Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Ah-eun nodded.  

“Yes, Your Majesty has decided that even a member of the royal family should face severe punishment for causing disorder in the country, and has resolved to punish Changwon-gun with the utmost severity.”  

At this, Si-woo finally had a look of relief on his face.  

No, it wouldn’t compensate for the pain he and Eop-ji had endured, but for now, he seemed too exhausted to think any further.  

“Rest. Sleep well.”  

Ah-eun gently stroked Si-woo’s head. He then seemed to lose consciousness as if fainting. He looked like an animal hibernating for winter. His breathing became so faint that it was barely audible…  

‘Is there something wrong?’  

However, no matter how much she looked, it seemed that he had simply fallen into a very deep sleep.  

Still uneasy, she searched the surroundings for anything that might have affected Si-woo’s health. There was nothing around that could have had an impact. It was a place with absolutely nothing, not even sunlight.  

At that moment, Ah-eun realized and looked up. There was no sunlight coming into this place at all.  

‘Could it be because he hasn’t seen sunlight…?’  

Perhaps if vampires need to see sunlight…  

But not seeing sunlight for one night shouldn’t make a difference. It was the same even if it was cloudy for several days.  

However, this pit was an exceptionally special environment where not a single ray of sunlight reached.  

Si-woo had been in this pit for a fortnight. Normally, one would expect some problem in such a dark and damp place, but since Si-woo had become a vampire, she hadn’t considered that aspect.  

Ah-eun looked at Si-woo again. He looked as peaceful as a child in a deep sleep.  

Driven by instinct, she stroked Si-woo’s head.  

She felt a great pity for someone with such a tragic destiny. Someone who could have lived a life envied by everyone.  

While patting Si-woo, Ah-eun quietly sang.

Sleep, sleep, my dear one is sleeping well  

Silver and gold, longevity and wealth  

Should I give silver to save you, or gold to save you?

* * *

-6 years later

“Aunt Ah-eun!”  

At the call, Ah-eun turned around. Two nearby children ran up and greeted her cheerfully.  

“Are you going to the field?”  

“Yes.”  

Ah-eun replied with a smile.  

“See you later!”  

The children, whether playing hide and seek or not, greeted her and ran off breathlessly. Ah-eun watched them with gentle eyes. Then she passed by the child who seemed to be ‘it,’ singing by the zelkova tree.  

“Hide, hide, your hair will show.”  

The two children who had fled found a hiding place inside a wall.  

Looking around in a hurry, one child went toward the house, and the remaining child, Sam-rae, saw that the lock on the corner barn was not fastened and the door was left open. He quickly went inside and closed the door.  

Inside the small barn were a few sacks of grain and some farming tools, as well as household items like a millstone and an iron, neatly arranged. It was clear that, although not wealthy, the owner’s personality was very tidy and meticulous.

Since it was also a place used for work, it was larger than expected, but there was no good place to hide his body. To hide behind the burlap sacks and empty bags hanging there, Sam-rae climbed onto a wooden box. He thought that if the seeker came into the barn and just looked at the floor, he wouldn’t be found.

He felt like laughing at his ingenious idea, but as soon as he stepped onto the wooden box, the empty boxes slipped, causing Sam-rae to fall as well.

“Ugh…!”

Bang!

A loud noise echoed, and dust danced in the sunlight coming in through the small window above the beam.

Hearing the commotion, the barn door suddenly flew open.

“Found…!”

The seeker shouted, but upon seeing Sam-rae lying on the floor among the fallen boxes, he was surprised and asked.

“Hey, are you okay? Did you fall?”

“It hurts…”

Sam-rae groaned as he managed to get up. The seeker helped him up.

“Where are you hurt?”

“No, it’s fine.”

At that, the seeker’s expression changed, and he hit Sam-rae before quickly running away.

“Gotcha!”

“Damn, how cheap…!”

Sam-rae quickly got up and ran after him.

* * *

Thud!

At the sound of something falling and hitting, Ah-eun glanced back, startled. The peaceful scene of the rice field was spread out before her. There was nothing around to collide with.

Something felt off, but just as she was about to turn back, she remembered.

‘Wait, did I lock the barn’s door?’

Ah-eun hurriedly turned back and returned to the house. It was clear she had relaxed her vigilance over the six peaceful years. She couldn’t remember if she had locked the barn’s door, like a housewife who forgot to put out the fire on the stove.

As she dashed into the yard, Sam-rae came running out of the open barn.

“You…!”

Ah-eun was about to shout in shock but managed to hold it in and asked.

“Why are you coming out from there?”

“I’m sorry. I went in to hide. Oh, and the boxes fell…”

As Sam-rae remembered the boxes he had left behind and tried to go back into the barn, Ah-eun quickly stopped him.

“It’s okay. I’ll clean it up, so you go ahead.”

“Oh, then I’ll go!”

Sam-rae ran past Ah-eun and disappeared. Before he left, Ah-eun spoke.

“Sam-rae, by any chance…”

“Yes?”

Sam-rae turned around, looking puzzled. There was no sign on his face that he had seen anything strange in the barn. Ah-eun shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

“See you later!”

Sam-rae said goodbye and disappeared outside. Seeing him off, Ah-eun entered the barn. Although it was a bit disordered from Sam-rae’s entry, that was all.

Ah-eun walked over to the wooden floor. Creak, creak. The wood, pressed by weight, made faint sounds. Standing in the middle, Ah-eun looked down.

The floor was intact.

On the other hand, Sam-rae, who had been running away from Ah-eun’s house, suddenly stopped and looked back. His face went pale.

‘It was definitely a coffin…’

When he fell from the box and landed on the barn floor, what he saw through the gaps in the wooden planks was a pit. It was so large that it was hard to imagine why such a pit existed beneath the barn floor. In the middle of it was a coffin.

Although he couldn’t be sure it was a coffin from just a glimpse through the gaps, its long size, about two or three times that of his own body, made it difficult to think of anything other than a coffin.

* * *

“A coffin?”

Bok-seok, Sam-rae’s older brother, who was sitting on the porch in their yard, frowned and asked again.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just a box you misinterpreted?”

Bok-seok was a low-ranking soldier at the local government office. Though he had no significant influence, he was still the only person Sam-rae could rely on.

“Well, that’s why I’m asking you to check.”

Sam-rae spoke passionately as if frustrated.

“I swear it looked like a real coffin! Even if it wasn’t, why would they dig such a large pit under the barn floor and leave a box that big there? And who moved it?”

Realizing the plausibility of Sam-rae’s words, Bok-seok looked his younger brother up and down.

“You’re a sharp little kid, aren’t you?”

“Then, will you check it?”

Bok-seok thought for a moment while stroking his chin.

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like Sam-rae was overreacting to seeing a pot lid. However, given that there were some suspicious points about the foreign widow, it wouldn’t hurt to check. If they found something, a reward would be certain.

“Alright. Wait here.”

Bok-seok said, went into the house, and came back out.

“Let’s go.”

As they walked, Sam-rae spoke.

“I confirmed that Aunt Ah-eun went to the field.”

Bok-seok looked at his younger brother with new appreciation.

“You should consider taking the government soldier exam later. You’ve got potential.”

They arrived at Ah-eun’s empty house and went to the barn. This time, the lock was secured.

“Keep watch.”

With his soldier’s demeanor, Bok-seok said and inserted a metal rod he had prepared into the lock.

“Is it done?”

Sam-rae urged from his lookout position.

“Almost done.”

“Hurry up.”

At that moment, the lock clicked open, and Bok-seok went inside and stood in the middle of the barn. Sam-rae, who followed him in, stood beside Bok-seok and pointed below.

“It’s down there. Look.”

Bok-seok, kneeling, squinted and peered through the wooden gaps. Then, looking up in surprise, he said.

“It’s really there.”

“See?”

Sam-rae was triumphant.

“Clean this up.”

They removed the items at either end and lifted the wooden planks. The problematic coffin was revealed.

“You stay here.”

Bok-seok said and descended into the pit. He examined the coffin closely.

“But it’s too big to be a coffin, isn’t it? If it were a coffin, it would have to be for someone six feet tall.”

The lid was nailed shut on all sides. Even though he knew it wouldn’t work, he tried to lift the lid, but the nails were so firmly driven in that it wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe it contains treasure?”

Sam-rae said excitedly.

“Where would a widow get something like that?”

Bok-seok, though he dismissed it with a scoff, was feeling his heart race with excitement. In this small rural district, even the biggest incidents usually only lead to scuffles among people, but this might be a tremendous event that would be more fitting for the police of the capital city.

“But doesn’t Aunt Ah-eun seem a bit classy? Her skin is so fair.”

While Sam-rae spoke, Bok-seok pressed his ear to the coffin lid. He couldn’t hear any sounds.

Bok-seok then stood up and looked around for something to use as a lever, pointing towards the farming tools.

“Bring me that hoe over there.”

Sam-rae looked back and got up to fetch the hoe.

“This one?”

“No, a shorter one.”

Sam-rae handed over a relatively flat hoe, which Bok-seok wedged between the coffin and the lid. Although the pit was large enough for three people to lie down, it was narrow, making it inconvenient to use a long hoe. Bok-seok maneuvered and adjusted the hoe several times, using it as a lever to pry the lid open. During this, Sam-rae, seeing that it didn’t seem dangerous, came down to help.

Finally, with a crack, the nails came loose, and the gap between the coffin and the lid widened.

“Don’t tell me there’s a person inside.”

Bok-seok joked, pushing the lid.

“That would be really scary.”

Sam-rae laughed in response as the lid tipped to the side.

A person was lying inside.

Both of them screamed and fell backward.

“P—Person…!”