Page 48 of King Foretold
“Once the king finds out the hunter failed, he will want someone else to finish the job.” Captain Seo sits forward. “His spy in the Kingdom of Sky is bound to make a move soon, either to smuggle in another assassin from the Kingdom of Mountains or to recruit one from here.”
“Do you really think they might try to recruit someone from the Kingdom of Sky?” Hailey asks. “Isn’t that too risky?”
“They might be desperate enough to try, and there are poor, vulnerable people to manipulate in every kingdom.” Captain Seo turns to Minju. “Did you find any foreign magic traces on the hunter’s body?”
“Not enough to identify anyone,” the historian says with a frustrated sigh.
“But we can narrow it down to people from the Kingdom of Mountains, right? There can’t be that many of them here.” Draco arches their brow with the supreme arrogance of youth. “I mean, who else would spy for the King of Mountains?”
“While that is likely the case, it’s too early to rule anyone out.” Jihun crosses his arms over his chest.
“Conversely, not everyone from the Kingdom of Mountains should be pegged as potential spies,” I add. My roommate Hana and her twin Duna are from the Kingdom of Mountains. It wouldn’t be fair to suspect them based solely on their birthplace. “With that said, I wouldn’t think twice about putting the homicidal psychopath Jo Danbi at the top of the list.”
“Wasn’t she exiled a daybeforethe assassination attempt?” Jaeseok cocks his head to the side.
“Maybe the hunter came through when they opened the portal to send her back to the Kingdom of Mountains.” Hailey shrugs. “He would’ve only had to stay hidden for a day.”
“Jo Danbi knew she would be exiled for what she did.” Captain Seo drums her fingers on the table. “She could have alerted the King of Mountains to send the assassin right away.”
Jihun hums. “That is a possibility.”
“Is the portal guarded?” I ask, trying to fill in the missing pieces.
“Yes, at all times. Every kingdom has two portal keepers on alternating shifts.” Jihun’s eyebrows dip into a frown. “The keepers of the Kingdom of Sky are formidable warriors with powerful magic. No one can get past them unless they allow it.”
“I spoke with both of our portal keepers this afternoon.” Captain Seo shakes her head. “Neither of them had anything unusual to report.”
“Then how did the hunter come into the Kingdom of Sky?” I don’t want to question anyone’s loyalty, but something is not adding up. “Are the portal keepers ... trustworthy?”
“Keeper Bae has been a faithful servant of the Kingdom of Sky for over two hundred years,” Captain Seo says with an edge in her voice. “And while Keeper Choe is relatively new, he comes highly vetted.”
“It was an honest question.” I hold out my palms. “You know, Occam’s razor and all that.”
“Uh.” Draco raises their hand. “Is that the one that says the simplest answer is most often correct?”
I confirm with a nod, but Captain Seo’s scowl deepens. “Betrayal is hardly asimpleanswer.”
Jihun intervenes. “Whatever the case may be, wewillfind the answers. In the meantime, either Captain Seo or I will be at your side at all times, Your Highness.”
“I’m notcompletelyhelpless,” Ethan says drily. “I can protect myself, especially since I have better control of my powers now. Didn’t you say you were pleased with my progress? Or was that flattery?”
He’s been training with Jihun?Thank gods.I’m so relieved that I can’t even be mad that neither of them told me. Ethan will be formidable once he masters his magic. Hewillbe powerful enough to stop the King of Mountains when the time comes.
“You are becoming proficient at magic—faster than I could have hoped—but that arrow pierced you.” Jihun’s lips press into a grim line. “You aren’t invincible against their weapons. We cannot risk your safety.”
“My findings on the trace magic were inconclusive, but I had better results analyzing the hunter’s arrows.” Minju finally looks up from her book and rises to her feet. “I know how the arrow pierced the prince.”
“How?” Ethan leans forward.
“The arrowhead has traces of properties similar to the sacred ashes.” Minju paces the floor, gathering her thoughts. “When Dangun, the truest manifestation of the god of Mountains, abandoned the Realm of Four Kingdoms, he left behind a tombstone in the highest peaks of the divine mountain, Shinsan. No one knew what the tombstone signified, but the people of the Kingdom of Mountains understood that it was sacred.”
“Wait.” My brows furrow. “What?”
According to Korean folklore, Hwanung, the god of earth, came to rule the human world with the blessings of his father Hwanin, the god of the heavens. One day, a bear prayed to Hwanung, entreating him to turn her into a human, and the god of earth heard her prayers. The bear became a beautiful woman, and Hwanung fell in love with her. They married and had a son named Dangun, who went on to establish Gojoseon, the ancient kingdom that evolved into Korea.
The takeaway from that folklore is that Dangun was the son of a god and had excellent pedigree—it was human bullshit made up to deify and legitimize him as the first king of Gojoseon.
Besides, be it ancient history, folklore, or an amalgam of the two, the man is long dead by all accounts, if he ever existed in the first place.Wasn’t he?
