung Jeok-myeong stood, Yeo Il opened her eyes and walked, keeping her face hidden from him.
She thought he was the more urgent party, but the contact came sooner than expected.
Suddenly stopping in his tracks, Namgung Jeok-myeong spoke from beyond the umbrella, his tone grave.
"I need your help."
Yeo Il replied quietly,
"That is not the story I wished to hear."
"..."
"I jest. This Namgung Soyo is also a member of the clan. Why would I refuse to assist the Sogaju (Clan Heir), Lord Jeok-myeong?"
"What do you want?"
To become this proactive in half a day.
Resuming his steps, Namgung Jeok-myeong asked in a calm voice,
"The clan's wealth? Authority? The inherited elixirs? Or the martial manuals slumbering in the archives?"
Did he truly intend to yield so easily, not even knowing what she might demand? In another sense, it sounded like desperation. It made her wonder what drove him to alter his stance so abruptly.
"Anything is fine. If there is something you desire, I will grant at least one thing outright. Tell me—what is it you seek, that you wear Soyo's skin?"
"I have one question."
"Speak."
"Why did you mistake me for someone from Salmak?"
As they climbed the slope, she sensed his glance flick briefly toward her.
"Promise to help me, and I will tell you."
Yeo Il stepped forward, her feet unsoiled despite the mud, and countered the offer.
"Does a promise between you and me hold any meaning? If I nod obediently, will you truly trust me in return?"
"You are troublesome. Is betrayal the first thought in your mind no matter what?"
Yes, it was. She lived her entire life that way.
Yeo Il had no desire to antagonize Namgung Jeok-myeong or make an enemy of him. Her objective was clear. She distinguished Namgung Soyo from herself completely, and thus had no reason to treat him as a foe.
If it served her purpose, she could clasp hands with him temporarily.
"I… do have something I desire."
Through the curtain of rain, Namgung Jeok-myeong looked at her as though he expected as much. A faint trace of disgust flickered in his eyes—but only for a moment.
"Though this journey may have failed, I still wish to find clues about my mother—no matter what."
His expression twisted strangely, as though to say he already knew it.
"That is truly what you desire…?"
"And also."
"..."
"I wish to examine the Death Ledger."
"The Death Ledger?"
Yeo Il thought of the jade ring she always kept on her person as she answered.
"To clarify, I only wish to confirm it. Whether the Death Ledger the clan keeps is truly authentic. And if it is—what names are written within…."
Though they climbed deeper into the mountain, neither of them breathed heavily.
The rain still lashed down. In such weather, even if one screamed oneself hoarse, no sound would reach the inhabited areas below.
"This Namgung Soyo desires nothing beyond those two things. If my wishes are fulfilled, I can promise to continue living quietly in some corner of the clan, as I always have—barely existing."
"As you always have? Ha! Do you say that knowing the rumors circulating in the clan center on you? Absurd."
He laughed without mirth, then lowered his voice.
"There was someone I observed for four years."
An abstract beginning.
"Before that, I only knew of her existence, not who she truly was. My frail father entrusted her to me. From time to time, I visited to see whether she was ill, whether she lacked anything. I even taught her how to write. Had Father known, he would not have approved."
His voice carried a faint bitterness as he recalled the past, but Yeo Il responded coldly.
"I understand you had someone dear to you. Summarize it."
Namgung Jeok-myeong let out a hollow laugh.
"Summarize? Soyo, I am speaking of you and me."
For a fleeting instant, Yeo Il was at a loss for words.
The Sogaju (Clan Heir) himself visited Namgung Soyo frequently for four years?
Hadn't Changa said that no one in the Namgung Clan ever came to see Namgung Soyo?
He might have concealed his identity. But if so, Changa would surely have recognized that face. If he visited at least several times, how could there have been no attendant maid present? Therefore, Namgung Jeok-myeong's claim—
"You are lying."
He stopped walking altogether and burst into laughter, then leaned his arm and upper body against a nearby pine and turned toward her. A clear sneer shone in his eyes.
"When the time came to bring you into the clan, this elder brother agonized for more than eight days, Soyo… for the Clan Head wished for your existence to vanish cleanly from this world."
Should she look devastated at this point? Knowing he would not care, she asked evenly,
"So you sent assassins when I crossed Cheonju Mountain?"
"No. Not at all. After much deliberation, I decided to hide you."
"..."
"I sent trusted men to help you settle in a quiet village. I did not expect them to be slaughtered and never return."
Namgung Jeok-myeong intended to hide Namgung Soyo.
Those he sent were massacred.
Yet Namgung Soyo returned alive—
with another's face.
If all of that were true—
Namgung Jeok-myeong did not kill Namgung Soyo.
Yes. He might have tried to eliminate Yeo Il pretending to be Namgung Soyo, but at the very least, he did not seek to kill the real Namgung Soyo.
The answer that realization brought was unsettling, yet clear. Then perhaps, the one who threatened Namgung Soyo's life all along—
"Do you understand now why I asked for your help?"
Among those Yeo Il encountered, there was one whose possibility stood out distinctly.
"Namgung Chu-myeong."
"Just as sharp as I expected. Your perception is swift enough that I do not regret my choice."
Namgung Jeok-myeong appeared genuinely pleased.
"Your… Soyo's mother. I know to some extent who and where she is from. I could not help but know. The Clan Head impressed her existence upon me for years."
"..."
"The Death Ledger as well. As you said, the Namgung Clan safeguards Salmak's true Death Ledger. One can see which names are written there—and whether their missions were completed."
"..."
"Well then, Soyo. At this point, can we not say that you and I now share the same boat?"
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