Requiem of Subdued Souls

“What children are you talking about?”

The Queen asked.

“What is that supposed to mean? Calm down and explain it in detail.”

“Yes. It is just a story I heard when I entered the palace, so it must have been around fifty years ago…”

The lady-in-waiting didn’t bother naming who was ruling at that time because she was being cautious about not saying anything about the royal family in front of the Queen.

“A certain member of the royal family had a serious illness that caused him to vomit a bowl of blood every morning and evening. In order to cure it, they took orphan kids and killed them after lying to them that they would be turned into palace courtiers.”

“By burying them alive?”

At Zaha’s question, she nodded.

After that, the next one spoke.

“Actually, I’ve heard about that too. It was said that if we didn’t listen, it could happen.”

“Me too.”

Testimonies kept pouring out.

“If you tell a child to memorize only one word while starving, they say that the words will end up having powers.”

“So, without feeding them anything, they hung bloodied cloths in front of their eyes and made them stare at it…”

“They prayed for the illness to be cured and made them recite it with just one thought—a wish-fulfilling mantra. Then, in the end, their hands and feet were tied as they were buried alive.”

As long as decades ago, as short as years ago.

The time when they heard that story was different, but the content was the same. As it was used to discipline the young courtiers, it seemed that the circumstances of the incident were relatively similar.

“That is cruel…”

The Queen was speechless.

“Then are those children trying to get revenge on the royal family by taking over the body of the Princess?”

There must be no reason other than that.

Seol Young nodded.

“I thought that it was unusual when I saw the bodies, but now I understand. Children are much more spiritually strong and sensitive than adults. Since those children went through the same experiences and died in a space called the royal palace, there is no way this will end normally.”

He explained it to all of them.

“Besides, a sorcery spell was used. While reciting a chant in the same state of blurred consciousness without eating anything, their souls assimilated into one.”

Silence passed, and Zaha asked the women,

“How many children did you say there were?”

“I heard that there were around twelve from the rumors.”

Several women agreed.

While they were being cross-examined, a lady-in-waiting hurriedly came in and said,

“Princess Ning Pa is coming.”

The Queen and Zaun looked at each other.

It seemed that they were nervous about the appearance of the concubine, with whom they had a confrontational relationship.

“Why is she coming without informing anyone?”

“I think she might have noticed something. We will take care of the Princess, so please feel free to meet her.”

“I get it.”

The Queen bit her lip and went outside. In the meantime, Seol Young thought deeply.

‘What do we do?’

After thinking about it for a while, he came up with a rough idea and told Zaha,

“That symptom….”

He pointed at Princess Ara with his eyes.

The Princess stood there, holding the hem of her maid’s skirt. She looked like any normal 6-year-old.

Zaha mumbled.

“There’s no reason to be suspicious of her, but it bothers me for some reason to just simply ignore it.”

“Exactly. So…”

Seol Young lowered his voice to repeat what he had just thought.

“Are you planning to use that shadow?”

Zah tilted his head.

“Wouldn’t that be the correct way? Why bother leaving behind all the good tricks? It sounds like you want to leave the fishing rod behind and catch fish with chopsticks.”

“But there are some reasons to use it.”

Seol Young spoke again.

Zaha listened to his explanation.

“There is no other way. We should try it.”

“Because she is a child.”

Seol Young moved to the next step and continued.

“Since it is said that there are twelve spirits, we should prepare twelve as well…”

Soon, their discussion was over. First, Zaha approached Princess Ara. While smiling, he looked her in the eyes and asked,

“Is the Princess not curious about what is happening to her younger sister, Princess Ajin?”

“That…”

Princess Ara blinked her big eyes.

“Isn’t that something that shouldn’t be asked? Just like how I shouldn’t ask why there are so many concubines even though my father has my mother, Lady Yeon Hwa…”

“As expected, you are smart. But aren’t you afraid to keep seeing and hearing these bizarre things?”

“It’s fine. It’s not midnight yet.”

“Are you saying bedtime scares you?”

The Princess was a child. There was nothing odd about her words.

‘But still, we never know for sure.’

Seol Young secretly brought out a spell he could use when the Princess was talking to Zaha.

The shadow of the pillar got longer, little by little. It stretched out so slowly that no one noticed until it reached the shadow of the Princess, and the shadow of the Princess swayed.

But nothing happened.

No matter how much it shook, the shadow of the Princess stayed still.

Seol Young mumbled,

“It isn’t…”

Zaun appeared. As if she heard Seol Young’s words, she asked sharply,

“What do you mean it isn’t?”

“Nothing. There was one thing I had doubts about, but I think I was wrong…”

Seol Young replied.

Then the Queen also returned. It looked like she was tired.

Zaun asked,

“Did you send her back?”

“What do I do? It is clear that she had noticed something, and I think they will continue to spy again…”

The Queen looked at Seol Young with a darkened face,

“What do we do now?”

It was the question he had been waiting for. Seol Young quickly answered,

“I know the solution to how to get rid of the evil spirits. First, we need a good space. It should be more fortified than here, and the people outside should have no idea what is happening inside. There shouldn’t be anyone who could enter it anytime and interfere.”

“Hmm…”

He didn’t think they could find it right away, but Zaun readily nodded.

“Queen, talk to the people. Since His Majesty appeared in my dream, I will pray in my room all night, so please do not disturb me. Then, even if His Majesty looked for the Queen, he shouldn’t be allowed to go inside. When that’s done, let’s go into the secret room in the basement of the prayer room and do it.”

“Then that is the place. We also need a few things. First of all, there are not enough plaques to seal the evil spirits…”

That issue was also resolved right away. Zaha sent the courtiers to the Hwarang hall and ordered them to bring twelve plaques used by the Hwarangs.

“And I need twelve child-sized dolls. You have to dress them in silk and decorate them.”

First and foremost, what he needed right away were eight scrolls. He also needed eight courtiers who were strong and brave.

“In order to completely save the Princess, we need to break the eight ghost stories.”

Seol Young explained to everyone.

“It can be called a power to rule the ghost stories that came from nothing. Having bumped into the evil spirit a couple of times and discovered this much of its tightly sealed history, it seems like some of the blanks have been filled. Therefore, the curse must be weaker than before.”

First, he cast a protective chant onto the scroll.

Eight courtiers were seated, and they were in charge of writing the stories from the first one until the last.

“If you feel stuffy, or if your chest is clamped, or you feel dizzy, stop right away.”

“Yes.”

The eight courtiers took up the brushes and began to write about the stories they knew.

After writing a few things, their hearts raced, and they began to feel strange.

And then someone opened her mouth.

“Great Dharini….”

She began to recite the sutra for peace in a loud voice. It mentioned how one would accept Avalokiteshvara, who would save them from fear.

Soon, several people began to chant together, and then their thumping hearts calmed down.

The rule of the ghost stories was short, so there were only a few lines written because these were stories that had no major plot. And they finished it before anyone was badly affected.

“Good job.”

Seol Young sealed the scrolls.

A monk or a traveling monk carried it and put it into a well. All that was left was to wait.

When the sun went down, the twelve dolls were prepared in a secret room in the basement of the prayer room. All of them had their hair neatly done and were wearing silk clothes. Of course, they had sparkling ornaments too.

Seol Young hid the plaques one by one under the clothes of the dolls.

“Let’s start then.”

Princess Ajin was laid flat in the middle of the room. The Princess’s limbs were bound by a spell.

A long rope hung from one of her wrists, and its end was connected to one doll, and the other dolls were connected separately.

‘Will this happen as planned?’

After looking at Zaha, Seol Young touched the forehead of the Princess.

“It is the Princess who is fighting the evil spirits. I am just helping her. Since you are the Princess of the Kingdom of God, be courageous and drive the evil spirits away.”

As he said that, Zaha moved closer to him, and then a light flashed.

The light was so strong that everyone had to shut their eyes. Seol Young conveyed his intention to the Princess.

“That’s it.”

“Really? You did it, right?”

Zaha touched the rope that was tied around the wrist of the Princess.

At that moment, the Princess, who was in deep sleep, opened her eyes. Realizing that her hands were tied, she struggled.

“Free me!”

The voices of several people could be heard from her mouth at the same time.

Seol Young and Zaha stood on either side with their swords pulled out. The spiritual qi rose, wrapped around the Princess in a circle, and pressed her down.

.

“Ack! No! Free me!”

It seemed like she was trying so hard because the real voice of the Princess came out.

“Nanny! Nanny! Where is Nanny? Where is the Queen? Hurry up and bring my mother! Mother! It hurts! Please release these people! It hurts so much!”

It was the voice of the child.

However, the Queen had already made up her mind. She knew that the evil spirits were imitating her daughter’s voice, so she tightly closed her eyes and turned away.

No matter how much she searched for her mother, when no answer came back, the Princess’s voice changed.

“Leave me! Let me out this instant! Who are you to do this to me?!”

Her eyes, which had turned black with no whites on them, turned to Zaha.

“Are you going to kill me now? It wasn’t enough that you stabbed the hearts of those who trusted and followed you! You traitor! A guy who cannot handle one thing!”

She was practically cursing him, but Zaha didn’t seem bothered.

“Why is everyone talking about that all the time? Are you saying that you have nothing else to complain about?”

“This is just the start.”

Seol Young said, and looked down at the Princess. But Zaun’s face caught the corner of his vision.

Her face was as pale as a sheet. Her expression looked like she was so shocked.

“….?”

Thinking it was strange, he decided to get a clearer look. 𝘣𝑒𝑑𝘯𝘰𝘷𝑒𝘭．𝑜𝘳𝘨

“And you! An evil spirit among evil spirits!”

The evil spirit inside the Princess shouted at Seol Young.

“You will burn in flames! I will drag everyone around you into chaos! The one who even ate his own benefactor!”

And the voice changed.

“You! Did you think you would be able to be safe after what you did to me!”

It was his teacher, Baek San’s voice.

“…?”

Seol Young’s face turned pale.