Requiem of Subdued Souls

It was also a palace.

Old palaces were lined up and the shadows of their roofs were visible on the pond that wasn’t maintained well.

The lush green trees swayed from side to side. It looked like countless hands were moving in the sky.

Behind the pillars, under the bridges, and between the lush greenery. There was thick darkness everywhere.

His head got dizzy.

He felt that a certain force was strongly entwining this place.

“No one can come here at night.”

Seol Young mumbled.

“It is creepy.”

Zaha was disgusted.

“The people here are surprised. Go find the ball.”

Those words brought him back to reality. There were courtiers everywhere who were cleaning, trimming the branches, and carrying different things.

Seol Young asked,

“What is this place?”

“The Old Palace building.”

“Old Palace?”

“You know the legend about when the Moon Palace was first built? You don’t know? This was originally the home of the king, but then the founding monarch was tricked into building the Moon Palace.”

Zaha briefly said.

“Since then, it has been expanded numerous times. Important areas such as the main hall have become so nice that this palace was hidden.”

“Then, are you telling me that a place old enough to be considered a part of history was just thrown in the back without any expansion being done?”

“That is right. It has been used for many purposes since ancient times, including secret meetings, treating sick royals, and hiding valuables that shouldn’t be seen. In addition, it is called the Cold Palace.”

The Cold Palace was where the kings sent their concubines into exile.

Seol Young asked,

“Is anyone staying inside here now?”

“Probably not.”

Zaha looked at the inside of the palace.

“It doesn’t seem like it?”

“No one is here now.”

He said.

From what he heard, this place seemed to be very restricted. And this place was called the Ninefold Depth Palace because it was surrounded by nine layers of barriers.

And this was the most hidden location of all the palaces, and it was natural for Seol Young to be unaware of it.

But it was still somehow being managed well. The courtiers assigned here were busily walking around doing their own work.

‘Will this be fine?’

Seol Young looked around the palaces, which were surrounded by thick green trees.

“Don’t strange things happen here at night? It would be best if no one came.”

When he said that, the old eunuch lowered his head.

“How can that be? Day or night, we are managing this place in the same way. It is alright as long as we know where we are and only protect what needs to be protected.”

They were meaningful words.

Seol Young didn’t say anything more and looked around. After passing through several palaces and going to the back of the pavilion, they found another pond there.

He walked around and, at some point, stopped. A long corridor appeared in front of him. It was similar to what the ghost showed him. 𝐛𝐞𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦

‘It seems to be that…’

His head felt dizzy.

Seol Young just stood there, not knowing how to move, and seeing that, Zaha asked,

“Is that it?”

“I need to look around.”

He sat down near the corridor, put his hands on the ground, and started to use Memory Projection.

If this place has anything to do with that evil spirit, shouldn’t he feel something?

Be it a unique demonic qi, a light sound that his ear couldn’t hear, or the voice of souls…

However, no matter how much spiritual power he infused into it, he couldn’t feel anything. Only faint thoughts that had nothing to do with that evil spirit were vaguely floating around.

“I don’t know.”

Seol Young gave up.

Who looks for a ball in this manner?

All of the courtiers were looking at them with such a face. But as always, they pretended not to see the looks they were giving. Amidst all that, Seol Young looked at the palace.

Nothing here was familiar.

He only found one corridor that looked similar to his memory, and it seemed like he should be content with just that.

Seol Young shook his head at Zaha, and Zaha slowly looked around and went to one place.

“Here it is.”

He reached between the bushes, pulled a ball out, and took a step back.

Before leaving, he handed the eunuch a gold coin.

“It is such an important ball. I am glad we found it.”

“Yes. Thank God.”

“But are there any ghost stories in this palace? There are so many in the Moon Palace, so there has to be a couple here…”

Zaha dragged out those last words and looked at the other person. Instead of answering, the eunuch lowered his head.

“They are just stories handed down from mouth to mouth for a long time among the courtiers. How can we just speak about them so disrespectfully?”

The guy was stubborn yet polite.

Well, it would be difficult to talk about ghost stories in the place where the king once lived.

They had to leave now.

As if he was upset, Zaha said,

“If we dig up here, something has to come out. I don’t think the people here will speak though.”

“Should I apply as a court lady?”

Seol Young mumbled to be sarcastic.

“What do we do now?”

It was then…

“High Governor! You are here?!”

Hwarangs in golden robes appeared, looking at Zaha.

And he asked,

“What happened?”

“No. It is because of the Mid Autumn Festival.”

The Mid Autumn Festival was a big holiday in the nation. The Hwarang troops had to take care of many things.

Seeing that Zaha was holding the silk ball, they misunderstood something.

“Do not misunderstand. There is no problem with the football game. Rather, we have questions about other things…”

Zaha was surrounded right away. Perhaps he was a bit flustered, so he secretly looked at Seol Young for help. Zaha’s main responsibility was to monitor Seol Young.

In other words, if Seol Young approaches him and says something, he could get out of there. But Seol Young hid back.

‘I won’t do that.’

It wasn’t that they were trying to dig into some complicated information. They were just asking questions about a holiday.

If he wanted to be respected as the High Governor until the end, he had to work. How could he avoid them just because they were annoying?

Seol Young gave him such a look.

“Well, this is good. The Governor did tell us to bring the High Governor if we ran into you.”

In the end, Zaha was taken to the Hwarangs’ hall.

‘Come back soon.’

Seol Young waited for him at the same spot. If he couldn’t stand it, Zaha could always throw the desk and run back to where he was.

But the leash the Hwarangs had around him was tight.

Zaha didn’t return for a long time. After waiting in a daze, he suddenly came to his senses, and it was dark everywhere.

‘I still cannot believe that man was taken captive.’

It seemed like Zaha woke up on the wrong side today, so Seol Young just decided to leave.

He didn’t want to run into anyone who would interpret this in the wrong manner, so he decided to get out of the palace.

He didn’t run into anyone on his way, and he only saw the moonlight shining on the floor.

Seol Young was lost in thought.

How far did he walk?

A loud noise broke the silence. A carriage was speeding up from the other side, and it was heading straight for the Moon Palace.

It looked like someone was rushing for the palace.

If they were coming this late into the night, it had to be a high-ranking official. In order to get out of the way and avoid having to greet them, Seol Young stepped aside.

But…

The carriage, which had been moving fast, suddenly stopped.

The coachman screamed,

“OH!”

And the horses ran amok.

At the same time, there was this black energy coming from inside the carriage.

The door burst open as noble ladies and courtiers hurriedly evacuated it.

‘What is this?’

Seol Young drew his sword to save them, but at that moment, one lady pulled out the sword of the escort warrior.

She swung it in a circle and cut off the black shadow that was coming out of the carriage in one slash.

“…?”

Seol Young was surprised. The sword itself looked normal.

But the body of the sword was shining brightly. This definitely meant that there was a spirit in it.

And then he looked at her.

The wind from the sword’s movements hit her face. He would surely call her a great beauty. There was something on her white forehead, and her eyes held this hot charm that he felt like he was familiar with.

Seol Young lowered his gaze.

Her other hand gently wrapped around her stomach. She seemed to be protecting something.

A woman who resembled Zaha with a baby.

‘Zaun…’

At this time, she also found Seol Young.

She glanced at him with sharp eyes and fixed her gaze on him.

Who was this Hwarang in white who suddenly appeared?

At that time, loud footsteps could be heard. The soldiers guarding the capital were running towards them.

“No, aren’t you the lady of the Sangdae-dong office. What is happening?”

“The horses were a bit shocked.”

The courtiers answered. While looking at them, Seol Young noticed one thing.

All of them had talisman bracelets made of peach trees. They were to ward off evil.

‘Something happened.’

“Then.”

Zaun and the people got onto the wagon.

“Move!”

The carriage soon began to run again.

And he just stood there and watched…

The carriage’s window was opened, showing Zaun’s face.

She turned her head back and looked at Seol Young. Then Zaun’s face was getting further away. However, the look in her eyes was meaningful.

‘There was something she wanted to say.’

That was what her eyes said.

Even if not for the look she gave, Seol Young was planning to meet her, and he had a feeling that it would happen soon.

Seol Young thought about it again.

‘What could it be?’

TL/N: The office that is next in power after the king