A family with over a thousand years of history.
A mansion so antique it feels like it holds history. The home built to protect the most precious person of the Zhuge family.
“Oh, what should I doooooo?”
A miserably dressed woman with silver hair and blue eyes was tumbling around the room.
“Kang Yoon-ho is trapped in the ice prison, no way!”
Was it wrong to say they shared a bed? If I hadn’t said anything, I think I would have been chased away. Of course, I didn’t want to be trapped in the ice prison either.
Did Daddy get shocked because I was trying to throw dirt in his face? What should I do? Zhuge Hyang couldn’t get a grip at all.
‘What if something goes wrong…!’
— Zhuge Miss, I’m disappointed. No matter how stubborn your father is, to make such a confession?
— Huh? I asked you to take care while I was at the Hao Sect. You secretly went to get married, and now you have my fiancé trapped in prison?
— As expected, the only true wife is Im Ha-yeon. I came to ask for the marriage approval, and Zhuge Miss, who can’t even help, is just not it.
— Come on. The Shadowless Thief can easily escape from this prison.
“Oh, no! Don’t leave me behind! Ah!”
Zhuge Hyang rolled around in despair like a forsaken woman, hitting her forehead on a brush that fell from the desk and suffered again in pain.
“First, I have to save Kang Yoon-ho.”
I can’t let Master Kang stay in that cold ice prison. No matter how much I get scolded by Daddy, I’ve decided to rescue Kang Yoon-ho.
What if Daddy hears the truth and says he’ll never let us get married?
‘If nothing works, I’ll declare I’m leaving home!’
Zhuge Hyang fantasized about driving a nail into her father’s heart calmly.
“Have you arrived? I will open the door for you.”
While Zhuge Hyang was busy planning an infiltration and escape, a warrior’s voice was heard at the door.
‘This is an opportunity!’
Someone is coming. Zhuge Hyang quickly hid inside a box.
The door opens. What a quick opportunity to escape!
Zhuge Hyang held her breath, waiting for a chance.
“Haah.”
I feel like I’ve heard that sigh somewhere before. No, this isn’t the time for distractions. Zhuge Hyang shook her head inside the box.
I laid a wooden mannequin on the bed. The moment the visitor enters the bedroom, I will quickly open the door and run, and I’ll be able to intrude into the ice prison.
Just as Zhuge Hyang was stealthily moving towards the door.
“Our daughter. Don’t think foolishly, just come out.”
“Yes eeeee!”
Caught immediately by Mom.
——
“Hyangi, how was your trip?”
The face of Mom, whom I hadn’t seen in almost a year. Zhuge Hyang ran to embrace the mother she wanted to see with a tearful expression.
“Mommy, I missed you! Ugh?!”
“How can I handle my troublemaker daughter like this?”
Jang Young-young grabbed Zhuge Hyang’s cheeks as if pleased.
“Whaaaat?”
“Did you not write a single letter to your mom? You missed me so much? Is your fiancé that wonderful?”
“Ugh, I mean… Oh my!”
Zhuge Hyang was completely at a loss for words as her mother’s love and anger filled her touch.
“Well… your father was indeed more handsome when he was young.”
“Whaaat?”
Zhuge Hyang felt like her cheeks had turned into rice cakes and looked at her mom in shock.
“Yeah. I heard it. Even just being beside him, he could steal the hearts of women. Except for the fact he has black hair.”
“Haahaha.”
“Look at you, so happy to praise your boyfriend. You’re not really infatuated because of his looks, are you?”
Feeling her mother’s gentle touch as she rubbed her cheeks, Zhuge Hyang nodded.
“Umm, that’s not it. Master Kang is a truly amazing person.”
“Then tell me about it.”
“Really? Didn’t you hear from Master Kang himself?”
As Jang Young-young dusted off her youngest daughter’s head, she looked affectionately at her daughter’s eyes, reminiscent of her clumsy husband.
I’m curious.
“What if he’s showing off in front of his mother-in-law? You tell me, our daughter fell in love. Let’s hear some bragging.”
How on earth did my daughter, who would run away screaming at a matchmaking, steal someone’s heart?
The mother was very curious about her daughter’s romance.
——
“Master Kang! And there’s more!”
Finding common interests upon first meeting, resolving cases, falling in love, being there in hard times, the things the woman had witnessed with her first love until now.
Once the story started, it continued endlessly, not knowing when it would end.
“Your eyes shine brighter than when you talk about stories.”
Jang Young-young looked at her daughter proudly as she endlessly bragged about her fiancé.
“Ahahaha.”
“So, the man who discovered my daughter’s favorite novelist?”
“Yes! He even made me draw the illustrations from the novel!”
“It seems the daughter who stays cooped up drawing has been of use after all.”
“Ah! He praised that it’s even more amazing than what people imagined in the novel.”
As her daughter pouted a little, Jang Young-young couldn’t help but chuckle.
“So he’s a man who recognizes our daughter’s talent.”
“Y-yeah.”
The youngest daughter nodded repeatedly with a shy face.
“He even surprised people with his delivery business using carrier pigeons and solved cases no one could touch, and your maternal grandfather’s exam was also completed so well?”
“Yes! He’s totally amazing!”
Jang Young-young couldn’t help but stifle a laugh while watching her daughter shrug proudly after hearing her own praises.
Even if her husband felt it was somewhat lacking as a son-in-law for the Zhuge family, Jang Young-young’s thoughts after hearing both her husband’s and youngest daughter’s stories were different.
A man expected to see how the current status would change in the future. Just like the suitor who resembled her husband in his younger days.
“Such a man seems a bit too good for our daughter.”
“Mom!”
“Look who’s raising their voice at their mom now. Do you know why he’s too good?”
“Yes eeeee!”
“A man who shares the same interests, listens carefully no matter what our daughter says, goes out with her, and treats her kindly. Isn’t that a man who has our daughter completely smitten?”
“Y-yeah.”
Jang Young-young pondered for a moment, seeing her daughter nodding with a face reddening like a ripe persimmon, as if her true feelings had been exposed.
He met the minimum condition of being the successor of the Man Geum Battlefield that I worried about the most. I confirmed the intentions of the suitor. I confirmed the potential of the suitor.
I also saw the heart of the daughter who was worried about whether or not they could marry out of love. If her husband objects, she can help. But before that, there was an important issue.
“Hyangi.”
“Yes, Mom?”
Why did Mom suddenly look so serious? Zhuge Hyang nervously replied.
“You’re hiding something from me.”
“Yeeees?”
“It’s better for me to hear it first than for your father. Just tell me.”
Her voice seemed to be saying she knew everything. Zhuge Hyang was confused.
What is she talking about? Could it be about Master Kang’s hidden identity? I can’t talk about it; that’s a secret Master Kang is trying to protect.
Zhuge Hyang carefully gauged her mother’s expression. It was the look of a mom who would demand that she take out the novel hidden under the bed if she knew it all.
Ah.
Suddenly, the topic she had been unconsciously avoiding popped into Zhuge Hyang’s head.
“Mom, the truth is… Master Kang…”
“Hmm.”
Is it okay to say this? Won’t it be a disaster if I do? Even if it’s my mom, she’d be furious. But it is a fact that needs to be known.
Zhuge Hyang squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
“He has another fiancée!”
“……”
This can’t be the case, can it? Zhuge Hyang felt the silence pierce her deeply but it was already spilled water. To defend Kang Yoon-ho somehow, she continued speaking.
“K-Kang Yoon-ho isn’t at fault. He had a fiancée originally, but my grandfather was forcing him to marry me. He didn’t want to, but my maternal grandfather took Master Kang’s tea bookstore hostage, so he couldn’t help it. They started living together and got closer, but he was still in pain…”
“You spoke well.”
Her mother’s satisfied voice caressed Zhuge Hyang’s ears, making her startled.
“…Did you know?”
“Yeah. Even if he is your grandfather, how could he do such a thing? I was furious at your grandfather when I found out later.”
A flicker of discomfort passed across her mother’s face.
“……”
“A man who can wait ten years for one woman. I hear he even risked his life. He’s a man with a pure heart, but in your grandfather’s greedy eyes, he probably looked like a treasure rolling around. Eventually, hearing this made me think: with that kind of condition, he’s not bad. After all, ten years isn’t that significant.”
Her mother seemed to know everything. Even though it would be understandable for her to be angry as a mother, she understood. Yet, she also supported her daughter’s love.
Zhuge Hyang felt deeply moved by her mother’s broad heart, but at the same time, she could only silently shout “I’m sorry, Mom.”
Because.
“It’s actually two.”
“Hmm…?”
“It’s not just one; it’s two.”
Because another one had appeared in between.
“Two? What do you mean by that?”
A rare look of confusion crossed the face of the mistress of the Zhuge family.
“The Shadowless Thief. Actually, there’s another sister.”
Zhuge Hyang felt her heart tighten as she confessed the hidden fact.
“The Shadowless Thief? You mean the famous thief lately?”
“That, that’s something we three created together.”
“What in the world have you been doing for a whole year? Tell me in detail.”
The truth was, they weren’t just living as two; they were three.
How do I explain this? Zhuge Hyang glanced at her mother, who was absent-mindedly tidying her hair, as if it was a bit of a headache. Yes. If I can’t convince Mom, I can’t convince Dad. I’m going to speak.
Zhuge Hyang squeezed her eyes shut and began unraveling the incredible events that the three of them had been involved in.
——
“If it’s the Shadowless Thief, I’ve heard of that famous thief before. So it turns out it was you three who combined efforts to create it? I guess you were quite the team living together?”
“Hehe. It wasn’t a big deal. Master Kang made the plans, I took care of the details, and Im Ha-yeon executed them…”
“Don’t expect any praise for that.”
“Ah…”
The truth was, they lived together as three. The daughter of the righteous faction made the most famous thief in Hubei Province and played a significant role in supporting the leader of the Hao Sect.
Zhuge Hyang couldn’t raise her head, confessing the truth that would make her father foam at the mouth if he heard it.
“From the way you call her sister comfortably, I take it you’re close with that Im Ha-yeon girl.”
“She’s a really good sister. She’s pretty and has a lot to teach me. However, she can act a little mean when she’s near Master Kang.”
When she pulls her tricks, I feel like boiling, but when I see her dragging me alongside Master Kang when I can’t do anything, she’s that kind of sister.
A rival in love and a friend. For Zhuge Hyang, Im Ha-yeon was such a presence.
“That girl is your rival?”
“Uh!”
“Really… even though you’re my daughter, you seem to have no solution.”
“……”
A small sigh that escaped her mother’s lips dug deep into Zhuge Hyang’s heart.
“A sickly child promised to marry ten years later, a now-famous thief, and a pretty bold girl. So, my youngest daughter wants to marry the man she loves, and there are two other girls wanting to marry him?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
I couldn’t lift my head.
Master Kang has three promised brides. Of course, Im Ha-yeon and I have mutually understood and made a promise, but that is just a promise between us.
Who would want to marry their daughter off to such a man? Even my mom might now oppose the marriage.
Zhuge Hyang’s shoulders drooped.
“Okay. Just keep the wife’s position vacant.”
“Mom?”
When Zhuge Hyang lifted her head, there was her mother smirking.
“Why? Did you think Mom would tell you to break it off? To claim a good man, you have to prepare yourself for everything. Your father was so naïve he didn’t know, but the number of girls who liked him was countless. And yet, I won out and married him.”
“Uh?!”
“Be the first to marry and become his rightful wife. You came here to ask for permission, holding hands. No matter whether there’s a rival or not, be the first to snatch him away.”
“Mommy!”
Mom understands me. Zhuge Hyang buried her face in her mother’s arms due to overwhelming feelings.
“The best scenario would be not allowing any other women, but it doesn’t seem likely. So, do you have any plans?”
“Master Kang and I have a plan we devised while coming here.”
Zhuge Hyang briefly shared the plan devised with Kang Yoon-ho while coming to the Zhuge house.
“Sounds good. Now Mom will persuade your father. But instead!”
“Instead?”
Zhuge Hyang cautiously looked up at her mother.
It was the look of a mother reminding her that she could play but must keep a certain promise. A promise that must be kept, and if broken, would result in severe punishment.
She swallowed hard, waiting for her mother’s words.
“From now on, you must think and act resolutely to become the rightful wife. Got it?”
