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Chapter 3
Seorin didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t all that unusual for someone to be unable to show up because something came up at the interview site.
“Applicants, wait here for a moment.”
As the staff went inside, the applicants couldn’t contain their excitement and began whispering among themselves.
“It feels like a dream. To be selected for the first round of the Yeokwon¹) that His Majesty established!”
“Get a grip. The real test is just starting!”
“Didn’t the noksa²) who handed out the exam slips earlier look amazing? It’d be so nice if we could work together!”
Among them was even a child who had their eyes tightly shut, clutching prayer beads and chanting fervently.
“Namu Amitabha… Namu Amitabha….”
Listening to the applicants, Seorin understood their feelings better than anyone. It overlapped with her own desperate self from the past, going from one hotel interview to another.
And there was one more applicant here who couldn’t hide their anticipation.
“…After I pass, I’ll save h-half of my salary, use it as c-capital to start a business, make pretty accessories, open a shop in Gaegyeong… rake in money… and put those b-brats under my thumb….”
Gabi, too, seemed to be dreaming of a rosy future after passing.
“…Gabi?”
“…I’ll outshine even the S-Song artisans, make them l-look at me with eyes of a-admiration….”
Watching these desperately hopeful applicants changed Seorin’s mindset as well.
‘Even if it’s just a dream, I’ll do my best! Seriously!’
Just then, the noksa who had stepped away returned.
“We will now begin the second test—the interview. Come forward in groups of five, in the order you’re lined up, and demonstrate your abilities to the examiners.”
At the call, the applicants at the front went back into the interview area first.
Seorin stood on tiptoe and tried to sneak a look inside, but it was hard to see through the cloth partition.
It would help to hear something about the interview in advance, but perhaps because of the distance, she couldn’t make out anything clearly.
That was when Gabi cautiously called out to her.
“Um, Seorin.”
“Hm?”
“Y-you know the c-clothes you’re wearing right now… m-maybe you should c-change?”
“Ah….”
Seorin looked down at herself. She was still wearing the clothes she’d thrown on at the stable earlier.
‘Anyone can see I look kind of a mess. Dress pants on the bottom, and some random man’s hanbok on top.’
“I-I brought a s-spare outfit. D-do you want to w-wear it?”
Gabi pulled out a clean set of clothes from her bundle.
“Th-there’s a spot back there where n-no one can see. G-go change q-quickly.”
“Thank you.”
Seorin accepted the clothes without refusing.
Even if it was a dream, an interview was still an interview! Wouldn’t it be tragic to fail (again) because of improper attire?
While Gabi stood guard, Seorin quickly changed clothes in a corner beneath the wall and retied her hair. Then she took out her makeup tools from her bag and did a quick touch-up.
As she was about to put the tools away, Seorin hesitated after noticing something inside her bag, then quietly slipped it into her sleeve.
Their turn came quickly.
“Applicants number eleven through fifteen, enter.”
As Seorin climbed the steps and stood on the platform, she felt a pleasant tension. Thinking of it as a dream, she wasn’t even nervous.
Habitually running through possible questions and answers in her head, Seorin then looked at Gabi and was startled. Her face had gone completely pale, and she was trembling.
‘Oh no….’
Seorin lightly took Gabi’s hand. Gabi looked at her in surprise, and Seorin mouthed the words.
‘Don’t be nervous. You’ve got this.’
As if she understood, Gabi smiled faintly and nodded.
Seorin glanced toward the judges’ seats. As expected of what was practically a national hotel interview, people dressed in grand attire were seated there.
From officials who clearly looked high-ranking, to a man who was breathtakingly handsome like a painting… Huh?
‘…Wow. No way.’
The painting-like handsome man Seorin had noticed stood up from his seat.
The applicants, staring at him, forgot all about the exam and burst into admiration.
“Wow!!”
“Eek!!”
“…Applicants, maintain decorum.”
A tired-looking man standing to one side of the interview hall calmly admonished them, as if this were nothing new.
The applicants immediately shut their mouths, but their gazes remained fixed on the handsome man.
Seorin once again realized she truly was inside a dream.
‘There’s no way someone with looks that insane—like every aspect of my ideal type rolled into one—could exist in real life.’
Dark, ink-black long hair neatly combed without a strand out of place; straight eyebrows; deep, cold eyes that seemed to hold winter frost.
A sharply defined jawline, a straight, smooth nose rising proudly beneath it, perfectly balanced with lips closed in a neat line—and that sculpted jawline again.
Within that perfect balance, his cold, expressionless face only drew the eye more powerfully.
A cool, refined beauty—like a sculpture carved from ice and painted in ink wash.
‘Is that what they call a cold, handsome man?’
As everyone stared, spellbound, the man with the unreal looks opened his mouth.
“First, congratulations on passing the written examination.”
A refined voice carrying a chill, perfectly matching his appearance. Upon hearing it, the applicants looked like they might faint all over again.
Everyone on the platform gazed at him, utterly entranced.
“….”
‘Huh?’
But that man…
It feels like he’s been staring at me this whole time…?
Lee Euncheon stopped his gaze after spotting a familiar face among the applicants.
The day before, Euncheon had visited the imperial palace on urgent business and returned to Hye-eumwon before dawn.
Since it was early morning and there was no stablehand, he led his horse into the stable himself—only to find someone asleep atop a pile of straw, soaked to the bone.
“An attendant who followed one of the examiners…?”
From the strange clothes and the way they were sleeping in the corner of the stable, it seemed certain they served a heartless master.
‘If they sleep like that, they’ll surely fall ill.’
Euncheon approached to wake them.
But then—
“…A woman?”
The attendant wasn’t a man. He had mistaken her because of her clothes.
The delicate facial lines visible between her folded arms were unmistakably those of a woman.
She must have come up to the capital from a distant province to take the Yeokwon exam, failed to secure lodging due to her circumstances, and secretly slept in the stable last night.
‘No matter how difficult things are, how could a woman sleep alone in a place like this!’
With the Yeokwon selection underway, quite a few outsiders, including examiners, were coming and going.
In such a situation, a woman sleeping alone in such a secluded place could easily fall victim to something terrible.
Just then—
“…Hic… Mom… Dad….”
Euncheon froze.
“…W-why did you leave me behind. I’m so tired….”
Her shoulders trembled as she cried in her sleep, and for a brief moment, Euncheon saw someone else superimposed over her.
“….”
He gave up on waking her, carefully stepped closer, took off the windproof outer garment he was wearing, and draped it over her.
“Mmm….”
The woman shivered faintly in her sleep. As Euncheon tried to tuck the coat around her more securely, her hand suddenly grabbed his—
“!”
“…D-don’t go. Don’t leave me alone….”
Euncheon hesitated. It was just sleep-talking.
He could have shaken her hand off, but the small, soft hand clutched him with such desperate longing—as if grasping onto something she couldn’t bear to lose—that he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“….”
After a moment of thought, Euncheon bent his knee and leaned down. Then, softly, he whispered near her ear.
“…Do not worry. I will not leave you alone.”
