The brevity of the letter was not Namgung Ryeo’s fault.

At Namgungsega, Namgung Ryeo had hardly received any education, and even after gaining freedom thanks to Danmokbi, she had spent most of her time training in martial arts, leaving little time to learn writing.

But finally, she found the person she had been waiting for, and yet there wasn’t a single line about how she was doing; it was only natural for Danmokbi to feel burned inside.

Danmokbi quickly sent the hawk back.

Then the answer that came back scratched at his insides even more.

This person!

Is this what they call a letter, spouting only what they want to say! And what’s this about a Jianghu tour?

‘That means she will be roaming around again.’

Jianghu is vast, so does this mean he has to search for Yeona, whom he had just found, all over again?

‘Sacheonseong? Do I have to go all the way there?’

Normally, Danmokbi would never leave the sega, but since he heard news about Yeona for the first time in years, he couldn’t just sit still.

“Lord So, where are you going?”

“I’ll be back shortly.”

Although Danmokbi couldn’t conceal his excitement and everyone stared at him with heads tilted, he didn’t even have the leisure to answer them, fearing he might lose Yeona. Danmokbi hurriedly departed.

While he was leaving Jeolgangseong, several messages came flying in.

They were trivial matters, hardly worth making the hawk work for, but enough to turn Danmokbi’s insides upside down.

‘Once, her affection was directed only at me.’

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the delicious food she made and told her not to enter the kitchen.

Rather, he liked it too much and wanted it every day. But more than that, he didn’t want her to struggle, so he had told her not to go into the kitchen.

‘But now Namgung Ryeo is proudly eating it up!’

It felt like taking a precious jewel, which he rarely even took out of its drawer, and letting a visiting friend play with it.

Still, thanks to patiently receiving Namgung Ryeo’s boastful letters, there was some gain.

Yeona had come to Anhwiseong, where Namgungsega was!

It was right on the path that Danmokbi was taking.

From the moment he entered Anhwiseong, his heart, which seemed to have stopped since Yeona left, throbbed.

‘I can meet Yeona!’

How much he missed her. His longing and resentment were overwhelmed by the desire to see her.

But when he thought he might see Yeona, he recalled what Baekho said on the last day they parted.

Remembering those words, he stopped walking as if frozen.

‘Right. Yeona chose to be apart from me. Because she thought I couldn’t keep her safe.’

Angry as he was, Baekho’s words were true. Yeona thought staying with Danmokbi would trouble him, but that itself meant she didn’t expect anything from Danmokbi.

If she truly believed in his ability to protect her, she wouldn’t have seen it as a burden.

‘I’m not weak like I was back then.’
Danmokbi clenched his fist tightly. However, even as he looked at the shadow that had grown much larger since then and his hardened fist, he was not convinced.

The assurance that she would rely on him, that was.

‘When I meet Yeona, I cannot endure without having her by my side.’

He became afraid that he would hurt her because of his impatience and her heart that could not follow his.

‘Is it okay for me to meet Yeona in this state?’

Danmokbi hesitated. Just then, as if reading his mind, a small shadow walked out of the guesthouse where Namgunglyo had said he was staying.

It was a miraculous thing. The surroundings were dark, and in the blink of an eye, she had grown from a child to an adult.

Her fine black hair was rolled up, her slender and elongated body was wrapped in fluttering clothes like the wind, then unfurled. The only thing that hadn’t changed was the white fluffy cat she was holding preciously.

Despite changing so much, Danmokbi recognized her at a glance.

“Yeona…….”

He feared that the longing would overflow if he spoke it out loud, so the name that he couldn’t even carelessly bring to his lips flowed out smoothly. At the same time, the heart that had been trying hard to stop also collapsed noisily.

‘I miss her.’

Danmokbi finally realized. It wasn’t that he had calmly constructed Danmoksega while being in good condition. He had barely endured, believing that she would come back to him someday.