When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 70
Chapter 70
The rest of the banquet passed without incident.
The Young Lord and Mystic Ruler had already left.
The Baek Clan Head never removed his mask and barely responded to any questions directed at him.
The same could be said for Sehwa, who sat there with a pitiful expression, and Ju Myoungyoon, whose face remained frighteningly stern.
And so, sensing all the entertainment was over, the attendees began leaving one by one, bringing the event to a swift conclusion.
On the way back to their residence after the banquet, Ju Myoungyoon seemed to want to say something to his daughter.
But he simply patted her shoulder and told her to rest, saying they could talk tomorrow.
Following her father's words, she prepared for bed early and lay down.
But why?
'...Why do I feel so strange?'
Even after the three sisters had fallen asleep, Sehwa couldn't drift off and kept tossing and turning.
'Did I dismiss Sa Yeonju too lightly? No, this isn't over yet anyway.'
No matter how hard she tried to sleep, her heart felt unsettled...
Her mind remained cluttered with undefined emotions late into the night.
Just as she closed her eyes, thinking she should at least try to sleep while counting the wood grain patterns on her bed, she heard it.
Tap. Tap tap.
Strange sounds began to reach her ears.
Tap. Tap.
The tiny sounds continued persistently.
'What is this now?'
Frowning, Sehwa carefully rose, worried about waking the three sisters in the adjacent room.
A shadow moved slowly beyond the window.
'What is it?'
She cautiously approached the window and flung it open.
She found herself face to face with the large blue eyes of a white tiger, its claw raised.
"!!"
Thankfully, she had seen this form in her previous life. Otherwise, she might have fainted on the spot.
Having nearly fallen backward in shock, she barely managed to steady herself before hissing in a hushed voice:
"What are you doing here at this hour?"
The massive white tiger quickly hid the single extended claw and nudged the blanket in its mouth with its paw.
"The blanket? What about it? Don't you like it? Should I change it?"
The white tiger shook its head and again nudged the blanket it held in its mouth.
'What's he trying to say about that blanket?'
Looking closer, she noticed the blanket was neatly folded into a triangle shape, with diagonal corners meeting, firmly held in its mouth.
'What's this? That basket-like shape...'
"Are you telling me to get in?"
The massive beast's head bobbed up and down vigorously, as if relieved she finally understood. Its pristine white fur rippled softly in the moonlight.
"Why?"
This time, the beast's thick paw tapped the window frame.
As if telling her to stop asking questions and just climb over.
"You shouldn't come visiting like this at night. Father will be furious if he finds out."
Even as she said this, she was already climbing over the window frame.
Making excuses to no one in particular that she was only going because she had something she wanted to ask too.
"But why can't I ride on your back? Why inside the blanket?"
As she started to put her feet into the folded blanket, the white tiger used its large paw to gently push her body further inside.
"Ah, alright. Wait, stop pushing. I'm going, I'm going."
She settled safely in the middle of the blanket.
Suddenly, a strange sound rumbled from the tiger's throat.
Grrrrrrrr.
'What's this sound?'
Grrrrrrrr.
It was an unfamiliar sound, like metal marbles rolling.
Just as she stretched her neck to see what was making that sound—
'Eek!'
The white tiger's massive body suddenly launched upward while holding the blanket.
She hadn't even felt it spring from the ground, yet she was already airborne.
She was startled to find herself looking down at the scenery below.
"!"
This time her body plummeted downward.
The white tiger's enormous form landed silently and gracefully on the pavilion roof before leaping toward another destination.
What was remarkable was that despite this massive beast using all its strength to spring from the roofs, the buildings seemed to take no damage.
After clearing the vast Ju clan residence in a single bound as if flying through the sky, the white tiger landed on a small hill behind the estate.
The hill was densely surrounded by trees, making its interior difficult to see from the outside.
Only then did the white tiger carefully set down the blanket containing her.
As the blanket unfurled, she emerged, pressing her temples to steady her dizzy head.
"Now I understand why you wanted me inside the blanket."
If she had been riding on its back, she would have fallen off every time it jumped up and down.
Or she might have ended up yanking out all its fur while desperately holding on during the descents.
Warm moonlight gently illuminated the small hill partially hidden by tall trees.
'How did he even know about this place? Just how much of other people's homes has he been sneaking around?'
By then, Baek Giha had already transformed and stood before her.
"Why did you bring me here at this hour?"
As if he had prepared something during his previous visits, he quickly disappeared somewhere and returned with what looked like a large bundle.
He took something out of it, put it in a small bowl, and ground it quickly. Then he approached her with the now paste-like substance.
"What, what is that?"
"Hold still."
Baek Giha's face came too close.
His elegant jawline.
His red lips and high bridge of nose leading to an upturned tip.
His eyes that now appeared dark in shadow but, when lit, could look as blue as the dawn sky with twinkling stars—all these features entered her view one by one.
As she backed away with reddening cheeks, he followed her persistently.
"What are you doing? What's that for?"
"I'm going to apply this."
He showed her what was in the bowl as he held it out.
"You cried so much earlier. Your skin might crack. So I brought some herbs and medicinal water."
"From where?"
"Hm?"
"I asked where you got it from."
"..."
"..."
"...From the medical hall... of Mystic Ruler."
She angrily slapped his shoulder.
"You went snooping around in someone's residence again? And the Mystic Ruler's at that?"
"..."
"You should raid our home instead! At least then we could cover for you if you get caught. Why do you keep risking your life like this when you're not even immortal anymore?!"
"...I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
"Just try something dangerous one more time. If you get caught then never...!"
"..."
"..."
"...Never what?"
Sehwa grimaced with an embarrassed expression.
Never see you again.
Never speak to you again.
Never eat with you again.
The word "never" had slipped out unconsciously, but she didn't want to complete any of those sentences.
"Just don't do it anymore. Really."
"But I'm still going to apply this. They say it's good for preventing cracks under the eyes."
They say?
Looking carefully, what was ground up in the porcelain bowl was Bui herb.
It was an herb commonly used by Ju clan women for beauty purposes due to its scale-like properties.
In other words, it was an herb frequently used in the Ju clan but not well known to others.
"..."
When Sehwa remained silent and just stared, Giha paused while holding out the cloth soaked with the herb and asked:
"What?"
"Who told you about this?"
"Hm?"
"Who else... was there someone else you used to find this Bui herb for?"
"This? No. I stole a medical book from the hall. That's how I learned about it."
'Because I should know about the herbs used by the Ju clan to better treat you in emergencies,' he added with a shy smile.
"..."
Far from being touched, Sehwa sincerely wanted to give this man with no sense of danger another good beating.
It was worrying enough that he stole herbs from the Mystic Ruler's residence, but to steal medical books too?
What if they caused an uproar looking for the culprit and he got caught?
"So stick your face out. I'll apply it for you."
"No. Don't even think about putting that green mud-like stuff on my face."
Whatever he had been busy with, he was still in his formal attire from the banquet.
'And here I am in my nightclothes with a bare face and loose hair in front of you, and you want me to put herb paste on top of that?'
"But they say applying this is good!"
"Then, then I'll apply it myself when I get back to my room. Give it to me. That works, right?"
"..."
"What now?"
"I already warmed up the washing water and brought it here to apply it myself..."
"..."
"...I already brought towels here and prepared oil too..."
"Ah, fine. But don't you dare laugh if it looks strange."
"Okay."
As soon as she gave permission, the soft cloth saturated with the ground herb's essence began gently patting around her eyes and cheeks.
With her eyes closed to let him apply it better, she couldn't help but smile at the sensation.
It reminded her of earlier when the massive white tiger had raised its pot lid-sized paw outside her window.
The way it had carefully tapped with just one extended claw, worried about damaging the window frame.
"All done. They say to leave it for about an hour and then wash it off."
Then Baek Giha quickly retrieved her washing basin from somewhere.
As he had said, his prepared bundle contained the towels she used and even the oil she applied after washing.
Seeing all he had prepared for her, she realized why she had felt so unsettled since returning from the banquet.
She had been embarrassed.
Forcing tears to act while cornering Sa Yeonju. Even involving her father in the danger.
She had no regrets about what she had done.
But she wondered what he thought of her after watching everything unfold while knowing the full truth.
Did he think she was too cruel? Was he disappointed in her actions, blinded by revenge?
Though she had no path to return to, nor any desire to turn back, she still cared about his opinion of her.
"The water seems a bit cool. Should I heat it up again? Then it should be just the right temperature in an hour."
So he had prepared all this because he was worried her eyes might hurt from the tears she shed today.
Her emotions were in turmoil as she watched him bustle about, talking about pre-soaking cloths with oil and heating water.
She felt like crying even though there was nothing sad, and wanted to smile at the sight of him being busy all by himself.
Not wanting to reveal such emotions, she lightly bit her lip.
At some point, Baek Giha had stopped moving and was staring intently at her red lips pressed beneath white teeth, his gaze burning with thirst.
Swallowing hard, he suddenly asked in a low, husky voice:
"May I kiss you?"
"!"
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