Chapter 27
Seeing Dongbaek’s melancholic appearance, Lily fidgeted with her fingers and blushed.
“I found it interesting that Young Master So has a two-character name.”
“True, men usually have single-character names. Lady Dan has two characters, and I have two characters. We have a lot in common. What does Lady Dan’s name mean?”
“My mother had a dream of a glass carp before I was born… So my name Lily (璃鯉) means ‘glass carp.'”
“What a precious dream.”
As they were exchanging words, a sudden wind blew. The peach blossoms fell like snow from the tree in the gusty wind. One pink petal fluttered down and gently landed on Lily’s crown. Dongbaek carefully removed the peach blossom that had settled on Lily’s head.
Startled at first by Dongbaek’s hand reaching for her head, Lily’s eyes soon shifted to the flower pinched between his elegant fingers. Her cheeks turned a deeper red. How could someone’s hands be so beautiful? His pale, slender fingers seemed better suited for holding a brush or playing a zither than wielding a sword.
“Come to think of it, they say if a flower petal happens to fall on your head, your wish will come true. Did you make a wish?”
Lily couldn’t answer right away as she watched Dongbaek smile and release the petal to the wind. When the petal had fallen on her head, what she had thought was…
“You must not have, if I had known, I should have told you before removing it.”
Seeing Lily’s silence, Dongbaek felt sorry, thinking she hadn’t gotten to make a wish. Though Dongbaek didn’t really believe in such superstitions, these things were usually about self-satisfaction anyway.
But Lily shook her head. Unlike before, she looked straight into Dongbaek’s eyes. Lily gathered all her courage, both what she had and what she didn’t have. Using every last drop of it, she opened her mouth.
“I wished… that Young Master So would meet me again.”
Though Lily’s voice trembled, her meaning clearly reached Dongbaek. Dongbaek’s face suddenly stiffened. The kind smile until now changed to bewilderment.
Lily’s heart beat violently. Come to think of it, her nanny had said it was vulgar for a noble lady to request meetings with men. Perhaps Dongbaek would think of her that way too. She shouldn’t have said it. But she couldn’t help it…
Tears welled up in Lily’s large eyes. With eyes brimming with teardrops, she looked at Dongbaek and asked once more.
“Young Master So, could we… meet again…?”
At Lily’s voice, trembling far more than before, Dongbaek let out a low sigh. Her feelings were so pure and obvious that they couldn’t be denied.
Though she hadn’t said she liked Dongbaek, it was more passionate and desperate than any confession Dongbaek had received before.
Thinking about it, Dongbaek had saved Lily and had shown capability in everything before her. Perhaps Dongbaek was the first boy of her age that Lily had met. Like how a duckling imprints on the first thing it sees after hatching, it might be natural for Lily to take to heart the first peer she encountered.
Rather than dismissing Jao’s teasing, I should have considered this child more seriously… I hadn’t realized it would come to this.
In terms of actual mental age, Dongbaek was well over 20 years old. Yes, Dongbaek was too old to accept the fresh love of a girl not yet 10 years old.
But Lily’s emotion toward her was so pure and straightforward that it left Dongbaek no room to avoid it. An answer was necessary. Either cut off their relationship or continue it.
Dongbaek was a woman, and therefore, she could never fully satisfy Lily, who believed without doubt that she was a man.
Rejecting confessions was always difficult, but this time it was especially so. The first reason being that the other party thought she was a man, and the second being that she couldn’t correct that misunderstanding.
Yet abruptly saying they couldn’t meet anymore seemed too harsh, considering how it would hurt Lily. She was only 8 years old—in her original world, she would have just started elementary school. Was there really a need to reject her so coldly…
Come to think of it, when Dongbaek was Lily’s age, she had passionately loved a robot from an animated movie. Of course, those memories had long since faded, and she only knew about it because her parents would tease her about it later. It would probably be the same for Lily with these current memories. They would fade someday.
“If fate intends to connect Lady Dan and me, we’ll meet again. They say three coincidences make a destiny. If we happen to meet by chance one more time, then I’ll set a date to meet.”
Luoyang was vast, and she was busy. It wouldn’t be easy to meet by chance like this again later. Even if they did meet, it would be much later. By then, Lily might have forgotten about Dongbaek, or even if she remembered, her feelings might not be as tender as now.
If she still liked him then as she did now… She could think about it again then.
Though Dongbaek avoided a direct answer and glossed over it, Lily beamed with eyes still brimming with tears at such a response. How could she be so happy? A mixture of pity and guilt stabbed at Dongbaek’s heart.
Once again, the wind made the peach tree branches rustle. And like unseasonable snow in spring, a shower of petals fell, erasing the figures of Dongbaek and Lily.
In the dreamlike scenery, Young Master So’s figure flickered through the pink petals before her eyes. This seemed like the paradise, the Peach Blossom Spring, that adults had told her about. Feeling as though she might wake from a sweet dream if she came to her senses, Lily finally let her welling tears fall.
Dongbaek comforted the sobbing Lily while sweating profusely. For some reason, Dongbaek’s gentle consolation made Lily cry even more, and she wept there for a long time.
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By the time Lily finally stopped crying, the sun had already sunk low in the sky. Before it disappeared completely behind the mountains, Dongbaek escorted her back home.
The nanny, who had been anxiously pacing near the house, bulged her eyes at the sight of Dongbaek and Lily. Her gaze was as if she were looking at the world’s most despicable villain. It was the kind of look one would naturally give someone suspected of kidnapping and tormenting a young lady—no, a child—in broad daylight.
Though the age difference between Dongbaek and Lily was only about three years, did Dongbaek look his actual age? Unless one looked carefully at his still-young face, his tall stature made them appear to be around thirteen or fourteen. Moreover, even that young face wore the expression of someone in their twenties who seemed to understand how the world worked.
Well aware of how she appeared to others, Dongbaek smiled bitterly while helping Lily down from the horse. The nanny snatched Lily away from Dongbaek and quickly went inside. The heavy, magnificent gate of the Dan household opened at tremendous speed and closed just as quickly.
It had been quite a hectic day. Dongbaek rode Bidan toward Zhang Rang’s mansion. The ride from the Dan residence to the Zhang residence didn’t take long on Bidan. Finally, after passing endless estate walls, the main gate appeared. Dongbaek dismounted and knocked on the gate.
“It’s me. Open the gate.”
Recognizing their young master’s voice, the gatekeeper hastily unlatched the door. Dongbaek stepped inside, rolling her neck to loosen the stiffness as she crossed the threshold.
No sooner had he entered than someone greeted him—it was Zhang Rang.
“I heard you left the palace early, seems you went out for some fresh air.”
Dongbaek couldn’t tell if Zhang Rang happened to be passing by the gate when she arrived or if he had been waiting. Dongbaek scratched her head and made an excuse.
“…The weather was nice, so I went for a ride.”
“Good. Perfect timing. You must be thirsty, let’s have some tea.”
Zhang Rang turned around. Dongbaek handed Bidan’s reins to the nearby gatekeeper before following Zhang Rang.
“No alcohol. Just tea.”
“Haha, when did I say anything about offering you wine?”
“You’ve done it before.”
At Dongbaek’s quick retort, Zhang Rang burst into hearty laughter. It seemed he really meant just tea, as a servant brought tea when they entered Zhang Rang’s quarters. Dongbaek first poured tea for Zhang Rang. Zhang Rang also offered tea to Dongbaek, saying,
“Drink.”
Dongbaek took a sip of tea. A slightly bitter yet sweet fragrance lingered in her mouth. It seemed to be the highest quality among premium teas.
“It’s good tea. Not only is it very difficult to obtain, but the production method is also very challenging. Well, it’s a method of using poison to control poison (以夷制夷).”
At Zhang Rang’s words, Dongbaek almost spat out the tea she was savoring. She barely avoided making a scene by unwittingly swallowing it, though whether that was the right choice remained uncertain. Dongbaek, showing unusual confusion on herface, asked back,
“Wait, are you saying what I just drank is poison?”
“Weak poison is actually good for the body.”
It builds resistance to moderate poisoning. Zhang Rang raised the corner of his mouth in a sinister smile.
“Keep drinking that tea from now on. Though it’s not easy to obtain, it’s essential for people like us who keep tripping over political opponents.”
Dongbaek gratefully bowed their head at Zhang Rang’s favor. It must be one of the teas supplied to the imperial family. Come to think of it, I’ve seen the emperor and Crown Prince Bian drinking tea with a similar aroma before. As expected of Zhang Rang, freely taking tea that only the imperial family could drink.
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Thank you for reading! ♡
