C7 Part3

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Because the duke had shown him a lot of grace, YongUn did his best to aid him, but this wasn’t right. If the duke’s plans were executed perfectly, then that would be good news. However, if there was even a single mistake, YongUn knew that the blame would not only be placed on him but on MoonWon as well.

It might be impolite, but he needed to meet with the duke as early as today to explain that he would only be focusing on matters related to his post and nothing more.

“Ah! You, there. You mustn't touch that.”

When a young administrator moved to tidy up the various documents, YongUn stopped him.

“Those are important documents that are to be sent directly to His Majesty. Leave them alone.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be careful.”

YongUn smiled as he watched the administrator nod and leave the room. After tidying up around him, YongUn got up from his seat.

It was time to go home. He looked forward to reading MoonWon’s letter that had arrived this morning.

“Then I better get going first. You all should finish up your work quickly and head home as well.”

“Yes, please have a safe trip home.”

After readjusting his robes, YongUn went outside. The other administrators smiled and bid him farewell before returning to their own spots.

Among them, the administrator who showed an interest in the documents turned his eyes to YongUn’s desk.

A few moments later, the administrator cautiously looked around as he carried something wrapped in cloth. His steps quickened.

He walked through secluded pathways, and when he saw someone, he scurried over to them.

“Did you bring it?”

The administrator lowered his head at the eunuch’s question.

The eunuch guided the administrator deep into the Palace. Then he bowed and opened a closed door.

The dark room was only illuminated by a small candle. The administrator held out the bundle in his arms.

“Did you bring it?”

“It’s all here, Your Excellency.”

The duke held out his hand and took the bundle from the man. He began to untie the bundle. After glancing through the contents of the documents, the duke turned his head back to the man.

He took out a heavy pouch from his chest pocket and threw it towards the administrator.

“Th-Thank you!”

“You may return. There is no need to worry about anything. I’ll send this back to you soon, so all you need to do is return it to its original place so that the royal attendant doesn’t realize it was missing. And you must never speak of this to anyone.”

“Please don’t worry! I will keep my mouth shut, Your Excellency.”

The administrator continued to make his assurances.The duke glanced at him and shook his hand, letting him know that he may leave. Once he was completely gone, the duke looked over at a veiled part of the room.

“Is this okay? Our heads could fly for this.”

Behind the veil, the Consort took a sip of tea.

The rumors coming from the bamboo grove were quite unusual. Although she needed some more time to gather enough power to make her move, the rumors stating that Heon was falling more and more in love with MoonWon meant that she needed to move very soon.

“His Majesty would not have wanted the greedy Ju YongUn to be a royal attendant. Withdrawing Ju YongUn from his position is too dangerous right now. So what we need to do is make an opportunity.”

“I don’t think His Majesty will investigate the matters regarding Ju YongUn.”

Consort Yu smiled at the duke’s response.

There was no need to forcefully take MoonWon away from Heon’s side. All the preparations were finally complete, and now they needed to begin executing their plan. Starting with YongUn.

“You must prepare the corroborative evidence without any flaws.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. But wasn’t the one who reinstated Ju YongUn the Crown Prince himself?”

“The Crown Prince will not do anything.”

JaeHoon’s top priority was MoonWon.

A Crown Prince who floundered and squirmed over a woman. This was why JaeHoon was unable to receive the Emperor’s acknowledgement.

“If my son just takes a step towards us, then there will be no need for you nor I to worry about our positions after His Majesty’s death.”

The only thing that bothered her was MoonWon’s presence.

She should have gotten rid of her before Heon had gotten his feelings wrapped around her. The fact that they had already consummated their first night left a bitter taste in her mouth.

However, a first love was something that would crumble at the slightest touch.

“We must get rid of our obstacles as quickly as possible.”

Heon wasn’t an easy son, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t meddle in his life.

Consort Yu placed her teacup down. Her brows furrowed beautifully.

* * *

When MoonWon saw who had opened the door and entered inside, she let out a silent sigh.

As soon as they returned to the main house, many people bustled in and out of the inner residence.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like seeing so many people around, and most of them were sent by Heon. The problem was that they all came with one purpose. To ask MoonWon something.

“My lady, what do you think about this hair ornament?”

The man pulled out a bunch of chests as soon as he arrived and began to open them one by one in front of MoonWon. Having come from a fairly powerful noble family herself, MoonWon had already seen many kinds of valuables in her life thus far. However, all the objects coming out of the chests caused her to catch her breath.

“Are you telling me that the Master has allowed you to show these things to me?”

“That’s not all! He told me that if you like all of them, I should leave it all here and discuss the price with him after.”

MoonWon stopped herself from protesting and swallowed her words.

Just yesterday, a famous silk merchant came and unloaded a mountain of silk before leaving. Before she could plan the clothing she’d make with the silk, a jewelry merchant had come today. And it looked like he’d be leaving all his wares behind as well.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t need anything. I feel bad for making you come all the way here, so I’ll just pick one. However, I don’t want to buy anything so expensive like this.”

“Aigoo, my lady. The Master earnestly asked me to bring anything you may like. But if you say you don’t like anything here, I’ll get an earful from the Master.”

“But still, this is…”

“Don’t you also know how stern the Master can be? And yet that kind of man is treasuring you so much. If you reject his offer, he will be very sad.”

When MoonWon heard that Heon would be sad, her resolve weakened.

Who would hate being told that someone was treasuring her like this? Heon was doing his best with MoonWon, almost as if he were trying to erase the past where he had shunned her.

Because the Master was treating the Mistress so well, no one dared to mistreat her.

In the end, MoonWon picked out a few hair pins before the merchant bowed and left the premises. MoonWon finally leaned back and closed her tired eyes.

“This is a good thing, so why do you look so disheartened?”

Yeori approached MoonWon and put down the tea table.

“I like that he’s thinking about me, but I'm not sure if it’s okay for me to receive all this.”

She received it because it was an expression of his feelings, but she couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the cost and the amount of things that were brought to her. She was grateful to Heon for treasuring her as his wife and treating her well, but she felt like she should tell him this was enough.

“Ah, Yeori. Come closer.”

Yeori tilted her head and drew closer to MoonWon. MoonWon took out a pouch and small chest and handed it to her. When Yeori looked at her questioningly, MoonWon smiled.

“It’s not as expensive as the things my husband gave me, but I could still afford something small, so I bought it separately from that merchant just now. It’s not that expensive, but I thought it would suit you.”

“Mistress.”

“And I also heard that your elderly mother isn’t doing very well. You should have come to me and told me first thing. Why were you hiding it from me?”

“That’s… It was my personal situation, and I didn’t want to worry you with them.”

“For now, take some money and buy her some medicine. I’ve already spoken with the doctor, so go and visit your mother as early as today.”

Yeori looked down at what MoonWon had given her and was at a loss for words. Yeori gently stroked the hairpin and shook her head.

When MoonWon saw her hesitate, she forced the money pouch into Yeori’s hand.

“I didn’t give you that much. Just enough as thanks for sending my letters and doing little tasks for me here and there. Don’t be intimidated and just take it.”

“How can I take this?”

“There’s no reason why you can’t. If you reject it, then that will only make me lose face, don’t you think?”

“......”

“Even though I know you pretend it doesn’t bother you, I know you’re having a really hard time. I’m fine, so you should nurse your mother to the best of your abilities for now.”

Although MoonWon continued to repeat herself, Yeori remained silent. After wiping her tears with her sleeve, Yeori took the money pouch and the small chest and ran off as if she were making an escape.

After Yeori left, Hong-yeom came in after having taken care of a few errands.

“Mistress, here you are.”

“Thank you.”

MoonWon received the book from Hong-yeom and opened it. Hong-yeom stared at her with a troubled expression before he carefully opened his mouth.

“Mistress, please don’t trust Yeori too much.”

“Mm?”

“She’s been acting very strange lately.”

MoonWon closed the book and looked up at Hong-yeom in confusion. Hong-yeom continued.

“I’m not sure about the details, but she’s been acting differently.”

MoonWon was lost in thought for a moment but then shook her head.

“Yeori’s fine.”

“Mistress.”

“When everyone left me for being the daughter of an evil woman, Yeori stayed by my side. So if you don’t have any evidence to back your claims, you shouldn’t make them.”

“But still…”

MoonWon silently swept back the stray hairs on Hong-yeom’s head. Hong-yeom stopped speaking and lowered his head.

“I trust Yeori as much as I trust you. Thank you for worrying about me.”

Hong-yeom couldn’t say any more.

He might have seen it wrong. If it was the same Yeori that was here when MoonWon first arrived, then it was fine. He swept the thoughts away and nodded his head.

* * *

MoonWon was grateful and treasured each passing day. The time was dreamily peaceful, and she enjoyed receiving such love.

“All done!”

MoonWon got up and wiped off the dirt from her hands. The breeze was refreshing as the sun began to set. MoonWon took a deep breath and sat down on a small boulder in the garden.

It had been a bit difficult finishing up since she had sent Yeori and Hong-yeom away for the day, but she enjoyed spending this time all by herself.

“Ah!”

MoonWon’s eyes had been closed as she basked in the cool breeze, but she soon felt a familiar warmth envelop her back. When she smelled the man’s scent as he embraced her from behind, she opened her eyes.

“You’re back?”

“Mm.”

Heon placed his head on MoonWon’s shoulder and let out a satisfied sigh. MoonWon wrapped her hand around his.

“Did you manage to finish your busy work?”

“More or less.”

His arms moved from around her shoulders and wrapped around her hips. Heon stuck her body to his until there was no space between them. They were the only ones here anyway, and whenever he embraced her like this, MoonWon felt as if all the scary things in this world were far away. She felt very comfortable and safe.

“You can stop sending the merchants to me now.”

“Mm.”

“You don’t have to do so much for me.”

“You have a right to receive it all.”

Heon closed his eyes as he held MoonWon in his arms. He was extremely tired from participating in the politics he hated so much, but whenever he came home, MoonWon would greet him so gently that he would feel the exhaustion melt away.

MoonWon’s hand moved from Heon’s hand to his cheek. When she caressed his face, Heon opened his eyes. His gaze went from her face to the small garden.

“When will the flowers bloom?”

“The snow flowers

[1] will have to bloom first. You’ll have to wait a little longer.”

Heon saw a tree he hadn’t seen before. He had watched as she struggled with the gardening all by herself. He looked down at her hands and frowned.

Unaware of how he was looking at her hands, MoonWon smiled as she gazed at the tree.

“Once the weather grows colder and the winter passes, beautiful flowers will bloom. Let’s enjoy them together when the time comes.”

Heon’s attention had already moved on from the tree to MoonWon’s hand. Her hands were covered with calluses. Heon enveloped them with his own.

She had touched the coarse bark of the tree and dug in the dirt on her own, so the calluses were to be expected. However, Heon couldn’t help but be bothered.

“Don’t do this by yourself and have someone help you. You don’t have to do it all on your own.”

“But it’s fun. Just thinking about how I’ll see it all with you later on makes the exhaustion go away.”

Heon felt a thrill and a spurt of joy as she continued to chatter on.

With her hand still in his, Heon leaned his body against hers. If he had only accepted her earlier, he would have been able to enjoy this peace a lot sooner.

“MoonWon.”

If she were by his side, would this difficult life of his get a bit easier?

Heon, a man who had only focused on protecting the bamboo grove and his clan, was now desiring a woman named MoonWon.

Heon looked into MoonWon’s surprised eyes and smiled.

“MoonWon.”

It was different from the title of ‘wife’.

She knew what it meant for him to call her by her name, so her heart began to tremble.

“It’s strange to hear a man other than my father call my name.”

Heon was about to ask her about JaeHoon but managed to keep his mouth shut. JaeHoon no longer existed in MoonWon’s life.

MoonWon wasn’t going to be taken away from him so easily like his father.

The one who’d stay by MoonWon’s side for the rest of her life was him and him alone.

[1] : This refers to the trees when snow piles up on the branches. The trees look like large snow flowers.↩

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