(This is a time separator.)

Danmokbi found Danmoksu straight away. Stomping with loud footsteps towards Danmoksu’s place without quieting down, and flinging the door wide open, Danmoksu greeted Danmokbi with loud laughter.

“Who’s this? If it isn’t our precious, golden son. You must be tired today, what brings you here so late at night?”

The moment I saw his flushed, drunken face, my stomach turned upside down. But the hotter my heart became, the colder his face grew.

“I think I told you not to mess with Yeon.”

“What?”

“Why did you mess with Yeon? Have you forgotten my warning?”

Danmokbi hated everything about Danmoksega. But the sole reason for staying in Danmoksega was clear.

If I take her away now, without anything in my hands, it will only cause Yeon more suffering.

That’s why I obediently wore this illfitting mantle as a minor lord in Danmoksega. Making a promise that everything about Yeon will be left to me.

‘But to secretly scheme behind my back?’

The bold crime, as if only fooling his eyes, twisted his insides even more.

Did he think Danmokbi wouldn’t know everything? Danmoksu rattled off lies nonchalantly.

“That snakelike thing must have meddled between us until the very end.”

At the title for Yeon, Danmokbi’s eyebrows furrowed greatly.

“A snake?”

What’s this foul mouth babbling about his precious person?

‘He doesn’t even know I tried to kill him. He didn’t witness it, and there were no witnesses, so he’s pretending not to know.’

Danmokbi’s fist clenched tightly. A dreadful aura flowed from his body, but Danmoksu, halfdrunk, kept rambling.

“I don’t know what she told you, but it’s all a misunderstanding. She left here on her own.”

“Why would Yeon have any reason to leave?”

“She didn’t think you two were a good match.”

Danmokbi’s body shuddered at Danmoksu’s words. Danmoksu spoke ruthlessly, the words flowed smoothly since it was actually what Yeon had said.

“She said she would only hinder your path, and hoped to quietly step back on her own. So I told her to do so.”

“…….”

Danmokbi closed his mouth. The taunting words of Baekho just before leaving rang in his ears.

‘The cat’s right. It’s all my fault. Because I didn’t settle things properly.’

Danmokbi’s eyes closed painfully. The cruel truth stared back at him, chillingly, like a blade to his heart.

‘Yeon left because she couldn’t trust or rely on me.’

She left of her own accord. That was the only truth.
If Danmokbi had thought he could protect her from the Danmok tree, he would not have left. Even if he considered himself lacking, if he thought Danmokbi was someone who could fully embrace him, he would not have left so easily.

So it was all his fault.

‘I must become the perfect gentleman Yeona talks about. A strong and perfect man Yeona can rely on.’

Danmokbi resolved inwardly, over and over again.

And as much as he was determined to become a man suitable for Yeona, there was another vow that was as biting as bone.

‘I will make you regret today’s event to death.’

Danmokbi’s cold eyes contained his father.

(This is a time divider.)

In the sky, a round and yellow moon floated.

The next morning, they were planning to return to the north, where Jegalsega resides, so the attendants went to bed early. The same was true for Yeona.

Despite worrying that Yeona might find Jegalsega unfamiliar, she quickly became friends with Jegal Jiho. Jegal Jiho, who was even more excited, had made a samesex friend for the first time in her life.

“This pajama is cute, right? I’ll give it to you. Wear it to sleep.”

“Oh, just sleeping in my underwear is enough…….”

“Don’t refuse and wear it. It feels really good since it’s fluffy.”

It was rather worrying that Yeona might feel burdened.

The last light went out in the room of the girls, who had been happily sharing this and that story. Jegal Yun, who had been silently listening to the commotion from beginning to end, lifted his head to look at the sky.

‘The more I look, the more they look alike.’

At first, he was caught by a fleeting glimpse of their similar faces. But the longer he looked, the more dizzy he became.

The laughter, the lips that curl thinly when smiling, the habit of twitching the nose when in trouble, all were exactly the same as his youngest daughter.

‘When I was desperately looking for her, there was no trace, but now, when I’m about to give up and return to the world, she appears before me.’

The child’s age matched exactly with the years he had been wandering the rivers and lakes since leaving Jegalsega. Jegal Yun, who had gone outside to shake off his distress but only added more, let out a groan.

That’s when it happened.

“Father.”

“Yes.”

Jegal Gapju, who was as restless as Jegal Yun and couldn’t sleep, came out and called Jegal Yun. He too had something to say about Yeona.

“What exactly is that child?”

He had to ask about her parents the moment he saw her. Her face was that similar.

‘I thought for a moment I was seeing my sister come back to life.’

It was so similar that he became suspicious. To Jegal Gapju’s question, Jegal Yun trailed off.

“I don’t know.”

“Did you really meet her by chance?”

“It really was a coincidence.”

After answering like that, Jegal Yun shook his head lightly and added.

“No, it must be fate.”

Those who are meant to meet will meet somehow.

‘I think meeting that child at the end of my life is my destiny.’