Chapter 12. The Lowliest and Noblest One (2)
At Bam’s provocation, the noblewomen frowned even more deeply.
Pressing her body against a man in front of other people was something completely unimaginable under the customs of the Hui Kingdom.
Beneath her exotic and mysterious appearance, Bam was a woman with a surprisingly fearless nature.
The top floor of the inn had become chaotic. The manager, servants, and attendants had all rushed over after hearing the commotion.
They were restless because if the decorations, lamps, dishes, tables, or anything else were damaged in a fight, the inn could suffer a huge loss.
Just then, several servants came running over in a hurry and delivered someone’s order to the Haega women.
The women exchanged startled looks.
“My lady, the Head of the House is urgently calling for the members of the family.”
“Lady Haemora is?”
“They said it has something to do with the young master...”
The women clearly hated the fact that they could not punish Bam right there, but now that the head of the family had summoned them, they could no longer delay.
“Merchant wench. Whether a person is noble or lowly is decided from the moment they are born.”
“It doesn’t matter if you borrow a noblewoman’s clothes and wear them, or how many goods you manage to sell. In this lifetime, you will always be beneath us.”
Overcome with anger, Bam tried to rush after them, but Hoyeon caught her.
He slid his sword back into its sheath and whispered in a low voice, as though trying to calm her down.
“Inns are always full of spies and informants. It would be better to end the disturbance here.”
The sound of a carriage pulling up could be heard outside the inn window.
The Haega people hurriedly finished preparing to leave and headed out of the building.
Before leaving, one of the women turned back and said,
“We have no choice but to retreat this time... but the Black Sun of Haega will follow you for the rest of your life and curse you.”
At those curse-filled words from the Haega women, Bam’s shoulders trembled.
Once her mood had been ruined, it was not so easy for her to calm down again.
“By the way, where did you learn such a mischievous trick?”
At that moment, Hoyeon suddenly pulled hard on Bam’s hand.
Perhaps because of the difference in their sizes, her body fell neatly into his arms.
Their faces were so close that their lips almost touched.
Bam found herself unable to look away from Hoyeon’s sharply sculpted face and those pitch-black eyes that looked like a bottomless abyss.
She had expected him to calmly separate himself from her.
She never expected him to do something like this.
The atmosphere around Hoyeon was completely different from usual, making him feel almost like a stranger.
At this rate, he might even hear how loudly her heart was beating.
“Let go! Isn’t this enough already?”
Bam struggled to push Hoyeon away, but as if he were teasing her, he refused to release her for a moment.
Then he slowly closed his eyes and gave a lonely smile.
“I nearly found myself entertaining some wicked thoughts.”
Only then did Hoyeon release the hand holding her.
Bam immediately shoved him away and put some distance between them.
Her breathing was quick, and her heart refused to settle down.
Once, Hoyeon had been nothing more than a young mercenary.
Yet the more he grew, the more Bam found herself seeing him as someone completely different.
It confused her.
Of course, she would rather die than let Hoyeon notice any of that.
Hoyeon asked,
“Why did you say you didn’t want to become a noblewoman?”
He could already guess what Bam was thinking.
Even so, he asked because he wanted to improve her mood.
“Because I don’t need to.”
Even if she had said everything she wanted to say in front of those nobles, there was no way the humiliation and bitterness inside her would disappear so easily.
She simply could not accept the idea that there were things in this world that could never be changed, no matter what she did.
“I already have everything I need in this world. So what does something as trivial as social status matter? Right?”
“I suppose status might only be an empty shell.”
“...”
“No matter how noble someone may be, if you strip them naked and roll them through the mud, no one would be able to tell who they originally were.”
Hoyeon lightly tapped the sword hanging at his waist as he spoke.
It was his usual cold and cynical way of talking.
Bam looked at him.
“I’m going to keep traveling freely around the world with you from now on.”
Hoyeon had protected Bam through countless trading deals and smuggling operations that had felt like wars.
Together, the two of them had survived situations where life and death were separated by only a thin line.
If she could continue living beside Hoyeon just like this...
That was what Bam wanted more than anything.
However, after hearing her words, Hoyeon’s expression became even lonelier.
He was always beside her, following her as closely as a shadow.
Yet the distance between their hearts never seemed to shrink.
“There is nowhere in this world where I can ever be free.”
He said it without hesitation.
Only then did Bam realize that talking about freedom without considering Hoyeon’s circumstances had been thoughtless of her.
Her memories slowly drifted back into the past.
The enormous slave-trading ship tied to the harbor swayed with the waves.
Wooden crates on the deck creaked whenever the ship moved.
“Can’t you people move faster?!”
This was the day a mercenary was being chosen to protect Bam, the youngest lady of the family.
Around a dozen grown men who had been dragged off the ship stood lined up in front of her.
Most of them had rough faces like local thugs or pirates, and there was something arrogant about the way they carried themselves.
The Rang Merchant Guild preferred mercenaries like them because they were better suited for dealing with the meaningless quarrels and fights that often broke out behind trading negotiations.
Moreover, they moved entirely according to payment.
Because of that, they often produced more reliable results than people who spoke of vague causes or loyalty.
However, there was something displeased in the way those men looked down at the little girl dressed in silk.
Did they think she was too insignificant to serve as their master?
Young Bam glared fiercely at every mercenary candidate, refusing to lose the battle of wills.
Then someone made her stop.
He was still a young boy, but his firm shoulders and strong build immediately stood out.
Dried blood covered his face and body.
There was no way to tell whether it belonged to him or to someone else.
“I want this one. I like his eyes.”
“You aren’t choosing a friend to play house with. If you’re going to pick someone, wouldn’t it be better to choose a more experienced and skilled mercenary?”
The one trying to change Bam’s mind was her third older brother, Ranggong.
His shining blue eyes made him look very much like Bam, and among all her siblings, he was especially fond of his youngest sister.
“Still, he really is a cold-hearted brat. We starved him for three days and nights and locked him in a cage, yet he defeated every one of his competitors and survived.”
Until then, Bam had lived arrogantly above everyone else.
She had never once taken any real interest in another person.
Had something happened to this boy?
What could have happened to make such terrifying and vicious energy burn inside his eyes?
Bam could not take her eyes off him.
“My little sister says she likes you. What do you think?”
