YCHW Ch 24

As they stepped outside, the rain had stopped, and only faint dark clouds drifted beneath the clear moon in Hwi’s view.

“Is this place always so crowded?”

Even though the sun had fully set, the crowd seemed larger than before, and Yoonso looked around curiously. He had thought the marketplace was lively during the earlier hours, but now he saw that everyone walking the streets had bright expressions.

“The Festival of Rejuvenation is approaching, isn’t it?”

“Oh… That’s right.”

After the Dragon’s Scion defeated the forces of the underworld in ancient times, Yeongchunhwa saved him, and to commemorate the return of spring, it was called the Festival of Rejuvenation. In the countryside, celebrations began a week before the festival. Since customs varied by region, Yoonso wondered how the people here spent the day.

“Here, here! Take a paper lantern each!”

While passing through the main street, Yoonso noticed a long line forming. The atmosphere grew noisier and more chaotic, and as he craned his neck to see what was happening, he heard a voice nearby expressing a similar question.

“Are they giving out lanterns for free?”

“Yes, they say His Highness Prince Inchin is bestowing a favor for the Festival of Rejuvenation.”

“Again? I heard he did the same last year.”

Prince Inchin was the emperor’s younger brother. Hearing a member of the imperial family mentioned, Yoonso instinctively shrank back and scanned his surroundings. But there was nothing notable except for the people giving and receiving lanterns.

“Your Highness! Thank you, thank you!”

As the person at the front of the line received a lantern and bowed deeply, cheerful laughter erupted here and there. Yoonso had heard that Prince Inchin was generous and kind-hearted, and it seemed to be true. Seeing the people’s joy, a smile naturally spread across Yoonso’s face.

“He always extends a helping hand to places struck by drought or flood, better than most local officials.”

“Better? Goodness, His Majesty the Emperor is too busy guarding those perilous lands to understand the struggles of us common folk. How fortunate that someone like Prince Inchin fills that role!”

“Exactly, exactly. He truly cares about the people’s lives.”

The men’s loud voices were met with nods from those around them.

The atmosphere, where people felt close to Prince Inchin, was intriguing. To Yoonso, Prince Inchin was merely the emperor’s brother, and since neither his father nor his teachers had spoken much of him, Yoonso had never paid him much attention.

Yet, to think there was such a generous person in the imperial family. If someone like him were a local official, perhaps man-made disasters could be avoided…

“Why are you dawdling?”

Yoonso’s face had clouded as he recalled the slum he’d seen on the way here, but Hwi’s urging snapped him out of it.

Pushing through the bustling crowd, they reached the riverbank, where people were launching boats and sending sky lanterns into the air. The sight of golden lanterns floating gracefully above the calm, serene river was nothing short of spectacular.

“Are we going on a boat?”

As Hwi’s steps led toward the dock, Yoonso asked excitedly. He had never been on a boat before, and it was sure to be a thrilling experience.

“Yes.”

“Wow…”

“Are you that excited?”

“Of course! It’s my first time on a boat.”

Yoonso, elated, quickened his pace.

At the dock, a sturdy, sizable ferry boat was moored. As if it had been prepared in advance, the boatman greeted Hwi and Yoonso with a silent bow.

As soon as the two men sat facing each other, the boat set off. Yoonso, heart pounding, stared at the receding dock. Swish, swish… The sound of the thick oars cutting through the water echoed calmly, and the clamor of the shore gradually faded.

Though they were only nine feet from the shore, in the middle of the river, it felt like stepping into another world. From a distant boat, a child’s cheerful laughter rang out. Yoonso smiled, gazing in that direction, then turned to Hwi, feeling his gaze.

Hwi was quietly watching him. Yoonso suddenly wondered if Hwi, despite his busy schedule, had made time to show him this scene, or if he had simply brought Yoonso along to enjoy some leisure.

If it was the former, why? Truthfully, Yoonso didn’t fully understand why Hwi was so kind to him. He had once said to Hwi that not every action needed a motive, but…

Was Hwi kind to others as well? Was it just a habit, a casual act of goodwill? Since meeting him, Yoonso’s heart had been in constant turmoil, and now it ached as he bit his lip. At that moment, Hwi picked up something from the boat’s floor.

“Since we’re here, we might as well send one up.”

Hwi handed Yoonso a sturdy-looking sky lantern. He told Yoonso to hold it steady, then lit the wick fixed in the frame. Soon, the white lampshade glowed with a golden light.

The light reflected in Yoonso’s curious eyes, making them sparkle. He gripped the lantern, which seemed ready to float away, and waited for Hwi’s signal.

“They say you make a wish before sending a sky lantern.”

“Is that so?”

“What will you wish for?”

“I…”

Words swirled in his mind, but only one slipped through his lips.

“Please let me leave safely.”

“…”

“What about you, sir? You should make a wish too.”

Yoonso was curious about what wish Hwi might hold. But Hwi, without a word, reached out, supported Yoonso’s hands, and gently lifted them. The lantern left Yoonso’s fingertips, drifting softly into the pitch-black night sky.

Would a wish carried by a lantern reach the heavens and come true? He hoped so. He wished that everyone here, including Hwi, would see their heartfelt desires fulfilled, and that their worries and fears would vanish beyond the sky.

“Are you going to Yehang to leave this country?”

Hwi’s low voice reached his ears, and Yoonso lowered his gaze from the drifting lantern. Hwi’s face, gazing at him silently, was as calm and refined as the night scenery of this lake.

With no reason to hide his answer, Yoonso replied calmly.

“Yes.”

“You don’t plan to stay here and find your own path?”

Curiously, Yeongchunhwa’s abilities could only be used in this country, Yeong. Beyond its borders, the protective power of Yeongchunhwa lost its strength, allowing one to live as an ordinary person in another land.

Without Yeongchunhwa, Yongrin’s power was also useless, which is why historical attempts to smuggle Yongrin out had repeatedly failed. Yongrin and Yeongchunhwa were bound to live their lives only in this country.

Here, Yoonso could only be Yeongchunhwa, nothing more. And unless he entered the palace, he would be a fugitive forever. So, naturally, he should have affirmed his intent to leave, as he would have before, but for some reason, his lips wouldn’t part.

Crossing the sea to leave this country meant parting with the man before him. A deep reluctance rippled through him, like waves lapping at his ankles.

But one thing was certain: staying here and getting caught would also mean parting in the end.

“Yes.”

“…”

“Where I was born and raised, I can’t escape the shackles. That kind of life is more terrifying and unbearable than death.”

From the moment he sprouted, he was confined to the inner quarters, partly for safety but mostly to control his body and mind. If he freely mingled with others and grew attached to some woman or man, abandoning his duty would be a grave inconvenience.

Though his body and mind were his own, they were held hostage by an emperor whose face and name he didn’t know, forced to live the rest of his life locked in a decorative box. And the only stories told in that box were of the emperor, the imperial family, Yongrin, duty, responsibility, and obligation…

The moment he entered that shackle, So Yoonso would vanish. Inside, personal desires or dreams had to be castrated, and he could only live as Yeongchunhwa. And that wasn’t all—if he became an empress, then an empress; if a consort, then a consort. He would have to bear that burden too.

Moreover, his father wanted him to captivate the emperor’s heart with his protective power, even to dominate him. At times, Yoonso wondered if he was meant to be a Yeongchunhwa who saved the nation or a *root of national ruin.

If he entered the palace, his father’s fervor would only intensify. Having lived confined for so long wasn’t enough; he had no intention of moving to an even larger, harsher cage. How could such a life be called “living”?

Hwi closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and nodded faintly. His gaze shifted past Yoonso to somewhere else. Though Yoonso couldn’t tell what Hwi was looking at, his demeanor somehow felt lonely.

Why did such emotions emanate from a man who seemed to have grown up wanting for nothing? Even if someone was materially wealthy, it was hard to know their inner world.

“What about you, sir? Don’t you ever think of… setting up roots in another country and managing the merchant group from there?”

Relocating would surely be difficult, but for a merchant group that frequently crossed borders, it might not be entirely impossible. Unconsciously, Yoonso awaited Hwi’s answer with hope.