Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 100

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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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Blooming Even in the Mud Side Story Episode 5

Surprised, she looked up and saw Su-yeon, riding high on his shoulders, brushing the flower petals off the branches and scattering them in all directions.
Seeing the child’s face laughing brightly amidst the fluttering petals, the tension finally melted from Yoo Seo-hwa’s face. Before she knew it, a petal had also landed softly on the bridge of Gyeong Won-ui’s nose.
“Isn’t it nice? A leisurely trip like this.”
Unable to deny his words, Yoo Seo-hwa could not help but let out a faint smile. In these days spent with their lovely child, there was never a day without smiles.
“Looking at you like this, flowers suit you quite well, don’t they?”
Picking up a flower blossom that had fallen to the ground, she lightly lifted her heels and tucked the blossom behind Gyeong Won-ui’s ear.
As if embarrassed by this situation of having his manly face decorated with a flower, a faint blush rose upon his cheeks. Even if he found it embarrassing, what could he do? He was a husband whom flowers suited so beautifully.
“Wooahhh!”
Not wanting to be left out, Su-yeon also scattered petals on top of her father’s head. The petals dispersed gently, riding the soft spring breeze.
The journey, which might have been endlessly exhausting, thus transformed into a path of flowers.

King Ning and his wife warmly welcomed Gyeong Won-ui and Yoo Seo-hwa, throwing a grand celebratory banquet for them. To Yoo Seo-hwa, King Ning was also a cousin she was meeting for the very first time.
“Ah, does Your Highness know of this as well? My royal father once considered a marriage alliance between my sister and General Gyeong.”
“Oh my, did such a thing happen?”
“Hahaha, though he gave up immediately upon learning that General Gyeong had already promised his betrothal to Your Highness. It would have been wonderful if that child could have attended the banquet as well, but she gave birth to her second child not long ago and is currently recuperating.”
The good-natured King Ning passed it off lightly as a joke, but Gyeong Won-ui seemed quite surprised, letting out a dry cough while stealing glances to read Yoo Seo-hwa’s expression.
It was not as if she would become jealous now over a brief marriage discussion that had not even been his intention, but seeing Gyeong Won-ui so flustered felt refreshingly new.
Was she a virtuous woman for enjoying the sight of her husband walking on eggshells around her? Even while harboring such thoughts, Yoo Seo-hwa intentionally composed her expression into a sharp, coy look.
On the way back to their quarters, Gyeong Won-ui kept clearing his throat and letting out needless dry coughs, continuing to read Yoo Seo-hwa’s countenance.
He would take half a step ahead, then narrow the distance again to steal another glance, looking thoroughly anxious and fretful like a man on pins and needles.
Walking while trying to maintain that coy expression made her cheeks tingle. Fearing she might burst into laughter first, Yoo Seo-hwa put on a sharp, chilly voice.
“So, was the lady with whom marriage was discussed beautiful?”
“I never even saw her shadow.”
Gyeong Won-ui answered in a rush. Since she had already started, Yoo Seo-hwa deliberately twisted his words.
“Then, does that mean if you had met her, you would have found her beautiful?”
“How could that possibly be?”
“You stayed at Prince Ning’s Estate for no short amount of time, so you cannot say you have absolutely no tie to her.”
“By the time I sought refuge at Prince Ning’s Estate, she had already wed.”
Seeing him look so pathetic while making excuses that weren’t even excuses despite having done nothing wrong, a smile finally crept onto the corners of her mouth.
And she surprised even herself.
The reason Gyeong Won-ui had come to seek refuge at Prince Ning’s Estate a second time was precisely because of that matter. That incident where his family suffered a calamity because of the late emperor.
The memories of that time, which used to grant nothing but pain as if thorns were driving into each other whenever they looked back, could now be recalled in this manner.
“……I suppose time really is medicine.”
At Yoo Seo-hwa’s sudden murmur to herself, Gyeong Won-ui also traced a faint smile. For he, too, had been harboring a similar thought to hers.
“Would a wound truly heal just by letting time flow away like water? If I had been alone, I would still feel as though I were chewing on needles whenever I recalled that day.”
Throughout the long, long nights, it is all thanks to you comforting my pain.
Gyeong Won-ui whispered so, softly kissing Yoo Seo-hwa near her ear. The chest melted away at the sweet warmth that seeped in along with the whisper.
Forgetting where they were for a moment, Yoo Seo-hwa stepped up on her toes and returned a kiss to Gyeong Won-ui’s cheek. The sound of the smack echoed exceptionally loud.
Only after hearing the sign of the servants following behind hastily bowing their heads did her face turn bright red.
Gyeong Won-ui, who had opened his eyes wide at the sudden kiss, let out a low chuckle.
“It seems I am destined never to best you for the rest of my life.”
Though it was still embarrassing to have kissed in a place that wasn’t a private space for just the couple, receiving Gyeong Won-ui’s rare laughter in return made her feel not bad at all.

At Prince Ning’s Estate, there were truly many people who shared a deep bond with Gyeong Won-ui. Though many ministers had become meritorious officials and departed for the Capital City, those who had not were not few either.
From the servants and soldiers of Prince Ning’s Estate to the stable boy who had tended his horse, and the low-ranking officers who had ridden alongside him and fought in battles under his command.
Not only prestigious nobles but even commoners welcomed Gyeong Won-ui. He had never treated those who were easily looked down upon due to their humble positions with carelessness.
It was proof that despite suffering through such immense torment, his upright character had neither broken nor been soiled.
“Oh my, Young Master Gyeong. No, you are a General now. It has been truly a long time since I last greeted you. Have you been in good health?”
Today, too, a thoroughly simple greeting reached them. Yoo Seo-hwa willingly conceded the time she would have shared with her husband to that man.
Listening to the story drifting in through the window, it seemed the man was a soldier whose life Gyeong Won-ui had saved during a battle.
The man, who had retired due to the injuries from that time and was now farming, bowed his waist over and over to Gyeong Won-ui before leaving behind some mugwort rice cakes. To repay his benefactor with this single cake, he must have passed through the fortress gates and knocked on the high gates of Prince Ning’s Estate.
Yoo Seo-hwa took a bite of the mugwort rice cake. It was truly delicious.
“Uwoong!”
“Does our Su-yeon want to eat some too?”
As she tore off a tiny piece from the edge, a bright, beaming smile spread across the face of Su-yeon, who munched and swallowed it down.
It was a precious mugwort rice cake that would not be easily tasted even in the Imperial Palace.
Passing through the long, long nights, she had heard many stories from Gyeong Won-ui. Every time they strolled through the corners of Prince Ning’s Estate, the memories of those nights were vividly recalled.
The pavilion where he had barely regained consciousness, the doctor who had tended and healed his perilous wounds, the grassland where he had ridden his horse while swallowing his despair and resentment, and the fortress wall where he had stared endlessly toward the south where the Imperial City would be.
The hours of agony Gyeong Won-ui had endured were neatly arranged inside Yoo Seo-hwa as well.
“Looking back, it was truly a long time. Back then, it felt as though it would never end…….”
Yoo Seo-hwa and Gyeong Won-ui each held one of Su-yeon’s hands as they strolled through the field. This field was the place where, years ago, Gyeong Won-ui used to ride his horse blindly whenever he was tormented by an agony that felt as if his heart were collapsing.
The man who had now returned to that place, along with his child, were toddling along on short legs. Gyeong Won-ui looked down at his daughter with a fresh perspective.
It was something he could never have imagined back then, when he could not quench the fire of resentment consuming his chest no matter how much he galloped through the driving rainstorm.
‘……Could this perhaps be a dream?’
It was silly, but Gyeong Won-ui occasionally indulged in such imaginations. The imagination that this happy time might also be a nightmare riddled with falsehoods, and that if he opened his eyes, he might still be floundering inside despair.
“I know what you mean. Because I really felt like it would go on forever, until this harsh breath of mine wore out and snapped.”
However, there was a woman who reminded him that this moment he stood upon was not a terrible nightmare but the reality he lived in.
A lover who had embraced his pain as if it were her own despite having suffered devastating misery herself, a lover who had ultimately forgiven even the sins he committed.
Eternal agony meets her and becomes love. The thing that should be named eternity must not be the past time, but this very moment—it would have to be her.
“This memory and pain are things we must carry for the rest of our lives. But…….”
Gyeong Won-ui lifted his index finger and lightly blocked Yoo Seo-hwa’s lips. For he, too, knew what her next words would be.
“But this heart that loves you, and the happiness I enjoy with you, are also things we must carry for the rest of our lives.”
“That’s right.”
Yoo Seo-hwa smiled, her eyes crinkling softly.
“Let us promise to be even happier from now on.”
So that the wounds bred by old memories may completely heal into happiness, so that beautiful flowers may bloom from the blood-stained wounds.
Suddenly, Su-yeon, who had been sniffing around while rummaging through the grass, let out a loud sneeze.
“Abba!”
“Oh my!”
Yoo Seo-hwa bent her waist in surprise.
“This child, she just spoke, right?”
“Was that not the sound of a sneeze?”
“No. She definitely said ‘Abba’. Right, Su-yeon?”
“Uwoom?”
“Why are you suddenly playing innocent after calling out ‘Abba’ just now?”
Looking down at his wife, who looked lamentful as if this couldn’t be happening, and his daughter, who looked up with clear, innocent eyes, laughter naturally spilled out.
Gyeong Won-ui silently mouthed a word to Su-yeon, smiling brightly. Eomma.
“Eom-ma.”
“Look, she spoke! This time it was definitely ‘Eomma’!”
“Hahaha.”
If the thing that should be named eternity was Yoo Seo-hwa, then the thing that should be named happiness must be this very moment. Happiness would become eternity by her side.
The certainty settled in that the day he would no longer dream nightmares was not far off.

-Side Story End-

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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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