MOSC 39

He had to pour out his intense emotions somewhere.

Otherwise, it felt as though she would don a robe of wings and fly away right before his eyes.

Even now, the man took in the sight of the woman’s back, who had turned away from him, with the same feelings as yesterday.

She was like a flower petal in a spring field, likely to fly away with a gust of wind.

She could not be this fragile.

“…You are so small, my dear.”

Wigyeom whispered ardently in the darkness and pulled her into his embrace. Before On had a chance to refuse, she was held in his arms, her head resting on his arm.

“A beautiful face.”

Upon hearing those words, On’s body stiffened for a moment.

Because someone more beautiful than her kept saying she was beautiful, she did not know what to do with herself.

Wigyeom smiled a little and looked at her.

The man’s gaze was so bright and clear.

Captivated by his beautiful eyes, On felt her face flush and hastily closed her eyes.

“Are you not cold?”

Wigyeom gently wrapped his arm around On’s and pulled her toward him.

On quickly shook her head.

‘How could I be cold?’

Even if she was about to say she was cold, her heart melted at the sight of Wigyeom’s face, and she was not cold. Her lower belly even felt quite warm.

On wept inwardly and closed her eyes again.

Her body, weary from the man, soon cried out in fatigue.

How much time passed like that?

Wigyeom carefully tucked her hair behind her ear.

He gazed silently at the shadow cast over her eyes. Her breathing was even, so On was probably sound asleep like the moonlight.

He listened quietly to her breathing at a distance where he almost touched her forehead.

“…How did you endure all those harsh years with this fragile body?”

In the end, he could not suppress the words bursting from his heart and let them out.

All around was quiet. The deeply asleep On would not hear them anyway.

“…I must compensate you for everything.”

Sim Wigyeom muttered to himself the thoughts that filled his head, whether awake or asleep.

Like a watchman who could not bring himself to sleep, Wigyeom’s eyes remained open all through the night.

*

And so again, it was morning.

Opening her eyes, On blinked.

Wigyeom was letting On use his arm as a pillow.

‘Has he been like this all night…?’

In that moment, On discovered something ferocious between her thighs.

From that point on, a cold sweat trickled down On’s spine.

‘Bracken.’

On cried out inwardly.

‘I need bracken…!’

I will definitely put it on the table starting tomorrow.

On resolved.

She would, by any means necessary, obtain ingredients said to be bad for virility and feed them to Wigyeom.

Thinking that she must not create an opportunity for that ferocious pillar currently poking her thigh to be used, she hastily tried to get away, but the hand that pulled her body was faster.

“Yo-your arm must be uncomfortable….”

As On tried to lift herself from his arm, Wigyeom gently pulled her back down.

Then he opened his mouth with a nonchalant air.

“It is fine. Far from being uncomfortable, holding such a beautiful wife like this feels as if I am embracing the whole world.”

This gentleman’s pleasantries were growing by the day, as if they would reach the heavens.

She was just worried that the bottom of the sky might get a hole poked through it at this rate.

Because it was morning, the man’s voice was slightly low.

On hated herself for her earlobes naturally turning red upon hearing that voice.

Now, it seemed the man could seduce people not just with his face, but also with his voice.

The man even went a step further.

“It is said that the comfort of a household comes from the warmth of the family, so with my wife so close to me, what more could I possibly need?”

I have already obtained the world.

At those words, On felt shy and quickly closed her eyes.

‘What kind of gentleman is this, really.’

On had never in her life seen a gentleman so different in front and behind.

During the day, he was a man of virtue who followed the sages, but at night, he pursued only carnal desire, so she did not know which tune to dance to.

She continued to struggle, trying to get out of the bedding.

If the servants found out she was sleeping in so late with Wigyeom like this, strange rumors would surely spread.

“Eup…!”

But Wigyeom’s roughened voice came first.

“I was waiting for you to wake up.”

A bad premonition is never wrong.

“…It is said that all things are created only when the workings of heaven and earth ceaselessly turn, so should a husband and wife not also form their bond frequently?”

Wigyeom pulled the blanket up and covered both On and himself.

“…If a clear spring does not run dry, the village prospers, and if the affection of a husband and wife ripens, the family’s continuation is achieved for generations, so let us not neglect the affection between a husband and wife for even a moment, my wife.”

The man’s gaze was too earnest to refuse. He had blocked off all means of refusal from the start.

‘Ah, I cannot…!’

On could not even refuse and was captured, as if sucked into Wigyeom’s movements.

‘My wife, all of this is for our family.’

For a moment, Wigyeom’s eyes sank with a deep meaning, but On had no capacity to notice.

“Aah…!”

It was a morning where the inside of the embroidered quilt undulated colorfully like a wave for some time.

A few hours later.

Wigyeom picked up a thinly pan-fried flower pancake.

“Here, my wife. Say ah.”

On top of the flower pancake, made by thinly spreading sticky rice cake batter, coating it with honey, and pan-frying it, were delicately placed flower petals. One bite filled the mouth with the sweetness of honey and the fragrance of flowers.

His face was full of satisfaction as he pushed the flower pancake into his wife’s mouth.

“Are the flowers on this pancake not truly beautiful? But since you are eating it, the flowers must be bowing their heads in shame.”

…The one who bowed her head was On.

‘Please, Mr. Wigyeom….’

The servants are nearby.

Sure enough, Kkeutbun’s mother and Mogyun, who had pan-fried the flower pancakes themselves, were watching them.

Thud. The chopsticks in Kkeutbun’s mother’s hand fell.

Mogyun’s jaw had dropped as well.

‘What sin did we commit in our past lives to be seeing such a sight?’

‘Perhaps it means we should atone and be reborn. Namu Amitabha.’

These were the days when the Buddhist faith of the Sim family servants was growing deeper on its own.

That was how much the master of the house acted like he had a face of steel when it came to pouring affection on On.

And it was a face of steel, firmly hammered from brass, the kind used for the seven-jeweled and brightly colored traditional paintings on buildings.

It could not be any more solid.

The problem was that On, and the servants too, were slowly getting used to Wigyeom’s attitude.

“Hurry and open your mouth, my wife. Aah.”

Her mouth opened in bewilderment and disbelief at his words.

In between, Wigyeom deftly pushed in the flower pancake.

“That is right. You are eating well. You must chew it thoroughly so you do not get indigestion.”

The man smiled as if the flower pancake had gone into his own mouth.

And in the midst of it all, he was so handsome that she could not even get angry.

On, with a flushed face, unconsciously chewed the food in her mouth thoroughly and thought.

‘Job’s tears…!’

She once again recited the name of a food that reduces virility in her mind.

‘I must brew Job’s tears tea and make him drink it morning and evening.’

On, who had no choice but to rely on food, was desperate.

It was only natural.

In just half a day, Wigyeom’s face had become as smooth as if coated with a raw egg, while On’s face was sunken as if she had not even had rice water.

Wigyeom, having feasted on On’s energy and emotions, was completely triumphant.

He showed no signs of fatigue at all.

From what On had heard, Wigyeom had returned from a long journey, which was known to usually take at least a month, in just ten days.

‘Is his stamina made of steel…?’

On, who knew nothing about Wigyeom’s abilities, could not help but be overwhelmed by the man’s virility.

But it was not as if he had neglected his work either.

She heard that he had cleanly handled various tasks at stops along the way, resolved the complaints of tenant farmers, and had returned after once again solidifying the Sim family’s authority.

Having arrived like that, he was unstoppable, like a triumphant general.

On the other hand, Gyesaeng, who was said to have assisted him, had a face that in a few days had become as sunken as if a corpse had been pulled from a grave.

‘What on earth did he do?’

It was a journey that could not help but make one curious.

What on earth did he do for one side to be as robust as if he had eaten a whole horse, and the other side to be dying as if he were the horse that was eaten?

The clueless On could only think this way.

‘It would not be possible unless he had wings on his feet….’

In reality, Wigyeom used the art of land shrinking as if he had wings on his feet.

She was completely oblivious, even though countless things beyond imagination were happening both inside and outside the house.

In the end, On cautiously asked.

“How did you travel such a long distance at such a fast speed?”

Wigyeom gave only this simple answer.

“I changed horses twice. And I slept a little less.”

The innocent On believed his words at face value.

‘Oh, so that is what happened….’

Pfft.

Right after that, someone spat out the water they were drinking.

It was Gyesaeng, who had suffered terribly by his side. With a face as if he had not eaten a single grain of rice, he glared with wide eyes and shook his head at On.

That is not it.

‘That man is not human, my lady! He is a monster!’

However, the alarm bells from Gyesaeng’s shouts, saying that she was being deceived, did not reach On. Because Wigyeom had spotted Gyesaeng and had given him a faint smile.

‘Gaettong, you must want to cross the Sanzu River early.’

‘Of course not, my lord. I prefer mountains over rivers.’

And so, today as well, the secret of Wigyeom and the monster was safely kept.

The matter of Eunuch Gong was eventually revealed to Wigyeom.

On was a little scared when she learned that this fact had been revealed to Wigyeom.

‘He told me not to get involved in household affairs….’