TRSCSS 20

Chapter 20

Hardy Kiwi Yokan and Yuzu Ginger Preserves

Iseo plunged into deep thought as he pulled out the dried hardy kiwis. Last autumn, he had picked a generous bunch of sturdy-looking kiwis and set them out to dry. But looking at them now—dusted over and shriveled into tough lumps—he began to regret the scratches he had earned from the tree branches that day, wondering if his greed had really been worth the trouble.

“What is this?”

Eon-nyeon picked up a hard, blackened fruit that looked nothing like food, placed it on her palm, and rolled it around.

“Aren’t those dried hardy kiwis?”

“These are?” Eon-nyeon raised the fruit high, her voice laced with disbelief. The hardy kiwis she had seen in autumn were vibrant green, sweet-and-sour fruits. Yet this was so rock-hard that her teeth wouldn’t even dent it—and judging by its appearance alone, she doubted whether it was even edible, let alone tasty.

Sighing softly, Iseo dumped the dried fruit into a large wooden bowl filled with water. The bone-dry fruits floated idly on the surface, refusing to sink. Iseo began to rub and scrub the kiwis clean in the water.

After washing them thoroughly, he soaked the fruits in plum wine until they plumped up, then added honey and simmered them gently. Slowly, the wretched, shriveled kiwis began to regain their former shapes. Though they had lost the freshness of newly picked fruit, their greenish tint and plump, rounded contours gradually returned.

Once the fruits were fully simmered, Iseo took out agar-agar and melted it down. As the agar dissolved completely, he adjusted the sweetness with honey and grain syrup, then stirred in bean paste until fully dissolved.

“Young Master, what are you making?”

“I’m thinking of making hardy kiwi yokan.”

It was starting to get warmer day by day. On days like this, chilled yokan sold far better than rice cakes. Besides, Iseo intended to head over to Hanseojae with a box of fine yokan studded with hardy kiwis, alongside a fresh jug of yuzu-ginger tea. It simply wouldn’t do to visit someone else’s home empty-handed.

Trying to gauge whether there were still green plums hanging from the trees at Hanseojae, Iseo suddenly frowned. The memory of Grand Prince Jean—whom he had briefly forgotten—flashed through his mind. Along with it came the recollection of the Prince kissing Yuji’s cheek while staring straight at him. How on earth had his thoughts drifted there?

‘Should I just forget about going?’

Given the weather, the plums might have already gone soft. From what people were saying, Yi Ryun seemed to spend far more time at Haewolgak than at Hanseojae these days. Even so, Hanseojae was now Ryun’s residence, and Iseo had no desire to wander around and draw unnecessary attention. Nothing good would come from getting entangled with him.

And yet…

‘If your offer to let me have the plums still stands, may I come gather the yellow plums later?’

The words he had spoken weighed on his conscience. It was unlikely Ryun would wait for him or refrain from picking the fruit just because of those words, but Iseo felt he had spoken too hastily.

“Young Master, should we buy some yellow plums?”

Just then, Sam-deuk, who had been diligently washing rice, casually interjected. He leaned back and rubbed his lower back while gazing up at the sky, seemingly calculating how much time he had left to brew yellow plum preserve.

“If we wait any longer, we won’t be able to make it this year.”

Between handling his elder brother’s affairs and moving the shop, they had been so busy that they missed the window for buying yellow plums.

While green plums had superior medicinal qualities, yellow plums offered far richer flavor and sweetness for drinks. Every year, Iseo would buy them in bulk to make yellow plum tea for the shop.

Because it was also great for soothing stomachaches in summer, Sam-deuk always made a little extra whenever Iseo prepared a batch, setting some aside for Eon-nyeon. But seeing his master silent on the matter this year, Sam-deuk was subtly bringing it up.

“Do you think there are still yellow plums left at the market?”

“Who can say? The weather has been unusually warm this year, so it’s likely the end of the season. When I checked yesterday, most of them were already soft…” Sam-deuk’s voice trailed off.

“Right, as I thought. Don’t worry, though. I have a source in mind.”

Finishing his sentence, Iseo moved his hands nimbly to stir liquid taffy into the agar and bean paste mixture. He divided it equally into two small pots, blending milk into one and green tea liquid into the other. Pouring both halves into a mold side by side, he artistically embedded the honey-simmered kiwis into the center.

“Wow! Young Master! It’s so pretty!” Eon-nyeon gasped in admiration.

She couldn’t believe those dark, rock-like fruits had transformed into this. And the yokan itself! Having only seen the plain red ones sold in the marketplace, the half-green, half-white jelly looked impossibly elegant to her eyes.

Once the yokan set, Iseo sliced off the very first piece and placed it in Eon-nyeon’s hand. Watching this, Sam-deuk scowled and grumbled reprimandingly.

“Young Master, you’ll spoil her rotten. Giving her leftovers is more than enough.”

“Nonsense, how could I do that? Eon-nyeon is far more important to me than business.”

As Iseo replied with a warm smile, Eon-nyeon stuck her tongue out at her father and scampered outside.

“Look at her… tsk, tsk!”

Sam-deuk clicked his tongue in disapproval, but Eon-nyeon had already sprinted off with her treat to the open lot in front of the shop where the other children were playing.

“Mind the shop for a bit. I’ll go bring back some yellow plums.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Iseo packed a few slices of yokan along with a small jar of yuzu ginger syrup and set out. Since the days were getting longer, he would be able to make it back before dark if he walked briskly.

“It so happens that top-quality honey came in, and my father instructed me to bring it to you, My Lord.”

As Seoyeon spoke, she lowered her eyelids demurely. The faint blush on her cheeks gave her the unmistakable air of a shy, smitten young maiden. It was an undeniably lovely sight, yet Ryun’s gaze remained icy as he looked at her.

“The Chief State Councillor sent me honey?”

I wonder if it’s poisoned, he thought. Though he didn’t say it aloud, Ryun’s eyes burned with deep distrust as he looked at the jar.

Seoyeon, however, was seeing Ryun up close for the first time after only admiring him from afar, and she was far too spellbound by his appearance to notice anything else. The face that had captivated her from a distance shone even more brilliantly up close.

His smooth forehead, dark and beautifully shaped eyebrows, straight nose, and lush red lips made it impossible to look away. And his voice! It was a world apart from her brother Choi Si-hwan’s rough, raspy voice, ruined by liquor and tobacco. Her intuition had been right all along.

With a satisfied expression, Seoyeon spoke again.

“It is wild honey harvested by mountain hunters, aged for well over ten years. I am not sure if you know, but honey only improves with age.”

In truth, as Ryun suspected, the honey was not a gift from Choi Chi-seong at all; Seoyeon had snuck it out of the family storeroom on her own authority. The entire world knew how much Chief State Councillor Choi Chi-seong despised Grand Prince Jean; he would never send a present to him.

This left Seoyeon feeling desperate. Her father kept promising her that he would “look into it tomorrow” or “see about it soon,” but she had long realized he had zero intention of doing so.

Yet, as an unmarried lady of noble birth, she couldn’t simply linger around the walls of Haewolgak where Ryun usually stayed. So, upon hearing the news that Ryun had moved his residence to Hanseojae, Seoyeon seized the prized honey her father had been hoarding and rushed straight to him. What harm could there be in the daughter of a Prime Minister paying a courtesy visit when a royal relative moved house?

It was a laughable excuse. Her eyes scanned him from his face down to his entire body. Unsatisfied with a single glance, she feigned modesty by casting her eyes down, only to steal repeated glances at him through her eyelashes.

‘Choi Chi-seong’s daughter, is it?’

Irritated by her gaze, Ryun unfurled a fan painted with vibrant peonies, partially concealing his face as he sank into thought.

It wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Thinking of the Chief State Councillor who was constantly plotting his elimination, he realized he might have just gained a useful bargaining chip.

He had long heard rumors that the Chief State Councillor doted heavily on his daughter. The old man undoubtedly planned to marry her off into a modest noble family he could easily manipulate—or perhaps send her to court as the King’s concubine.

A powerless prince born of a late king’s concubine certainly wasn’t among his options.

“Convey my thanks to the Chief State Councillor for the gift.”

“I am simply glad it pleases you, My Lord. However… I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“I believe you are twenty-four this year, My Lord. You are well past the usual age for marriage. If there is no one you hold in your heart…”

“My Lady.”

Ryun interrupted her, a sweet smile curving his lips. His eyes narrowed slightly into soft arches as he turned to look at her. How could anyone resist such a face? Seoyeon’s expression grew dazed and intoxicated.

“Have you not heard the rumors about me?”

At his question, Seoyeon smiled gently.

“Are you referring to the courtesan named Yuji? I don’t particularly mind. Looking at my own father, he has several concubines kept out of sight, and my brother takes pride in keeping multiple women as well. At the very least, you are not that kind of man, My Lord.”

Still, Seoyeon was curious as to why Ryun was bringing it up to her face.

“Though I must ask—what is your true intention in telling me this? Is it that you find me disagreeable?”

Naturally, he found her thoroughly disagreeable. The mere fact that the daughter of Chief State Councillor Choi Chi-seong had sought him out was displeasing enough.

Everything about her rubbed him the wrong way—from her brazen demeanor as if proposing a business transaction, to her underlying confidence that a powerless royal like him would have no choice but to accept her proposal.

Ryun’s downcast eyes turned cold and stern.

“How could I possibly compare the Prime Minister’s precious daughter to a mere courtesan?”

Failing to notice the chill in Ryun’s complexion, Seoyeon nodded in agreement. Indeed. A woman like that couldn’t possibly be compared to her. But then, what was the issue? She had set spies on him and thoroughly investigated every rumor in the market, finding nothing else that could pose a problem.

“I have a betrothed.”

At Ryun’s words, Seoyeon’s face turned pale with shock.

“B-but, My Lord… I have never heard of such a thing.”

Even her father and brother, who had subtly pressured her to give up on Grand Prince Jean, had never mentioned anything about a betrothed.

Ryun’s smile deepened at her protest. Pressing the folded fan against his cheek as if recalling his beloved, he looked lost in thought before continuing.

“She was the granddaughter of a minister whom the late King held in high esteem. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of her from afar when she visited the palace holding her grandfather’s hand as a young child…”

Ryun raised his eyes to look at Seoyeon.

“A promise is a promise, after all. Though circumstances keep us apart for now, how could a nobleman take a promise lightly? I will wait for her, no matter how long it takes.”

Ryun gazed up at the sky with a wistful, yearning look, as though pining for a long-lost lover.

Seoyeon’s mouth fell wide open. Realizing how unseemly she must look, she quickly shut it, but her mind remained completely derailed and unable to make sense of the situation.