If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 100

Yuseol returned to her quarters with Mu-yeong without looking back. Yanghui happened to be waiting endlessly after drawing bath water.

Worried that the carefully drawn water would cool further, Yuseol finished her bath first. On her way out, she changed into everyday clothes that Myeonghui from Museolwon had made for her.

The white silk skirt and long jeogori pleased her more than expected. Yuseol returned to her room while habitually fingering the side hem of her jeogori.

It had really been a hectic day. To think a day had already ended.

Though she was drowsy enough to fall asleep the moment she put her head on the pillow, there was still something to do. She wanted to inform Mu-yeong about the information she had heard today and what she had experienced. Since they weren’t truly engaged, she wanted to prepare for anything. After pondering, Yuseol stood in front of Mu-yeong’s room.

“This is Sahwa. I have something to tell you.”

Strangely, no answer could be heard at all. Perhaps he was taking an evening walk.

Yuseol’s eyes, without makeup, examined the door. Through the wooden lattice pattern, yellow changho paper could be seen.

Seeing that the light was on, it didn’t seem like he had been away for long, but no presence of a person could be felt. She didn’t know where he had gone at this hour. Would it be better to talk early tomorrow?

It was when Yuseol was about to turn around. A dim human figure was reflected through the changho door. It seemed to be moving subtly too.

Yuseol could feel a gaze even though the door was blocking her way. That man’s intense gaze of mysterious color.

He seemed to be inside. She didn’t know why he wasn’t answering.

Yuseol hung her head toward the floor and waited endlessly. Only after time passed did Mu-yeong’s voice ring out.

“Come in.”

It was a low voice that pierced the silence. Her ears felt somehow ticklish at the low sound. She rubbed around her ears with her hand and opened the door. Even the sound of the door brushing against the threshold came through excessively stimulating. It seemed to be because it was a night when all sounds had settled.

She entered inside and stopped in the center of the room, saying.

“You were inside. I must not have heard your answer properly.”

She felt a cold breeze. Looking slightly ahead, she could see a low window wide open. A drinking table was set on the window frame that was as wide as a table. A beautiful moon was floating in the cup filled with alcohol.

Next to him, sitting languidly on the window frame, were two already emptied bottles and a bottle with its stopper still on.

He was watching Yuseol while holding a book in one hand. It seemed he had been leisurely drinking while reading.

Yuseol bowed her head again and said.

“If I’ve disturbed your personal time, I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”

He barely narrowed his brow and brought up a different topic.

“The scent is unpleasant.”

“Scent?”

“Forget-me-not, perhaps.”

Yuseol breathed in deeply to see if such a fragrance was coming from her. Then she suddenly chewed on the words “forget-me-not” and looked at Mu-yeong. If it was forget-me-not, it was a fragrance only the king could use. But even if it had rubbed off from Kim Seon, whom she had met earlier, it would have been washed off during her bath.

As long as he was human, he couldn’t possibly smell a fragrance that remained so faintly.

“It might be the flower scent from the bath water. It wouldn’t be forget-me-not.”

He only stared at Yuseol silently. Yuseol sensed that his mood wasn’t very good and bowed her head.

Though she began to regret that she should have come tomorrow, having entered, it was also difficult to just go back like this. She needed to quickly convey her business. She opened her mouth as if whispering.

“It’s nothing else, but I came to tell you about what I experienced today.”

“…….”

“I heard that the person I’m looking for is in the mountains behind the palace. And His Majesty seemed curious about me.”

Whether he understood the words she spoke like code, being conscious of anyone who might be secretly listening, he didn’t ask further. But he didn’t give a clear answer either.

Wind came through the window. The breeze that had been cold now felt refreshing, probably because of her heated body temperature. Had she gotten drunk from smelling the alcohol in the meantime? That wouldn’t be possible, but she wanted to believe so.

Yuseol slightly raised her head.

“Then I’ll withdraw.”

Rustle. Yuseol’s heel lifted slightly from the floor. As if reacting, he tilted his head diagonally. In his appearance, particularly dark against the backlight of moonlight, only his green pupils shimmered. She felt captivated. Just as she was about to turn around as if rejecting it, he spoke as if holding her back.

“How did you feel?”

Yuseol suddenly stopped and looked back at him again.

He was making a strange expression. Was he languid? No, for some reason she thought he seemed a little impatient.

There seemed to be a reason for suddenly giving off such an atmosphere. Had he grown tired of this dangerous and precarious situation?

A small whisper rang in the air.

“…Me?”

It felt like that sound was returning to tickle her nape. She looked at him while shrinking her shoulders. Something was strange. The him she had experienced until now hadn’t cared about Han Yuseol’s opinion.

But Yuseol wanted to step forward if it would help save her sister, whatever the reason. She began to reflect on her own feelings as he had asked. But she couldn’t properly remember what feelings she had experienced while talking with Kim Seon earlier. Had she been confused? Or sad?

Yuseol, who had been thinking carefully, bowed her head.

“I don’t know.”

She certainly hadn’t been happy at all. Kim Seon was someone who thought he could manipulate and toy with anyone, and she had been feeling like a toy being played with on the palm of his hand.

She brought out the thought she had felt most strongly then.

“I… just had a strong thought that I wanted to tell Lord Mu-yeong thank you for coming to find me.”