Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 5

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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 Chapter 5

“What is it?”
“Convey your thoughts honestly. When your mother was cross with me in my youth, I also sent love letters assiduously and rubbed my hands together in desperate apology.”
Seeing his son listening with an utterly serious expression, as if encountering some monumental truth of life, a gentle smile slipped out.
“Was Her Highness beautiful?”
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Gyeong Won-ui’s lips parted. Then they closed, he looked up at the night sky, and his lips twitched again before his cheeks finally flushed red.
“……She was fairer than this moonlight. Her voice, her face, and her fragrance as well.”
It was amusing to see his son, who had turned fifteen, flustered by the affection to which he had only just opened his eyes.
‘I thought he would spend his entire life holding nothing but a sword.’
Emperor Xuanwen’s attitude remained worrisome, but if his son could build a deep marital affection with the princess amidst these perilous times, it would be a fine comfort.
A chuckle escaped him at the thought of delivering the surprise news—‘Gyeong Won-ui blushed while speaking of Her Highness’—to his wife, who would have woken from her sleep upon hearing of his return by now.

Although the dinner table had been cleared and she had even eaten her favorite confections, Yoo Seo-hwa’s mood did not lift. In the end, she went all the way to the Great Hall.
“Is it not past the hour you should be in bed?”
Emperor Xuanwen, who had not let go of the official documents even at this late hour, welcomed his daughter with a smile. Hearing her imperial father’s tender voice, she puckered her lips even more, wanting to be comforted.
“Imperial Father, I am so upset about meeting Gyeong Won-ui today that I cannot sleep.”
“Oh dear. What did that wicked rascal do to our princess?”
Emperor Xuanwen, who had already heard from the court ladies of the Princess’s Palace what had transpired today, responded slyly.
“He did nothing, and he said nothing. That is why I am more upset. How can someone with such a beautiful face be so heartless?”
Sitting right next to Emperor Xuanwen, Yoo Seo-hwa babbled about what had happened with Gyeong Won-ui.
Yoo Seo-hwa, who resembled the deceased empress, was short for her age and slow to grow. It was entirely plausible that Gyeong Won-ui, having failed to catch a proper glimpse of the Saenggaksi’s face, assumed she was a child who had just entered the palace.
However, if he pointed out the truth, would not his daughter, whom he wouldn’t mind putting in his eyes, be cross with him this time? Emperor Xuanwen patted his troubled daughter’s hand and joined her in speaking ill of him.
“He was a truly bad fellow.”
“Do you think so too, Imperial Father?”
“I did not realize he was such a dim-sighted fellow that he could look at jade and consider it a stone, unable to recognize its worth. How can I send you to such a person? Since it is before the Nachae, even now is not too late.”
Yoo Seo-hwa flinched at the suggestion that he would call off the betrothal if necessary. She hastily covered her face with her sleeve, but she could not hide her startled reaction. In Emperor Xuanwen’s eyes, she merely looked adorable.
Of course, before being her father, he was the emperor of the Songyang State, so he had no intention of breaking the marriage over the princess’s private feelings. Moreover, he was already planning to keep Gyeong Won-ui close and watch over him.
“If the marriage discussion with an imperial princess falls through, won’t Gyeong Won-ui be unable to marry in the future?”
“Naturally.”
“That seems a bit pitiful……”
Glancing at him as she spoke, it was clear that although she said she was upset, she did not genuinely dislike him.
‘Indeed, if he were a man she truly disliked, given Sukjeong’s personality, she would have thrown a tantrum saying she could not marry him.’
Emperor Xuanwen stroked his beard with a feigned solemn expression.
“Then, shall your father give him a thorough scolding to soothe your mind?”
“Do not scold him too harshly.”
As if worried he might be dragged to an interrogation courtyard, her frantic voice followed immediately. It was a hasty demeanor never before seen from Yoo Seo-hwa, who could easily possess everything she wished for.
Amused by his daughter’s cute display, Emperor Xuanwen finally burst into a hearty laugh.

* * *

Two days later, Yoo Seo-hwa received a letter from Gyeong Won-ui.
Yoo Seo-hwa, who had been slumping listlessly on her bed even in the middle of the day, sprang up.
“Bring it quickly! Hurry!”
Carefully opening the letter so as not to damage the envelope, she was first greeted by a subtle fragrance.
The corners of her mouth slid upward. This was an unexpected side of him.
‘I heard he wasn’t a playboy like my elder brother’s Baedong, Chu Sim-yang, but a warrior who knows nothing but the sword, yet he has quite the elegant taste.’
The paper on which the text was written was a luxurious Shizhanzhi dyed in blue and overlaid with gold leaf.
In truth, unable to bear watching her son who knew nothing but plain white paper, Gyeong Won-ui’s mother had personally prepared it and even infused it with fragrance.
Yoo Seo-hwa unfolded the letter with a fluttering heart.
‘Even his handwriting is splendid.’
Though he was at an age that could be considered young, the handwriting, completed with great vigor, captured her attention. It was not a flowing, famous calligraphic style, but a straight integrity could be felt from the disciplined strokes.
‘It is much better than the script a playboy shapes to look pleasing to the eye.’
With absolutely no inkling that Gyeong Won-ui had stayed up for two whole nights to write this letter, she read down slowly.

[This youth lacks eloquence and is foolish, so I apologize for causing Her Highness great anxiety.]

The beginning was the ordinary tone of a subordinate offering apologies as was customary, but gradually the depth of the content changed. It was filled with his sincere feelings regarding why he could not lead the conversation and why he had answered her questions in that manner.
The person beyond the letter was precisely a fifteen-year-old boy who was clumsy at interacting with the opposite sex. As the long letter continued, Yoo Seo-hwa recalled once more the boy she had parted with after their brief encounter.

[I am terribly worried that Her Highness might become more displeased after reading this letter. However, if I do not write this, I will surely experience a greater regret next time.]

By the time she read that part, her gloomy mood had already vanished, so Yoo Seo-hwa let out a beaming smile.

* * *

‘No letter came today either.’
Gyeong Won-ui waited anxiously for a reply to return from the Imperial Palace. As one day passed and another day went by with no word at all, his shoulders drooped noticeably. Even at the Training Grounds, the tip of his sword faltered, drawing a scolding from his father.
‘As long as His Majesty’s will does not change, marriage with Her Highness is a ordained future. If Her Highness remains displeased until then, what should I do.’
If Chu Sim-yang had heard this, he would have roared with laughter, asking if he truly worried over such things, but the boy was serious.
When he was spending each day piling up sighs while steeped in unprecedented anxiety, a eunuch finally knocked on the gate of the estate.
Suppressing the impatience to open the envelope the moment he received it, he returned to his room.

[This maiden will also no longer recall the sighs of that day, so young master should also dispel your worries.]

Gyeong Won-ui did not know the truth hidden behind the letter that began that way and continued calmly like water.
“Your Highness, how long should you deliberately delay so that a man will grow anxious?”
“I-Is that so?”
“I read it in a book.”
The court ladies had stopped Yoo Seo-hwa, who tried to write a reply the moment she received his letter. They were court ladies at the peak of their youth who would secretly bring romance novels into the Imperial Palace to read them in turns.
Yoo Seo-hwa, whose hips were twitching because she wanted to write a letter quickly and receive another reply, barely endured for five days. Had she known that Gyeong Won-ui was hanging on her words even more than she was, she would have been able to endure a day or two longer.
It was a letter barely completed after repeating the process of discarding paper because a stroke slipped while writing in a hurry, crumpling it because the content was displeasing, and tearing it because the handwriting was clumsier than usual.

[The Imperial Palace is vast and beautiful, but it is terribly lonely. I would be glad if you could occasionally tell me news from outside the palace.]

Lifting his head from the letter he had been frantically absorbed in, Gyeong Won-ui took in the final phrase, which softly implied that he should continue sending letters.
For some reason, his heart went thump-thump.
As he read the short content, which was about half the length of the letter he had sent, repeatedly, he memorized it in no time. It felt as if her clear voice was echoing inside his head.
“What is this?”
A sheet of paper that had been hidden behind the letter slid downward.
Looking at it with wonder, a single peony was drawn in the corner. Spreading the paper on his writing desk and staring at it silently for a long time, Gyeong Won-ui carefully dipped his brush into the ink.

Since he seemed to lack a bit of quick-wittedness, she had worried about what to do if he failed to perceive the hint. Fortunately, it was a groundless fear. Gyeong Won-ui’s letter arrived soon after.
Moreover, that was not all.
“Oh my, Gyeong Won-ui is not only excellent at calligraphy but also very splendid at painting.”
Hong Ok-geum marveled upon seeing the paper enclosed with the letter. She was a girl selected by Emperor Xuanwen as a daughter of a prominent family to stay close to Yoo Seo-hwa as her companion. Hearing that Yoo Seo-hwa was restless after meeting the boy who would become her betrothed, she had entered the palace and had been listening to complaints that were not quite complaints for a long while.
On the paper where Yoo Seo-hwa had drawn a peony, a male mandarin duck had settled into place, as if wishing to catch the scent of the flower, or perhaps waiting for its mate.
“He possesses not only martial arts but also artistic refinement.”
Contradicting her words as she pretended to be nonchalant, a smile overflowed on Yoo Seo-hwa’s face. When she ordered the court lady to quickly grind ink so she could finish drawing the mandarin duck’s mate, Hong Ok-geum smiled mischievously.
“You were anxious until just a moment ago, but now your smile is very lovely. It feels as though you will be drawn into the painting and frolic with the mandarin duck.”
“Ahem, ahem. When did I smile?”
Yoo Seo-hwa quickly composed her expression and feigned innocence. Even so, she could not hide the corners of her mouth that crept upward. Hong Ok-geum, who was two years older than Yoo Seo-hwa, lifted her teacup while thinking presumptuously that the imperial princess fluttering over her first love was cute.
“I am envious, as it seems you will become a couple with deep affection like the mandarin ducks.”
“Is there no news of a betrothal for you yet?”
“Yes, my father is looking into marriage prospects, so I will bring news before long.”
“You too will form a bond with a splendid man like Gyeong Won-ui.”
Ultimately letting her true thoughts slip, a faint blush rose on Yoo Seo-hwa’s cheeks. Pretending not to see that appearance, Hong Ok-geum lowered her head toward her teacup.
Marrying a man chosen by one’s father or eldest brother without even seeing his face once was the fate of a woman born into a noble family.
‘I too will hold a wedding in that manner and have no complaints about such a life, but since Her Highness is to be united with the man to whom she gave her heart, it is a very joyful thing.’
Hong Ok-geum also did not know much about the affection between a man and a woman, but seeing Yoo Seo-hwa rejoicing this much over a single letter, she felt as if she understood what it was.

Around the time when flowers were blooming one by one as the paper depicting a pair of mandarin ducks frolicking affectionately went back and forth, Gyeong Won-ui received a new question.

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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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