The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 69

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

The Fall of a Noble House, Survival Record — Episode 69
Jin Mok Yeon covered her eyes with her sleeve and spoke.
“If following my husband is a crime, then let me accept my punishment here and now.”
Jin Mok Yeon’s shoulders trembled delicately.
So Ah observed her in silence.
A voice laced with tears.
Shoulders quivering faintly.
‘Nothing has changed.’
Ever since childhood, whenever trouble arose, Jin Mok Yeon would play the pitiful victim and shift all blame onto So Ah.
Not a thing was different.
So transparent one didn’t even need to send spies to see through it.
Watching Jin Mok Yeon’s contemptible performance, So Ah spoke with perfect composure.
“Your husband, how truly admirable of you.”
At that, Jin Mok Yeon’s eyebrows, visible above her sleeve, twitched.
“The convicted person has herself requested punishment.”
Jin Mok Yeon’s eyes widened.
What was this woman saying now?
A dark foreboding seized Jin Mok Yeon, and she rushed to speak.
“Wait, Your Highness. Though I do bear fault……!”
At that moment, Seo Heon took up his brush.
[Since the Imperial Consort Jin has earnestly petitioned for her own blood, I cannot refuse her plea.]
No Chief Steward read aloud what Seo Heon had written.
[The Imperial Consort Jin has rendered considerable service to this land; therefore I shall withdraw the Banishment Order and preserve the life of the convicted person.]
Murmurs of admiration rippled through the assembled crowd.
The sisters seemed moved by their mutual devotion.
Color returned to Jin Mok Yeon’s face.
“Your grace knows no bounds, Your Highness.”
She bowed at the waist.
But her eyes slid sideways toward So Ah.
‘Interfering busybody……!’
Without So Ah, she could have escaped the charge somehow anyway.
She had Seo Gon, and she had plans of her own.
Yet now it appeared her life had been saved by the grace of Jin So Ah.
But then.
“The matter is not yet concluded.”
No Chief Steward adjusted his spectacles.
And he read aloud the next line Seo Heon had written.
[However, His Imperial Majesty has only ordered the withdrawal of banishment, not the forgiveness of the crime.]
Jin Mok Yeon’s complexion hardened once more.
[Therefore, Jin Mok Yeon shall enter this land bearing the status of a convicted person.]
A convicted person’s status……?
Before she could respond, No Chief Steward continued.
“By law, the convicted may wear no headdress, don no silk, and ride in no carriage.”
No Chief Steward folded Seo Heon’s decree.
“Therefore, the Consort of Wi Wang shall remove her Formal Headdress.”
Hearing this, Jin Mok Yeon’s cheeks began to quiver.
“What did you just say?”
“It is the command of His Highness, Madam.”
“I am the Consort of Wi Wang! You would have me——before all these people——!”
At that instant, So Ah stepped forward and bowed to Seo Heon.
“I am overwhelmed by Your Highness’s grace, boundless as the sea.”
“You……!”
Indignant, Jin Mok Yeon turned to snap at So Ah, but caught sight of the watching eyes and abruptly looked away.
The gazes fixed upon her were terrible.
In an instant, she had become a convicted person who owed her life to her younger sister’s mercy.
“Your Highness!”
Seo Gon stood with arms folded, merely observing.
Jin Mok Yeon looked to him, hoping he would do something.
“Such is the law of the Territory; there is nothing to be done.”
Seo Gon turned his gaze away.
Jin Mok Yeon’s eyes widened.
And where Seo Gon’s gaze had drifted.
At its end stood So Ah.
‘Why on earth……!’
Jin Mok Yeon’s hands trembled visibly.
She had known Seo Gon took an interest in So Ah.
After all, So Ah wagged her tail like an eager dog at his every gesture.
But it had been — or should have been — nothing more than that.
……certainly it had to be nothing more.
Jin Mok Yeon bit down on her lip.
She heard whispers stirring among the crowd.
In their midst, Seo Heon tilted his head once.
At that signal, the palace attendants standing behind him approached Jin Mok Yeon’s side and reached for her head.
“Your Highness……!”
Jin Mok Yeon shook her head in protest, but the ornate Formal Headdress adorned with gold was pulled away regardless.
Beneath it lay black hair, jaggedly shorn to a length that didn’t even reach her shoulders.
“Good heavens!”
“What on earth is that hair……?”
At the murmurs, Jin Mok Yeon’s face flushed crimson.
Next, the purple Silk Robe draped across her shoulders was stripped away, replaced by a drab Hemp Garment.
“Confiscate the Criminal’s Carriage.”
As No Chief Steward issued the command, soldiers from the Mugwang Territory seized the Carriage Jin Mok Yeon had arrived in and dragged it away.
Jin Mok Yeon trembled with the sting of humiliation.
Then.
“Sister.”
So Ah approached her side and called out softly.
“I’m relieved you’ve come through this safely.”
So Ah took her hand in both of hers and smiled with utmost kindness.
Safe? In this state?
Jin Mok Yeon’s teeth ground together.
So Ah bent closer, leaning in near to her ear.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come.”
“……What?”
“Please come to the palace carefully.”
With those words, So Ah turned to follow Seo Heon and climbed into the Carriage.
The Carriage, draped with silk curtains, moved smoothly away from her.
Watching its retreating form, Jin Mok Yeon clenched her fists so tightly her nails bit into her palms.
* * *
Clatter.
The Carriage began to move.
As the curtains were drawn, the commotion outside quickly faded.
Below, the smile vanished from So Ah’s face.
Gone was the voice that had pleaded so desperately just moments before, and the gentle smile she had worn for Jin Mok Yeon.
【Your acting has really improved, hasn’t it……?】
Un Jo, sitting on the armrest inside the Carriage, clicked his tongue.
【I actually thought you were taking that woman’s side, the way you were crying and begging.】
At Un Jo’s words, So Ah rested her jaw loosely and cast her gaze out the window.
In the distance, a woman in an ashen garment walked among the crowd.
“I did take her side.”
Once the royal decree had come down, there was no way to stop Jin Mok Yeon.
If we locked the gates, Seo Heon would be branded a traitor; if we let her in willingly, his authority would crumble.
So we chose to let her through — but on our own terms.
It was all choreography.
“That said, Un Jo.”
【I know, I know.】
The moment So Ah began speaking, Un Jo nodded as though he already knew what she would say.
【You want me to keep watch over Jin Mok Yeon and Seo Gon, right?】
“Exactly. And especially Jin Mok Yeon…….”
【I got it. I’ll keep an eye on things myself, so don’t worry. You only trust me anyway, don’t you?】
Un Jo puffed out his groomed fur proudly as he spoke.
Only then did a smile bloom across So Ah’s face once more.
As she’d said—the one being she truly believed in.
Someone she could be honest with, without doubt or reservation.
That person was Un Jo alone.
“I’m always grateful to you, Un Jo.”
* * *
The Western End of Royal Palace.
Before a hall where desolate wind swept through.
“The convicted person shall remain in this place.”
No Chief Steward spoke without emotion and turned to leave.
At that, Jin Mok Yeon stared at the hall with an expression of sheer disbelief.
The paper doors had rotted; wind drifted in and out, and a thick layer of dust covered the floor.
The narrow front courtyard was choked with untended weeds.
The place known as the Cold Palace.
Mok Yeon clutched at Seo Gon’s sleeve.
“My lord, I am a concubine of the Wi Wang Territory!”
She couldn’t stand idle while her own standing was treated this way.
Yet.
“Mok Yeon.”
Seo Gon slowly extracted his sleeve from her grip.
“Did So Ah not beg for your life?”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“That girl went down on her knees to save you. And now you complain that the room is a little shabby? Is that fitting?”
Mok Yeon’s mouth fell open, her jaw working soundlessly.
“My lord, surely she was trying to humiliate me—!”
“Enough.”
Seo Gon’s voice dropped low and cold.
His expression had hardened into something glacial, but in the next moment he smiled again—warm and gracious.
“Be patient a little longer.”
With a gentle hand, he brushed back her short hair.
“I’ll arrange a place for you at tonight’s banquet. We can speak then.”
At the touch near her ear, the nape of Mok Yeon’s neck went cold.
“You must be tired from the long journey. Rest now.”
Seo Gon whispered these words and left the hall without a backward glance.
Mok Yeon seized a stone at her feet and hurled it at the stone wall.
“If only you didn’t exist, Jin So Ah—!”
Mok Yeon muttered beneath her breath, her eyes red and bloodshot.

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