[To Hwa-rin.]
Before setting the wedding date with Miss Zhuge, I should contact my fiancées first. I got permission from my mother-in-law, but I’ve actually been stuck for hours, unable to even draft the letter.
What should I write? After writing a greeting, my thoughts just froze.
[Before I knew it, autumn passed and winter is coming. About this time last year, I was dragged by the Tang Family and went through all sorts of things.]
“Right now, I came to the Zhuge family to get permission to marry.”
I turned my head to the familiar voice.
“Gil-san.”
As I turned around, Gil-san was sneakily eavesdropping on my letter.
[In the midst of living like a whirlwind, a year of the promised ten has already passed.]
“I’ve made two fiancées, so it’s no wonder I’ve been living in a blur.”
Gil-san propped his chin on his hand, reading the letter with a grin.
“Hey.”
“Tsk tsk. The fiancée made a bad choice. She shouldn’t have let you go. Letting a guy like you go for ten years? At this rate, when we meet again, won’t she be unable to count her fiancées on one hand?”
“……”
To be honest, it’s starting to get perilously close. I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
“What about Hyang?”
Gil-san turned his head back and forth, searching for the absent Miss Zhuge.
“She was called by my mother-in-law.”
“Your mother is something else. You should consider yourself lucky, buddy. What mother-in-law would tolerate having multiple fiancées and still allow it?”
Did I say something I shouldn’t have to Gil-san? I nodded bitterly.
“I’m grateful.”
Which mother would actually welcome a son-in-law who wants to marry three times? There are various circumstances, but I was deeply touched by my mother-in-law’s generosity.
“Well, from my perspective, if I had to choose between Miss Ha-yeon and Hyang, it feels like I’d waste away worrying about it for too long. So, are you going to contact them to say you’ll get married next year?”
“I don’t even know, that’s why I ended up stuck writing this letter.”
“The mighty Ho Pil couldn’t manage to write a love letter! No. Come kill me. Is this a suicide note?”
“Hey…”
I couldn’t deny it.
“How will you convey it to Miss Ha-yeon? Didn’t you say her father took her on a long trip? Is it possible to get in touch?”
“The contact itself isn’t the problem. The problem is what happens after the news reaches her.”
If I send it through the Hyang family, it should be fine. We’ve been together for a long time, so Miss Zhuge will quickly understand the marriage issue, but coming to terms with it is another problem.
“If she hears that you’re marrying Hyang, I feel like she’ll bolt off, abandoning her father.”
“……”
Gil-san chuckled at my speechlessness, waving the letter.
“Seriously, you excel in everything else, but why does your love life turn out like this? No, it’s probably because you’re too good at love that problems arise.”
“I don’t even know.”
“When you get married next year, put me in a good spot. I’ll watch from the front row, whether it’s a wedding or a public execution.”
“If you start with your nonsense, get lost. Get out!”
This guy has quite the talent for teasing people. I turned him around and pushed him out the door.
“Ha ha ha! You’re seriously the most entertaining guy to watch from the side! Hey!”
Even while being pushed out, Gil-san looked at me with an unexpectedly serious expression.
“Why?!”
“If you have any other romantic issues, you should come consult the love master Jeon Gil-san. I’ll listen with interest.”
“Get lost!”
I immediately kicked him out.
——
“Ugh, this is troublesome…”
I sat back down at the desk, but I couldn’t grasp the brush.
Informing Hwa-rin and Miss Ha-yeon about the situation is important, but there’s an even more critical issue at hand.
一 Yoon Ho oppa.
Cheon So-hee.
The image of So-hee I saw in the Hongcheonmirijin keeps flashing before my eyes. Expressionless yet more emotive than any woman, So-hee. I want to see her again, but right now, she’s a woman I shouldn’t be with.
As she resists her fate as the Heavenly Killing Star, trusting only me and living hard.
[So-hee, I’m getting married.]
“I feel like I’m being torn apart in 17 parts.”
The letter paper.
There’s no way that could happen. No matter what, there’s a bond between So-hee and me.
… Right? It’s not going to happen?
“Maybe I’ll just get permission for the wedding and go back to Wuhan to think about it.”
It’s a question with no answer. It feels like the due date of a promissory note I issued without any clear answers is approaching. What’s worse is that I didn’t even set the due date myself.
“Maybe I should think after seeing Hwa-rin’s reply.”
Once Miss Ha-yeon’s matters are taken care of, I’ll send a letter to Hwa-rin after finishing the story of Miss Zhuge around the time I take the successor exam of Man Geum Battlefield.
Hwa-rin must have reacted to the letter in some way.
“I hope they’re handling the wrath of the angered poison expertly over at the Tang Family.”
It’s finished, but the poison is still not resolved. Hwa-rin can’t control it when her emotions run too high.
That’s why Hwa-rin had to stay at the Tang Family, and that’s the reason I made a promise to spend ten years apart from her.
She probably got immensely furious upon reading the letter. I just hope nothing catastrophic happened to the Tang Family.
“Should I just trust that they’re managing it well?”
Yeah. Who told them to create the angered poison? Frankly, managing the aftermath isn’t my obligation; it’s the Tang Family’s.
The Sichuan Tang Family must have soothed and pacified her. I had no choice but to believe that.
“Yeah. Let’s decide after seeing Hwa-rin’s reaction.”
Like a student procrastinating their summer homework to the last minute, I want to focus on the task at hand. But it was hard to shake off the worries about marriage.
——
“Hyang, I’ve been anxious about your fiancé, but you seem to have let out a sigh of relief.”
The mistress of the Zhuge family, Jang Young-young, spoke to her youngest daughter, who had been with Kang Yoon-ho for over half a month.
“Hehe! Master Kang, this novel is amazing, right?”
Miss Zhuge smiled brightly in response to her lover’s praise.
“Right. I can see now why my daughter was making such a fuss about Ho Pil. Even those stoic elders from the Elders’ Council couldn’t keep their wits about them.”
“Hehehe.”
“You spoke clearly in front of the angry elders, got the Hongcheonmirijin out as quickly as your father, and you have writing skills that even the Zhuge family elders admire.”
It was true that Jang Young-young was rather worried. She had intended to introduce her son-in-law at a suitable time, but her husband had noticed. Plus, the father who was supposed to protect her son-in-law was unconscious.
Even the mistress of the Zhuge family thought that things wouldn’t resolve so easily.
“Anyway, what kind of man has our daughter brought home…”
Jang Young-young couldn’t help but marvel at how surprising Kang Yoon-ho was in overcoming obstacles so easily.
“Heheh. It wasn’t anything special! Like this! Like that! Master Kang was charmed by my charm…”
Miss Zhuge squirmed in embarrassment due to her mother’s compliments.
“Thinking back, it was my mother and grandfather who introduced us.”
“Ah ha…”
“Hu hu. Your grandfather has always had a great eye for people since the old days.”
“I-I also have some merit, you know. So, um… about 50%, I guess? No, maybe 30%!”
It was true that if her grandfather hadn’t introduced her, she wouldn’t have had the chance to meet Master Kang. But still, wouldn’t it be her merit to become close to Master Kang? Maybe? Not really? No matter how she thought about it, even a tiny fraction of charm should count, right? Miss Zhuge felt her confidence evaporate entirely.
“I was joking. Why are you suddenly losing confidence?”
“Eheh… If it were just me, there wouldn’t have been a chance at all, to say the least. I mean, that is true…”
“Hyang, you drew well. Thanks to that, it was easier to understand the novel.”
Jang Young-young, being a mother, changed the subject so her daughter wouldn’t dig herself further into a hole.
“Ah! I picked out the best pictures while exchanging ideas with Master Kang!”
“That’s great. You should be able to marry next year.”
Jang Young-young nodded, revealing to her daughter the same thing she had just said to her son-in-law.
“…… Huh?”
What do you mean by that? Miss Zhuge froze momentarily.
“I told my son-in-law to get married next year.”
“Whaaaaat?!”
——
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Th-that’s sudden?! It seems a bit early, don’t you think? I haven’t even gotten permission yet! Shouldn’t we consider the worst-case scenario first?”
Marriage? She had thought about engagement, but never considered actually getting married. Miss Zhuge spilled her words out in panic.
“What if you don’t get permission? Are you thinking of eloping in love or something?”
“Well… if I’m with Master Kang, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea…”
Miss Zhuge envisioned eloping with Kang Yoon-ho.
Two people leaving hand in hand against the family’s opposition. After all, they had built their love together while using the printing press. I could definitely do it.
Mystery couple authors appearing out of nowhere. What pen name should I use? Lianli Zhi (连理枝) sounds nice. Writing stories together and gazing only at each other, hee hee. Ah!
Later, they’d become incredibly famous and arrive home in glory. No, I should come back from maternity leave, right?
“……”
“Oh! It’s nothing at all!”
Of course, her fantasies were immediately crushed under her mother’s icy stare.
“What’s the use of raising a daughter?! What? Eloping in love?! You turned your dad’s insides upside down, and now you’re trying to turn mine upside down too?”
Her mother’s voice suddenly rose.
“Well, strictly speaking, mom is an accomplice anyway…”
“Hyang.”
“Yes, yes!”
No counterarguments were allowed.
“When your loved one is working hard, you should believe in them and support them. And as the mistress of the family, you need to handle the things your husband may overlook.”
If the husband is busy with outside work, the wife must manage peace within the home.
While Jang Young-young worked hard to prevent a bigger ruckus from happening while her husband and the Elders’ Council were evaluating Kang Yoon-ho, she had to keep things in order.
“Th-the mistress of the household?”
“Even if your son-in-law gets permission, he’ll be dealing with many worries. He promised to wait ten years, and now he’s dragged off to get permission to marry you. His inner thoughts must be complicated.”
“Well, it seems like you complicated it for him, mom.”
“……”
Jang Young-young’s hand trembled. Not getting angry at her daughter’s irrelevant input was a virtue she had to uphold as a mother.
“V-very complicated!”
“If your dad finds out the truth, what reaction do you think he’ll have? That’s why you need to get married soon and show him a grandchild. You want to marry Master Kang too, right?”
“Of course.”
Seeing her daughter, who had learned about love and was nodding with a rosy face, Jang Young-young looked at her fondly before speaking with a serious expression.
“You must become the first wife, no matter what.”
“What?”
“Even if you’re a bit clumsy, it’s okay. Even if it’s hard for you to make eye contact with others, that’s okay. Even if you choke on your words and say something strange, that’s okay. You were born with a pretty face, so even if you have a strange expression, that’s okay.”
“Uh, mom, saying only facts can hurt my feelings…”
“It’s because if you become a second or third wife, our daughter will have no future! So listen closely!”
Her mother was dead serious.
“Ahhh! Yes!”
“You have to give that guy confidence! Hyang! This is the most important period! Understand? Make him think, ‘This woman is my true wife!’ Stick to him like glue! Got it?!”
“Ah, uh, yes!”
As always, a mother prioritizing her daughter’s happiness couldn’t help but be filled with worry.
