Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 23

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

23.
Hong Ran gently opened her eyes. The sunlight passing through the thin paper window was shining on her face.
“……It’s morning.”
Fortunately, it was morning.
Hong Ran stretched, rubbed her eyes, and sat up.
‘Last night was so embarrassing, I thought I’d die.’
After falling asleep so deeply she didn’t even know when she’d drifted off, almost as if she had fainted, she woke up feeling a fierce hunger.
And then she heard it.
‘Not there. You haven’t forgotten that there is another person in this room, have you?’
At the low whisper followed by the sound of wet kissing, she instantly snapped wide awake. Not knowing how to react, she just held her breath and desperately pretended to be asleep.
‘I’m not hungry at all. I’m so sleepy. I’m so terribly sleepy that I can’t hear anything.’
Burying her ear in the pillow, she desperately chanted the words like a spell.
She knew who it was without even looking. The gentle voice followed by the low, laughter-filled tone was unmistakably Lee Yeon and Grand Prince Jinyul.
Perhaps thanks to her desperate chanting, Hong Ran fell back into a deep slumber in that burning hot room and finally opened her eyes this morning.
Belatedly, Hong Ran cooled her burning cheeks with the back of her hand.
‘But it really was amazing…….’
She wasn’t talking about that. Hong Ran was thinking about the incident in the courtyard yesterday.
She never imagined her mother and younger brother would be there, but what surprised her even more was Lee Yeon’s attitude toward that vicious man who had been captured.
Like a tiger cornering its prey, the way she completely broke that terrifying man made Hong Ran fall head over heels in admiration.
“How could she be so cool?”
Lee Yeon, who pushed him into a corner with a chilling demeanor without showing a single hint of being intimidated, seemed like a prince out of a storybook to Hong Ran.
‘Ah, since she’s a woman, should I call her a princess instead of a prince?’
The real prince was someone else. Hong Ran recalled Jinyul, who had knelt on the ground to put shoes on Lee Yeon’s feet.
In that moment, everyone had stared at the scene, utterly spellbound. It felt like only the two of them existed in a different world.
‘Do all the people from the palace speak in such a wonderful manner?’
The words he spoke while putting the Flower Shoes on Lee Yeon’s feet were still vivid.
‘I do not wish to let the blood of such a wretch stain your hands.’
How could such words come out so naturally on the spot?
Eek! Suppressing the urge to scream out loud, Hong Ran merely fluttered her hands.
“What am I going to do? I love it so much.”
Furthermore, what about Lee Yeon’s words?
‘Hong Ran, Ran-ah.’
Recalling that moment made her heart thump wildly all over again.
She never knew her name could sound so beautiful when pronounced. She never knew it could sound so clear and resonant.
‘Will you become my person?’
It was an honor and a grace that would never come again.
She had saved her entire family and delivered them. When such a person asked her to become one of her own, there was no fool alive who would refuse.
Hong Ran firmly pressed her burning ears with her palms for a different reason as she tidied up the bedding.
And it was just as she was about to open the room door.
“My lady, my lady!”
The sound of someone shouting while running hurriedly could be heard.
“A Geumhonlyeong has been issued! The official notice has been posted!”
A Geumhonlyeong meant that the Gantaek had begun.
* * *
Guests were always visiting Lord Chae Mun’s Residence.
Some came to seek advice for various worries, while others came weeping and begging.
Such people never came empty-handed, so the courtyard of the Chae clan was always lined with gift boxes.
And recently, it was filled with even more precious gifts.
“I heard the news. I hear Chae Eun-oh will be entering the palace soon.”
“Yes. That is how it turned out.”
Chae Mun let out a hearty laugh, flashing a good-natured smile.
“Entering the palace makes it sound a bit strange. She is merely going as a candidate.”
“Oh my, if it is not Chae Eun-oh, who else could possibly be the right fit? There is no need to even look.”
Flattery dripped from his words, but it wasn’t wrong. The only ones being mentioned by the public and the Royal Court as candidates for the Queen were Lee Yeon of the Seo family and Eun-oh of the Chae clan—just the two of them.
However, since Lee Yeon of the Seo family had already held a marriage ceremony and was disqualified, it was practically a solo race for Eun-oh.
“Congratulations in advance. Next time I see you, I will be greeting you as the Gukgu. Ah, should I call you Buwongun?”
“Haha, the title of Buwongun sounds quite delightful to the ears. My word, you certainly have many ways to make a man feel good.”
At that, the other party burst into a hearty laugh as well.
The next guest, and the guest after that, all said virtually the same thing. They were people who had come early to congratulate Eun-oh, Chae Mun, and the Chae clan on their good fortune.
Eun-oh, who resided within the same walls, was also listening to all of those sounds.
“Honestly, nothing has been finalized yet, so aren’t they being too hasty?”
When Eun-oh spoke with a coy expression, her servants waved their hands dismissively and said,
“Oh, my lady. If it’s not you, who else would take that spot? It’s as plain as day.”
“It’s rather pitiful for those who will stand in the same place to be judged alongside you, my lady. They will literally just be like borrowed bundles of straw.”
“That’s right. It’s practically as good as decided already!”
How could they pick and choose such delightful words to say?
Eun-oh tried desperately to lower the corners of her mouth, which kept twitching upward, and let out a fake cough for no reason.
But there wasn’t a single thing wrong with their words.
‘Of course, it’s as good as decided.’
Now that Lee Yeon had done something stupid and kicked away her own good fortune with her own feet, Eun-oh did not doubt for a moment that she was the leading candidate.
‘The time to avenge my deep resentment has finally come.’
How much bitter resentment had she swallowed while living until now?
Ironically, Lee Yeon and Eun-oh were born in the same year, around the same time, and gained a reputation side-by-side for their beautiful appearances.
The interest in the two young ladies from precious families grew day by day, and there were truly many rumors surrounding the two about who was ahead and who was lagging behind.
‘A long twenty years.’
She had been compared to her for longer than that. She was always treated as the inferior one. And Eun-oh had never, not even for a single moment, surpassed Lee Yeon.
Needless to say about the speed of learning to read, from calligraphy skills to playing musical instruments, and even to the tea ceremony.
Therefore, Eun-oh harbored a different dream.
‘If I cannot beat her with skill, I will crush that wench with status.’
By becoming the Queen, the female ruler of this country, she would make Lee Yeon kneel before her.
The time for that long-cherished wish to be fulfilled had arrived.
‘Even if she tried, that woman is nothing more than a concubine.’
If she herself became—.
‘No.’
Eun-oh shook her head.
There was no ‘if’. She would certainly become the Queen, so Lee Yeon wouldn’t even be able to dare place herself on the same level as her anymore. It was incredibly satisfying.
It was then. Along with the sound of a fake cough, a voice was heard.
“Eun-oh, are you there?”
“Yes, Father.”
Eun-oh smiled brightly and welcomed Chae Mun. Thanks to hearing nothing but pleasant words all day long, Chae Mun’s expression looked very grand.
He looked at Eun-oh with a satisfied smile.
“You are well aware that everyone is pinning their expectations on you, right?”
Eun-oh tilted her head to the side as if shy. When she replied demurely that she was, Chae Mun firmly grabbed his daughter’s shoulders.
“You must grasp it. This will be the opportunity of a lifetime.”
An opportunity to rise to a position where she could look down on everyone, an opportunity to crush Lee Yeon, and an opportunity to become the master of the world.
Eun-oh smiled faintly and said with confidence,
“I will make sure you are called the father of the Queen.”
Eun-oh smiled back as she watched Chae Mun burst into a satisfied, hearty laugh.
It was bound to happen.
* * *
Jinyul was walking through the streets without hesitation.
Because he was walking alone without any subordinates, people glanced back at him. But it wasn’t out of concern.
Jinyul was a man who achieved victory in every single battle he entered, and had even captured a five-headed tiger all by himself.
“What brings him out of the Seo family residence?”
The fact that he had set up house at the Seo Family Residence was something everyone in the Capital City knew. The Grand Prince was living with his in-laws as if he were an adopted son-in-law.
At first, everyone found it absurd, but it didn’t take long for them to understand.
‘He must be trying to raise the status of the Seo family. To save face for Lord Seo and his bride.’
Just the fact that the Grand Prince was staying there changed the way people looked at them.
Furthermore, as rumors spread that Jinyul cherished and treated Lee Yeon with utmost preciousness, rumors circulated that they were a deeply affectionate, pitiful, and ill-fated couple.
‘It makes sense. He firmly believed he would welcome her as the Grand Princess Consort, but since it fell through like that, how could he not feel apologetic?’
‘Even so, that’s a bit extreme. I heard he practically carries her around on his back.’
‘Kneeling down to put her shoes on is just basic, and he treats her like gold or jade—worrying she’ll fly away if he blows, or burst if he squeezes her. It’s quite a fuss.’
With rumors that there was no devoted husband quite like him, he had even become the public enemy number one of all husbands.
People who were glancing at him curiously, wondering why Jinyul was walking alone outside the Seo family residence, easily understood once they saw the direction he was heading.
“He’s going to see his house.”
The place Jinyul was heading toward was his Private Residence. Rumors had been circulating since a while ago that the walls were being torn down and rebuilt, and it seemed he was going to check on that.
Just as they expected, Jinyul headed to his Private Residence and confidently opened the main gate to enter. And instantly, a shout flew out.
“Who do you think you are dare entering this house…… Oh my gosh!”
The complexion of the man who had turned pale with fury while raising a poker instantly turned stark white. He prostrated himself flat on the ground.
“G-G-Grand Prince, what brings you all the way here!”
Jinpyeong looked at the man with a displeased expression.
“I am coming to my own house, so what of it. Don’t tell me you were acting like the master of the house here?”
“No! Heavens, no. How could I ever. I am merely like a, well, a dog guarding the house.”
The man waved his hands frantically while breaking into a cold sweat.
“Even a dog guarding an empty house is bound to bark when it hears a sign of popular presence, yes.”
“……You speak well without even wetting your lips.”
When Jinyul spoke with an incredulous expression, the man put on a proud face.
“I hear that often.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
Jinyul muttered softly and was about to enter the house, but stopped and looked back.
It bothered him strangely that the man referred to himself as a dog.
Thinking that it wouldn’t hurt to at least know his name, Jinyul spoke to him.
“You, what is your name?”
“Do you mean me?”
The man who was applying mud to the bricks opened his eyes wide.
He blinked his eyes before replying with an awkward expression.
“Th-That, I am called Choong. For your information, it is not the character for bug, but the character meaning to fill.”
The hastily added explanation made it sound as though he had been looked down upon in that manner all this time.
Jinyul nodded his head.
“The name is excellent. But your hands are resting.”
“Oh, oh dear! I will do it right now!”
Perhaps because he had been beaten soundly by Jinyul and scolded so harshly by Lee Yeon, he immediately scurried away toward the wall.
Jinyul let out a chuckle and stepped into the house. And after scanning the surroundings, he fumbled with the rafters of the eaves.
A moment later, one of the pieces of wood clicked, and something dropped down from the gap with a thud.
“Found it.”
Jinyul muttered as he bent his waist to pick up what had fallen.
It was a single piece of neatly folded paper.

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