There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 466

467. Side Story – There is no Sejong in my Joseon

‘Damn it, this isn’t some 20-year-old drama.’

I muttered in disbelief, watching my brother step on the accelerator.

Why can’t anything be easy?

If the person we’re supposed to meet today really is Jo So-hwa.

A perfect picture of their love story continuing in front of my statue, as if proving this changed world.

I thought it would all end there out of the blue, but now I have to go straight to the airport. This is ridiculous.

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered this level of obstruction before.

‘The Yongle Emperor initially looked at me with displeasure, but…’

Is that guy, Duke Oguk, being similarly overprotective of his younger sister?

Back then, the age gap between siblings was closer to that of grandparents and grandchildren, so it was understandable, but looking back now, it’s subtly infuriating.

At least back then, there was someone to help me succeed in the royal marriage.

‘Hongxi Emperor, nephew, if you’re watching, give me strength.’

I saved all your grandsons, after all.

I heard they even left their names in history books for recording the customs and languages of the Native Americans, following Hwan.

I also fell into this era and looked it up.

Wasted thoughts cluttered my mind.

The more I thought, the more urgent I felt.

‘Wouldn’t it have been better to take the airport railroad?’

However, not long after we started, that thought vanished completely with my brother’s driving.

The car rapidly cut through the complex city center at bullet speed.

So much so that I said this:

“Drive a little slower. Who taught you to drive like this?”

When I asked, gripping the ceiling handle tightly with both hands, my brother replied curtly.

“Grandfather.”

“……He taught you well.”

I clicked my tongue.

But thanks to this rough driving, we fortunately arrived at our destination quickly.

“Stop here!”

“Car? Wait a minute, this side is…….”

I quickly entered Bupyeong International Airport without even hearing the rest of my brother’s words.

‘This airport is damn big.’

It’s going to be quite a headache to find someone in here.

In the original world, Incheon Airport was one of the largest airports in the world, but Bupyeong Airport seemed to have grown even larger, not smaller, due to Joseon’s strengthened national power.

‘Considering that, the location doesn’t seem much different from there.’

It’s because I drove my maternal family, the Min clan, into silver mine and salt farm development, which flew back as a strange butterfly effect.

Once money and people started pouring in, and since the in-laws of the king, though decayed, had established a base, its location close to Hanseong added to its unstoppable growth.

Well, originally, it was a place with a good location, being one of the candidate sites for the capital of Joseon along with Hanseong and Gyeryong.

Now, it has completely devoured the entire Incheon area of the original world and replaced its status.

That’s why the name Bupyeong is attached to the airport in this neighborhood.

Along with Gyoha Airport, which I used when entering the country, and Dongnae Airport in the south, it is said to be the largest airport in Jikrye [a direct-controlled territory or region under the direct administration of the central government].

Anyway, this butterfly effect was both amazing and proud for me, but at least now it was enough to drive people crazy.

To make matters worse, some strange event seemed to have overlapped.

I stamped my feet, seeing the crowd filling the international departure entrance.

It seemed that a famous politician was holding a departure press conference right now, so the entrance was crowded.

To be precise, the person himself was reciting it a little away, thinking he was being considerate, but the reporters and supporters who had set up camp near him were blocking the way.

– Make the country clear, make politics clear, the Cheongguk Party takes the lead!

Damn it, I remembered the party name. I should never vote for Cheongguk Party or Cheonggukjang [a type of fermented soybean paste] in the future.

I gritted my teeth, looking at the picket signs raised by the supporters.

“I, Aisin Gioro Nurhaci, humbly accept the judgment given by the people in this general election. In the sense of taking responsibility, I will temporarily leave political issues to other comrades and concentrate on studying in Majapahit for the time being.”

Whether they did or not, the man in the center continued to read the paper with a somber face, not caring.

“What do you think about the analysis that the Cheongguk Party’s crushing defeat was due to the controversy related to the White Lotus Church?”

“I feel great regret for the vile smear campaign waged by the opposing candidate during the election period. I am a staunch Confucian scholar and have never given any special favors to the White Lotus Church during the coalition cabinet.”

“Can I take it that this trip to Majapahit is also unrelated to the White Lotus Church?”

“Although the White Lotus Church is the state religion of Majapahit, it has nothing to do with my departure.

Since Majapahit is a major friendly nation in the south that supports the Cheonjo order [a hypothetical world order with China at its center], this departure was decided solely for the purpose of study and research…….”

“Wow! Nurhaci! Nurhaci!”

When the reporters’ questions showed signs of continuing endlessly, the supporters blocked their mouths with loud shouts.

Unable to overcome my frustration, I tapped the shoulder of the person in front of me.

“Hey, mister, move aside a bit. I need to get through.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Perhaps my appearance of stamping my feet looked quite urgent, the man who was enthusiastically holding a picket sign and shouting surprisingly offered an apology first.

Then he suddenly asked.

“But where are you going?”

“Nanjing!”

“That’s a domestic flight?”

Ah, right.

In this world, the route to Nanjing is naturally a domestic flight.

I had forgotten because the 15th century Joseon and the 21st century Republic of Korea were subtly mixed in my head.

I hurriedly ran out of the international terminal and got back into my brother’s car.

Fortunately, my brother hadn’t moved the car yet.

“That’s why I told you to listen to me until the end.”

“Sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“I don’t know why you’re so frantic, but the more urgent it is, the more you should take your time.”

My brother left only those words and stepped on the accelerator.

‘Still, it’s a relief.’

Since domestic flights don’t have departure procedures, there’s less time to waste.

Even if I went through the procedures, I could chase after her as long as the plane hadn’t taken off.

However, as soon as I entered the departure hall with a hastily purchased ticket, an announcement rang out.

– We would like to inform you about boarding. Cheonghaejin Airlines flight 1588 to Nanjing at 12:15, flight 1588, is now starting boarding at gate 8. The boarding deadline is 5 minutes before departure.

“Number 8!”

Although boarding had already started through the announcement, Gate 8 was still a long way off because the airport itself was damn big.

It would take quite a while for all the passengers to enter, but what I’m looking for is not someone else, but just one person.

Once I get on the plane, there’s no way to catch up.

‘Is there no other way?’

I cursed the original for being a scoundrel, but there’s one thing I like.

It seems that the spec of being a Nadam [Mongolian wrestling festival] gold medalist is not just empty words, and I liked his physical strength.

Compared to my past life, it’s slightly superior.

‘No, I’ve only eaten and exercised, so it might be a little better.’

I should naturally be better than myself, who had been neglecting physical training due to being busy with state affairs after ascending the throne.

But that’s not important now.

What’s important is to run hard to meet the time limit.

* * *

The woman tapped the waiting room floor with her toes.

One of the burly men watching her said with a troubled expression.

“Miss, please board quickly. We have arranged for you to board first.”

“I don’t want to? I’m going to board last?”

The bodyguards around her were embarrassed by her brazen tone, but as she had been forcibly dragged to the airport by their hands, she didn’t feel the need to be considerate.

‘I thought I could really meet him this time.’

She had traveled around Hanseong for the past year for that purpose.

‘There wasn’t much to gain, though.’

It was a limited-time Hanseong study abroad that she barely obtained by begging her ‘brother’ of this era, but it was not easy to find his traces.

The huge city of Hanseong was like heaven and earth compared to the era she lived in.

It was like finding a needle in the desert.

In the first place, she couldn’t even know if he was in Hanseong.

She just assumed that he would have woken up in Hanseong since she had opened her eyes in Nanjing.

In the meantime, there was one family that caught her attention…….

‘But I heard that the eldest son is a troublemaker.’

Even if she listened casually, there were constant scandals including alcohol and women, so she didn’t even pay attention to that side.

Her husband had many accidents, but he didn’t cause those kinds of accidents.

‘He’s not the kind of guy who would change just because he fell into this world.’

The Joseon that her husband ruled, the Joseon that her son inherited, continued to make remarkable progress until just before she died.

This world, where that development was accumulated and accelerated, was truly a different world from her point of view.

But what she sees is a world that is more faded than before.

What if I’m the only one who was reborn in this world?

What if that guy has disappeared forever somewhere in history?

So, if I can’t find him not only in Hanseong or Nanjing, but anywhere in this world.

To suppress that anxiety, the woman traveled more diligently to places that the guy would look for and left her traces.

So that he can find her in any way.

‘But that’s the end now.’

Just when a faint hope appeared in an unexpected place.

As soon as she heard that Duke Oguk, her brother, had heard something and had been invited by that family, he immediately told her to be taken to Nanjing.

She had just talked on the phone, but he seemed very worried that his sister might be harmed by the son of that family.

He even boasted that he would take measures to prevent such a guy from sticking to her when she returned to Nanjing.

The reason she’s stalling for time like this is just a faint resistance to that.

There were things that were still holding her back even after falling into this era.

‘When we were together, these things were nothing.’

Just as she was scratching the floor, she suddenly heard a commotion.

“I invited you to a special exhibition, but I heard you canceled it urgently.”

“Yes, I had an urgent call from Lord Yeong. I heard you were contacted as well.”

“Ah, I’m going to deliver the invitation so you can attend later. So please move aside a little.”

The bodyguard blocked him with a Joseon accent with a strong Gangnam accent, but the other party did not back down.

The woman suddenly raised her head at that voice.

Surely this is…….

“Why is this bastard being so clingy?”

The moment the bodyguard roughly pushed the other person’s body.

“Stunner!”

The bodyguard’s seemingly heavy body fell down in an instant.

And beyond that, the eyes of the two met.

* * *

“Long time no see.”

My heart is pounding.

All I could manage to say was this.

But the other person was the same.

She stopped the bodyguards who were about to rush in with one hand, and then replied briefly in a somewhat subdued voice.

“Indeed.”

I took a step closer to her.

If I got photographed without a hat, all sorts of scandals would spread, but I didn’t care.

“There’s a special exhibition at our house here. I changed the time so you can attend anytime.”

I held out the invitation.

“Can you come later?”

Jo So-hwa picked it up obediently and then tore the invitation to shreds.

“…….”

“Not later, now.”

She said to me, who was speechless at this outrage.

“You come and find me yourself.”

I wanted to say how much I had suffered trying to find you, but I shook my head.

And I said.

“I already bought a ticket.”

The time is different, but it’s still a ticket to Nanjing.

Once she came from Nanjing to Hanseong.

It would be natural for me to go this time.

Looking at the situation, it doesn’t seem like it will be smooth sailing in the future, but when have I ever given up because of that?

I am no longer the emperor who personally handles all matters.

But whether it’s an emperor or a commoner, the weight of that life will not change.

I’m just going to live the given life again, bumping and stumbling.

Not as Sejong, but as a human being, Yi Je.

Afterword

The last episode of the side story, which contains the protagonist’s later evaluation, will be uploaded tomorrow.

Thank you for staying with us until the end.