“That guy keeps treating me like a prostitute!!”
Murong Sang-a fumed as she threw the Joseon Women’s Conduct Manual against the wall.
How long has it been since I’ve been this angry?
Not even when I overwhelmingly lost to my older brother in front of the servants was I this furious. Back then, embarrassment and shame took precedence. But I felt something similar not long ago.
Right. I was just as angry the first time I met that guy.
‘A broken kite like you sure has a lot to say. Just shut up and pour the drinks, you b*tch! Am I buying a prostitute or is our family trying to buy you? It’s the same! What? You can’t pour drinks? Then get ready to throw a tantrum in bed!’
That face analyzing me like I was an item while drunk. Those eyes shining with desire. And insults I had never heard in my life.
To think I’d be this angry because of that guy again. The hatred for my fiancé flared up deep in my chest.
The contents didn’t explain Joseon culture or the etiquette a foreign woman should have.
How to pursue a man
How to act cute for a man
How to manage a household for a man
How to provide sexual services for a man
The most shocking of all was the one about providing sexual services. The others could at least be thought of as ways to maintain harmony with a husband. But sexual services? Isn’t that something only a prostitute does?
Of course, I know how children are made.
My mother died at birth, but I learned through the awkward sex education of my old stepmother and books.
However, that was just a method for making children, not a way of providing sexual services.
It was as shocking as showing a child who thinks swinging a branch means mastering swordsmanship the true sword intent of a martial artist.
It was incredibly shocking and also disgusting.
This book was edited by Kang Yoon-ho, after all. So, isn’t that implying I should learn this and serve him? How is this any different from being a prostitute?
Of course, enjoying the pleasures of intimacy between a man and a woman isn’t inherently wrong.
But receiving such a book from a man who treated me like a prostitute felt like an insult.
To calm myself, Murong Sang-a meditated in a Qi Breakfast posture. As she took a deep breath, her pectorals moved prominently, showcasing the presence she already had even more.
I need to regain my composure.
Even if that guy handed me this book to insult me, the fact remains that I will have to take the test using it. If I give in to the humiliation and skip the test, I’ll have to take it in front of the servants the following day.
‘Among the acts of service, is there one done with the chest? What is it called?’
‘Breast….’
‘Huh? I can’t hear you well. Speak up.’
Murong Sang-a imagined that guy’s mocking voice. The laughing guests, the sympathetic servants, and the angry subordinates. If that situation arises, can I endure it?
Her body trembled with humiliation at the thought of such a scenario.
That can’t happen. To prevent that, I need to accept this book as knowledge rather than an insult.
Calming her anger, Murong Sang-a gazed at the book she had thrown. She wasn’t mentally prepared to accept it yet. Then I’ll read the Joseon Folktale Book that I haven’t touched yet.
Ignoring the Joseon Women’s Conduct Manual, Murong Sang-a opened the Joseon Folktale Book.
*
“I really need to read the folktale properly.”
Lying in a room prepared for her to meet the elders of the Murong Family, she whispered quietly.
The Joseon Women’s Conduct Manual was a fake Joseon customs book made in case someone other than Murong Sang-a happened to see it.
If someone were to take a test on Joseon customs and etiquette, who would check the ‘Joseon Folktale Book’ first? It’s obvious they’d look at the ‘Joseon Women’s Conduct Manual’ first.
The ‘Joseon Women’s Conduct Manual’ seemed designed to make readers click their tongues at the bizarre customs of foreigners.
Of course, it’s true there’s a bit of my female fantasy mixed in there. But since it’s also meant to make you tongue-tied, that’s fine.
Regardless of how cool-headed Murong Sang-a might be, the contents contained things worth getting angry over. However, unlike others, she couldn’t just throw away the bizarre book.
I must read it and study it. Very thoroughly, too.
Then, I’ll read the folktale book with somewhat normal content first.
My strategy is in that folktale book.
“Please work out well. Please work out well.”
The Princess Heroine was a physical character, so you’re probably an intelligent character. Murong Sang-a, please notice!
*
‘The Masked Princess’
One story in the folktale book caught Murong Sang-a’s attention.
It was the tale of a cursed princess. Far, far away from the Central Plains and Joseon, in a distant land.
The princess was born beautifully and grew up receiving everyone’s love. She was even kind enough to provide food and shelter for a beggar she stumbled upon in the street.
The royal palace was filled with praises for her, and the entire country blessed her future. Except for her jealous stepmother.
The stepmother cast a curse on the princess that forced her to wear a haunted mask forever.
Many Taoist masters and monks tried to heal the princess, but none could lift the curse.
The princess suffered from auditory hallucinations and was in a state where she couldn’t regain her senses. The demons in the mask constantly tormented her.
Those who had once loved her soon left her side. Her father, who never gave up, was poisoned and died at the hands of the stepmother, and the country fell into her hands.
‘A girl who can’t take off the mask has become a broken toy. Is there anything more absurd than this? Leave. There’s no place for you in this castle.’
A broken toy, meaning a girl with no one to rely on. Though she had left the royal castle, there was no one to take care of a haunted woman.
Except for one man.
A wealthy young man took her as his bride. Regardless of the finger-pointing from the people, the young man remained unfazed and accepted her as his wife. She vowed to love her husband forever in gratitude.
The masked princess was delighted at the fact that she could be loved again. But that was her misunderstanding.
From the first night of their wedding, the husband continuously tormented her. Physically and mentally, always pressing her.
‘Let’s just kill her.’
‘Let’s poison her food.’
‘Choke her while she sleeps.’
Even the demons were horrified by the young man’s actions and called for him to be killed.
“No. I will continue to love my husband. What wrong could I have done?”
Despite such thoughts and efforts, her husband didn’t change. Eventually, even the demons grew tired of it.
‘Boring.’
‘Even if we show her auditory hallucinations and illusions, she still lives kindly. Boring.’
One by one, the demons in the mask began to leave her.
Finally, when the last demon departed, a tearful husband remained before her.
“Madam. In truth, I am the beggar you once saved when you were young.”
The husband revealed his identity to the princess.
“I journeyed throughout the country to find a way to lift the curse when you were cursed. I learned that if a good-hearted person who loves others can endure even the worst situation, the curse would be lifted. Even though it was to lift the curse, my heart has been tangled in many ways while tormenting my benefactor. But as the curse is lifted, I feel as though the heavens have guided me. Now, please leave me and return.”
“No, my lord. Even when I was in the wretched state of a broken toy, I never lost my love for you. How could my feelings change when my situation has improved? The curse is lifted, and I’ve truly become a broken toy. Let’s be happy together now.”
After that, the princess reclaimed her kingdom and lived happily ever after with the man who truly loved her.
Something seems off.
That was Murong Sang-a’s impression after reading the story.
The content took the form of a folktale I heard in childhood. A protagonist persecuted, overcoming trials, and finding happiness. There was a moral included, too.
If I had to pick just one lesson from the tale of the Masked Princess, it would be: ‘No matter how badly your husband treats you, love him because there’s a reason.’
But there was something odd about the content.
‘The content is too similar to my situation.’
Caught up in a family conspiracy, marrying a rich husband, and that husband’s extremely wicked temperament. If this folktale was also edited by Kang Yoon-ho, he must have some intent behind it.
‘Could it just mean to become a virtuous wife?’
If that’s the intent he left in the story of the Masked Princess, that’s weirder. By the end, the husband isn’t actually a good guy, right? Yet, Kang Yoon-ho is just a wastrel.
And the term ‘Broken Toy’ mentioned in the story was also an issue. A broken mask. In Joseon language…….
‘A broken kite like a girl.’
That was what he had said to me the first time we met and again today at the end.
Something feels suspicious.
Murong Sang-a began to slowly read the text again. As she read slowly, she noticed something strange about the story of the Masked Princess.
‘The font of certain words is different.’
Upon closer inspection, she could see that certain repeated words were written in a different font. It was too conscious to be coincidental; the differently formatted words were even a bit thinner than the other writing.
The most noticeable word with a different font was undoubtedly
‘Demon’
Could it be……? Hurriedly, Murong Sang-a grabbed writing tools and started to transcribe those differently formatted words one by one.
“What is this…?”
Murong Sang-a couldn’t blink at the words written in front of her.
[De][mo][n] [co][n][t][a][g][i][o][n] [e][n][c][o][u][n][t][e][r]
A chilling shiver ran down her spine.
