If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 69

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Around dawn, Yuseol found a suitable cave to enter and closed her eyes. Since there were many watching eyes during the day, she planned to move at night.

The stone floor was sharp and the air was humid, but she could sleep without difficulty. It was thanks to having made mountain trips like a daily routine when she was young.

How much time had passed like that?

Drip drip. Water droplets fell on Yuseol’s cheek as she tossed and turned. Yuseol, who came to her senses from the cold energy, suddenly felt something strange. The floor, which should have been rough, was somehow soft. Yesterday she had definitely laid her body on the stone floor…

Yuseol opened her eyes and looked around. A man’s dopo was covering her body. The place was definitely inside the cave where she had sought sleep earlier, but unlike then, the inside was bright.

Jiwoon, holding a torch, appeared in Yuseol’s eyes as she looked around.

He welcomed the awakened Yuseol while also feeling awkward as he spoke.

“It seems we woke a woman who was sleeping well.”

Yuseol stood up from her seat, surprised by the incomprehensible situation. One dopo was laid on the floor, and one was covering her body. Another was rolled up and had been what she was using as a pillow until just before.

She looked at Jiwoon while arranging her disheveled hair.

“Lord Jiwoon…?”

“Yes, seeing you in a place like this makes me feel like we’re traveling together.”

“But how did you know to come to this place?”

Mu-yeong suddenly appeared in Yuseol’s bewildered eyes. Not only that, but she could also see Myoyeon standing near the wall.

Yuseol’s two eyes widened in surprise. Yesterday she had definitely moved to the next mountain with Geon and continued moving for quite a while…. She couldn’t understand how the situation was unfolding.

Jiwoon approached her and explained the situation.

“We followed that ‘dog.'”

If that dog meant….

Yuseol looked around the cave searching for Geon. Around her were only dark brown stones.

“Geon? Where is he now?”

She looked ready to run out searching for Geon immediately. Myoyeon answered urgently.

“My lady, that dog showed us this location and disappeared. If you go out searching now, you might encounter soldiers, so please calm down a little.”

Yuseol looked at the cave entrance far away where light was seeping in. Her appearance, tinted by the dim light, was terrible. Her hair, which had been neatly braided, was full of stray hairs sticking out, and her white cheeks were stained with dirt. The situation with her skirt and jeogori was the same.

Myoyeon lowered his head as if blaming himself.

“Everything is my negligence. Yesterday I suddenly heard His Majesty’s command to vacate the room and was vaguely waiting in front of the room. I didn’t know His Majesty would secretly go out through the window and head to the next room.”

“…….”

“Whether His Majesty knew and did it or not, that was the soldiers’ shift change time, so I couldn’t notice early.”

Jiwoon looked at Mu-yeong meaningfully and said.

“It happened that Taeryeong visited to meet you at that time. But no matter how we interfere, it cannot be undone.”

“…….”

“Was this woman that hateful to you?”

Taeryeong was the long-haired man she had briefly encountered at the inner house before. Yuseol asked Jiwoon with a puzzled face.

“Just now… did you say that this happened because Lord Taeryeong hated me?”

Yuseol thought that couldn’t be possible. She had so little connection with him that all she had done was follow him curiously when he appeared barefoot and walked toward the inner house.

Anxiety appeared in Yuseol’s eyes as she waited for an answer. As if drawing such a gaze, Mu-yeong stood up from the rock and said.

“Aren’t traitors originally destined to be hated? It’s nothing unusual.”

At those words, Yuseol lowered her head. Jiwoon, observing the atmosphere that had instantly sunk, broke the silence again.

“Anyway, since His Majesty has seen you, it doesn’t seem like he’ll just let it pass.”

Myoyeon approached and asked while worriedly examining Yuseol’s condition.

“What should we do?”

Jiwoon answered as if it was obvious.

“At this rate, you’ll have no choice but to wander and hide in remote places for the rest of your life.”

Yuseol could only keep her head down because there really was no other way. Myoyeon, with an anxious expression, slightly lifted his gat with his finger and met eyes with Jiwoon.

“How about bringing another woman before His Majesty to cover up yesterday’s incident?”

Jiwoon shook his head as if that would be difficult.

“The soldiers have already thoroughly searched Museolwon and compiled personal information on the women here. Since troops are deployed around Museolwon, it would also be difficult to bring a woman from outside.”

Myoyeon’s eyes, fallen into self-blame, shook unsteadily. Mu-yeong, who had been listening to the conversation, picked up his dopo that had been rolled up on the floor and said to Jiwoon.

“I’ll handle this matter myself, so you take that woman to Pyeonghae.”

It seemed like he was trying to save her life with the generosity of someone who had wealth. However, Yuseol’s expression was not very bright.

Pyeonghae was a country far across the sea. Yuseol had never been there and had never learned the language that Pyeonghae people used. Though it would be better than wandering unstably through the mountains here, she had no confidence she could live well there. She would miss everything from this place for the rest of her life… Could that be called a better life?

Jiwoon asked toward the confused Yuseol.

“Do you also want to leave for Pyeonghae?”

She bit her lower lip regretfully and lowered her head.