Chapter 17
Zhang Rang showed no reaction upon hearing the name Dongbaek had given to the horse. It was unexpected.
Rather, Geum Danyo blushed more shyly. Seeing her reaction, Dongbaek also became embarrassed. Her face, which rarely turned red, flushed bright crimson.
While she had many excuses ready for Zhang Rang, she hadn’t thought of anything to say to Geum Danyo, so she just mumbled something and fled.
Seeing Dongbaek’s unusual behavior, Geum Danyo and Housekeeper Wang looked at each other blankly before bursting into laughter. Hearing Geum Danyo’s laughter reaching beyond the backyard, Dongbaek covered her face with one hand.
Regardless of Dongbaek’s mischievous nature, her appearance was quite handsome, and the passing female servants whispered among themselves at the sight of the embarrassed young master. This made Dongbaek even more self-conscious.
The cool autumn breeze tickled Dongbaek’s hair. When she first entered this world, her hair barely reached her neck, but it had grown quite a bit since then.
It was spring when she arrived here, so about five months had passed. Crow would probably know better. The crow often remembered or knew things about Dongbaek that she hadn’t even thought about.
‘Ah, it’s not Crow anymore, it’s Jao. Jao.’
Dongbaek repeated Jao’s name several times. Although it was said to be for public use, she was the only one who could properly call him by his real name.
‘Besides, if I keep calling him Crow, those sparks will definitely fly to Bidan.’
It had been over a month since she received Bidan as a gift.
Even when Dongbaek handled Bidan somewhat inadequately, the noble horse understood her intentions perfectly and moved exactly as she wanted. Thanks to Bidan, Dongbaek was easily developing an interest in horseback riding.
After spending so much time riding and rolling around with the horse, she had become quite skilled at handling Bidan.
It wasn’t strange that Dongbaek, who used to ride motorcycles with engine displacements comparable to cars in her previous world, had taken up horseback riding again, which she had only done as a cultured pursuit before. This place lacked the sense of speed and tension she was used to.
With the weather being cool, she thought about going horseback riding to cool her flushed face. Dongbaek immediately headed to the stable.
The stable keeper greeted her with a bright smile. Despite ‘that’ memorable incident, the stable keeper quite liked Dongbaek. He appreciated how Dongbaek treated the horses preciously and occasionally asked him questions about horses in an unpretentious manner.
Dongbaek smiled brightly as she received Bidan from the stable keeper. Then she placed her foot in the leather strap and lightly jumped up.
“I’ll be back before sunset.”
Dongbaek spurred Bidan. With a neigh, Bidan started galloping as smoothly as flowing water.
Somehow, the wind felt different today. It felt like he would meet someone new.
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Dongbaek rode swiftly, with Bidan cutting through the wind like an arrow.
After passing the massive walls of Zhang Rang’s mansion and going a bit further, other mansions came into view. The street was quiet, still seeming to be in the residential area.
Dongbaek slowed down briefly. It was to wait for Jao, who would likely be following her.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
While slowly riding Bidan, Dongbaek looked around.
As this was the residential area closest to the imperial palace, only powerful figures could live here. Though not as large and magnificent as Zhang Rang’s mansion, these residences lined up were still lavishly decorated with wealth, incomparable to the roughly thatched houses of common people.
From the persimmon tree leaning outside the wall of a mansion she was passing by, a single persimmon hung out.
“Well, since it’s hanging outside the wall, it should be fair game…. Wait, didn’t one of our ancestors get scolded for saying something like that?”
Dongbaek’s hand unconsciously reached for the persimmon but then withdrew as an old Korean folk tale flashed through her mind.
Right, come to think of it, she didn’t particularly like raw persimmons anyway. Seeing is wanting, tsk tsk. Dongbaek awkwardly rubbed her hands on her pants.
Just then, there was a rustling sound. It came from the persimmon tree she had just passed. Worried that Jao might be disturbing someone else’s persimmons, Dongbaek looked up toward the sound.
But what Dongbaek saw wasn’t Jao, but a young girl.
The girl looked about three years younger than Dongbaek. It was quite surprising to see a 7-year-old child up in a persimmon tree.
The girl’s black hair, which had clearly been neatly tied up before, and her cute colored clothes made of expensive fabric were already a mess, caught in the persimmon tree branches.
The girl also saw Dongbaek. Her face turned bright red at the thought of being seen in such an embarrassing state by a boy her age. The girl raised her hands to cover her face. Which meant, in other words, there was nothing supporting her in the tree anymore.
“Eek, eeeek!”
While on Bidan, Dongbaek barely managed to catch the falling girl. It was such a shock that if Bidan hadn’t been such a gentle horse, Dongbaek might have fallen off too.
“Um, are you alri—?”
“I-I’m fine!”
Before Dongbaek could finish speaking, the girl exclaimed in surprise. Wondering what to do with this little one, and feeling awkward about continuing to hold her, she first set her down on the ground.
“Although I helped you by chance, please don’t do this again. It’s dangerous.”
Dongbaek said firmly. Even though she fell because she was startled by her, there was no guarantee she would have been safe if he hadn’t been there.
“Thank you.”
The girl blushed again at his words and bowed deeply. Then she hopped away towards the marketplace.
‘Did she sneak out to look around the market?’
Dongbaek was a bit worried. Not all adults would look kindly upon a pretty 7-year-old girl wandering the market alone.
Since she came out to play today anyway, why not keep an eye on that girl? Having made her decision, Dongbaek slowly rode Bidan, following the girl.
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“Is that the girl?”
“Yes, that’s her.”
Jao and Dongbaek whispered while watching the girl from the persimmon tree house. Of course, their presence was quite noticeable. How could they not stand out—a clearly noble young boy riding a sleek black horse with a crow in hand?
The girl was entranced, her eyes wide with wonder at the various imported goods. She mostly looked at small, shiny things that would catch a child’s interest.
As she looked at various items, her gaze became fixed on one particular thing. It was a pair of silk shoes for girls. Not just ordinary silk shoes, but a precious item made of the finest silk with intricate gold thread embroidery.
The shoes were displayed in the shop’s prime location, likely a piece of work containing the craftsman’s pride. The shoe shop merchant quietly smiled at the girl who was lost in admiration. With 20 years of experience in trading, the merchant immediately noticed that despite being wrinkled, the girl’s clothes were made of quite expensive fabric.
“Ho ho, little miss. Instead of just looking at them here, why don’t you ask your parents to buy them for you? What parent could refuse the wish of such a pretty daughter?”
The girl was startled by the strange woman suddenly speaking to her, but tried to act natural. If her running away was discovered, she might be sent home immediately. Her heart was pounding.
The girl looked at the shoes again. She wanted to go home right away and beg for them, she liked them so much.
But if I ask for these, Father will realize I went outside…
After agonizing for a while, the girl finally gave up on the shoes and trudged away dejectedly to somewhere else.
After the girl disappeared into the distance, Dongbaek went to the shoe shop where she had been looking. In the current era where people went barefoot or at best wore leather shoes, those silk shoes the girl had been looking at were for women who didn’t walk—in other words, those of status who could ride in palanquins wherever they went. For such shoes to be made for a child, not even an adult… Certainly, the people who could afford these shoes were of a specific class.
The shoes were even more splendid up close than they had appeared from afar. Dongbaek dismounted decisively and reached for the shoes without hesitation. Even as Dongbaek roughly turned the shoes this way and that, the woman couldn’t bring herself to tell him not to handle such precious items so roughly. After all, she had heard the rumors spread throughout Luoyang about Zhang Rang’s adopted son, Dongbaek.
Ash-gray hair with pale eyes. Three dots in a row under the left eye. A slightly sharp-featured beautiful youth… Dongbaek matched the rumors exactly.
“How much is this?”
The gold thread on the shoes swayed gently with Dongbaek’s hand movements. The woman was momentarily speechless at his question, but managed to answer with a merchant’s quick wit.
“T-Tw… twenty thousand coins, sir…”
“What? Twenty thousand for this?”
Dongbaek frowned. How many bags of grain would that buy? It would be about 2 million won in Korean currency. Thinking about it that way, it seemed like a reasonable price. Luxury shoes cost about that much too. Considering the craftsmanship, it might even be cheap.
Of course, paying this price for children’s shoes when they grow so quickly seemed crazy… But then again, Dongbaek’s own current attire wasn’t exactly modest either.
“Give me one pair.”
“…Pardon?”
“Bill it to Zhong Changshi Zhang Rang.”
“Young master… these items…”
Remembering the little customer from earlier, the merchant fidgeted anxiously. Dongbaek urged the merchant impatiently.
“Are you going to sell them or not?”
Thinking about it, what were the chances that little customer would convince her parents? In the end, the merchant handed over the shoes to Dongbaek.
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Thank you for reading! ♡
