When I was young, I absolutely loved fairy tales. whoosh
They were filled with the age-old theme of good triumphing over evil, but within them were the protagonist’s wit, patience, effort, and successes. ding!
Kids can be picky. If something isn’t fun, they get bored in a flash. So, the thin books made for such kids had to contain both fun and lessons. Fairy tales were essentially web novels for children. whip!
Interestingly, when you grow older, fairy tales start to look different. gasp!
One of the fairy tales I read as a child was “The Fairy and the Woodsman.”
A deer, chased by gangsters, accidentally gets saved by a genius lumberjack. The deer quips to the woodsman, “From now on, we’re bros!” and reveals a hotspot where he had been secretly voyeurizing a fairy taking a bath. splash!
“Are you sure this place is okay?”
“Worry not! We’ve been here a few times. It’s all good.”
Surely, the fairy hot spring would have security covered. But what kind of beings are these woodsmen of this era? Masters of concealment who chop wood while dodging tigers. swoosh!
The woodsman sneaks into the fairy hot spring with skills rivalling an assassin’s to find her winged dress. Then, he must have thought long and hard. hmmm…
“Which dress would look best on the prettiest fairy?”
It was a guaranteed gacha, yet he had to pull an S-rank. Even in idols, there are visual centers and those who lack in looks but have talent. The fairies must have been no different. sparkle!
The woodsman meticulously compares and analyzes the winged dresses to find one for a woman with a slim waist, large chest, and big butt.
Fortunately, he wasn’t a klutz and ended up successfully pulling an S-rank gacha, marrying the fairy who lost her winged dress. However, it seems he didn’t realize that while pulling gacha is important, cultivation is too. oops!
Following his deer bro’s advice, he should have worked hard for a happy marriage and made sure to have three kids, so she couldn’t run away, but he failed to do so.
One day, after getting drunk at a neighborhood banquet, he accidentally spills the location of his hidden winged dress to his wife. facepalm!
Thus, the fairy escapes with their two kids. Ignoring her husband’s shouts not to leave, it seems she really disliked their married life. Back then, it was expected to have at least five kids after marriage, but they only had two. sigh…
As a child, I passed over it thinking, “Be kind to the poor animals, and keep them safe if someone gives advice,” but looking back, that was quite an incredible fairy tale. wow!
Theft, kidnapping, and marriage fraud! As you can see, a book made for children can convey a very different meaning when seen through adult eyes. zip!
The “Mask Princess,” penned by a novelist for survival, was created with that intent.
It’s a somewhat strange story, but one that can be brushed off as a foreign folktale. However, if Murong Sang-a were to read the “Mask Princess,” she would find it hard to overlook the traps within. trap!
The princess tormented by demons in the mask, the villain being a family member, her father dying, and everyone around her leaving.
It mirrors her own plight perfectly, enhancing the immersion. But that alone isn’t enough, so specific letters and words have been used frequently, particularly, of course, the character ‘ma (魔).’
If Murong Sang-a were to engage, she couldn’t help but be drawn into the story. Moreover, the character ‘ma (魔)’ is known from ancient storybooks as not a good word, so she’d be on high alert like she hit a speed bump. bump!
As I read along, suddenly, a word pops into my mind.
“Absolute Blunder (絶纓優面)”
A loose-string clown mask. In simpler terms, it refers to someone with no one to rely on. It’s something Kang Yoon-ho said when he first met Murong Sang-a.
Kang Yoon-ho didn’t have some deep meaning behind those words. He merely intended to insult her since she was merely a woman sold off after losing the heir competition.
But what if we used that word as a trap?
If he thought of it only as a word used to insult her, we could mislead him into thinking it was a term from this story, making him pay close attention. whoa!
No matter how you look at it, it’s his story.
If Murong Sang-a, feeling confused, reads it again, she would catch on.
That the font for certain words is different.
And then, when she combines the differently written words, she would be shocked. gasp!
Now, if she’s aware of the words enough to notice the font difference, Kang Yoon-ho’s washing machine starts running. whir!
“What the heck is going on?”
Why does that man want to converse with her? Was he actually acting all along? Did he actually notice the existence of the Demonic Cult? Like the husband from Mask Princess, was he actually someone who cared about her?
As doubts repeat, Kang Yoon-ho’s figure continuously washes around in Murong Sang-a’s heart.
Kang Yoon-ho needs some washing! squeak squeak!
Gotta wash your own laundry, you irresponsible punk! Well, that’s why he ended up stabbed to death. But the dirty clothes wearing me right now need to be washed quickly. scrub scrub!
Murong Sang-a’s intricacies of misunderstandings deepen.
The questions around misconceptions and misunderstandings evolve into a desire to resolve them.
And the way to resolve it through desire is singular.
“Are you inside?”
The Murong family’s envoy approached.
“Master Kang, Miss Murong Sang-a wishes to have her examination in a closed room with just the two of you. Would that be alright?”
Now we’re talking!
——
“I’d like to have the exam with just the two of us.”
Beforehand, I informed Murong Bi that I wanted to have the exam in a quiet place.
“Brother-in-law, it doesn’t look good for two unmarried people to share a closed room.”
“In Joseon, the head of the family reviews the daughter-in-law alone to prevent any slip-ups from others. But now, since my father is absent, it’s just us.”
“However,”
“Are you worried I might let her pass on purpose? If she fails, she’ll rush to tell you in front of others that she wants to take the exam.” Don’t worry about that.
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s fine then. It’s Joseon’s custom, so we should follow it. But placing an unmarried man and woman together still doesn’t look good, so we need to have at least one guard outside.”
Murong Bi hesitated for a moment but accepted with that condition.
“Proceed as you wish.”
Yeah, am I just gonna attack Murong Sang-a? That split second would lead to a 17-way split! split!
As for the situation where Murong Sang-a attacks me…
That’s not too bad, actually? Oh, I’d even say thank you! A true honor! I sure hope this isn’t a spy situation.
The downside, of course, would be that if it’s really an attack, it’d be with a sword and not a body, so I’d need to steer clear of that. swoosh!
I just wanted to have a comfortable conversation, but if I want to ensure the guards don’t eavesdrop, it seems writing is the way to go. scribble!
—-
The exam was conducted in a secluded room at the Murong estate where no one could intrude.
While waiting in the room, Murong Sang-a stepped in.
“Please come in.”
As we met again, Murong Sang-a donned a rather simple outfit this time. Maybe it was the training attire? It looked easy to move in. However, her face didn’t seem nearly as comfortable.
She appeared as if she was maintaining her composure, yet slightly pursing her lips and glaring at me showed she was suspicious. suspicious eyes!
“Please, have a seat.”
We sat across from each other, keeping some distance.
“Have you read all the texts I provided?”
I addressed Murong Sang-a in a softer tone than before. Such a change in tone would likely be a minor shock after only hearing harsh words from me. zap!
As expected, her eyes widened a bit.
“I couldn’t study much of Joseon Women’s Conduct since its contents were quite outrageous. However, I have read many of the stories.”
Outrageous? Isn’t that just a collection of things a girl in 2020 would want from her boyfriend? wink!
“I see. Which story from the collection did you find most appealing?”
Please, have you caught on? If you reach this point without realizing it, I’m in trouble!
“The story of the Mask Princess really struck a chord with me.”
Good! Fantastic!
“Is that so? Then please write down the most impressive word from the Mask Princess in two characters.”
“…Not four characters, but two?”
“That’s correct. I will write an answer too, so let’s reveal them simultaneously.”
“Understood.”
However, contrary to her answer, Murong Sang-a struggled to write down the characters.
Could she even write that? Maybe she’s considering if what she perceived as misunderstanding is just her own delusion?
“Evil.”
“Yes.”
“The answers written will be burned after the exam is completed. Please write down as you’ve studied and thought. No matter what you write, I will take it seriously.”
I spoke to her in a warm and gentle tone to soothe her anxiety.
“Understood.”
Murong Sang-a gave a small nod, then took a breath and wrote down two characters. I also watched her write and prepared my answer.
“Now let’s show what we’ve written at the same time.”
“…Yes.”
We unfolded the papers, revealing the same characters written on both.
These words could corrupt the blank page just by looking at them.
“Demonic Cult (魔敎)”
Yes, I did it! cheer!
