If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 106

I couldn’t sleep properly last night. It was because the sound of the rain and the wind had made it noisy outside.

Yuseol opened her eyes in her sleep. For a moment, she saw the shadow of an animal reflected on the door.

She opened the door, wondering if it could be Geon, but the courtyard was only filled with rainwater. She thought it must have been an illusion shown to her by her longing.

She started getting ready early. Yanghui, who had diligently prepared various things, was truly happy while she was dressing Yuseol up. This was because she regarded Yuseol as an ideal person who could pull off any kind of makeup. The more Yanghui immersed herself in her craft, the more beautiful Yuseol became.

Just as they were taking a break, morning refreshments were brought in. Yuseol drank her tea and lightly felt the area around her forearm. It was because she had found a strange wound while getting dressed. After thinking for a while, Yuseol remembered the time she had cut her forearm in front of the wood Sahwa in the offering hall a long time ago.

“Lady, are you alright?! ……You’re bleeding. Show it to me this way.”

It had only felt sore at the time, so she didn’t know she had been hurt badly enough for the scab to last this long. It was strange that the wound was so slow to heal, regardless of its size.

She touched the wound from outside her clothes. She could feel the rough scab, but there wasn’t even a tingling sensation.

For some reason, she felt that this wound was also an illusion. It existed, yet it didn’t. It was a strange thought.

In contrast to the rain that had fallen all day yesterday, the weather was sunny.

Word came that Mu-yeong had left the palace for something related to a book. Yuseol looked at the empty courtyard.

The rain had stopped, but traces of it remained all over the courtyard. However, they would completely disappear over time. Just like all traces.

Yanghui finished tidying up the new makeup ingredients and came and sat next to Yuseol. Yuseol liked the presence of someone beside her, which she had become used to at some point. She smiled faintly at Yanghui and looked at the ivy on the wall again. Her voice, filled with worry, spread softly.

“But what if the day of my sister’s execution is moved up as a punishment because I provoked those people?”

She was secretly worried that if she provoked Meisa for no reason, Meisa would become spiteful and go on a rampage, trying to kill her sister. Yuseol let out a dry sigh and lowered her head.

“To be honest, I’m worried that my actions might bring misfortune to my sister.”

Without a reply, Yanghui offered a small cloth pouch. Inside, there was shiny hobak-yeot.

“I got more taffy. I traded some lipstick to a palace lady at the laundry area for it.”

Yuseol took the taffy and blankly smelled its scent. Yanghui continued to speak, as if to herself.

“I heard while coming and going through the palace that the scholars in front of the palace are also calling for my elder lady’s release.”

The elder lady Yanghui was talking about was Yuseol’s sister. Yuseol picked up a piece of taffy and looked at it, her eyes widening.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. I heard that the lords’ voices are getting louder every day, and even His Majesty is worried about it.”

A faint flush of color appeared on Yuseol’s pale face. It was because Kim Seon, who had been trained in politics since he was young, would not be able to ignore the public sentiment. And if it had been a situation where there would be no problem with executing her on his birthday, as Meisa had said, wouldn’t her sister have already been executed before then?

Yes, if he kept her sister alive, he might be able to make a deal with the scholars later.

Yuseol’s voice brightened slightly.

“That’s the most welcome news I’ve heard. Please tell me what’s happening outside the palace more often in the future.”

“Yes, I will. Lady.”

She ate the taffy the whole time. It was said to be from a place famous for its good taste, and it was so sweet that it relieved her fatigue.

After an hour passed, the noon bell rang. It was time for Kim Seon to leave the main hall and move to the training grounds.

Yuseol slowly left the courtyard and went outside the main gate. Her vision was particularly dark, as she was on her way to meet the person who had killed her with her own two feet.

Carrying a heavy heart, Yuseol’s footsteps stopped in front of a camellia tree near the main hall. It was a path Kim Seon had to take to get to the training grounds.

Yuseol’s eyes looked up at the camellia tree. The life force exuded by the fully bloomed flowers was beautiful.

Just as she was about to appreciate them aimlessly, the sound of countless footsteps began to be heard. Yuseol glanced to the side and saw Kim Seon, the eunuchs, and the court ladies.

Yuseol began to admire the tree again. Her eyes were filled with many worries.

Her biggest worry was what to do if he just passed by Sahwa. She would breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it was a good thing, but she hadn’t come for that, so should she approach him and show him her face?

Just then, a strong gust of wind began to shake the camellia tree. Swoosh. It was a moment when a refreshing sound temporarily deafened her ears.

Kim Seon’s voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

“We meet here.”

“…….”

“Are you enjoying the flowers alone?”

His genuine joy was conveyed. Yuseol clasped her hands together, weighing whether it was a good thing or not.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

“I didn’t expect to see you by chance like this.”

“I am merely honored to have met Your Majesty.”

She answered calmly, but in fact, she wasn’t honored; she was stifled and angry. She still felt the same urge to cry out for her sister, as she had done from the first time she saw Kim Seon until her voice gave out.