If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 50

She turned to look at Yanghui standing under the eaves.

“The day before yesterday, I heard your voice in front of Lord Mu-yeong’s room.”

Could she have mistaken it for another servant’s voice?

“Is he inside? I’ve finished preparing to go meet Sahwa now.”

Yanghui took a step closer to Yuseol. Her face showed she was recalling the events from the day before yesterday.

“Yes. Lord Mu-yeong goes up the back path of the inner house in the evenings to spend time there. I’m in charge of cleaning that place so he can have peaceful time. That place with the old tree.”

Yanghui pointed to the massive, pitch-black structure above the inner house. To think that was an old tree. Yuseol’s eyes widened.

“Is that really an old tree…?”

“Yes, it doesn’t look like an old tree because it’s burned completely black.”

Then could this person called Sahwa be buried there?

Just then, the sound of bells came from somewhere. Yuseol’s gaze, which had begun wandering to find the source, stopped under the eaves of her room. White cloth and bells were woven into straw bundles. She felt like she had seen similar decorations before. It seemed like something she had seen during secret rituals held in the palace.

Yanghui smiled as if the sound of the bells was pleasant to hear.

“It seems Lady Myoyeon hung new ones. She says they’re symbols for seeking divine mercy.”

“Divine mercy…?”

Yuseol let out a long breath while smoothing her hair fluttering in the wind. Tension was embedded in her breathing. Perhaps it was because she had just heard that Sahwa was someone who had left this world.

The sound of bells came again, laden with meaning.

Yuseol’s confused pupils touched the threshold of the quarters. The moment she had discovered Mu-yeong’s norigae suddenly flashed before her eyes. Although she had heard that the norigae belonged to Mu-yeong, it had originally seemed like a woman’s item.

Could it have been an norigae belonging to this person called Sahwa?

She began nervously fidgeting with her chapped lower lip. The suspicion that all of this might not be coincidence suddenly crossed her mind. She had seen forbidden rituals performed in the palace with offerings. They were rituals like cursing enemies or praying for their lineage to dry up for three generations.

There were also rituals to summon the dead into another person’s body….

It was said to begin by hiding the dead person’s belongings near the living person’s bedside. Then they would nurture the dead person’s presence so the living person would be consumed. After that, they would offer beasts as sacrifices and perform exorcisms for several days and nights to summon the dead and draw them into the living person’s body…

If they had taken Geon to use as a sacrifice….

But that couldn’t be possible.

Suddenly Yeon began crying out. The birds in the forest were startled and flew away in flocks. At the same time, as Yeon took flight, the tree branches shook unsteadily. Caw caw! It sounded like screams bursting from overhead.

Yuseol hastily covered her ears with both hands. Thud, the walking stick she had dropped rolled across the ground.

At that moment, Yuseol felt an unfamiliar gaze and hurriedly looked around. Where her eyes stopped was the second floor of the inner house.

Through the wide-open window, she could see Mu-yeong standing with a teacup in his hand. His lofty gaze pierced into Yuseol’s face. Though it was a long distance, his gaze clearly seemed to want something.

She felt like she was being dragged into pitch-black water.

***

“Have you thought about what items to take to the market?”

Myoyeon came to visit in the morning. Bringing dried strawberries and walnuts as snacks, he smiled kindly. He even gave off a sacred feeling, like someone sent down from heaven.

Yuseol spread a wrapping cloth on the writing desk. These were belongings she had brought from the palace. There was a jade hairpin that had become cloudy with age, hair ribbons, and a handkerchief.

After contemplating, Yuseol picked up the neatly folded handkerchief and unfolded it. It was something she had made herself in the palace as a gift for Kim Seon. She had finished the edges of the white silk cloth with needlework and embroidered a pair of egrets. As background for the egrets, she had embroidered a blue flower field symbolizing eternity.

Having used blue thread that was difficult to obtain without stint, wouldn’t it be valuable? It was also a handkerchief she had made herself.

But why had Jiwoon asked her to provide items on his behalf?

Perhaps his financial situation wasn’t good. Well, he did seem to enjoy spying without doing any particular work….

Yuseol bit her lips as if making a big decision and removed the gold ring from her pinky finger. When she met Jiwoon, she planned to give it as a gift and tell him to prepare items himself. If she said she had made Jiwoon’s items on his behalf, Myoyeon might be displeased. After looking at it wistfully for a moment, she put the ring in a silk pouch.

It was already noon. After resting for several days, the swelling in her ankle had subsided. Running immediately would be too much, but walking with the support of her walking stick was no problem.

Yuseol went down to the lower village to get some fresh air, delivered the handkerchief to Myoyeon who was in front of the barber shop, then walked back up the stone wall path that reached her waist. The open view revealed the pine forest landscape. Perhaps spring was gradually coming—fresh sprouts were sprouting vibrantly from the dirt ground.

It had been a long time since she felt comfortable. While appreciating the scenery, she found herself in the front yard of her quarters before she knew it.

Yuseol suddenly looked toward the distant inner house. The second-floor window where that man had been drinking tea was tightly closed.

Rustle rustle. The camellia branches swayed gently in the breeze. Yuseol, who would normally have admired that sight, looked toward the end of the stone wall path.

“Actually… I’ve often seen a large wolf in the snowy field on the hill above. It appears around sunset, rests, and then leaves, but its body was too large and fierce-looking for me to approach closely.”

Since her injured leg was also somewhat better, should she go take a look….