Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 91

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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 the Mud Chapter 91

“It’s foolish, isn’t it? To think that I would ruthlessly abandon the only person who helped me when times were tough—it means he couldn’t trust me. After all the years we’ve lived together as husband and wife sharing the same bed.”
“Because he loved you that much, he must have been anxious.”
At Yoo Seo-hwa’s consolation, Gyeong Won-yeong smiled weakly.
“I don’t know what we’ll do moving forward, but for the time being, we decided to keep our distance and think things over on our own. A conclusion will be reached eventually.”
She seemed reluctant to continue this topic any further. Gyeong Won-ui also changed the subject to match her rhythm.
“The information accessible on Eogu Island must have been limited, yet for him to deduce that much shows he is a clever man.”
“Right? He said he taught himself how to read and write for the most part. Perhaps that is why Dong-i is also so incredibly smart.”
Watching Gyeong Won-yeong gush over her son, Yoo Seo-hwa thought to herself.
Just as Gyeong Won-yeong said, no one knew what the future held, but it did not seem as though Eulsu had become an object of resentment in her heart. If so, she would eventually reach a wise conclusion that she would never regret.
On the way back to the Capital City, she rode in the carriage with Gyeong Won-yeong. The sweet, friendly conversation they shared inside drifted outside the carriage.
Thanks to that, Gyeong Won-ui felt much more relieved, and seeing him like that, Yoo Seo-hwa secretly smiled.
Hong Ok-geum, who had been staying in the house intended for Gyeong Won-yeong, felt apologetic and said she would find another house to move into soon. Gyeong Won-yeong shook her head with a smile.
“Why don’t we live together, at least until our circumstances change? I think the children would like it too since they’ll have a playmate.”
“I wonder if we are imposing too much…”
“I don’t have a husband either, so it’s wonderful for me to be able to rely on you like an elder sister.”
Hesitating out of apologetic feelings, Hong Ok-geum accepted Gyeong Won-yeong’s proposal. A bustling vitality was added to the quiet house where Hong Ok-geum and Dong-i used to live.

It was late at night when they returned to the Private Residence from Gyeong Won-yeong and Hong Ok-geum’s house. Returning from a place that had been filled with the sounds of children running and playing, the solitude of the summer night felt much deeper.
In the Garden, the sound of grass insects was loud. Throughout the Private Residence, the Servants would also be moving busily to wrap up their day.
Even so, tonight felt exceptionally solitary.
‘Is it because I drank alcohol with dinner?’
However, he could not possibly be drunk on just a few cups of alcohol consumed during a meal.
Gyeong Won-ui took Yoo Seo-hwa, who was walking beside him, into his field of vision. The roundly curved moonlight drew a white halo of light around her. Feeling an icy sensation as if she might melt away and disappear into that halo of light, he unconsciously grabbed her wrist.
“Do you have something to say?”
Meeting those black eyes looking up at him in surprise, he realized he had grabbed her too tightly. He let go of her hand in embarrassment.
“No. I have not fully sobered up yet, so forgive my rudeness.”
He lightly pressed his lips against Yoo Seo-hwa’s wrist, which was tinged with a slight flush. Her skin, reflecting even whiter under the moonlight, pulsed delicately.
‘…It seems the alcohol is rushing to my head.’
The moment he felt her soft skin, a dizzying heat whirled within him. Gyeong Won-ui took a step back, swallowing a breath through his teeth.
Because they were in the middle of rebuilding the destroyed Inner House, Yoo Seo-hwa’s quarters were still close to his. They had decided to hold the wedding after the Inner House was restored.
‘She is a woman before marriage.’
Therefore, he must not get any closer to Yoo Seo-hwa than this. Even though Gyeong Won-ui knew the true nature of that heat, he forced himself to treat it as the effects of the alcohol.
Rather than committing a shameless act against Yoo Seo-hwa like in the past, he would rather bite his tongue and die.
“You must be tired, so please rest.”
He escorted her to her room door and waited for her to enter, but Yoo Seo-hwa did not even open the door and simply stared up at him. The faintly flickering light of the Lantern cast a dim shadow over her eyes as well.
“Are you not going in?”
He asked back calmly, suppressing the urge to wrap his arms around her waist this very instant.
“For some reason, I feel like I won’t be able to sleep tonight…”
Yoo Seo-hwa hesitated, trailing off. Every minor action, from looking at him to looking around while blinking her long eyelashes, was a dangerous provocation.
‘You are not a beast. Get a grip, Gyeong Won-ui.’
Gyeong Won-ui clenched his teeth.
He felt that if he stayed any longer, he would make a truly grave mistake. With a firm resolve never to drink alcohol again, he took a step back.
“Since it is late, I shall take my leave first…!”
However, Gyeong Won-ui could not even take two steps back. This was because Yoo Seo-hwa, after putting out the light of the Lantern he was holding, took a large stride forward.
A summer night where even the light of the lantern had vanished.
In the middle of the night where only the moonlight shone brightly, Yoo Seo-hwa’s cheeks, which used to be as white as pear blossoms, were exceptionally red.
“For some reason, tonight feels so solitary to me. I feel like I will be terribly lonely if I spend this night alone…”
“…Princess, but.”
“You keep trying to send me away and return on your own.”
The slow voice she stammered out, with a flush rising all the way to her neck, was clumsy on one hand, and lacking on the other. However, Yoo Seo-hwa’s clumsiness turned into a fatal temptation that overwhelmed Gyeong Won-ui. He could not resist.
The extinguished Lantern fell to the floor.
“Ah.”
Before a short exclamation could even flow from Yoo Seo-hwa’s lips, it was consumed by Gyeong Won-ui and withered away.
“Mmh, nggh.”
Yoo Seo-hwa could not pull herself together at the heat that came probing inside softly. He tenderly cradled and embraced her as she stood frozen, not knowing what to do, yet he also poured out a fierce passion.
They had shared shy kisses before, and they had shared kisses stained with sorrow and pain. However, a kiss like this, which made her head spin dizzily and burn with a scorching heat, was a first.
It was merely a kiss, yet the strength drained from her waist and her legs gave out.
“Hngh.”
“Are you alright?”
Gyeong Won-ui, holding her swaying waist firmly with his sturdy arm, whispered. His hot breath brushed over her earlobe, sending a shiver through her.
“May I take you inside?”
It was a calm voice, unbefitting of a man who had just showered her with a kiss fierce enough to make her lips swell red. Yoo Seo-hwa instinctively sensed the dense, heavy longing laid deep beneath it.
“If I tell you to just go back, will you go back?”
“If you dislike it, I will absolutely never do it.”
His voice was straight and resolute, even though his eyes blazed with a desire that wanted to swallow her whole this very instant.
She knew he would back away without a moment’s hesitation if she refused. If Yoo Seo-hwa were to recall her past suffering even slightly.
‘More than anyone else, you would not be able to forgive yourself.’
That was not what Yoo Seo-hwa wanted either.
Even on the countless nights stained with sorrow, Gyeong Won-ui had never treated her violently. Even when Yoo Seo-hwa had actually wished for ruthlessness instead.
Therefore, Yoo Seo-hwa knew that tonight would be a night of sharing perfect, pure affection with her lover.
“Please embrace me deeply.”
Yoo Seo-hwa threw herself into Gyeong Won-ui’s longing without hesitation.

* * *

Even though she knew the eastern window had brightened up completely, her eyes did not open easily.
‘I don’t even know when I fell asleep last night. It feels like I fainted, and it also feels like I just fell asleep…’
The sluggish ache felt from her intimate areas was pleasant. Even though she was snugly wrapped in a fluffy blanket, she could still feel his arms that had held her powerfully last night.
‘It still feels like the young master is holding me.’
The sensation of a sturdy man’s chest pressing down with all its might turned into a rosy heat, tinting her cheeks.
Just as she was falling back into a light slumber, buried in the memories of love she had received abundantly enough to melt away, a voice suddenly called out to her.
“Princess.”
“Mmh.”
“Are you awake?”
A heavy fatigue still lingered, but it was difficult to ignore his voice. Yoo Seo-hwa gently lifted her eyelids.
“Good morning.”
After greeting him, she realized her surroundings were much brighter than she had vaguely perceived.
Yoo Seo-hwa debated whether she should correct her greeting to ‘Good afternoon,’ but when her eyes met Gyeong Won-ui’s, her face flushed red. The memories of last night rushed back vividly once more.
Gyeong Won-ui, who was trying to act nonchalant, also ended up blushing at his earlobes.
“Are you experiencing any discomfort anywhere?”
Whether she said she did or didn’t, it felt like it would be embarrassing for both of them. Instead of answering, Yoo Seo-hwa pulled the blanket over the top of her head and asked like a complaint.
“If possible, I wanted to delay facing you today.”
“Ah, I am sorry.”
“I am joking. I am fine.”
Before Gyeong Won-ui’s completely flustered voice could drift away, Yoo Seo-hwa quickly added her next words.
“Did you come to ask if I am hurting?”
“There is something I want to show you.”
“What is it?”
“Could you come out to the Garden?”
“Going out is…”
Yoo Seo-hwa, who was about to reply ‘Going out is not difficult,’ quickly swallowed her words. It seemed like it would be quite troublesome. There was absolutely no strength in her body.
While still covered by the blanket, Yoo Seo-hwa murmured.
“I think it will be hard to walk, so do I really have to go all the way to the Garden? Is it a matter that is difficult to handle here?”
“Mmm… Forgive my rudeness.”
After pondering for a brief moment, Gyeong Won-ui lightly lifted Yoo Seo-hwa, who was rolled up in the blanket, into his arms.
“Kyaah.”
Startled, she shrunk back for a moment, but Gyeong Won-ui walked while holding her with a sense of stability. Since he wanted to show it to her this badly, Yoo Seo-hwa also gradually grew curious.
After carrying Yoo Seo-hwa all the way to the Garden for a good while, Gyeong Won-ui knelt down on one knee.
“It is here.”
Only then did Yoo Seo-hwa gently lower the blanket to look outside. The moment she was about to furrow her brow slightly at the bright summer sunlight, Yoo Seo-hwa saw a sprout growing and bursting forth powerfully.
“Is it a sprout of a spring flower? A sprout has already come up.”
“No.”
A gentle joy flickered in Gyeong Won-ui’s voice.

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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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