The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 53

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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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Chronicles of a Fallen Noblewoman’s Survival, Episode 53
Yet Seo Heon knew the truth.
The Gugyeol she had revealed to Mu Jin that day.
It was not in the Archives—it existed only in his mind.
Seo Heon regarded her with narrowed eyes.
[Your answer is a lie.]
He could have picked up his brush and written only those words to shatter her deception in this very moment.
But for reasons he could not name, the brush felt impossibly heavy.
The instant he wrote that line, she would disappear.
“Pardon me, but if I may speak, I have a request.”
At that, Mu Jin changed the subject.
“I ask that you lend that talent to the Seonwidae.”
The unexpected plea made Seo Heon’s brow furrow.
‘Wasn’t he suspicious of her?’
Seo Heon knew Mu Jin well.
Mu Jin did not trust people from the Wi Wang Territory.
He had lost his father to a spy sent from there in the past.
A court physician from the Seonwidae, who had grown comfortable there and been close to him, had stolen intelligence, and because of that leaked information, Mu Jin’s father had been isolated during the Demon War and perished.
That was why.
He had not complained when Mu Jin’s return from the northwestern border was delayed.
Surely Mu Jin would not welcome So Ah.
And yet here he was, asking So Ah to serve the Seonwidae.
‘Has helping the Sa Hwa Ryeon bloom softened him somewhat?’
Mu Jin, sensing Seo Heon’s gaze, lowered his head and spoke.
“Yo Valley grows unstable, and we have need of another blade. If we can only help the flower bloom, what is there to hesitate over?”
It was a perfectly sound justification.
But So Ah, listening carefully to his words, read the true intention buried beneath that logic.
‘He means to keep me close and watch.’
Surveillance masked as goodwill.
So Ah’s lips curved gently upward.
“I would be honored to help.”
It was what she had wanted anyway.
Because.
‘The demons’ numbers will only swell with each passing day.’
So Ah bit down on her lower lip.
A memory from her past life.
“Your Majesty, reports of demonic creatures come daily from Yo Valley. If you abandon the Mugwang Territory now, the Imperial City itself will be at risk.”
“So Ah.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You always defend that creature’s offspring, don’t you?”
“That is not my intention, Your Majesty…!”
“Enough. Leave my presence.”
Send soldiers to the Mugwang Territory.
Send provisions to the Mugwang Territory.
Every piece of counsel had been for the realm’s sake, yet each word had offended Seo Gon.
In the end, she had been branded an adulteress with the Mugwang Lord and put to death.
So to avoid such an end this time, she had to strengthen the Seonwidae.
But what troubled her was.
‘I have no proper way to aid in Sword Specialist training.’
She knew nothing of Sword Specialists.
All she possessed was what she had gleaned from gossip and books.
If only she could convey Seo Heon’s voice.
But.
[The Jinn Attendant cannot be entrusted with the Seonwidae’s training.]
Seo Heon’s brush strokes cut between them.
“And yet, my lord, there is merit in the Jinn Attendant’s contribution to blooming the Sa Hwa Ryeon.”
[However, the Jinn Attendant has not yet recovered her Demonic Aura.]
Seo Heon’s gaze turned toward So Ah’s shoulders.
And.
[After recovery, she shall accompany me and attend the training sessions.]
Mu Jin had no objection to Seo Heon’s terms.
Seo Heon studied So Ah’s expression.
A sweet smile played at the corners of her mouth.
Laughter blooming softly from the eyes downward.
His gaze caught on that smile.
‘Does she prefer traveling with me?’
The moment that thought took shape.
Seo Heon unconsciously adjusted his grip on the brush.
‘It cannot be.’
He must simply be interested in Seonwidae’s affairs.
He had often watched them train while coming and going from the Archives.
No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, that low, persistent tingling in one corner of his chest could not be helped.
[Training participation begins next week.]
The characters on the paper slip were slightly larger than usual.
Each stroke bore unnecessary force.
“Yes, my lord.”
So Ah answered still wearing that smile.
Inwardly, So Ah felt relief wash over her.
If Seo Heon were at her side, teaching the Seonwidae the Gugyeol would become far easier.
“Once you have recovered, I shall see you at the Training Grounds.”
Mu Jin withdrew, and the door closed behind him.
In the room now remained only Seo Heon and So Ah.
Silence hung in the air.
It was So Ah who spoke first.
Though truly, it could have been no one else.
“I have caused you trouble, my lord.”
【Trouble?】
“These four days—I fear you have not slept properly because of me.”
The corners of Seo Heon’s mouth lifted faintly.
【Sleep has been elusive, yes.】
He drew a hand slowly across his jaw.
Because of you.
Because of those words you let slip in your sleep.
But what he set down with his brush was something else.
[I have been occupied settling the Yo Seup matter. Think nothing of it.]
Seo Heon swallowed the truth.
“Then I shall take my leave now.”
So Ah offered a proper bow and stepped back.
【Wait.】
Seo Heon lifted his brush.
[There is something I must verify.]
“Verify……?”
[The Demonic Qi flowing through your body is not ordinary.]
The Demonic Qi that had rushed toward her vital channels.
Because of it, So Ah had fever rise and fall again several times over those four days.
For so small a wound, the Demonic Qi had raged with excessive violence.
Seo Heon remained troubled by it still.
“I am well, my lord. Thanks to your care these four days, my body feels light and recovered.”
Yet Seo Heon grasped So Ah’s shoulders and settled her back onto the bed.
“My lord……!”
【Your hand.】
So Ah had no grounds to refuse.
She hesitated, then offered him her wrist.
Her slender wrist lowered carefully into his palm.
Seo Heon gently rolled back her sleeve and placed his fingers on the inner edge of her wrist.
Thump, thump.
The soft pulse reached his fingertips.
[I will channel Sword Qi, so do not be alarmed.]
Presently, a warm current flowed along her wrist.
That warmth traveled from her arm to her shoulder, from her shoulder upward toward her chest.
A strange sensation tickling at her heart.
So Ah swallowed dryly.
‘What if the flow of Demonic Qi wasn’t as ordinary as I thought…….’
The gift of hearing voices.
Or perhaps traces of the Double Soul that Bi Hyeol Lang craved.
She had far too much to hide.
And yet.
“How could one make a creature-speaker — a Yo Nyeo — into an Empress?”
She was terrified.
In the past, the name Yo Nyeo had made it easy for others to pin crimes on her.
The poison that had burned her throat as it went down — she could still feel it vividly.
And the cold stone floor beneath her as she lay alone, her body growing cold.
So Ah’s gaze turned toward the place where she had died.
Suddenly her heart began to race wildly.
If Seo Heon ever learned her secret, then…….
Panic crashed over her like a tidal wave.
‘Stay calm.’
So Ah clenched her teeth and steadied her breathing.
‘As long as I’m not discovered.’
Then no one would exploit her ability.
And no one would kill her for the very power they feared.
So Ah fought desperately to suppress the Gi Maek thrashing wildly within her.
And Seo Heon felt it all through his fingertips.
The Gi Maek suddenly surging.
Her breath forced down, trying to suppress it by sheer will.
Deep dread. Deep fear.
‘What could she possibly be afraid of?’
A chill settled somewhere in his chest.
It was a familiar sensation.
A cursed monster.
He had lived that way all his life — there was nothing surprising about it now.
But.
‘I thought you weren’t like that.’
Not the day they first met.
Not the day his mask was torn away.
She had been a woman who wouldn’t even blink.
Yet her Gi Maek now trembled like a frightened bird.
It throbbed in him, disturbingly wrong.
‘Was it all a facade? All this time?’
Even though he made her uncomfortable. Even though he frightened her.
Without thinking, Seo Heon slowed the flow of his Sword Qi.
Softer now, soothing like one calming a startled animal.
【There is nothing to fear.】
He spoke in a low voice.
【I only wish for you to be well.】
Words she could not hear.
Only a whisper to himself, to ease the throbbing in his own heart.
Yet So Ah’s Gi Maek began to settle slowly.
As if she had heard his reassurance.
‘……Is it coincidence again?’
It could have been her own breath bringing her under control.
Or perhaps she had simply grown more accustomed to his Sword Qi.
‘But…….’
The question that had troubled him since last night surfaced once more.
But Seo Heon cast aside the wandering thoughts.
Now was the time to focus on her Gi Maek.
Where he had driven out all the Demonic Qi, her Gi Maek that remained was nothing short of pristine.
‘……Remarkable.’
It was his first time.
Never before had he encountered one with such clear Qi.
No, “clear” was not quite the right word.
For it was far too deep and rich to be merely clear.
‘Was what I told Mu Jin a lie, then?’
That she possessed a natural gift for wielding Sword Qi.
That much was true.
Her Gi Maek was the equal of his own, which had bloomed into O Hwa Ryeon.
‘How on earth…?’
Whatever the reason, he sensed no dangerous currents in her Qi flow.
【Thank goodness. It’s clean.】
The moment relief escaped into his voice,
So Ah’s cheeks, rigid with tension, softened all at once, and a quiet breath burst from her lips.
‘Again…?’
The timing was cruelly perfect.
Behind his mask, Seo Heon studied her.
That question which had kept him awake all last night.
Could she possibly be listening to his words?
Seo Heon released the wrist he had been holding, slowly.
There was one way to satisfy his curiosity.
A petty way. An unworthy way. Rather a cowardly one, at that.

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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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