Chapter 3.1

He couldn’t believe it.

Garan, the Red King, stood on top of the wall, completely astonished. He watched as Jukmu frantically ran down the road, carrying the girl on its back. Garan had never been this dumbfounded in his life. If it weren’t for the wound on his chest, he wouldn’t have let her escape like this.

“Jukmu, you son of a bitch.”

Jukmu was an incredibly intelligent horse. The war horse was able to discern its master’s mood and the situation it was in. But after they had returned from war, they separated him from the mare he had taken a liking to. And he had been like this ever since.

But still… How could it allow the person he was pursuing to ride on its back? And now they were running away together?

He couldn’t believe it. The horse never allowed anyone other than its master ride him. But that woman was definitely riding Jukmu right now as she ran away.

Rather than the fact that he had let the woman get away, Garan was even more furious that Jukmu, that bastard, was the one who was letting the woman ride on its back as she made her escape.

A woman. It was definitely a woman.

Was she the Heukra?

No, probably not.

The people claimed that the Heukra was the guibin’s vengeful spirit. His mother was known as a peerless beauty and had been incredibly gorgeous and seductive.

However, the woman under the hood was as cold and as sleek as a snow flower. Her eyes had an odd trace of blue and looked as sharp and as wild as the eyes of a hawk.

Just who was she?

“Over there!”

Suddenly, a shout from behind pulled him out of his thoughts.

Garan glanced behind him and clicked his tongue. Nobody must know that he had been here today. He immediately jumped down from the wall. He suddenly realized again that Jukmu wasn’t here and angrily clenched his jaw.

“Whoa.”

The horse ran frantically as it helped her escape. Yujo pulled on the horse’s reins once they were safely inside the forest where she had agreed to meet Jewol. She looked behind her nervously.

The dark forest path was densely packed with trees, its leaves rustling in the wind. It was completely silent. Like a prey being chased, Yujo nervously looked around before letting out a sigh of relief.

Her hands holding the reins were damp with sweat. She hadn’t felt this nervous in a long time. Her back was stung painfully from from the man’s blow.

Just what kind of man was he? Was he another person who was looking for the Heukra?

“Ugh.”

Her back hurt even more as she moved. She carefully touched her back and realized that the fabric wet, but her back wasn’t bleeding. The stinging flesh felt like it was whipped.

What a terrifying man. How could he make an attack such as this?

And he’d even gotten a glimpse of her face.

“I can’t believe I made a mistake. And right at the beginning, too.”

She felt as if she’d go crazy from the disappointment. No matter what happened, she needed to be even more careful moving forward. She finally jumped off the horse.

The horse was clearly well taken care of. Its coat had a glossy sheen, and even though they’d run such a long way, it was barely panting. And it was a lot larger and more muscular than an average horse. It was a top-quality, powerful horse.

“What’s your name?”

The horse whinnied. Yujo chuckled. The people of Yeha reared horses so well that it was said they were born on top of a horse.

Yujo had been riding horses since the age of five, and she even reared them, so she knew them very well. She also had an extraordinary ability to communicate with animals.

“You’re truly amazing.”

Yujo thanked the horse for bringing her all the way here and began to stroke its neck. If it weren’t for him, she really have really been in trouble.

The horse glanced at her. Its eyes were filled with an endless arrogance. It was probably the strongest stallion she had ever seen.

“Are you a horse from the judicial office?”

Neigh, the horse turned its head away.

It was a well-trained war horse. If it was known that she had stolen such an important horse, they might decline the peace treaty. She needed to send this horse back as soon as possible. But it was so cute.

Fweeeet!

Suddenly, she heard Jewol’s whistle. It was the sign they had agreed on to alert the other of their presence in the forest. Yujo whistled back to let him know where she was. The horse’s ear twitched as it cautiously looked around.

“Thank you for today.”

The horse was quite intelligent, so it would be able to find its way back home easily. Yujo let go of the reins and lightly slapped its bottom. The horse whinnied once more before it raced back home.

“Yujo!”

Jewol exited the carriage with a pale face.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

Yujo sighed and entered the carriage. Her back twinged, causing a groan to escape her lips.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Let’s hurry back.”

Jewol hurriedly dragged her back home. The cry of a bird rang in the night sky.

She looked out the window to calm her unsettled heart. Yujo recalled the man’s black eyes. She still felt as if she were being purused by that man, making her feel extremely anxious.

“Are you really okay?”

As soon as they returned home, Jewol immediately went and brought back some medicine. Through her torn clothes, he could see her red, swollen back.

“Ah, damn it.”

An unexpected curse left his lips.

“Ha, Brother, you know how to curse?”

Yujo asked laughingly as she turned her head around. A part of her tried to brush off the pain to ease Jewol’s worries.

When one trained in the martial arts, it was normal to receive wounds like this. It was nothing to worry or cry about. The only mistake she had made today was revealing her face.

She should have been more careful.

Yujo frowned with displeasure. It bothered her that she’d been caught by someone with such amazing military prowess.

“I need to find out who that man is.”

“I’ll find out who he is in the morning. For now, let’s apply some medicine to your wound.”

“Brother.”

Yujo blocked Jewol’s hand.

“I’ll apply the medicine myself.”

“But it’s on your back. How will you reach it?”

“I can do it, so give it to me. You’ll press on my wound and only make it hurt more like last time.”

“That wasn’t me. Yuha did it to mess with you…”

“It’s fine. I can’t trust neither one of you.”

Yujo pushed Jewol’s hand away. She felt like she needed to. Although they had been on close terms for seven years now, held a marriage ceremony, and even slept in the same room at times, this felt a bit uncomfortable for her. No matter how close they were, he was still a man, and she was still a woman. She didn’t think this was proper.

“…Fine.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“No.”

“You’re annoyed.”

“I’m not.”

Yujo laughed apologetically. But no matter how close they were, it would be best if she kept her distance.

“No matter how much you trust Jewol, you must never show him your body.”

Before she left, Brother Yuha pleaded her.

“Brother!”

Yujo burst out of her seat with disgust.

“Don’t say such strange things!”

“It’s not strange. Although Jewol doesn’t let anyone touch him, can’t you see that you’re the only exception?”

“Haa. I’m like a younger sister to him.”

“You’re my younger sister. Anyways, you must behave yourself.”

“Yes, yes, please don’t worry about me.”

Her brother’s worried nagging rang clearly in her ears. Jewol still looked disappointed. He seemed upset that she didn’t trust him, but it couldn’t be helped. Yujo shook her head and kicked him out of the room. She barely managed to apply the medicine onto her back, but she managed.

But more importantly, the Heukra, the guibin, and the Red King…

Were they all connected to each other?

Why did these three figures appear together in this situation?

“Hm.”

Yujo was deep in thought as she applied the medicine to the edge of her sword and rubbed it against her back. The only way she could tackle this question in her current position was to approach the Red King’s younger sister, Princess Muyeo.

Princess Muyeo’s residence was incredibly extravagant. The walls were dense with red, captivating quince blossoms.

From the elegant curve of the roof to every tidy corner of this residence, one could tell with just a glance that this residence’s master was incredibly loved and precious.

“Aah, is this the bride?”

Princess Muyeo was a small, beautiful woman. Engulfed in blueish-green silk, she looked like a mischievous, cute bird.

She was the late guibin’s daughter as well as the younger sister of the Red King. Yujo had come here on a hunch, but would this meeting amount to anything? Yujo carefully bowed down to the Princess before lifting her head.

“Greetings, Your Highness. My name is Dan SoYeon.”

“I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

The princess grinned as she replied to Yujo.

The tens of women who were already here hid their curious eyes behind their fans. It seemed that today was going to be another long day.

Princess Muyeo was a bright and talkative person. Although she looked quite young, she was already a mother to a daughter. The daughter was born last spring, and she toddled by as she gave everyone her cute, drooling smile. The laughter never ceased among this group of ladies.

As they continued to talk, Yujo found out that Princess Muyeo was the same age as her. Nineteen years old. But the princess looked so young! Innocent and cheerful Muyeo looked very young for her age.

It must be nice to have such a baby face. How envious. Words of flattery or well-wishes came and went. Soon, everyone got up from their seats to move to a different venue.

Everyone began walking down the corridor to enjoy the early summer flowers blooming in the garden. Suddenly, one of the ladies standing next to Yujo whispered to her.

“Don’t ask too many questions.”

“Excuse me?”

The woman folded her fan and looked at Yujo. She was Lady Mok, a second-rank official’s wife. She began to wipe the sweat off her her thick neck with a silk handkerchief as she whispered quietly.

“I’m only telling you for your own good in case you make a mistake.”

Yujo widened her eyes. These people always claimed they were only saying something for her own good whenever they began to speak to her.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. This especially applies to Princess Muyeo’s residence. While it may look beautiful, this household receives the scorn of many people.”

Yujo didn’t understand.

What did this mean?

“What do you mean?”

Lady Mok didn’t reply right away. She merely opened her fan as she looked at Yujo with frustration.

“Exactly what I just said. I’m only saying this because you keep asking a bunch of questions. If you make a mistake, you’ll ruin the mood, Lady Dan.”

She said as she tried to persuade the naive newcomer. Yujo hid her confusion and politely nodded her head.

“Thank you for the advice, Lady Mok.”

Why did Princess Muyeo receive scorn?

But there was always someone who would answer her questions. She already had a little bird who would tell her whatever she wanted to know, so what was there to worry about?

The red poppies and blue cornflowers were dazzling as they showed off its blossoms in the garden. Yujo secretly grabbed Lady Yeon. They exchanged trifling pleasantries before Yujo furtively changed the subject.

“I heard something strange.”

“Something strange?”

Lady Yeon, who loved strange stories the most, immediately huddled towards her.

“Never mind.”

Yujo slightly stepped back. If she blatantly asked her question, it wouldn’t seem proper.

“What’s going on? Hurry up and tell me.”

Lady Yeon anxiously stuck herself closer to Yujo.

“Why is Princess Muyeo receiving scorn?”

“Ah…”

At Yujo’s question, Lady Yeon’s face turned gloomy.

“That is…”

“If you don’t feel comfortable telling me, you don’t have to. It’s just that I was ignorantly asking so many questions, so someone warned me.”

“Ah, well…”

Lady Yeon glanced at the group of people standing a short distance away from them and opened her fan.

“You have heard about how the guibin died, right?”

“…Didn’t she take her own life?”

“Yes, that’s what they say. However… Whew… I’m not sure if I should be saying this…”

“What is it?”

“You heard about how the guibin was an incredible beauty, right?”

“Yes, I’ve heard of it.”

“Even the princess can’t match her beauty. Actually, the Red King takes after their mother a lot more than her. Anyways, because she was such a beauty, she was treasured by the emperor as well. But it turned out that…”

She carefully looked around and hid her lips behind her ume flower fan.

“It turns out that there were a lot of other men.”

“What?”

Other men? A lot of them? The Silver Nation didn’t even allow a woman to show her face to men outside her family, so how could something like this have happened?

“Yes! Exactly. It turns out that she had given her affections to not just one or two but several men. The rumor shook the city to its core. Therefore, the emperor is still suspicious of the Red King and the princess’s parentage. The Red King looks so much like the emperor, so his parentage isn’t that much of a problem, but…”

She glanced behind her. They saw the brightly smiling Princess Muyeo.

“She doesn’t look like him. Princess Muyeo doesn’t look like the emperor or the guibin. She doesn’t even look like the Red King.”

Ah… Yujo finally understood the situation.

“The guibin continued to claim her innocence and took her own life. That was the only way she could save her children. The emperor hates Princess Muyeo, so he married her off at the age of thirteen. While he feels humiliated at Princess Muyeo’s disgraceful parentage, he also doesn’t want to admit it. The family she married into has a worthless background. This gave everyone quite a shock.”

To think something like this had unfolded…

Yujo slightly turned her head touched the petals of a poppy. Something like this could also happen in Yeha. However, one would never imagine something like this happening in the Silver Nation. It was such a disgraceful scandal.

Yujo continued to touch the poppy petals as she glanced at Princess Muyeo. As she hugged her young daughter, Muyeo’s bright smile didn’t seem to have any trace of sadness or worry. However, how could one know what was in her heart?

The petal began to bruise under Yujo’s fingers.

If the Heukra was wearing the waistband of the guibin, how had she gotten it in the first place?

If the people who had died were related to the guibin’s death, was Muyeo carrying out that revenge?

All the victims were middle-aged men. As she thought about the many men who had allegedly shared affections with the guibin, Yujo’s head became muddled.

The sunlight prickled her skin like shooting arrows.

TN: Correction! Princess Muyeo had a daughter, not a son (I think I used ‘he/his’ for her child earlier in chapter 2). The Korean language doesn’t really have gender-identifying pronouns… I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.