I Became the Owner of the Heavenly Flower Palace-Chapter 32: It Was Burned

The corridor of the Heavenly Flame Palace was magnificent.

The sight of splendid columns lined up in a row inspired both awe and a sense of pressure.

While walking down that vast corridor, Ilyo suddenly spoke.

“Shall I prepare a meal?”

Growl.

At the same time, a sound came from Jincheon’s stomach.

Come to think of it, he had skipped breakfast, and the few xiaolongbao he'd eaten earlier were all he’d had today, yet it was already nearing evening.

There was no avoiding the hunger.

“I intend to have a proper meal. Will that be all right?”

“Anytime is fine.”

Ilyo, her head bowed, asked,

“Where would you like to dine?”

The pavilion from earlier had a beautiful view, but it wasn’t suited for a proper meal.

“In the bedchamber...”

Jincheon paused mid-sentence.

The Oracle’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind. As he looked carefully at the seven palace maids, he continued speaking.

“Is that allowed?”

The black-haired maid, Ilyo, answered.

“It is. If it is that you wish for us...”

“No, no. I’m asking because that’s not the case.”

“...I see.”

Ilyo blinked once, then answered quietly.

“The Seven Luminaries freely enter and exit the Red Dragon’s bedchamber. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, no one will misunderstand.”

Jincheon nodded.

Considering the duties of palace maids, it made sense.

“I see. Then let’s head to the bedchamber.”

“Yes.”

Jincheon began to walk.

Though he had only taken this path a few times, it wasn’t difficult to remember.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

Thanks to that, he clearly heard the whispers behind him.

“...Whoa. For a second, I thought big sister was spending her first night.”

“It’s not even night yet, though.”

“Pfft, what does the time of day matter? And her heart definitely started beating faster earlier.”

“Well, that’s true... but why are you so concerned about big sister’s first night?”

“Obviously I care. Because next is us.”

“Ahem.”

Unable to take any more, Jincheon cleared his throat.

Ilyo, following behind, spoke in a soft voice.

“It’s a habit formed from using voice transmission. If it displeases you, I can make them stop talking entirely.”

The way she said “make them stop talking” sent a chill down Jincheon’s spine, as if it meant something else entirely.

“No, there’s no need to go that far...”

Telling her “just make sure I can’t hear it” would be the same thing anyway.

Besides, some of that idle chatter actually gave him useful insights, so it wasn’t entirely bad for Jincheon.

As long as he could pretend not to hear it with enough shamelessness.

“But voice transmission... is that what Gi Seoran and Po Eunryeong were using last night?”

Back then, they had mentioned that voice transmission was forbidden within the palace.

“Is it kind of like ventriloquism?”

Thinking that, Jincheon continued walking.

Lights glimmered here and there, softly illuminating the corridor.

Jincheon arrived at the bedchamber.

Large, ornate, luxurious—a place that didn’t suit him at all—but having spent a night here, it felt surprisingly comfortable.

“I will prepare the meal.”

The black-haired maid, Ilyo, said.

The silver-haired maid, Wolyo, and the golden-haired maid, Hwayo, joined tables with practiced ease to create a dining setup.

“Please, take a seat.”

“Thank you.”

Wolyo bowed her head as if to say it’s nothing at all.

Despite being a palace maid, silver-haired, violet-eyed Wolyo exuded a noble elegance.

In contrast, Hwayo, with her radiant golden hair and red eyes, possessed a strong feminine allure that made Jincheon’s eyes wander toward her chest before he could stop himself.

Hmm.

As before, Jincheon quickly averted his gaze with deliberate effort.

Silver and gold hair darted about. Deep blue strands and auburn locks passed through his view, confusing Jincheon’s senses.

Not knowing where to focus his eyes, he was soon distracted by a wafting, delicious aroma.

Oh.

Jincheon was surprised.

Before he knew it, an extravagant feast—truly a banquet of delicacies from land and sea—was laid out before him.

A true royal spread. At this level, even high-end courtesan houses or noble inns wouldn’t... huh?

The table was already full of dishes. Yet the maids were still bringing out more food.

Golden-haired Hwayo was attaching another table to expand the dining area.

“Wait a moment!”

At Jincheon’s voice, the maids froze mid-motion.

Wolyo, who was pouring tea beside him, immediately lifted the teapot.

“...There’s no way I can eat this much.”

Jincheon said seriously.

No matter how hungry he was or how long he’d gone without a proper meal—how on earth was he supposed to eat this much food?

The table had already grown to twice the size it was when he first sat down. He couldn’t even reach the middle, let alone the end.

The black-haired maid, Ilyo, spoke softly.

“It’s all right. You only need to taste them.”

Just taste?

While Jincheon was puzzled, she continued.

“Take a single bite, and the rest will be burned.”

Jincheon was shocked.

They’re going to burn... the food?

It was a statement he couldn’t possibly accept.

Of course, history had never lacked examples of decadent luxury and excess.

There were too many to count—stories of drunken forests and meat-filled lakes, records of tyrants boiling whole pigs just to taste a bite and discard the rest.

But those stories were never told as examples to follow.

“That’s...”

Jincheon was about to object firmly, but he stopped.

This place followed rules different from his common sense.

Maybe there was some other reason for it.

“...Is there a reason it has to be burned?”

Jincheon asked instead.

A strange light flickered in Ilyo’s eyes, but she soon answered in a calm voice.

“What has been presented to the Red Dragon—how could a mere person dare covet it? And who could bear what the Red Dragon’s hand has touched?”

Jincheon felt deflated.

...Damn it.

Whenever something bizarre or unreasonable happened here, slapping “because of the Red Dragon” onto it seemed to explain everything.

And this time was no different.

“No one, save the Oracle herself, is permitted to sit at the table with the Red Dragon. Let alone tasting something touched by the lips of the Dragon—such permission cannot be granted to anyone. We ourselves cannot eat it...”

Her trailing words sounded like muttering, and a little strange, but Jincheon understood nonetheless.

He had already known that food bestowed by a ruler to a subordinate carried special meaning. So he had no choice but to accept it.

Then, out of nowhere, a strange thought occurred to him.

Wait, then...

“What about people?”

Maybe it was because of words like lips and touch.

Regardless, Jincheon was a young man in full vigor, surrounded by beautiful women, and the Oracle had told him to “take whomever you wish.”

But Jincheon quickly realized how unreasonable his question was.

“No, I mean...”

“How could people be compared to food?”

A completely natural answer flowed from Ilyo’s lips.

Jincheon sank into self-loathing over his own stupidity—but then Ilyo continued speaking.

“All those within the Heavenly Valley dwell under the Red Dragon’s favor. Of all things under heaven touched by the Red Dragon’s hand, only people are not burned.”

To Jincheon, those words sounded even more ominous.

Didn’t that imply that under normal logic, even people should be burned?

“Ah, um, well... Understood.”

Jincheon gave up on continuing the conversation.

It wasn’t something he seriously wanted to understand anyway. It had nothing to do with him.

“No need to bring out any more food. This is enough. Ah, just place the rest on the table.”

Toyo, who had been frozen in place with a dish in hand, nearly in tears, hurriedly set it down on the table.

Shaking off the last of his distracting thoughts, Jincheon looked down at the feast with expectant eyes.

Countless dishes he’d never even seen before were laid out to tempt him.

All right, then...

It was finally time to eat.

Just as Jincheon picked up his chopsticks, a sudden thought struck him, and he stopped mid-motion. He turned to Ilyo and asked:

“Wait. Then, this morning... my clothes...”

As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Ilyo answered:

“They were burned.”

Jincheon blanked out for a moment.

Burned?

Even if they were sweaty and dirty, they were still perfectly wearable.

Burning them—how did that make any sense?

And besides, that was something Jincheon had bought with his own money. It belonged to him.

But the black-haired maid, Ilyo, met his eyes with absolute composure.

Though it was bewildering, Jincheon couldn’t help but feel impressed.

...Ha. So this is it.

This was the perfect embodiment of what that old man used to say:

“So what are you going to do about it?”

Still, admiration and loss were two separate things.

They were still good enough to wear.

A real waste.

And once the clothes were gone, what was he supposed to wear when he left the palace and became a free man?

Tsk. What if they burn the rest of my luggage too...

Then, like a bolt of lightning, realization struck Jincheon.

That thing he’d been half-remembering since last night—

That subtle sense that he’d forgotten something important—

He suddenly remembered what it was.

“My bag!”

Clatter.

Jincheon leapt to his feet and shouted.

Gone.

The bag he had carried on his back from his hometown all the way to Mount Giryeon.

His entire fortune—and the merchandise he’d bought with his friend’s money—was inside that precious pack.

And it was gone.

“What’s wrong?”

Came Ilyo’s calm voice.

But Jincheon couldn’t respond properly.

“Ah, it’s just... I think I lost my bag...”

“Where did you leave it?”

Where?

Ilyo’s question gripped Jincheon’s swirling thoughts.

He didn’t have it when he entered the Heavenly Valley or the Heavenly Flame Palace.

Thinking back, he hadn’t carried it when he went to Tianshan Daeru tavern either.

The inn!

He had definitely left it at the inn where he’d rented a room.

Just then—

“If it is in Gansu, then it ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) belongs to us. We will retrieve it without fail. If it is in the Central Plains, it may take a little time, but it won’t be difficult. If it’s in the Northern Sea, the Ice Palace will assist us, and in Qinghai, the Gongtong clan will take the lead. And if it lies in the Great Desert...”

Ilyo paused briefly, then continued:

“...Then the Heavenly Flame, Baekrim, the Twelve Signs Commanders, the Four Winds Commanders—every part of the Heavenly Valley will act to recover what belongs to the Red Dragon.”

“Uh...”

Jincheon couldn’t follow what she was saying.

Most of the words she used didn’t make sense to him at all.

Why was the Ice Palace being mentioned? What did the Gongtong clan have to do with this?

He couldn’t understand why such enormous factions were being invoked over one forgotten bag. And the scope of the regions she listed was absurdly vast.

“Where is it?”

Ilyo asked again.

Jincheon hesitated slightly before replying.

“Well... it’s at an inn in Jucheon...”

“If it’s Jucheon, then it’s as familiar to us as the back of our hand. You have nothing to worry about.”

He didn’t even have the strength to argue with the exaggeration.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Ilyo turned to the other six maids and said,

“Hwayo, take Suyo and Mogyo and go to Jucheon. Overturn the entire city if you must, but retrieve what belongs to the Red Dragon.”

“Yes.”

It was a perfect execution of military command—order given, order received.

The three maids were already turning to leave when Jincheon quickly stopped them.

“Wait!”

Facing the maids who looked back at him, Jincheon spoke as calmly as he could.

“The place is an inn in Jucheon, and the item is my travel pack.”

Sending them off without knowing what they were looking for? He appreciated the help, but this was way too reckless.

“The inn is an old two-story place not far from the Tianshan Daeru tavern. I don’t know the name—it was too weathered to read the sign. I only paid for one night, so the owner might have cleared out the room by now.”

Most inns, after all, dispose of any belongings left behind by guests who don’t return.

And expecting them to turn in lost items to local authorities was obviously unrealistic.

Hwayo, with her golden hair, Suyo with her deep blue hair, and Mogyo with her auburn hair, nodded at Jincheon’s explanation.

“Are there any further instructions?”

Ilyo asked.

“No.”

After confirming Jincheon’s answer, Ilyo turned to Hwayo, Suyo, and Mogyo.

“Go.”

The three maids bowed to Jincheon and immediately withdrew.