If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 1

Romance Guide

Setting/Genre: Eastern-inspired, Alternate Historical Setting

Keywords: Eastern-style, Past Life/Reincarnation, Possessiveness/Obsession/Jealousy, Fated Love, Scheming Male Lead, Obsessive Male Lead, Bad Boy, Pure-Hearted Male Lead, Virgin Male Lead, Arrogant Male Lead, Kind-Hearted Female Lead, Wounded Female Lead, Virgin Female Lead, Soft on the Outside, Strong on the Inside, Coming-of-Age

Male Lead: Mu-yeong – A guest in the sarangbang of Museolwon. With his noble demeanor and luxurious attire, one could only guess at his identity—nothing about him is truly known. Mu-yeong enjoyed anything that sparked his interest. And to him, she was always interesting.

Female Lead: Han Yuseol – The former Crown Princess-to-be, abandoned by her fiancé. She was just beginning to understand that grief from loss could be more agonizing than death. And sometimes, his cruelty was like an unexpectedly effective painkiller.

When to Read: When you want to immerse yourself in a story filled with tension and suspense.

Relatable Quote:
“To take back what was stolen, shouldn’t you be prepared to lose something too?”
“…….”
“Warm the bedding.”

* This novel is rated for readers aged 15 and above.

The fog had settled again.

Museolwon, at the very edge of the territory, was always like this. Just as the sun was about to rise, rain would fall, and suddenly, it would be enveloped in fog. Yuseol barely remembered ever seeing the top of the mountain lodge or the ends of the splendid camellia trees clearly.

Yuseol watched the scenery through a crack in the door until she dozed off.

She was dreaming. How long had she walked in the darkness, lost in thought?

An unfamiliar man was walking ahead of her. His steps were slow, as if guiding the way.

Suddenly, light streamed in. As she covered her eyes with her hand due to the glare, the space in her dream shifted. It was a place where the murmuring of people was incredibly noisy. When she took her hand away from her eyes, she saw the mountain lodge village of Museolwon, where she had recently been staying.

Yuseol stood before a grand and imposing main gate. People outside the wide-open gate were fussing and whispering. Wondering what was happening, she looked out the gate and saw police officers lining up. She clenched her fists with cold, frozen hands and held her breath.

She had this dream yesterday, too. It was so vivid that she remembered how it would end.

Yuseol rushed inside the main gate as if being chased. Just then, the police officers stormed in as if it were their own home.

People recoiled with wary eyes. Yuseol closed her eyes, listening to her heart pound as if it would burst.

The Royal Inspector entered belatedly and scanned the crowd. He soon found her among them and pulled out a scroll from his arms. The king’s royal seal was stamped on the unfurled scroll.

“Criminal Han, receive the royal command!”

It was a nightmare she desperately wanted to avoid. Yuseol pinched the back of her hand to wake herself from the dream. But there was no sensation, only deepening despair.

At that moment, the police officers rushed forward and pressed down on Yuseol’s shoulders, forcing her to her knees.

A chill surged through Yuseol’s knees. But more chilling was the sudden emptiness in her heart.

The Royal Inspector began to read the indictment. For some reason, it seemed as if the voice of Kim Seon, with whom she had spent a long time since childhood, overlapped with it.

“Criminal Han Yuseol aided her traitorous father in assassinating the former king! Furthermore, she brought a man into the palace and committed impropriety. The sin of committing depravity and disturbing the royal family cannot be paid for with anything. Therefore, criminal Han Yuseol is sentenced to death by 賜死 (sasa).” (t/n: 사사 (賜死, sasa) means “death granted by royal decree,” usually by poison.)

A pitch-black bowl of poison was lowered before Yuseol’s bewildered eyes.

There was no one to speak for Yuseol or grieve for her. Perhaps that was only natural, as such things were always her own burden.

With trembling hands, she took the bowl. She could not defy a royal command. Should she be grateful for such a graceful punishment?

As she drank the entire contents of the bowl in one gulp, her throat began to burn. The last part of the dream was dropping the bowl in agony and hearing her fading heartbeat.

“Aagh! Mmph!”

Yuseol, who was about to let out a short scream, startlingly covered her mouth. When she opened her eyes, it was already bright.

Her entire body, soaked in cold sweat from the vivid dream that felt like a real experience, felt cold. Her throat was stinging as if she had truly swallowed deadly poison, and she desperately drank some water.

After catching her breath, she neatly folded the blanket and sat in front of the mother-of-pearl screen. Even after some time had passed, the sad feeling did not disappear.

Perhaps she had such a dream because of her psychological instability. After all, she had suddenly left the palace at Kim Seon’s command and come to an unfamiliar place.

Because it was an absurd dream, Yuseol tried to regain her composure, repeating to herself that Kim Seon, who had promised marriage, would never betray her trust.

***

Night fell.

Yuseol was anxious. Geon, the wolfdog who had come with her to Museolwon, had been missing since morning. It seemed he had wandered outside and gotten lost.

It had been a long time since sunset. The weather was fine for now, but sometimes heavy snow would fall here. She didn’t even want to imagine Geon trapped in the snow.

She decided to call out his name around the mountain lodge. Maybe he would hear her voice and come.

Yuseol strapped a long sword to her waist and, holding a staff, stepped out the main gate.

How far had she gone down the sloping path, barely able to see an inch in front of her, groping with her staff?

“Geon! Geon, where are you?!”

Yuseol blew on her hands, reddened by the cold, and suddenly stopped. She heard a splashing sound from somewhere. It also seemed as if a fragrant scent of water emanated from the damp fog. Could Geon be enjoying a swim in the water nearby?

Geon was a wolfdog from Museolwon who loved to swim. Their connection began when she followed her father and was shipwrecked as a child.

She had been losing consciousness in the heavy snow, and thanks to Geon, her life was saved. That incident became the catalyst for their close bond, and they spent a long time together.

However, Geon was very different from other dogs. He enjoyed observing his surroundings, and his appearance was closer to a wolf than a dog. Because he got hot easily, he enjoyed lying in the snow or spending time in the water.

He’s probably cooling himself down again, right? Yuseol cautiously followed the sound.

The pure white fog gradually cleared. To the left, where the view was open, stood a large camellia tree. On the opposite side was a towering cliff. Water streams falling from the cliff gathered in a small lake in the center.

While the mountain lodge was shrouded in fog, only here was a particularly bright full moon. She saw camellia petals falling with the wind. Yuseol was speechless at the unprecedented breathtaking scenery. Her heart began to pound inexplicably.

As the wind blew, the mist on the lake gently cleared. The full moon reflected in the water rippled greatly. Something had definitely fallen into the moonlit water. Yuseol threw down her staff and rolled up her sleeves.

“Geon? Is that… Geon?”

She urgently approached the lakeside. Splash, splash! Water shot up vertically. The identity of whatever was in the water began to become clear.

It was a man dressed in navy blue silk trousers. His muscular, bare upper body gleamed gracefully under the moonlight.

Her pounding heart plummeted. Embarrassed by the sight she had never witnessed before, she moved behind the camellia tree. The sound of water stimulated her highly strung hearing.