If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 101

He again only looked at Yuseol without answering. In the increasingly heavy silence, Yuseol wanted to know his thoughts. That had always been what she wanted when encountering him.

She looked at him and asked.

“What are you thinking?”

For a moment, his low voice overlapped.

“What were you thinking to follow him so obediently?”

Silence fell again.

Always, conversations with that man didn’t continue and only went around in circles like this. She couldn’t understand what the problem was. Whether it was her or him.

Though it was always she who took a step back.

“Thoughts? …There were no particular thoughts.”

She had simply gone to the pavilion wanting to know Kim Seon’s inner thoughts. No matter how much one tried to hide, thoughts were bound to be revealed through words.

She answered calmly.

“I was going to Cheonghweru anyway, and I wanted to stop by briefly to learn about his plans.”

While not putting down his book, he picked up a bottle with his other hand and opened the stopper with his teeth. Soon he narrowed his brow and placed the stopper on the window frame. He began looking at Yuseol while slowly pouring alcohol. It seemed like an abnormal gleam of light dwelled in his water-colored pupils that had been indifferent.

He asked quietly.

“What would you do by knowing the plans?”

“If I know the plans, I can prepare for them.”

He didn’t sympathize with that answer. He seemed to think it had been reckless for her to talk with Kim Seon alone.

But for her, it had been difficult to refuse the king’s proposal, so rather than that, she couldn’t choose to spend time briefly in front of her quarters.

“I think going out to the pavilion wasn’t a bad choice.”

He picked up the cup filled with alcohol and drank it all at once. The sight of his sharp Adam’s apple moving could be seen.

Yuseol turned her gaze, which kept following his body, toward beyond the window. Just as she felt a bit of stability, his low voice drew her gaze again.

“If the other party has the same purpose, which side would be more disadvantaged?”

“…….”

“If the opponent is even thinking of cornering you and devouring you while they’re at it.”

As if filling the ensuing silence, wind blew. She could see his loosely fastened front panel fluttering weakly. Whether he wasn’t wearing clothes inside the changui, the muscles of his central chest area were visible through it. Yuseol’s mind went blank from the stimulation coming chaotically through her sight and hearing. (t/n: ‘changui’ a traditional Korean men’s outer robe worn over undergarments.)

At that moment, a man’s voice rang from in front of the door.

“This is Manbok. I’ve brought night clothes for your convenience.”

Mu-yeong stood up and closed the window. As the refreshing wind that had been rushing in subsided, the air quickly became cozy. While Yuseol pressed her cheeks with the back of her hand, Mu-yeong opened the door and received the night clothes. Closing the door as is, he untied the knots of his changui.

Yuseol, with her back to him, slowly raised her head. Rustling sounds continued behind her back, seeming to break but not breaking.

The shadow of him slowly taking off his clothes began to be cast by the window. His refreshingly long limbs and solid body lines could be felt completely.

Her whole body felt dizzy and the fine hair on her spine seemed to stand on end. She closed her eyes as is.

Then the rustling that had been tickling her ears suddenly stopped.

When she opened her eyes again, the surroundings had become much darker. She could also feel warm energy from the direction of her head. Yuseol, who glanced behind her, saw Mu-yeong who had come close even to her back.

It was the moment their eyes met. Even though he had crossed the safe distance again, he calmly asked.

“What do you think?”

He seemed to be asking for an answer to the question he had asked before Manbok came. Yuseol, whose mind had already gone blank, couldn’t answer anything.

“You’re drunk.”

Since the night was deepening, she wanted to go back now. Toward Yuseol, who was looking at the door area, he chuckled.

“I’ve never been drunk on alcohol.”

“…….”

“I’ve been like this from the beginning.”

His eyes, as she slowly looked up, were clearly intoxicated by something. If he wasn’t drunk on alcohol, he seemed drunk on something else. Yuseol felt danger and stepped back.

“No matter how the other side acts, I think we have no choice but to take risks. So what I’m saying is….”

Was it because she was tired from today’s hectic schedule? She suddenly brought out thoughts that had been in a jumbled state without organizing them.

“I’m grateful for your help, but exposing everyone to danger doesn’t seem right. I’d like to ask you to return to Museolwon with the servants. I’ll take responsibility for protecting Yanghui.”

This time he laughed out loud. Then, as if the veil she had worn conscious of others’ gazes bothered him, he removed it and said quietly.

“Rather than that, couldn’t you properly protect your own life first?”