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chapter 21
The tournament grounds I hurried to were, quite literally, complete chaos.
“Don’t you dare lose, Senior Brother! If you lose, all of us have to double our training!”
“What are you doing? End the match already! Did Father raise you to be that weak?!”
Even the young masters of the noble families—who had been maintaining their dignity on the opening day—were now shouting themselves hoarse with bloodshot eyes. Watching the scene with a tired expression, Yehan tilted his head.
“Where might the Young Hero be?”
“Probably over there.”
In this tournament, participants were first divided by gender, then grouped with others of similar age to compete in martial matches.
Since Muwol had only been an adult for two years, he would probably be waiting in the second section of the men’s division.
“Let’s hurry. Mother, Father, and my brother must be waiting for us.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Nodding, Yehan held tightly to the lunchbox I had entrusted to him. I stared silently at it.
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
‘Maybe I should’ve just asked the cook to prepare it.’
I did my best making it, but there was no way it could taste better than something made by someone who had cooked their entire life.
Still, I had heard that martial artists who lived rough lives in the jianghu tended to like gestures like this.
Even though I’d realized that marrying Muwol wouldn’t suddenly change who I was, the fact that he was a benefactor to my family remained the same. Determined to treat him with utmost sincerity, I headed to the seats arranged atop the stairs.
In front of the luxurious draped canopy, I spotted my family sitting among the spectators. I waved my hand.
“I’m here!”
“Oh, you made it.”
“Not late for once.”
My brother pointed to the empty seat beside him.
Last time we had to watch standing, but today was different. Mother had donated money to the organizers.
Those who contributed a certain amount were allowed to sit comfortably in seats near the arena. Mother chuckled softly.
“We can’t miss even a single moment of our future son-in-law’s performance.”
Sitting behind my brother, Mother asked Father for agreement.
“Don’t you think so too?”
“Ahem.”
He didn’t answer, but Father also seemed quietly excited.
Just as I placed the lunchbox on my lap and sat down—
“Is it okay if we watch from here?”
“It doesn’t matter. My brother’s match has already passed.”
…Why are you here?
As Young Master Namgung Yuhan climbed the stairs, our eyes met directly.
But we didn’t hold the gaze long. The people seated nearby immediately stood and greeted him.
“We greet the young master of the Namgung family.”
“What brings you here, Young Master?”
Wait—why is someone of such high status here among the guests?
I’d heard the Namgung family had their own special seats prepared by the organizers.
My gaze shifted to the man standing beside Yuhan. He had very gentle-looking eyes. It seemed Yuhan had come here just to sit with that friend.
I didn’t expect the rule “a gentle-looking person always has an intimidating best friend” to apply here too.
Anyway, since we were fellow residents of Anhui, we also greeted him politely, and Yuhan returned the greeting with decent manners.
Probably because this was a public place.
Right. No matter how temperamental he was, even Young Master Yuhan couldn’t openly throw a tantrum here.
At least, that’s what I thought.
“Is it alright if we sit there?”
“Yeah, it looks like the best view.”
Until he sat right behind me and began glaring openly at the back of my head.
Wow. That’s really petty.
The only good thing was that he didn’t even look at my parents or my brother.
It seemed he had decided to hate only me—the future wife of Muwol. At least he had that much conscience.
‘Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll just sit here and take it anymore.’
If I simply stayed quiet and endured it, people would start thinking Muwol was easy to push around too.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll act openly hostile either.’
My family still lived in Anhui, after all.
In situations like this, the key was to respond appropriately and flexibly.
After calming myself, I turned my head and met Young Master Yuhan’s eyes. Just as he lifted his chin as if to say What are you looking at?, I curled the corners of my lips upward.
His face froze instantly.
“…What’s wrong?”
His friend beside him asked in confusion, but Yuhan didn’t move.
He just stared at me cautiously, like a cat encountering something unfamiliar.
When I smiled once more deliberately, Yuhan shuddered and turned his head completely toward his friend.
“Why does that irritating face have to be here…?”
“Are you really okay? Are you sick or something?”
The reason for his reaction was simple.
Normally when I smiled, it meant:
“I’m not a dangerous person.”
“Let’s get along.”
But right now, I was focusing solely on recreating someone else.
The expression and aura Muwol had when he saved me from Yuhan.
Back then, Muwol had been smiling gently, yet carried an upright presence that clearly said he would never tolerate injustice.
Even I couldn’t forget that sight despite just watching from the side.
So how could Yuhan forget, when he had faced that smile directly?
He must have been haunted by that memory for quite some time.
“Does the saying that couples resemble each other apply even before marriage?”
“Before marriage, they’re still strangers.”
“But it was creepily identical.”
I might not be able to fully imitate all of Muwol’s strengths after knowing him for such a short time.
But copying his expression and aura for a brief moment?
That was easy enough.
Still, I probably wouldn’t use this trick again.
It only worked because it was the first time. Next time he’d probably just be annoyed.
‘But was it really that similar?’
I secretly took out a small hand mirror from my sleeve and looked at my reflection.
Then I flinched.
For a moment, I could almost see Muwol’s shadow overlapping my face.
Not just the smile—the entire atmosphere was similar.
‘It’s really that alike…’
A skill learned from observing him closely up close.
‘Though it’s not like I’ll use it again.’
Why was I so good at useless things?
Just as I was about to put the mirror away—
“So you can smile like that?”
A suddenly amused voice sounded.
The mirror slipped from my hand.
But it didn’t shatter on the ground.
Because Muwol caught it instantly.
Blushing, I called his name.
“Muwol.”
“Oh my, our future son-in-law!”
“What brings you here? You must be busy preparing for your match.”
“Since you came all this way, I thought I should greet you first.”
My parents returned the greeting with bright smiles.
I could feel the envious gazes from people around us.
“Taking such good care of his future in-laws even before the wedding.”
“Young men that polite are rare these days. What a wonderful son-in-law.”
After greeting them, Muwol returned the mirror to my hand.
Feeling like I’d been caught doing something mischievous, I quickly turned my back to the others—including Yuhan—and mouthed silently.
‘Young Master Yuhan kept glaring at me, so I tried smiling like you.’
The moment I finished, Muwol leaned close to my ear.
Then he whispered softly.
“Smiling like me?”
“Huh?”
“That’s impossible. Yours was far more beautiful than mine.”
Usually when someone whispers, only your ear tickles.
Why did my heart feel ticklish too?
While I struggled to calm myself, Muwol turned his head.
“Young Master Yuhan, you’re here as well. It’s even nicer seeing you here.”
We stood side by side and smiled at him.
Yuhan’s already unpleasant expression darkened further.
Strangely, I could practically read his thoughts.
“Standing together makes it even more irritating.”
For the record, this time I wasn’t imitating Muwol’s smile.
I just smiled normally.
Right now, an innocent expression seemed like it would annoy him more.
And my prediction was correct.
Yuhan glared at us like he wanted to devour us, then forced himself to speak politely.
“I heard you’ll be marrying Lady Sojin. As a member of the Namgung family, I’m very pleased. I hope the wedding proceeds smoothly.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
Muwol took my hand.
“I never imagined I would meet my future wife here.”
“…I also never imagined you two would end up together.”
Muwol looked down at me warmly.
“It seems I’ve always formed good connections with people from Anhui.”
Yuhan’s face twisted further as he sneered.
“I wonder if the other party thinks the same.”
The moment he finished speaking, I replied.
“Of course I do.”
“No, I meant—”
“I’m truly happy to be marrying someone as wonderful as Muwol. Though his reputation is so great that it does make me a little nervous.”
Of course, I knew the “other party” Yuhan meant wasn’t me.
He probably meant himself and the Namgung family.
But sometimes, pretending to be clueless is how you win.
I looked up at Muwol.
“Our engagement seems to have spread already. Everywhere I go, people keep staring at us.”
Muwol reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Sojin, they might simply be looking because you’re so beautiful.”
“That just makes it even more embarrassing.”
As I said that, I deliberately glanced sideways at Yuhan.
Now his face had turned completely pale—beyond disgust.
