MOSC 25

A gentleman like this suddenly orders a 12-dish meal, says it is okay to leave food, he must be sick somewhere. Kkeutbun’s mother wondered if all of this was a dream or reality.

However, Wigyeom’s eccentric behavior did not end there.

“Wife, listen carefully.”

“Y-Yes, yeees…?”

Suddenly, in the middle of eating, Wigyeom firmly grabbed both of On’s hands.

“If I had my way, I would like to stay here with you for the rest of my life, but it seems I have some business to attend to for a short while.”

I cannot help but lament.

His eyes grew moist and welled up like a yellow dog whose master is leaving.

In contrast, a healthy color began to bloom on On’s face for the first time.

‘Finally.’

It was liberation.

Thus, of the married couple, one was dejected, while the other’s mood was soaring to the heavens.

“So, before I leave the house, there is something I must ask of you.”

With a serious face, Wigyeom extended an arm toward Gyesaeng and beckoned.

Gyesaeng quickly took a bundle out from his bosom and handed it to Wigyeom.

What came out of that bundle was none other than high-quality silk and a fine-toothed comb.

This time too, before On’s eyes could pop out, a choking sound of someone gagging came from behind.

Gyesaeng was again patting Kkeutbun’s mother’s back.

On thought.

‘Kkeutbun’s mother must be quite frail.’

…Kkeutbun’s mother had never had a single minor illness since birth, a woman born with a constitution as strong as they come.

Thus, On’s misconceptions continued to pile up.

On, surprised by the sudden appearance of silk and a fine-toothed comb, asked Wigyeom.

“What… is this?”

On was confused.

“What do you mean, what is it? Wife, you can make a blouse with the silk, and comb your hair with the fine-toothed comb.”

Wigyeom replied with a jest.

“Oh my goodness, Kkeutbun’s mother!”

Suddenly, the sound of someone collapsing was heard from behind.

In the end, Kkeutbun’s mother had witnessed the young master gifting new silk and a fine-toothed comb to his wife and had foamed at the mouth.

On was startled and tried to stand up, but Wigyeom quickly gestured to Gyesaeng.

The quick-witted servant picked up Kkeutbun’s mother, who had fainted in shock at the current scene, and retreated.

“…Is it okay to send her off like that?”

“Kkeutbun’s mother was not like this before, but she must be getting old. You cannot fool time.”

To say it again, Kkeutbun’s mother was a maid with a constitution of steel, whom all sorts of diseases had bypassed.

Wigyeom, knowing the situation full well, put on an air of gentility like a scholar whose intentions were contained in the tip of his brush.

“Then this silk and fine-toothed comb… are you saying they are all mine?”

“Of course. Where else would I have another woman to give such things to besides my wife?”

On’s heart sank.

There was.

Was there not she herself, who was supposed to be Wigyeom’s concubine and the lady of the separate quarters?

She remembered receiving a crimson skirt as a gift the day after she had received Wigyeom as a palace maid.

Of course, Wigyeom knew very well that the woman from that time was the On right in front of him now.

It was only natural, as he was the one who had planned the current event.

He would be a fool if he did not know.

However, On did not.

In a brief moment, On imagined all the possible futures that could unfold when Wigyeom found out her true identity. And she came to understand with excruciating clarity the feelings of Kkeutbun’s mother, who had collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

‘Death…!’

The tribulations that On had built up herself in her life, having been so thoroughly mistaken, stretched out endlessly.

When she crossed one hill, she saw another.

‘If I am caught impersonating Her Highness the Princess to a person like this, the very least I will get is a flogging, and at best, beheading…!’

The scene of a bailiff’s club breaking her back for the crime of daring to impersonate the wife of a great house and deceiving the virtues of the Three Bonds and Five Relationships, and the sound of her bones breaking, vividly flashed through her mind.

It felt like her future.

Meanwhile, Wigyeom looked at the trembling On and thought.

‘I chose silk that would match the crimson skirt, so it would be nice if she would wear them together.’

He nodded his head in satisfaction.

…The futures in the minds of the two people were off by a thousand miles.

As On was trembling like that, Wigyeom suddenly grabbed her hand.

He picked off a grain of rice stuck to the corner of On’s mouth, who was frozen from receiving a skirt and a fine-toothed comb as a gift in the middle of a meal, and earnestly requested.

“Your Highness the Princess, you must listen carefully to what I am about to say.”

Wigyeom deliberately used the title ‘Princess’ to cause On to misunderstand.

It was half-threatening as well.

To constantly highlight her duties as a princess in her mind, so that she would never be able to escape his scheme.

And there was also some personal feeling in it.

‘To me, the real princess is you.’

For a moment, he looked down at On with pure eyes.

A princess is the most precious person in a country. The most noble and precious flower.

Wigyeom’s grip on On’s hand tightened.

On gulped.

It was because Wigyeom’s expression as he said those words was so serious.

“You are the most precious person in our family. As such, you must absolutely not get a single drop of water on your hands.”

At those words, On’s ears turned red on their own.

She felt her head gradually bowing.

‘Th-The princess is someone else….’

Of course, Wigyeom mistook it as a good sign that On was feeling shy.

“Your Highness’s hands like these are suitable for plucking the strings of an instrument, not for rough work. So please, leave the household chores to the servants.”

Wigyeom said as he gently held and massaged On’s hands.

As he said that, his gaze sank low for a moment. He was thinking about the events of his past life.

However, On did not notice that.

Soon, he called for Gyesaeng.

“Gaettong. Bring in what you have prepared.”

Gyesaeng, who muttered something like, ‘Damn it, it’s Gyesaeng,’ hesitantly came in with something.

On unconsciously held her breath.

It was a lute, with a soundboard carved from paulownia wood, a body made of yellow wood, and an elegantly carved dragon gate.

On’s eyes widened as she recognized the familiar instrument.

As Wigyeom’s hand plucked a string, a clear and neat note resonated lightly.

“It is yours.”

Wigyeom held out the lute to On, his eyes trembling slightly.

On’s eyes widened.

“How about you use this to soothe your longing for your family home, which you must feel having just gotten married, or your loneliness for the family you miss?”

So that she would not hold anything other than an instrument. So that her fingertips would not be hurt by other work.

Wigyeom’s voice was as calm as ever, but the end of it sank low and deep. The unwavering, sunken voice was strangely submerged.

‘Although it is infinitely lacking, I hope this can relieve even a little of the sorrow of that time.’

Wigyeom’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.

On momentarily gasped.

‘How did he know that I can play the lute.’

That was not all.

Playing the lute held a meaning for On that was more than just a simple hobby.

It was not just about moving her fingers to produce notes, but about soothing her longing for her family deep in her heart, holding her breath and picking out the melody day after day.

‘Come to think of it, I have not held a lute for a long time since Princess Bonghwa’s marriage was decided….’

On’s eyes wavered slightly.

The man said to her firmly.

“No matter how much the servants urge you, Your Highness must absolutely not touch the household chores. You must stay cooped up in the main chamber, eating only sweet red persimmons like these, and simply pluck the lute strings to keep your mind and body at ease.”

At Wigyeom’s request, On’s face flushed.

No one had ever said anything similar to her.

However, Wigyeom repeatedly urged her.

“Yes? Do you understand? Wife, you absolutely must not work.”

This was something Wigyeom said because he knew what had happened in his past life as soon as On got married.

It was because of a man called Eunuch Gong, who had been sent from the royal palace for the princess.

In his past life, the king did not know if the unreliable Princess Bonghwa would be able to properly take care of the household.

So he sent Eunuch Gong from the Ministry of Finance and a few court ladies to help Princess Bonghwa.

The servants of the Sim family, who had to manage a ninety-nine-room tile-roofed house overnight, could not handle the strict standards demanded by the eunuch and court ladies sent from the royal palace.

Simply following them, thinking that they were the strict standards of the royal family, became a major source of trouble.

In the end, when Wigyeom arrived later and looked into the household ledgers, the management of goods and the operation of the household were a complete mess.

Rice and grains remained only as numbers in the ledgers, the reports and the actual inventory of goods did not match, and the servants became exhausted as their tasks were unfairly distributed.

Eunuch Gong and the court ladies used the princess’s status as an excuse to dispose of the family’s property without permission and falsified the Sim family’s ledgers, in reality filling their own pockets under the guise of the strict authority of the royal family.

The household became increasingly disorderly under the pretext of royal regulations, and the servants became resentful under excessive labor and oppression.

However, this life was different.

‘I intend to deliberately neglect the corruption they have committed to secure evidence, then immediately report it to the court and have them severely punished.’

Wigyeom, who harbored a grand plan, thought.

‘Wife. I will definitely make them pay for their sins, those who drove the family to ruin using the name of the royal family.’

The man was truly sharpening his sword.

On felt a shiver run down her spine when she saw Wigyeom’s expression at that moment.

‘As I thought, his personality is not entirely good.’

On thought, trembling.

A dark, sinister energy was rising from Wigyeom’s entire body, an expression that was the farthest from the moral gentleman she had imagined.

No matter how she looked at it, the dark thing was no ordinary energy.