Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 70

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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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Chapter 70: Blooming Even in the Mud
 
VI.
 
 
 
Having finished checking Yoo Seo-hwa’s pulse, the Doctor straightened his back.
“There are no major injuries, so once her vitality is restored, she will soon recover. I will prescribe herbs to replenish her Qi, so from tomorrow on, you can decoct and serve it to her twice a day.”
“Thank you.”
“Since her strength is depleted, she should not overexert herself, and it is best to start slowly by walking around the room. I will examine her condition during my next visit and administer acupuncture if needed.”
Gyeong Won-ui breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to her state of being bedridden and unconscious for several days, her health was in good condition.
Yoo Seo-hwa had been staring out the window the entire time the Doctor was checking her pulse. Even now, she had an indifferent expression, as if she were listening to someone else’s diagnosis.
It remained the same when Gyeong Won-ui, after seeing the Doctor out, returned with a Medicine Bowl from a Maidservant. It felt as though time had stopped only around Yoo Seo-hwa.
The image of her sitting neatly in the middle of the raging fire that consumed everything, waiting for death, overlapped with her current self. Feeling as though a dark fist had struck his chest hard, Gyeong Won-ui clenched his teeth tightly.
Then, deliberately relaxing his stiff expression, he spoke to her.
“The weather is lovely today as well. How are you feeling?”
“…….”
“I brought the Decoction here.”
“…….”
“Ah, while you were lying down, Your Highness, Court Lady Lee paid a visit. Since I delivered the news that you regained consciousness, I believe she might send a Letter sometime soon.”
Even though Gyeong Won-ui spoke warmly, Yoo Seo-hwa, who had been completely indifferent all along, showed a reaction for the first time.
“Is Court Lady Lee healthy?”
“Since she could neither send nor receive news in the meantime, it seems her anxiety was immense. Now that Your Highness has awakened, she will be fine. Currently, she is serving Her Majesty the Empress.”
“I heard from the Emperor in the past that Her Majesty the Empress is a benevolent person. If it is Court Lady Lee, she will attend to Her Majesty well.”
“Your Highness must also recover your health so that you can meet Court Lady Lee next time.”
He had nudged her gently, but perhaps it had the opposite effect. Between Yoo Seo-hwa’s lips, a dry voice crumbled like grains of sand.
“Is keeping this body tethered to the world by force your revenge, Young Master?”
He almost shouted out loud that it was not. Gyeong Won-ui barely swallowed the response that surged up to his throat.
“I will not deny that I was once possessed by a foolish stubbornness. Because of my foolishness, I have committed an unpardonable sin against Your Highness.”
“It is only natural for you to resent me. It is a fact that my royal father framed General Gyeong, and it is also a fact that I am that man’s daughter.”
“Such facts were no excuse to resent Your Highness. Instead of resenting the lack of news, it would have been right for me to worry about you, who must have been suffering alone in that situation.”
It had been five years that felt as though he were possessed by a demon named revenge. Now that a layer of that wretched stubbornness was peeled away, he could see the clear truth he had overlooked—or rather, refused to see.
“The Accusation against my father occurring right after Your Highness confirmed Jiang Huang’s Dagger must be a mere coincidence. The person who instigated the hiding of the Forged Letter could not have been Your Highness either.”
“There was such an incident as well…….”
Yoo Seo-hwa recalled those days with distant eyes.
At that time, it was so painful and sorrowful as if her soul were being torn apart, but now, for some reason, it felt like it wasn’t her own experience. Like reading a Book written by someone else, she stood a step away, unable to empathize at all.
Back then, even sending a single letter to Gyeong Won-ui was an impossible situation. She had made separate requests to several Ministers, including Chu Se-gu, but seeing Gyeong Won-ui’s reaction, Yoo Seo-hwa figured it probably hadn’t been delivered.
‘He was pushed to the absolute brink, so it was a situation where he could fully misunderstand.’
She understood the circumstances Gyeong Won-ui had faced. However, understanding did not mean she would accept him.
Even if Gyeong Won-ui cleared up the long-standing misunderstanding now, the trust was already broken.
To restore broken trust, they would have to build a faith deeper than what was shattered, but Yoo Seo-hwa did not even have the energy to restore that trust.
Gyeong Won-ui let out a painful breath.
“Even if the heavens split and the seas parted, I should have believed in you alone…… but I failed to do so.”
Compared to the sin he had committed, wasn’t even uttering an apology like ‘I am sorry’ so shallow as to be absurd?
“I am sorry, Your Highness.”
Yet, Gyeong Won-ui had no choice but to dare to voice his apology. Because if he did not plead and hold onto her, even by using a shallow voice, it felt as though she would walk toward death once again.
“I am sorry.”
“…….”
“I do not harbor the absurd thought of receiving forgiveness from Your Highness. I only wish for Your Highness to live…….”
Please live and blame me, live and resent me.
An earnest plea, which felt as if his emotions had been crushed and ground into blackness, was laid beneath Yoo Seo-hwa’s feet. As if begging her to look at him, even if it meant stepping all over it.
Only then did Yoo Seo-hwa move her head to gaze blankly at Gyeong Won-ui.

To someone else, it might have been an insignificant sarcasm. But to Yoo Seo-hwa, it had been a cruel venom that crushed the fingers desperately hanging onto the edge of a Cliff.
The lips of the man who had ripped her heart apart with a cold voice were now begging her to live.
‘As if anything changes by doing that.’
It wasn’t as if the cold remark that made her give up on herself would vanish from her memory. If one blindly scatters seeds on wastefully ruined soil, will flowers bloom?
Even so, she could not harshly reject his futile plea to his face. It was due to her own past memory of blindly clinging to her royal father and begging, even though she too had intuitively known it was too late.
“……The Decoction will get cold.”
Gyeong Won-ui’s head snapped up.
Yoo Seo-hwa turned her eyes away from the emotions of joy and gratitude that quickly flashed and vanished, yet clearly lingered on his face.
“It is still hot. Since your hands must lack strength, I will scoop it for you.”
Gyeong Won-ui scooped the Decoction with a spoon and blew on it. Yoo Seo-hwa silently accepted and drank the Decoction, which had cooled enough to swallow easily.
As Gyeong Won-ui went to move the completely emptied Medicine Bowl to the table, his hand accidentally brushed against the back of Yoo Seo-hwa’s hand.
“……!”
Startled, Yoo Seo-hwa instinctively withdrew her hand.
Once, just a slight touch of his fingertips against her skin brought a secret joy, and not long ago, she had been held by him as a woman. Yet now, she flinched just from their skin making contact.
Gyeong Won-ui was equally flustered. A pale rigidity flashed and lingered on his hand.
Nevertheless, skillfully managing his emotions, he took a step back.
“I am sorry for causing you concern.”
Arranging the space with an expression that deliberately showed nothing was amiss, he continued.
“I do not believe the claim that you are a believer of the Evil Cult either. I will surely clear Your Highness’s name, so even if it is uncomfortable, please wait a little while.”
“Rather than me, please clear General Gyeong’s name.”
“Actually, there is a matter I am investigating with His Majesty’s permission.”
Listening to the suspicions regarding Gyeong Baek-jong’s false charge and the story of Cui Shecheng, whom he was tracking, Yoo Seo-hwa nodded her head a couple of times. At the very least, it was a more interesting topic than listening to Gyeong Won-ui’s plea for her to live.
“I shall take my leave now.”
Just before crossing the threshold, Gyeong Won-ui asked in a hesitant voice.
“May I come to visit you again next time?”
“Do as you wish. Am I not the Young Master’s Slave?”
“…….”
Lying down on the bed again, Yoo Seo-hwa turned her back, choosing not to see how Gyeong Won-ui’s expression changed.
She was terribly fatigued.

“Um, My Lady. I offer my morning greetings.”
At the hesitant voice, Yoo Seo-hwa let out a weak, chuckled laugh.
“Kkot-bun, do not be like that. Are you not my friend?”
“Hehe. Can I act comfortably then?”
Kkot-bun, whose eyes had been rolling awkwardly, brightened up and plonked down on the chair beside the bed.
“I’m so glad you woke up safely. I was so scared, thinking something terrible was about to happen.”
“You must have been very shocked.”
“First falling into the Pond, and now this—I don’t know why bad accidents keep happening only to you one after another. I’ll stick right by your side and be careful from now on, so you must be careful too. If anything happens, you have to tell me.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Even though Yoo Seo-hwa’s position had suddenly changed, Kkot-bun did not feel jealous or harbor an inferiority complex. Yoo Seo-hwa was grateful for her kind heart, which worried for her with pure intentions and rejoiced over her recovery.
“Aside from me, Dal-rae has also ended up working as your Maidservant.”
“She must have been working in the Banbitgan all this time, is she alright with this?”
“Of course. It’s not like she had some grand pride in cooking; she just happened to be drafted and kept working there. They say under a good-natured lady, there’s no place easier to work than the Inner House. Ah, though this place isn’t the Inner House.”
“Two people suddenly dropped out from the Banbitgan, did it not cause any problems?”
“It was hectic at first, but they brought in other people, so I guess they’re used to it now. Oh, Dal-rae decided to take full charge of your meals. At the news of your recovery, she’s preparing it in the Banbitgan right now.”
“Dal-rae’s cooking tastes truly wonderful.”
“Yeah, she’s probably the best at making food in the Banbitgan.”
Chattering happily, Kkot-bun suddenly whispered secretly.
“This is a secret, but you see…….”

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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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