Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 2 - The Prodigal Son Returns (1)
Chapter 2 – The Prodigal Son Returns (1)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“I’m going crazy.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was trapped in the Hall of Patriarchs, grumbled.
“You’re as merciless as ever.”
After the ancestral rite ended, his father, who had come to the office, decided on the punishment with just one word.
‘Enter the Hall of Patriarchs for three days and have a time of apology to the ancestors.’
With those words, his father immediately went to work. He didn’t even meet Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.
Rather, such an appearance was more welcome. As time passed, memories were bound to be reduced or inflated, but his father was exactly as he remembered.
So it felt realistic, and he was convinced that he had returned to the past.
…Though he didn’t like having to be trapped for three days.
Leaning his head against the wall, a question once again appeared on Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.
‘How is such a thing possible?’
That was the part he had pondered the most during the half-day he had been trapped in the Hall of Patriarchs.
He didn’t know if there was an afterlife, but he was certain that at least one didn’t return to the past. If everyone returned to the past upon death, the world would have become a living hell.
In other words, his regression was by no means an ordinary event.
‘I must know the reason. A phenomenon without a known cause will surely cause problems in the future.’
The same applied to martial arts. Achievements beyond effort always had a reason, and passing by without knowing could endanger one’s life.
It was the reason why he couldn’t just be happy despite having regressed to the past.
After being lost in thought for a long while, he let out a sigh.
“Damn it, this isn’t a problem that will provide an answer just by thinking about it.”
One needs foundational knowledge to even make an inference.
After thinking a bit more, Yeon Ho-jeong eventually gave up on the deliberation.
“Anyway, there are no suspicious signs, so for now, I should be satisfied with that.”
Since he had returned to the past, naturally, his body was also his past body.
However, his disciplined soul was still that of the Master of the Dark Emperor Castle, the Grandmaster of the Unorthodox Path, the Dark Emperor.
His sixth sense, which had transcended human limits, was telling him. It was fine. It was not an answer that would come from pondering, so he should forget it for now.
Abandoning the worry, his mood became much better.
‘To be able to live a life that has already passed once again… Does it mean I can shake off the regrets and lingering attachments of the past?’
His heart pounded.
He had made many mistakes in his childhood. In fact, rather than mistakes, they were words and actions closer to the struggles of a timid person who couldn’t adapt to the environment.
So there were many regrets.
If only he had been a little calmer, if only he had been a little more cautious, if only he had been a little more courageous.
If so, his past would have changed a lot.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was wearing a bitter smile, suddenly flashed his eyes.
“Wait a minute, thinking about it, this is no ordinary matter, is it?”
It wasn’t just because of the question about the regression.
Yeon Ho-jeong stood up abruptly without realizing it.
“How old am I now?”
At the very least, it must be a past older than twenty-six years ago. Since the clan was intact and peaceful.
Then that meant his age was also before turning twenty?
‘Based on Ji-pyeong’s appearance, he is roughly fifteen to sixteen. Then my age is eighteen to nineteen?’
No matter how great the martial arts he had built, it was a past too long ago. It wasn’t easy to recall when it was just by looking at the faces of his father and younger brother.
Because the years he had spent running forward while forgetting the past were too long.
‘Then…?’
Looking at the weather, it was currently autumn.
If so, there was only half a year at the shortest, and at most a year and a half left until the destruction of the clan.
‘Damn it!’
His heart became urgent. This wasn’t the time to be sitting comfortably regardless of the punishment.
Yeon Ho-jeong hurriedly opened the door of the Hall of Patriarchs.
Clatter!
“Oh?!”
Yeon Ho-jeong looked at the boy standing outside the door with surprised eyes.
Fair skin. Though he was quite tall, his clear eyes and cute appearance looked very youthful.
“Ji-pyeong?”
“Elder brother? Where are you going?”
“Eh? Uh… that is…”
Come to think of it, even if he wanted to go, he had nowhere to go. He had just reacted instinctively upon realizing the urgency of the time.
Yeon Ji-pyeong blinked his eyes repeatedly.
“You’re not supposed to leave the Hall of Patriarchs, are you? Didn’t father hand down a punishment for three days?”
“…That’s right.”
“Gosh! You can’t. The Flying Eagle Squad is patrolling around here. If you get caught, it’ll be this for you, this.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong made a gesture of cutting his own neck with the edge of his hand. It was a rather gruesome imitation, but his expression was so innocent that a laugh came out.
“Anyway, why are you here?”
“Hehe, there’s a shortcut from my residence to the forest behind the Hall of Patriarchs. I dug a dog hole.”
“A dog hole?”
“Yes.”
“For what…?”
Yeon Ji-pyeong, who took out a thick bundle from his bosom, proudly held it out forward.
“Here!”
“…?”
“…”
“What is it?”
Yeon Ji-pyeong scratched his head as if embarrassed.
“Rice balls.”
“Rice balls?”
“No matter how much of a punishment it is, starving even for meals is a bit much. Staying for three days drinking only water, I don’t think that’s right.”
“What will you do if you get scolded by father then?”
“Ayy, surely he wouldn’t scold me for something like this.”
He was someone who could definitely do that.
In any case, with him even bringing rice balls, he couldn’t turn him away.
“Come in.”
“Yes!”
Yeon Ji-pyeong, who entered the Hall of Patriarchs joyfully, quickly unpacked the bundle. Then, three lumps of rice balls emitting faint steam appeared.
Yeon Ho-jeong picked up one rice ball. It was almost the size of his own face.
“You’re hungry, right? Eat a lot. I’ll bring some again tomorrow.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was staring down at the rice ball, turned his gaze toward Yeon Ji-pyeong.
Whatever was so good, Yeon Ji-pyeong had a beaming face throughout. However, Yeon Ho-jeong could feel a strange nervousness cast within his younger brother’s smiling face.
And he knew better than anyone what the identity of that nervousness was.
“Pyeong-ah.”
“Yes?”
Yeon Ho-jeong stopped talking for a moment.
What words should he bring up first? He was troubled.
Meeting like this, the mistakes of the past came to mind even more vividly. Where would there be a life without regrets, but the thing he regretted most was precisely the matter related to his younger brother.
And it wasn’t something to drag out.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who had been contemplating, spoke honestly.
“I’m sorry for everything until now.”
It was an out-of-the-blue apology. Yeon Ji-pyeong was flustered.
“Huh? For what?”
“I’m a pathetic guy. A narrow-minded person who was jealous of my younger brother because of pride that isn’t even worth a soup ingredient. Even though I should have supported my brother’s growth, I couldn’t do that.”
Yeon Ho-jeong lowered his head.
“I’m sorry. Such a thing won’t happen from now on.”
“E-Elder brother! Why are you suddenly like this?”
“I’m not apologizing to be forgiven. I just want to acknowledge my fault and tell you that I won’t do that anymore. Only that.”
In the past, before the Yeon Clan was destroyed.
Yeon Ho-jeong hated Yeon Ji-pyeong extremely.
It wasn’t for any other reason. It was because Yeon Ji-pyeong’s talent was so outstanding that there was no precedent in the clan’s history.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s talent was not lacking either, but it was not comparable to his younger brother’s. To the extent that Yeon Ji-pyeong would leisurely build up a tower that Yeon Ho-jeong had spent five years building with blood and sweat in less than three years.
Still, during their childish years, the relationship between the two was not bad. Rather, their brotherly love was deeper than any other brothers.
However, when Yeon Ho-jeong was fifteen.
Right then, Yeon Ho-jeong closed the door of his heart. He was jealous of his brother, hated him, and went as far as treating him as a non-person.
‘Stupid guy.’
What on earth was that position of Young Clan Leader?
He realized it only after the clan collapsed and his blood relatives died. That there was nothing as pathetic as placing meaning on positions held between family members.
And he also realized.
In the subconscious that he had been able to look back on, he still loved his father and younger brother.
It was a sincere heart that he had found out all too late. However, no matter how early regret is, it is bound to be late; he had missed the moment to apologize to his family.
It was a sincere heart that he had kept in his chest for his entire life like that.
“I won’t say many words in detail. I’m just sorry, and sorry again. Even if you hate me until you die from now on, I will not feel hurt or harbor resentment about it.”
“Elder brother.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong’s eyes turned red.
The reason he had mustered courage to bring the rice balls was because he had felt that the look in his brother’s eyes when he saw him during the ancestral rite was different from before. He had come with a pounding heart, wondering if perhaps his brother had forgiven him.
It was a relief. His brother no longer disliked or loathed him.
“Uwaaaah.”
As if overwhelmed, Yeon Ji-pyeong cried loudly.
Yeon Ho-jeong felt pity for Yeon Ji-pyeong’s tears while also feeling flustered.
His younger brother was a kind fellow. This much of a reaction was natural.
However, for Yeon Ho-jeong, who had lived as the ruler of the Unorthodox Path, such a reaction was extremely rare.
The weak receive sympathy? Nonsense.
Stepping on, killing, and using the weak to grow power was the survival principle of the Black Path Murim. They were nothing more than prey, not objects of sympathy.
In that unbridgeable gap between time and emotion, Yeon Ho-jeong was once again convinced that he had returned to the past.
After a moment, Yeon Ji-pyeong gathered his emotions.
“I’m sorry. I’ve shown such an unseemly sight in front of elder brother.”
“What do you mean unseemly sight. I said I’m sorry.”
“No. It’s all my fault, so why are you apologizing, elder brother?”
He knew it wasn’t empty words. So he was even more sorry and grateful.
Yeon Ji-pyeong, who had calmed down quite a bit, grinned broadly. No matter the process, his mood was good because the brotherly love had been restored.
Yeon Ho-jeong spoke as if casually throwing out words without realizing it.
“I heard that if you laugh after crying, hair grows on your butt.”
“Pardon?”
“…”
“…?”
Yeon Ho-jeong had no talent for jokes.
As expected, a person should not do things they do not usually do. He, who had been clearing his throat as if awkward, suddenly hardened his expression.
Just by that change in expression, Yeon Ji-pyeong became tense.
“Ji-pyeong.”
“Yes?”
“How old are you now?”
Why the age all of a sudden?
He was bewildered, but Yeon Ji-pyeong answered obediently.
“Fifteen.”
“Then I’m eighteen?”
“Pardon? Y-Yes, that’s right?”
He felt a very slight sense of relief. It was not half a year, but a year and more than half a year left.
Of course, that did not mean there was time to spare.
“You, how much of the Flying Swallow Cultivation Method…”
At that moment, the sound of a presence was heard from outside the Hall of Patriarchs.
“Second Young Master.”
It was a businesslike and stiff voice. Yeon Ji-pyeong’s face rapidly turned pale.
“I know you are inside. I will enter.”
Creak.
The door of the Hall of Patriarchs opened, and a sturdy man revealed himself.
He was a man wearing a long sword on his left belt and a heavy broadsword on his back. His gaze was sharp, and the military discipline blooming throughout his body was solemn.
It was the Flying Eagle Squad Leader, Kang Yun.
“Please come out now.”
Kang Yun didn’t even give a glance to Yeon Ho-jeong.
Yeon Ho-jeong nodded his head.
“Go.”
“…I’ll see you in three days, elder brother.”
“I understand.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong stood up from his seat.
Kang Yun said.
“You must also pick up all the luggage you brought and stand up.”
“Pardon?”
Kang Yun didn’t say more. He just looked steadily at Yeon Ji-pyeong with unwavering eyes.
Yeon Ji-pyeong bit his lip.
“They’re rice balls I brought with effort. One needs physical strength to apologize, don’t they?”
“I do not know of such things. I only know the fact that the Yeon Clan’s merit-based rewards and punishments apply equally to blood relatives. Since it is an order directly handed down by the Clan Leader, it must be carried out as such.”
It was a stiff voice that did not allow for disagreement.
Yeon Ho-jeong packed all the rice balls and handed them to Yeon Ji-pyeong. Yeon Ji-pyeong bowed his head deeply.
“I, I’ll buy you something delicious in three days.”
“I understand.”
Kang Yun’s eyes flashed.
The fact that the relationship between the brothers was not good was known to everyone in the Yeon Clan. But today seemed a bit different.
“Let’s go.”
“I understand.”
As if his feet would not move, Yeon Ji-pyeong’s steps were only slow.
It was when Kang Yun was about to close the door of the Hall of Patriarchs.
“Squad Leader Kang.”
“Do you have something to say?”
“I was the one who told him to bring the rice balls. Make sure to refer to that part when you report.”
Kang Yun’s eyes flashed once again.
“I will take it into account.”
Thud.
The door of the Hall of Patriarchs closed.
Yeon Ho-jeong wore a smile.
“I didn’t know such a brutally stiff atmosphere could be this heart-fluttering.”