If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 43

She couldn’t answer easily and only swallowed her tense breath. Then she looked up at him clearly and answered.

“Regrettably, I can’t give you what you desire, my lord.”

She had clearly drawn a line, and suddenly Mu-yeong felt an impulse to cross that line. More precisely, he wanted to see what expression she would make if he crossed the line. He couldn’t understand the reason.

“That’s stingy for repayment for saving your life.”

Mu-yeong’s answer flowed shamelessly. She pulled the blanket further to wrap around her shoulders. She didn’t know that her constant actions of trying to escape stimulated him. Soon she pressed her hand against the floor and retreated slightly while saying.

“Please give me the rod. I beg you.”

He just stared at Yuseol. He showed no sign of reacting unless she begged him.

She looked around the floor with her haggard eyes for something to lean on. However, there were only cushions and candlesticks—no objects that could replace the rod were visible.

She who showed signs of frustration lowered her head deeply. Mu-yeong’s shadow was wavering on the floor. She seemed to recall something upon seeing the shadow and opened her eyes wide. Then she looked up at him urgently.

“More than that, I saw Geon yesterday.”

When she called the name of her lost dog, her voice became particularly desperate. Mu-yeong’s thick eyelashes trembled subtly.

“So?”

He straightened his body that had been slightly bent toward her and stood upright. His head that had nearly touched the rafters inadvertently brushed the oil lamp. As the light swayed back and forth, both their shadows twisted frantically.

In the confused world, she didn’t back down even with a face that seemed about to cry. A glimmer of expectation could be seen on her anxiously hardened lips.

“Were you with Geon? Please answer me.”

“Why should I answer?”

“Because he’s an animal like family to me.”

“Would that dog think the same?”

She answered with certainty.

“He would.”

He didn’t particularly like long conversations. Having experienced many throughout his life, he tended to find them tiresome. He thought to end the conversation here. He obediently held out the rod to her.

“Yes, what you saw yesterday was that dog.”

However, the rod was no longer visible in her eyes.

“Really? Then where is Geon now?”

She began waiting for Mu-yeong’s answer while holding her breath. Her pupils that had been covered with wariness and anxiety sparkled brightly. They resembled white camellia flowers.

His pupils became murky with the afterimage of some day. The scene of camellia petals falling from a beautiful old tree flickered. It seemed like the wind from that day was blowing from somewhere. It was when he vaguely felt heat circling around his ears.

“Where is Geon now?”

As if calling Mu-yeong who was elsewhere, she slightly stood up on her knees. The safe distance that had been naturally maintained was instantly narrowed. The focus of Mu-yeong’s blurry eyes suddenly fell on her face. Strange vitality began to circulate in his indifferent eyes.

He didn’t know the reason. Until now he had merely been killing boring time. In other words, it was nothing but play. The reason he had made conditions about returning the dog, the reason he had brought up the bedchamber talk—it was all just for momentary pleasure.

But was it because he wasn’t quite satisfied?

He didn’t prevent his upright posture from becoming disheveled. Soon he slowly wrapped around and massaged his own neck while looking down at her. His dark pupils began to ripple with deep impulse.

Perhaps what he had wanted wasn’t amusement but stimulation. He had felt strange impulses while looking at her face that brazenly answered with shoulders hunched up.

Taking whatever he wanted was his way. His hand that had been gripping his own nape moved toward her.

The rod in his other hand dropped with a thud. He who knelt on one knee and bent his waist pressed his lips together without leisure.

“Where is Geon now, ah, mmph!”

Even as her slender body was pushed sideways, Mu-yeong paid no heed and followed. Soon he tilted his head diagonally, gripped the back of her neck, and buried his lips deeply. His smooth jaw began moving thickly. He swallowed her breath that became short and lost rhythm without restraint.

Soon he urgently pulled at the bothersome gat string. As the tight knot came undone, the gat fell diagonally onto his face.

Her body that had been retreating was pushed to right in front of the folding screen. She struggled desperately and hit Mu-yeong’s shoulder.

However, when he didn’t budge at all, she fumbled on the floor and urgently grasped a cushion.

“Mmph, hah, uh, ah!”

But pushed by Mu-yeong’s strong force, she couldn’t properly hit him and lost her grip in midair.

The cushion fell backward and the folding screen swayed. In the room colored with the chaotic sounds of mingling skin and breath, crashing sounds rang out.

Thud! Mu-yeong pushed up the folding screen that had been about to fall on her with his arm and separated their lips. She was panting in a disheveled state. Whether she had forgotten the pain in her ankle, she pressed her feet against the floor as if ready to flee if given the chance.

She was holding her breath, afraid of experiencing something more troubling.

A cold low voice flowed from his noble features.

“Regrettably, that dog hates you.”

Mu-yeong hardened his mouth and gripped Yuseol’s uninjured ankle to pull her toward him.