Episode 22
Protect Me!!
"Byeol, you're burning up! ... I shouldn't have let you play in the water so long."
Whenever I was sick, Dad seemed even more upset than I was.
'Sorry, Dad, but I love it when you put your cool hands on my head and face!'
"Dad, my face is hot."
So I snuggled up to Dad, playing it up.
"I'll get you a fresh, cold washcloth."
Dad tried to do anything I needed.
'Whether it was hard work or dangerous.'
"No, Dad, your hands are cool. It feels better when you leave them there."
"Are you sure that's enough?"
When I pulled Dad's hand, he covered my face with his large hands and asked worriedly.
"Yeah!"
Hehe.
He'd watch me laugh, all feverish, and a little smile would creep onto his face.
'I loved that about Dad.'
And I firmly believed that he would be by my side forever, protecting me.
"Heavenly Demon."
Until I found out Dad was the Heavenly Demon, who went crazy after I died and was killed by the Young Lord of the Namgung family.
"This is the end. Heavenly Demon."
The moment I recalled that fact, I saw someone's blade aiming at Dad's neck.
'No! Dad, run away! Dad, please don't die!'
But there was nothing I could do.
"Die!"
The blade mercilessly cut through Dad's neck, and dark red blood splattered everywhere.
"Dad…, no! Dad!"
At that moment, I woke up in a cold sweat.
"Bad dream? Human."
'Ah, was it a dream?'
It was too vivid to be just a dream, and my body was still trembling.
'Wait a minute…. But that voice just now shouldn't be heard here, right?'
I wondered if this was also a dream and pinched my cheek.
"Did you hit your head when you fell? Why are you pinching yourself?"
Geum Seon-yeonhwa asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
'This is definitely the room I stayed in at the Demonic Cult….'
"Why are you in here? Did you sneak in?"
Instinctively, I tried to cover Geum Seon-yeonhwa with the blanket I was under to hide her.
"Sneak in? I'm no stray cat. Everyone loses out if I hide this gorgeousness, you know?"
But, totally unfazed, Geum Seon-yeonhwa popped out from under the blanket, striking a pose.
"If you didn't sneak in, then how'd you get in here? There's no way that uptight Young Lord would have let you."
"I don't really like the word 'allowed,' but yeah, I got it. That 'permission' thing."
"What? The Young Lord allowed you to enter the Demonic Cult?"
"Yes."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa answered, looking totally annoyed.
'Why? Wasn't the Young Lord sensitive about bringing outsiders into the Demonic Cult?'
Even I was only allowed to stay in the Demonic Cult by agreeing to be the Young Lord's lackey while they checked out my future-seeing ability, right?
'But why Geum Seon-yeonhwa?'
"Did you agree to be the Young Lord's servant?"
"Are you nuts? Me, a human's servant? Even the birds would laugh at that."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa waved her hand as if it was absurd.
"Then did you at least promise to give the Young Lord the spring water?"
"I'd love to see the Young Lord's face when he finds out that spring water is what I use for my daily baths."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa looked pretty amused.
'Oh... wait. Geum Seon-yeonhwa is a lotus flower. So, technically, that spring water was her bathwater...'
I drank that water too….
'That's something I didn't need to know.'
Feeling queasy, I sat down right in front of Geum Seon-yeonhwa and asked, point-blank.
"So, how did you get the Young Lord's permission? He said no one could set foot in the Demonic Cult without a job."
"You."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa just pointed at me.
"Me? Why me?"
"I told him I was the only one who could fix your internal injuries right now. So, he let me in."
"You're the only one who can fix my body right now?"
"Because I'm the owner of the flower seed inside you."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa answered as if it was very natural.
'He let Geum Seon-yeonhwa into the Demonic Cult just because she can fix me?'
That prickly Young Lord I know?
"He's not such an easygoing person…."
"Maybe the Young Lord cares about you."
"Precious person? Who?"
"You."
'The Young Lord cares about me?'
I was so shocked I couldn't even laugh.
"Yeonhwa, would you make someone you care about carry a table as big as me for every meal and climb a steep hill that even adults struggle with to get spring water?"
"No."
"The Young Lord made me do all that. So please don't say stuff like that."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa watched me shudder and tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"It looked like he cared about you to anyone watching..."
'Anyway, I should be relieved that nothing big happened between Geum Seon-yeonhwa and the Young Lord, right?'
But now that Geum Seon-yeonhwa has entered the Demonic Cult, this is just the beginning.
"Yeonhwa, you can't just cripple people here because you don't like them."
'If that happens, forget the original story, the Demonic Cult could be destroyed by Geum Seon-yeonhwa!'
"I can't do it anyway."
"What?"
"I can't cripple people anymore. I don't have the strength."
"Why don't you have strength?"
Geum Seon-yeonhwa gently pressed her fingertip to my lower abdomen.
Then, a bright light shone out, and a small golden lotus flower bloomed.
"Because I gave you the flower seed."
'Wow, I feel completely different than before I swallowed the flower seed.'
I feel like power's surging through me, and I can do anything!
When Geum Seon-yeonhwa withdrew her hand, the lotus flower disappeared into my lower abdomen.
"Giving me the flower seed meant you would lose your strength?"
"Well, something like that."
It was clearly a big deal, but Geum Seon-yeonhwa didn't seem very shaken.
"Now I can't live in the cave anymore. I can't cripple humans who try to steal spirit beasts, either."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa continued speaking calmly with a sad face.
'The flower seed was that important to Geum Seon-yeonhwa. She gave it to me so easily, I thought it wasn't connected to her powers...'
Hearing Geum Seon-yeonhwa's words, I somehow felt a sense of responsibility for her.
"Maybe it's a good thing you came to the Demonic Cult. If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it!"
"Really? You'll help me with anything?"
Geum Seon-yeonhwa blinked her sweet honey-like golden eyes repeatedly like a cute cat.
'Since she gave me the flower seed and has no strength, Geum Seon-yeonhwa is just a pretty lotus flower.'
So, there's nothing dangerous about her.
That thought quietly broke down my wariness of Geum Seon-yeonhwa.
"Yeah, I'll help you with anything."
'Geum Seon-yeonhwa gave me something precious too. I should at least do that much for her.'
"Then help me, human."
As soon as I said that, Geum Seon-yeonhwa asked for help.
"Okay, tell me. What do you want me to help you with?"
Geum Seon-yeonhwa looked at me with this pitiful expression.
"Protect me."
Geum Seon-yeonhwa's alluring eyes and her curly golden hair even made her look like she had fox ears.
"You."
* * *
"As you ordered, Young Lord, we investigated Seol's claims, and they were all true."
Bi-wang reported to Jeok-un the results of the investigation into Cheon-seong's claims and the mastermind behind the assassins who attacked the Demonic Cult.
But Jeok-un couldn't concentrate on Bi-wang's words at all.
"Your answer..."
"I don't need to hear it."
Jeok-un, seeing Cheon-seong looking like she'd been through hell, figured Geum Seon-yeonhwa was responsible.
In Jeok-un's mind, Geum Seon-yeonhwa was already a dead woman.
"Are you going to kill me?"
Geum Seon-yeonhwa had a carefree face, whether she knew she was in immediate danger of death or not.
"You shouldn't do that. Can't you see? This girl's body condition is unstable."
When he heard that Cheon-seong's condition was unstable, Jeok-un snapped out of it and examined her.
"'There's some unknown, powerful force swirling around inside her. It's rampaging and causing internal injuries.'"
It was the first time Jeok-un had seen such a phenomenon, and he was bewildered.
"I'm the only one who can fix that. Are you still going to kill me?"
"You will only be able to save your life if you prove that your words are true."
With no other option, Jeok-un reluctantly brought Geum Seon-yeonhwa into the Demonic Cult.
And as Geum Seon-yeonhwa said, her energy temporarily calmed Cheon-seong's unstable condition.
"Young Lord, it's Bi-wang."
Just then, Bi-wang came to report on the Sambidae's activities.
'Why at a time like this….'
"Oh-haeng, have Si-bi clean Cheon-seong up and change her clothes."
"Yes, I understand."
Jeok-un, who had been looking at Cheon-seong's sleeping face and got up, was about to leave the room but turned back to look at Geum Seon-yeonhwa.
"Try anything, and you're dead."
"If you can kill me, by all means."
Jeok-un's mood darkened as he remembered Geum Seon-yeonhwa's smug smile.
"We've sent an assassination squad to the Sichuan Tang family to find and eliminate the culprits. Now, all that's left is what to do with Seol. What's your decision?"
After a moment of thought, Jeok-un responded to Bi-wang's question with a slight smile.
"Seol is….”
