Chapter 2.1

“Just how hurt is he?”

Princess Muyeo asked Eunuch Sa as she quickly got out of her palanquin.

“He has passed the critical stage and is now recuperating from his wound. Please do not worry.”

“Don’t worry?! An arrow pierced Brother’s chest, so how can I not worry? What’s so good about that land of savages for everyone to be making such a fuss over it?!”

All men were fools. Why were they invading these minor nations when they hadn’t done anything wrong? Why would they only be satisfied once they had conquered all the lands stretching to the ends of the earth?

It was nauseating to think that they viewed the conquest of foreign nations as a personal accomplishment.

“Then he should just personally go there and do it himself.”

Muyeo couldn’t hold in her boiling anger. He had sent Brother out once again and caused him to gain yet another wound. Why did he hate him so much? That’s why people didn’t see the Red King has the second prince and called him the emperor’s ‘dog’.

In the middle of winter. And he only gave him a thousand soldiers to pass through Mount Baran. Last spring, he was ordered to take over the southern nation of BuYoung. Then he was ordered to head to the north and conquer the Three Nations.

Sending Brother out on all these pointless campaigns… Wasn’t he basically just telling him to go out and die?!

The sound of the angry princess’s footsteps and jingling hair ornaments echoed in the air. The eunuch quickly followed after her as he clicked his tongue in his heart. The king needed to rest. He had come a long way back while carrying such a serious wound.

The Crown Prince was probably overjoyed to hear that the Red King had come back with an arrow lodged so close to his heart.

The heavens had helped him keep his life, but he had been ordered to withdraw his troops by the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince had always feared that the Red King would succeed and come out victorious. On the outside, he claimed that he was worried about his younger brother’s wound, but everyone could clearly see his calculations.

“Brother!”

Princess Muyeo shouted out as she noisily pushed aside the beaded curtain.

Leaning back in his seat, a handsome man was basking in the spring sunlight. As if he had fallen asleep while reading, a book was lying on the floor. Piles of documents were spread out around him.

For a man who was called the ‘Blood Wolf’, his sleeping face was surprisingly calm. Underneath his masculine brows were his stiffly closed eyes, a straight nose, and finally a pair of arrogant, sensuous lips.

His shoulders were broad, and he was so tall that the seat couldn’t hold all of him. However, in this environment, he didn’t seem like a warrior. Instead, he looked more like an elegant artist.

Instead of holding a sword, he should have just become a poet.

“Brother, stop pretending you’re asleep.”

He definitely would have heard her make a fuss from far away. Eunuch Sa squirmed like a dog that needed to take a poop behind her, but Muyeo didn’t care. She approached Garan and grabbed the book he had been reading.

HwanSoolGi (Record of Military Deceptions and Tactics)

He was reading these kinds of books again?

A hand flashed out and took the book from her hands. Muyeo raised an eyebrow and glared at Garan. The man who was on the other end of this glare merely grinned back at her.

“You came?”

“Did you seriously just ask me if I came in such a relaxed manner? In this situation? It’s a lie, right? Right? You didn’t get hit by a girl’s arrow, right?”

“I’m human, too. Did you think an arrow would just ricochet off my skin?”

“Liar!”

“Bring in some tea for the princess.”

“What tea? Just bring me some cold water.”

This made no sense!

Muyeo stared at the Red King in disbelief. He looked like his usual self. Therefore, the rumor must have been a lie. Brother would never get struck by an arrow like that.

“You can just tell me. I’ll keep your secret safe no matter what.”

Princess Muyeo was the biggest blabbermouth in all of YeonSung. The Red King snorted.

“I got hit.”

“Liar! You look completely fine.”

Muyeo wanted to believe it was a lie. She wanted to take off the Red King’s clothes this instant to make sure he was okay. If the palace maids hadn’t come in just then to serve the cold water, she would have done exactly that. Garan sighed and sat up in his seat.

He actually felt that getting hit with the arrow was for the best. He had no choice but to attack Yeha under Father Emperor’s orders, but he detested fighting a war without any justification.

Additionally, the more he came back victorious from the campaigns ordered by their father, the more the Crown Prince was going to keep him in check. However, Muyeo didn’t know this and was making quite a fuss.

“What kind of bitch could have done something like this? YeonSung has been buzzing ever since we heard the news that the Red King had been struck by a girl’s arrow. Why were the soldiers just standing there? They should have chased after that bitch and ripped her limbs apart!”

They didn’t move because he hadn’t ordered them to.

The arrow seemed to fall directly in the center of the sunlight. Although it was just one arrow, one couldn’t help but be awed by its perfection.

Riding the wind, the arrow was powerful. With the sun at its back, it made a perfect arch before hitting its target. Almost as if it had been predestined. It almost seemed supernatural. He could hardly believe it was shot by a human.

Yeha’s ChungMae.

That’s what the people called the one who had shot the arrow. He recalled the way her black hair had fluttered in the wind as she rode her chestnut horse.

He was surprised to find that the woman used a horn bow which even men had a hard time wielding. Yeha had many excellent soldiers, but that woman was even more surprising.

How did she become so proficient in that technique?

The arrow had hit so close to his heart that the doctor almost fainted when he saw the wound. Thankfully, the sharp arrowhead didn’t hit any vital areas, so he was able to survive.

Although an arrow like that could be considered a miracle, the heavens also helped him survive.

“Brother!”

Muyeo realized that her brother wasn’t listening to anything she was saying, so she angrily called out to him.

“Are you really going to be like this?”

“Ugh.”

Instead of giving Muyeo another excuse, Garan grasped his chest with his hand and frowned.

“B-Brother, what’s wrong?”

“Didn’t I tell you I got hurt? Call for a eunuch.”

Muyeo quickly called for a eunuch. She sat back down next to him worriedly and didn’t nag him anymore. The doctor came in and checked his wound. Now that Muyeo saw for herself that he was actually wounded, the false rumors in YeonSung would settle down. After all, there wasn’t another princess who gossiped as much as Muyeo.

Once the uproar had settled down, Muyeo still didn’t seem like she wanted to go back to her own residence. She stayed by his side as she held her teacup.

“Did you hear the rumors? Duke MoonYeo got married!”

“That’s good news.”

Garan replied with his usual indifference.

“No, how is that good news? It’s strange news. You know this, too, Brother…”

Muyeo lowered her body as if she was preparing to spread another rumor. Then she continued to whisper.

“That… Duke MoonYeo cannot embrace a woman. Have you heard the rumor?”

“Rumors are merely rumors.”

“That’s what I thought, but something surprising happened this time.”

“What do you mean?”

Realizing that she finally had her brother’s attention, Muyeo grinned and lowered her voice.

“Well, when Duke MoonYeo first said that he’d get married, everyone went crazy. They just assumed that it would be another grass widow, and everyone pitied her. Duke MoonYeo is quite cold with the ladies, remember? But what do you know? That is…”

Muyeo’s voice lowered even further as she whispered to her brother.

“I heard they slept well.”

“What?”

The princess’s eyes tilted up mischievously.

“That is… Do you know how upset Princess Yeowa was when everyone was talking about how Duke MoonYeo had a problem in bed? I heard that there was clear evidence that the bride and groom shared their first night together in the bridal chamber. The princess was obviously very pleased and bragged about it to everyone.”

“Tsk. It seems that you women talk about all sorts of things.”

“It’s always fun to hear stories about someone else’s bedroom matters. I heard that Duke MoonYeo has changed a lot. I heard he goes around with his wife in his arms.

“He must have found his other half.”

“I plan on seeing her just out of curiosity. You should come with me.”

“How can a man join a group of ladies? It’s not proper.”

“Aigoo, Duke MoonYeo is our cousin. How can it be improper when we’re all family?”

At that moment, Eunuch Sa entered and lowered his head.

“Your Highness.”

The Red King slightly turned around, but the eunuch kept his head lowered.

“It seems that I need go out.”

“What?”

Muyeo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“How can you go out in that state?”

“I have an appointment. Are you going to stay here a while longer before leaving?”

“How can a guest stay in an empty house?”

“How are you a guest? You can just relax here and leave when you want. Ask for anything you need.”

“It’s fine. What would I do here on my own? This royal residence doesn’t even have a queen I can play with.”

There she goes again. When he heard that Duke MoonYeo was going to get married, he knew she’d start this again.

“You’re the only old bachelor left in YeonSung now.”

“I’m not that far past twenty, so how am I an old bachelor?”

“You’re not that far past twenty, so you’re not an old bachelor? Everyone in the Silver Nation gets married at age sixteen. I was married off when I was thirteen!”

At her words, the Red King froze. Muyeo realized she’d overstepped and quickly changed the subject.

“Anyways, the empress said she’d start looking for your queen this year. So prepare yourself!”

The empress?

Garan’s face turned slightly cold. However, Muyeo didn’t notice this subtle change.

“What about your child?”

“The nanny is there, so what is there to worry about?”

Garan looked at his younger sister and stroked her cheek. Thirteen. At such a young age, she had performed the wedding ceremony, crying and wailing. And now that same Muyeo was a mother.

“Go back. A young child needs his mother.”

“My goodness! I see him every single day, and you’re telling me I need to see him even more? Just because you’re a mother doesn’t mean you have to be with the child every single moment!”

His younger sister’s ramblings went in one ear and out the other. The princess continued to follow him around and nag in his ear like a skylark. However, she didn’t realize that all the laughter had left his face.

The peonies bloomed and added to the beauty of spring.

Peonies were expensive and were equal to the cost of a house with a tiled roof. And yet, the garden was filled with these precious blossoms. The ladies were even more blindingly beautiful than these flowers as they appeared one by one at the banquet. Afraid that their fair skin would be harmed, attendants were called to open the parasols and block the sunlight.

A sudden burst of laughter caused the butterflies on the flowers to flutter their wings in surprise and fly away. Within this group of ladies, Yujo stood still with an elegant smile on her face.

Her waist sash was too tight on her, and having eaten lunch, she felt as if her hips were going to fall off. Additionally, all these questions about her and Jewol’s relationship made her head hurt. She would rather practice her martial arts than go through this. All this flashy act of playing a doll was getting tiresome.

When the ladies of YeonSung gathered together, they began the meeting with refreshments and then ate lunch together. Then they would usually call for a poet or a songstress and listen to a song or two. However, depending on the hostess, they would often hire masked dancers, a jester, or even an acrobat for entertainment.

To outsiders, it would seem as if these ladies had all the time in the world as they relaxed and enjoyed the food and drink. However, this was actually the time when they exchanged a great amount of information that would rival the mind games in the world of the men. The men would often use the women’s closeness to carry out secret transactions.

To Yujo, this world was strange and unfamiliar.

In Yeha, the men and women wouldn’t hesitate to talk to one another openly. Unlike the Silver Nation, where the parents chose the spouses of their children, in Yeha, everyone could follow their hearts and choose their own partners. They could get married, or they didn’t have to get married. It didn’t matter.

When two lovers separated, they would place a leaf on top of the other’s palm. It was a way of telling the other person that their feelings for them had faded away to the point where it weighed as much as a leaf.

While they would separate in this manner, during the next full moon, they’d dance in the night and find another partner. Of course, there were many that ended up staying together for the rest of their lives, but if a couple broke up, they weren’t looked down on.

Women generally raised the children, but they could own their own property. There were many women who were wealthier than the men, and there were many women who were braver than the men.

But the Silver Nation was quite strange. The women here were treated like a family’s possession and could be used as such. While men could take in as many wives and concubines as they wanted, a woman was supposed to maintain her loyalty to one man.

A woman here couldn’t own any property of her own, and she was never allowed to wield a sword. And they definitely couldn’t participate in politics.

Like a greenhouse flower, like a caged bird, they were supposed to live like this for their whole lives.

I’d die from the frustration.

Yujo didn’t envy them for their sparkling appearances of splendid silk. She wanted to get this day over with and begin her search for the Heukra so that she could hand it over to the Crown Prince as soon as possible. It didn’t matter whether it was a ghost or a person, she just wanted to find it quickly.

The Crown Prince of the Silver Nation never gave her any information related to the Heukra.

However, she realized after entering YeonSung that she wouldn’t need any information after all. The Heukra was already famous within YeonSung.

“Are you saying it was WooRyong’s Danju this time?”

After finishing their meal, the ladies tried to chase away the drowsiness by coming out into the garden. Yujo heard the whispers of the two ladies in front of her.

“Did it happen like that again?”

“It happened just like that.”

Just like that?

Yujo could only ask what they meant.

“Is there something going on in YeonSung?”

The two women’s heads were together as if they were sharing an incredible secret. Lady Kwak and Lady Yeon turned around and looked at Yujo. Yujo had a graceful smile on her face as she looked back at these two ladies.

“Ah!”

They acted as if they hadn’t realized she was standing behind them this whole time, but in reality, they really wanted to talk to her about this subject and purposely let it slip. Yujo knew this.

“You just arrived here from the northern province. We don’t want to frighten you with this story.”

“We wouldn’t want you to think badly of YeonSung.”

Even though they were ready to tell her, they kept on teasing her in order to raise her curiosity. This manner of speaking was also a characteristic of the ladies of YeonSung. How ridiculous. However, Yujo merely tilted her head and gave them the attention they wanted from her.

“Just what is this story? I can’t help but be even more curious now.”

“Do you really not know?”

Lady Kwak and Lady Yeon quickly approached Yujo and linked arms with her. As if they were dragging her off somewhere, they walked on and continued speaking.

“Something odd is going on in YeonSung right now.”

“Something odd?”

“A person will suddenly catch on fire and burn to death.”

“What?”

Lady Yeon and Lady Kwak stood on both sides of Yujo and spoke on with a gloomy voice.

“A person is suddenly burned to death? Who could do such a thing?”

“No, that’s not it. These people go to bed and are deeply asleep when their bodies suddenly catch on fire. Doesn’t it sound absolutely frightening?”

What?

This was the first time she was hearing such an absurd story.

A person suddenly catches on fire and is burned to death?

“Everyone is absolutely frightened out of their wits. Some were even having a meal when their hair and clothes suddenly caught on fire. The fire is so fierce that even water won’t extinguish it. It all happens so fast that only the ashes remain in the end. Doesn’t it sound absolutely terrible?”

“How could that be? How can something like that even happen?”

“That’s why everyone’s losing their minds! And only that one person burns. No one started the fire or was even around the victim when it happened. Even the chair they were sitting on is in one piece!”

The more Yujo listened, the more she found it unbelievable.

Did this make any sense?

This is what they said. It all started during the autumn of last year. The people who suddenly caught on fire ranged from high-ranking government officials to wealthy men. In the most recent incident, it had even hit a member of the elite.

These people had been sharing a meal with many people or were sitting alone in their carriages. One of them was even asleep. All of these people suddenly caught on fire and burned to death. The fierce fire started from their chests before engulfing their faces and heads.

However there was something strange about these incidents. Right before these eight people died, or even right after, the lady of Heukra appeared.

“Heukra?”

Actually, Yujo already heard about these incidents. However, she acted ignorant in order to hear what these people had to say. Lady Yeon seemed excited at Yujo’s reaction and continued on.

“Yes, it means Black Silk. The lady wears a dark purple outfit and a black veil.”

“Is that so?”

“But there’s something strange about this woman.”

Just as Lady Yeon was about to continue on with her story, Lady Kwak held up her hand and shook it in disgust.

“Shh! Lady Yeon, don’t speak of that.”

“But it’s so strange, isn’t it?”

“You’ll get in trouble. That’s enough.”

“What is it?”

Yujo couldn’t hold in her frustration and asked.

“That’s…”

Lady Yeon hesitated.

“I’ll end up hearing sooner or later, won’t I?”

Yujo smiled as she spoke. The two ladies in front of her glanced at each other. In the end, Lady Yeon held up her fan and hid her lips as she whispered. Yujo’s eyes widened.

TN: So we finally have the entrance of the ML and the start of a mystery. I gotta say… I’m a lot more interested in the mystery than the romance right now