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Chapter 18

The bird had just told me this:

It was Taejo\'s ability that had bestowed intelligence upon it and allowed it to live as a spirit. Therefore, the longer it went without contact with someone possessing Taejo\'s ability, the more its intelligence would deteriorate.

Unless my memory had severely malfunctioned in that short time, that\'s what it’d said.

"It\'s been over two hundred years since the ability disappeared, right? You\'ve been able to maintain it even though you haven\'t met a human with the ability for so long?"

Considering it’d never asked me for anything, it seemed that contact simply meant being in proximity. In that sense, it was a very convenient system. I was curious about the principle behind it.

"If that\'s the case, isn\'t it unnecessary?"

How long do crows usually live? No matter how long they lived, they couldn\'t live as long as humans.

Then.

"You\'ve already lived a long time, haven\'t you? Enough. If you count from the time of Taejo, you\'ve lived for almost five hundred years."

More than twenty kings have reigned since Taejo. More if you include the successors who died as crown princes before ascending the throne. That much time, filled with the births, lives, and deaths of so many people, lay between Taejo and me. And this creature had lived through all of it.

It was an unimaginably long time for me. I couldn\'t even fathom how long it had been.

"Caw! Caw!"

Gonzo cried out as if having a seizure.

"Lived a long time! Lived a long time! How can you say such a thing! If you find my continued existence displeasing, then say so! Caw! Caw!"

It flapped its wings, sending dust into my meat dish.

How dare you sprinkle dust on precious food! Anger flared up for a moment, but I calmed myself down.

"Hey... my food."

A meal with dust clinging to bird feathers.

But it didn\'t matter. Would someone from a beggar\'s background refuse meat just because of a little dust?

When I interfered with its movements, Gonzo covered his beak with both wings and muttered.

It looked more depressed than ever before.

"My memory is gone... memory... memory... I can\'t recall anything anymore... Even though I\'ve lived for so long, there\'s nothing left in my head... All that time, I\'ve just wasted it as a creature..."

Is this a sophisticated strategy to evoke sympathy?

"You... you don\'t know... the experience of your mind becoming cloudy and your memories fading... the agony of becoming not yourself, of losing the ability to think... You will never, ever know... How dare you discuss it... If you haven\'t experienced it... don\'t talk about it. It\'s arrogance."

Now Gonzo spoke in an almost whispering voice. Thanks to the reduced dosage of bellflower, my hearing had become abnormally sharp, so I could hear everything, but since it was a small bird to begin with, its mumbling was almost inaudible.

"I was almost just a bird..."

He probably spoke so softly because he didn\'t want me to hear.

In other words, if he went too long without contact with someone possessing Taejo\'s ability, his intelligence would disappear.

"When was that?"

"It was long before you were born."

Before the First Prince was born?

"Exactly when?"

"I don\'t know."

"Why don\'t you know? It\'s your own story. I\'m not asking about someone else\'s."

"How would I know anything if I lived without intelligence!"

Gonzo retorted sharply, "Then one day, it happened. My intelligence, which had left me, returned. I wondered what had happened and went in search of the cause. Never again, never again..., never again did I want to return to being just a bird. Finding the reason why my intelligence had returned was more important than rejoicing in its return. That way, I would never lose it again... Yes, I was so busy searching for the reason why my intelligence had returned that I only realized I had been living as a bird after the moon had risen and set several times."

"Just tell me the important part, will you? What were you looking for back then? Did you find it?"

"Who, who on earth had properly inherited the bloodline of the first king... I found it. It took me days, but I eventually found the reason."

It was a secret story that I couldn\'t hear from anyone else. I listened intently.

Just then, Gonzo flapped its wings and flew up.

"It was you. Of all people, why did it have to be you!" Suddenly, Gonzo screamed.

I frowned.

"My ears are about to fall off."

"It would have been better if the second one had been the one to inherit the true bloodline."

"What did you say?"

I scoffed.

"What\'s wrong with me?"

The second one? The Second Prince? It was absurd to say that he was better than me. The Second Prince ruined the country even after killing his half-brother and turning the capital upside down to become king. And he did it very well. Completely. If there were experts in ruining countries, the Second Prince would be one of the top contenders throughout history.

"That\'s because you have nothing but that tiny bird brain of yours. You\'re talking like that because you don\'t know anything, but you, just you wait and see. Even if he had been born with this ability instead of me and properly became king, he would be far worse than me, who struggled and used every trick in the book to become king. I\'ll show you that I\'m much, much, much, roughly five thousand nine hundred and eighty times better than him. Not right now, but eventually."

"Eek... You\'re infamous for being a scoundrel, and you have the audacity to say \'what\'s wrong with me\'! You must have left your conscience outside the palace when you went out. It\'s deplorable that someone who is a prince of a nation doesn\'t even possess a conscience!"

Gonzo then let out a long sigh. It was ridiculous for a bird brain to sigh.

"Throwing away your conscience, how could I do that? What a waste. You should at least trade it for something. It\'s the conscience of a prince, after all. It must be worth at least a piece of candy."

I said that and stuffed the rest of the food into my mouth.

"Ugh. That was good."

I had told one of the eunuchs yesterday that I thought the dinner portion was a bit small and asked him to increase the amount of rice, and it seemed like he had relayed the message to the kitchen properly. It was just right.

You need to eat this much to have energy. I was planning to start training in earnest. It\'s common sense that you need to eat a hearty meal before physical activity.

But it seems the First Prince had a small appetite. His skinny body proved it. Anyway, there wasn\'t a single thing I liked about him from head to toe.

In any case, that\'s how I finished my meal.

* * *

Upon receiving a summons from King Bonhyeon, I hurried over.

"First Prince Ikwon requests an audience," the attendant announced.

"Grant him entry," came the reply.

As the door slid open, I stepped inside to find King Bonhyeon gazing in my direction with an indifferent expression.

"Your Majesty," I greeted, bowing.

"Be seated," he replied.

Why does this guy always have that apathetic look on his face? Is he afflicted with some sort of ailment that prevents him from expressing any other emotion?

I wondered what it would take to spark some enthusiasm in him. But the image of Bonhyeon acting enthusiastically was beyond my imagination. It seemed like nothing in the world could stir him from his indifference.

"Have you been well?" I inquired.

"Yes," he replied, his tone lackluster.

King Bonhyeon then asked, seemingly out of obligation, "And how has Ikwon been?"

"I have been well, Your Majesty," I responded.

"You have been well?" he echoed.

"Yes," I confirmed.

Honestly. Anyone would think I was the one begging to be here. Shouldn\'t the one who extended the invitation at least feign some interest?

King Bonhyeon\'s eyes scanned me from head to toe. Despite his lack of enthusiasm, his gaze held a certain authority befitting a king. I couldn\'t help but straighten my posture under his scrutiny.

"This is joyous news," he declared, his tone still devoid of any genuine excitement.

His face betrayed no hint of joy whatsoever.

I wondered if he\'d show some interest if I returned battered and bruised from some grand escapade.

Considering that he would later appoint a large number of civil officials from the Second Prince\'s faction, it seemed he wasn\'t particularly fond of fighting, which was a symbol of the military.

Perhaps that\'s why the country fell into ruin.

What was needed on the battlefield were military officials, not civil ones, yet he neglected the treatment of the military.

King Bonhyeon spoke while staring into the distance. I was curious about his motive for continuing to speak despite his apparent lack of interest in conversation. Maybe he simply couldn\'t stand silence?

"How was your visit to your maternal family?"

What am I supposed to say to that?

It wasn\'t exactly my intention, but I went to secure allies in order to eliminate my half-brother and inherit the throne?

I definitely couldn\'t say that.

"I visited to convey my regards to General So," I replied.

"You went to convey your regards?" he repeated.

"Yes," I confirmed.

King Bonhyeon\'s gaze returned to me.

His eyes seemed to convey a silent threat, demanding that I tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

As if I\'d be intimidated by that.

"His aged body seems to grow thinner with each passing day. As his grandson, how could I not be concerned?"

"...Is that so," Bonghyeon responded with a hint of sarcasm. "I didn\'t know, you, who often neglects to pay respects to your own father, would be so worried about General So."

His characteristically slow speech made the sarcasm twice as biting.

Just then, an eunuch announced from outside the door, "Second Prince Jaean requests an audience."

Bonhyeon\'s response was the same as before.

"Grant him entry."

As permission was given, the door opened, and the Second Prince appeared.

"Your Majesty, I greet..."

The Second Prince\'s voice trailed off as he noticed me, startled.

It seemed he hadn\'t expected me to arrive first.

Was I always late?

It\'s not unusual for a troublemaker\'s specialty to be tardiness.

"...you," he finished awkwardly.

An awkward atmosphere settled over the room. And it wasn\'t just me who could sense it.

"The bond between the two brothers is unwavering," Bonghyeon remarked.

I glanced at him, noticing a slight furrow between his brows.

"It\'s a joyous occasion."

It seemed his "joyous" was actually an insult.

Why can\'t he just use words like everyone else? Is it because he\'s the king? Is that how it works?

"Greetings, Your Majesty," the Second Prince bowed.

With the Second Prince\'s arrival, it felt like a transparent wall had appeared, separating him and Bonhyeon from me.

I was the odd one out.

"I hear Ikwon frequents the Queen\'s quarters."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Second Prince smirked and lowered his head. He glanced in my direction, and I sensed a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Oh, come on.

"I do so in order to assist the Queen, however inadequately."

So, in other words... he\'s saying, "You don\'t have a mother, do you?" It wasn\'t my misunderstanding; it was the pure intention of the Second Prince. Absolutely not a misinterpretation born from my own cynical perspective.

At that moment, Bonhyeon spoke.

"I summoned you both to fulfill my promise of providing you with positions."