Page 18 of Gumiho Kiss (Realm of Eternal Blossoms #1)

The Interrogation

“L ady Lee!” Hyun Soo shouted as he came to, fingers grasping at the air in a vain effort to lift a hwando that was no longer in his hand.

He groaned at the throbbing pain in his back; it felt like the ghost’s fire was still blazing under his skin.

He swiveled his head, taking in the empty courtyard.

Panic rose in his chest. What had happened to the ghost? And where was?—

His breath caught at the sight of a burgundy skirt. Lady Lee stood under a maple tree a few yards away. Her face was whiter than bone, and the dagger she’d wielded earlier was clenched in her fist, shining with silver blood.

Hyun Soo pulled himself up and bounded over to her, eyes peeled for any trace of their ghostly foe. “Lady Lee, are you all right?” He grabbed her wrist when she didn’t respond. “Lady Lee?”

She blinked as though coming out of a daze, then peered up at him with a soft smile. “Mr. Park, I’m glad to see you’re awake.”

Her gentle response threw him off. Again, she hadn’t reacted the way he’d expected her to after a fight. Why wasn’t she crying or screaming like any other woman would be?

He released her wrist, a line forming between his brows. “What happened? Where’s the ghost?”

Lady Lee shuddered as though recalling something painful, then shook her head. “He’s gone.”

“Gone? How? Did you—” He broke off. The idea that she could have fended off the ghost seemed laughable, and yet he couldn’t help but remember how fearlessly she’d come to his rescue.

And her voice when she’d confronted the spirit—it hadn’t been the voice of a helpless noblewoman, but rather, the command of a warrior.

“Don’t touch what belongs to me, or I will tear you apart.”

A flush broke out over Hyun Soo’s neck despite himself. What could she have meant by that? She couldn’t have been referring to him. . . .

But if not him, what else could she have been talking about?

The answer hit him like a splash of cold water. It was because he was her bodyguard. That had to be it.

“There was . . . someone else,” Lady Lee replied. “He came and—and took him away.”

“Someone else? Who?”

“It was a?—”

Clomping footsteps drew their attention to the main gate.

A dozen black-robed police officers swarmed into the school courtyard like wasps, spreading out in all directions with spears ready.

One policeman branched off to inspect the corpse, then gestured to the others.

From the back of the group came a tall officer in a blue inspector uniform, a sword fastened to his side.

He spoke with the policeman kneeling by the dead scholar, expression grave, then seemed to notice Hyun Soo and Lady Lee for the first time.

The officer strode up to them, the amber beads on his police hat swinging back and forth. He bowed before addressing Hyun Soo. “Thank you for your patience. I’ll just need to ask the two of you a few—” His eyes slid over to Lady Lee and widened in surprise. “Chin Sun, what are you doing here?”

Hyun Soo stepped in front of his mistress, blocking the officer’s view. “Who are you?” He did nothing to disguise the indignation burning within him. How dare this man address her so informally! Not even Dol Sam spoke to Lady Lee like that.

The officer frowned and took a moment to size Hyun Soo up, wrinkling his nose. “I’m Inspector Kim. And you are?” His voice was sharp with annoyance.

Hyun Soo glared in return. “Park Hyun Soo, Lady Lee’s new bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard?” Inspector Kim’s jaw tightened. “Chin—Lady Lee, is that true?”

Lady Lee stepped out from behind Hyun Soo, much to his disappointment, and bowed to the officer. “Yeh. You’re looking well. And you’re an inspector now—very impressive.”

Hyun Soo’s head whipped between the two in confusion.

He didn’t like the friendly, almost affectionate, grin on Lady Lee’s face.

She was Dol Sam’s fiancée. She shouldn’t be giving others false hope, especially not this policeman who looked much too young to be an inspector.

“You . . . how do you two know each other?”

“Inspector Kim’s family used to live next to mine. We often played together as children, but we haven’t seen each other in a very long time.” Lady Lee gave the inspector a pointed glance, something unspoken passing between them.

“I got you out of quite a few scrapes, didn’t I?” Inspector Kim leered.

Hyun Soo waited for Lady Lee to shut him down, to remind him of proper decorum between grown men and women. Especially when one of them was betrothed.

Instead, a teasing glint came into Lady Lee’s eye. “Is that how you remember our childhood? Funny, I thought I got you out of trouble far more often.”

Inspector Kim had the gall to look sheepish. “Perhaps my memory is faulty. I?—”

“Aren’t you here on official police business?” Hyun Soo interrupted. “Or do I need to complain to your supervisor?”

“Mr. Park,” Lady Lee snapped, “there’s no need for such rudeness.”

Inspector Kim held up his hand. “No, he’s right.

We can reminisce about the old days another time.

The scholar who came to us explained what happened”—he jerked his chin toward the corpse—“but he also said someone went hunting for the killer. I assume he meant you?” He raised his eyebrows at Hyun Soo as if he didn’t think the bodyguard was brave enough to do such a thing.

Hyun Soo responded with a haughty smile. “I’m always ready to defend those who need it. As an officer, I’m sure you understand.”

Inspector Kim rolled his eyes. “Well? Did you find the killer then?”

Hyun Soo grimaced, the bravado whooshing out of him as he recalled their fearsome adversary. “Yeh, but . . .”

How would this inspector take it if he told him there was a real ghost here? Hyun Soo hadn’t been in Sokju long, but from what he’d seen, superstition didn’t hold much weight with most of the citizens.

After a few beats, the inspector added, “The scholar said the victim shouted ‘Gwishin’ before he passed. Is that true?”

Lady Lee jumped in before Hyun Soo could answer. “He did, but it’s not what you’re thinking, Inspector. He wasn’t talking about the vigilante.”

“He wasn’t? But then, why would he say that?”

“I . . .” Her gaze flicked to Hyun Soo, but he had no idea what to say either, so he gave her a subtle head shake. There was something a little off in her behavior, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

She said to the inspector, “He must have made a mistake. I know for a fact that the vigilante didn’t do this.”

Hyun Soo cocked his head to the side, curiosity snagging his thoughts.

Lady Lee’s voice had wavered when she’d begun speaking, but during that last sentence, it had hardened with resolve.

Why? Why was it so important that the inspector knew Gwishin wasn’t responsible for this? She couldn’t be a supporter, could she?

“Did you see the perpetrator?” Inspector Kim pressed.

“Yeh, we did,” Hyun Soo supplied. “He got past me and ran off.”

The inspector glanced between the two suspiciously, then his expression turned smug. “Not a very proud moment for you as a bodyguard, hmm?”

A barb danced on Hyun Soo’s tongue. “Actually?—”

“He did his job very proficiently,” Lady Lee cut in. “If he hadn’t protected me, I wouldn’t be standing here, Inspector. I’d be lying on the ground with that scholar.”

Hyun Soo gaped at her. She was defending his honor now? Even though they’d both nearly died? There was no need for her to do that. He hadn’t protected her as he should have. Why was she helping him?

She met his eye and gave him an encouraging nod, which sent warmth skittering through his heart. She didn’t see him as the enemy anymore, did she? She was helping him because she wanted to.

Just like when she’d put herself in harm’s way to save him.

He’d been wondering if he’d misjudged her before—now he had his answer.

Lady Lee might be headstrong and more prone to join a fight than flee one, but she wasn’t a bad person.

She was . . . well, Hyun Soo didn’t quite know what she was, but he felt better now about Dol Sam marrying her.

It seemed his friend had made a wise choice, after all.

Inspector Kim asked a few more probing questions, to which Lady Lee and Hyun Soo answered honestly whenever possible, though there were a few times when the best they could offer were half-truths.

“Chin Sun-ah?” came a strained voice.

The trio turned as Lord Lee scurried over to them and caught his niece up in an embrace.

“Oh, my dear one. I thought I’d lost you.

How is it you’re still here? Why didn’t you stick closer behind me?

You’re not hurt, are you?” He examined her face and hands for marks and, finding only some dirt and scratches, hugged her again.

Lady Lee readily accepted his affection, squeezing him back. “I’m all right, Uncle. I’m sorry I lost you in the crowd. You don’t need to worry. Mr. Park took care of me.”

Lord Lee drew back and addressed Hyun Soo, gratitude sparkling in his eyes. He bowed. “Thank you, Mr. Park, for watching over my niece. I wasn’t sure about you initially, but now I’m relieved Young Master Kang hired you.”

“So, you were here when the murder took place, Lord Lee?” Inspector Kim asked.

Lord Lee lit up in recognition as he turned to the officer. “Kim Min Joon, I almost didn’t recognize you! The last I heard, you were leaving to study in Ming. When did you get back?”

Inspector Kim grinned. “I’ve been home for a year now, but I became an inspector about six months ago.”

“How exciting. You’ll need to tell me all about what you thought of Ming—” He broke off with a wince. “After you’re finished with the investigation, of course. I’m happy to do what I can to help you. What was it you were asking?”

Teachers and scholars started drifting back into the courtyard, so the inspector pulled Lord Lee aside to speak privately.

Hyun Soo wandered over to Lady Lee, eager to get his own private word in. “My lady, you didn’t finish what you were trying to tell me before. Who took the ghost away?”

The young woman peeked over at her uncle and the inspector, then leaned in to whisper near his ear. “He didn’t identify himself, but he looked like . . . a grim reaper.”

Ice seeped into Hyun Soo’s bones as she described a dark figure that had appeared at the edge of the schoolyard and overpowered the ghost as if it were child’s play. He’d summoned a red rope out of nowhere, tapped the monster’s shoulder, and then both had vanished.

Gumiho, ghosts, and now grim reapers? Was he in some kind of nightmare? All his training, all his battles, none of it had prepared him for enemies like these. Monsters straight from folklore that were nigh unbeatable.

His chest tightened. The vigilante was nothing compared to this. This was an entirely new level of danger. Threats that weren’t bound by the laws of nature. Threats that could disappear and reappear at will.

He gripped the back of his neck, knowing his unease must be bleeding onto his face. He had to get it together.

His gaze turned to his charge, wondering how she was so calm, so collected, even in the face of such frightening circumstances. Her hands were steady at her sides, her mouth a neutral line.

She had to be faking it. Didn’t she know how close they’d come to perishing? Only a fool would be unaffected by something like that. It must be that she just didn’t want him to know how upset she was.

Hyun Soo took a deep breath and spread his lips into a grin. If she didn’t want to admit how she truly felt about the incident, he supposed he could indulge her. Pretending everything was fine was better than bursting into tears. If Lady Lee did that, he didn’t know what he would do.

“Ah, now everything makes sense,” he said. “Who better to get rid of an unruly ghost than a grim reaper?”

Lady Lee’s mouth moved downward instead of into a smile, a clear sign his attempt at humor had failed. She continued to speak in a hushed tone. “That’s something else I wanted to tell you. The creature we fought—he wasn’t actually a ghost. He was a goblin.”

Hyun Soo blinked. “A goblin? Are you sure?”

She nodded. “The blue fire is what tipped me off. That and . . .” She fidgeted with the red ribbon in her hair. “He admitted it himself when I called him out for it.”

She said it so matter-of-factly, almost trivially, that something inside Hyun Soo snapped. “Have you no fear, woman?”

Lady Lee tensed, indignation flashing across her face, but he wasn’t finished. Now that the dam holding back his pent-up feelings on the matter had burst, everything flooded out before he could stop it.

“How am I supposed to protect you if you have no sense of self-preservation? Is jumping into fights you can’t win a habit of yours?”

She crossed her arms. “I never asked you to protect me. That was all Young Master Kang’s idea. I was doing just fine before you showed up.”

Hyun Soo threw his hands in the air, his temperature rising.

“You tried to take on a goblin. You were about to take on those thugs in the alley last week”—he pointed a furious finger at her when she started to protest—“don’t try to deny it!

Just who do you think you are to be going around doing these dangerous things?

It’s almost like you think you’re . . . you’re . . .”

Lady Lee leaned back, the outrage clearing from her eyes. Maybe his words were getting through to her, and she realized now how foolish she’d been. He waited for her to mumble an apology or at least an admission of wrongdoing.

But instead of guilt or regret, a different emotion bloomed on her face. And it was the last one he would have expected.

Fear.