An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 56
“……!”
Im Ha-yun’s eyes shook violently.
Song Do-hyeon knew her real name and her true gender both.
If he was this certain, he almost certainly had irrefutable proof in hand.
Still, she had to deflect as much as possible.
She’d come so far.
She couldn’t let everything she’d built crumble to nothing.
“Me, a woman? That’s absurd! What on earth are you talking about?”
“There’s no point denying it anymore.”
Song Do-hyeon fixed her with a piercing gaze.
“I have solid proof that you’re a woman.”
“……!”
As she’d feared.
He was a man who never acted without certainty.
Whether it was work or matters of the heart, he examined them a hundred times before moving forward.
This moment was merely the culmination of that process.
A moment later, Song Do-hyeon slowly withdrew something from his robes.
The instant Im Ha-yun saw it, she couldn’t hide her alarm.
“How did you get that……!”
What Song Do-hyeon held was none other than the Silver Bell Flower Hairpin. He brought it close.
“Why is this in your room?”
“That, that’s……!”
“I was certain I gave this to the woman wearing the Goblin Mask.”
The goblin woman.
Despite the mask, there was no denying she was female.
At that time, exhausted by the heat, Im Ha-yun had loosened her headwrap and everything else, revealing her true nature without reserve as she moved about.
She wore a mask, after all.
She’d believed no one would recognize her.
And they hadn’t.
Yet now it had become her undoing.
“How do you possess something I gave to that woman?”
“…….”
Im Ha-yun clamped her mouth shut, unable to answer.
The Silver Bell Flower Hairpin was no common object.
Its form.
The craftsmanship.
Though Song Do-hyeon had seized it carelessly, the hairpin spoke perfectly to Im Ha-yun’s taste.
She hadn’t discarded it.
She’d kept it in her most precious place.
And now it rested in Song Do-hyeon’s hand.
“Still planning to deny it?”
Song Do-hyeon thrust the hairpin even closer.
Im Ha-yun clenched her teeth before answering.
“You didn’t search my room, did you?”
“I had no choice. To prove you weren’t really Im Ha-sung.”
“Im Ha-sung…?”
Im Ha-yun blinked blankly.
“What do you mean? You’re saying someone else owns that name?”
Song Do-hyeon nodded slightly.
“Im Ha-sung was the name of a child from a great household who died long ago.”
“……!”
Im Ha-yun’s eyes flooded with confusion.
She’d had a feeling, but she’d never imagined the name carried such a history.
In that same moment, the bitter expression Im Sang-ok always wore whenever Ha-sung’s name came up flashed through her mind.
She’d never understood it, merely living carelessly through those days.
She’d simply assumed it was a borrowed name from somewhere.
Now, remorse washed over her belatedly.
Im Ha-yun hung her head, unable to speak for a long moment.
At her silence, Song Do-hyeon asked, his tone tinged with surprise.
“Surely… you didn’t know that either?”
“I didn’t know…….”
It was all over.
Ha-yun sensed in that instant that she could hide no longer.
Song Do-hyeon had seen through her completely.
And yet he had only now revealed it.
Right after achieving that great success with the Ginseng Trade.
He was certainly a meticulous man.
Ha-yun asked, resignation thick in her voice.
“…When did you find out? That I was a fake Im Ha-sung?”
“Not long ago. I had my suspicions, but couldn’t be certain until—”
Song Do-hyeon’s gaze settled on the hairpin.
“—I found this.”
The Silver Bell Flower Hairpin.
Unmistakable evidence.
That very object which had once brought them closer,
now threatened to drive them apart.
“…I see. So what do you mean to do now?”
Ha-yun lifted her head and fixed him with a sharp look.
There was resentment in her eyes.
“Are you going to report me to the magistrate?”
She had thought they had finally grown close.
Now it felt as though the axe she had trusted had turned and struck her down.
“Or are you planning to expose me in front of everyone?”
……
Song Do-hyeon gazed into her eyes in silence.
This was the moment he had long anticipated.
He should have been glad.
But he felt no gladness at all.
Instead, seeing the reproach in her eyes tore at his chest.
‘Don’t look at me like that…….’
Wasn’t this all something you started?
You disguised yourself as a man and deceived me,
and you were the one who approached me first.
If there is guilt in me, it is only the guilt of being deceived.
So you must see this through to the end.
After a brief silence, Song Do-hyeon spoke slowly.
“…I have one request.”
“As expected.”
Ha-yun shot him a look that said she had known it all along.
“What is it? Tell me. I’ll decide whether to grant it after I’ve heard it.”
……
Song Do-hyeon could not speak easily.
Ha-yun waited for his answer, her expression taut with tension.
Having revealed such a grave secret, he must surely want something.
Whether it was money,
or her ruin,
there was no other reason he would lay bare such a secret. That was the kind of man Song Do-hyeon was.
But when his request finally came, Ha-yun felt all strength drain from her.
“…Show me your true face.”
“What…?”
“If you do, I will keep your secret hidden for the time being.”
……!
Ha-yun stared at him in shock.
“That’s what you want?”
“Yes.”
What is this?
He’ll overlook such a grave matter for that alone?
For something so trivial?
Still harboring doubts, Ha-yun pressed him again.
“Is that what you’re asking for? Proof that I’m actually a woman?”
“Yes. Right here.”
“Right now?”
Song Do-hyeon nodded.
“They’re too far away to see anything anyway. You can show me from behind a tree trunk if you like—just let me see the real you.”
“Even so…”
Im Ha-yun hesitated, glancing around at the others scattered across the camp.
Unlike her, who had ridden ahead, they were all sprawled out, exhausted from the grueling march.
Some of them were even taking brief naps, snoring softly.
There was no way they’d be looking over this way.
Ha-yun turned her gaze back to him.
“Fine. Whatever.”
She sighed, short and resigned.
On balance, it wasn’t a bad trade.
Having made her decision, Ha-yun moved behind a tree trunk, out of sight.
Thud.
She set her horsehair hat down on the ground.
Then she began to untie the fabric band she’d wrapped around her head.
Whoosh.
As the band came loose, her long hair spilled down—hair she’d been hiding all this time.
“…!”
Song Do-hyeon’s eyes widened at the sight.
A fragrance rose from Ha-yun’s hair, stronger than he’d ever noticed before.
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if savoring it.
Then he opened them again at the sound of her voice.
“There. Is that enough?”
“…”
Song Do-hyeon gazed at her in silence.
Her face.
Her scent.
Even that sharp little temperament of hers.
It was more than he’d ever imagined.
She was no longer a woman conjured from his dreams.
She stood before him, breathing, alive.
Within arm’s reach.
‘So it’s true, then. I…’
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the real Ha-yun.
As if trying to commit her to memory.
Ha-yun cleared her throat awkwardly, uncomfortable under his unwavering stare.
“Ahem. Ahem.”
Song Do-hyeon finally snapped back to himself and opened his mouth.
“That’s… sufficient.”
“So we’re done, then?”
Ha-yun asked, as if to confirm.
“We are.”
“You’d better not change your story later.”
Ha-yun grumbled and reached down to pick up the fabric band again.
But despite what she said, her own heart was racing far harder than his.
All she’d done was let her hair down.
Yet shame flooded through her, as if she’d revealed something precious and intimate.
Then she shot him a look.
“Why are you just standing there gawking?”
“…?”
Song Do-hyeon looked confused.
Surely the deal was finished.
Ha-yun twisted slightly and held out the fabric band to him.
“You have to… tie my hair back up.”
“What?”
“I can’t do it properly without a mirror.”
“…”
Song Do-hyeon stared at Ha-yun with an expression of sheer bewilderment.
This woman.
What was she, exactly?
For a woman of Joseon, she carried herself with far too much assurance.
And yet.
It kept drawing him in.
As though entranced, Song Do-hyeon accepted the headwrap from her hands.
“How in the world have you managed to keep this hidden all this time?”
“You’re insufferable. It would have been flawless if not for you.”
Ha-yun turned away, trusting him with her hair as she did.
“Well, I’ll allow it.”
Song Do-hyeon laughed softly and began winding her hair up with deliberate care, and a fragrance richer than any he’d encountered before filled the air between them.
Ha-yun spoke with quiet insistence.
“You have to keep this secret. Absolutely.”
“I shall do so.”
His tone was gruff, but the truth was that Song Do-hyeon had no intention whatsoever of revealing this secret to anyone.
There was nothing to gain from multiplying his rivals.
Exclusivity.
He understood well enough that it was the most formidable weapon of all.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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