“I wanted to trust you.”

Tae’s hazel eyes stared at Yeoul.

Yeoul realized for the first time that his eyes held a deep, dark color.

“No, it would be more accurate to say I wanted to believe in you.”

Tae’s eyes, filled with sunlight, were bright and clear unlike usual.

Those eyes were so dazzling that Yeoul gazed at them blankly.

No, it was more fitting to say she lost her soul.

“Is this enough of an answer?”

“Ah…!”

Yeoul hurriedly lowered her head.

She belatedly realized that she had been blankly staring at Tae.

Yeoul’s face turned red like a well-ripened peach.

‘I feel like a fool…’

Even though she hadn’t received a confession of affection.

Her face felt hot as if it would burn.

‘It doesn’t seem like Sir is lying.’

Tae was inscrutable.

But his words about wanting to trust and believe in Yeoul sounded sincere.

Those words gave Yeoul’s heart a strange comfort.

It also felt like a space to breathe had been created in her stifling and hopeless life.

At that moment, Han, who had briefly left, returned to the room.

“I brought the items you requested, Sir.”

In the hands of the servants Han brought were porcelain bowls, thin bamboo sticks, and various books.

In the meantime, Yeoul, who had calmed the heat on her face, carefully asked Han.

“What are all these for…?”

“They are necessary preparations for the selection. Thankfully, Sir has personally offered to assist with training for the selection.”

Han bowed to Tae.

“We will be in your care. Please let us know if you need anything.”

“Yes. Don’t worry about the elder.”

After Han left, Tae took out a thin bamboo stick from the bundle.

The stick was thinner than Yeoul’s pinky finger and about a hand span in length.

While wondering what to do with this stick, Tae handed it to Yeoul.

“Hold it in your mouth.”

“Pardon…?”

“We will now correct your speech and pronunciation. In the selection, you need to give a wise and trustworthy impression. That muddled way of speaking is useless.”

“Muddled way of speaking…”

“The moment you trail off at the end of your sentences like now, the other person loses trust in you. Who would choose someone who seems to lack confidence in themselves?”

Yeoul looked down at the stick on Tae’s palm.

“You seem to confidently say whatever you want in front of me. But you particularly lower your voice in front of others.”

Until now, Yeoul had lived reading others’ expressions and catering to their moods.

So she had never properly expressed her own opinions.

The lack of perspective on life must have seeped into her unconfident way of speaking.

“You don’t need to try to look smart in front of me. But don’t forget that you need to make a good impression at the selection.”

As Tae said, it would be difficult to get good results at the selection with this impression.

Yeoul swallowed her saliva and picked up the stick from Tae’s palm.

With the stick in her mouth, she looked at Tae with forceful eyes.

At Yeoul’s ready signal, Tae began the practice.

“Speaking with the stick in your mouth will train your facial muscles and help you pronounce clearly. It’s like how soldiers practice running while carrying sandbags.”

Instead of answering, Yeoul nodded her head.

“Let’s start with a self-introduction.”

“…I am Han Yeoul.”

“More clearly.”

“I am Han Yeoul…!”

With the stick in her mouth, it was more difficult for Yeoul to pronounce than usual as it was hard to move her tongue.

“I’m not telling you to raise your voice. Don’t mumble the words inside your mouth. Open your mouth and expel the sound.”

Tae approached Yeoul.

“We’ll have to start with breathing again.”

Tae took the stick out of Yeoul’s mouth.

“Try it while engaging your abdomen.”

“I am Han Yeoul…!”

Even though Yeoul spoke while engaging her abdomen, Tae seemed dissatisfied.

“Nothing has changed.”

Tae reached out and placed his fingertips on Yeoul’s abdomen.

In that state, he brushed down to below her navel, and Yeoul unconsciously inhaled.

“Huu…!”

A tingling sensation ran up Yeoul’s spine.

It felt like someone was brushing Yeoul’s skin with a feather.

Even though it was just training. She didn’t know why she felt this strange feeling.

In that state, Tae slightly pressed Yeoul’s lower abdomen.

“Put strength here.”

Yeoul felt like heat was warmly gathering in her lower abdomen.

Holding onto her reason as the feeling was unfamiliar, she put strength into her lower abdomen.

Confirming that strength had entered Yeoul’s lower abdomen, Tae raised his gaze to look at Yeoul.

More precisely, he looked at Yeoul’s lips.

“Open your lips wide.”

Yeoul parted her vermilion lips.

“Open them more.”

Tae pushed two of his fingers into Yeoul’s mouth.

Yeoul flinched at Tae’s sudden touch.

“You need to open your mouth this much for sound to come out.”

Yeoul’s hot breath enveloped Tae’s fingers.

Tae stared at Yeoul’s vermilion lips.

Tae’s gaze lingered on Yeoul’s lips, then moved to her cheeks where a faint blush had risen.

And going a little higher, he met gazes with Yeoul’s wavering eyes.

In the silence where only breathing could be heard, Tae pulled out his fingers.

“Try speaking.”

Exhaling the breath she had been holding, Yeoul spat out the words.

“I am Han Yeoul.”

A clearer and more distinct voice than before flowed out from Yeoul’s lips as if bursting.

Tae, seeming satisfied with the results of the training, lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Yes, just do it like that.”

“Haa…”

At Tae’s passing grade, Yeoul exhaled the breath she had been holding and regulated her breathing.

With just one training session, it felt like all the strength had drained from her body.

.

.

.

They decided to continue the rest of the training next time, and Tae left Yeoul’s family home.

Je Hun, who had been waiting for Tae, came out to greet him at the front gate.

“Did Lady Yeoul follow the training well?”

“She did quite well.”

Tae had Yeoul read books out loud with the stick in her mouth.

With just one practice, Yeoul’s voice became unrecognizably clear.

Since there were results, it was rewarding as a teacher.

Tae looked down at his fingertips.

Then he fiddled with the tips of his fingers.

The warmth of Yeoul that had touched his fingertips was still vivid.

The vermilion lips and the faint blush on her cheeks.

Like a luscious fruit, the urge to take a bite out of Yeoul arose.

What about when their eyes met?

The wavering eyes looking at him and the hot breath enveloping his fingers.

Tae wanted to push his fingers into Yeoul’s mouth just like that and stir up the inside.

He wanted to see Yeoul’s gentle eyes waver even more.

Yeoul’s face kept intruding into Tae’s mind.

“Isn’t it the Grand Prince of Gangseong?”

Just as he was about to take a step. Sang Jin appeared and called out to Tae.

“I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you just passing by?”

“I am.”

Today’s Sang Jin was different somehow.

Sang Jin, who maintained a suitable level of courtesy, neither guarded against Tae nor exuded a sharp atmosphere towards him.

Sang Jin approached Tae with a sad smile.

“May I have a word with you in private?”

Tae signaled Je Hun with his eyes to step back for a moment.

When Je Hun withdrew, only Tae and Sang Jin remained.

Tae looked down at Sang Jin, who was about a hand span shorter than him.

“For what purpose did you call me?”

Tae had long predicted the purpose of Sang Jin calling him.

He was just curious as to why Sang Jin, who had been hostile towards him, had switched to a friendly attitude.

“That child is a vulgar wench.”

Tae raised one eyebrow.

“You may not know since you haven’t known Yeoul for long. She’s a child picked up from outside. Who knows what bloodline she rolled in from?”

He thought Sang Jin would stubbornly object to marrying Yeoul with suitable excuses.

But to slander Yeoul. It was unexpected.

“Perhaps because of her baseless birth, she lies as often as she eats and has bad hands, frequently stealing things. She’s so lazy that she won’t be able to support you properly either.”

Sang Jin recited slander after slander about Yeoul.

“You think that’s all? She’s been loose with men since she was young. She’d chase after any man’s behind, so the rumors of her fooling around with lowborns must be true.”

Sang Jin’s appearance was far from the good brother Yeoul had described.

If she knew that the brother she trusted so much was speaking ill of her in front of the man she promised to marry, what kind of expression would she make?

Various emotions about Yeoul mixed inside Tae.

It was pathetic. And a little pitiful.

“No wonder you have no eye for people.”

“Pardon?”

“Please finish what you prepared to say.”

Tae waved his hand as if telling him not to mind.

To Tae, Yeoul was just a tool.

There was no need to have personal feelings for a tool.

“She’s so jealous too. If there was even a slightly pretty maidservant, she would slap her. She’s just acting now to look good to you. After marriage, she will take off her mask.”

Tae asked a question, pretending not to know.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Don’t marry Yeoul.”

At the end of a long excuse, Sang Jin brought up the main point.

“If you marry her, she will definitely harm you. It will only be a matter of time before you drive her out for the seven vices.”

Tae let out a laugh.

“There’s a big misunderstanding about me.”

Sang Jin’s intention was all too transparent.

“I don’t care if Han Yeoul is a woman who fooled around with lowborns or a woman who has never held a man’s hand.”

Tae didn’t believe Sang Jin’s nonsense from the beginning.

Even if what Sang Jin said was true, it had nothing to do with marrying Yeoul.

“What I need is not a devoted wife, but the person named Han Yeoul.”

“I beg your pardon…?”

“Let me ask one thing. What is the reason you’re stopping your sister’s marriage, even using such petty excuses?”

Instead of answering, Sang Jin pressed his lips tightly together.

Seeing that, a strong conviction entered Tae’s mind.

The reason why Sang Jin was so obsessed with Yeoul’s marriage.

Why he felt inexplicable discomfort and unease whenever he thought of Sang Jin.

The purpose of the toad charm and the rumors of her fooling around with lowborns.

Now he felt he knew the reason.

“I guess the reason is too disgraceful for a man to say?”

Tae twisted one corner of his mouth crookedly.

“Don’t tell me you have feelings of affection for your sister?”

As if a mask had been removed. The smile disappeared from Sang Jin’s face.