Chapter 26
The nanny swallowed hard and opened her mouth resolutely.
“My lady is the only daughter of the prestigious Dan family. I trust you’ll understand that there can be no connection between her and you, Young Master.”
The nanny held her head high. Though Dongbaek was known to be someone who might draw his sword over such matters, their group had guards with them, so no harm would come to her young lady.
“What are you doing, Nanny!”
Lily, who belatedly understood the meaning behind the nanny’s words, grabbed at her nanny’s clothes in shock as she stood between her and Dongbaek, but the nanny remained unmoved.
Lily couldn’t bear to look at Dongbaek’s face. To treat Dongbaek, who had saved her, like a ruffian. What if Dongbaek took offense and dismissed their connection entirely… Lily’s long, full eyelashes trembled.
At that moment, Dongbaek’s low, clear voice that Lily loved so much settled in her ears like a whisper.
“Connection, you say? I saved Lady Dan. What greater connection could there be? Isn’t that right, Lady Dan?”
At Dongbaek’s words addressed to her, Lily’s face brightened. When she slightly opened her tightly shut eyes and turned toward Dongbaek, she saw him smiling radiantly with his arms spread wide. Somehow, those open arms, his embrace, seemed to be inviting her to fly into them.
A moment’s impulse. Lily followed the voice inside her, just like when she had climbed the persimmon tree to leave home.
Lily pushed past her nanny. Though a grown woman wouldn’t normally be pushed aside by an 8-year-old girl’s resistance, everything happened so suddenly that the nanny lost her balance and stumbled.
“Oh my!”
‘I’m sorry, Nanny.’
Lily apologized in her heart as she leaped straight into Dongbaek’s arms. Her hair, tied up and decorated like a butterfly, swayed as if a real butterfly were flying.
As soon as Dongbaek embraced her, Lily urged him.
“L-let’s run away!”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
Dongbaek was taken aback by Lily’s unexpected action. She had only meant to show her sincerity by opening her arms wide… She never expected Lily to throw herself into her embrace. Fortunately, she caught her instinctively, otherwise, her small body would have tumbled to the ground.
What should I do?
Dongbaek could somewhat understand the nanny’s concerns. If she were in her position, she, too, would have been suspicious and wary of a stranger.
Should she try to calm Lily down and send her back to her nanny?
But it felt wrong to ignore Lily when she was this desperate. Her body trembled slightly in his embrace. Come to think of it, a child climbing a tree to escape home wasn’t a normal occurrence. Perhaps there were unspeakable troubles at home.
Well then… maybe I should play along for now.
Having made up her mind, Dongbaek kept one arm around Lily’s waist and mounted Bidan with smooth, practiced skill. It happened in the blink of an eye.
“Since Lady Dan is uncomfortable in crowded places, I’ll take her horseback riding for a while. I’ll escort her home before sunset. There’s no need to worry about any unfortunate incidents. After all, aren’t I Lady Dan’s savior?”
While the nanny and guards stood dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, Dongbaek looked down at them from atop her horse. As soon as she finished speaking, she spurred Bidan’s flanks. True to its name, Bidan carried Dongbaek and Lily away at an elegant speed. From within Dongbaek’s embrace, Lily called out to her nanny.
“Keep this a secret from Father, Nanny! I’m sorry!”
Lily’s clear voice barely reached the nanny. The nanny tried to make sense of the situation, but everything was beyond her comprehension. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed on the spot.
But soon, the nanny came to her senses and shouted firmly at the confused guards.
“What are you waiting for? Go after and bring back the young lady! Why are you standing there in a daze?”
Watching the guards finally spring into action, the nanny felt like she would burst with frustration. How could they be so slow? No wonder they hadn’t noticed when the young lady sneaked out alone, with such incompetent guards! The nanny clicked her tongue.
This was a serious matter. If the master found out about this… Her head started throbbing with mounting worry.
Young lady, you’ve really caused quite the mess this time.
Jao looked down from the sky at Dongbaek who was riding Bidan with Lily. Look at that decisiveness, despite pretending otherwise. Jao changed direction with the wind.
Unaware that Jao was following her, Dongbaek continued riding Bidan while inwardly sighing. She had impulsively taken Lily away, but she had no plans after that. Should she just let her get some fresh air in the outskirts and send her straight home? Dongbaek felt overwhelmed thinking about how to conclude what she’d started.
Clip-clop.
Dongbaek rode Bidan down to a farmhouse far from the Luoyang market. The tranquility, contrasting with the market’s noise, helped calm both their hearts after their long ride.
There was a large peach tree casting its shadow on the hill beside the village. The tree’s circumference was about four arm-lengths of Dongbaek’s reach. Befitting its size, numerous branches stretched toward the sky, each laden with fully bloomed pale pink peach blossoms attracting bees.
Dongbaek brought Bidan under this peach tree. A stream flowed below the hill where the peach tree stood, and the pale green grass swayed in the spring breeze.
Dongbaek dismounted first and helped Lily down. This was Lily’s first time coming so far from home, and her first time seeing such a large peach tree. She unconsciously let out an admiring sigh.
“It’s beautiful…”
“You seem to like it. It looks like we chose a good spot to walk to.”
Dongbaek let Bidan loose to graze freely. Surely there wouldn’t be horse thieves in a place like this. Though Bidan was actually the type to kick away any horse thieves without hesitation, Dongbaek, who believed Bidan to be genuinely gentle and obedient, worriedly stroked the horse’s back.
After comforting Bidan, Dongbaek took off her long robe and spread it on the ground. Lily hesitated, not understanding why Dongbaek had laid her clothes on the ground. Dongbaek smiled at her confusion.
“Please sit.”
“How could I…!”
“If you sit directly on the ground, the cold will rise up. It’s not good for your health.”
Even so, Lily couldn’t bring herself to sit on Dongbaek’s clothes and tried to step back half a step. But Dongbaek was faster. She sat down first and reached out to catch Lily’s wrist. Eventually, Lily had no choice but to sit on Dongbaek’s robe.
Though they had briefly escaped from their ordinary routine, there wasn’t much to do. They sat leisurely, admiring the scenery. But only Dongbaek was actually looking at the landscape. With Dongbaek beside her, how could Lily’s eyes take in the scenery?
This was a rare opportunity to learn more about Dongbaek. Lily opened her mouth but couldn’t ask anything, just chewing her lips nervously. She had too many questions to ask and couldn’t speak at all. She feared that if she started talking, countless questions would pour out ungracefully. Then Young Master So might be disappointed in her for being unladylike.
After weighing her curiosity about Dongbaek against what he might think of her, Lily hung her head low.
But she hadn’t given up. Lily organized the questions she wanted to ask Dongbaek in order of priority in her mind. What she already knew was… His name So Dongbaek, age 11, adopted son of Zhong Changshi Zhang Rang of the Ten Attendants, his beloved horse named Bidan… W-what? Is that all I know, just four things…! I should at least ask about his, his birthday first…!
“Y-Young Master So, when is your birthday!”
In her urgency, Lily blurted out exactly what she was thinking. And not quietly and gracefully, but loudly. It was a disaster. It was horrible. Realizing what she had done, Lily trembled.
Dongbaek was startled for a moment when the previously silent Lily suddenly shouted. But seeing her state, she felt that showing her surprise might hurt her feelings. Dongbaek smiled slightly and answered.
“I was born in winter. January 7th.”
Dongbaek gave her familiar birthday from her previous world.
Though Lily couldn’t raise her head due to regret and embarrassment over her actions, she kept repeating Dongbaek’s newly learned birthday to herself. January 7th, January 7th. She was determined to engrave it in her bones.
“When is Lady Dan’s birthday?”
“M-mine? It’s A-April 7th.”
“We share the same date. I’m the 7th, and you’re the 7th too. Somehow I thought Lady Dan would have a spring birthday.”
Like a spring flower. Dongbaek added with a smile, making Lily’s heart pound violently. But if she didn’t respond properly here, Dongbaek might think she was a boring child. Barely collecting herself, Lily answered with a gentle smile.
“I thought Young Master So would have a winter birthday too.”
“Because of my name?”
“Yes, it’s such a beautiful name—it reminds me of a camellia flower…”
A beautiful name for such a dignified gentleman—how improper of me! Lily belatedly realized and let her words trail off. Her insides felt like they were burning up from her repeated mistakes.
But Dongbaek smiled as if nothing was wrong. In fact, her father had named her thinking of that camellia flower.
“It’s the name my father gave me after seeing camellia flowers blooming on the day I was born. I like my name too.”
Years later, her mother would recall that day, saying that even the day before Dongbaek was born, the camellia buds outside the window remained tightly closed. But on the day Dongbaek was born, that huge camellia tree spread its petals wide open, and moved by that sight, her father discarded all the names he had considered until then and named her ‘Dongbaek’.
Remembering her original world made one corner of her heartache.
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Thank you for reading! ♡
