Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Goblin’s Egg

The palace was in a remote place.

It was a splendid sculpture that could not be compared with her own cabin. However, the moment she entered the palace in Sa Heon-yeong’s arms, Song Young-young caught a familiar smell.

The smell of loneliness, solitude. The shadows of the trees shake ominously, and the leaves rub against each other. Even in the daytime, it is dark, and the sound is mixed with the wind, only fueling anxiety. She could feel the moisture peculiar to an abandoned place.

Throughout the wedding, she traveled from place to place in the Imperial Palace. Everything was bright and colorful, but why is this place so quiet and lonely? Young-young suddenly smiled. So was her own hut. Her father had the largest drugstore in the city. His whole house was splendid, but her hut was unseemly.

Because even the richest person in the world doesn’t spend a penny on the abandoned.

“It’s not a good place, but be patient. After the banquet is over, I will never come again.”

Sa Heon-young was truly sorry.

He did not take her into the room. He sat on the balustrade in the long corridor, he put her on his lap and stripped her of her shoes.

“You’ve had a hard time since morning, haven’t you? Does it hurt?”

A friendly voice. Kindly curved eyes.

…… they don’t look alike.

Young-young raised her hand and touched Sa Heon-yeong’s goblin mask.

“You didn’t look alike.”

“Yes?”

“The Crown Prince and Lord Heon-yeong. It wasn’t very similar. I saw it wrong.”

“No, it was like that. We’re similar …… This is a secret.”

Sa Heon-young put his index finger to his lips. Young-young instinctively understood why Sa Heon-yeong was wearing a mask.

“Is Lord Heon-yeong wearing a mask because you resemble the Crown Prince?”

Young-young frowned.

Sa Heon-yeong began to remove all of the hairpins from Young-young’s hair. Even if he has to bring her to the banquet with scattered hair, her headdress had to be removed, and if he took her to the long banquet with her headdress, it seemed that Young-young’s neck would break. She felt Sa Heon-yeong’s touch who was immersed in her hair while leaning on the pole, and Young-young looked quietly into the distance.

She could see the sun shining through the leaves. Young-young looked at it quietly and heard the sound of the wind. After a long time she remembered the hut in which she had grown up.

“Did you know about goblin’s eggs?”

“I don’t know.”

“The female goblin lays eggs, but it is difficult to raise them. The male goblin likes the eggs laid by the female.”

“They like it, but why is it difficult to hatch? The two can raise it together.”

“They ate it.”

Finally, all the hair ornaments were removed and he was able to lower her headdress. As soon as the headdress came down, Young-young, who was groaning, turned her head to look at Sa Heon-yeong.

“They, they ate it?”

“That’s what it is.”

“The egg with your own child?”

“The male goblin said it was a delicacy. Especially the egg with their own child.”

Young-young’s face contorted. Sa Heon-yeong continued his speech as he pulled her, who couldn’t understand, into a hug, and he kissed her on her forehead.

“It is said that female goblin females avoid the eyes of males and put their eggs into human, pregnant wombs. So, the human develops maternal love and raises the egg of the goblin like their child. Because they both have the same face, so you can’t tell which one is a human and which is a goblin.”

“…… .”

“So, I am a goblin.”

Young-young reached out and fiddled with Sa Heon-yeong’s mask. She wanted to see his face properly. She was worried about what his face would look like as she heard the voice as lonely as the winter wind.

Suddenly, her hand was grabbed. Sa Heon-yeong’s hand was hot and large, and whenever he grabbed her wrist, it became warm rather than scary. Young-young looked at the manly hand wrapped around his wrist and asked.

“Are you going to say no here?”

When Young-Young asked, Sa Heon-Young smiled brightly and whispered, “Yes.”

Song Young-young looked up at the man who wore the goblin mask and said he was a goblin and blinked her eyes. For the first time, she thought that this man was pitiful. The goblin, who appeared in good shoes, only looked gorgeous and strong. He seemed to know everything. He seemed to truly believe in this goblin egg story. Young-young fiddled with Sa Heon-yeong’s mask.

“You know what twins are?”

Young-young was unaware of the circumstances, but she also knew the extent of the twins. The human may have a goblin egg, but how do you tell the difference between an ordinary twin and a goblin egg?

“Of course I do.”

“…… .”

“But the royal family does not have twins. No such thing is born of noble blood.”

Before meeting Sa Heon-yeong, the highest person to Young-young was the castella. He was high-ranked, but by default. But she heard he was not of a good enough noble blood to be said. So, although Young-young had met high-ranking people, she had never seen noble blood.

What is noble blood?

“What color is noble blood?”

“…… .”

“What about goblin’s blood?”

Sa Heon-young did not answer. He wiped Young-young’s cheek and just smiled. Young-young quietly felt his hand, then raised her hand and wrapped it around the back of Sa Heon-yeong’s hand.

Young-young closed her eyes. Sa Heon-young looked down at Young-young’s face. Young-young’s face, asking what color the noble blood is and what the goblin’s blood is, was just innocent. She didn’t know what she was asking, and she seemed just curious. No, maybe she’s just comforting him.

“Even if your husband is a goblin…… Are you okay?”

It’s bad to hear as if his voice was scratched somewhere. Sa Heon-young clicked his tongue inwardly. A hoarse voice with a nervous expression, which is not enough to entice her sweetly. It would be nice to be able to ask again, but sometimes a question is only acceptable once.

Young-young smiled brightly.

“Hmm. In the first place, I got the proposal from Sir Goblin.”

A goblin wearing good shoes had come to the lonely mountain. Atolls relieved hunger, but did not eliminate loneliness. Loneliness was like an illness, and Yeong-young was suffering from aches and pains. Every day she can’t talk to anyone. No one listens and no one speaks. A miraculous guest who came to her in the midst of just waiting for death.

My Sir Goblin.

“…… Yes.”

Sa Heon-young’s voice became lower. Young-young closed her eyes, resting her cheeks in his large hands, and then opened her eyes.

“But my blood is red. Is that okay?”

At that, Sa Heon-yeong opened his eyes wide and burst out laughing. Whatever was so funny and pleasant about it, but after laughing for a while, he hugged her tightly.

“I know. I saw it at night.”

He couldn’t stop laughing at her for a while. Young-young looked up at Sa Heon-yeong’s face while holding her in his arms. When their eyes met, he seemed to have calmed down for a moment, then burst out laughing again. What’s so funny about it? Young-young couldn’t understand, but it was better for him to laugh than forlorn, so she decided to stay still.

***

The banquet was held at night.

“Simran Hall*.”

She learned the letters from her mother, but after her mother’s death she hardly ever saw them. Young-young looked up at the signboard and Sa Heon-yeong, who was walking alongside her, burst into laughter again.

“It’s Shinryeon Hall.”

“Ah.”

It was a bit embarrassing that she couldn’t read the letters well. When Young-young’s face turned red, Sa Heon-yeong stopped walking. He knelt in front of Young-young and looked up at her face who had her head bowed down.

“I’m sorry. I laughed because my heart was troubled that you said it was the Confusion Hall* and laughed. I didn’t laugh because you read the text wrong.”

“…….”

“It really is. I don’t care if wife knows the letters or not.”

“…….”

“But if you want to know the letters, would you like to study with me little by little? I can’t be a good teacher, but if it’s okay with you.”

Really? When Young-Young asked with almost no sound, Sa Heon-Young answered, “Really.”

As soon as they entered the banquet hall, Sa Heon-young felt many eyes. He always hated these gazes, but today it was amazing that he didn’t care about it. No, rather than not caring, he was rather proud. Young-young was next to him. Song Young-young. The woman who received his own name.

“Am I really prettier?”

As he moved, he whispered to the bride. The banquet was already in full swing, and both the prince and the empress were in their seats. The bride, who was going to the middle seat of the banquet, glanced at the prince. She could feel the prince’s gaze from behind the cover of her red veil. Then she said

“Hmm.”

If he looks closely, he can see the face behind the veil. A smiling face is the truth.

He was prettier.

He was born as a man, and when she said that he was prettier than that prince, where she used the word “pretty”, his ears, heart and soul just melted in ecstasy. He never thought about it. Is it that the prince resembles himself or that he is prettier than the prince? He takes precedence over ‘the prince’, and it is more valuable.

A bride who sings a song no one has sang says something no one has ever said. Hot blood rushed through his body. A fever rose in his hand, and Sa Heon-yeong clenched his fist. This heat is his own. No one can take it away. Sa Heon-yeong rolled his eyes down.

After performing the ceremony for the Prince and Empress from the central seat, they moved to the prepared seat and sat down. She looked difficult because she was overworked with her uncomfortable legs. He wished he could take her shoes off and massage those little feet. He can’t do that at a banquet. Sa Heon-yeong called the attendant and told him to bring fruit wine.

“If you drink sweet alcohol, you will feel a little better.”

The fruit wine brought separately was cold and sweet, so Yeong-young sipped little by little. As she felt the sweet taste, she relaxed little by little. Feeling her body relaxed, Young-young slowly turned her gaze away.

The banquet was gorgeous. All the luxury in the world seemed to be here. A place of golden brilliance. Chairs, columns, and ceilings all fluttered in gold. The musicians play sweet music, and the dancers do a splendid dance round and round. Thousands of court ladies and courtiers carried food and drinks, and people chatted and whispered with each other.

“Who are you looking at?”

When Young-young was looking around, Sa Heon-young immediately grabbed her shoulder. He whispered in a gentle voice, but Young-young could feel the edge in his voice. But she couldn’t figure out why, so she stared quietly at the couple who was seen through her red head covering. Her expression was obscured by the red veil.

“Young-ah.”

“I’m just looking at people.”

“Just look at me.”

The banquet hall was packed with people. No matter where she looks, there are all people, how can she stop looking at them? But he was really saying that. Young-young whispered.

“Why?”

“I’m a jealous man.”

“Jealous?”

Young-young was asking what it was.

—

*) The Hall’s name was Shin Ryeon (신련), but Young-young said it as Sim Ran because in their hangul it was only a few strokes different (심란). Sim ran could mean as confusion, aka making the hall name ‘Confusion Hall’ ????