“You say it’s an order from above, but you don’t know about the soldiers following me?”
It was strange for the Lord of Wolhanseong to act puzzled when there was no reason to be.
Is she pretending not to know? Surely not.
The lord was silent for a moment before countering with a question.
“My apologies, but did the soldiers themselves say that?”
I nodded. Her expression grew strange.
To me, it looked like she was holding back anger.
Hah, what a joke. Who’s the one who should be angry here? I was the one fuming after being tailed by monitors for half a day.
Good thing I’m me. If I were a real mad prince, I’d have flipped out long ago.
Who dares treat a prince of the realm like this? Should I show them what a real nuisance looks like? Am I being too nice?
“My apologies.”
A half-hearted apology. If she meant to shut me up, it worked. I stared blankly at her face, and she added, “It seems there was a misunderstanding. I never gave such an order, but… I’ll discipline them, so please forgive the soldiers’ mistake.”
She looked slightly flustered. No, not quite. The lord had been so calm as to seem emotionless. If she showed signs of being flustered, she was likely far more rattled than she let on.
I looked at her silently for a moment. Honestly, it was a suspicious response. How could she not know? She’s not senile.
“It’s not a lie, is it?”
“I swear it’s the truth.”
“Then, it seems it wasn’t your intention.”
“Indeed.”
If the monitors weren’t her idea, who ordered them? In Wolhanseong, who could assign monitors to me without consulting the lord?
It could only be the clan elders. Coming from an orphan background in Seopyeong, I don’t fully grasp the local customs.
“Alright.”
Whatever the reason, if they’d just get rid of those annoying followers, I had no major complaints.
I tend to forget things quickly anyway. Well, most things.
I asked in a joking tone, “So, they won’t follow me anymore?”
“I’ll take care of it immediately. Don’t worry.”
“Good.”
I nodded.
The lord straightened, as if about to stand, and said, “If you’re not opposed, how about going to the castle walls now?”
I had nothing else to do. Going right away was fine by me. But the lord didn’t look okay.
“I’m fine, but…”
I glanced at the pile of documents on her desk. The stack looked ready to collapse with a single touch.
“You seem busy.”
Dragging someone that busy around felt burdensome. Did our Lord of Hyeolyunseong live like this? Seopyeong, unlike the northern frontier, has a governor, so it probably wasn’t this tough.
“I’m grateful for your concern, but it’s more urgent for Your Highness to assess the situation.”
She meant she could assign someone else to guide me, but it came out wrong. Too lazy to correct her, I nodded and accepted the proposal.
“Alright then.”
We went outside and climbed the castle walls. The soldiers, recognizing the lord if not me, bowed.
“Bring it.”
The lord ordered the soldiers. Before I could ask what, they quickly disappeared.
The lord and I moved to the edge of the walls.
I was inwardly surprised. I’d never seen such long, high walls—an impressive sight.
“The clear weather must help. You can see far.”
Beyond the walls was a quiet village. As the lord said, its residents had likely all relocated.
Farther out, the deepening atmosphere made the mountains look hazy and blue, filling the horizon.
Maybe because no one lived there, the air felt eerie.
“Do the beasts enjoy wandering in warm weather too?”
I imagined them darting through the foliage. It gave me chills.
The lord responded to my half-muttered words, “Actually, it’s the opposite.”
I’d seen beasts before, but my main enemies were flashy soldiers, so I didn’t know their habits well.
“How’s it the opposite?”
“In warm seasons, animals and plants are plentiful, so even in the mountains, food is abundant. There’s no need for them to come down and bother people.”
Hearing that, I looked at the distant ridges. The vibrant green mountains were likely full of plants, trees, and animals.
“When it gets cold and the mountains’ growth withers, that’s when they come down to the villages.”
“I see.”
It was barely past spring. The fields had just turned green, and winter was far off. This was unusual.
“Is this the first time?”
“Not quite.”
The lord’s face darkened.
“When did it happen before?”
“A similar situation occurred a hundred years ago.”
A hundred years ago. Quite a long time. That records remain is fortunate. Since Wolhanseong still stands, they must have handled it well back then.
“I’d like to hear the details.”
The lord began explaining.
“The previous incident unfolded similarly. Despite it not being winter, beasts invaded, first tormenting the villages. The lord at the time gathered forces to plan a beast extermination.”
“The extermination was successful, I assume.”
Her response was negative.
“Sadly, it was far from successful.”
“Why?”
“The main reason was the sheer number of beasts.”
“Too many to handle?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The farming season making troop recruitment difficult was the same now. Regardless of my authority to conscript, it was hard to gauge how many could be gathered.
“Was there another reason?”
“The lord chose a siege. As Your Highness knows, a siege is difficult for Wolhanseong. Not farming to prepare for a siege led to food shortages…”
“They had to open the gates midway?”
“No, they held out to the end.”
“Then why call it a failure?”
“With countless deaths, how could it be called a victory?”
She said “countless,” but it wasn’t just a few. Losing a critical number through starvation would’ve been a huge blow to the sparsely populated northern frontier.
Plus, with the frontier’s custom of caring for people, the loss and regret would’ve deeply affected the castle.
“My lady!”
A voice called from below. The lord looked down, and I followed. Soldiers approached, calling her, dragging something tied with ropes—a large sack.
The lord said to me, “Your Highness, would you come down to check? It’s a beast’s corpse.”
What a gruesome thing to show.
“Alright.”
“Are you sure? It’s grotesque.”
“I have to see it eventually.”
Honestly, I didn’t want to, but refusing felt off. I followed her suggestion and descended the stairs.
“Unwrap it.”
At her command, the soldiers began unpacking. The sack revealed a dead beast, as she said. Preserved to prevent decay, it was bearable.
“So, this is one?”
It was much larger than I expected. The wrapped bundle was huge, but I hadn’t thought it was a single creature. I assumed multiple corpses, but I was wrong.
“Bigger than I thought.”
“This year alone, thirty beasts this size were spotted.”
“Are there other sizes?”
“A hundred smaller ones, and fewer than ten larger. A total of 141 were spotted.”
Could one person handle a beast this size? Absolutely not.
That means hundreds or thousands of troops are needed. Even ordering all northern lords to send spare forces would barely suffice.
“I understand.”
First, we need to find out why the beasts are invading out of season. They didn’t figure it out a hundred years ago.
Either way, a full-scale battle with beasts means inevitable deaths. To minimize losses, we need the reason. Like they say, better to take the hit first.
“Could you have that cleared away?”
Pointing at the corpse, the lord immediately ordered the soldiers to return it to its place.
Where do they store that?
With that question, I returned to the inner castle.
Someone approached, as if waiting.
“Your Highness!”
Lee Gyeonui, one of my entourage, called out urgently.
“Your Highness, my apologies, but I have something to report.”
“Don’t apologize, just speak.”
But he looked uneasy. His report revealed why.
“There’s a problem between Jungnangjang and the castle’s soldiers.”
I sighed.
I expected something like this, but of all people, it had to be Heoseokgyeom.
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