A Dragon Lives In That Scholar's Deep Spring - Chapter 15

– CHAPTER 15 –

“Spare me… from regret…!”

Perhaps that furious dragon wanted to take away strength from Farang, even if it meant defying death. Maybe it knew she would end up in a completely different world like this. 

Around Farang’s hands, barely able to move due to being trapped by a small ring, water began to freeze. 

Immortality that couldn’t handle water properly. It was dreadful.

* * *

For Eon, the palace had become a place that was both excessively vast and suffocatingly narrow at the same time, starting from a certain moment.

“The night air feels refreshing.”

Breathing inside the palace and breathing outside were distinctly different, even under the same sky. Inside the palace, it always felt like one was suffocating behind damp shutters, blocking the nose and mouth.

At the physician’s, they diagnosed Eon with a nervous disorder and prescribed medicine, but it was ineffective. It only provided brief relief when stepping outside the palace gates for a long breath.

Eon strolled, burdened with worries. He knew exactly when the patrol would change shifts, so there was no fear of encountering them.

“Oh, the soldiers of the Royal Guard will pass by soon.”

With his coat fluttering, Eon hurried lightly. Perhaps the damp shutters that had blocked his nose and mouth all along were the dragon robe. He had to take it off to step outside.

The dragon carved on the lintel pressed its shoulders, squeezed its chest, and pushed its back. Even during his teenage years, Eon couldn’t walk freely or laugh loudly because he had to maintain a dignified posture. It was as burdensome as that.

Perhaps the first time he felt the weight was when he welcomed the Crown Princess and had to send her off to her death shortly afterward. 

Leaning against a wall on a narrow path where he wouldn’t meet the Royal Guard, Eon chuckled.

“Really, the night air… feels suffocatingly good.”

No matter how much he bathed in the cold air, his mind remained heated from the events of the afternoon.

“Your Majesty, why did you choose the Crown Princess without consulting me?”

“If the Left State Secretary refuses to provide a consort again, claiming there are no suitable females, I was about to order him to send only maidens from families with parents still living.”

“Your Majesty.”

“This selection is aimed at gradually elevating the consorts, including those who have been selected up to the third rank, to your harem. You should understand that.”

“Father!”

“How long are you going to lose the Crown Princess?”

It is meant to toughen up and protect one’s bones. The echoing voice of his father, which used to reverberate with authority, resounded in Eon’s mind once again.

“This country is mine, soon to be yours. How can we afford to lose people’s trust so soon?”

“Surely Your Majesty knows the Left State Secretary isn’t a loyal subject, who has always protected the nation and followed the rules.”

“Don’t speak such nonsense without solid evidence, I’ve said it before! If the Left State Secretary was truly the murderer of the former Grand Tutor, why would he let Choi Do-gyeom, the son of the Grand Tutor, rise to a high position?”

“What is seen is not everything…!”

“Even if they are enemies, especially if they are enemies, don’t you know you should keep them closer? I don’t want to hear anymore, so the Crown Prince should follow the decision of the elder.”

“Father.”

“No more! I won’t tolerate any more of this! I don’t want to receive any petitions to depose the Crown Prince!”

He felt helpless. In his heart, he wanted to simply take off his dragon robes and go somewhere quiet, whether it be the mountains or the sea. If he only considered the safety of the nation, giving up might be the easiest path.

“Should I entrust myself to the flowing water, or should I swim against the current like a salmon.”

Even though he wasn’t intoxicated, he swayed as if he were. Eon gradually walked deeper into the darkness and reached a crossroads.

If he went east, he would reach the Eastern Palace where people were anxiously waiting, and if he turned west…

“What I need at times like this is a drinking buddy. Should I go to Choi Do-gyeom’s house, where they say the liquor flows freely?”

Apologies to the palace staff, but he decided to indulge in a bit more wandering. Crossing the bridge leading to the village, Eon suddenly stopped on the bridge.

Did he see it wrong? He even rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand to make sure.

“…Is that a ghost?”

Otherwise, what woman would be standing by the stream late at night? While hesitating, the woman plunged into the water.

Surely she wouldn’t drown in the shallow water as it was, but watching without any concern, Eon was soon shocked.

“No, why, how!”

Plunging her head into the shallow water, she didn’t rise for a long time.

With short breaths, Eon immediately looked for the nearby officials, but then it dawned on him belatedly that all the officials had conveniently left that day. It was a backlash from his schemes.

“I’d rather she be a ghost…”

At least a ghost wouldn’t be able to harm a living person. Eon hastily rushed down the stairs, disregarding the prince’s dignity or whatever, and then grabbed the woman who was still submerged in the water.

“Look here!”

Approaching her, he realized she was quite petite, so Eon naturally assumed he could easily lift her out of the water.

“What are you doing here…!”

Instead of lifting her, he ended up falling into the water himself until he hit the bottom.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The woman who had just toppled Eon irritably pulled her wet hair off her pale face. Eon stumbled to his feet and brushed off his bruised bottom against the rocks.

“Pe… perhaps just a passerby?”

“In that case, you should have just kept passing by. Do the people of this land always like to interfere?”

“It’s not interference…”

Who would just pass by someone who was about to die? Just as Eon was about to appeal to her for help after being hit by a wave, a group of people holding torches appeared in the distance.

Eon instinctively retreated.

“Lady, we might need to hide for a moment.”

“What?”

“If you don’t listen to me now, we’ll be lying flat in front of the government office tomorrow morning. Excuse me for a moment.”

Eon swiftly jumped into the water, clasping the woman’s wrist tightly.

“What are you…?”

Before the puzzled woman could speak, Eon reflexively covered her mouth. If he hadn’t intervened with the woman and simply crossed the bridge, he wouldn’t have crossed a group of soldiers passing right over.

“Did you hear? The guards near the main gate saw a ghost.”

“What?”

“It was said that a white-clad maiden ghost leaped over the wall like a gust of wind.”

In his haste, as he tried to muffle the woman and hold his breath, Eon’s eyes rolled in shock. The bright colors of the woman’s attire caught his eye.

“Someone fainted on the spot?”

“Tsk tsk, seems like there are only weaklings among the guards.”

“Weren’t you the one who screamed just from seeing a cat earlier?”

Laughing, the soldiers crossed the bridge. Once their footsteps had completely disappeared, Eon released the small woman in his arms.

“…Forgive the rudeness. There are circumstances that I cannot afford to be exposed to, especially at this hour.”

Fortunately, the woman, who had been silent until then, retreated while keeping her distance from Eon. Cooperation was smooth, as neither party wanted to be caught listening in.

“But really, were you planning to drown yourself in this shallow water?”

Wringing out his wet clothes roughly, Eon became curious and probed further, but the woman’s head drooped.

“No, I was trying to save myself.”

“What…?”

Drowning herself to save herself? Looking at Eon’s puzzled expression, the woman explained a bit more elaborately.

“I was just trying to find a place to lie down and rest.”

“But tell me, why would you, a stranger, speak so casually to me?”

Eon thought it was usually better to let things slide, but the impudent woman seemed to lack a sense of decorum, so he couldn’t just let it go.

“I do have my reasons, but I did save you from getting caught, didn’t I? Isn’t that kindness?”

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

“I was more desperate to pierce my nose there than to be saved by you.”

“Why on earth would you do such a thing…?”

As Eon was about to reprimand the woman for her nonsensical actions, he had a sudden thought: “Could it be because of the royal marriage?”

“Royal marriage?”

“Just as you were about to get married, a ban on marriage was issued and the engagement was broken off.”

At Eon’s serious response, the woman blinked for a moment, contemplating something.

“What I fervently wished for turned out to be just a pipe dream. I was tired and wanted to rest.”

She ran her fingers through her long, loose hair. Then, as if a thought struck her, she alternated between looking at her long locks and Eon.

However, Eon was already caught up in his own interpretation of the woman’s answer, his demeanor growing even more solemn.

“I see… I understand what you mean.”

How humiliating it must be for a woman to experience a broken engagement. It would surely be even more shameful than for a man, and the rupture of her betrothal due to the royal marriage—how devastated she must have been.

How much money had been invested in preparing for the marriage? Various burdens must have accumulated.

Now, seeking a place to lie down and rest must inevitably signify a tragic choice. Once submerged in such thoughts, there would be no opportunity to find alternative explanations, and misunderstandings would firmly take hold.

“…Lady.”