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Chapter 21
“The pain must have been severe enough to make him faint. I have prescribed herbs that will help with the pain, so he should regain consciousness soon.”
“You’ve done well.”
General Geummu, who had set up camp halfway up the mountain to conduct his search, personally sent his guards down the mountain to bring up a physician and treat Yeon.
He had never imagined that the clumsy ‘bandit’ who claimed to be an herb gatherer was actually his long-lost wife, the very person he had been searching for. He gazed down at Yeon’s pale, bloodless face.
“An intriguing physiognomy.”
It was a face he couldn’t stop looking at.
“Have I seen him somewhere before?”
It was clearly the first time he’d seen him, yet something about Yeon felt strangely familiar. And so, for several hours, Geummu stared at the unconscious Yeon.
“Since you’ll be taking him back to the capital anyway, is there any need to treat him?”
One of Geummu’s subordinates, who had been suspicious of Yeon all along, asked the question with a dubious expression.
“I’m going to release him.”
“What? My lord…! We don’t even know his identity. According to the physician, that valley is steep and full of rocky cliffs—herb gatherers rarely go there.”
“I know that much without needing to hear it from some quack.”
Even so, the subordinate was perplexed by his lord’s intention to let Yeon go.
“But why—”
“I’m going to use him as bait to slaughter those bandits. So make sure that physician keeps his mouth shut.”
Geummu put unusual emphasis on the word “bandits.”
The subordinate assumed the “bandits” referred to were actually imperial soldiers or the Prime Minister’s private troops—since that was what everyone usually inferred. But listening ears were everywhere, so Geummu’s men always called those mysterious forces “bandits.”
This time, however, it seemed he meant actual bandits.
“As you command.”
Only then, understanding his lord’s intention, the subordinate bowed and left the tent.
‘Too graceful and refined a face to be a bandit or an herb gatherer.’
“A very suspicious fellow indeed.”
Geummu thought as he stared down at Yeon.
A face you could look at without ever tiring, timid like a frightened rabbit… Had they met anywhere else, he might have dragged him into his bed to savor him.
But he had come all this way to find his wife—gone to war for her—so he could not bring himself to lust after another. He clicked his tongue in frustration.
Never having seen Yeon before, and having believed the rumors that his wife was a dim-witted fool who couldn’t tell heaven from earth, Geummu didn’t suspect the unconscious person before him in the slightest.
Though the clean hands and feet, too unblemished for someone living in the mountains, and the snow-white skin that had clearly never seen sunlight were suspicious, he never once imagined that the Prime Minister’s son would be living as a bandit. He merely assumed Yeon to be some poorly trained spy.
The embroidery on Yeon’s sleeve looked familiar as well.
If it was something he found familiar, it wasn’t the kind of handiwork sold cheaply in the markets. No such fine craft should exist in a remote mountain valley like this.
“Slaughter the bandits…? I have to get out of here…”
Yeon had awakened at dusk and heard everything Geummu said, but pretended to be asleep.
Geummu was sharp by nature and would normally have noticed, but Yeon—who had spent his whole life pretending to sleep to avoid trouble—was a master at it, and Geummu didn’t catch on.
Then the outside of the tent suddenly became noisy, and someone rushed in.
“My l—… I mean, General! The Prime Minister has arrived!”
Yeon, still feigning sleep, felt his heart drop straight into his stomach. He almost bolted upright.
Why had his father come all the way here? Had he come to kill him?
“To come here personally?”
“Yes. The three young masters are with him.”
“Dragging those good-for-nothing brats along too… What does he intend? Does he mean to gather the ashes of his dead youngest son?”
The “youngest son” of the Prime Minister could only mean Yeon.
Yeon hesitated. If he went out now, he could return home with his father and brothers. But then he would return to that prison-like household. And more importantly… he couldn’t shake the suspicion that his father truly wished him dead.
Yeon recalled the warmth he had felt in the bandit hideout, even though it had only been a few days.
Haegon, who silently but consistently cared for him. Songwon and Haeju, always worried. Even those who disliked Yeon at first showed far more affection than he ever received at home. Even his pet taeogi seemed happier there than in that stifling house.
But if his father learned he had been living among bandits… he would inevitably punish them. And Yeon believed he would be included among those to be punished.
“Then… even if I have to leave, I must save them.”
As Geummu left with his men to greet the Prime Minister, Yeon quietly opened his eyes. Thankfully, no guards were watching him.
He had fainted earlier, and with the Prime Minister here, everyone’s attention was elsewhere.
Yeon found a small opening behind the tent and crawled out. It was barely big enough for a dog, but Yeon’s small, light body slipped through easily.
“I have to get back to the hideout.”
Leaving behind his blood family, Yeon ran with all his strength.
To the place where people brightened at a few embroidered flowers, who forged clumsy weapons to protect him. To Yeon, the people of the hideout had become his true family.
“Good heavens, you fool! How could you leave your sister-in-law behind? Huh?”
“Her leg was hurt—she couldn’t even run…”
The hideout was like a funeral house again.
Those caught in the explosion were gravely injured, and the elders were crying while clinging to young Songwon.
The only one who seemed composed was Byeokhee.
“B-Byeokhee, what do we do? Th—the mistress…”
“Mistress? Mistress who?”
“Oh, you brat! Even if you were blinded by infatuation…! We must rescue her before the chief returns. There’s no time!”
No matter how much Bumseok’s mother shook her, Byeokhee didn’t budge.
“I’m not blinded by infatuation, Mother.”
“Don’t lie! If you hadn’t threatened to tear his mouth apart, we wouldn’t have gone hunting in the first place!”
Songwon lashed out at Byeokhee, though mostly out of guilt.
Byeokhee replied in her usual cold tone.
“So this is all my fault? Not yours, for believing nonsense and endangering everyone? Didn’t the chief clearly say not to go hunting for a while?”
“Th—that was because you cornered sister-in-law…!”
“Then why didn’t you speak up for her? Or go save her when she got captured?”
Songwon had no reply. For all her harshness, Byeokhee rarely said anything untrue.
“Look at us now—everyone is injured and starving. If we go, we’ll just get captured too. And you all seem to forget—he originally lived in the outside world. He might even be a noble.”
If they were captured, execution would be certain. But he—his fate would be different. Byeokhee’s voice grew smaller, as if unsure of her own words.
“…This time, Byeokhee is right.”
The one who spoke next was Haeju.
“What? You too?!”
Songwon cried out, but Haeju didn’t look up from treating the injured.
“If we go and get caught, then what he sacrificed for us becomes meaningless. Even if you and I are the only ones still able to move, if we could save him, he wouldn’t have left in the first place.”
It made sense.
Only Haeju and Songwon had been uninjured on the ridge, and the rest had suffered when the caravan’s cargo exploded.
Songwon collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head. How could he face the chief now…?
‘Sister-in-law… please… just stay alive. Please…!’
