The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - 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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The Fallen Noble Daughter’s Survival Record | Chapter 28
After the Return to Palace.
So Ah turned her steps toward her quarters.
‘It ended well enough, but…….’
One thing weighed on her mind.
“You possess the Double Soul, don’t you?”
Double Soul.
It was a word she’d never heard even in her past life.
Yet there was one thing she could surmise.
‘If demons could detect that I’m a Regressor…….’
And if that was something special to them?
So Ah pressed her lips together.
‘I need to learn about the Double Soul.’
There was no telling what problems might arise if she remained unprepared.
‘Now that I think about it, the Muk Wang Manor has a library.’
Muk Wang Manor, which bordered Yo Valley.
It was said to house rare materials on demons and Celestial Techniques that were difficult to find even in the Imperial Capital.
Perhaps there were records about the Double Soul there as well.
‘I could ask Muk Wang, but that might raise suspicion about the Double Soul…….’
She was lost in thought as she walked.
A large hand suddenly seized her wrist.
So Ah spun around in alarm.
“Your Highness?”
Seo Heon was looking down at her from behind his mask.
In the next moment, he rolled up her sleeve.
“……”
A long gash was revealed beneath the fabric.
It had been scraped across stone during her fight with Bi Hyeol Lang.
【Why didn’t you say anything?】
His gaze beneath the mask fixed on the wound.
He hadn’t known about it until they returned to Muk Wang Manor.
She hadn’t shown a single sign of discomfort.
Only when he’d seen her sleeve slip down as she organized the medicinal herbs in the carriage had he noticed.
“It’s not a deep wound…….”
So Ah pulled her sleeve back down as she spoke.
She’d thought nothing of it.
It only looked large on the surface.
The depth was shallow, seeping blood only slightly, so she’d seen no reason to make a fuss.
‘I endured far worse during my time at the Jin Family.’
Complaining about an injury would only have brought a whipping down on her.
Even after becoming Empress, the habit had persisted—she paid no mind to minor wounds.
Seo Gon was not the sort to concern himself with her trivial injuries either.
【Is this a habit?】
Seo Heon’s voice carried an edge sharper than usual.
Still gripping her wrist, he took long strides forward.
“Your Highness, truly, I’m fine.”
【You speak boldly enough before demons and your brother, yet you cannot bring yourself to ask for treatment for your own wound?】
Seo Heon was speaking at unusual length.
So Ah gazed up at his back with widened eyes.
He sat her down in a corner of the garden and withdrew the Gold Wound Salve he’d brought from Ye Wang Manor.
Having collected some of the ointment, he examined the wound carefully.
The touch of his fingertips against the gash felt unfamiliar to her.
“Your Highness, truly, I’m fine.”
This kind of attention was not something she was accustomed to—it felt burdensome.
It was awkward, strange in a way that unsettled her.
As So Ah squirmed and tried to withdraw her wrist, Seo Heon held firm and fixed her with his gaze.
【It hasn’t even healed, and you call that fine?】
Seo Heon indicated the wound.

Blood seeped faintly from the wound.
“Are you… upset with me?”
His voice, sharper than she’d expected, made So Ah ask the question.
【One should not ask questions one cannot hope to answer.】
His lips pressed together firmly.
【That is why I, too, refrain from asking.】
Refrain from asking?
So Ah watched him apply the salve before speaking carefully.
“Is there something you wish to ask me?”
At her question, his hand stilled.
He lifted his gaze to study her for a moment, then looked away again.
【It seems you always read my heart.】
Seo Heon shook his head slightly.
He knew it couldn’t be so.
Yet So Ah seemed to see straight through him entirely.
She spoke his thoughts before he could voice them, answered his unspoken questions as though responding to words.
【Yes, I have much I wish to ask of you.】
Far too much.
More than I can bear.
But he did not ask.
How she had learned of the gambling house.
How she had found a talent like Woo Je.
How she knew of Bi Hyeol Lang, and how she could manage her dealings with Ye Wang Manor.
Questions without number, yet one constraint bound him.
【We made a covenant not to ask, so I cannot.】
Simply investigating her Personal Records felt as though he had opened wounds that should have remained hidden.
The contents of those records weighed on his mind.
The fact that she uttered not a word of pain despite her injuries likely stemmed from how the Jin Family had treated her.
Just as she had not wept or trembled even before a demon.
【This place is not the Jin Family, so if you need something, speak it plainly.】
Seo Heon’s voice was soft and grave.
So Ah gazed quietly at her bandaged wrist.
She had said nothing, yet someone had stepped forward to tend her wound of their own accord—a kindness she found strange.
She studied the masked face before her carefully.
Suddenly, she found herself curious about what lay beneath that mask.
Then Seo Heon, having finished applying the salve, released her wrist and rose.
“My lord.”
So Ah called after him as he turned to leave, tucking the medicine bottle into her robe.
“There is one thing I do need.”
The masked face turned toward her.
【Tell me.】
His lips curved faintly upward.
“I would like to read books in the Library Archives.”
When So Ah lifted her round eyes in request, the corners of his mouth shifted subtly beneath the mask.
【So healing your wounds matters less to you than that?】
Whether concern or something else, his tone was cold and difficult to discern.
Yet he simply nodded once.
【I shall inform No Chief Steward.】
* * *
On the path toward the Library Archives.
The sound of carpentry echoed from the open ground behind the stables.
“Truly, not a wheel survives each trip to Ye Wang Manor.”
“Next time, I’ll ask them to bring timber as well.”
Carpenters were fashioning new wheels on one side.
Every journey to Ye Wang Manor necessitated replacing the cart wheels.
The roads were simply too rough.
‘I must not delay in improving the roads.’
Logistics are the lifeblood of commerce.
Unmaintained roads slow trade and multiply unnecessary costs.
Addressing this is imperative.
‘And besides, the weather at Muk Wang Manor has grown quite mild…….’
Clop-clop! Clop-clop!
Then came the urgent thunder of hoofbeats from the direction of the city gates.
An Express Messenger’s horse, caked in mud, burst through like it would shatter the gates themselves.
“Your Highness……!”
The messenger’s face was unrecognizable, smeared with mud and blood.
The rider tumbled from the saddle, his body hitting the ground.
Seo Heon and No Chief Steward rushed out from within at that very moment.
“What in heaven’s name is happening?”
“The Yeon Byeong Bridge leading to the Northwest Border has collapsed from flooding.”
The messenger gasped out his report through cracked lips.
The Northwest Border line was the closest point to Yo Valley.
It was the critical stronghold of northern defense.
“The soldiers returning have been cut off, and the supply route is severed.”
Spring had come—when all the snow and ice accumulated through winter began to thaw.
That was why landslides and floods had erupted.
【How is the situation at the Northwest Border?】
Seo Heon asked in an urgent voice that barely emerged, and a moment later began writing characters with forced deliberation.
“Even before we departed, conditions were poor. At best, we have ten days…….”
【Of all times for this…….】
They had been planning to send supplementary medicine and provisions once they became more plentiful.
Had they managed that, there would have been time to repair the bridge even after the flooding.
But this year, the Thaw Season had come early.
The bridge collapsed before the supplies could be dispatched.
Beneath his mask, Seo Heon’s jaw tightened.
‘Supplies are the priority above all else.’
He composed the situation in his mind with clinical precision.
The Seon Wi Regiment soldiers at the Northwest Border were the elite forces of Muk Wang Manor who wielded the Celestial Sword.
They could not afford to lose them.
【No Chief Steward, convene an emergency council.】
Seo Heon made a brief gesture and moved swiftly.
* * *
The hastily summoned gathering.
The main hall had become bedlam.
“First, we must prepare and send the Byeol Ryo Yeum destined for Ye Wang Manor. If we break our agreement in the first month, what becomes of our honor?”
“There aren’t enough carts!”
“If the Northwest Border line collapses, demons pouring over from Yo Valley would be a matter of moments. Do you not understand this?”
“The bridge is destroyed and we cannot even dispatch carts at present. How can we proceed? I understand your concern, but we must not cling to the impossible—we must do what we can!”
A clamor of conflicting opinions erupted.
At the highest seat.
Beneath his mask, Seo Heon pressed his temples hard.
Then.
“Cannot a collapsed bridge simply be rebuilt?”
A calm voice cut through the tumult like a blade.
All eyes turned to where So Ah sat composed and still.
“Lady Jin. Bridge construction is not so simple a matter.”
Dan Mok Heum, the Minister of Public Works who had been droning on for some time, spoke with patent disbelief.
Bridge building ordinarily required several years.
To construct a new bridge within ten days?
“If the sole objective is to transport supplies immediately, it is possible.”
“The ravine is flooded—the water volume is tremendous and the current fierce. How could one build a bridge under such conditions?”
Did she think they were laying stepping stones across some village creek?
The Ministry officials burst into hollow laughter at the absurdity.
What business did a mere record-keeper have making such presumptuous suggestions?
And yet.
“There is a method.”
“What did you say?”
“You said the water volume is too great and the current too swift to lay a bridge, did you not?”
So Ah drew a Design Blueprint from her sleeve.
“Then why not suspend the bridge in the air instead?”

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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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