If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 11

The gat on his head half-covered his face. His entire face wasn’t visible, but a unique aura emanated from him. It felt cool and sharp. She could almost imagine him making a face that said he was annoyed if someone spoke to him. (t/n: a gat is a traditional Korean hat made of horsehair, worn by noblemen to signify status and decorum.)

Dozens of servants from the inner quarters greeted him with welcoming expressions. Unlike his fierce gaze, he calmly nodded his head and passed by the people. Then he stopped, raised his head slightly, and looked somewhere. A fleeting hunger flickered in his indifferent gaze.

Yuseol realized that the place he was looking at was the residence where she had been living. She suddenly became curious about what his gaze meant. She felt a strange and dizzy sensation because of his eyes, so she deserved to know. She slightly parted her lips to speak to him.

At that moment, his eyes moved and looked at her. He began to focus intently on her, who was completely tense.

In what felt like suspended time, she struggled to read the man’s eyes. Suddenly, a fog enveloped them. For some reason, it seemed to obscure his true feelings, preventing her from fully seeing them.

Yuseol met his eyes through the hazy fog. They were long horizontally, with a faint inner double eyelid. The irises at the outer corners of his eyes were clearly visible, giving him a strong, handsome appearance. However, his sharp gaze made him difficult to approach.

He began to approach. Yuseol felt her heart pound faster and faster with his movement. Was it a normal reaction for her heart to beat so fast when someone approached? While she was in confusion, he stopped in front of the main porch.

Even though she was standing on the porch, their eye levels were similar. The surroundings darkened with his large frame. Though she had done nothing wrong to him, she felt an urge to flee. It was due to her habit, ever since learning swordsmanship, of avoiding situations where she felt an overwhelming difference in strength.

As if to catch such a Yuseol, he spoke to her.

“Good morning.”

His low voice came across quite nonchalantly. Taken aback by the unexpected greeting, she lowered her gaze.

She saw the norigae hanging from his waist. It was a pale pink, carved from jade into the shape of a camellia. A strong camellia scent seemed to emanate from it. For some reason, a sharp, burning pain shot through somewhere in her heart. (t/n: a norigae is a traditional Korean ornamental tassel or pendant, often worn on a woman’s hanbok or hung from the waist for decoration or symbolic meaning.)

Yuseol, with a bewildered expression at the unknown pain, replied,

“Yes, good morning. We meet again.”

She felt his steady gaze on her. His eyes, beyond the gat, held an indifferent light. Yet, a subtle tremor was palpable. He was like a predator deciding whether or not to touch the prey before him.

The previously gentle wind suddenly grew fierce. His norigae swayed in the gust. Yuseol suddenly grew curious about the identity of the pink accessory. It seemed like a woman’s norigae, yet it matched his white dopo without seeming out of place. Could it be that, contrary to appearances, he liked such ornaments?

Curiosity filled her dark eyes.

“That’s a pretty norigae. If you like norigae, I’d like to make one for you in return.”

“…….”

“I am alive thanks to you obtaining the chimanocho for me.”

There was no reply, only the faint sound of the wind returning. Had he not heard her because she spoke too softly?

Feeling awkward, she swept the stray hairs, scattered by the wind, behind her ear and opened her mouth again.

“I had been ill for a while, and after regaining my senses and feeling better, I was just out getting some fresh air. Are you returning from your duties?”

“Yes.”

He answered briefly and began to walk away indifferently.

Yuseol’s face flushed with confusion. She hadn’t risked awkwardness to initiate a conversation just for it to end like this. She urgently looked at his back, already three steps away.

“Wait, is Geon doing well?”

He paused for a moment and looked back at Yuseol. His white dopo fluttered stylishly in the wind. Who would believe that such a splendid man had simply taken someone else’s dog without reason? Yuseol, who briefly bit her lower lip, stumbled down from the main porch and put on her shoes.

“I am grateful that you saved me, but Geon has committed no crime to be confined somewhere. I wish you would return him.”

This time, he made a face that seemed to mock her, as if he expected to ignore her words again.

“It seems you’ve already forgotten our previous conversation.”

He turned back around and began to walk along the stone wall path, where winter flowers bloomed beautifully. As the wind blew down the lane, something glittered by his ear. It was a long earring engraved with the Han family name.

Yuseol lowered her head, her mind instantly complicated. She wanted to cling to him and beg him to return Geon. She would show an unsightly appearance, but if only she could get Geon back, she could endure it….

The man who had entered with him earlier passed by, looking at Yuseol. With his dopo unfastened and a gentle smile, he looked like a playboy or a g****o. He had a soft impression, yet his eyes were somehow sharp.

Come to think of it, he was the man who had been sitting on the wall the day she received the sasa execution. His words from that day echoed in her ears.

‘Refuse the poison.’

No citizen of this land would ever dare to say such words. But then again, he couldn’t be a citizen of another country….

Was he merely an extraordinary person? She wondered what connection he had with the guest from the sarangchae. Perhaps he knew something about Geon’s whereabouts.

Just as Yuseol, filled with vague anticipation, was about to follow him to ask, Myoyeon, who had been observing the situation, approached and checked Yuseol’s complexion.