UNDER THE VEIL OF MY SHADOW

Blood Under The Plum Tree

Written By:

Authoress Racheal❤️

Chapter 6:🔥🪾 Blood Under the Plum Trees🪾🔥

***{Joseon Palace, Physician’s Quarters, Midnight}***

The pain hit in waves.

Seo-yeon lay on the narrow cot, teeth clenched against the ache behind her eyes. The physician had said it was exhaustion. He didn’t know it was her shadow eating her from the inside out.

Across the room, Tae-wook stood by the door like a statue. He hadn’t left since they dragged her out of the archives.

“You should sit,” she said, voice hoarse. “You’ll get cramps.”

“I don’t get cramps.”

“Liar. Everyone gets cramps.”

He didn’t answer. Just watched her like she might dissolve if he looked away.

Seo-yeon sighed and pushed herself up. The physician’s herbs dulled the worst of it, but she still felt hollow. Like someone had scooped out the middle of her and forgotten to put it back.

“Why are you still here?” she asked. “I’m not a prisoner right now.”

“You are my assignment,” Tae-wook said. “And the Wraith tried to kill you twice in one night. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“That’s not duty talking.”

His jaw tightened. “Don’t read into it.”

She almost laughed. Almost. Instead, she reached for the water cup on the table. Her hand shook. She saw him notice.

“You want to know why I’m connected to this place,” she said suddenly. “To the Wraiths. To the palace.”

Tae-wook didn’t move, but his attention sharpened. “Yes.”

Seo-yeon set the cup down untouched.

“My mother wasn’t just a scholar,” she said. “She was the king’s shadowkeeper.”

Tae-wook frowned. “There’s no such title.”

“There was. Fifty years ago.” She pulled her knees to her chest. “The first king of this dynasty made a deal. To keep the palace safe, he bound a Veil Wraith beneath it. The Wraith would eat the shadows of intruders, traitors, assassins. In return, it would be fed. Fed with the shadows of criminals. Of the executed.”

Tae-wook’s expression didn’t change, but she saw the shift in his eyes. Disbelief turning to realization.

“The royal crypts,” he said quietly. “Under the east wing.”

Seo-yeon nodded. “My mother was the last of the shadowkeepers. Her job was to maintain the binding. To keep the Wraith asleep. To make sure it only took what it was given.”

“And it woke up,” Tae-wook said.

“Because someone broke the binding.” Her voice dropped. “Because someone wanted it free.”

The room went cold.

Tae-wook stepped closer. “Who?”

“I don’t know,” Seo-yeon said. “But I know why it’s targeting me. I’m my mother’s daughter. My blood is part of the binding. As long as I live, it can’t leave the palace grounds. As long as I live, it can’t fully manifest.”

“So it wants to kill you.”

“So it can be free.”

Silence fell. Outside, the wind picked up, rattling the shutters.

Tae-wook swore under his breath. “The king doesn’t know.”

“No,” Seo-yeon said. “If he knew the palace was built on a Wraith’s prison, he’d have me executed before breakfast. The dynasty would collapse.”

“And you’re telling me this now?”

“You asked.” She met his eyes. “And because if you don’t know, you’ll get us both killed.”

Tae-wook ran a hand down his face. “Gods.”

“Gods don’t help here,” Seo-yeon said quietly. “Only shadows do.”

Her shadow shifted under the cot, as if it understood.

Tae-wook was quiet for a long time. Then he asked, “Why didn’t you run when you had the chance?”

Seo-yeon looked at him like he’d asked something stupid. “Where would I go? The Wraith is bound to the palace. If I leave, it can follow me. And if it leaves the palace, it can kill anyone. Hundreds. Thousands.”

“So you’re staying.”

“I’m staying.”

He studied her. Really studied her. The defiance, the exhaustion, the way she sat like she was bracing for a blow that never came.

“You’re stupid,” he said finally.

“Probably,” she agreed.

He exhaled, and for the first time, he looked tired. Not just physically. The kind of tired that came from carrying too much for too long.

“Rest,” he said. “We hunt again tomorrow.”

“Rest?” Seo-yeon echoed. “After what I just told you?”

“If you don’t rest, you’ll be useless,” Tae-wook said. “And I need you useful.”

That was as close to ‘I don’t want you to die’ as he was going to get. She took it.

As she lay back down, she felt his eyes on her. Not suspicious anymore. Something else.

Something that made her chest ache for reasons that had nothing to do with the shadow.

***{Joseon Palace, East Crypts, The Next day, Night}***

The crypts were older than the palace.

Stone steps descended into darkness, the air heavy with dust and the smell of iron. Torches barely held back the dark down here.

Tae-wook moved first, sword drawn. Two guards followed, faces pale.

Seo-yeon came last, her shadow clinging to her ankles. She could feel it reacting to the place. Uneasy. Recognizing.

“The binding is here,” she whispered. “Beneath the central chamber.”

Tae-wook nodded. “Keep quiet. If it’s asleep, we don’t wake it.”

They didn’t.

They found the chamber half-collapsed, stone slabs cracked and shifted. And in the center, a circle of old sigils, broken in three places.

Fresh blood stained the cracks. Human blood.

Seo-yeon knelt and pressed her fingers to it. Still warm.

“Someone was here recently,” she said. “Someone who knows the binding.”

Tae-wook scanned the room, eyes sharp. “Minister Park.”

Seo-yeon looked up. “What?”

“Who else has access to the royal records? Who else would know about the shadowkeepers?” Tae-wook’s voice was low, dangerous. “Park has been pushing for your execution since day one. He wants the Wraith free.”

“Why?”

“Because chaos makes power,” Tae-wook said. “If the palace falls, he can step in. Declare himself regent. Control the next king.”

Seo-yeon stood, anger flaring. “He’s using me. Using my mother’s work.”

“And he’ll kill you to finish it,” Tae-wook said.

The torchlight flickered.

All three of them felt it. The drop in temperature. The weight in the air.

Seo-yeon’s shadow hissed and pulled back.

From the broken sigil, smoke began to rise.

Tae-wook stepped in front of her. “Back. Now.”

Too late.

The Wraith rose from the circle, larger than before. Its void-face turned toward Seo-yeon, and she felt it. Recognition. Hunger.

“Seo-yeon,” it whispered. Not with a voice. With her mind.

Her knees nearly buckled.

Tae-wook moved without thinking, shoving her behind him. “You don’t get her.”

The Wraith lunged.

The fight was brutal. Short. Desperate.

Tae-wook’s sword flashed, cutting through smoke and shadow. One guard went down, his shadow ripped away before he could scream. The other ran, dropping his torch.

Seo-yeon tried to call her shadow, but it wouldn’t come. She’d used too much. Her body was empty.

The Wraith grabbed her.

Cold flooded her veins. It felt like being buried alive. Like drowning in ice.

“Seo-yeon!” Tae-wook shouted.

She couldn’t answer. She couldn’t breathe.

The Wraith lifted her off the ground, its faceless void hovering over hers.

_Give me your shadow,_ it whispered in her mind. _Give me your blood, and I will be free._

Seo-yeon’s vision blurred. She thought of her mother. Of the peaches. Of Tae-wook standing between her and death without being asked.

She thought: _No._

With the last of her strength, she bit down on her own lip until blood filled her mouth. She spat it at the Wraith.

The blood hit the void-face and sizzled like acid.

The Wraith screamed.

It dropped her.

Tae-wook was there in an instant, catching her before she hit the ground. He pulled her against his chest, shielding her with his body as the Wraith thrashed.

“Hold on,” he muttered. “Hold on, damn it.”

Seo-yeon couldn’t respond. Her vision was darkening.

The last thing she saw was Tae-wook’s face, pale and furious, as he raised his sword.

***{Joseon Palace, Royal Gardens, Dawn}***

Seo-yeon woke to sunlight on her face.

She sat up slowly, head pounding. She was in the gardens, wrapped in Tae-wook’s robe. He sat beside her, sword across his knees, eyes red from lack of sleep.

“You’re alive,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“Barely,” she said. Her voice cracked. “What happened?”

“I drove it off,” Tae-wook said. “It won’t manifest for a few days. Not after you burned it with your blood.”

Seo-yeon touched her lip. It was split and swollen.

“My blood is part of the binding,” she said slowly. “It hurts it.”

Tae-wook nodded. “Which means you’re more than a weapon. You’re the key.”

Seo-yeon looked at him. “And you’re going to protect that key.”

Tae-wook didn’t answer right away.

Then he said, “Yes.”

No hesitation. No calculation. Just yes.

Seo-yeon didn’t know what to do with that.

So she said nothing. She just leaned back against the stone, and let his presence be enough.

For now, it was.