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Chapter: 22

The orchestra played court music. Amidst the clamor of instruments, the King approached. All the officials bowed their heads, leaving only the King able to look straight ahead.

Ascending the stairs and stepping onto the platform, King Bonhyeon wore his usual expression of boredom. His gaze briefly met mine before moving on.

Was it my imagination? But it definitely felt like our eyes had met.

Once the King was seated on his throne, the birthday banquet officially began.

"Those who have committed crimes below the second degree shall be pardoned..."

A long congratulatory speech followed, urging the forgiveness of criminals and the enjoyment of the feast by the officials. Only then did something worth watching happen.

The banquet attendees approached King Bonhyeon one by one. It was quite different from how they had approached Queen Woo earlier. Of course, that was flattery, and this was an official banquet procedure, so they couldn\'t be the same.

The first to be granted the opportunity to greet the King were the foreign envoys who had come a long way.

"From the Kingdom of Suseo..."

"I am from Tohyeon..."

"The King of Geumra sends his birthday wishes..."

Greetings that were undoubtedly false, such as "I will never forget the goodwill your lord has sent," were exchanged, along with the King\'s responses.

Meanwhile, the King maintained his unchangingly bored expression. He looked like he wanted to escape from this place, which was one thing I could relate to.

Next, a woman dressed in red and black approached. She had an impure gaze. Among the envoys from the five major nations besides our own, only the envoy from Huawei had yet to step forward.

"Nan Yagong, the envoy of Huawei, congratulates His Majesty the King of Mokryeo on his banquet."

At that moment, the King\'s eyebrows twitched.

Huawei had long proclaimed itself an empire and looked down on neighboring nations. Below the Emperor were kings, and below kings were dukes and marquises. This meant that the surrounding kingdoms were considered inferior to Huawei.

However, no one else dared to follow Huawei and declare themselves an emperor. This was because Huawei\'s national power had grown enough to surpass other foreign nations since that time. And that fact remained true to this day.

No, in fact, it remained true even until the moment this Baek Yyeon died. Even after my death, Huawei would likely continue to prosper.

I gritted my teeth. My stomach churned when I thought about how those bastards had caused the downfall of Blood Cloud Fortress.The anger simmered and boiled, leaving behind a bitter residue of pure frustration.

If only those bastards didn\'t exist, if only those bastards didn\'t exist... I had repeated that impossible hypothetical hundreds, thousands of times. Even though I knew it was impossible, there were times when I prayed like a madman, asking for just one chance to turn back time. It felt like a fireball was lodged in my chest.

It wasn\'t the resentment of someone who had lost their country.

I just couldn\'t forget our Lord, who had left us like that.

If only the spirit of the founding king hadn\'t threatened to take my life unless I saved the country, I would have sold Blood Cloud Fortress to Huawei long ago. Of course, that wouldn\'t have been what our Lord wanted, but at least it would have saved his life and the lives of his family.

My throat felt parched from the old memories.

However, there was still time before this country, Mokryeo, bowed its head to Huawei. So for now, there was only a difference in titles and ranks, not a significant difference that the people would feel.

But the King must have felt differently.

"...I express my gratitude for the Emperor\'s congratulations and hope to strengthen the friendship between our two countries."

Emperor.

The one above all.

Above him, there was nothing but the sky.

Therefore, it was a title that the King of Mokryeo could never attain.

How envious he must be.

How much he must desire it.

He probably hated uttering the word "Emperor," a title he could never possess, more than death itself.

The Huawei envoy spoke.

"If the King of this land truly desires a sincere and genuine friendship, our Emperor will not refuse."

The answer flowed smoothly. I thought to myself that King Bonhyeon must be cursing inwardly.

But King Bonhyeon had no grounds to even frown. They had sent an envoy with the title of Duke, so it was by no means a breach of etiquette. King Bonhyeon had no choice but to accept the congratulations without complaint.

But it was hilarious. A man who usually acted like a withered old man, weary of the world, was now spitting fire from his eyes after encountering an envoy sent by the Emperor.

Only now did King Bonhyeon seem like a living human being.

Sometimes, King Bonhyeon seemed detached from worldly affairs. So, his current expression, tainted with jealousy, envy, and inferiority, was fascinating to behold.

The next in line were the nobles. As the envoy stepped down from the platform, the nobles began to ascend. Naturally, the nobles from powerful families took the lead. Among them were nobles from ethnic minorities who had been subjugated long ago, and loyal regional lords who had served the Ye royal family for generations.

"We greet His Majesty the King!"

The first noble to come up seemed to have been eagerly awaiting this day, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Looking around at the other nobles waiting their turn, they too seemed pleased with the situation as they gazed at King Bonhyeon.

I didn\'t know what this part of the ceremony was for, but it seemed to be more beneficial for the nobles than for the King.

As I listened, I realized that my thought was correct. They said they came to offer congratulations, but in reality, they were airing their grievances.

Since the banquet was scheduled to last all day, the nobles took their time, unhurriedly descending from the platform only after they had thoroughly expressed their concerns.

I whispered to Eunuch Han.

"This is so boring. Isn\'t a birthday party supposed to be about eating and having fun?"

It was too tedious an event for a scoundrel to endure. If I were truly a scoundrel, or if I hadn\'t taken the bellflower tea this morning, I might have gone crazy and ran out.

Of course, I\'m joking.

But listening to the nobles\' stories and keeping them engaged is also important... Eunuch Han whispered to me as I complained.

"Lord Son Cheon-Geum of Wolhan Fortress congratulates His Majesty the King on his birthday."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress. It was a new experience to see a lord-level figure, and at the same eye level, no less. Lords were originally people of incredibly high status. Look at my knees, reacting automatically to the word "lord." They were already half-bent. I was fully prepared to kneel.

Of course, I\'m joking.

To me, a mere regional lord felt higher in status than His Majesty the King. It couldn\'t be helped. All I had ever known was this small pond, so even if someone pushed me to swim in a bigger one, my place was still in this little puddle.

"I gladly accept the congratulations of the Lord of Wolhan Fortress."

If my memory serves me right, Wolhan Fortress was located in the northern part of the country. It was a fairly large castle with a considerable history. Of course, its history wasn\'t as long as our Blood Cloud Fortress, but compared to Blood Cloud Fortress, almost every other castle was just a newborn baby.

I also seemed to recall hearing that it was a region with heavy snowfall in winter. It was an old memory, so it wasn\'t very accurate, but it was probably about right. It would be hard for it not to snow in the north.

It probably wasn\'t a very pleasant place to live either. Moreover, there were uncharted territories beyond the northern border.

I remembered hearing that magical beasts occasionally descended from that direction. Ordinary people fainted at the mere sight of wild animals, let alone magical beasts, so the people in that area must have had a very difficult life.

Of course, the border area adjacent to Seopyung was also known for its harshness, but at least it was habitable. It couldn\'t be compared to the northern border and beyond. That place was practically a demonic realm.

That\'s what I had heard.

Naturally, I had never been there myself, so I didn\'t actually know. That\'s because I was a bumpkin from Seopyung.

"I am deeply grateful."

The Lord of Wolhan bowed his head. A few more empty formalities were exchanged.

If we could just eliminate those, the time spent enduring this banquet would be cut in half.

I let loose a sigh.

"The Lord of Wolhan fulfills his duties well, so I have no worries when I think of the north."

King Bonhyeon\'s words dripped with false sincerity. It was clear to me that any genuine empathy he possessed had been conveniently forgotten back in his chambers.

Or maybe he was born with a limited amount of sincerity.

However, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress didn\'t seem to mind. Or maybe he hadn\'t expected anything from the beginning. The Lord continued speaking as if he had come here just to report this one thing.

I could even sense a hint of determination in his voice.

"With all due respect, I must report. Magical beasts are rampant, causing harm to the people\'s lives, and their circumstances are difficult and impoverished. If left unchecked, it will be difficult to sustain the people\'s livelihood. We are about to embark on subjugation, but their origin is unclear."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress was disqualified as a lord if he couldn\'t even handle the situation in his own hometown where he was born and raised.

He bowed his head again, even more deeply than before. His hair flowed down, almost touching the floor.

"I beseech you to send a suitable person to protect our castle and our pitiful people."

The Lord of Wolhan’s face was hidden in shadow. No one could have seen his expression.

Some might think the Lord of Wolhan was testing the royal family by presenting this request, suspecting them. Others might believe that Wolhan Castle was truly in dire straits. Or they might think there was some other ulterior motive.

But without seeing it firsthand, how could anyone know the truth about distant Wolhan Fortredd?

I became curious about what kind of situation it was that made him request someone to be sent.

Instead of trying to guess the answer, I looked at King Bonhyeon.

His expression was hard to read.

"If that is the request of the Lord of Wolhan Fortress."

King Bonhyeon replied to the Lord of Wolhan with a formal statement. It was along the lines of selecting a suitable person and sending them as per the Lord’s request. I listened to their conversation without missing a single word.

But who would he send?

The decline of the military officials\' influence had been a gradual process, coinciding with Queen Woo\'s ascent to power.

The clothes of the deposed Queen So were those of a military official.

The clothes of Queen Woo were those of a civil official.

The death of the deposed Queen and the silence of General So signified that the military faction had lost ground to the civil faction. There would be no one willing to volunteer to go to Wolhan Fortress for King Bonhyeon.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

...Should I go?

It didn\'t seem like a bad idea.