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Hi!
Welcome to my book!
This is a Korean historical fiction about fantasy, adventure and romance.
Hope you enjoy it!
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The Moon turns red twice every year.
Once during summer, and once during winter.
"The spirits are angry."
"The dead are sending a message."
"A sign of catastrophe."
"It's the sign of death!"
"A bad omen!"
"Evil Spirits are around."
The people of HuinGuk believed many different reasons why the moon turned red, but there was never any proven reason.
There was only one constant. Whenever the moon turned red, People died.
Every single time.
Sometimes a whole family. Sometimes just a single person.
...
On this particular night, a sour-faced officer stood in the cold, waiting for his men to finish examining the four bodies before them. He sighed, as his eyes seemed to move of their own volition to the smallest figure among them.
She was a child!
Surely, no older than ten!
Her sightless eyes seemed to stare straight at him. She lay ram-rod straight on her back, except for her neck and head which faced his direction. What was once a white sleeping hanbok was now drenched in blood and dirt.
"Hurry it up!" He snapped at them. Not because he was impatient, but because he knew there was no use!
Every Time this happened, they would investigate, but never find anything. It was as if the victims suddenly became rigid and died on their own, while bleeding out of their mouths and noses!
As if that wasn't strange enough, the King would order the investigation stopped, and would even attempt to punish any official that tried to investigate.
"It's sad, isn't it?" One of the men asked. "And it's always commoners, always in the outskirts. Probably why the King doesn't care!"
The man looked away.
He had a daughter who was about the dead girl's age. If investigating was useless, he would like to give the dead some dignity at least, and bury them quickly.
"Lord Yang. It's the same as the others." His Deputy had run up to him. "The bodies belong to a rice farmer, his wife, their daughter and a visiting uncle."
"And nobody heard or saw anything?" He asked glumly.
"No." His Deputy replied with a bow. "Should we release them to their neighbors? I hear there's no other family, so a neighbor offered to oversee a small funeral."
"Yes. Release them. The King will not let us investigate properly. No use letting them rot away in the Shadow Palace."
"Understood." He bowed and went away.
Lord Yang, Second Chief Investigator of the Shadow Palace, took one final look at the girl.
He got on his horse and rode away.
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At around the same time in the Palace,
"Bring the concoction!" The queen yelled. The Head Maiden quickly passed her a white bowl with a brownish fluid inside.
She hastily grabbed it, though she was careful not to spill any. She brought it to the mouth of the boy who she clutched in her arms. She cradled his neck and gently poured the concoction in.
She dropped the bowl when she was done and cradled her son tightly, rocking back and forth with him.
Both the Queen and Prince's servants waited in tense silence
"Mother... My head hurts..." The boy said after almost a minute. His mother pulled him closer, shutting her eyes in relief.
A wave of relief swept through all the servants present.
"Lee Geon!" She addressed him using his name, instead of his title, which she usually did. "What a relief! Thank you for coming back!" She reached for a damp cloth and used it to wipe away the last remnants of blood from under his nose and chin.
"Mother... Did I go somewhere?"
"No my son... You were right here with mother." She laid him down gently, pulling the intricate blanket up to cover him properly. "Sleep, uh? I'm right here." She crooned softly.
The Crown Prince had survived yet another turbulent night.
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Meanwhile, toward the east of HuinGuk's Capital, over two forests and three rivers, stood an unnaturally high peaked Palace.
So high that the top of it was hidden in the clouds.
From the highest balcony, a man calmly watched what was happening in the Palace. Well, not that calmly...
He wavered a bit in the wind, shaking his head in an attempt to clear off the last effects of alcohol.
He heard a silent whoosh, and he turned his head slightly. An old woman stood beside him. Her robes were black as night, and she held an ornate black fan, as if she didn't look dark and forbidden enough!
On her head was a beautiful gold Crown, with black stones- of course- set around it. She looked as beautiful, but also as cold and hard as a pearl.
"Tsk tsk tsk!" She shook her head in disapproval and covered her nose with her hand. "Is this how you want to spend your life? Soaking yourself in fox wine?"
"Tch! Why must she arrive so silently?" He muttered under his breath. He bowed.
"Greetings Mother. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"You're obviously the only one pleased. No mother is pleased to see her son drunk like a common tavern fool!"
"Calm down mother, I'm not that drunk... And it's partially your fault, you know? You prevent me from finding fox wine, so I overindulge whenever I find it!"
Fox Wine was wine made by nine-tailed foxes (Gumihos), and it was the only wine that could get a deity drunk
She waved him away.
"I won't ask you how you got it. I didn't come for that. Four humans died this night, and the Crown Prince nearly died as well. The Grand deity paid me another visit... I grow tired of his visits. He has it in his head that only I can control you, and I'm tired of telling him otherwise!"
"Mother, every human dies, and the Crown Prince is paying the price of his father's greed. Speaking of greed, it's his father's greed that led to the death of the four humans."
"But you knew it would happen and did nothing to stop it!"
"It's more like I couldn't do anything to stop it. All I can do is welcome the little girl when she comes here... Of the four that died, only she was deemed worthy of passing through here."
"Choi Yoon! Do you really have no conscience?!"
"Mother." He sighed deeply and deliberately. "What exactly do you want me to do? You know the laws of our kind... Cause and Effect... Non-Interference... A human joined hands with death itself, and that human is the leader of this Kingdom.
"That makes it a human matter. Not. My. problem." He stressed each word, but softly.
"Yes, but only one person can break the 'No Interference Law'... You! If you'd only accept your role as guardian!"
"I denounced that role, when I realized it's humans I would be 'guarding'. I'm not going back on my decision."
Her disappointment was evident.
"Eight hundred years, and you still detest humans!"
"Eight hundred years, and humans are still selfish and detestable."
"But you have to marry a human!"
"I won't ever marry a human."
"The Grand deity gave an order! Because you denounced your role, it falls to your child! And only a human can balance your Yang energy and produce an heir!"
"Sorry Mother, but if the Grand deity wants someone to succeed me, he should create his own offspring."
"Oh My! How disrespectful!" She was nearly white. "Do you want lightening to strike you?! Do you want to go to the afterlife early?!!"
His reply was to lean down and kiss her cheek, despite her anger. "Forgive me mother, but I will rather die than marry a human."
Whoosh!
Huge black wings sprung from his back. He glided over the balcony railing.
"Now, I have to go and bring the dead little girl here." He said, then dropped out of sight.
"Tsk tsk tsk! What a show off!" She shook her head spotting him in the distance, as he glided seamlessly through the air like an immense blade slicing the clouds.
"Just you wait, Choi Yoon... I'll find you the perfect bride!" She yelled after him.
But how do I do that?!
Every time she found a bride for her son, he found a way to eliminate them!
She was Samjoko. The mighty three legged crow that lived in the Sun. The symbol of might and power!
How is it she couldn't control a mere troublesome Raven!
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