If You Claim the Fallen Heiress - Chapter 72

He calmly examined the inside of the room. Then he discovered Yuseol and walked over while looking at her face reflected in the black mirror.

His dark eyes subtly wavered. His smooth steps slowly stopped.

Until now, she had naturally maintained her hair in a single braid. She had never worn makeup, and had always worn her jeogori one size larger for comfort.

Such a Yuseol had tied her long straight hair up high and braided long pearl ornaments together with her hair, letting them hang down to her forehead. She had even cast off her loose jeogori and was wearing a long top that revealed her body lines.

Mu-yeong didn’t approach any further, as if trying to maintain distance from an unfamiliar woman. Yuseol slightly lifted the silk cloth connected to the pearl ornaments to show her face. Her impression, which had been like the elegant beauty of a painting, became splendid like a red flower blooming on a tropical night. She exuded the thick fragrance of a mature woman.

Mu-yeong, with a composed face, walked one step toward Yuseol. The back of his hand, with thick veins protruding, was slightly reflected in the black mirror.

Yuseol put strength into her collarbone area and exhaled thinly. At that moment, the man’s chest overlapped around Yuseol’s shoulder line reflected in the black mirror.

He looked down at Yuseol and said quietly.

“Turn around.”

Though it was a cold voice, the breath that settled on top of her head was hot. Yuseol slightly rubbed her head and turned around to look up at him.

He tilted his head at an angle and lifted the cloth from her forehead. Then he began examining Yuseol’s face thoroughly.

It was as if he was trying to find her previous face. He examined her pure eyes, her neat and cute crescent-shaped eyebrows, and her small lips.

Then he found her, slowly closed his eyes, and opened them. The deep eyelashes of his horizontally elongated eyes took on a dark light.

“You look like a gisaeng.”(t/n: a traditional Korean entertainer/courtesan)

That was his entire assessment. Yuseol couldn’t know what thoughts and desires were contained within it. She became anxious instead, worried that the disguise had failed. The voice that flowed from her red lips shook unsteadily.

“Still, wouldn’t it be hard for anyone to recognize me like this?”

She looked back at the black mirror and examined her appearance. Then, feeling an unknown burning sensation on her back, she looked up at Mu-yeong again.

Mu-yeong walked to the window as if trying to distance himself from the extremely radiant gaze. Then he opened the window a hand’s width and revealed a calm voice.

“Yes, now you look like a traitor too.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“For now, yes.”

Yuseol’s relieved voice was noticeably hoarse.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Mu-yeong quietly watched her take out mint leaves from her pouch and eat them.

With her hair tied up high, her originally small head looked even smaller. Thanks to the stray hairs settled on her perfectly round head shape, she even seemed cute.

The man with an even more rigid expression than elsewhere in front of her was perfect discord. He didn’t mind and calmly asked while resting his elbow on the windowsill.

“Will you treat me like that even when meeting His Majesty?”

Yuseol looked at Mu-yeong while tying the mint pouch to her waist. Though it would be natural to act like a lover toward him, she couldn’t bring herself to approach him at all.

“In situations with His Majesty, I’ll act naturally.”

He laughed silently as if Yuseol’s response of building even more walls was absurd.

“Come here.”

Yuseol bit her lower lip. Both herself, who kept distance as if they were intimate, and him, who treated her like a dog, seemed not much different.

Though she felt a little rebellious, she knew that if he wanted it, she would end up going close anyway. She began approaching him. One step, and then another step…

There was an unknown fragrance. She pictured dark-colored flowers living in shadowy forests.

Yuseol became dizzy from his unfamiliar but enchanting scent. She felt a tickling sensation somewhere in her stomach.

Then she saw his hands that seemed like they would crush anything annoying. Seeing his shoulders and long legs that would naturally cover her entire body and still have room left, the tickling seemed to deepen.

Yuseol, who had stopped in front of him, lowered her gaze to the floor. He leaned diagonally against the window, then slightly bent his upper body toward Yuseol. His profile, as if carefully crafted by god, turned toward her.