Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 79
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Is simply reviving the nutmeg tree the answer? For some reason, he felt that her words were not meant to be taken so literally. His thoughts branched out in complex directions, but nothing struck him as the definitive answer.
As Gyeong Won-ui stood before the nutmeg tree, lost in thought, Kkot-bun approached and greeted him.
“Master.”
“Ah, yes. Did the lady finish her breakfast well today?”
“Yes, though her portion has decreased slightly, she ate with good appetite. She didn’t leave a single drop of her decoction either.”
Thank goodness. Gyeong Won-ui felt relieved.
Worried that she might skip her meals again, he had been receiving daily reports from Kkot-bun.
“For today’s refreshment tray, try serving honey-filled rice cakes and chrysanthemum tea. Those are things she used to enjoy.”
“I will inform the Banbitgan. However, if we are to prepare the rice cakes starting now, we won’t be able to serve them today.”
“I told them in advance, so the preparations should already be finished.”
“I will do as you command.”
As Kkot-bun walked away after finishing her report, Gyeong Won-ui also returned to his quarters. Someone happened to be waiting for him there. It was Wang Jeong-mun, looking urgent.
“General, a report has come up from the south.”
“Which team is it?”
“It is the team that was tracking Cui Shecheng. They say they have found him.”
The weather was a bit too warm to eat rice cakes warmed over a brazier, but it was just right for Yoo Seo-hwa, whose health had not fully recovered.
Biting into a rice cake filled with sweet honey, Yoo Seo-hwa drowned in memories.
“This is a rice cake that the nanny who raised me used to make often. It is delicious.”
“Eat a lot. That way, your cheeks will get nice and plump.”
“The Suljigemi I ate with you was also very delicious.”
“The next time I get some Suljigemi, I’ll grill it for you again.”
“But how do you guess the foods I enjoy eating so perfectly like this?”
“Hehe, well, I just have good intuition.”
Kkot-bun smiled awkwardly.
She couldn’t bring herself to say that Gyeong Won-ui, whom she met every day, was telling her. She had simply mixed them in moderately among other foods so it wouldn’t be too obvious.
‘She hardly ever says what she likes or dislikes. It was difficult to guess what kind of food she enjoys, so it’s a relief the master is letting me know.’
She decided to think of it as a good thing. Since Yoo Seo-hwa would only recover her health and put on some weight if she enjoyed the food she liked.
While the two sat across from each other, eating rice cakes and sharing idle chat, Mang-a returned.
“My lady, this is a letter that the master asked me to deliver.”
Mang-a quietly held out Gyeong Won-ui’s letter.
In truth, it was something difficult for Mang-a to understand. Why on earth did he deliver his business through letters when they lived under the same roof? The extreme devotion in Gyeong Won-ui’s attitude toward Yoo Seo-hwa was also strange.
The more he observed them, the stranger these people seemed.
Yoo Seo-hwa, who had no way of knowing Mang-a’s complicated thoughts, calmly read the letter. In summary, it stated that he had urgent business near Ganam Province and would be away from the private residence for a few days.
Reading silently, Yoo Seo-hwa’s expression flinched at the phrase ‘Ganam Province.’
‘If the Soguk Lady and Won-yeong were alive, would something have changed? If I could come to know that my five years had even the slightest bit of meaning…’
Yoo Seo-hwa soon sighed and sealed the letter again.
It was a thought as meaningless as the assumption that her imperial father had not framed Gyeong Baek-jong.
It was the following day when the Butler received a strange letter.
‘The recipient is “Yoo Seo-hwa,” so who on earth is that?’
Judging by the name, it seemed to be a woman, but there was no way a female retainer could be in the guest room. There was also no person by that name either. Furthermore, Gyeong Won-ui was single.
‘Did a letter that was supposed to go to another clan come to the wrong place?’
However, the messenger who brought the letter had clearly stated, ‘Yoo Seo-hwa at the Xichang Gyeong Clan Ancestral Residence.’
Holding the letter that he could neither deliver nor throw away, the Butler pondered for a long time before going to find Wang Jeong-mun. Since Wang Jeong-mun was supposed to handle affairs while Gyeong Won-ui was absent, he guessed that he would know better than himself.
“A letter addressed to Yoo Seo-hwa?”
“Yes, Byeoljang. Please take a look.”
His guess was correct. Wang Jeong-mun indeed seemed to know who ‘Yoo Seo-hwa’ was.
“I will per—”
Wang Jeong-mun swallowed his words just as he was about to instinctively reply that he would deliver it personally.
‘Get a grip, Wang Jeong-mun. This isn’t some sort of opportunity to meet Her Highness without suspicion.’
Even though he had resolved to save Yoo Seo-hwa, he had been terrified of the flames. What had he felt when he saw Gyeong Won-ui, who leapt in without hesitation, passing right by his side while he couldn’t even step inside?
To think he still dared to harbor her in his heart after that.
A bitter self-loathing surged up his throat. Wang Jeong-mun forced his expression to compose itself.
“It is a letter that came for the lady.”
“Was the lady’s name Yoo Seo-hwa?”
“It seems she does not wish for it to be known, so do not make it obvious in front of her.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
The Butler, who received the letter back, delivered it straight to Yoo Seo-hwa. Yoo Seo-hwa was equally bewildered.
‘Was there anyone who would send a letter to me?’
She was about to examine the envelope but stopped.
‘I don’t know who it is, but I am a princess who was framed for being part of an Evil Cult and deposed to commoner status. There must be some intention behind this.’
She refused to be swept away by political interests, and she also refused to be remembered by the name Yoo Seo-hwa.
Yoo Seo-hwa flipped the letter over and threw it into a chest.
If Kkot-bun hadn’t looked into the chest while tidying up the room the next day, it would have been completely erased from her memory.
“Oh, what is this letter? The person who wrote it… hmm… Han… is it correct to read this as Han Ho?”
Kkot-bun read the name written on the envelope haltingly. The name ‘Han Ho’ pierced the ears of Yoo Seo-hwa, who was sewing.
Han Ho. If her memory served her right, he was definitely the man who had been the Moksa of Ganam Province. Five years ago, around the time when Lady Zhang and Won-yeong were to be sent away as government office slaves.
Of all things, the person who had served as the Moksa of Ganam Province around that time had sent a letter to her, so she suddenly became curious.
“Kkot-bun, give me the letter.”
“Yeah, here it is.”
She tore open the envelope and pulled out the thick, multiple-folded inner paper. The handwriting was exceedingly polite.
Passing over the cumbersome modifier words offering greetings, her eyes quickly shifted to the part where the purpose of the letter was written.
[I departed as an envoy to look around various countries in the southern sea regions last spring and have not been back in the country for long. I heard rough news about the Restoration at a port of call, but it is only now that I have come to know the detailed situation.
As I hear General Gyeong is absent, I take the liberty of addressing Your Highness despite the discourtesy.
Among the General’s family, his sister, Gyeong Won-yeong, is alive. To be precise, she escaped five years ago and her whereabouts are unknown.]
The hand of Yoo Seo-hwa holding the letter trembled violently.
Her vision blurred into a fog. Tears fell with a plop-plop onto the long letter that detailed how Won-yeong had escaped, how she had forged her death, and so on.
“Qu-Quickly…”
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
“To the young master, s-send someone… the Butler… no, I must go myself.”
Because she rose in a hurry, she stepped on the hem of her skirt and almost fell. She couldn’t even think to wipe away her tears. Yoo Seo-hwa stepped out into the outdoors, where the scent of late spring flowed profusely.
After showing her tears in front of Gyeong Won-ui, this was the first step she took of her own volition.
* * *
On the boat heading toward Eogu Island, Gyeong Won-ui recalled the contents of the report once again.
He had previously received a report from an investigator stating that Cui Shecheng had set sail on a day when the storm was severe and gone missing. It also included the fact that they had managed to blind the eyes of other trackers pursuing Cui Shecheng as a temporary measure.
Although there was an opinion that the probability of his death was high, he had ordered them to thoroughly search the nearby waters and islands anyway. The result of that was what had been reported now.
It was an old man whose daughter had married into Eogu Island, so he went to Eogu Island once every two months or so. He had found it strange that there was an unfamiliar stranger there, but after seeing the Wanted Poster of Cui Shecheng which carried a hefty reward, he had informed them.
In addition to that, there was also a thought that he wanted to clear his head a little and ponder the problem Yoo Seo-hwa had thrown at him. Although no sharp solution had come to mind until he rode his horse for days on end and boarded the boat heading for Eogu Island.
‘Since Her Highness even avoids meeting me directly… even if the false charge is cleared, she is not someone who would rejoice greatly over it.’
Even so, if she had been a woman enticed by gold, silver, treasures, and power, his heart would not have been stolen away either.
‘When I saw her in our childhood, it’s true I fell in love at first sight, but as I came to know her, I fell in love with her character over and over again.’
As he recalled the old memories that already felt distant, a gentle smile hung on his lips before being swept away as if brushed by the sea breeze.
Despite sharing a time filled with loving affection and exchanging their true hearts, he felt disgusted by his own foolishness for ultimately failing to trust her. If possible, he felt like cutting down his past self with a sword.
If there was the most foolish, ignorant, and stupid man in the world, it was precisely Gyeong Won-ui.
Now, whether he received forgiveness from Yoo Seo-hwa or not was not the problem.
‘I will make absolutely sure that Her Highness does not intend to give up on her own life.’
If it was for that purpose, he could willingly fall to a place meaner than Yoo Seo-hwa, who had once been in the lowest position as a slave. Even if he did so, he wouldn’t be able to feel even half of the sorrow and pain that Yoo Seo-hwa had experienced.
Even if he devoted his entire life, he would not be able to compensate her.
‘I would be happy if Her Highness would merely accept my lifetime.’
“We have almost arrived!”
At the shout of the boatman, Gyeong Won-ui woke from his thoughts. Beyond the horizon, an island of faint shape began to appear.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
