Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 7

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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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7.
Although it was early in the morning, the front of the Seo Clan mansion was so packed with onlookers that there was no room to even step.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“They say a groom has come to propose!”
“A wedding! A marriage proposal!!”
The exaggerated rumors, cheers, the shrill screams of women, and the laughter of children spread like wildfire, and a cloud of people bustled about, making it no exaggeration to say the entire village had gathered.
With the story of Lee Yeon saving a family in distress in the Marketplace just a few days ago already widespread, a new spark had been ignited.
The bewildered expressions of the Seo Clan servants froze at the sight of the boisterously gathered crowd.
“What in the world is all this…?”
Just then, a spectacle unfolded that made their jaws drop completely.
“L-Look over there!”
At the sound of someone’s single, sharp exclamation of admiration, everyone’s eyes turned toward that direction at once. And everyone wore the exact same expression.
It was a procession.
Men dressed in private military official uniforms lined up in a long row on both sides of the mansion gate, and between them, people dressed in red carried large chests.
“W-Wow, I’ve never seen such a luxurious wedding garment before!”
On the silver platter held by the person at the very front lay a wedding garment and a bridal crown embroidered with gold thread, followed by chests containing bridal jewelry, platters piled with various fruits, and large white porcelain jars in a long succession.
It was a procession that left the onlookers, the servants, and even Seo Yeo-ro completely open-mouthed, but Lee Yeon was just as flustered as any of them.
‘What on earth is all this?’
Beyond being dumbfounded, she was utterly dazed.
‘Is any of this even feasible?’
Jinyul had been wandering outside the palace the entire time because of Jinpyeong’s surveillance. So when could he have gathered such treasures, and where could he have stored them?
‘Furthermore, what’s with all these people?’
She suddenly grew terrified that he might be interrogated and accused of plotting treason or something.
‘Because those were the exact kinds of suspicions I received all that time.’
Having suffered so much before her Regression, her feet went numb with anxiety even when she was entirely innocent.
Thus, rather than feeling joyful and overwhelmed, she felt far more flustered and bewildered.
Lee Yeon looked at Jinyul with eyes that asked what all this meant, but he merely offered a faint smile.
Paying no heed to the gifts streaming in one after another, he strode right through the main gate, stepped up several stone stairs, and stood abruptly in front of the room.
“May I take a seat?”
“Grand Prince.”
Seo Yeo-ro rose from his seat, masking his flustered demeanor.
He offered a seat and gestured to the servants. It was an instruction to bring in a tea table.
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The servants, who had been staring this way with blank faces, scurried away in a hurry.
Through the gaps of the closing paper-screen doors, the faces of onlookers who were still peering over the wall could be seen.
Seo Yeo-ro closed the door firmly and looked at Jinyul.
“What brings Your Highness all the way here?”
“What do you mean, what brings me here? Coming to greet the father of my future wife is the rightful duty of a prospective groom.”
Lee Yeon looked at Jinyul with a dumbfounded expression before quickly changing her face. It was because Seo Yeo-ro was looking back and forth between Lee Yeon and Jinyul with eyes full of astonishment.
The one who should be astonished was herself. No, was he always such a shameless man? Was he always someone who could tell a lie so nonchalantly?
‘Well, it’s not exactly a lie.’
But that didn’t mean it was the truth either. No, it was neither the truth nor a lie—then did that mean it was a fact?
Jinyul nonchalantly reached out and grabbed Lee Yeon’s finger.
“To request a marriage with this person, even this much is by no means excessive.”
With him sliding from her finger to subtly hold her entire hand, it was utterly impossible to fathom his true intentions.
He didn’t seem like the person she used to know. In the first place, she was even confused as to whether the person she knew was actually this man. Then again, she might only know that fragmentary image of him coming to save her.
Belatedly, regret washed over Lee Yeon.
‘Is that why I asked him last night, before we drank the Nuptial Cup, why he chose me of all people?’
Is it too late to take it back now? Just as a very slight wave of belated regret began to creep in fearfully, Jinyul looked at Lee Yeon and spoke.
“My future father-in-law has likely heard from Lee Yeon already, but she and I have promised each other our futures.”
Being called Lee Yeon made her pause first, and the expression about promising their futures made her pause a second time.
Not knowing how to react to the Grand Prince’s honorifics, Seo Yeo-ro swallowed down the words welling up inside him and instinctively looked at Lee Yeon, and Lee Yeon instinctively looked at Jinyul.
Though there was certainly nothing wrong with those words, hearing them presented so rawly made her earlobes feel as if they were burning up belatedly. The only person with a perfectly calm face was Jinyul.
“Therefore, before my older brother declares the Geumhonlyeong, we intend to hold a formal wedding. What are your thoughts, future father-in-law?”
“Haha, well now.”
Seo Yeo-ro stroked his long beard, hiding his expression. It was a face that showed he hadn’t expected to hear it so quickly, and so straightforwardly at that.
In truth, from his perspective, it was a highly bewildering turn of events. As soon as his daughter mentioned she had a lover, that very lover had stormed in requesting marriage.
Choosing his words, Seo Yeo-ro slowly opened his lips.
“I am somewhat taken aback to hear just now that Your Highness wishes to form a bond with my daughter, but I understand very well in many ways that you truly cherish her.”
The treasures he brought were proof enough, as was the Nabchae process, and the number of subordinates he brought along was immense.
By now, rumors would surely be spreading wildly through the Marketplace that the royal brother had brought a Marriage Letter to the Seo Clan.
‘Surely he didn’t plan this with that in mind.’
Seo Yeo-ro glanced at his face, but a gentle smile lingered on Jinyul’s lips the entire time.
“However, no matter if it is before the Geumhonlyeong is proclaimed, His Majesty has not yet taken a queen, so I worry that holding a wedding first like this might disrupt the proper order.”
“You do not need to have such worries, father-in-law.”
Before anyone knew it, the title had naturally become father-in-law. Yet before there was even time to point that out, his words continued.
“Lee Yeon and I are a Love Marriage, not an Arranged Marriage. Furthermore, I am originally someone who roams outside the palace, so even if I deviate slightly from court etiquette, my brother will not mind it. When two people, a man and a woman, match in mind and body and decide to become one, what does the order of arrival matter?”
She didn’t know what to address first. Her mind grew distant at the words she kept hearing in succession.
Feeling that she had to stop Jinyul’s mouth somehow, Lee Yeon firmly pressed down on the top of his foot beneath the table.
‘Watch your words!’
Lee Yeon poured out her frustration through her eyes.
‘Be careful with your choice of words. Isn’t that too explicit?’
‘What is explicit about it? I am beating around the bush quite enough.’
‘Beat around the bush more. Much more than now.’
Jinyul shrugged his shoulders.
“Then, father-in-law, you approve of the relationship between Lee Yeon and me, correct?”
It was absolutely impossible not to approve. No, he had no choice but to approve.
This marriage talk had likely already spread far and wide among the public, so there was no method, justification, or reason to refuse.
In a way, it was rather a relief. If the rumor grew this big, the story would already leak into the Royal Court before he even spoke of it.
“…….”
Seo Yeo-ro looked at Lee Yeon.
He had thought that from the moment that child’s name was mentioned in the Royal Court, her entering the palace would be unavoidable. He had steeled himself that she wouldn’t forgive this pathetic father who couldn’t block that thorny path.
But if you are choosing that path yourself, if it is the road you are picking.
“Is this the marriage you truly desire, Yeon-ah?”
Lee Yeon raised her head. It was the question she had wanted to hear. It was the phrase she had hoped for. He must feel the same way. That was why he was asking. It was exactly what she wanted. So, Lee Yeon smiled happily.
“Yes, I truly desire it.”
The corners of Seo Yeo-ro’s mouth lifted slightly. That was enough.
Letting out a long breath, he bowed his head deeply toward Jinyul.
“Please take good care of my daughter, Grand Prince.”
“!!”
Lee Yeon looked at Seo Yeo-ro with startled eyes.
Being startled was one thing, but a sudden surge of emotion struck her mind belatedly.
‘……One.’
She had achieved one thing.
It was a small sense of triumph, relief, and joy that she had somehow managed to button the first button correctly.
This was her primary goal and her first and last move to avoid the Gantaek. It was a way to avoid submitting her Maiden Registry, as well as a way to expand her own influence.
As the moves she had thrown like a gamble fell into place and truly altered her future path, immense emotions came flooding in like a tidal wave.
‘The truth is.’
Drip.
A large tear fell and dampened the floor. Incapable of stopping them, transparent droplets kept falling countlessly, causing Lee Yeon to cover her face with both hands.
‘I was scared.’
Afraid that she would be dragged away again, afraid that she would face it again, afraid that she would die again.
Terrified that she wouldn’t be able to protect a single thing, wouldn’t be able to change a single thing, and would just live like that and die like that. Because she knew what kind of hell it was, because she knew what kind of death it was.
So this time.
“……!”
Lee Yeon awkwardly touched her face with startled eyes. It was because a dark blue Handkerchief released by Jinyul had fluttered down onto her tear-soaked face.
“Anyone watching would think you’re being sold away. With how much you’re crying.”
“It’s not that!”
She flared up, but again, she had no words to refute him. When Lee Yeon deliberately wiped her face roughly, Jinyul let out a chuckle and looked at Seo Yeo-ro.
“Then, father-in-law, you must be heading into the palace now. Shall we go together?”
Seo Yeo-ro paused for a moment and looked at Jinyul.
‘Let us go to the Royal Court together.’, the implication of those words was only one thing.
To go and tell Jinpyeong about ‘our’ marriage.
After looking at Lee Yeon for a moment, Seo Yeo-ro rose from his seat.
“Yes.”
Lee Yeon stood up with them and followed behind them as they stepped out of the room.
The front courtyard of the mansion was still filled with many people. The rumors would probably start now. Those rumors would sprout wings and fly off in all directions.
“Then, please have a safe trip.”
Lee Yeon added.
“To both of you.”
Seo Yeo-ro and Jinyul slowly turned back to look at Lee Yeon. Awkwardly avoiding Jinyul’s gaze, Lee Yeon continued speaking as she pointed toward the procession still standing in the front yard.
“The feast is just beginning. If you come back late, nothing will be left.”
“Then I can just get drunk on something else—”
“Please leave.”
Are you going to be like this since the morning? When she shot back in a small voice, Jinyul raised both hands with perfect nonchalance.
He seemed serious, yet infinitely lighthearted at the same time; he was truly an incomprehensible man.
Lee Yeon looked up at the sky. Only now was the sun rising.
‘For some reason, it feels like today will be a very long day.’
To the point where she felt afraid of the night coming.
Even so, she had crossed one major mountain.
Smoother and more uneventfully than she had thought, at least.
—Probably.

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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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