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Chapter 07
Please, Brother!
The narrow alley was devoid of the lively bustle of daytime. Shops were closed, and even the merchants had returned home. In the cramped passage, only the lanterns lit in the pleasure house intermittently illuminated the way.
Yi-seo quickly scanned the alley, took her mother’s hand, led her inside, and firmly locked the door.
Lady Jeong’s hands were as cold as ice.
“Mother, why are you here? What about my brother?”
“Yi-seo!”
Lady Jeong covered her mouth as if she could not continue speaking. Yi-seo’s unease grew stronger.
“What has Brother done this time?”
“That is…”
“Please tell me quickly. I need to know if I’m going to fix it or not.”
“Yi-seo… as you know, Hyun-woo meant no harm.”
Lady Jeong began speaking in defense of Hyun-woo.
Yi-seo also knew her brother was not a bad person. Because she knew it well, hadn’t she been cleaning up his messes all this time?
Since childhood, Yi-seo had done every kind of job to earn money. From running errands at the market to copying texts at a bookshop at night, she had even revived memories from her past life to write romantic fiction and sell it.
If not for the money spent cleaning up Hyun-woo’s troubles, she could have owned one of the largest shops in the market street.
Yi-seo closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again, suppressing her emotions so she would not raise her voice.
“I understand. So what happened this time?”
“He… became a geobeok…”
Lady Jeong trailed off and shut her eyes tightly. Yi-seo thought she had misheard.
A geobeok?
“What do you mean by geobeok? Isn’t that when someone takes the civil service exam in another person’s place?”
Lady Jeong nodded, avoiding Yi-seo’s gaze, and continued to defend Hyun-woo.
“He always says it’s pointless for you to suffer alone, and that even if you pass the exam, once your background as a traitor’s family is discovered, everything will be for nothing…”
“Mother!”
Yi-seo called out, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Others lived just fine—why did her life keep becoming entangled like this?
Hyun-woo wasn’t entirely wrong. Even if one passed the exam, advancement would be distant. If their identity were revealed, it would not be advancement but a matter of life and death.
But Yi-seo had something she believed in. The male lead of this world, Prince Je-an, still remembered what happened ten years ago. Because of her—because of the guilt over his former fiancée who died before even blooming and the ruined family he could not save—once he gained power, he cleared the false accusations against the Yeon family and cared for the surviving members.
Yi-seo, his former fiancée, had died, but her brother Hyun-woo would, by that narrative, regain their home and live happily with their mother.
Or so she remembered reading it. Yet things kept going wrong.
“Why a geobeok of all things? He must know it’s illegal. Why would he do something like that—no, wait, since the exam hasn’t happened yet, nothing has technically been committed. If the money is returned…”
“He promised to act as a proxy for the son of Minister Choi, Choi Si-hwan. He agreed to pay back double the deposit if he broke the contract… and it seems like someone has been following him since then.”
Lady Jeong glanced nervously toward the door.
“How much money was it?”
Yi-seo had heard that Prince Je-an had returned. If they could just endure until he regained power, everything might still be resolved. Yi-seo looked at her mother with reddened eyes as she held back tears.
“Five thousand nyang was received, so… we must repay ten thousand.”
Yi-seo cursed under her breath without realizing it. She had lived long in the market streets and knew every kind of profanity, yet she had never once spoken them aloud. Especially not in front of her mother.
She knew better than anyone how hard her mother had worked—raising them in hiding after living as a noblewoman, while suppressing her identity to raise Yi-seo and her brother.
That was why Yi-seo had always tried to take care of her mother with all her strength.
But this time, she could not endure it.
“Ten thousand nyang!”
At Yi-seo’s disbelieving voice, Lady Jeong hesitated and said,
“Still, thankfully, the five thousand nyang was not spent and was returned. So if you can somehow raise only the remaining five thousand…”
“This is fraud. How can we be forced to repay five thousand nyang after only a few days without spending a single coin? This is usury! From the beginning, the geobeok was a trap.”
Lady Jeong let out a deep sigh. What could they do? Whether it was fraud or not, the other party was the son of the Prime Minister, and given Hyun-woo’s wrongdoing, they could not easily argue fault.
Moreover, they were fugitives. With the Prime Minister’s power towering over them, even if his son had committed fraud, where could they possibly report it?
“Yi-seo!”
Lady Jeong called gently, trying to soothe her.
“Shall we abandon everything and flee to another country instead?”
Yi-seo let out a long sigh and muttered.
In this harsh world, she had struggled to survive however she could. Yet the result was always the same.
“Even back then…”
Perhaps her fate was trapped in a parallel loop of death, from which she could never escape.
From the kitchen came the warm scent of red beans simmering in a large iron pot. Normally, she would have stirred it a dozen times before the bottom burned, but she had no strength at all.
What was the point of working through the night? In the end, everything collapsed or led to death. If she had known, perhaps it would have been better to die early as in the original story under Seok-cheol’s blade.
Yi-seo buried her face in her palms and lowered her head. Watching her tears slip through her fingers, Lady Jeong could not lift her head either.
“Has the kitchen cook changed?”
Ryun was not fond of sweets. Yet the neatly shaped yakgwa he picked up was not overly sweet, and its aftertaste was clean.
Rather than answering, Yooji smiled and called someone to bring more.
“Would you like me to pack some for you later?”
“Hm.”
He had expected a dismissive refusal, but Ryun seemed to consider it, making Yooji’s eyes widen in surprise. His refined face grew serious. The eyes that were usually playful lost all trace of laughter, revealing a sharp, cold light, and his tightly closed red lips carried an indescribable allure.
No wonder even the proud courtesans of Haewol Pavilion would gather shamelessly outside Yooji’s room whenever he visited.
Seeing Ryun hesitate over something as small as a piece of confectionery, Yooji laughed brightly.
“Why are you so serious over something like this, Your Highness? Just say the word and I would give you as much as you want.”
Ryun scoffed.
“Do you think I would be troubled over something like this?”
“Then what is it? Do you have something on your mind?”
Ryun frowned and fell into thought again. The face of Queen Dowager he had visited earlier lingered in his mind. Though still beautiful despite time, her face looked noticeably more gaunt than he remembered, and it troubled him.
From what palace maids and attendants often said about her skipping meals, he could guess the cause, but there was nothing he could do.
She had always had a small appetite, and during his absence, she had apparently become even worse about eating regularly.
‘She used to love these kinds of sweets.’
Ryun’s gaze returned to the confections. The yakgwa, crisp yet richly sweet, was delicious, and the delicate dagwa had an elegant fragrance.
“Tell the kitchen to make more of these.”
“It seems Your Highness really likes them.”
Pleased, Yooji smiled and said,
“The Haewol Pavilion kitchen is skilled, but they do not usually make sweets at this level.”
“Then?”
At Ryun’s interest, Yooji smiled again.
“There is a shop in the market street called Isudang. The young master there has exceptional skill. It is a bit expensive, but those who have tried it say it is the best.”
“A young master? A nobleman—no, a man—makes such things?”
At this, Yooji pouted slightly.
“What, Your Highness, are you about to say that noblemen should not do what commoners do?”
“No. It’s just that the only nobles I’ve seen are those who live off cheating and exploiting others.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Yooji agreed with a frown.
“By the way, how did that young master end up making sweets? Isn’t it usual for nobles to study for the civil service exam and aim for success?”
“I don’t know the details. Why would I dig into someone else’s circumstances when I can’t even fix my own? As long as the sweets taste good, that’s enough.”
Yooji smiled faintly, picked up a piece of yakgwa, placed it into Ryun’s mouth, and handed him tea.
The tea, sprinkled with walnuts and pine nuts, even had a floating egg yolk like a full moon. It was quite different from Ryun’s preference for clean, simple tea, and he looked at it with some reluctance.
“This tea is also excellent, as are the sikhye and ssanghwa tea.”
“What is this?”
“Isn’t it ssanghwa tea?”
“Do you think I asked because I didn’t know what it was? Tea is meant to purify body and mind—how could this be…”
At Ryun’s words, Yooji scoffed. For a lowly courtesan, her attitude was brazen as she pushed the cup slightly closer.
“Try it first before speaking.”
Ryun frowned but brought the cup to his lips. In his years of wandering, he had learned that one must experience something directly to understand it.
He carefully blew on the hot tea and took a sip.
Then his eyes widened.
“See? I told you it was good. It contains various medicinal herbs, so it’s also good for catching a cold. I’m only serving this to you because you’re a special guest.”
Yooji said proudly, lifting her chin.
“So where is that shop?”
Ryun, the Prince Je-an, set down his cup and asked.
