The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 73

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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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Survival of a Fallen Noblewoman – Episode 73
At that moment, Seo Heon picked up his brush.
[Yatal is granted temporary refuge in the Chingryoo Meadow.]
A decision to take Yatal in.
Seo Gon turned to look at him, but Seo Heon’s brush did not stop.
[However, the moment any rule is broken, it shall be considered an invasion.]
Seo Heon wrote down the rules methodically.
They could not venture beyond the Chingryoo Meadow, nor harm the people of Lyo or seize their belongings by force.
Furthermore, the moment the Museonggwi disappeared, they were to return north.
And finally.
[The warriors of Yatal shall aid Lyo’s Seonwidae and serve as guides in the Subjugation of the Museonggwi.]
Seo Heon handed the paper to him.
Tarchiik stared at him with widened eyes.
‘So he’s saying he’ll join us in the Subjugation of the Museonggwi.’
The prince of Lyo who had appeared wearing a mask without uttering a single word.
He had heard rumors that a cursed man ruled in the south.
Yet Tarchiik rather liked the Mugwang King wearing the iron mask.
There was a warrior’s spirit emanating from him.
“Good.”
Snap.
Tarchiik grasped the horsehair cord around his neck and tore it.
“An oath made by severing horsehair is heavier than life itself.”
He placed the black knot upon the paper Seo Heon offered.
“From this moment, we are blood brothers-in-arms before the ghost wind, and brothers.”
* * *
The central outpost on the northwestern border.
Seonwidae and Yatal warriors moved busily in preparation for departure.
Beyond the horizon, a pale blue darkness stretched before the dawn broke.
【My thanks.】
A low voice suddenly drifted through.
So Ah glanced aside to see Seo Heon gazing northward.
【Without you, we would have shed unnecessary blood.】
Seo Heon realized that So Ah’s words had shifted the flow of the air itself.
Without her, the tension between Seo Gon and Yatal could not have been smoothed over so gracefully.
So Ah paused, her lips moving slightly, then spoke as though to herself.
“You made a wise decision, my lord.”
A faint, hollow laugh escaped from beneath the mask.
【How I wish you could hear my voice.】
So Ah pretended not to hear and turned her gaze northward with him.
A black steppe untouched by sunlight.
A land not far from Yo Valley.
‘The Museonggwi……’
The moment that name came to mind, a forgotten memory from long ago surfaced.
Before the Regression.
News of a northern Subjugation she had heard in the Imperial City.
“A strange creature was rampaging, and the damage is considerable, it seems.”
Before Seo Gon had ascended to the throne.
So Ah had heard tidings of Mugwang Territory from Seo Gon.
Of a creature that fed on sound and lured people to ruin.
And.
“The Seonwidae’s losses are severe due to their weak life force, it seems. This would be a good opportunity to seize Mugwang Territory’s independent military authority.”
Later, when she had entered the Imperial City to aid Seo Gon in her previous life, she had read the old military records of the northwest.
Reports of Mugwang Territory’s Subjugation of the Museonggwi.
‘It wasn’t a creature strong in itself, but the problem was……’
Seo Heon picked up his brush.
[Return to Mugwang Palace and wait there.]
So Ah’s eyes lingered on the letters carved into the slate for a moment.
It was an order she had anticipated.
“I refuse.”
At her refusal, the tip of Seo Heon’s brush trembled.
Beneath the mask, his furrowed brow was evident.
“I’ll go with you.”
[You would only be a burden.]
“You’ll need me.”
[There will be no need for you.]
With those words, he picked up his brush and made his meaning unmistakably clear.
“I haven’t even explained my reasons yet.”
[The answer remains the same, regardless.]
“I’ve heard that sound vanishes within the Museonggwi’s domain.”
So Ah continued without so much as acknowledging Seo Heon’s voice.
A sound-devouring creature.
Within that yokai’s territory, all sound disappears.
Commands, warnings, drum beats, horn calls—all of it.
“Even with Hand Signals, you can only relay predetermined orders. What happens when something unexpected occurs?”
Seo Heon regarded her intently.
“Don’t I understand your intentions better than most?”
[Better?]
So Ah’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
[You’re remarkably gifted at it.]
Gifted enough that you could lay out a straw mat.
At Seo Heon’s remark, So Ah lowered her gaze.
But she had no intention of backing down.
“In the end, you’ll need me.”
Seo Heon exhaled deeply.
[It’s dangerous.]
He wrote another line and held it out to her.
“I know.”
[And yet you persist in your stubbornness?]
His unwritten voice carried an edge of irritation.
But So Ah lifted her eyes and met his gaze directly through the mask.
“Isn’t that precisely why you need someone capable? Danger demands it.”
There was only one thing she sought.
To save at least one more life, using the memories of her past as a foundation.
“I’m not saying I’ll draw a blade and stand in front.”
So Ah stepped closer to Seo Heon.
“I’ll stand behind you.”
She grasped his sleeve pleadingly.
[Sigh…….]
Against the touch of her hand, Seo Heon finally yielded.
[Don’t stray more than ten paces from my side.]
At the sentence he wrote, So Ah’s face brightened with a radiant smile.
“Yes. I’ll do as you say.”
At the clarity in her voice, so different from before, Seo Heon shook his head slightly in resignation.
How could she be so pleased by so little?
Even as he thought it, his brush grew gentler still.
[Don’t step forward without my command.]
She nodded, shaking her small head up and down.
[If you judge it dangerous, return at once.]
“Of course, my lord.”
At her answer, Seo Heon studied her for a long moment with suspicion.
[Your compliance comes far too easily.]
“Is your instruction finished?”
[……How unsettling this is.]
So Ah quietly averted her eyes.
“Then I’ll take my leave to prepare.”
[Are you running away?]
You could say that.
So Ah swallowed her response and slipped out of the guardhouse.
“So Ah.”
Before she’d gone more than a few paces, a soft voice called her back.
As if she had been waiting for her.
“Come now, return to Mugwang Palace with me.”
Seo Gon spoke these words with leisurely ease amid the bustling camp.
“Return? Were you not coming with us as well, Your Highness?”
So Ah tilted her head, her expression confused.
Then Seo Gon laughed.
“Why would I venture into Yatal lands?”
“Well, you came as the Northwest Strategist.”
“Is the position of strategist one that draws a sword to chase after demons?”
He drew a clear line between himself and the soldiers with perfect composure.
“I have brought thousands of Yatal warriors into these lands. It would be wiser for me to remain here, prepared for any contingency that might arise.”
His words sounded reasonable enough.
There was no particular reason a strategist needed to lead the vanguard of a demon subjugation.
Especially when the opponent was a Museonggwi that even the Seonwidae had never faced before.
No one could predict what dangers lay ahead.
Seo Gon was not fool enough to stake his own life.
“A wise course of action, indeed.”
So Ah accepted his reasoning readily and continued.
“Though it is a pity.”
“Is it now?”
“Did you not say you wished to observe the Seonwidae directly?”
So Ah brought up the matter from the banquet hall with deliberate casualness.
“This will be the Seonwidae deploying in force—there could hardly be a better opportunity.”
Seo Gon’s eyes narrowed sharply toward So Ah.
“You are suggesting I follow all the way to the Museonggwi’s lair?”
“Not at all. The Museonggwi will be dealt with well enough by your presence alone.”
At the mention of Seo Heon, his brow twitched slightly.
“Once the matter is concluded, you could simply report that he dispatched the Museonggwi successfully.”
Her tone was gentle and compliant.
Yet somehow it grated on the ear.
Then So Ah added one final remark.
“However, I intend to accompany him and have no plans to return to the capital just yet.”
“You mean to say you’re going along on the subjugation?”
“Yes. If I can offer even the smallest aid to him, I cannot imagine a greater joy.”
So Ah bowed respectfully, her hands folded together.

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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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