Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 28

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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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28.
“Now, open them.”
It was a strangely familiar scene.
Basking in the morning sunlight, Lee Yeon stared blankly at the procession of boxes being carried in one after another. Boxes of all sizes, large and small, were piled high in the front courtyard of her quarters.
Standing right in the middle of it all, with the servants gathered around to watch, Lee Yeon finally managed to part her lips.
“What is all this?”
“What do you think it is?”
Jinyul replied with supreme confidence.
“They are all yours.”
“No—”
Lee Yeon stammered.
The room inside was already filled to the brim with the unopened Nabchae gifts. Before they could even unpack those red boxes, a fresh mountain of presents had arrived.
“I—I have no taste for extravagance—”
“This isn’t extravagance. A grand prince’s wife should enjoy at least this much as a matter of course.”
“Shouldn’t a grand prince’s wife be frugal?”
“There is such a thing as maintaining one’s dignity. Who could possibly say anything about items meant to uphold the dignity of the royal family?”
I feel like quite a few tongues will be wagging, though.
Swallowing those words down, Lee Yeon looked at the boxes filling the courtyard with a look of sheer overwhelm.
“If it’s not enough—”
“It is more than enough.”
Quickly cutting him off, Lee Yeon opened the very front box with deliberate exaggeration, as if she could no longer contain her burning curiosity.
Then she froze.
“This is…”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Jinyul strolled over to her side and looked down into the box.
He reached out and pulled the contents from within.
“It’s a fabric brought from a very distant land. Unlike the ones we commonly see, I bought it because it has a uniquely soft texture and exquisite color.”
And that was just the beginning.
Every time a box was opened, accessories and fabrics she had never laid eyes on before kept appearing.
Even for Lee Yeon, who had been born into a prestigious family and had lived an affluent life wanting for nothing, these items were entirely new. To the servants, it must have looked like another world altogether.
“This is the price I paid with my life.”
At Jinyul’s softly echoing voice, Lee Yeon snapped out of her daze and looked up at him.
Jinyul gazed down at the boxes overflowing with precious treasures.
“I risked my life to carry out His Majesty’s commands. He ordered me to infiltrate enemy lines and take the head of the enemy commander, and he also commanded me to vanquish monsters that plagued the nation.”
He placed the beautifully radiant fabric back into the box.
“Every time I returned alive, a reward was bestowed upon me. Even if His Majesty didn’t want to grant it, he had no choice but to do so.”
With the eyes of the Royal Court and the public upon him, not to mention his own pride, he couldn’t avoid it.
“Consequently, gold bars began to pile up to the point where there was no place left to put them. I, too, am far from an extravagant person, so I had no idea how to spend it.”
Jinyul grinned as he spoke.
“So, I am using it on my person. I hope you won’t refuse it.”
“…It’s the price of your life.”
Lee Yeon, who had remained silent the whole time, answered in a small voice.
As if a heavy lump in her throat was weighing her down, she let out a long sigh.
“How could I refuse it? I will cherish all of it and make it my very breath.”
It was her breath, her pride, and her self-esteem.
The certainty and pride that her husband cherished and loved her this much.
Jinyul smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
“Then why don’t you have a dress made from this fabric?”
At Jinyul’s suggestion, Lee Yeon looked up at him with tear-brimming eyes.
“For the Queen’s celebration banquet. It seems like the perfect occasion.”
Lee Yeon stared at the exquisite fabrics with wide eyes. She spoke with a hint of hesitation.
“But if I do that, won’t it be even more lavish than the Queen’s own attire?”
Lee Yeon knew Chae Eun-oh all too well.
Eun-oh would already be displeased with everything she did, so if she turned up in such a magnificent dress, her eyes would practically flare with rage.
However, Jinyul merely shrugged his shoulders.
“You’re already out of favor either way, so is there any reason to hold back? You’ll be criticized regardless of what you do.”
His words were excessively blunt, piercing right to the heart of the matter with perfect accuracy.
Lee Yeon momentarily failed to control her expression and burst into a chuckle, prompting Jinyul to let out a smirk of his own.
“I want you to shine.”
Unlike his playful tone, Jinyul’s expression was profoundly serious.
His gaze was deep, and his eyes were fixed directly on Lee Yeon.
He spoke once more.
“To the point where no one can even compare to you.”
I want you to be the main focus of that event—it felt as though she could hear those words plain as day, leaving Lee Yeon momentarily speechless.
And soon, she nodded her head.
“Yes.”
It was just as Jinyul said. No matter how she behaved, Eun-oh was bound to be displeased.
In that case, she intended to just do as her heart desired.
“I shall do so.”
Sitting back and meekly taking a beating was something she had no desire to do either.
* * *
At that very moment, Eun-oh was sitting in her spacious room with her arms tightly crossed.
“Spin around right where you are.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Standing before her eyes were six court ladies, each dressed in exquisite attire.
From the elaborate hairpieces and colorful norigaes to the hairpins made of gold and silver embedded with various gems—not a single item was anything less than precious. Yet, Eun-oh merely scowled with a thoroughly dissatisfied expression.
“Next.”
“Um, Your Majesty,”
a court lady spoke up cautiously.
“This is everything we have prepared. We have readied forty-eight outfits in total.”
“Are you saying I’ve seen them all already?”
“Yes.”
“And yet, how is it that not a single one catches my eye?”
Eun-oh muttered pieces of her mind in annoyance.
If she had looked through forty-eight outfits, at least one of them should have left an impression, but absolutely nothing stood out.
“Go make them again.”
At Eun-oh’s command, the court ladies stared at her with startled eyes. However, Eun-oh did not even blink.
“People are gathering that day to celebrate me. It is my very first official event. Does it make any sense for me to wear just anything to a place like that?”
The court ladies could not answer right away.
They looked down at the clothes they were wearing, and then at the piles stacked on one side of the room.
Every single piece was remarkably precious. These were items they could barely afford even if they scraped together several years’ worth of their salaries.
Eun-oh commanded in a clear, resonant voice.
“Scour the Capital City thoroughly and buy up every last piece of expensive and rare fabric. Then, have them fashion garments out of them.”
As she turned her body around after issuing the command, Eun-oh suddenly froze in her tracks.
“No, wait.”
What did she mean by no?
Dazed by the command to buy up all the expensive and rare fabrics, the court ladies all stared at Eun-oh’s lips in unison.
Eun-oh curled her lips into a beautiful, sweet smile.
“Gather all the artisans as well.”
“…Pardon?”
When Court Lady Shin asked back with an expression that failed to comprehend immediately, a flash of irritation flitted across Eun-oh’s lovely face.
Frustrated by her inability to understand, she continued to explain.
“I am telling you to summon every single person capable of making clothes to the palace. Every last one of them, without exception.”
And have them craft my ceremonial gown—at those words, the court ladies stood with indescribable expressions before bowing their waists politely.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At any rate, it was their master’s command, and there was no way they could refuse it.
Watching the court ladies bow in unison, a smile crept onto Eun-oh’s lips.
‘She won’t see this coming.’
If she claimed all the rare fabrics and skilled artisans for herself, whatever was left over would be mere scraps.
Even if Lee Yeon tried to look for them later, only those of vastly inferior quality and subpar skill would remain.
‘Seo Lee Yeon will have to prepare her ceremonial gown with those.’
Otherwise, she would have no choice but to alter and wear her ordinary day clothes.
A deeply satisfied smile that she couldn’t hide spread across Eun-oh’s lips.
It was thoroughly delightful. So much so that she wanted to burst out laughing out loud.

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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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