NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: One mistake and you could die
The girl is frightened to the core. She can barely beg for mercy. Li Jun is ready to cut her down in half. The girl is at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Li Jun." She calls out his name. He stops halfway and cocks his head as if asking why he should stop. He barely ever talks. She doesn't blame him. His past is full of blood and sorrows.
She gets off the horse. She realizes that something is odd with the girl. Her hair is dyed brown. Her facial features are different. Her clothes are instant give away. She doesn't belong to this time.
Kwon Yoori has no idea whether this girl is a time-traveler or someone who has been thrown back in time. The girl is frightened. The girl crawls back when she sees her approaching. Kwon Yoori bends down on one knee and takes off her mask.
"What is this new general doing?"
"We should just kill the girl."
"Not before we can spend some time with this pretty face."
"The new general doesn't know how things go around here."
Kwon Yoori sighs and turns to the girl who is looking back at her with big round eyes. She doesn't look like she understands any word they are speaking. Yoo Ri decides to speak in another language to check something.
"Calm down," She tells her in the language of her home country. It's been a while since she used it.
"One mistake and you could die."
"Aunt Yoori!!!" She exclaims loudly. Kwon Yoori covers her mouth right away. Her facade can't be broken. Who is this girl? When did she have a niece?
Unless...
"What is she speaking?" A soldier yells. "We should kill her."
Kwon Yoori knows that there is no respect for her among them. The emperor has basically sent her here to die. She isn't someone who will give up easily.
"I will kill you if you approach her," She yells back at them fiercely. "I have chosen her to be my woman for this season. Do you want to challenge me?"
The soldiers back away when they see the bloodthirsty look in her eyes. Luckily, the stupid girl is frozen. She is not uttering any other necessary word. She whispers to her, "Go along nicely. We will talk later."
The girl gives her a stiff nod. It doesn't go unnoticed by Li Jun and other soldiers. So, the famous third son of General Yu is interested in women too. Taking a foreign woman like this? Tch!
Kwon Yoori ties her wrists and ankles. She throws the girl over the horse without any shred of kindness. The girl whimpers, but she doesn't cry. Yoori climbs the horse and goes away to the camp.
Li Jun stares at the fleeing figures darkly.
***
"Aunt, where are we?" I ask her when we are alone in her quarter. The bed is hard and cold. She covers me with her coat. Then, she proceeds to cut away the rope.
"Border," She tells me curtly. "Don't call me aunt."
"Ah!" I take a good look at her. She looks like a man in every way. Her face gives it away slightly, but her expression makes it for her.
She looks at me intently, "Tell me everything."
I finish telling her about her disappearance and how my father still hopes for her to return. She looks at me sadly and says, "I can't go back."
"Why?" I am puzzled. I don't think that anyone would want to live in these crazy times where people hang out with swords.
"I traveled too far back in time. So, I am burned out. I can't go back until my ability is recharged."
Her voice is quiet. "Why are you here?"
"I don't know why I am here." I give her a notebook. "You left this to grandma. Can this help?"
Aunt Yoori looks at the notebook. "What is this?"
"I don't know. I haven't read it." If she doesn't recognize it, does it mean that she hasn't given it to grandma yet? Did I do something wrong now?
She opens the notebook and reads the first page. Then, she flips all the pages. "It's blank."
I flip the pages. It's totally blank except for the cover and the first page. Damn!
"Aunt Yoori, did you play a prank on grandma and everyone?" I glare at her.
***
Kwon Yoori scratches her head. There are times when you suffer for something you do in the future. She observes the notebook again. It's her handwriting. It means that she will be able to go back, but she will also disappear again. Since she is burned out, she hasn't been able to use her ability until her body is recharged. She doesn't know when that will happen.
She can use her secondary skills. She looks at the notebook carefully. There are traces of used time crystal. She scans the girl. The girl definitely has zero control over her ability.
"Whose daughter are you?" She asks her solemnly. "My younger sister's or my younger brother's?"
The girl smiles. "My father is your younger brother."
"My brother only had one son." Kwon Yoori frowns deeply. "Were you born because I messed with the time?"
"Eh?" Kyuri blinks her eyes. "Messed with time?"
"That explains things. In the original timeline, my family dies in an accident when I was sixteen. I went back in my time and prevented it. There were other times when I did it for fun. In the second original timeline, my younger brother only had a son in the future. Well, seeing that you are a time-traveler, you must be the special pawn of time to fix my mistakes."
She sighs. She has changed a lot more than just save her family. She tasted the power and started playing with history. The timekeepers were also after her. She tried to run away in the past to hide for a while. She didn't realize that it was what time wanted her to do. She was completely burned out when she arrived.
In an unfamiliar country and unfamiliar time, she pretended to be a deaf and dumb man. Then, she managed to become a low servant at an Inn for food and shelter. She never tasted powerlessness. Back then, she couldn't even use her secondary skills. Living was about survival.
One day, her life changed. An exiled son of some powerful family was on his way back to his home. The boy was handsome. They talked for a while. He only had one servant. So, she took care of him. He was pleased. He asked her to follow him. She did.
Apparently, her luck was worse than her circumstances. On the road, they were attacked by assassins sent by his own family. He gave his identity token to him to confuse the assassin and told her to run. Damn man! He was killed with his servant anyway. She was about to be killed when the fifth prince's people saved her.
Tch! Her identity was mistaken. However, the prince was handsome and kind. She felt so grateful that she willing let herself used as a pawn by that prince in whatever royal conspiracies. The emperor didn't like it.
That's why she is here now.