The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 26

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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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The Ruined Noblewoman’s Survival Record · Episode 26
“Damn it……!”
Bi Hyeol Rang gnashed his teeth.
‘A severed Qi Meridian can always be restored!’
He clawed at the air, drawing Demonic Qi into both his hands.
Rumble—!
The stone walls on all sides cracked as the whole of Mujeo Yok trembled.
Crimson Demonic Qi swept across like a violent storm.
A force that made the very marrow ache.
And yet.
“Heon. Do not hesitate.”
Seo Baek, barely holding his ground, locked eyes with Seo Heon.
At that same moment, five lotus petals bloomed across the back of Seo Heon’s hand.
【It is time to end this game, Bi Hyeol Rang.】
A single line of brilliant white Sword Light split through the darkness.
Crack—!
Beyond the surging crimson blood essence.
The moment Bi Hyeol Rang’s body began to split diagonally.
Bi Hyeol Rang saw it.
Those pitch-black eyes watching him with a serenity that spoke of already knowing the ending.
In this battle too, nothing but stillness…….
‘……So the Layered Soul is no ordinary soul after all.’
With the realization came a hollow laugh at the corner of the demon’s mouth.
It had been this small human all along who had orchestrated every move.
The moment Bi Hyeol Rang saw Jin Soa’s smile, his face shattered into pieces.
Whoosh—
The demon’s body, its Demon Core shattered, crumbled to ash and scattered.
Into the pitch-black air of Mujeo Yok.
Seo Heon stared at that handful of ash.
Then.
“Seo Baek……!”
Thud.
Seo Baek’s body, which had been barely upright, swayed and collapsed.
Jin Soa barely caught him before he fell.
Ragged breath spilled from between his lips.
Though the demon had vanished, the scars left by a year of captivity ran far too deep.
Skeletal wrists.
Shoulders that looked ready to shatter.
Skin mottled with bruises and wounds.
With such a broken body, enduring the collision of Demonic Qi and Celestial Qi must have caused severe internal injuries.
Then a large hand took Seo Baek from Jin Soa’s arms.
Seo Heon, sword sheathed, knelt and wrapped both hands around Seo Baek’s wrist.
Beneath the cold wrist, a faint pulse could be felt.
“Heon…….”
A fractured voice escaped from between parched lips.
Seo Heon’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Beneath the mask, his mouth twisted.
【I came too late……】
His voiceless words.
Yet as if understanding his heart, Seo Baek smiled faintly.
“It is well…….”
Blood seeped from between his pale lips.
As if answering Seo Heon’s silence itself.
Seo Heon’s head fell toward the ground.
Jin Soa could not even begin to imagine the expression hidden beneath his mask.
Seo Heon lifted Seo Baek’s emaciated frame into his arms.
【Let us leave this place.】
He who carried Seo Baek ascended the stairs of Mujeo Yok slowly.
Jin Soa watched his departing figure.
Suddenly, her past life came to mind.
“Unable to utter a word, he roared like a beast and wept.”
Seo Heon, who had severed the head of the King of Prophecy, cradled that severed head and wept—a memory from the life before.
Woon Jo descended onto her shoulder and let out a brief cry.
【It’s over, Soa.】
“Yes.”
Jin Soa smiled faintly.
Mercifully, it was over.
Before any tragedy no one would ever know could unfold.
* * *
Seo Baek regained consciousness four days later.
Seo Baek’s face, as he sat propped against the bedframe, still bore a pallid complexion.
Yet he lifted his eyes with a countenance grown considerably more at ease.
“Heon.”
His voice, tender, fractured slightly.
The shoulders of Seo Heon, who stood watch at the inner chamber, stiffened.
“Still hiding behind that mask.”
Seo Baek’s gaze lingered on his mask.
Seo Baek remembered.
The days when his younger brother smiled brightly without one.
“I’ve incurred another great debt to you.”
Seo Baek’s voice grew quiet.
Seo Heon clenched his fist.
It was he who carried the weight of obligation.
He should have come sooner.
Without excusing himself with the straits of Muk Wang Bu.
Without using his preoccupation in Yo Gok as an excuse.
Without watching the Imperial Court’s mood.
If only he had sought him out then, when the rumors first began to circulate that something was amiss with Seo Baek—
Seo Baek, observing the face beneath the mask growing rigid, tilted his lips upward as if to dispel the mood.
“Shall we walk together for a moment? I’ve missed the sunlight.”
He rose, his gaunt frame unsteady.
Seo Heon steadied him.
At that sturdy yet tender touch, Seo Baek smiled faintly.
“When did you grow so much taller than me?”
You were the younger brother I looked after.
Now you stood a full head taller.
The two of them made their way together into the garden.
Slow steps.
Warm spring breeze brushing the hems of their robes.
Brilliant sunlight streaming from the clear sky.
A radiance never felt within Mujeo Yok.
Seo Baek drew that crisp air deeply into his lungs.
Then, beyond the corridor.
Seo Baek’s gaze fixed on one spot.
Seo Heon’s footsteps halted as well.
Where pristine Mali Flowers had bloomed.
A woman tending to a crimson beast caught their eye in one corner of the garden.
It was Jin Soa.
“As long as you don’t strain yourself, you’ll mend quickly.”
She was caring for Cheon Gang with medicines and bandages obtained from the physicians.
Cheon Gang whimpered softly, gazing up at her without resistance.
Soa stroked his rough crimson fur.
“Without you, it would have been far harder to save him.”
Then, Woon Jo, standing nearby, spread his wings as if to make his presence known.
【I helped too, Soa!】
“Of course you did.”
Jin Soa laughed aloud in the sunlight.
Seo Heon gazed at her quietly.
“I need to catch the demon.”
She who had stepped forward so boldly, saying she would capture Bi Hyeol Rang.
It all began with Jin Soa.
Coming to Ye Wang Bu.
Discovering Bi Hyeol Rang.
With each passing day, the questions he wanted to ask her multiplied.
And yet.
[Sixth: You shall not be curious about anything.]
That agreement with her had silenced every question.
At first, he’d thought it meant he should take no interest in her at all.
After seeing Shin Sang-rok, he’d believed she simply wished to hide a life scarred by too much pain.
But now….
‘I haven’t the faintest notion.’
What exactly lay behind that small forehead of hers.
“So you are Jin Soa.”
It was then that Seo Baek’s final words reached him.
Only then did Seo Heon tear his gaze away from her.
Seo Baek was still watching her intently.
“Do you truly believe an ordinary person could walk through Mujeo Yok alone and emerge unscathed?”
Most people trembled at the mere thought of setting foot into the profound darkness of Mujeo Yok.
Air so thick it choked the breath.
Endless shadow.
A penetrating cold.
Such things alone were enough to inspire dread.
“To show no fear before Bi Hyeol Rang?”
Ordinary people scattered like startled birds at the mere appearance of a single monster.
Yet this woman had not trembled before Bi Hyeol Rang’s threats.
“Fearlessness, as a rule, stems from having nothing left to lose.”
Seo Baek murmured softly.
“Take care, Heon.
Seo Baek laid a quiet hand upon his younger brother’s shoulder, his voice low with warning.
“No one is more dangerous than those who have nothing left to lose.”
Beneath the mask, Seo Heon’s jaw tightened.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the gardens of Wei Wang Gung.
“Your Majesty, an urgent dispatch has arrived from Han Ju.”
The chief steward delivered the message’s contents with haste.
Clang!
From Seo Gon’s fingertips, the teacup slipped and fell.
“The Double Ledger of the Minister has been confiscated?”
News that had traveled a long distance, arriving too late.
Seo Gon’s eyes, which had flickered with momentary alarm, settled into quiet calculation.
“And the Minister himself?”
“It appears Muk Wang intends to make him an example through Exemplary Punishment. Fortunately, it seems the death sentence won’t be imposed.”
A smile played across Seo Gon’s lips.
“How amusing. And so the Fourth entered the gambling den himself, did he?”
“Yes. However, the one who accompanied him….”
The chief steward’s words trailed off momentarily.
“They say it was Jin Soa.”
“Jin Soa?”
Seo Gon’s eyes narrowed.
That gentle child had set foot in a den run by rough men?
And alongside that monster at that?
Seo Gon’s jaw grew rigid as he turned the matter over in his mind.
He had thought she must be suffering in Muk Wang Bu.
Surely she would come to regret the choice she’d made that day.
The biting cold that cut through skin, the barren wind—
Such hardships would be too much for someone as delicate as her.
And yet.
‘Soa. You’re acting unlike yourself. What are you doing?’
Everything kept diverging from his expectations.
Nothing was unfolding as he had foreseen.
Then it came.
“Your Highness, urgent news from Ye Wang Bu!”
“Ye Wang Bu?”
Another urgent dispatch, swift on its heels.
It concerned the monster Bi Hyeol Rang.
“My elder brother wasn’t afflicted with madness—it was the monster’s doing?”
“Yes, sir. Muk Wang resolved the matter himself.”
Why would that creature, who’d been quietly buried in the borderlands all this time, suddenly overstep his bounds?
“A fool who can barely guard Yo Gok presumes to venture forth.”
The decline of Ye Wang Bu through tyranny had been Wei Wang Gung’s blessing.
The Empress and Crown Prince both desired the fall of the First Prince, Ye Wang.
Thus they had made no effort to resolve Ye Wang Bu’s troubles.
Everyone treated it as an intractable problem, concealing their indifference behind various pretexts—until now.
“Moreover, it seems he brought Jin Soa along on this expedition.”
“He took her to such a perilous place?”
“Yes, Your Highness. And it appears she acquitted herself quite well.”
Acquitted herself?
That Jin Soa—the one who could do nothing but pour tea and wring out laundry?
“Hm. So the fourth prince has taken quite a liking to his new consort.”
Seo Gon’s fingertips traced slowly across the shattered fragments of the teacup.
The razor-edged slivers gleamed with deadly brilliance.
“Plant an informant within the Jin Clan.”
Seo Gon’s soft voice fell like petals of spring blossoms across the garden.

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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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