A Kind Goblin’s Bird - Chapter 2

The Goblin’s Proposal Part 1

Meal did not come today.

The woman walked through the woods. Before the night falls, she must hurry home. She had no shoes. The last time she received clothes was ten years ago. Even though her clothes were worn out, they somehow held up, but no matter how much she saved her shoes, they couldn’t hold up. She needed daylight to roam the forest barefoot. Or she could be seriously injured.

Herbs, where are the herbs?

Looking back on what has been going, there will be no more food in the next two or three days. On the way home, the woman looked carefully at the ground. Herbs are highly reproducible plants. It had already descended from the top of the mountain last year, and now at this point, you can see two or three roots.

Winter is coming.

Will I be able to be alive this winter? The woman thought, looking for the herbs. Summer was particularly hot. Winter will be very cold. She might die this year. The woman paused for a moment. In order for her to live, she must walk and find the herbs. Or she would have to spend long nights with terrible hunger, and she would have to chew her own flesh. She would have had to cry dozens of times thinking about whether she would rather cut the flesh and eat it. Still, weighed down by the heaviness of life made her unable to walk even a single step.

Can’t I run away?

After her mother died, the woman reconsidered the thoughts that she had every day. Last year she was hung up on this thought only. If only she could descend this cursed mountain! If only she could escape just once, avoiding the eyes of the enlisted men imprisoning her in the mountains! Last year, she nearly succeeded. She had dug a tunnel. The tunnel that the woman alone made without tools were barely short of distance, and the tunnel was eventually discovered. At that time, she was whipped to the point where her back was peeled and flaking off. She thought she was going to die. No, she wished to die. She rather, but she did not die. Instead, the meal decreased, saying that it was because she was too strong. They will cut down on meals so she can’t do useless things, and she was only given one meal every two days. There were many times when they forgot. The woman has been starving for four days now.

Oh, it’s a herb.

The woman pulled the herb and chewed the leaves. One was not enough for her to last all night. She needed two or three roots to survive until dawn.

After she ate the herb, she got a little bit stronger. Her head is dizzy and her body is getting lighter little by little. Thank God. The weak energy began to turn. Hunger will be gone soon. The woman staggered and stood up. If the herb’s medicinal energy is in full swing, the vision will be brighter. Then she will be able to find the herbs better.

The woman squatted and wrapped her own head with her hands.

Why don’t the herbs kill people?

When she was not hungry and all her senses were clearly alive, she wished she could die at that time.

She remembered her mother who died a few years ago. Her mother said she was a goddess. When she was in a good mood, she told the story of a place that wasn’t the mountain. The woman couldn’t understand it very well, but she could only see that her mother missed it. The mother had been forced to bring the woman here. Each time the woman was guilty of her own existence. If it weren’t for her, her mother wouldn’t have been dragged to this dark mountain and she would not have died alone.

The mother told the woman not to die.

‘I prophesy in the last divinity, and you will be saved. And you will take my revenge. So you must live and take revenge on this mother. Forgive no one.’

Both the people and her mother called the woman a goddess. Goddess. She could write the words that she is a goddess, but she couldn’t figure out what it meant. Her mother had the name Yuhwa. The woman didn’t have a name. Her mother said that her name should be made by her father. The father called the woman goddess bitch. It wasn’t a name. The woman thought she didn’t have a name for herself.

As she reached out her hand to the second herb, the woman recalled her father. She recalled no, some guy she knew that she called father. He had a greedy and gleaming gaze. People said he was good-looking and virtuous, but the woman could see that what was in his bulging belly was enormous greed and lust.

The woman was sometimes dragged out of the mountains. On that day, she was able to eat full. It was a day when the woman who usually rarely washes in the stream water, took a hot bath. The maids washed the woman and put on a bunch of colorful clothes. They put a strange heavy gold crown on her head, covered her eyes with a silk cloth, and then introduced the woman to someone, saying she was a goddess. That day the woman had to be careful. If she did something wrong, the woman was severely beaten.

The woman sang that night, all night long. The woman herself does not know why she sings. It was like a call calling for her. It’s just that she never learned this song. When she was asked to sing, of course there is a song that comes to mind. A slow song with a tune that seems to last forever is a song that no one has ever taught her. The woman continues to sing that song. They put the sleeping person in front and the woman continues, she must sing until her throat is bleeding. If she stopped singing, the person who fell asleep will “go wrong”. Then she will be in a bad situation.

She will be dragged back and locked up in the mountains.

A life that seems to last forever. Like a song no one has taught, the bondage continues. The woman brought the second herb to her mouth and recalled death as it was a habit of hers.

‘You must live and take revenge on this mother.’

If it wasn’t for the will, the woman would have hung herself on the day her mother died.

‘You must live.’

That desperate voice stretches the woman’s breath a little bit every day. The woman took the herbs into her mouth as she breathed thinly and painfully. You have to eat. You have to eat to survive the night. Will the meal come tomorrow? Rather, if I die, if I die…….

Suddenly, it darkened over her head. When she raised her head, a bright red goblin was looking down at her.

Goblin…… ?

The woman blankly looked up at the goblin. Is it a mountain goblin? Was there a goblin in this mountain? If it had something like a goblin, she would have known it. The woman couldn’t know if she should run away, or if she should scream, or if she should just cry. No, nothing makes sense. How will she escape from the goblin’s grip; who will hear her scream, and what’s the use of crying? She is the only one here.

No, no.

Was she not hallucinating this?

The woman reached out and touched the goblin’s leather shoes. The woman did not know the name of this shoes. But she could feel that the leather was very soft. Even if she touched the shoes, the goblin only looked down at her.

Suddenly, the woman looked into the eyes of the goblin and recalled it last week.

Last week, the woman was rarely called into the guest room during the day instead of at night. The maids were annoyed that she was dirty when they didn’t have time. The maids couldn’t decorate the woman because the time was tight just by washing the woman. She was dressed lighter than usual. Without a gold crown or blindfold, she went to a guest room and sang.

That day the woman saw a man. It was one of seven men watching the sleeping man. The eyes were unique. Cool whites in black eyes. The eyes were beautiful, but they sucked in the soul with blood color. But the eyes themselves were warm like the summer night sky. It was an odd eye. The eyes themselves are warm even though they contain so much of other people’s resentments. The woman liked the eyes. It was strong and beautiful. So she looked into the eyes and sang. It was such an eye that she wouldn’t get tired of looking at it.

Yes, but those eyes were definitely more like a goblin’s rather than a human’s.

The woman chuckled.

“Lady?”

The goblin called the woman. Unlike his face, it was a nice voice to hear.

“Lady, what’s that in your hand… … Oh dear.”

The woman widened her eyes at ‘oh dear’, which does not match the goblin. The goblin’s face is still rough and red. But he seemed to be smiling somewhere, so the woman looked up at the face blankly.

It seems that the energy of the herb is stronger than usual. Rarely, among the herbs, there were those with strong medicinal properties. It seemed like she met something like that today.

“Come here please.”

The goblin knelt on one knee and aligned his eye level with the woman. As expected, it is beautiful eyes. The woman looked into the eyes and shook her head.

“No.”

“Do you know what it is? With bloodshot eyes and blushing cheeks, you’ve already done it. Young lady, you did something that goes against the laws of the country.”

The goblin’s words were difficult. The woman quietly listened to the voice. The goblin looks very scary. He was dressed in black, with a red face, and was very large. But only his voice seemed too good to hear like singing. The woman shook her head a little later.

“Rice soup? No, I didn’t eat anything like that today.”

The goblin was bewildered.

“No, the laws of the country. Law*.”

“The last time I ate a meal was four days ago. I am not the one who ate the rice soup.”

“Four days ago?”

“Yes, this is the only thing I ate for four days. So I am not the one who ate the rice soup.”

The woman lifted the herb. The goblin’s voice was lowered.

“You only ate herbs for four days?”

“Yes. So I’m not. Oh, by the way, Sir Goblin shouldn’t be here either. It’s a big deal if you talk to me. You will be beaten.”

“Beaten?”

“Yes. I can’t talk to anyone. I can’t use my neck except to sing. When the soldiers see it, Sir Goblin is also in trouble. Run along. Since you’re a goblin, you can do magic tricks, right?”

The goblin was silent for a moment.

He seemed like a goblin seeing people for the first time. He looked at the woman for a moment and then reached out his hand. The moment his hand moved, the woman closed her eyes tightly.

She was going to be hit.

But no matter how long she waited, the beating did not fall. Carefully opening her eyes, the goblin was looking down at her, stopping his hand in the air. As she opened her eyes, the goblin said quietly.

“I won’t hit you.”

“Because you are a goblin?”

The woman asked and the goblin nodded.

“Because I am a goblin.”

I see, because you’re a goblin, you don’t hit people.

The woman’s shoulders, which had been so tense, were released with a sigh of relief. The goblin’s hand gently rubbed the woman’s cheek. The woman closed her eyes and savored the hand of the goblin. After her mother died, no one had ever touched her like this. No, in fact, her mother had rarely touched the woman this way in her lifetime.

Oh, last week, there was a man with pretty eyes. You have big hands like that man. If you have these eyes, will you have similar hands, whether you are a goblin or a person?

“Then … You’re a good goblin.”

“…….”

“You can’t even kill people, can you?”

A goblin that can’t even hit a person can’t kill a person. The woman sighed. Who could kill her? Her father doesn’t kill her. Her father said both her and her mother’s bodies would be fed to the dog if she died. She thinks it’s okay to be eaten by a dog if this could end her damn life, but her mother’s thoughts would be different. So she can’t die.

It would be nice if he could kill.

It’s not her fault.

“Is there anyone you want to kill?”

Asked the goblin. She sighed quietly, not opening her eyes. The goblin’s body temperature was so high that the woman seemed to melt. If she melts, then she’ll die. If it could, no matter how painful it was, the woman would be able to bear it. Too bad. Even if this warmth touched her heart, it would not be able to burn her body.

“Lady?”

The woman grabbed the hand of the goblin covering her cheek.

“Goodbye.”

The woman let go of the goblin’s hand and stood up.

You shouldn’t involve an innocent goblin.

With her head dizzy in the herb, she thought blankly. It has been a while since someone has been nice to her. In fact, she wasn’t sure if that existence existed. Maybe that goblin is not a goblin but a tree or a stone. The energy of the herb is strong, so she may be doing something very strange.

She was happy though. Even if she was mistaken, it had been a long time since she had felt warmth and softness. She wishes she died now. when it’s so good

The woman staggered and walked. She has to go back before the sun goes down. It’ll be dangerous if she hurts her feet. But in the meantime, the forest darkened, and the woman’s hazy gaze did not see the stone. The woman stumbled loudly. She falls. The woman tightly closed her eyes. Then, someone caught her.

As she lifted her head, the goblin was looking down at her. His expression is unknown, but a red face that looks warmer than a person. The woman grinned.

“Thank you, Sir Goblin.”

“…….”

“Sir Goblin?”

“What is your name?”

The goblin’s voice was low. He has a voice that makes you feel nervous.

“Huh?”

“The name of the lady.”

The woman smiled blankly and shook her head.

“There is no such thing.”

Lady.

– Was that what I wanted? The woman thought with her dizzy head. If this goblin is a hallucinatory being, he must have appeared for the sake of the woman’s wish. Did she ever want to be called a lady? She didn’t remember well. She might have wished he were a goblin who gives food, but the goblin calling her Lady was really strange. He was strangely unfamiliar and sweet.

“The Lady who is not afraid of goblins doesn’t even have a name.”

“Yes.”

The goblin held the woman’s waist in his arms for a moment and was silent. The woman leaned her head in the arms of the goblin. She knew she had to go, but she didn’t want to go. It’s dangerous to stay up all night in the woods. A snake could have come out. If she is bitten by a snake, she will die.

Is it really dangerous?

No, it is life, not death, that is dangerous. A life that is bitten by a snake but does not die. A life in which she has to crawl with her leg festered and cut off. Such a life is terrifying. What to do if no one takes care of her, and her legs are gone. How is she supposed to live when her limbs are gone?

“Lady.”

“Huh?”

“Do you have a man in your heart?”

Man.

The woman burst into laughter. It was the laugh that came out years after her mother died. A  man in her hard life, a man! She laughed for a while, but the goblin didn’t. Far from being funny, he was giving strength to his arm that was holding the woman’s waist. Then the woman shook her head flutteringly.

“No name, no man.”

I can’t even die

She didn’t say the last word. The woman grabbed the goblin’s arm. She actually wanted to tell him not to go. The house in the mountains was too dark and cold. It was scary. And she was able to bear all of that, but it was hard to bear being lonely. She wanted him to not go. But the goblin must eat something too. He would have to cover up with something. There is nothing in her house. She didn’t even have a blanket, so she slept with the clothes removed from her dead mother’s body.

The goblin’s shoes were soft. The fabric that touched her skin was definitely silk. This goblin is a precious goblin. So he can’t live in shabby places. The woman sighed, squeezed the goblin’s arm and tried to slowly release him. However, the goblin did not let go of the woman.

“Then how about the goblin?”

“Huh?”

“Would you like to become the bride of the goblin?”

The woman looked up at him with dazed eyes. The goblin had a red, grim face. But he had a warm, heart-melting body temperature in his sturdy arms. The woman hesitated and whispered.

“My house is shabby.”

The woman was a little shy. She recalled the shabby hut, and the woman became gloomy and looked at the goblin. What if the goblin goes away? But it was the opposite. Instead of going away, the goblin, who saw the woman’s eyes, smiled slowly. Although the face was still rough, even the woman could tell that the goblin’s eyes were smiling.

***

Note:

The Law/Rice Soup exchange is actually super cute! So laws of the country are guk-bop (country-law), change one letter then it becomes rice soup guk-bap (soup-rice).