Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 65

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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 Mud Chapter 65
 
 
 
“I told her everything you asked.”
“I’ve been a bit uncomfortable looking her in the eye since she rejected me last time, so thank you for passing along Aunt Deok-sun’s message.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re all here to help each other out. Well, I have to get back to work too, so keep up the good work.”
 
As the talk of a marriage alliance, which had been discussed half-heartedly, fell through, the day the Inner House would welcome its mistress became distant.
Although they said it was always prepared to receive its master, a place where no one lived certainly showed its signs. The Pavilion, catching the dimming twilight, was shrouded in a somewhat lonely atmosphere.
While the Private Residence overflowed with bustling vitality in every corner due to the banquet, this place alone remained quiet, as if it had nothing to do with it. Unless it was a major uproar, it seemed as if no sound could even leak outside.
‘I should quickly grab the hanging scroll and go back.’
Yoo Seo-hwa shook off her brief thoughts and opened the door. The master was absent without any promise of return, but because it was maintained daily, the interior was clean and free of dust.
‘Let’s see… Should I check from the third floor?’
Rather than climbing the stairs holding the hanging scrolls, it seemed better to check from the top floor and work her way down.
Yoo Seo-hwa went straight up the stairs. She kept her gaze fixed on the floor, resisting the urge to constantly look around. Useless sentimentality was unnecessary.
Recalling her memories of helping Aunt Deok-sun arrange the furniture to set up the Inner House, she peered into the room.
‘Since it’s a simple banquet with only men, paintings focusing on the Four Gracious Plants would be best, but where did she put them?’
To properly discuss refined tastes, one must consider not only the nature of the banquet but also the surrounding decorations, including the banquet food.
This time, there would be no need to go that far. The Retainers could be considered Gyeong Won-ui’s subordinates anyway.
She chose one scroll beautifully depicting pine and bamboo, and another depicting a moonlit plum blossom, and cradled them in her arms. Holding them carefully, Yoo Seo-hwa was about to head down to the second floor when she noticed something strange and stopped in her tracks.
‘Why? The feeling has been strange for a while now.’
A subtle sense of incongruity kept scratching at her like a thorn embedded in her skin. She tried to think if she had missed something in the rooms she passed or if there was anything unusual, but nothing came to mind.
Yoo Seo-hwa tilted her head and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. A bit of sweat came off.
‘Wait a minute. It’s around sunset, so why is it so sweltering?’
Looking around the rooms and picking up hanging scrolls was absolutely not hard enough to make her sweat. Feeling a sudden thirst burning her throat, Yoo Seo-hwa shifted her gaze to the window.
The window paper was stained with the red glow of the sunset.
Was it because she had just come from working in the sweltering Banbitgan, and it was hot because the sun hadn’t completely sunk into the west?
“……!”
No.
That couldn’t be it. Even when she was heading to the Inner House, the sky was already darkening into dusk.
She rushed to the window and pushed it open. The sweltering heat, which the window paper had barely been holding back, rushed in all at once.
“Ah…….”
A faint groan was crushed between her teeth. The world outside the window was dyed crimson. By the flames surging from below.
Because she was on the highest floor and had intentionally avoided looking around, she had only just noticed. The Pavilion was already being swallowed by a demonic blaze.
Yoo Seo-hwa hurriedly crossed the hallway. But she was too late.
Flames, preceded by black smoke, were already crackling and lurking by the stairs.
Holding her breath, she ran down, only to be forced to stop at the entrance leading to the second floor. She didn’t dare face the prospect of bursting through the flames.
‘The fire is spreading too fast!’
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but the acrid smoke seemed to be mixed with the pungent stench of oil. However, she didn’t have the luxury to ponder for long.
Yoo Seo-hwa covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve and turned around. What should she do? What should she do? Her lost thoughts scattered wildly. She had absolutely no idea what to do to escape the flames.
“Cough, cough!”
There wasn’t even a vase to splash water with. Her throat stung acridly. It felt as though soot had filled her very lungs, sending a searing pain with every breath she took.
Even in the midst of this, the fire was gradually chasing her, flickering its ferocious tongues of flame.
‘I can’t get out through the stairs. Ah! What about over there?’
The air heated up from the warmth, making her vision shimmer like a mirage. Biting her lips to hold back a scream, she ran toward the window facing the rear garden.
A dizzying height greeted Yoo Seo-hwa.
‘Still, if it’s here…….’
It was a dangerous height to just jump from. However, below was the rear garden where firewood and flower bushes were cultivated.
‘If I gauge the position well and drop, I might manage to survive with just a fracture or injuries.’
At the thought of having to jump, her heart thumped anxiously. Positioning herself where the tree branches could break her fall, Yoo Seo-hwa took a deep breath. If she just closed her eyes tightly and jumped, it would be over before she could even exhale.
Clutching the hem of her skirt, she hooked her knee over the window frame. Inside her pounding heart, someone whispered.
‘Is there a need to keep living like this?’
At that moment, as if by magic, the anxiety vanished.
“…….”
Panting heavily, she slowly stepped back from the window frame. Her trembling legs actually stood firmer the closer the flames approached.
The heat rushing from all sides suffocated her. From afar came the sound of something consumed by the fire collapsing with a loud crack. The thick, rolling black smoke clawed at her lungs.
Nevertheless, Yoo Seo-hwa set a fallen chair upright and sat down properly.
‘Heaven is taking away this harsh life that I couldn’t end by my own hand.’
Was it not a life that had already lost its meaning?
Once she finished making the clothes for the Deposed Emperor and the deposed empress, the last reason to prolong her wretched life would disappear anyway. That time had simply come a little sooner.
“Cough. Cough.”
Her chest felt tight and painful, as if it were blocked off. Yoo Seo-hwa let out a series of dry coughs and looked around.
It was the scenery of the interior that she had intentionally avoided looking at when she first entered the Pavilion. The precious place where she would have lived, had it not been for her cruel fate. The place where she would have cherished the love in her heart and lived together with her husband.
Though now, it was all nothing but a fleeting pipe dream.
Yoo Seo-hwa closed her eyes tightly.
The illusion of the children of her beloved husband, whom she might have given birth to, running around and laughing inside the Pavilion, drifted distantly away through the blazing flames.
“Haa, gasp…….”
Breathing became a struggle. Beyond the surging pain, her consciousness began to blur.
Thud!
The sounds of collapsing, burning, and vanishing buzzed continuously in her ears.
The memory of falling into the Pond throbbed. She recalled how her limbs hadn’t moved at all beneath the surface as it drifted infinitely far away. The cramp in her leg back then must have also been Heaven’s attempt to take away this meaningless life.
‘I’ve finally reached the end.’
Yoo Seo-hwa inhaled what might be her last breath.
It was a pity she couldn’t finish the clothes. That was the only thing that could be called a lingering regret.
The sparks flying against her skin, the agony of being unable to breathe, the searing heat—everything gradually drifted away. Just like when she was sinking into the water.
“Your Highness, Your Highness! Where are you!”
Yoo Seo-hwa let out a bitter smile.
‘The heavens are quite mischievous. To think the final auditory hallucination I hear is his past voice.’
Even though she no longer desired anything from Gyeong Won-ui.
It was a twist of irony.
Her only wish was for this weary body to be swiftly swallowed by the demonic blaze. Only that—.
Crash, bang!
A violent sound of splintering vibrated through the air, piercing through the heat. Startled, she snapped her eyes open.
The door, which had been catching fire, was rolling far away. And beyond it.
“……Your Highness.”
A man with the face of her forgotten lover stood there.
It was something she had not dared to wish for.
 
The wine and food were delicious, the musician’s performance was intriguing, and the conversation they shared was light. It was a merry banquet.
Except for the fact that Wang Jeong-mun couldn’t focus at all.
“Byeoljang Wang, why is your expression so dark? You said you were stepping out to relieve yourself earlier, but it seems you left your soul behind instead. Haha.”
He forced the corners of his mouth up to laugh at the mindless joke.
Wondering if his face really looked that spaced out, he rubbed his face with his palm. He couldn’t tell.
However, he knew the reason.

He had never known that a tender word like being a good person could hurt so chillingly and be so difficult.
If being a good person meant making Yoo Seo-hwa wear such an expression, Wang Jeong-mun did not want to be a good person.
But.
“…….”
Wang Jeong-mun shifted his gaze toward the head table. Gyeong Won-ui was conversing with the guest seated next to him with his usual cold face.
If the Emperor was his family’s savior, Gyeong Won-ui was his own savior.
Gyeong Won-ui had trusted and heavily appointed Wang Jeong-mun, who had been implicitly despised because his father was born a Slave.
‘If it weren’t for the General, I would never have obtained such a proper military post as I have now.’
Was it truly acceptable to continue harboring a sinful love that was no different from betraying his savior?
Even after hearing Yoo Seo-hwa’s gentle rejection, the fragments of his heart that he couldn’t entirely discard reached out precariously.
Wang Jeong-mun gulped down his wine. It was a regret that it wasn’t a potent liquor strong enough to make him lose his senses.
“Master.”
Because he kept directing his attention toward the head table, Wang Jeong-mun was able to see the Butler risking rudeness to enter the room.
The complexion of the Butler, who had entered with his back bowed, was extremely pale. Gyeong Won-ui’s expression also hardened upon hearing the Butler’s whisper. However, he did not show signs of losing his composure like the Butler.
“An urgent matter has arisen outside, so I will step away for a moment. Please enjoy yourselves.”
As Gyeong Won-ui left the room, a sense of wonderment hovered over the banquet table.

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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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