Chapter 33. Fate of the Guardian (2)
Morning arrived at Beopsindang.
The wind chime hanging beneath the edge of the roof swayed in the breeze, producing a clear and gentle sound.
Tall reeds slowly ripened beneath the brilliant autumn sunlight.
Behind Beopsindang, beyond a field overgrown with wildflowers and weeds, there was a small lake.
A little boat was tied to a post at the water's edge.
Seongha sat inside wearing pure white priest robes.
He had brought a book and opened it across his knees.
But his gaze was elsewhere.
His white figure sitting thoughtfully in the gently rocking boat resembled a wandering scholar enjoying the scenery.
“Seongha, what a coincidence meeting you here.”
Huyeong approached.
Her long hair had been carefully treated with oil until it gleamed, and she wore a bright yellow skirt.
She was dressed like a noble young lady going on an outing.
It looked completely out of place beside the deserted and lonely lakeshore.
Anyone could tell that this supposedly accidental meeting had been carefully planned.
Huyeong did not seem bothered by that fact.
Seongha snapped his book shut and looked up at her.
“You don't need to pretend. I knew you would come here.”
He continued calmly.
“The maids seem unable to endure Lady Nam's interrogations anymore, so they quietly told you my schedule for today.”
Until now, Seongha had avoided meeting Huyeong alone whenever possible.
The more he avoided her, the stronger her obsession became.
The servants competed to tell Huyeong everything they knew about Seongha.
They intercepted letters he sent outside.
They followed people after he met them.
They secretly read official documents and even his personal writings before returning them exactly where they had found them.
Huyeong smiled.
“So you've decided not to avoid meeting me today.”
She took Seongha's ability to see through her schemes as recognition of how much effort she had put into seeing him.
From Huyeong's perspective, she had used every possible method to arrange this meeting.
Her objective had been achieved.
Without hesitation, Huyeong stepped into the boat and sat across from Seongha.
Her wide skirt filled most of the narrow boat.
Seongha untied the rope from the post.
The boat drifted toward the center of the lake.
In a low voice, Seongha asked,
“When do you intend to leave Beopsindang?”
“It seems you've come to dislike me quite deeply, so I'll have to stay until I change your opinion of me.”
“There are plenty of other impressive men in the world. I don't understand why you insist on wasting your time waiting for a scholar who has no interest in wealth or glory.”
Huyeong shook her head.
“No. I will definitely change your heart.”
Seongha's expression remained unchanged.
“Once I've made up my mind, I don't change it. If you're free to love someone, isn't that person equally free not to return your feelings?”
“Why are you trying so hard to defeat me? You're truly heartless.”
Huyeong's attitude became completely unreasonable whenever she encountered a situation she refused to accept.
She seemed incapable of understanding that another person's heart existed independently from her own wishes.
Worse, she even treated matters of affection as a battle that had to have a winner and loser.
She truly was a monstrous woman.
Seongha looked at her.
“Defeat you? How could I possibly defeat Lady Nam?”
“...”
Then his expression turned cold.
“Do you know something? The less guilt a person feels, the more effectively they can attack another person's conscience. There are few battles more helpless than that.”
At Seongha's harsh words, Huyeong lowered her head and burst into tears.
She copied the expressions of the people she herself had tormented in the past.
“I'm telling only you this, Seongha, but I spent part of my childhood imprisoned and isolated. There were many difficulties before Father could reveal my existence to Hui society...”
Even while sobbing, Huyeong constantly watched Seongha's reaction.
Her ability to invent stories was exceptional.
“When you learn the truth, you'll realize that I'm also a poor victim wounded by this world. I'm only a woman who longs for the warmth of the man she loves.”
As Seongha listened, one corner of his mouth rose in a faint, contemptuous smile.
“Is that so?”
Then he asked almost in a whisper.
“Then let me ask you one thing. Who exactly is Nam Huyeong?”
A red leaf fell onto the lake.
Ripples spread across the surface.
Huyeong's startled reflection shattered into countless pieces upon the water.
“What do you mean, who am I? I'm simply me. You're asking strange questions today.”
Huyeong looked genuinely confused.
Seongha shook his head as though he had expected exactly that response.
“How about we make a promise?”
He looked straight at her.
“If Lady Nam can answer that question honestly, I'll spend an entire day with you exactly as you wish.”
Huyeong nervously brushed back the hair beside her face.
Seongha spoke with the calm attitude of someone who had already wrapped his fingers around his opponent's throat.
“But if I reveal your identity with my own mouth first, that will be the day you are completely buried by Hui society.”
Huyeong forced an awkward smile.
“I don't know what kind of answer you're expecting... but you have to keep your promise, Seongha.”
The atmosphere between them felt as though a transaction had just been completed.
Seongha leaned back slightly.
“I've suffered from insomnia for a very long time. I rarely sleep deeply, and I'm quite used to the feeling that someone is watching me.”
A somewhat irritated expression crossed his face.
Strangely, even such an expression only made his refined and aristocratic features stand out more.
“I'm also used to watching the people who are watching me.”
“...”
Then Seongha smiled faintly.
“So which one of us do you think is the rat trapped inside the jar?”
A cold wind blew over the lake.
Seongha was certainly not an easy opponent.
Perhaps...
he was even more ruthless than Huyeong herself.
