Chapter 162
162 Part 1
Chapter 162 Like a Child
I slowly opened my eyes, and what I saw was new to me. While parts of the room were in ruins, it was still luxurious. I felt something on my horns, and surprisingly Jang Ye RI was sleeping with her hands grabbing them.
‘She won.’
I smiled when I remembered Jang Ye Ri shouting while holding her scythe. Anyway, why was this woman sleeping while holding my horns with her face on my chest? She woke up in surprise as I slightly raised myself up.
“Oh…?”
‘It’s been a long time.”
She looked surprised, as Jang Ye Ri would have watched me all this time. However, I felt like I had seen her in a long time, so it was true on my part. She gaped at me for a moment and then spoke in a composed voice.
“Yes…it is.”
“Are you going to keep touching me?”
While I had merely said that because she was still holding my horns, my words were quite effective as I could see Jang Ye Ri flush in surprise.
“Hmm…I had been holding them without realizing it…my sleeping habits always had not been good…”
While Jang Ye Ri probably had made that excuse on the spot, I just nodded.
“How many days have passed?”
“About a week. You do not need to worry since I have already informed the Saint of the West. Your tribe has safely returned to their abode.”
“That’s good.”
We became silent for a moment, and I opened my mouth since the atmosphere was growing awkward.
“Is the old king dead?”
“You must be curious. First, I want to thank you. I managed to win because of you and grow stronger.”
“It was not much.”
“It was for me. If you had not bought me time or had not wounded him…”
Jang Ye Ri shook her head before continuing.
“Anyway, the old king is dead. I wanted to brutally kill him but had not managed to do so. He smiled even as I cut his limbs and castrated him. The last thing he said was that he had finally made a capable offspring. I do not know whether he had not felt any pain, wanted to provoke me, or I had become what he wished, but it did not feel good.”
The old man was dirty to the end.
“So, what do you think? Did he speak the truth?”
“No. While he is my father, he left nothing to me. I am not quite human or quite a Green Skin, but I am different from him.”
“It’s good thinking.”
I smiled as I stared at Jang Ye Ri.
“What about Jang Gi Hoo?”
“He is imprisoned underground. While he called me a traitor and screamed to anyone who would hear him after the old king died, no one will follow him now. While those with dirty hands had supported him at first, they became quiet after a few heads rolled.”
Unfortunately, it seemed that the events had been wrapped up much more quickly than I had expected. She had managed to behead those who were corrupted and send Jang Gi Hoo to prison in a month. While Jang Ye Ri had not said it, she had overthrown the authority system and perhaps had already finished the reform.
While it will take a long time, people will quickly adjust to the current situation. Even if there were slave sales in the black market, Jang Ye Ri would at least stop that from happening outright. She opened her mouth like she was excited as I nodded.
“Jang Gi Hoo did show some reactions, unlike the old king. I also cut his limbs bit by bit until he was barely alive before throwing him among the prisoners.”
I shuddered at his predicament.
“Thank you. It’s all because of you.”
“I did not do anything for your thanks.”
“That’s right…”
Jang Ye RI nodded with a slight flush.
“You did say you wanted me.”
I nodded as the air grew heavier around us.
“I learned a lot from you, not from when we had met, but from before. It’s not tangible knowledge, but about how to live. You’re a man I can respect.”
“You’re overestimating me.”
“I am not. That’s from my heart, and I thought things over as you lay asleep. I want to throw everything away and stand next to you, but as you care for your tribe, I also care about the people and my followers. What leader throw their followers away?”
“I agree.”
“I cannot throw away this city, but I want to become your woman. If you accept me after hearing my story, I will gladly become your mate. You do not have to do so, and I will take a step back and follow you anyway.”
Jang Ye Ri seemed to be saying that she would want me regardless of our relationship, but it was not bad at all to have some sort of connection to her. I was going to accept her regardless of her story, but her serious expression made me nod and listen to what Jang Ye Ri had to say.
162 Part 2
Jang Ye Ri slowly opened her shaking lips.
“I would need to speak of the past a bit…”
She had to be nervous, as this was like a confession. She had denied her identity and ran away, and also had been raped by Jang Gi Hoo. The honorable Green Skin would probably look down on her. However, it was inevitable that Jang Ye Ri wanted to talk. She actually had thought about hiding her past, as he would not know if she kept it a secret. It had been a long time ago, and only a very few knew her past know.
Only Jang Ye Ri had to remain silent, but she continued to speak while looking at him. She did not soften her words or distorted her actions but remembered her life while talking about her thoughts behind her actions. It was not difficult to speak, but she feared his response. Unlike her usual confident self, Jang Ye Ri looked downward, and her story ended only after a long time.
“You would not have wanted me like this. I had cut off my horns and become human in this way. Can you accept me…?”
She did not want to tremble, but her voice shook. Jang Ye Ri slightly raised her eyes to see his mouth open.
“I do not care.”
“What…?”
“I do not care and will not deny your past. You had to do what you had to do, and I would have done the same. I should thank you instead of for telling me. It’s not humiliating, and your life has led you to this moment.”
“However…I have been among the filth.”
“I am the same. I do not care what you have done or what had happened to you. I respect you as you are now.”
Jang Ye Ri slowly looked up at Blood Dagger. He seemed sincere, but Jang Ye Ri screamed like she was at the end of her rope. She did not know why, but she wanted him to refuse her and tell her she was ruined. She thought being thrown away here would be asking for her mother’s forgiveness.
“I threw away my race and my mother. My mother always looked at me with cold eyes and told me that she hated me, no matter what you say!”
“Is that what you really remember?”
“……”
Jang Ye Ri could not answer his words, as her mother had never hugged her. While she had not pushed Jang Ye Ri away, her mother had always looked at Jang Ye Ri with cold and hateful eyes.
“Maternity is fierce in our race, and whether one wants it or not, it’s instinct. Mothers devote themselves to their children without caring for themselves. Not taking care of their children is worth than death for them.”
“……”
“If your mother really hated you, there has to be a reason.”
Jang Ye Ri closed her eyes as she suddenly remembered the old king’s words. He had told her that her mother had cried when she had been separated from her daughter. She had considered it as mere provocation…
But if it was true, thinking that her mother had not really hated her filled Jang Ye Ri’s heart with warmth. He may be wrong or was just consoling her, but Jang Ye Ri felt tears in her eyes.
“You’re lying.”
“It does not matter what you think. Maybe your mother wanted you to live among humans.”
“It’s a lie!”
“I’m just telling you what I know. Did your mother really hate you?”
Jang Ye Ri remembered faint memories of her mother holding her hand even while staring at her with cold eyes. Jang Ye Ri spoke with shudders, and if her mother had not really hated her…
If her mother had been trying to protect Jang Ye Ri, she wanted to know the meaning of those words. She was scared, but…
“Anai Totka.”
Jang Ye Ri opened her mouth. She could have found out the meaning but had been scared. She had thought that those words contained hate and just repeated it in her mind whenever she faced hardship. Jang Ye Ri did not ask him the meaning and just stared.
He opened his mouth.
“Go on living.”
“Go…on…living…”
Jang Ye Ri could not speak, and tears continued to fall out of her eyes. Those words had supported her when she had wished for death or wanted to run away. Jang Ye Ri had buried those words in her chest in her path for redemption and to achieve her goals thousands of times.
Her mother had always been speaking to her when she wanted to die, run away, felt tired and was alone to go on living.