Even after the deposed consort refused, Nun Wolam continued persuading her.

“Your Grace. I must know how your health is before I can sleep at ease.”

“Nun. I...”

The deposed consort’s lips moved, but when her eyes met mine, she let out a small sigh.

“Very well. If doing so will set your mind at ease, then let it be done.”

After giving permission, the woman gestured for me to approach. It was the gesture of someone accustomed to being served.

I gave a slight bow and carefully went over, placing my hand on the deposed consort’s body.

“Excuse me for a moment, Your Grace.”

When I rolled up the sleeve of her long monastic robe, a skeletal wrist was revealed. Her emaciated body felt lifeless, like a withered old tree.

The deposed consort’s pulse was even worse.

Her weakened pulse was so faint it seemed the flow might break off at any moment.

No wonder I didn’t even know she was in the hermitage.

When my expression darkened, the deposed consort smiled faintly.

“There is no hope, is there? I know my own body best. I want to spend the time I have left in peace, without making futile efforts.”

“Your Grace...”

Nun Wolam rubbed at the corner of her eyes with a troubled expression. Watching the two of them, I awkwardly scratched my cheek.

“Er, no. You can get better.”

At my answer, the deposed consort’s eyes went round.

“Pardon?”

“Benefactor, is there a way?”

Nun Wolam’s eyes also ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ lit up as she clutched my sleeve.

“This is an illness that came from Your Grace cutting off grain. If you replenish the stomach and eat meals with meat, you’ll improve quickly. It should take about three or four months.”

“Must it be meat?”

“Yes. Absolutely. Your strength has declined too much. It would be best to start with clear meat broth and gradually increase the amount you eat.”

At my prescription, Nun Wolam’s face darkened again.

“I understand what you mean, Benefactor. But Buddhism does not permit taking life. And in deep mountains like these, there is no way to obtain meat either.”

“Yes. That would be true for you nuns.”

I smiled and looked at Nun Wolam.

“But that isn’t true for me and my brother, is it? We will prepare the meal outside.”

Only then did Nun Wolam smile, as if she understood what I meant.

“Please do, Benefactor. Her Grace’s recovery comes first.”

“No, Nun. How could someone who has taken refuge in Buddhism eat meat? I cannot...”

“The Buddha forbade killing. He never forbade eating meat, Your Grace. Even he accepted milk porridge as an offering and restored his body with it. Far off in Tibet, even monks eat meat. Do not trouble yourself over small matters. Focus on recovering your health, Your Grace.”

“Nun...”

“You must recover quickly so you may return to the palace.”

“Will the day ever come when I return to Jinling? Even after His Majesty cast me out himself?”

The deposed consort stared into the air with detached eyes.

“My beloved His Majesty took my child from me and slaughtered my family, exterminating the So Clan. And you say he will call me back?”

Her face, which had been whispering as though singing, twisted like a vengeful ghost. The deposed consort clutched her chest and wailed, her every movement filled with bitter injustice.

“Your Grace. You must calm your heart. Breathe in deeply with me.”

Nun Wolam patted the deposed consort’s back and soothed her. The nun seemed used to the sight of the deposed consort shedding bloody tears from bloodshot eyes.

...This isn’t an illness from not eating. It’s rage sickness.

It was not hard to imagine what the deposed consort had gone through when she was driven from the palace.

The sight sat in my throat like a fishbone.

I turned my gaze away and pretended not to see until her crying stopped.

*****

I brewed a medicinal decoction with atractylodes, licorice, ginger, and magnolia bark.

Since the medicine would enter an empty stomach, its effect could not be too strong. The thickness could not be too watery or too dense either.

After I spent an hour on edge, controlling the fire, Nun Wolam, who had been hovering nearby anxiously, took the fan from me.

“I will do it, Benefactor. How much longer must it brew?”

“Brew it for fifteen more minutes, then let it cool a little before she drinks it. It shouldn’t be too concentrated.”

“Understood. Leave this to me and go.”

She meant I should go catch some meat.

I obediently left the hermitage and wandered around the middle slope of the mountain.

I sensed no presence from any large animals, only small rabbits scattered here and there.

A deer would have been nice. Too bad. More importantly, how do you skin a rabbit?

Catching rabbits by throwing pebbles was easy enough, but when it came time to actually handle them, I felt reluctant.

I had only touched raw chicken a few times in my life, let alone butchered anything, so I was at a loss over where to begin and what to do.

I was still glaring at the rabbit in my hand, thinking for a long while, when I sensed a familiar presence approaching.

“I was wondering where that smell of meat was coming from. So it was your handiwork, sister?”

“Ahaha, Brother. What is with that outfit?”

When my eyes met Yeon Ryang’s, I burst out laughing and wiped away tears.

The sight of him wandering around in a monastic robe that did not fit him at all made him look exactly like a thug wearing someone else’s clothes.

“What do you think, sister? Dressed like this, even an unorthodox bastard like me gives off a bit of Buddhist fragrance, doesn’t he?”

“You look like a fake monk. Or a thug who caused trouble and hid in a temple.”

“My. A failure, then.”

Yeon Ryang shrugged and pretended to be sad.

“Where’s Cane?”

“Asleep. It passed out in the courtyard.”

“Can you walk around a little? Does your body feel heavy?”

“Thanks to you opening all my qi and blood with thick needles, I feel light.”

“That’s good news. Training is forbidden until you’re completely healed. If you overdo it again, I’ll pierce your crown point with a throwing knife, so know that.”

“...Sohae. Isn’t that the same as saying you’ll kill me?”

He smacked his lips and strode closer, asking, “You caught a lot of rabbits. Going to clean them?”

“Yeah. There is a Noble Consort at the hermitage, and she isn’t in good health. I was going to make her some meat soup. You said you wanted meat too, Brother. I caught a lot on purpose.”

“A Noble Consort? She must have been confined here. Better than the Cold Palace, I suppose, but she won’t live long.”

“Say pretty things, Brother. Do you know how to clean meat? I’ve never done it.”

“When would a pampered young lady ever have tried this? Give it here.”

After taking the short knife from me, Yeon Ryang sat beside me and began cleaning the rabbits. His hands were skilled, as if he had done this more than once or twice.

As he worked in silence, Yeon Ryang asked, “Since when did you know?”

“I knew what you were from the start.”

“How? I thought I hadn’t shown it.”

“Listen to yourself. You went around suspiciously talking about drawing out the spirit pill’s energy or whatever, and you thought you wouldn’t be found out? Who can draw someone else’s internal energy out like pulling noodles unless it’s sinister demonic arts?”

At my scolding, Yeon Ryang smiled awkwardly.

“And your eyes turn red when you draw up internal energy.”

“It’s common for a martial artist’s eyes to take on the color of his internal energy.”

“True. If someone didn’t know better, they’d just think your internal energy was red. But internal energy that turns such a chillingly deep blood color isn’t common.”

“So the eyes were the problem.” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“It wasn’t just the eyes. Everything about you was suspicious, Brother.”

“How did you know about Hao Gate?”

“You sent a signal at the inn. I know that one too. I know someone from Hao Gate.”

“...Phew. Do you also know what I went there to do?”

“You took the antidote, right? You said you had to take it once every three months.”

Yeon Ryang let out a hollow laugh.

“You truly knew everything.”

He moved his lips as if he could not think of anything to say, then asked quietly, “...And you’re still all right with it?”

“What wouldn’t I be all right with? You’re you, Brother.”

“...”

At my answer, the corners of Yeon Ryang’s lips trembled faintly.

He made a strange face, one that looked as if he might be smiling or crying, then pressed his lips together.

“You are the second person to know my identity and still act as if nothing changed.”

“The second? There was someone else besides me?”

“There’s one fake monk at Shaolin. His name is Beopgong. I got into a quarrel while drinking in Luoyang, and when he saw my demonic qi... instead of being shocked, he found it interesting. We fought once, then sat facing each other and drank together. That was how we became friends.”

...Shaolin? The Shaolin I know?

No, just how much of a fake monk is he if he sits face-to-face with a Demonic Sect member and drinks? The Martial Alliance has a bright future ahead.

Of course, I was not exactly in a position to talk when I was traveling while pretending to be siblings with a Demonic Sect member.

“That’s good, then. You gained one friend and one sister, so someone else who acts like it’s nothing will come along too.”

When I answered as if it were no big deal, Yeon Ryang chuckled.

“Will they?”

“They will. If you’re that worried about it, break your dantian and abolish your demonic arts.”

“Sohae. At that point, just tell the Demonic Sect bastard to bite his tongue and die.”

“This is all done, right? I’m taking it back to make soup.”

I picked up the meat and bones Yeon Ryang had cleaned, pretending nothing was wrong.

Yeon Ryang smiled and nodded as if telling me to go ahead.

The shadow of worry that had fallen over his face seemed to have blurred, if only slightly.

*****

The first meat soup failed spectacularly.

As it boiled in the pot looking fairly decent, Yeon Ryang hummed and tasted the broth, then said,

“Sohae.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t cook.”

His voice was icy as his face turned utterly serious.

“Even a Beggars’ Union beggar wouldn’t eat rice like this.”

“What? Brother. I’ll have you know, I used to be a maid—!”

“You said you were an illegitimate child, and you worked as a maid? Your family has its nasty sides too. Anyway, you were a maid. You cleaned and did laundry, but you’ve never helped a cook, have you?”

How did he know?

I awkwardly smacked my lips.

“I told you to make soup, and you brewed poison instead. I’ll cook, so don’t ever think of touching a kitchen knife again. You wasted good meat.”

“Okay.”

It was rare for Yeon Ryang to be this serious, so I answered obediently.

It’s easier and better for me if I don’t have to cook anyway.

“No wonder the medicinal decoction tasted awful...”

Muttering to himself, Yeon Ryang emptied the pot and began boiling water again.

He simmered the bones thoroughly to make stock, then boiled the meat until it softened and fell apart. A rich, savory smell struck my nose.

It smelled so good that even Nun Seoljae, passing by, peered in once before leaving.

After finely chopping radish and adding it, then seasoning the soup with salt, Yeon Ryang tasted the broth and set the ladle down in satisfaction.

“Here. Take this to her.”

“Brother. You’re pretty good at this.”

“This brother of yours is good at everything except the things he can’t do.”

What does that even mean?

I lightly glared at Yeon Ryang, then placed the meat soup on a tray and brought it to the deposed consort’s room.

“Your Grace. May I come in?”

“Come in, Young Lady.”

The deposed consort who welcomed me looked much brighter than she had in the morning.

“Did you take the medicinal decoction?”

“Yes. My stomach feels much more comfortable. Thank you for taking such care.”

“If your stomach feels all right, please try this too. I made a little meat soup.”

“Ah... But...”

“Nun Wolam said recovery comes first too, didn’t she? Please try even one spoonful. It is my sincerity.”

When I gently urged her and set down the meat soup, the hesitant deposed consort sat before the table.

She stared at the meat soup for a long while with a troubled expression.

At last, with trembling hands, she brought the milky-white broth to her mouth.

I swallowed dryly and stared at the spoon disappearing between the deposed consort’s lips.