Even If Flowers Bloom on a Broken Branch - Chapter 82

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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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82.
It was only after she had been tormented by Jinpyeong all night and finally released around dawn that Hong Ran heard those words.
When she was so exhausted that her vision was blurring and she felt on the verge of losing consciousness, Jinpyeong adjusted his collar and spoke.
‘I am going to register you into the Seo Family Residence.’
He wasn’t asking for her opinion. He was merely stating his future plans.
Because Hong Ran had consistently maintained an attitude that it didn’t matter at all what he did with her, Jinpyeong thought that this time too, she would meekly, obediently, and gratefully accept his command.
However, Hong Ran’s reaction was completely contrary to his expectations.
‘That is utterly out of the question!’
Hong Ran shook her head so violently that it made one wonder if she was the same person who couldn’t even keep her balance from exhaustion a moment ago, and she immediately fell to her knees right then and there.
‘That is something that can absolutely never happen. Please withdraw your command, Your Majesty!’
Hong Ran was someone who bit her lips and did her absolute best to hold back her voice even when they were uniting their bodies.
Though there was no hesitation in her actions, she was extremely embarrassed about making any sound, so Jinpyeong would sometimes purposefully command her to make a sound.
Yet that very person had squeezed out everything within her to raise her voice with all her might.
‘Your Majesty!’
Rarely flustered, Jinpyeong left the room at Hong Ran’s completely unexpected reaction, and Hong Ran did her best to find a way to respectfully decline his command.
And for the first time in the palace, she moved according to her own thoughts, will, and intent. She knelt on the Bakseok of Geonhwijeon while dressed in white mourning robes.
“I heard the lady of Yeongsongjae is prostrating herself in front of Geonhwijeon.”
Hong Ran was called Suk-ui Hong or the lady of Yeongsongjae.
Everyone was intrigued by the news that she, who had stood in Jinpyeong’s shadow and never once stepped forward, was moving independently.
“Why? What did they say she did wrong?”
Moreover, she wasn’t going to meet the Queen or standing before the ministers, but was currently performing Seokgodaewae, which is done when confessing a fault to the King, so it stimulated their interest even more.
With her back straightened firmly, Hong Ran stared straight at Geonhwijeon.
“My Lady…”
Court Lady Han stood behind her with a worried face, pacing restlessly.
“You didn’t sleep a wink last night either. If you step forward like this right away, your body will be ruined.”
“It is something that must be done swiftly.”
Hong Ran said firmly. She clutched the skirt of her robe tightly and took a deep breath.
She could feel the gazes watching her from all directions. The gazes of the soldiers and eunuchs on the steps of Geonhwijeon, the gazes of the palace attendants who glanced at her while pretending to pass by, and even the gazes of those watching from afar were all felt completely.
She had no choice but to know. Because they were looking at her so much that her body felt tingly.
‘My Lady.’
Hong Ran thought of Lee Yeon.
Not a single day went by without her thinking of her. Whether times were difficult or joyful, she always came to mind. And now, she thought of Lee Yeon even more.
‘My Lady must have felt this way too.’
The feeling of becoming a spectacle for all sorts of people, the feeling of grievance, anxiety, and wanting to cry, and even this heart full of determination to overcome this situation somehow must have been the same.
When she first heard Jinpyeong say that he would register her into the Seo Family Residence, Hong Ran really almost fainted on the spot.
‘It makes no sense.’
That was something that should not happen. At least, it was so in the world of a person named Hong Ran.
‘I am already indebted too much to My Lady.’
The reason this life was still attached to her was thanks to Lee Yeon and Jinyul. Hong Jin and her mother could also live peacefully thanks to her.
‘If Lady Lee Yeon hadn’t been in my world, if My Lady hadn’t come out to sightsee at the marketplace that day.’
She would no longer be a person of this world, her mother would have died before long from being unable to treat her illness, and Hong Jin would have also met a miserable end while suffering from excessive debt.
Her family sleeping with their backs against a warm place and filling their bellies with delicious food. Living in a world where they didn’t experience any violence, threats, or demands was entirely thanks to Lee Yeon.
‘But if I become Lord Seo’s adopted daughter…’
It meant she would become Lee Yeon’s stepsister. Just thinking about it made her entire body ache.
‘How could such a thing…’
The grace she had received until now was already overflowing.
She was currently looking for an opportunity somehow to repay even a quarter of a quarter of that grace, but instead of repaying it, she was in a situation where she would incur more debt.
Furthermore, if it became that way, the wrath would extend to the entire Seo Family if anything were to happen to her. She didn’t want such a thing to happen, but she must never let Lee Yeon be entangled in something that might happen just in case. She had to stop it no matter what.
‘Besides, if that happens, what will become of Hong Jin and mother’s situation.’
Since she was in the palace, she could be somewhat free from those eyes. However, Hong Jin and Juhwa were in a situation where they had barely found a place under the shade of a large tree named Seo Yeo-ro.
Hong Ran could still vividly recall what kind of reaction the servants of the Seo Family Residence had when they found out she was entering the palace.
That ambiguous yet strange expression, which showed they were troubled and didn’t know how to treat her, was vivid.
‘Since they treated even my mother and Hong Jin that way.’
But if she became Seo Yeo-ro’s adopted daughter, the ripple effect would be passed entirely to the two of them.
She already felt so uncomfortable because she felt like she had left them outside, so if it went to that extent, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to rest easy for even a single day or hour.
‘I must change His Majesty’s mind even a little…!’
Hong Ran bit her lip firmly and parted her lips.
Her heart pounded violently as if it were about to pop out. Her body moved back and forth from that throbbing alone.
“This humble concubine… does not wish to be registered into the Seo Family Residence.”
Hong Ran closed her eyes tightly and bowed deeply.
“Please withdraw your intent!”
Wondering what on earth was going on for the favored consort, who received all of the King’s love, to be sitting there wearing white mourning robes, the people watching looked at each other’s faces.
‘His Majesty intends to register Suk-ui Hong into the Seo Family Residence?’
People looked at Hong Ran with expressions as if they had been hit on the head.
That meant it was safe to see it as a stepping stone to hand over the Queen’s position to her. Yet Hong Ran was throwing her entire body into refusing it.
‘Why?’
If that happened, her status that held her back would also be resolved, and literally only flying away with wings attached would remain, so they wondered why she was declining that path of flowers.
As if replying to that wonder, Hong Ran raised her voice.
“Please let me live according to my status!”
It meant she didn’t have the capacity, the situation, or the heart to go to that position.
The honest yet strong statement dug into people’s minds. It was a vastly different attitude from someone in the Daehee Palace.
And this news was also quickly delivered to that person’s ears.
“What?”
Chae Eun-oh doubted her ears. The teacup she was holding had already fallen to the floor and been shattered into pieces long ago.
Without even knowing that the front of her socks was getting wet from the tea water, she looked at Court Lady Shin with a shocked face.
“His Majesty… that wench?”
That he planned to register her into the Seo Family Residence. The blood drained from her pale face.
Chae Eun-oh kicked the doorway open immediately and went out.
“Your Highness…!”
With an expression of not knowing what to do, Court Lady Shin stamped her feet before belatedly following behind her.
However, there was not the slightest hint of rushing in Court Lady Shin’s steps.
Because her heart had already left long ago.

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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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