Hongdu - The King's Men - Chapter 25
In just a few days, the season swelled noticeably day by day.
The pale green leaves hardened into a deep green, and spring flowers burst into bloom here and there.
Kwon Jwa Woo, who had been reading the Muwonrok in her quarters all day, came outside and took a deep breath. The scent of flowers mixed with the breeze.
She looked up at the bright moonlight and thought of the Muwonrok.
Just as the appearance of living people varied, so did the appearance of the dead. Until now, death to her was simply leaving this world, unable to face or talk to someone again in life.
But while reading the Muwonrok, she learned that it was possible to converse with the dead.
In place of mouths that could not speak, the dead represented themselves through the scent of death. They conveyed countless stories to the living through wounds sustained before death and postmortem lividity that appeared after.
What if she had read this book 8 years ago?
Could she have listened more closely to the stories her father was unable to tell before he passed?
Under the moonlight, regret and self-reproach filled Kwon Jwa Woo’s face as she stood still.
If only I had been wiser then…
If only I…
If only…
As her worries deepened with endless “what ifs”,
“You’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
A pleasant low voice came from the shade of the pear tree in front of the lodgings.
Just then, the wind blew and pear blossoms fell like raindrops onto Hong Woo Geon’s head.
In the milky moonlight, Hong Woo Geon’s appearance as he approached in the shower of petals felt utterly surreal.
Even in the faint moonlight, his handsome features were clear.
His playful smile looked almost mystical against the backdrop of blue darkness. Kwon Jwa Woo felt for a moment that the place where she stood had become a paradise of immortals with Hong Woo Geon’s appearance.
But knowing full well how he would react if she revealed these inner thoughts, Kwon Jwa Woo put on a mask of indifference.
She tried to enter the lodgings, turning away from the scent of musk approaching with him.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Before she could take a few steps, Hong Woo Geon grabbed Kwon Jwa Woo’s wrist.
Then he held up his other hand.
He was holding a bundle that looked quite substantial.
What could that be?
Kwon Jwa Woo tilted her head curiously.
“What is it?”
“A late-night snack.”
With that brief answer, Hong Woo Geon spread out a seat under the tree full of pear blossoms.
Inside the bundle he brought were various foods along with chrysanthemum wine.
“Where did you get all this?”
Fearing someone might see, Kwon Jwa Woo looked around and gestured for him to put it away quickly.
It was just the other day that she had caused a commotion by sneaking a few rice balls for Lee Gyo Young. Yet even after that ordeal, Hong Woo Geon had diligently prepared food.
How much did he take to smuggle all this out?
Without realizing it, Kwon Jwa Woo stared at Hong Woo Geon with uneasy eyes as she did the mental calculations.
But this carefree man paid no heed.
As if daring her to watch, he took out all the food he had packed in the bundle and even placed chopsticks in Kwon Jwa Woo’s hand.
“What if someone sees?”
It was close to midnight.
As it happened, she was feeling a bit hungry. Seeing the spread of skewered meat, pan-fried foods, rice cakes, and sweets laid out under the tree, Kwon Jwa Woo unconsciously swallowed her saliva.
“Who’s going to see at this hour? You’re overreacting.”
“The person who brought all this at this hour is the one overreacting.”
“You’re supposed to eat well during strategy meetings.”
Hong Woo Geon said as he put a piece of golden-brown pan-fried food in his mouth.
“Strategy meeting?”
[This is the timeline separator]At the word ‘strategy’, Kwon Jwa Woo unconsciously sat down in front of Hong Woo Geon.
As soon as dawn broke tomorrow, the Gahapin members had to depart to solve their assigned tasks.
The first Gahapin was paired with the third, the second with the fourth, the fifth with the seventh, and the sixth Gahapin Hong Woo Geon with the eighth Gahapin Kwon Jwa Woo.
They were told they would only learn their task after leaving the four main gates tomorrow.
“Have you already figured out what our task is?”
Kwon Jwa Woo asked Hong Woo Geon as he sipped chrysanthemum wine to cleanse his palate.
“Of course not.”
“But you said it was a strategy meeting?”
“A strategy meeting to spend tonight well for tomorrow.”
“I should have known.”
It’s my fault for expecting anything from this man.
Disappointment was evident on Kwon Jwa Woo’s face.
Hong Woo Geon, who had been watching her reaction with amusement, handed her a cup of wine.
“Have a drink.”
“No, thank you.”
“There’s no better medicine when you’re too tense to sleep.”
“I’m not tense.”
“Say that after you unclench your fist.”
At Hong Woo Geon’s words, Kwon Jwa Woo looked at her hand.
She didn’t know when it had happened, but her tightly clenched fist was damp with cold sweat. Though she hadn’t realized it herself, she was more tense now than ever before.
How could she be calm? This was the first hurdle as a Gahapin member.
After a moment’s hesitation, Kwon Jwa Woo accepted the cup Hong Woo Geon offered. He promptly filled her cup with wine. She downed the clear, swirling liquid in one gulp.
She had thought wine was just bitter and sour, but the chrysanthemum wine Hong Woo Geon brought was sweet with a clean aftertaste.
“How is it? Wine’s not so bad, right?”
He asked as she drank.
“I’ve had it a few times.”
A lie.
It was her first drink ever.
When she was young, there were times she could have had the chance to drink while clearing the adults’ table.
But after the incident 8 years ago, Kwon Jwa Woo was stricter with herself than anyone. She would never have touched alcohol.
However, she didn’t want to share such details with Hong Woo Geon. For some reason, she didn’t want to appear weak in front of this man.
“Oh, so you were quite the party girl.”
Hong Woo Geon gave a thumbs up, seemingly fooled by Kwon Jwa Woo’s lie.
“Another cup?”
To his encouragement, Kwon Jwa Woo unhesitatingly held out her empty cup.
“Yes, please.”
Oh, whatever.
The sky won’t fall from one more cup of wine.
Kwon Jwa Woo drank down the refilled cup of wine in one smooth motion.
A tingling, burning sensation traveled down her throat and spread throughout her body. Her body, tense since entering the Western Palace, relaxed.
Her sunken mood floated up into the air.
In a rare moment of excitement, Kwon Jwa Woo called out boldly to Hong Woo Geon.
“One more!”
[This is the timeline separator]The chrysanthemum wine he brought was soon emptied.
Kwon Jwa Woo drank with great relish the wine he had brought just to help her relax.
It had been several hours since dinner.
Her stomach must be empty.
Worried the wine might hit her hard on an empty stomach, Hong Woo Geon put a honey-coated rice cake in Kwon Jwa Woo’s mouth. The sight of her chewing the rice cake was as cute as a young bird eating feed.
Though she wore her hair in a topknot and was dressed as a man, to Hong Woo Geon’s eyes she looked every bit a beautiful woman.
“My, the one who drank was you, but I seem to be the one intoxicated.”
Hong Woo Geon, who had been staring at Kwon Jwa Woo as if entranced for a moment, rubbed his face.
Get a grip.
This woman is a woman, but must not be seen as one.
She was merely a talent needed to lay the foundation for the organization he would build, nothing more and nothing less.
And yet…
“One more!”
For some unknown reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she called for “one more” for the fifth time.
“You’re quite the drinker, I see.”
“Is there something about me you didn’t know?”
“There you go again with ‘you’. You don’t know this, but I’m not someone to be treated so casually.”
“Your actions must be proper for your words to be proper. Kidnapping someone upon first meeting, always teasing… You should be grateful I’m not calling you ‘you bastard’.”
“I’m sorry about the kidnapping at first meeting.”
“It’s too late for regrets.”
“I’ll try to restrain myself from teasing too.”
“Never mind. If I don’t even have that bit of fun, it’ll be boring going around with you.”
“What? So you were actually enjoying it?”
“I don’t enjoy it… but I don’t hate it either.”
Kwon Jwa Woo, slightly tipsy, confessed her true feelings. Then, for the first time since they met, she broke into a wide smile. It was as bright as a gourd flower and as dazzling as sunlight.
The freshness of spring, the coolness of a summer bamboo forest, the red glow of autumn, and the wistfulness of a snowy winter night were all contained in one person’s face.
In that moment, Hong Woo Geon realized.
I… I like this woman.
He could finally understand the nature of the feeling he had been unable to name until now.
Love.
The feeling of love he was experiencing for the first time.
But why?
Why this woman of all people?
He thought of the women who had been around him until now.
There had been the most beautiful woman in the world, and the greatest artist of the era. He had met a seductress said to melt hearts with a single glance, and faced a refined and elegant woman from a noble family.
Most of them had shown favor towards him.
Some had subtly revealed their feelings, while others had openly confessed their emotions.
There had even been a woman who tried to win his favor with tears.
But he hadn’t budged. None of it had interested him.
That’s how he had been, and yet…
The man who had been so proud and aloof crumbled helplessly before the woman in front of him.
Just from a single smile, he felt weak and his heart fluttered.
Was the human heart this flimsy? Was it so weak that it could collapse so easily?
He couldn’t accept it.
No, he didn’t want to accept it.
Yet how could he explain this contradictory desire to keep seeing this woman’s smile?
Hong Woo Geon stared blankly at Kwon Jwa Woo. His dazed expression made her laugh.
Ha ha ha.
Kwon Jwa Woo laughed with a sound like marbles rolling on a glass tray. After laughing heartily like that, she stood up with a refreshed look on her face.
For a moment, she staggered.
“You’ll fall.”
In an instant, Hong Woo Geon wrapped one arm around Kwon Jwa Woo’s waist as she stumbled.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
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