When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 60
Chapter 60
When the melody ended and the sound of the geomungo faded away, neither of them spoke a word.
Opening their mouths would mean leaving this embrace.
It would mean returning to reality from this dreamlike moment.
In that narrow space between them, where they faced each other at their closest, their hearts beat in perfect synchronization.
Sehwa raised her hand to cover his large one that still rested on the geomungo.
Just as she was carefully touching his scars and tracing the calluses on his fingertips—
"Young Lady! Young Lady, are you here?"
"!"
As she startled and tried to escape from his embrace, Baek Giha gently pressed down on her shoulders to calm her, then stood up first.
Seeing him about to leave, Sehwa suddenly remembered the sachet she had brought with her.
Wait a moment.
When she called out to him in a hushed voice, Baek Giha paused and turned to look at her.
She hurriedly approached him, took his hand, and placed the sachet in it.
"I converted all the gifts from the Young Lord into spirit stones. Take them."
"..."
"I know, I do. That giving you just a few of these can't compare to the Blue Turtle's spirit stone that I kept. Still, since I can't do anything else for you right now, at least take these. Next time..."
Sehwa continued speaking without properly meeting his gaze.
"Next time, I'll be able to give you something better. Whatever it may be."
"..."
Though Youngmu's voice calling for the Young Lady was getting closer and closer, Baek Giha still hadn't given any response.
Puzzled, Sehwa lifted her downcast gaze and froze for a moment.
He was smiling like a flower in bloom.
Moonlight poured over his black hair, and his long eyes were curved like crescent moons.
Though the misty garden and the subtle fragrance of lotus flowers were beautiful, they couldn't compare to the Divine Beast before her eyes.
He took her hand and placed the sachet back in it.
"No, this is yours—"
And then.
chu
Something warm touched her snow-white cheek and disappeared.
Startled, Sehwa clutched her cheek.
His eyes, still unable to hide his smile, had turned slightly red.
In that state, he quickly disappeared beyond the mist.
"Young Lady!"
At the same moment, Youngmu found her.
"What are you doing here so late at night? Were you playing the geomungo?"
While Youngmu chattered on—saying she had woken up to find the Young Lady missing and came looking for her, asking if she had played here to avoid waking them, telling her she could just play in her room next time—Sehwa remained frozen, still holding her cheek with one hand.
"Young Lady, your face is so red. Did something happen?"
"..."
No. She just shook her head, the sachet dangling from her other hand.
After adding plenty of money as incentive, the ceremonial clothes began arriving one after another at an unbelievable speed starting the next morning.
This day was spent preparing for tomorrow's banquet.
After a light meal, Sehwa tried on all the arrived formal wear and carefully selected only the finest accessories.
In the afternoon, she soaked her hair and body for a long time in a bath strewn with flower petals.
During this time, the three sisters carefully manicured her nails and applied fragrant oil to her entire body.
They brushed her long hair multiple times with a fine-toothed comb to bring out its shine, and after much discussion, chose how to style it for tomorrow.
And finally, it was the morning of the banquet.
Sehwa woke up at dawn, and as soon as she finished washing her face, she carefully applied fragrant oil again.
While she put on the clothes and accessories chosen yesterday and styled her hair, Youngsun meticulously groomed her eyebrows and helped with her makeup.
"Wow."
The three sisters continued to express their amazement even as they busily worked.
"Today, our Young Lady will surely be the most beautiful in the world."
Sehwa laughed softly as she listened to their voices full of baseless pride.
"But are you sure it's alright not to send a reply to the Young Lord?"
At Youngsun's worried words, the corners of her red-tinted lips lifted slightly.
"Don't worry about it."
Yesterday, Sehwa had received a letter from Ju Kyunghyun.
It said he would send a carriage early in the morning, so she should come over as soon as she was ready to enter the banquet together.
She had thrown it somewhere, deeming it not worth responding to, but the three sisters seemed quite anxious about her sharp attitude toward Ju Kyunghyun, who was both the next Mystic Ruler and the Young Lord.
That's when—
"...Huh."
A long shadow fell across her room.
"Truly, beautiful."
Baek Giha, saying those words, stood at the doorway wearing a deep blue ceremonial robe.
His long black hair, half tied up, made his handsome face even more striking.
Though the ceremonial robe, with its embroidery thread glinting subtly in the light, was quite thick for the season, it couldn't hide his solid muscles and martial dignity.
With white silk tassels at his waist and wearing full ceremonial dress, he exuded the authority befitting the head of a clan.
His calm footsteps approached her steadily.
His low voice penetrated her somehow feverish ears.
"I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?"
Had he perhaps also applied fragrant oil today? A fresh woodland scent wafted from the man who had come close. It was a cool fragrance that seemed to calm her nervous heart.
"Your father..."
Though only Sehwa and the three sisters were in this room, he lowered his voice as if there were others listening.
"He's quite large in build."
"? Yes, he is."
"So wouldn't it be uncomfortable for him to ride in the same carriage as me?"
"Are you saying you'll go alone?"
"No. We have two carriages, don't we?"
His expression resembled that night two days ago, when he had kissed her cheek and run away.
"Since we have two carriages, your father can ride comfortably alone in one, and if you don't mind, I'd like to share your carriage."
"..."
"Hmm? What do you think?"
"If we..."
Her voice seemed caught, so she cleared it for a moment.
"If we ride in the same carriage, people watching will misunderstand that something is going on."
"...If you dislike that."
"But there are only three of us riding, so it seems wasteful to take three carriages, and it's not a good idea, so let's do as you say."
At that answer, meaningful glances were exchanged among the three sisters.
But Ju Myungyoon was Ju Myungyoon.
When Sehwa, who had finished preparing, and Baek Giha, who had waited for her, moved to the main gate of the mansion—
"You're late."
There, instead of the two carriages that were supposedly prepared, there was only one massive carriage that looked like a small warehouse.
It was so large that unlike normal carriages which are pulled by two or four horses, this one was hitched to eight horses, and not just any horses but war horses.
"Elder, I mean, Honorable Elder."
"Yes. Speak."
"What, what is this?"
Ju Myungyoon's brow furrowed.
Throwing a glance that seemed to ask if he couldn't tell even after seeing it, Ju Myungyoon continued softly.
"It's a carriage."
"Are we riding in this? Yesterday you clearly said you would prepare two carriages."
"Ah. Yes. I certainly intended to, but thinking about it, for some reason I had a strange feeling that I would end up riding alone in one carriage."
"...Ah."
"So since it felt ominous, I prepared a large carriage instead. Being a heavier carriage, it will be more comfortable than other carriages."
"Ah, yes."
"Sehwa, you get in too."
Sehwa nodded and boarded the carriage first, followed by a disappointed-looking Baek Giha.
Thanks to the eight war horses, despite its enormous size, the carriage's speed wasn't slow at all.
Not a single word was exchanged inside the carriage during the journey.
Only Sehwa spoke once, opening the window to say, "It seems there are many attendees."
Though the Ju clan members took exceptional pride in their Mystic Ruler, banquets were so frequent in the Ju clan's territory that not everyone necessarily attended even when the Mystic Ruler personally hosted them.
But today, being the welcoming banquet for the Baek clan head, everyone seemed to be gathering out of curiosity.
As if proving this speculation, when they approached the most magnificent and enormous Mystic Ruler's mansion in the Ju clan, the road was so blocked they could barely move forward.
"If anything happens today."
Baek Giha spoke to Sehwa for the first time since boarding the carriage.
"Come to my side. Whatever excuse you need to use, I don't care."
Comments
Post a Comment