Chapter 30

General Hong grabbed a servant who kept going up and down the mountain, his face pale.

The man he had hired separately had already fled after saying he couldn’t find the cave no matter how much he searched. The only message he received through the servant was that Hong Yeom-rang would be training in the mountain and should not be disturbed.

Without his son constantly causing trouble, General Hong had been living quite comfortably, even digesting his food well. But after receiving that one message, he grew restless and stomped his feet.

He immediately summoned the servant who went up the mountain.

“So, what is the second son doing? What is he doing up there?”

“Well….”

The servant scratched his head and glanced at General Hong.

“Why aren’t you answering? Is he fine?”

“That is… he keeps asking for boiled pork and sorghum rice cakes….”

“Boiled pork? Has he gone mad from not eating meat?”

The servant hesitated. Every time he went up the mountain, it felt like he had been bewitched by goblins. The person standing there with hands behind his back was clearly the second young master, Hong Yeom-rang, yet he only ever said two words.

“Boiled pork. Sorghum rice cake.”

Since he rarely spoke to those beneath him anyway, it was actually easier that he only stated what he wanted. Before the servant could even get close to the cave, Hong Yeom-rang would come down to the mountainside himself, take the items, and leave. It had been quite a while since the servant had gone all the way to the cave.

Recently, he had also asked for extra clothes, dried meat, and even tea and teaware along with the rice cakes, so those had been sent up as well.

“I don’t know, my lord.”

How could he understand the thoughts of someone so high above him?

The servant simply bowed his head.

“You’re going again tomorrow? If you see him, tell him to come down immediately.”

“What? But there’s still a lot of time left.”

At least two more months remained. The servant blinked in confusion, and General Hong, displeased, was about to raise his voice before lowering it due to watching eyes.

“Tell him to stop this sacrifice nonsense and come down. There’s somewhere he needs to go urgently.”

The Crown Prince’s party would soon arrive at the hot springs nearby, only half a day’s distance from the mountain village. The princess herself had sent word she would accompany him, which clearly meant she intended to meet Hong Yeom-rang before marriage.

The villagers’ complaints didn’t matter.

He would return to the capital with his son anyway. He had even opened the granary and generously told the villagers not to mention the word “sacrifice” at all.

All he needed now was his second son, Hong Yeom-rang, who would become the royal consort.

“Yes, yes….”

“Go today if you must!”

“But when I go, he’s never there….”

“Then wait until he returns and bring him down!”

Of course, the goblins always led him to a different cave, so Hong Yeom-rang was never found. After several failed attempts, the servant had simply left bundles behind, and later Hong Yeom-rang began coming down himself, making things much easier.

“Yes, yes, my lord!”

Having lived comfortably, the servant now had to climb the harsh mountain again. With a miserable face, he hurried off under General Hong’s urging.

“Shall I go ahead and greet the Crown Prince’s party?”

Watching the servant leave, Hong In-nam spoke softly.

“What?”

“You know what kind of temper he has. If he behaves the same way, it could cause trouble for the princess.”

General Hong fell into thought. Even if he managed to bring him down, sending him to meet the Crown Prince would be troublesome. He wouldn’t go willingly.

Rather than that, it might be better to send the smoother, more agreeable eldest son first.

“…Fine. You go ahead.”

“Yes, Father!”

A bright smile spread across Hong In-nam’s refined face.

Already exhausted just thinking about his second son, General Hong waved him off without even asking why he seemed so pleased.

“He takes after his mother’s temper exactly.”

He remembered his wife who had died over ten years ago.

“If he hadn’t become a meritorious subject, his family would’ve been traitors.”

She had said that while looking him straight in the eye. The woman whose life he had saved, whose family he had preserved, spoke like that, and they fought constantly. It was only natural their relationship grew distant.

In the end, it was General Hong, blinded by love, who had saved her family that had refused to betray their lord.

He had knelt before his own father, begging him to spare her family. The reason his own family had been pushed aside like this was partly due to that marriage. His father was a general revered by all warriors, and once he turned, the rebellion succeeded easily.

Even now, both in the capital and in this village, people whispered about the Hong family. Yet he had received the title of meritorious subject. Only time would erase it.

When his wife gave birth to their second son, Hong Yeom-rang, the kingdom’s high shaman personally visited.

She said the child had the fate to rise to royal status, and that the royal family had already been informed.

He had shouted at his wife then, asking if she would still look down on his family as traitors.

Not long after giving birth, her condition worsened rapidly.

“If I hadn’t started that rebellion, could my son have risen to royal status?”

General Hong muttered into empty air.

No answer came, not even in dreams.

From the day he regained consciousness, Hong Yeom-rang had burned with anger that he couldn’t properly attend his mother’s funeral. When the boy finally spat out the same words his late mother used, calling their family traitors, General Hong had sent him to the capital in fury.

He thought that living among people, surrounded by the splendor of the capital, would prevent him from ever saying such things again.

“Everything is going well. Everything. This is the right way.”

General Hong muttered hollowly. Even if he could return to that day, he knew he would still have begged to save her and her family.

In his vision, the long stretch of mountains appeared, and for a moment, he thought he saw his wife standing before the jars, offering water in prayer.

“Tsk.”

General Hong clicked his tongue.

* * *

Hisa chewed the herbs roughly.

As she spat them into her palm and spread them thin, Hong Yeom-rang finally woke after sleeping through the long night.

She had just removed the old herbs and was about to apply fresh ones when their eyes met.

“You’re awake?”

His head felt heavy. He rarely dreamed, but when he did, it was always the same dream. And afterward, his body would feel drained. He had realized he only saw that dream when he was unwell.

Tap.

Hisa pressed the fresh herbs onto his shoulder. A bitter smell rose instantly, making him nearly gag.

“Ugh….”

He covered his mouth with one hand and frowned.

“Medicine that’s good for you is always bitter.”

With her mouth still stained green from the herbs, Hisa smiled.

It was obvious how the herbs had been prepared just by looking at her face. The bitter smell was overwhelming, yet she smiled as if nothing bothered her.

“Since you’re awake, drink this.”

After wondering how to make him drink the boiled herbs, Hisa dabbed some on his lips with her finger. His lips had been dry, and he had been licking them unconsciously. Now that he was awake, she decided to make him drink it.

She brought a teacup filled with the herbal liquid.

The same smell rose from it, and Hong Yeom-rang gagged again.

“Ugh….”

“That’s it, that’s it. Good, drink it.”

He hadn’t even put it to his lips yet, and she spoke as if soothing a child.

Is this even safe to drink?

But his shoulder already felt lighter, so he chose to trust her. He raised his upper body slightly and drank it in one go.

His empty stomach churned, and he forced down the urge to vomit.

Even for someone like him, who didn’t refuse food or medicine, it was hard to swallow.

“…What… is this.”

His throat was dry, and even speaking was difficult.

He hadn’t even noticed her approaching before he fell asleep. More than that, the damp mat beneath him bothered him.

No matter how out of it he had been, he knew what he had done before closing his eyes. A blanket was comfortably covering him.

His hand moved down to check his loosened waistband.

His hand slipped inside his pants.

It was morning, and his erect cock pressed up against the blanket.

Hisa wiped her herb-stained lips with her fingertips for no reason and turned away, carrying the teacup toward the fire.