Chapter 84
0084 : Amcheonhyang (Dark Heaven Village)
The next day, I went out early in the morning to prepare for the royal ceremony guard duties. I wore the special ceremonial attire provided to me and learned how to move gracefully. Thankfully, although it was a guard for the ceremony, my role mainly involved walking along a designated path while holding a flag.
With a loud blast of instruments, the sounds of the erhu and guzheng filled the air. I circled around the royal shrine before standing in the designated spot. The royal ceremony honoring King Gongmin continued for about an hour, during which I had to stand still without moving from my spot.
“With this, the ceremony is concluded.”
Someone wearing a golden crown stepped forward to declare this loudly. After the event concluded, all the royal family members and nobles headed somewhere. The ceremony guards dispersed, each following the noble they were assigned to serve. Since I had some understanding of what to do next, I followed the procession to the grand event hall.
It was a splendidly arranged banquet hall. Under the cool, clear sunlight, a variety of sumptuous dishes were laid out, and musicians were prepared to perform. Across the large banquet tables, nobles were engaged in quiet conversation.
I was looking for the captain of the guard warriors who worked under Jeong Cheol-wook. When he spotted me while organizing the ranks, he said, “You should enter the white tent over there and wait.”
“Understood.”
Although I didn’t completely comprehend, pointing with his finger made it easy to follow his instructions. I entered the tent, which had simple seating arrangements for resting. It seemed I was meant to wait there until the sparring began.