Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 29

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

Blooming Even in Mud Chapter 29
 
 
 
“Please let me work in a place where there is no chance of running into the master.”
“Is that truly all?”
“Would that be too difficult a request?”
“Hmm… No. Understood.”
Deok-sun found it strange that Yoo Seo-hwa, who seemed to have some kind of history with Gyeong Won-ui, was actually choosing to avoid him. Still, since it involved his master, he did not pry deeply and allocated a separate room for her.
Thus, Yoo Seo-hwa moved her quarters to a tiny room in the corner of the servants’ quarters, bringing her work with her.
It was a cramped space that felt completely full just by stretching out her legs, but it was better than a room shared with numerous other slaves, so she felt grateful to Deok-sun.
‘Even though a chilly draft seeps up every night, it’s bearable if I curl up to sleep. It’s small, but there’s a brazier too.’
In truth, Deok-sun had not accommodated her purely out of benevolence.
Upon hearing Yoo Seo-hwa’s request, Deok-sun had thought of something else. It was the second case for noblewomen who had been reduced to slaves: becoming a slave concubine for the master’s family.
In fact, there were rare instances where people coveted the wives and concubines of rebels and received them as slaves. Even if that were not the case, it was the destiny of a slave to serve in the bedchamber if they caught the master’s eye.
Since the relationship between Gyeong Won-ui and Yoo Seo-hwa was unclear, Deok-sun had assigned her a separate room from the start. It was practically the same as setting things up so Gyeong Won-ui could easily visit whenever the whim struck him, but Yoo Seo-hwa, who was completely ignorant of the inner workings of slavery, did not realize that much.
‘If only things could continue like this.’
She was merely relieved by the situation where she no longer encountered Gyeong Won-ui.
‘My existence is nothing but poison to him.’
Yoo Seo-hwa wished to live quietly in this secluded corner, atoning for her father’s sins. As just one of many slaves, she intended to bury herself in time without causing any waves.
If she could quietly wither away at the lowest, most wretched bottom of the world and atone to Gyeong Won-ui, she could ask for nothing more.
‘If only the young master’s pain could be eased, I would do anything.’
Even if she were trampled down into a more wretched state than this, she would submit without a word.
‘So, I pray you will suffer no longer…’
Praying for that one and only wish, Yoo Seo-hwa took up her needle once more. It was just as she threaded the black embroidery silk through the eye of the needle and was roughly gauging the position of the bamboo to be embroidered onto the curtain.
The small door, which barely allowed a single person to pass through, flew open.
“Is it here? She’s tucked away in a place that’s hard to even find.”
An unfamiliar woman entered the room without hesitation. She was a magnificently dressed woman draped in thick fur. Striding into the room, she scowled fiercely at the squalid atmosphere inside and covered her mouth with her sleeve.
“How insolent! In whose presence do you dare glare with such arrogant eyes?”
The maidservant who had followed the woman, Chu Na-yeon, barked shrilly and slapped Yoo Seo-hwa across the cheek.
Yoo Seo-hwa, who had been staring up blankly in surprise at the sudden intrusion, finally scrambled up from her spot and bowed her waist in greeting.
“I am sorry. Please forgive my insolence.”
She did not know who it was, but judging by her attire and demeanor, it was obvious she was a young lady from a noble family.
“Hmph. This desolate sight is no different from a pigsty. How can a human being live in a place like this?”
“…”
“Ah, wait. For a mere slave, shouldn’t you be profoundly grateful just to have a room at all?”
As Yoo Seo-hwa stood in silence, Chu Na-yeon smirked, deliberately scanning the narrow room.
Last time, she had happened to spot Yoo Seo-hwa on the street and had even sent someone to tail her.
It had not been an illusion. She had confirmed with Chu Se-gu the rumor that Yoo Seo-hwa was originally meant to be sent as a palace slave to the Gamban Detached Palace, but had been bestowed upon Gyeong Won-ui due to the Emperor’s whim.
‘Why did His Majesty have to indulge in such a whim! If this woman had just vanished as a palace slave, it would have been over and done with, and I wouldn’t have to care anymore.’
Actually seeing with her own eyes that the woman was in Gyeong Won-ui’s private residence made her stomach twist.
“Lift your head. Let us see how the precious lady is faring these days.”
When commanded with a sneer, Yoo Seo-hwa complacently raised her face. Her lip had split and bled from the slap earlier, but her expression remained serene. There was no change in her look even when her eyes met Chu Na-yeon’s, as if she were meeting her for the very first time.
Chu Na-yeon’s eyebrows twitched. She asked, half-doubting.
“Do you not know who I am?”
“I apologize. My knowledge is shallow and my eyes are dim, so I failed to recognize you, my lady.”
“…”
She had harbored doubts, but the woman truly failed to recognize her. A flush of crimson rage surged across Chu Na-yeon’s face as she bit her lip hard.
‘Damn woman! Does she still think she’s a princess?’
The one thing Chu Na-yeon, who always desired only the best, could never possess was the ultimate status: the unranked position of a princess, which belonged only to a daughter of the Emperor.
Because she was a woman and could not rise in status on her own, Chu Na-yeon could barely attain a rank among the outer court ladies by relying on a husband.
‘But this woman held exactly that! Merely because she chose the right place to be born!’
Not only that, but things Chu Na-yeon had to beg and plead with her father to obtain, this woman had enjoyed effortlessly while basking in the Emperor’s deep affection.
‘Having possessed everything, how dare she wear such a gloomy face just because she lost a single man!’
She had seen Yoo Seo-hwa whenever she occasionally accompanied her mother to gatherings of the outer court ladies. She had greeted her every single time, yet this wretched, conceited princess apparently did not even remember her.
‘I intended to just enjoy the miserable sight and leave, but I’ve changed my mind.’
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed her maidservant. As the maidservant stepped out and closed the door, only Yoo Seo-hwa and Chu Na-yeon remained in the small room.
“My lady, do you have something urgent to speak with me about?”
She grabbed Yoo Seo-hwa by the collar as the latter stood there looking bewildered.
Their height and build were similar, but Yoo Seo-hwa, exhausted from hard labor, stumbled as if she might collapse from that alone.
“A wicked thing who seduced my brother with an evil cult and threw the country into chaos—where do you find the nerve to show your face and cling here without a shred of shame?”
“My lady?”
“You even married another man, yet it seems you are pathetically hanging around Gyeong Won-ui, begging for old affection. Fat chance!”
“…”
“This kind of trickery won’t last long either. Once I marry him, the very first thing I will do is sell you off to the borderlands, where you’ll never step foot in the Capital City alive again! Who would even know if you died in a place like that?”
“…”
When Chu Na-yeon’s shrill voice began, what lingered on Yoo Seo-hwa’s face was surprise and bewilderment. However, those emotions gradually subsided, and by the time Chu Na-yeon uttered her final words, her expression settled into its initial serenity.
As Chu Na-yeon finished speaking and flung her collar aside, Yoo Seo-hwa smoothed down her clothes and bowed her waist once more.
“If you become the mistress of the house, my lady, you will naturally possess the right to dispose of and trade me, so please do as you wish.”
“You act so high and mighty until the very end!”
Provoked once more by Yoo Seo-hwa’s calm tone, Chu Na-yeon raised her hand as if to strike her cheek again, but Yoo Seo-hwa quickly continued speaking.
“Since a lady of high status has stayed long in a slave’s quarters, I am worried that rumors might spread and harm your reputation. I beg you to generously overlook my rudeness.”
“…Tch!”
Chu Na-yeon huffed and lowered her hand.
‘It’s infuriating, but she is entirely right.’
They weren’t even wed yet, and if rumors spread that she had stormed into the servants’ quarters to act like the mistress of the house, it would do no good. It was also uncertain whether Gyeong Won-ui would tolerate such behavior.
Garing at Yoo Seo-hwa one last time, Chu Na-yeon pushed open the door, which felt too filthy to even touch, and walked out. Her maidservant hastily hurried after the huffing Chu Na-yeon.
‘Why did he accept that woman as a slave! Out of all the felons of high treason, why her family! Argh! It’s so frustrating!!’
No matter how much she raged, her anger simply wouldn’t subside. She was furious that she couldn’t counter the woman’s straight-talking, logical speech even in such a humiliating situation, and she was furious that the woman remained unfazed despite her contemptuous shouting.
She truly loathed that woman.

As soon as the door slammed shut as if the hinges might rip off, Yoo Seo-hwa collapsed. Her legs, which had been holding up with desperate effort, gave way, and she covered her face with trembling hands.
‘Marriage? That young lady just now and Master Gyeong…?’
Gyeong Won-ui was well past marriageable age. Since he could not live alone forever, it was only natural for him to marry someone and start a family.
It was a natural matter, yet it felt entirely unnatural.
Until now, she had never even imagined it—that Gyeong Won-ui would marry, that a woman other than herself would stand by his side.
‘You’re insane. Pull yourself together, Yoo Seo-hwa. You mustn’t harbor such thoughts!’
Her trembling hands clutched at her hair.
A violent tempest surged within the heart she had submerged into the swamp of atonement. As if swept away by the turbid waves, Yoo Seo-hwa threw open the door and ran outside.
“…”
However, she had no choice but to stop her steps the moment she stepped out.
‘Is there anywhere for me to go?’
Where was she supposed to go? Whom was she supposed to meet? Was she supposed to meet Gyeong Won-ui and demand to know why he was getting married?
Facing the wind laced with sleet, Yoo Seo-hwa stood blankly.
‘I am truly all alone now.’
The realization that she was in a state with no lover, no parents, no friends, and no siblings to whom she could pour out the passion boiling in her heart settled bitterly inside her. The only person here was a miserable slave with red, chapped hands, who did not even know which path to take.
Her white, condensed breath scattered aimlessly. Had it not been for a voice calling out to her as it approached from afar, there was no telling how long she would have remained standing there.

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