48. Rabbit Alliance (1)
Outside the screen, Baek Gi-yeom looked at himself crouching excitedly and smiled awkwardly. Then he said something slyly.
"Oh, I should have just stood there holding the tube! Then I could have eliminated the strong competitor in advance~!"
It was half-joking, half-serious, but there was no sting in his words.
"You're already late."
Neoul smiled and answered leisurely.
***
It was about 50 minutes after the broadcast started.
It was close to 12 o'clock. The bell rang outside.
"Huh? Who's there at this hour?"
Everyone got up from their seats without a word, but Won Ha-shin jumped out of the room and waved his hand as he passed by.
"Sit down. Sit down."
He went over to the intercom and checked the face of the uninvited guest who had interrupted the broadcast.
The face of a woman with short black hair wearing a pure white hood was visible.
"Oh. God."
Won Hashin suddenly turned around as he was about to go out with a pale face.
"Hey, Gal Neoul. Come out."
"What's going on?"
"Your aunt is here."
Neoul was about to retort, "Where in the world is my aunt?" but suddenly stood up.
"Sea Priestess!"
With that, he ran faster than Won Hashin, passed through the hallway, opened the door, and ran out into the yard. Sea priestess was standing there, wearing a white hood on her head and a red belt around her old clothes that fluttered like a white butterfly.
"Sea priestess!"
"Oh my, our prince! How have you been?"
When Neoul ran out barefoot to greet her, Sea priestess smiled brightly.
"What about Abamama? How is he? Is he fully recovered? Is everything okay now?"
Neoul believed that she would deliver the good news that he had been waiting for.
Abamama, who was naturally strong, would eat rabbit liver and regain his strength, and he would soon get up from his sickbed, and the Dragon Palace would regain peace.
However, the Sea Priestess simply smiled silently. She did not answer Neoul's question.
"Let's go inside and talk. I will go upstairs, so take Baek Yuri and Dongdong and come up with Won Hashin."
"Huh? Sir Baek Yuri...?"
"Yeah."
The sight of the sea priestess speaking without any playfulness was unfamiliar. Could it be that something unusual was happening?
Neoul was generally optimistic. No matter what happened, he always had a habit of imagining the positive side. That it would be okay. That it wouldn't be that big of a deal. That everything would be fine.
But today, what Baek Yuri said pierced his heart like a knife.
—If you always imagine the worst case scenario and act accordingly, things would get a little better than that.
Neoul didn't hesitate and went straight inside to pick up Baek Yuri.
"No, no, don't come out. You don't have to say hello right now. Keep watching the broadcast."
After making the participants who were hesitantly sit back down, Won Ha-shin, who was about to go out, met Neoul as he came in and made a puzzled expression.
"Huh? Why are you here already? What, what about your aunt?"
"Sir Baek Yuri. Come here for a moment."
Neoul called Baek Yuri urgently, as if he didn't have time to answer.
Won Hashin couldn't help but watch as Neoul's expression became serious.
When Dongdong, who was enjoying the crustacean party in her room, was brought upstairs, the sea priestess was waiting for them with a chair placed in the middle of the living room on the second floor.
"....?"
Baek Yuri found the sea priestess he had seen before, put his hands together, and bowed his head. However, he was bewildered as to why he had to be among them.
"He's a polite guy."
The sea priestess told Baek Yuri to sit on the chair with a beautiful voice. Her softly curved eyes and lips were dangerously alluring.
Baek Yuri rolled his eyes and looked around the room, then glanced around and sat down quietly.
'What on earth are you trying to say to set the mood like this?'
He was a little suspicious, but suppressed his guard and sat down.
Neoul who he had seen so far wasn't a dangerous mermaid. And he said the sea priestess was trustworthy.
But at that moment, a squeak- a sound of tape being ripped off was heard.
Baek Yuri stared at the sea priestess' hand with shaking eyes.
"You're holding... a tape in your hand...?"
The sea priestess smiled.
"Oh my. You're so quick-witted."
"You don't seem to have any intention of hiding it."
"I thought you were only good at singing, but I didn't know you were so smart."
"...."
Zwaack!
The moment Baek Yuri got up and tried to run away.
"Dongdong, kid. Catch him."
At the Sea Priestess' command, Won Hashin and Dongdong hurriedly grabbed Baek Yuri and sat him back down on the chair. In the meantime, the Sea
Priestess tied Baek Yuri's wrists with tape.
They held on tightly because she told them to, but Won Hashin and Dongdong's eyes widened when they saw the Sea Priestess tying Baek Yuri to the chair.
"D-Dongdong. Is this okay…?"
"I, I don't know."
Neoul was also surprised.
"Sea Priestess, what on earth are you doing?"
Sea Priestess cut the end of the tape with scissors and stepped back. Baek Yuri looked at the situation with anxious eyes.
Neoul, wondering what kind of trouble the Sea Priestess would do again, lifted Baek Yuri up with the chair and placed him far away from the Sea Priestess.
Baek Yuri realized that Neoul was not in the same group as them and tried to calm himself down and said to them.
"There are my cousins and my younger brothers downstairs. If there is any commotion, they will come up and call the police."
The sea priestess threw the tape and scissors on the carpet and held up both palms, saying softly.
"Don't worry, you scaredy-cat. I'm not trying to hurt you. I just wanted to ask you something."
What on earth are you trying to ask someone by tying him up?
Baek Yuri felt a sense of rebellion, but he kept his mouth shut so as not to upset her any further.
Somehow, she didn't seem human, nor did she look as innocent as a baby, so he thought that if he tried to run away rashly, he would get in bigger trouble.
"Sea Priestess. Why are you doing this to Sir Baek Yuri?"
Neoul held onto the back of the chair and looked at Sea Priestess with serious eyes. However, he couldn't understand her intentions at all.
Sea Priestess sat elegantly on the sofa and faced them.
"You too, little one. Baby octopus too."
"Sea Priestess. I'm already thirty-four years old."
"I'm a proper warrior of the Dragon Palace! Be polite!"
Won Hashin became much more docile and sat on the edge of the sofa. Dongdong, perhaps hurt by the word baby, expressed her intention to stand upright next to him.
"If Sea Priestess wants to do something, I will unconditionally follow the prince's will! I belong to the Dragon Palace!"
And declared that she would take Neoul's side.
The Sea Priestess looked around at the gathered people and opened her mouth while looking at Neoul.
"Listen carefully, Prince. First, I delivered rabbit liver to the Dragon Palace. The servants ground it up and made medicine for it."
"...! Was there a cure?"
Neoul asked worriedly. The Sea Priestess shook her head.
"He opened his eyes for a moment, but it wasn't because of the rabbit liver. You must offer a sacrifice to the Sea God."
The sea priestess offered a ritual to the gods and tried to awaken the Dragon King with a ritual to drive away bad luck and illness. However, it was not enough to overcome the Dragon King's illness, and she learned a new fact.
"The god said, he can't just eat the liver of any rabbit raised on a farm."
"Huh..? What..."
It just had to be 'rabbit liver', right? Neoul's expression hardened.
Baek Yuri, who had bought the rabbit liver, also listened to the Sea Priestess' words, keeping an eye on her.
'You, you're not going to kill me because the rabbit liver didn't work, are you…?'
As always, imagining the worst. The Sea Priestess bit her lips as if she was truly troubled and continued speaking.
"The rabbit that lied to Byeoljubujeon and the Dragon King a long time ago."
"Huh?"
"I need that rabbit's liver."
"....!"
The news was like a bolt from the blue.
As he was learning Korean and the internet, he naturally searched about rabbits. As a result, he learned that the lifespan of a rabbit is only about 10 to 15 years.
A rabbit can never live 1,400 years.
Just like the lifespan of a mermaid named Neoul is only about 200 years, and small, weak humans can't even live 100 years.
Then the rabbit...
Neoul looked at the sea priestess with a dark face. "That rabbit... must have died."
His fists clenched with all his might, his nails digging into his palms.
The rabbit was dead and could never be found. That meant that Abamama's illness could not be cured either.
'Is there really no way to cure Abamama's illness?'
There were only about 11 months left. His heart was anxious and dizzy.
Wooreung-
The sky roared loudly. Dark clouds gathered over the roof. As Neoul's eyes became wetter little by little, the weather became more severe. The large window leading to the terrace rattled violently in the wind.
Raindrops fell and knocked on the window. "What, what is it?"
Won Hashin looked out the window. The wind and rain were blowing only near his house. On the road across from there, not a single tree swayed.
"Why is the wind and rain only here..."
The thin raindrops were quickly getting heavier. Won Hashin looked out the window and inside the house with a frightened face.
Neoul chewed the inside of his mouth.
'No, there must be another way.'
When Neoul was a newborn, the Dragon King saved him from death. At the time, Neoul's wounds were deep and he cried so much that even the doctor gave up.
He heard that the Dragon King desperately saved his life.
'So I'll find a way for him too.'
If you tenaciously cling to anything, there's nothing in the world that's impossible.
Thinking that way, Neoul tried to calm his raging heart. However, it was hard to calm his heart down.
Drip drip!
The raindrops hitting the window were loud.
At that moment, Baek Yuri, who was the most calm despite being tied to a chair, asked a question.
"What's the difference between that rabbit and other rabbits?"
Why on earth does it have to be 'that rabbit's' liver?
The sea priestess answered, pulling her hood down even more.
"That's a very good question."
"....."
"That rabbit was no ordinary rabbit, but a thief who stole the mountain god's elixir. That's why he was able to survive the deep sea dragon palace without dying. The rabbit returned to land and lived a long life before dying. And then he was reincarnated."
"Reincarnation…?"
Suddenly. The wind blew.
Raindrops continued to fall, but they gradually subsided.
Even the strength in Neoul's grip, which was so tight that his joints were sticking out, slightly waned.
"Yes, reincarnation. And as a human."
The sea priestess looked away from Neoul and stared at Baek Yuri as she continued speaking.
"The reincarnated rabbit has an outstanding appearance that stands out wherever he goes, a face that looks like a rabbit, and is born with the power of the elixir, so his body is very strong and his skin is good. He is also destined to live a long life."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the room turned their heads and looked at Baek Yuri.
The owner of a rabbit-like face that reminded anyone of a white rabbit.
Pure and pitiful, with an outstanding appearance.
A healthy, strong body that runs fast.
The conditions just happened to fit.
Even Won Ha-shin and Dong Dong, who had just watched the broadcast, knew that Baek Yuri was strong enough to lift and move a large body like a bundle.
"And you will have memories from before your reincarnation. If you are still young, your memories may not have come back. However, before you turn twenty-five, you will definitely remember your past life. That is all I have heard."
The sea priestess added one last thing and closed her mouth.
Baek Yuri felt a chill down his spine as all eight eyes (even Neoul) looked at him.
"...Why, why are you looking at me...?"
He rolled his eyes, sweat dripping down his face.
—