Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 67

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

Chapter 67: Blooming Even in the Mud
 
 
 
“……What do you mean by that?”
“There is no longer any meaning in continuing this unworthy life. If the flames reach this far, you will be in danger too, Gyeong Won-ui, so please leave quickly.”
Yoo Seo-hwa pronounced her own death sentence with a calm expression that was neither smiling nor crying. Her soul, having lost the will to live, already had one foot on the path to the afterlife.
Yoo Seo-hwa’s death.
That single phrase, carved into his consciousness, stole Gyeong Won-ui’s breath away.
Even when she was confined in prison and he was anxiously waiting for news, she was alive.
Even when he watched her step down from the litter adorned with silk and tiger pelt to walk away to become another man’s wife, she was alive.
Even when he whetted his hatred and yearned for revenge, she was alive.
Because she was alive somewhere far away, a future where he would meet her again was a matter of course.
But.
To die, for her death to happen.
“……Do not…….”
The process of squeezing a voice from his stolen breath was more arduous than the time he spent harboring hatred.
“Do not do that, Your Highness.”
“And why is that?”
And his arduousness was lightly denied.
Yoo Seo-hwa asked him back instead, with an expression that did not understand a single thing.
“Do you not want to take revenge on me? If you see my body burned to death, you will be satisfied to some extent. Can this not substitute for my imperial father’s sins that I must repay?”
“…….”
“Is my death not enough?”
“That is not what I mean!”
He had no choice but to raise his voice and shout. In order to erase her voice that was floating in the air.
But Yoo Seo-hwa’s voice, which he had already heard, pierced his eardrums with a resonance hotter than the raging flames.
How many blood-stained screams did she have to swallow before she could speak of death so calmly?
It was true that he had wanted Yoo Seo-hwa’s death. It was also true that he had intended to kill her.
That he could not kill her in the end was also a fact.
A groan like despair crumbled between Gyeong Won-ui’s teeth. Only now did he realize.
A belated, far too belated realization ensnared him like Yoo Seo-hwa’s silent scream.
“……I am.”
He could not even kill the woman he intended to kill. He could not even erase her from his sight invisibly.
Taking the woman who closed her eyes in deep despair, he convinced himself that it was only natural for her to be his possession.
He steeled his mind that he would not hand her over to another man. He was certain that even if the Emperor’s imperial decree fell, he would never let her go from his hands.
‘I even had the delusion of locking her up in a place where no one’s eyes could reach instead.’
He hoped that nothing other than himself would move her emotions.
All of that stemmed from a terrible craving of not wanting to lose her. The woman whom he had no choice but to utterly lose because he believed she had betrayed him.
Even though she was the daughter of the enemy who harmed his entire family, and a woman who had deeply engraved the hatred of being betrayed, a terrible affection that he could not cast away after all.
Because he could not entirely discard it, a poignant love that he could not fully face either stood before him in a miserably crushed form.
The name of it was Yoo Seo-hwa’s death.
“……Your Highness, please live.”
“Those are cruel words.”
Yoo Seo-hwa leaned against the chair, letting out a weary breath. She blinked slowly, as if holding onto her fading consciousness.
Having been trapped in the flames for a long time, her voice was more hoarsely cracked than before.
“Do you intend to trample even the last remaining freedom I have, Gyeong Won-ui?”
Even while they were conversing, death was rapidly approaching.
If they delayed just a little longer, the toxic smoke she must have inhaled ahead of the flames would grant Yoo Seo-hwa death. There was no time.
She was a fragile woman who did not even amount to a handful.
It was entirely possible to force her up, hold her, and go out. No matter how much she flailed, it would not be a difficult task. But for Gyeong Won-ui, that was an impossible option now.
“……!”
Yoo Seo-hwa’s eyes, which had been flickering and fading, widened. An unbelieving gaze fell upon the back of Gyeong Won-ui’s head as he knelt before her.
“I will accept whatever words you say to me, so can you not just follow my words for now? You must escape.”
“……Gyeong Won-ui.”
“I beg of you.”
“…….”
“If you refuse to go in the end, I will remain with Your Highness as well.”
It was an earnest plea that was closer to being called a supplication.
It was a long silence.
Even while the fire that devoured everything as it burned tightened around them moment by moment, and only death and destruction wavered in the surroundings, only a bizarre silence existed between the two.
Gyeong Won-ui did not budge an inch, remaining right where he knelt.
‘Does he really intend to die here with me…….’
From that night which brought about their reunion after five years until the present, that much silence flowed, and the strength slowly drained from Yoo Seo-hwa’s hand, which she had been gripping so tightly on her lap that it turned white.
“I will escort you outside.”
Gyeong Won-ui took off his overcoat and wrapped it around Yoo Seo-hwa to prevent sparks from flying. Soon, Yoo Seo-hwa lost consciousness and slumped into his arms.
She is still breathing. It is not too late. It will not be too late.
‘I just need to go out quickly.’
Lifting Yoo Seo-hwa up with both arms, he urgently surveyed the surroundings. Although he was forcing himself to endure, Gyeong Won-ui’s breathing was also gradually becoming difficult.
Going down by the stairs is impossible. Happening to see that there were open windows, he checked and saw that there was firewood underneath, presenting a suitable spot to jump down.
Pulling Yoo Seo-hwa close to his chest, he jumped carefully so that the impact of the fall would not reach her.
“Ugh!”
Unable to withstand the impact of the fall, tree branches snapped one after another, and Gyeong Won-ui’s body also rolled onto the ground.
As if being struck with a hammer, a groan escaped on its own from the pain striking his lower back.
‘It seems somewhere is severely injured. But it is fine since I succeeded in escaping outside.’
Although black smoke was rising along with the flames, breathing was much easier.
Above all, Yoo Seo-hwa was alive.
Gyeong Won-ui closed his eyes as he listened to the sound of Yoo Seo-hwa’s breathing in his arms.
“Ma, Master! Master is here!! Come quickly!!”
The voices of the servants buzzing in the distance scattered faintly.
 
* * *
 
It was a dream.
She thought it could only be a dream. Otherwise, her lover could not possibly project such an affectionate smile toward her.
“Gyeong Won-ui.”
A gentle smile like a soft calling formed at the corners of her lips.
Even without particularly exchanging affectionate talk, and even without binding each other with gestures of passion, it was fine. Just containing each other in their crossing gazes and sending affectionate smiles allowed a feeling of deep love to circulate fully.
Therefore…….
It was a dream.
 
Simultaneously with waking from the dream, a harsh cough burst out from her lungs.
“Cough! Cough!”
She exhaled with difficulty, as if spitting out the black smoke that had filled her lungs.
“Master, I have brought water.”
The Butler quickly proffered a water bowl. Once his coughing finally subsided, Gyeong Won-ui received the water bowl and gulped the water down.
Only after the lukewarm water washed down his painfully aching esophagus did his senses barely return.
“How much time has passed?”
“The day has just dawned.”
It meant he had been unconscious for several Shijin.
When he moved his body to get down from the bed, a stiff pain swept through and thrashed his entire body.
“Your bruises are severe. There was a word from the Doctor that you must take sufficient rest and recuperate.”
Only then did he examine his own body. He could see bandages tightly wrapped between his collar. He had jumped blindly from the third floor, so it was almost a miracle that his injuries were only to this extent.
In any case, there was a matter more urgent than his own injuries.
“Where, no, where is that person?”
“Pardon? Which person do you mean?”
“I mean the person who fell together with me.”
“Ah! That, the…… the young lady has been accommodated separately in the Guest Room.”
The Butler was about to say ‘Slave’ but quickly changed his words.
“She is still asleep, but her life is not in danger.”
“Guide me.”
Perhaps because his attitude was unyielding, the Butler guided him to Yoo Seo-hwa without a word.
Gyeong Won-ui frowned inadvertently. Deok-sun had quickly moved her quarters to the Guest Room instead of the Servants’ Quarters, but it was insufficient in his eyes.
“Clean up the room next to my quarters and have her accommodated there.”
Leaving behind the Butler whose eyes widened upon hearing the command, he went inside. Two maidservants who were guarding Yoo Seo-hwa’s bed rose flurriedly and bowed.
He approached her side, but Yoo Seo-hwa did not wake. Yoo Seo-hwa’s quietly sleeping face was deeply submerged, as if she felt no pain at all.
Unable to brush back her disheveled hair or caress her gaunt cheek, Gyeong Won-ui merely looked down at her silently for a long time before quietly stepping back.
Since she is alive, it is fine. That is enough.
 
One of the maidservants who had gone outside the room looked familiar. She was the maidservant he had called to find out what harm Chu Na-yeon’s visit had caused to Yoo Seo-hwa.
“What did you say your name was?”
“I, I am Kkot-bun, Master.”
Kkot-bun spoke in a highly tense voice, just like back then.
“Take good care of that person.”
“Yes! Of course I will!”
“Do you know for what business she went to the Pavilion? The Inner House should have been empty continuously.”
“Yesterday, that person was working in the Banbitgan, but midway through, she left her post saying she had to go on an errand for the Head Slave. I heard from someone looking for that person after the fire broke out that the place the Head Slave sent her on the errand was the Inner House.”
“What could there be to bring from the Inner House?”
“I do not know that far. I am deeply sorry.”
Gyeong Won-ui quietly stroked his chin. It was strange enough that the fire broke out precisely when Yoo Seo-hwa was alone in the Inner House, but there was even a person who intended for her to go to the Inner House.
He had Kkot-bun, who was repeatedly bowing with a face as if she had committed a crime, call the maidservant who said she looked for Yoo Seo-hwa after the fire broke out.
Shortly after, not only the maidservant but also the Butler and Deok-sun gathered together in one place.

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