The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 15

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

The Fallen Noblewoman’s Survival Record 015
A few days later.
“My lord, the relief supplies have arrived, but I believe you should inspect them directly.”
At No’s words, Seo Heon hastened toward the cart.
But then.
【What is this?】
From sacks that should have been brimming with rice and wheat came pouring sand and rotten chaff.
“They sent this for us to eat!”
“And they don’t even know who they have to thank for lying about with full bellies!”
The soldiers who had inspected the supplies bristled with indignation.
“And salt is worth its weight in gold this year—not a single grain was sent!”
The agitated soldiers seemed ready to march south at once and seize Hwang Seong.
‘The supplies were Seo Gon’s responsibility, if I recall.’
Seo Heon knew full well what sentiment Seo Gon harbored toward him.
But to resort to something like this over a personal grudge.
A cold fury, gritty as sand between teeth, churned in the depths of his chest.
Yet anger was not the pressing concern.
At this rate, within a fortnight he would be unable to feed the soldiers properly.
‘First, I’ll procure more grain through the merchant houses. Then send word to the neighboring Ye Wang Bu—’
He forced himself to think coldly and find a path forward.
He ordered an immediate accounting of current provisions and drafted a letter requesting aid from the nearby Ye Wang Bu.
But that alone would not suffice.
‘I need to see the people’s situation with my own eyes.’
Seo Heon pulled on his hood and stepped out.
Then.
“My lord.”
Jin Jae-in, whom he happened to encounter, called out to him.
“May I accompany you?”
* * *
Si Jeon in Han Ju, Mook Wang Bu.
A man wearing a dark hood walked ahead.
So A followed in his wake, scrutinizing the streets closely.
The largest city in Mook Wang Bu.
With nobility clustered here, Si Jeon of Han Ju showed at least some signs of vitality.
But it was only appearance.
【Prices have already risen.】
Seo Heon’s low voice reached her.
Numbers do not lie.
So A was well acquainted with Mook Wang Bu’s circumstances.
【All they pulled from the cart was sand, squeak!】
【They cursed that the humans wouldn’t even send salt—those stingy humans, squeak!】
After she had given them a few grains, the rats would visit her whenever bored and chatter about it.
The rats, elated at the sight of sacks piled high on the cart, seemed now as disappointed as any human.
‘As expected, it was Seo Gon.’
The outcome surprised no one.
So A had no intention of tolerating his petty, shallow scheming.
What was urgent now was filling Mook Wang Bu’s stores.
The territory’s only product—coal—would not be enough.
Starting farms now would be too late.
‘But there is exactly one way.’
That was why she had left the palace with Seo Heon.
So A watched his silhouette quietly.
[No, investigate hoarding and collusion thoroughly to prevent excessive price rises.]
No, dressed as a servant, accepted the written order and bowed.
‘But that alone won’t be enough.’
No matter how much they monitored, common people would soon struggle even to fill their own bellies.
As So A surveyed the marketplace, her gaze caught on a narrow alley.
A woman was there, weeping bitterly, holding the hand of a child who appeared to be about three years old.
Before them stood a middle-aged man.
He stood with arms crossed, his face relaxed and leisurely.
“Come now, don’t dally. Hurry.”
“Wait, just a moment, please.”
The woman’s feet remained fixed to the ground.
With tears streaming down her face, she tied the child’s frayed scarf tightly around his neck.
The child clung to his mother’s side and wept with her, understanding nothing of what was happening.
“It happens every spring.”
No spoke softly.
His eyes held a bitter resignation—helpless acceptance of what could not be changed.
“Feed one fewer mouth, and the rest of the family survives.”
In times like these, children sold for less than a single ox.
“Especially now, when Han Ju swells with refugees, such things grow only more common.”
Displaced persons from small villages beyond Han Ju’s walls flooded into the great city seeking livelihood, and had no choice but to sell everything they possessed to survive.
Even their own children.
For that was the only way any of them lived.
Seo Heon’s steps faltered.
Then So A moved first.
“Wait.”
So A stepped forward between the trafficker and the woman.
Seo Heon did not speak—could not speak—those two syllables aloud.
At her clear voice, the trafficker’s brows twitched.
He raked his eyes over her and spat.
“What is it, miss? Don’t meddle. Be on your way.”
“What do you intend to do with the child?”
“It’s no business of yours what happens to him. Move aside!”
The trafficker reached out to shove her by the shoulder.
But before his hand could touch even the hem of her robe, Seo Heon caught his wrist.
The trafficker turned irritably to see who had seized him, then froze.
“W-what—!”
“…….”
The man with the black hood drawn over his face stood a full span taller than ordinary men.
His shoulders, cloaked and broad, and the hand gripping the wrist—both radiated such overwhelming strength.
Without a single word, the cold, refined aura he emanated bore down on the trafficker utterly.
“R-release this. I was only trying to help that woman!”
The trafficker’s tone shifted to deference.
So A smiled gently and spoke.
“I shall help her from now on. Perhaps you would do well to take your leave?”
“That is—”
Crack.
The trafficker, about to protest, bit his lip with a look of bitter defeat.
“If you won’t let go, I can’t go or stay!”
When Seo Heon released his wrist, the trafficker rubbed the throbbing joint, spat once more, and left the alley.
Once So A confirmed he had fully departed, she turned her attention back to the woman.
The woman’s lips trembled.
“If I don’t send the child away, we will all starve to death together.”
Clutching her child’s hand, the woman lowered her head.
Beneath her bowed face, tears fell and streaked her cheeks.
“There is no choice. My husband is ill, and we don’t have even today’s meal. I only hoped to save the child somehow…….”
Sunken cheeks and hollow eyes.
Lips cracked from dryness.
The woman’s parched voice was heartbreaking.
“If you could keep the child and survive, could you do any work, however lowly or difficult?”
The woman’s head snapped up.
Her eyes burned with a desperation that would clutch at any straw.
“I will do anything! Anything at all—I could do anything if only I could live with my child, except take a life……!”
So A read in the woman’s eyes an unmistakable maternal love and a will to live that knew no falsehood.
So A called to No.
“Could I borrow paper and brush?”
“We have them, of course.”
Since No always carried such things for written exchanges with Seo Heon, he gladly produced paper and brush.
So A swiftly wrote something on a small sheet of paper.
“Take this to the magistrate’s office tomorrow.”
“This… what is this?”
“It will secure a position where you and your child can work and live together. And this money will cover your meals for the next several days.”
So A pressed the paper and coins firmly into the woman’s hands.
The woman clutched the paper to her chest in disbelief, bowing her head deeply.
Seo Heon, watching from the side, narrowed his eyes behind the mask.
【Isn’t she simply offering false hope?】
The money So A had given the woman was not substantial.
Literally, just enough to keep body and soul together for a few days.
Whatever she had written on that paper, there was no reason to believe the magistrate’s office would have work for displaced persons like this woman.
If it were only possible, Seo Heon would have gladly provided every means for his people to earn their bread.
But an office cannot conjure endless work from nothing.
【What could she possibly be thinking…?】
“Let us depart.”
So A turned to Seo Heon and spoke calmly.
* * *
After surveying the city streets.
So A boarded a carriage waiting before the city gates.
Several of her escort warriors followed in her wake.
“But why did you suddenly wish to visit Byeok Roe Gok?”
No, seated on the driver’s bench, asked the question.
The request So A had made this morning as she left the palace.
“I heard there is a place called Byeok Roe Gok to the southwest.”
She had suddenly expressed a desire to see this place.
The problem was that it was known as the Cursed Valley.
“Not even a weed grows properly there in summer. Moreover, with how often lightning strikes, we cannot go near it on thunderstorm days.”
No stroked his white beard with displeasure as he spoke of Byeok Roe Gok.
It was truly a peculiar valley.
In common talk, people attributed the strange occurrences at Byeok Roe Gok to the work of demons.
Yet despite the fearsome rumors, So A merely smiled.
“Should we not honor our promises?”
“A promise?”
A promise made to the woman who had been about to abandon her child—that she would provide her with work.
And a promise to Seo Gon to repay a debt.
It was time to act for that sake as well.

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