Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 54

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

Laughter rippled against the backdrop of the floral scent wafting through the full-blooming Garden.
“Grandpa, this cake is delicious.”
“Haha. If it tastes that good, should your grandpa feed you some more?”
As the young child babbled in a lisping voice, Chu Se-gu burst into a hearty laugh and personally fed him a piece of Baekseolgi.
His eldest son was sickly, his second son had died young, and even his third son, Chu Sim-yang, had failed to father a son for a long time until recently having this first grandson late in life through a concubine.
He was a precious descendant whom he wouldn’t mind putting in his eyes.
“The child is so exceptionally bright, it is truly a great blessing for you, Minister.”
“The clan will surely flourish even more in future generations.”
“It is like seeing the childhood of the Minister of State Affairs himself.”
“Hahaha. You flatter me.”
The guests at the banquet tables took turns offering flattery and blessings. Chu Se-gu’s lips twitched constantly as he feigned modesty.
As if displaying Chu Se-gu’s immense power, the line-up of invited guests was lavish. It was no exaggeration to say that the core ministers who currently moved the Imperial Court of the Songyang State were gathered in one place.
‘Naturally. There is no fool alive who would dare reject an invitation to a banquet hosted by me, Chu Se-gu.’
Chu Se-gu looked around the banquet tables with deep satisfaction.
“I want to eat more white cake.”
“I will bring it right away, young master.”
Only the child, cradled in his grandfather’s arms, munched on the warm cake, completely oblivious to what kind of day it was.
Even though the banquet was being held at the private residence of Chu Sim-yang, who had branched off, rather than the Gyeong Clan Ancestral Residence, the person at the center of the event acting like the true owner was Chu Se-gu. Chu Sim-yang sat some distance away, looking like a mere guest himself.
‘It’s not just a matter of a day or two that Father can’t be satisfied unless he dominates the gathering.’
Such things did not matter anyway. Ordinarily, the nagging feeling of not being fully recognized by his father would have left a bitter taste, but today was different.
‘It’s a real headache that even on my own son’s birthday, there is another pressing issue weighing on my mind. How on earth did things get so horribly twisted up…’
Chu Sim-yang subtly shifted his gaze. Opposite him sat Gyeong Won-ui, tilting his wine glass with an unreadable expression.
‘My father for inviting him to the banquet, and Gyeong Won-ui for accepting it… How they can both sit there so nonchalantly is beyond my comprehension.’
Chu Se-gu, who kept chuckling heartily, and Gyeong Won-ui, who calmly sipped his wine, both looked no different from their usual selves.
‘Just looking at my father and Gyeong Won-ui, it’s almost enough to make me doubt whether the breakdown of Chu Na-yeon’s marriage alliance was a lie.’
Chu Se-gu did not want a single blemish on his grandson’s birthday banquet. The broken engagement was buried in absolute secrecy, and Gyeong Won-ui had been invited exactly as planned.
Feeling as though he was the only uncomfortable person there, Chu Sim-yang smacked his lips bitterly. The guests urged him to drink, calling it a wonderful day, but he had absolutely no appetite.
“The heir to the clan is growing up healthy, and soon your daughter will be tying the knot with a fine, upstanding gentleman, so your house will be filled with nothing but celebrations, Minister.”
A man who knew nothing of the situation babbled away, thinking it was flattery.
Chu Sim-yang nearly dropped his wine cup. Chu Se-gu’s eyebrows twitched as well, but it lasted only a fraction of a second. He laughed effortlessly as he caught the remark.
“I hope so too, but my daughter’s health has been poor of late. For the time being, I want her to rest well and recover without anything to worry about.”
“Oh dear, I had no idea. I shall look forward to hearing the joyful news as soon as she makes a full recovery.”
Startled, Chu Sim-yang scrutinized Gyeong Won-ui’s demeanor. Knowing his rigid personality, he worried that the man might blurt out something like, ‘I have already broken off the engagement with Chu Na-yeon.’
Contrary to his fears, Gyeong Won-ui merely deflected the gazes implicitly drifting toward him with absolute indifference.
With the performances of the musicians playing in the background, a few more rounds of drinks circulated.
When Gyeong Won-ui briefly stepped away, Chu Sim-yang also pretended to go relieve himself and hurried after him.
“Hey, Gyeong Won-ui!”
Chu Sim-yang panted heavily as he scrambled to catch up with Gyeong Won-ui, who was already walking on the far side of the garden.
“Wait up a moment. I have something to say regarding Chu Na-yeon.”
“Today is a joyous day for your household, so can we not leave the unpleasant talk for next time?”
“I don’t want to bring up this kind of talk on a day like today either. But since you’ve been avoiding my calls all this time, I have no choice.”
Having stepped away from the banquet tables, Gyeong Won-ui finally let his emotions show.
“I do not wish to argue with you over a broken engagement.”
“My only sister had her engagement broken without even knowing the reason, so how can I, as her elder brother, just turn a blind eye and let it pass? I was absolutely certain you would confess the truth just now when Chu Na-yeon was mentioned.”
“The matter with Chu Na-yeon was unavoidable, but today is a joyful day for your clan, and above all, your father was a friend to my late father.”
Chu Sim-yang felt sheepish at the statement that Gyeong Won-ui was not the kind of unprincipled person to openly disgrace the face of his deceased father’s close friend.
“I am sorry about that. But I hope you can understand my state of mind after hearing such bolt-from-the-blue news.”
“Did you not hear the reason from your father?”
“He flies into a furious rage and won’t even let me bring it up. Chu Na-yeon has also refused all food and drink and is bedridden, so I am simply bursting with frustration. I can’t exactly interrogate a sick child, can I?”
Panting for breath, Chu Sim-yang took a large stride closer. The towering Gyeong Won-ui’s gaze loomed far above his own.
Feeling that his friend’s downward gaze was unusually overbearing today, he swallowed hard.
Since no one would tell him the reason, Chu Sim-yang had been agonizing over it alone.
‘Chu Na-yeon’s arrogant personality shouldn’t be a major issue. Especially since her future husband, like Gyeong Won-ui, has an indifferent disposition.’
It was hardly a rare thing for the daughter of a high-ranking official to possess a haughty demeanor. It was simply a matter of managing the household smoothly without trouble.
In her elder brother’s estimation, he wondered if it might be a problem regarding her past that posed a flaw for an unmarried woman.
“She is the only daughter and the youngest child in a family that had only sons, so I know Chu Na-yeon’s personality is prickly because she was spoiled growing up. But I am saying this because I don’t think you are the type to make an issue out of just that.”
“……”
“Could it be that it bothers you that Chu Na-yeon broke off an engagement a few years ago? That wasn’t her fault. You know that it was a scheme orchestrated by my father to plant a contact inside King Ning’s Residence. If it’s because of that past broken engagement, please reconsider. I beg of you.”
Gyeong Won-ui, who had been quietly listening to the anxious Chu Sim-yang, replied resolutely.
“It is not a matter that benefits from having many people know.”
Although he had revealed the truth to the parties directly involved, Chu Na-yeon and Chu Se-gu, he had absolutely no intention of informing any outsiders.
As he conversed with Chu Sim-yang, he realized once again that he did not want the incident where Yoo Seo-hwa was slapped by Chu Na-yeon to become public knowledge.
Whether that sentiment was for Yoo Seo-hwa’s sake or his own remained ambiguous.
‘Do I wish for her to be forgotten by the world just like this?’
Before he could even process the sudden wave of realization, Chu Sim-yang questioned him back in a voice laced with a hint of anger.
“Is it something you cannot even tell me, your close friend and Chu Na-yeon’s elder brother?”
“Yes.”
“……”
It was an immediate response without a shred of hesitation. A mixture of anger and bitterness flushed across Chu Sim-yang’s face.
“You have truly changed a lot over the past few years. You used to be blunt, but you had far more humanity back then. Lately, you seem like a total stranger.”
“Changed, you say…”
Catching those words, Gyeong Won-ui gave a brief, mocking chuckle. He caressed the back of his hand, which bore a gruesome scar, with his thumb.
“To survive that hellfire, one has no choice but to discard everything.”
“Ah, n-no, I didn’t mean it in that sense…”
“Excuse me for leaving in the middle of the banquet, but I shall take my leave first.”
Chu Sim-yang stammered out an apology as he realized his slip of the tongue too late, but Gyeong Won-ui had already turned his back.
He retrieved his horse from the stable and left the residence. Not even feeling in the mood to ride, he gripped the horse’s reins and walked slowly.
The thorn-laden words of his old friend shouting that he had changed tasted deeply bitter.
There was no way not to change. There was no choice but to discard.
With an eternal hellfire blazing deep inside his chest, and guilt bleeding afresh at every spot where hatred and agony tore at him like a savage beast, how could he possibly carry everyone along?
The times when malice had desperately taken root in a hollowed, discarded soul, and he had sharpened and honed it against his very soul as a whetstone while ghastly nightmares crushed him down.
And the sole thing that he, who believed he had discarded everything, ultimately failed to throw away.
“You are an excessively good person, Byeoljang.”
That smile from the era that had already set was directed toward a man who was not him.
“Ah, G-General.”
Wang Jeong-mun, who greeted him with a stiffened, stammering voice, hurriedly added.
“I was merely helping her carry her luggage for a moment.”
However, Wang Jeong-mun’s voice, which sounded like an excuse, did not register in Gyeong Won-ui’s ears. Taking long, rapid strides forward, he forcefully turned Yoo Seo-hwa around by her shoulder.
Knowing that his attitude toward her was exceedingly cold, Wang Jeong-mun’s heart dropped heavily.
“……”
Yet Gyeong Won-ui merely stood there, looking down at Yoo Seo-hwa.
Her eyes, where bewilderment blinked in her wide-open pupils, bore not a single trace of that achingly fleeting smile.
“Get on the horse.”
“Pardon?”
“I have something to say.”
“If you head back to the private residence first, I will follow right behind and see you there.”
“Mount before I pull you up by force.”
His voice cut off dispassionately, which only made the damp emotions pooled within it feel all the more intense.
Looking up at Gyeong Won-ui once, Yoo Seo-hwa bit her lower lip and climbed onto the saddle. Because her body wavered for a moment, the cotton fabric she was holding dropped, but there was no time to pick it up.
Immediately after, Gyeong Won-ui leaped up behind her.
Before Wang Jeong-mun could do anything at all, Gyeong Won-ui spurred the horse just like that and vanished into the distance.

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