Camellia Permeates the Snow

Chapter 2  “Don’t touch what’s mine”

The army was crossing the last wilderness before entering the borders of the subhumans.

Bandits were common here.

Everyone was on high alert before the border.
Kang Yoon was also on high alert, scanning his surroundings. He listened for the slightest sound and watched for troops.

Suddenly, a small kiln-burning brazier caught his eye.
Ever since she had left her country, she had been sitting quietly with an expressionless face.
Seeing that expressionless face made him feel uncomfortable once again.

Those colorless eyes, unable to tell what she was thinking, had been eating away at her insides.

Would it have been less painful if he had shown a hint of resentment or anger, I wondered.

He couldn’t tell.

If she let her mind wander for even a moment, those eyes would be on her.

The woman kept reminding her of memories she wanted to forget. Familiar and unfamiliar, bloody and bloody.

“……, Your Highness.”

Just then, Mu Heon, who had been scanning the surroundings with his sharp eyes, approached and quietly called out to him.
Kang Yun nodded briefly.

“Yes. You felt it too.”

The two exchanged glances and said nothing more.

It was a private conversation that even the people around them didn’t recognize.

Just then, a cool breeze swept across the snowy fields that were in a deep winter sleep.

A stinging breeze swept across the snow that was sleeping in the winter.

The sudden clang caused the soldiers to rush into battle formation, and as if that were a signal, black figures appeared from all directions.

Their numbers were laughably small compared to Kang Yun’s ten million troops, but ironically, they were not to be underestimated. As if to prove it, screams could already be heard from all directions.

“All troops, fight back!”

At Kang Yun’s command, the soldiers began to fight the black men in unison.

The wilderness had turned into a chaotic scene.

They lunged at Kang Yun with such ferocity that he didn’t have to ask to know that their target was the crown prince.

Each time, the soldiers desperately fought them off, but soldiers bred for war and assassins bred to kill were different. The soldiers struggled against this unexpected force.

There was one thing the blackguards had overlooked.

“Argh!”

Kang Yun was the most skilled martial artist of all the crown princes.

Since he was crowned crown prince at the age of eight, he had faced threats both great and small.

His food and tea have been poisoned, he was been attacked by assassins, and he was been involved in unexplained accidents that have traumatized him and caused him to lose some of his childhood memories.

But the culprits were so elaborate that they were never caught, and their victims were usually the ones who died, making these attacks seem like child’s play now.

“Argh!”

Another death was added to the black iron sword that had already claimed countless lives.

Kang Yun mercilessly swung his black iron sword at the black customers, not letting anyone dare to cut him.

He even slashed at the blacks who rode their horses and engaged the soldiers.

No bow and arrow could reach him, for he moved as freely as if he were one with his horse.

Perhaps fearing that their days in the wilderness had been in vain, some of the blacks began to kill at will.

The captives they had brought with them were no exception, and the chained prisoners fell one by one, unable to resist.

Yan Hua froze amid this horrific scene, unable to even think of running away.

Even a person who had no regrets in life only wants a death that they can choose, a death that they can prepared for.

In the face of a screaming death that comes unexpectedly, there was a natural fear, and it was the same for Yeon-hwa.

Yeon-hwa had been resolute in the face of Kang-yoon’s black iron sword, but when she saw the assassin’s blood-stained blade, fear overwhelmed her.

Her instincts told her to flee, but her body refused to listen. Unfortunately, there was no one to help her in the land of the dead, where she was barely able to stand.

Then she saw that the black man who had been killing people with his two-handed sword had left her in the kiln.

With blood and screams everywhere, the strange woman was unable to escape.

The bandit swung his two blades once more at his unique prey.

The ghastly sound of slicing flesh pierced Yan Hua’s ears as she closed her eyes tightly.

Her whole body shook as the kiln shook violently, and she was surprised that she didn’t feel any pain afterward. No, it wasn’t pain, but something dull and hard wrapped around her waist.

She slowly raised her head and looked up. Her view was blocked by an arm that was huge enough to block out the sun. As she lifted her head further, she saw

“If you’ve set your sights on me, you’ll only come after me.”

“…….”

“Don’t touch what’s mine.”

It was Kang Yoon’s face. His arm wrapped around Yeon-hwa, the clear blood dripping from his arm soaking the hem of her red robe.

The journey to Ah Huan lasted for days and days.

Whether out of respect for the royalty of the exile or because of her physical condition, Yeon-hwa was tethered to a small palanquin and rode along for the ride.

She looked around at her carriage and her surroundings.

It was not unlike the carts that carried her country’s precious treasures.

“I wonder if this means loot…….

She was a strange queen, full of tales and rumors, and nothing could be better to show for her heroism and slaughter.

At first, he felt miserable, but then he thought to himself, ‘How did I get to the palanquin in captivity?

‘I’ve barely closed my eyes…….’

Some might call her crazy, but when the crown prince’s sword touched her throat, she was truly relieved.

She thought that she would finally be able to escape her body, which had been reduced to a vessel for spirits, and that death was the only way to end this hellish life. Suddenly, the past flashed through her mind like a nightmare.

***

Ten years ago, the year after the death of the queen of the country.

The king’s second marriage had been bizarre from the start.

Dong- Dong- Dong- Dong-.

The heavy drums beated on the road, followed by fifty shamans, each waving a mugu bell in each hand.

Behind them, fifty monks chanted unintelligible verses, adding to the strange sounds.

They were hardly a band for the national marriage.

But the most bizarre of all was the queen’s palanquin, which sat at the head of the procession and was a bright red color with no gaps.

The queen’s palanquin was roofless so that all the people could see her noble face. The second queen’s palanquin was so covered that it was impossible to tell if anyone was inside.

Rather, it was like a coffin, covered on all sides with talismans.

When the people of the kingdom came out to the roadside to greet the new queen, every single one of them wept, sobbed, or clicked their tongues.

“Tsk, tsk, to become a Spiritualist at such a young age, what a skillful paladin.”

“It’s said that the former queen was bitter that her mother died so young, so she became a spirit and has been tormenting the people in the palace. As soon as she died, the crown prince began to suffer from a severe illness…….”

“I’d rather trap the spirit in the spirit world and hope that the crown prince is in remission.”

“Still, I feel sorry for the new queen, Mama, with all her family gone…….”

“Hush, they’re getting closer.”

Soon the procession entered the last village before entering the palace.

At the sight of the new queen’s procession, the villagers scattered tears and sighs along the roadside, some beating their chests to express their sorrow.

All the sorrowful sounds echoed inside the red kiln.

Yan Hua clutched the hem of her red robe in her lap, holding back her sobs with both hands.

She had been warned by the court that if she allowed her tears to prevent her from using the amulet one more time, she would be punished.

I missed my family so much.

They were a small provincial family, but nobles were nobles.

When her parents, who had always been kind and loving, heard that their only daughter had been chosen as a reiki master, they tried to protect her at all costs.

The king of Hana, however, had her family executed for disobeying him.

Even though she was a queen in name only, she was the daughter of a traitor, and to have her dragged away like this was enough to show how important the position of a spirit instrument was in the eyes of the state.

‘Mother, father, Song Hua…….’

Tears filled her eyes as she remembered her family.

But Yan Hua quickly wiped the corners of her eyes to keep the tears from getting on the amulet.

Her mourning for her family was outweighed by her fear of the wealthy man who had treated her like an animal.

Instead of crying, she fumbled with the necklace she had hidden inside her clothes.

It was carved from wood and decorated with polka dots, dangling from a slender cord.

Nahan, her lover, had given it to her as a token before she left the country.

When the Shanggungs stripped her of her clothes so that she could take nothing from her old home, this necklace was the only thing she managed to keep hidden in her mouth.

“I want to see Nahan”

…….

She wanted to believe that one day, Nahan would come back and save her from this hellish land.

That he would wake her up from her terrible nightmare.

But Nahan hasn’t sent a single message in over a year.

Perhaps he had forgotten her, or perhaps he was angry on his way back to his distant home.

Leaving behind only a necklace, Nahan’s hopes of reconciliation were fading.

The red palanquin pulled into the palace. According to protocol, the queen would have walked directly through the first gate and made her way to the palace where the king was waiting.

However, the red carriage did not let the queen off until after the first gate, then the second, then the third, as if dragging her one last time, in case she ran away.

Finally, the red palanquin stopped, not at the palace itself, but at the former queen’s residence, the Inner Palace.

Now uninhabited, minimally maintained, and cold with no sign of warmth.

“Open the kiln.”

Yan Hua’s body stiffened at the sound of the Empress’s voice.

Hastily wiping away the last of her tears, she looked toward the door, which rose with an unpleasant clang.

The potter opened the door to the kiln, which had been carefully sealed with a talisman, and the young courtesan reached inside, her shoulders shaking as the first courtiers saw her emerge from the kiln.

Her robes were a deep red as if stained with blood. Unrecognizable words embroidered in dense gold threads on it, and amulets from her shoulders to the hem of her skirt and even on her face.

The queen’s form seemed to be a humanized version of the palanquin she had ridden in.

A gust of bitter winter wind stirred the amulet that covered her face.

Beneath the delicately raised amulet, a beautiful face that seemed otherworldly was revealed, even with the red qi in the corners of her eyes. But soon, the amulet was gone, and no one could see her beauty.

“Come inside, mama.”

Hearing the stern voice of the Vice-President’s voice, Yan Hua took a trembling step forward and walked slowly.

She had heard enough stories about the inner court over the past few days that she could recite them in her sleep.

Yeon-hwa had walked into the palace of the dead Queen Jeong Jung without anyone pointing her in the right direction.

For failing to rebel once.

No, she had already rebelled countless times, but she had been broken and exhausted.

The gates of the inner palace were locked firmly, the red shadow too frightening to cross the threshold.

The tears she had barely managed to hold back began to flow in the darkness.

Yan Hua swallowed back her sobs and sat down in the deepest recesses of the inner court.

An icy chill ran through her body, along with an eerie sense of dread, but she squeezed her eyes shut and held it all in.

Along with the loss of her name, she had to erase any human emotion she could feel.

It was said that appeasing the dead queen’s spirit would clear the sins of her family.

No one knew when that would be, of course, but she hoped it would come sooner rather than later, that it would take this life and free Han.

So that her father, mother, and sister could close their eyes in peace. Yeon-hwa wished a hundred times, a thousand times, and fell into the darkness and loneliness of the night.

She longed for her dead family members. Eternally waiting for Nahan, the boy who never came.

***

“Eat.”

Tsk. It was a crude rice ball thrown by a soldier that brought Yeon-hwa back from the past.

It was a crude rice ball thrown by a soldier that brought her back to the present.

She didn’t eat it, of course, but merely held it in her hands and passed her share to another prisoner who was hungry and looking for more.

The prisoner glanced at the puppet queen, then ate the rice balls greedily.

Yan Hua looked at him with emotionless eyes, then turned away.

He didn’t want to eat anything, didn’t want to do anything.

She was so tired now, she just wanted to rest.

Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of an amulet still attached to the hem of her robe, a reminder of the bondage that had accompanied the red robe for the past ten years and never let her go.

Yan Hua gingerly grasped it, hesitated for a moment, and then, as if with great determination, tore it off and crumpled it in her hands.

At first, the king had promised to pardon her family’s treason if she could appease his spirit.

But when the young crown prince miraculously recovered from an unexplained illness, he did not honor his promise.

The first year, he said he would wait until the crown prince was fully recovered; the next year, he said he did not know when the crown prince would fall ill again; the next year, he said he was not feeling well; the next year, he said he would wait; the next year, he said he would wait; and the next year, he said he would wait.

At some point, he stopped writing to her altogether.

And so, after stealing ten years of her life, King Ming died in vain, leaving his family’s grievances unresolved. Yan Hua was never given the chance for revenge.

At least the thought of him dying a painful death under the blade of an enemy’s sword lifted a small weight from her heart.

Out of habit, Yan Hua clasped the necklace hidden in the front of her robe.

Now she had nothing to cling to but this slender necklace that would snap if she strained.

“We’re about to enter the land of the Ahwan! Keep watch for any escaping prisoners!”

The captives of the Ye Kingdom cowered in fear at the Longevity’s fearsome command.

After gazing at them with complicated eyes, she tossed the crumpled amulet to the bottom of the kiln.

She was the queen of the rebellious kingdom, even if only in name. She will not survive long in a foreign land. She wanted to be free of this terrible bondage one last time.

“If you hold on a little longer, you’ll be reunited with your family soon.

She closed her eyes, forcing the last of her breath into her lungs.

***