Chapter 147 Seon-Ho/ Seo Yeon

After a trying day, all I wanted was to be left alone, have my food, and get some sleep. Yeon was well acquainted with this mood of mine and respected it. She welcomed me home with a kiss after running some errands in town and served me my food whilst she got on with her own things, and just as she was getting me dressed for bed we heard a knock on the door. Chun-Ae had the nerve to invite some of the Queen's ministers to our home a few hours before midnight for support against my new marriage. Frustration and fury took over me but Yeon calmed me down before pushing me to meet them.

They greeted me with smiles and respect until they laid their eyes on Yeon, but the look on my face changed their looks before they practically made themselves at home. We all sat down and a heavily pregnant Yeon struggled to get up and serve them since the servants were coincidentally too busy elsewhere. I grabbed Yeon's arm, sat her beside me as close as possible which shocked and angered everyone, but not as much when I barked to Chun-Ae to get up and serve them tea and snacks.

You could have heard a hairpin drop, that's how silent the house became. I was faced with horrified looks from everyone but I just retorted that's the training 'charity noble women' got as wives in training. Chun-Ae shot a murderous look at Yeon before finally doing something useful in the house for once. The ministers were stunned into silence and could only look to the floor and then to Yeon; who looked uncomfortable at the attention she was getting. She got up to leave but I reached out for her arm and pulled her back down again and reprimanded her for leaving her husband in front of guests, which just stunned everyone including Yeon. She just scowled at me and I just chuckled in return; we were in our own world once again regardless of our audience until my mother-in-law cleared her throat quite loudly, bringing us both back to reality.

When Chun-Ae returned, we were almost immediately interrogated by the state of our 'partnership', as they were worried she wasn't being treated up to the right standards. They then began to get into details that were making Yeon upset. I just answered their questions as plainly as I could before pointing out the things that disgraced me about their daughter's entitled personality and her antics as well as point her father's flaws at work in the palace in front of his embarrassed wife before storming off to finally get some sleep, dragging Yeon behind me and leaving Chun-Ae in tears. I had the boy sent to school to begin studying and training so he hadn't met Yeonie yet, but his school break was starting soon and I planned to bring him home myself.

Yeonie also wanted to continue working but it wasn't an option for her to return to her jobs in her condition so I let her give tuitions from another property that had come into my possession from my job as well as frequently help out in orphanages, charities, and the Seo's village that only improved my image and honour even more.

Chun-Ae was a real piece of work; she was the opposite of Yeon in every way. Yeon was patient and friendly to our servants whereas Chun-Ae, who had grown up with them like me treated them impatiently and even tortured them unnecessarily until Yeon intervened. Yeon had a work ethic whereas Chun-Ae had none after living with us, she had a mild education on my work and pretty much lounged around the home all day or was out shopping in the expensive parts of town as much as possible. I gave Yeon a new set of clothes to suit our new position, not that she let me buy a lot in the first place and Chun-Ae...well the list goes on. Yeon was a dutiful wife but as she wasn't born into nobility she wasn't used to all the attention so I delegated some of her duties to Chun-Ae. I was more than happy to keep Yeon at home where I could keep an eye on her as much as possible. Yeon tried to approach her a few times but all she got was doors shut in her face and silence. But as Yeon's belly began to swell, so did Chun-Ae's humiliation and jealousy.

She finally confronted me at some point; throwing a fit as usual. I confronted her about the threat she made to Yeon but she just laughed in my face before turning the tables on me, confronting me about my 'surprise' marriage to her. I was reaching a dangerous mood and I tried to walk away but she wouldn't let me and starting insulting Yeon. Before I knew it I slapped her so hard she fell to the ground. I just looked at her before walking away, but not before reminding her to never badmouth my wife again and that even in her natural noble state she couldn't compare to her. She hadn't confronted Yeonie yet as I hadn't given her a chance to but I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. And when it did, I looked forward to seeing how Yeon would fight for me this time. I knew she had already gone through a few tests from my wife and her family including bad food, poor treatment from servants and even eluding her tricks with home necessities such as cleaning water and tampered makeup products. But I chose not to say anything to see how she was handling herself and to be honest I got more and more impressed.

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We were both slowly opening up to each other in different ways other than talking...for now at least. But we were a newly wed couple, and there was definitely a lot of sex involved; in fact I could tell my husband would rather be intimate with me to express how he felt rather than talking, which I didn't mind at all; he craved a lot of affection as well, which I pretty much knew was coming after the way he had been treated by everyone all his life. He also wanted me in his sight as much as possible. I started helping him with his work; summarising his work scrolls into key point and laying out options to take from the information given when I wasn't working. But I felt like he constantly had his eyes on me, not knowing what to expect. When he wasn't working he placed himself in every room I was in. When we had guests over I wasn't to leave his sight either. He cornered me when he wanted in front of the servants and relied on me for everything, totally ignoring everyone else in his home. He touched me whenever he could and always had one hand placed on my fast-growing belly before he forced me to greet him the way he wanted; either kisses or more. But I didn't resent him, in spite of how possessive he was being I knew he was showing me love the only way he knew how to after all these years. I was still in the process of healing from the shock I had received so I wasn't in a very talkative mood either; and we were both preoccupied with our growing family. I looked after Bong-Ju as much as I could but my husband actually hired a physician to come and stay with us until I gave birth.

He had his eyes more on my belly than myself and I could feel his excitement; my pregnancy had really cooled him down from the war. And the more we talked about our future plans with them the happier it seemed to make him. He even brought me a whole load of wool out of nowhere so I could make a start on baby clothes, he emptied out an entire box onto my lap and it made me laugh harder than I had in a very long time and I couldn't help but to embrace him as naturally as I used to. Amidst his unusual possessiveness over me I thanked him for getting me pregnant; I was truly happy from the moment I found out...I just couldn't express myself well at the time. He collapsed onto my lap with his hand laying across my belly and fell into a deep sleep. I held my man and watched over him, thunking of ways I could express my gratitude to him just for loving me.