There’s a Monster Inside Me Chapter 26

There’s a Monster Inside Me

Chapter 26

“Maru, Maru!”

I barely opened my eyes as Gurumi shook my shoulder.

“Maru, are you sick or something?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

Gurumi looked worried as I stretched.

It made sense, since he’d seen me sleep in late when I normally woke up at dawn to train without fail.

But last night someone was making too much noise… my body aches and my stomach feels bloated.

The clear reason for my fatigue was overeating.

The food spirit demon indulged after encountering tasty creatures after a long time.

The silver wolf demon resisted intensely but in the end none remained.

Fifteen orbs spat out by the food spirit demon.

I also expended energy coating layer after layer of my deep spiritual power below my dantian after consuming all fifteen orbs.

Since I couldn’t absorb all the spiritual power, I selectively inhaled only the extremely virtuous energy.

In the end, I had to skip breakfast and lunch, lying in bed focused on meditation.

“Where are the seniors?”

“They already left at dawn. They said they’re going to drive the wolf pack outside the village.”

“Hmm, I see. Then I’ll just lie down a bit longer.”

I continued meditating in bed.

Only after sweating profusely with effort could I fully digest the spiritual power extracted from the wolves.

Though I fasted all day, spiritual power surged through my fingertips and toes. My whole body tingled with overflowing energy, as if I had received a transmission of profound Taoist power.

“Maru! Maru!”

Around evening, I heard Gurumi’s urgent voice.

The seniors who had left early at dawn for beast hunting had returned.

They had originally planned to be gone for three days to defeat the wolf demon. But to return on the same day by early evening…

The reason was obvious.

The seniors had dazed expressions as if bewitched. They said they encountered wolf demon in the deep forest without paths.

More precisely, just their paw pads.

They couldn’t find any other parts no matter how hard they looked.

“They seem to have considered two possibilities. One is that after seeing the Thousand-Year School students come out, a Taoist or sorcerer from the academy secretly helped.”

I shouted inside.

‘Wrong!’

“But it’s strange that only paw pads remained.”

Gurumi shook his head and continued.

“The second possibility is that a terrifying demon appeared that completely annihilated the wolf demon!”

‘Ding dong dang.’

I mentally declared the correct answer.

“What do you think?”

“I think…”

Gurumi glanced sideways and lowered his voice.

“Someone with great spiritual power helped us. Like… that immortal who helped us before.”

The immortal Gurumi mentioned was the white serpent Baek Eun-ok.

Before disappearing into the crack, Baek Eun-ok made Gurumi and Jin-dallae promise firmly: Tell no one about me!

Because of this, nobody knew about the white immortal who had helped us.

“Could it be that person from before…?”

‘Wrong!’

My gaze naturally turned to my wrist. Baek Eun-ok remained motionless with closed eyes, posing as a white bracelet.

***

“Awww, so upsetting, so upsetting.”

Princess Eun-deok’s expression was full of boredom as she gazed out the window.

“Your Highness, he said he’d return in half a month.”

“Your benefactor will return safely.”

Two handmaidens stuck close to the princess, dressing her, combing her hair, and comforting her empty heart.

‘Oh my…’

Jin-dallae secretly sighed from one corner of the bed.

The dormitory room that was once spacious for her alone had now become the most cramped room with the princess and her handmaidens coming and going.

With the handmaidens hovering around brushing and adjusting her clothes, Princess Eun-deok definitely shone despite wearing the same freshman uniform.

And that wasn’t all! Thanks to their thorough cleaning that left not a speck of dust, the room sparkled from floor to ceiling.

If the princess was going to receive help from her handmaidens anyway, it would be better if she had her own private room… why was she staying in this cramped room?

Jin-dallae secretly sighed again today.

“UGH, so irritating! What’s a beast hunting team? Why would they go to such a place?!”

The reason for Princess Eun-deok’s irritation was that Maru and Gurumi had volunteered for the beast hunting team. It was impossible to predict when her temper would explode.

‘Oh dear, I should leave quickly.’

Jin-dallae promptly left the room.

Wondering where to go, Jin-dallae slipped into the room next door.

“It’s your fault, so you take responsibility.”

Jin-dallae entered Maru’s room and took out the book she planned to read today.

RUSTLE!

Only the sound of turning pages filled the quiet empty room.

Quite some time passed like this.

GROWL!

Her stomach grumbled, signaling that quite some time had passed.. After finishing all the books she brought, Jin-dallae left the room without leaving any trace.

“AAACK…!”

As she came out, Jin-dallae dropped the book she was holding.

Just her luck. Why of all people was Princess Eun-deok standing right in front of the door?

The princess, who had been passing through the corridor, glared at Jin-dallae with fierce eyes.

“Jin-dallae, why are you coming out of there?”

“Oh, well… I lent a book, you see.”

Jin-dallae held up the book as an excuse.

“Who did you lend it to?”

“Pardon?”

“Could it be Bada…”

Jin-dallae jumped at the princess’s suspicious gaze.

“Bada Gurumi! Yes, of course it was Gurumi! Gurumi is so disorganized that I lent him a book, yes indeed!”

“Ah, is that so?”

Princess Eun-deok’s eyes quickly curved into a smile. If Maru’s name had been mentioned, she would have glared murderously.

“By the way, Jin-dallae, you seem quite close with Maru?”

“C-close? No way!”

Jin-dallae jumped again.

“Why would I be friends with those kids? The girls won’t include me because they say I act uncivilized, so I ended up hanging around the boys. We just acknowledge each other because we live next door, we’re not close at all.”

“Really?”

“If we were close, would they have left me behind when they went to the beast hunting team?”

Looking at Jin-dallae with her protruding lips, she seemed just as disappointed as Princess Eun-deok.

Perhaps feeling a sense of shared misery, Princess Eun-deok grasped Jin-dallae’s hands and shook them.

“HEEENG, no friends, all alone. Poor Jin-dallae…”

Strength entered Jin-dallae’s eyes. How did it come to this?

“Anyway, where are you going?”

“Nowhere special. Just bored. Here and there… I’ll be back.”

“Yes, take care.”

Jin-dallae opened the door to her dormitory room with a sigh of relief.

She noticed the two handmaidens crouching by the window.

They usually knelt like shadows, seemingly invisible, and would check the princess’s clothes and fix her hair when she entered. Then at night, after ensuring the princess was settled in bed, they would slip out of the dormitory room like ghosts, returning early in the morning.

But as days passed, their faces grew increasingly yellow.

Naturally, the mansion in the capital where Grand Duke Sudeok resided would have chambers for Princess Eun-deok dozens of times larger than this room. How difficult it must be to be confined in such a cramped space.

Due to the princess’s stubbornness, they were enduring hardships they never expected, No wonder their faces were rotting away.

“SIGH…”

It would be better if they disappeared from the room while the princess was away, but without her orders, they couldn’t leave and just sat waiting quietly.

Jin-dallae, who was about to enter the room, came back out.

At least this way those pitiful handmaidens could rest and chat.

The princess was clearly burdensome in many ways.

Princess Eun-deok’s eyes stung slightly as she aimlessly walked through the grass. It was because Geum Tae-min was approaching from the distance.

For some reason, his golden hair seemed to shine more brightly today.

Geum Tae-min stopped at an appropriate distance and bowed his head.

“Princess.”

“Young Master Geum, where have you been?”

She wouldn’t normally ask, but Princess Eun-deok was extremely bored right now.

“Yes, I visited the Geum family’s private training grounds.”

“You went outside?”

“Yes, that’s correct. During personal training periods, we can move around freely.”

Geum Tae-min was polite and courteous, with a picture-perfect smile. Somehow his attitude seemed much more relaxed than usual.

Strangely, even the wariness Princess Eun-deok harbored toward Geum Tae-min wavered.

“Young Master Geum, do you know anything about the beast hunting team?”

Tae-min’s forehead twitched slightly. He couldn’t miss what Princess Eun-deok was interested in.

“I heard the beast hunting was completed successfully, and they’re returning earlier than planned.”

“Really?”

Joy filled Princess Eun-deok’s eyes. Tae-min’s golden eyes steadily gazed at the young girl’s green pupils.

Intense radiance overflowed from his eyes as he was about to pass by.

“Yes, Princess. If you could fly, you could meet the returning beast hunting team.”

He spoke pressing down on each word. While slowly continuing his speech, Geum Tae-min never blinked once.

The princess’s green eyes stared at his golden pupils as if being drawn in.

“If I could fly…?”

“Your Highness, the beast hunting team will be crossing the Nine Dragon Mountain valley.”

“Nine Dragon Mountain valley…”

“If you went to meet them…”

“Meet them…”

“They would be pleased.”

Geum Tae-min’s golden hair curled as if alive.

Princess Eun-deok couldn’t take her eyes off Tae-min’s pupils.

His words echoed repeatedly in her mind.

“Princess, then I shall take my leave now.”

“HAH!”

Only after he bowed respectfully did Princess Eun-deok suddenly feel her senses return.

She shook her head, but her mind soon became hazy again.

She didn’t even know what she was murmuring behind Geum Tae-min’s retreating back.

“If I fly… Nine Dragon Mountain valley…”

A clear smile appeared on Tae-min’s lips as he turned away.

Jin-dallae, returning from a walk around the herb garden, witnessed a strange scene. Princess Eun-deok was standing in front of the dormitory room muttering something.

“Beast hunting team… if I fly… Nine Dragon Mountain…”

“Princess?”

“Fly… Nine Dragon…”

“Pardon? What did you say, Princess?”

“…!”

Princess Eun-deok, who had been muttering the same words, suddenly came to her senses.

“Oh, Jin-dallae?”

“What are you doing here?”

“What, what is it…?”

Somehow it felt like she had dozed off despite having her eyes open. Entering the room, Princess Eun-deok dismissed her handmaidens early.

“Ah, I’m tired. I’m going to bed early, so everyone leave.”

The attendants who had been serving her bedtime needs bowed their heads and withdrew.

“Then, Princess, we’ll be going.”

The two handmaidens had been restless in the cramped room all day.

Since I couldn’t wander freely around the Thousand-Year School, most of the time was spent waiting. For the ladies-in-waiting, this place was almost like a prison.

The attendants’ faces were full of joy since they could only leave for their dormitory after the princess went to bed.

Jin-dallae, who had been turning pages for a while, also went to bed shortly after.

Deep night.

In that place where only insect sounds remained, Princess Eun-deok suddenly opened her eyes.

She quietly got up and took out a pumpkin-sized orb that she had placed deep in her bed. Holding it to her chest, she climbed out of the dormitory window.

Everything remained silent until she passed through the baraji gate and boarded the small carved boat.

“Demon beast hunting team… Nine Dragon Mountain…”

She repeated the same words with her mouth.

Only one thought remained in Princess Eun-deok’s mind. That she must welcome the demon beast hunting team… Her mind was filled with just that thought.

As if something terrible would happen if she didn’t.

After leaving the clear lake, the princess carefully smashed the orb she had been carrying against the ground.

CRASH!

As sharp fragments scattered everywhere, the power sealed within the orb awakened.

“NEEEIGH…!”

A white horse with large wings suddenly appeared from inside the broken orb.

A precious flying horse that could travel a thousand miles in one day.

It was a family treasure given by Grand Duke Sudeok, telling her to fly to him whenever she wanted to see her father.

Princess Eun-deok, mounted on the flying horse’s back, whispered quietly.

“Flying horse, take me there. To Nine Dragon Mountain.”

“NEEEIGH!”

The snow-white horse soared up into the pitch-black night sky.