If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 70

Her mouth wouldn’t open easily. The desire to live here and her conscience that she couldn’t impose on them any longer tangled together inside her chest. Perhaps it was inevitable suffering. Everyone was bound to face choices. It was a moment when she felt a little resentful toward the god who had given her the right to choose.

“I… want to stay here.”

Yuseol couldn’t raise her head. She didn’t know the exact reason, but everything felt too heavy. Only after struggling for a long time could she lift her gaze slightly. She clasped her hands together with difficulty and said what she thought was the best answer.

“I’ll wait here and move after meeting Geon. Thank you sincerely for helping me all this time.”

In the end, what remained in her hands was one sword she had received from Mu-yeong and a bundle of gold coins. But that was enough. Though it had been difficult until now, when she died, she could close her eyes fighting without being servile.

Yuseol looked outside the cave while touching the sword she had been carrying at her waist the whole time.

But where had Geon gone? Had he gone to find food? She hoped he wouldn’t be spotted by soldiers….

Yuseol, who had been anxiously standing on tiptoe, belatedly picked up the dopo from the floor and handed them to Myoyeon and Jiwoon. Jiwoon, who received a dopo first, asked Myoyeon casually.

“Did you say yesterday you covered for Lady Yuseol by calling her this fellow’s lover?”

“Yes. I thought His Majesty would also feel burdened if she was Lord Mu-yeong’s lover.”

“Even so, it seems like he’ll want to confirm her face.”

Once again, heavy air lingered for a while.

Myoyeon pondered Jiwoon’s words, then recalled something and opened his mouth after hesitation.

“This might sound strange, but… how about applying makeup to make the lady’s face look like someone else and escorting her?”

Jiwoon raised one eyebrow as if asking what he meant.

“Makeup…?”

“When Lady Yuseol put on makeup recently, she really looked like a different person. She looked like a female merchant leader who had overcome men with powerful energy and taken over a trading company.”

Jiwoon tilted his head and examined Yuseol. The woman before his eyes felt more like a single flower that would sway in rainwater rather than a trading company’s female leader.

“You wouldn’t say wrong things, but isn’t this too big a gamble? No matter how I look at her, she seems far from a trading company’s female leader.”

Then Mu-yeong, who had been standing far away, walked over step by step and lifted Yuseol’s chin with his fingertips to examine her. His cold gaze continued as if gauging the limits of an object.

Though there was nothing to be surprised about anymore, Yuseol bit her lower lip. What on earth…. She resented the water-colored eyes that looked down at her so naturally.

“Let me go.”

Yuseol’s previously pure eyes sharpened in resistance. Her large, black pupils lifted slightly upward, creating sanpaku eyes. Her provocative gaze that drew attention formed perfect harmony with her deep eyelashes.

Mu-yeong’s hand that had been touching Yuseol’s chin stopped with strength. He slightly removed his hand and turned his gaze to Jiwoon, saying quietly.

“It wouldn’t be bad to try.”

Jiwoon stroked his chin with a displeased expression.

“Not bad, you say. Even though everything would be over if things went wrong?”

Mu-yeong answered calmly.

“Nothing is eternal anyway.”

As he said, nothing was eternal. Everything in the world was bound to be destroyed someday, and even invisible phenomena always had an end. Just as there was no eternally falling rain or sun that never set, Yuseol knew her life would also end someday.

A question she had forgotten completely crossed Yuseol’s mind. What was the reason for living while knowing that one would die someday? It was a question she posed to herself and also a doubt directed at Mu-yeong. If asked why he lived, what would he answer?

However, Yuseol was afraid because she didn’t know when and where the end would come, but she didn’t want to run away from providence.

“If that would be helpful, I want to do it.”

Myoyeon looked at Yuseol’s calm face. She was composed enough that there was no sign she had been confined to a room all this time and then slept briefly in a cave. Rather, it was Myoyeon, who had suggested the idea, who became anxious. If something happened to her because of this…

Myoyeon stepped back.

“No… I think we should think about it more carefully.”

Jiwoon shook his head.

“No, since it would be difficult to keep deceiving His Majesty, it would be better to try to overcome the crisis with that method.”

Whoosh. The sound of wind that rushed into the cave touched their ears sharply. However, Yuseol didn’t shrink back and quietly endured the sound.