Chapter 87: Pyolyu (Drifting Away)

Even if I was set on being with Hui-Jee whom I liked a lot, I still expected Yeon to wait for me by the gate like she always did, no matter how late it was. I was supposed to meet up with Hui-Jee as she had sent me a letter that she had a surprise set up for me and I was fully intending to go, but not having Yeon in my sight was putting me on edge, and I could not rest until I at least saw her with my own eyes. I didn't know what I was going to do when saw her, but I knew that if I didn't see her soon then I was going to absolutely loose my mind. I was tired, but she still didn't approach me to tend to me like she used to and she hadn't even cooked for me at all, which really vexed me. There wasn't a single maid in this residence who could cook like she could or could tend to me like she knew how to. Instead, I got a bumbling ugly maid who had messed up every order she was given and it just set me on edge even more. Where was Yeon? What on earth was she playing at? Why was she cutting me off like this when I was the one who was supposed to do that? I already had a woman who took me out no matter how expensive the places were and how many gifts she wanted on top of the allowance I was giving her for daily necessities.

Since I didn't have any decent food and my father was nowhere in sight, I did end up going to Ihwaru three hours later in stony silence. It turned out that my 'surprise' was a stone cold barely cooked meal paired with a liquor that really didn't suit it at all. Hui-Jee was angry at me for being late, but that was the very least of my problems right now. I couldn't even focus on what Hui-Jee or any of her friends were saying until they mentioned my father's visit and the the young girl that he bought with him.

"You know, I am pretty sure that I have seen that girl from the marketplace. The one who comes out only once a month." "The pretty and short one? Didn't she always have a chaperone?" "You know what? She looks a lot like the one who used to have her fits and always had those 2 men follow her everywhere. But how do you know she went to the palace today?" "I saw her on the way back from visiting the third prince. The second prince pulled her out of the temple where she was being punished, right around the time where the Lady Min was found dead outside of the third prince's residence." Eve if I wanted to ask questions, I couldn't for fear of Hui-Jee asking me questions about Yeon. To protect the Seo's I had to tell her that they both died and she had no idea that I was harbouring Yeon under my own roof. She did keep looking over at me and I was having such a hard time keeping my composure. But with every sentence that her friend was telling us about Yeon in the palace, I had to keep balling my fists to keep my temper under control.

"The second prince? Why would she be with him rather than any other prince? He is a man that likes other men and she is a woman..." "She really is a woman. I do not know if she really is the girl who had those fits, but she has grown up very well. She really is the most beautiful girl that I have seen in this village, no girl in this brothel can certainly match up to her, not even Hui-Jee." "She must be younger than any of us right?" "About 18 years of age and at the peak of her beauty. Marble white skin without a hint of makeup, high cheekbones, pink full lips and breasts and a slim waist to match. And she has unusually thick hair, it must be so heavy. If she really is that poor girl, then it is no wonder why she had to wear pigtails even as a teenager. Can you imagine doing our intricate hairstyles with hair 3 times as thick as ours?" "Is she really that slim? She would get all the customers here if she ever set foot here." "Really?" "She looks as pure as any virgin I have seen...." "A girl like that will never end up in a place like this! She deserves a husband and a family! Not this crap!" I finally exploded and snapped at everyone before I stormed off to the palace with my anger levels flaring dangerously high. But Hui-Jee ran after me and tried to stop me, which was the most reckless thing that she could do in the mood that I was in.

"Where are you going! Can't we spend the night together? I have waited for you all along and I have missed you! You show up late, you barely touched anything I made for you and you were rude to my friends! What on earth is wrong with you? Why do you care about this girl so much? Is she...is she who I think she is?" "I BURIED THE SEO'S TOGETHER! THEY ARE DEAD! THEY DON''T EXIST ANYMORE, SO YOU SHOULD MOVE ON!" Why? Why couldn't Hui-Jee tend to me like Yeon did? We were supposed to be in love, but she just didn't understand me like Yeon did. I could be in the worst of moods and not say anything at all, and all she needed to do was to take a single look at me and tend to me quietly, but not without giving me something to console me, like extra dessert or one of her sweet teas. Even the food that Hui-Jee cooked for me was something similar to what the maids in my home made and...and no one did a better job of looking after me than Yeon, so I needed to bring her home right this minute or her brother would never forgive me, never mind myself.

I had already dunk quite a lot alcohol in the gibang which I was now getting for free thanks to my woman. I remembered pushing Hui-Jee to the side and mounting a random horse that had been left outside and rising as fast as I could to the palace in a rage. So, Yeon had caught the eye of a prince? She had walked around the imperial gardens with him and had dined privately with him? I couldn't even share a meal with Yeon in fear of my father, and here she was dining with a damned prince? I knew so many places where she would love to go and I was more than willing to take her to makeup for the confinement I hand choice but to put her in, but she was care free enough to walk in a place that most of this village will never get to see in their lifetimes? She must be the only lowborn to have such a privilege, but that wasn't what was making me angry. The old Yeon despised the palace for unknown reasons and never wanted to go anywhere near it despite the many attempts I made to invite her when I took her brother. And now she had gained is much favour recently, why on earth would she want to come back to my depressing hellhole of a home? She had caught the eye of a prince, why would she even bother with me anymore, especially since she still hadn't gained her memories back at all. She even rode a damned horse with him despite what happened to us last time and I even had to put down my own horse for her...

I already had an idea of where to find Yeon, but what I didn't expect was for her to be alone with another man who made her kneel onto the ground as if she were some sort of commoner. That was the absolute last straw from me as I started seeing only red. I had already given this man a chance to walk away from Yeon and here he was, taking the opportunity to approach her the one time that I wasn't around her. I kicked him right in the chest which knocked him right onto the ground, where I then proceeded to let my fists talk for me. He was almost dead by the time I was through with him, and it was only because Yeon had thrown herself at him to make me stop that I did, otherwise I would have had to send his body home to his family covered in a white sheet.

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Seon-Ho had completely lost his mind when he saw me on my knees, which was an utterly exaggerated reaction from him. He used to make me kneel in font of him for hours on end, but I couldn't do it outside of his sight? I could already smell the alcohol on him from a mile away, and although this man deserved the punishment that Seon-Ho was giving him, I couldn't let him get in trouble and jeopardise his job and future just for me. But as usual, he had to jump to other conclusions first before he saw sense, but this time I had completely underestimated his anger. Before I could even touch him, he had already caught my wrist and actually almost ran me straight up against the wall if he didn't place his hand on the back of my head so I wouldn't bang it against the wall.

"What the hell are you doing in the library instead of staying in the temple?" "I...the prince, he noticed me and..." "His reputation isn't important, he is still a fully gown man and you are a girl who's teenage years have almost come to and end. You cannot be alone with any man, even if he is a prince or this man that keeps chasing you around! What did he say to you? Did he touch you?" He was so enraged that he was actually shaking, and I was honestly as a loss of words. As much as I owe this man, I still had to look after my brother, and I needed to do it without him being so involved in my life.

"Why didn't you tell me that he wanted to marry me? How long are you planning on keeping me locked up for with a curfew and not a single mention of my memories? I have no freedom, no friends, no opportunity to be a part of the village that I have supposedly grown up in, I haven't gone anywhere beyond the market place and I get into trouble if I talk to anyone, most especially you! What kind of a life is this? Why won't anyone tell me everything? Why do I have to stay hidden as if I am something to be ashamed of!" "If I have to stay home because of my birth right, then so do you! It is our home, together!" "No, it isn'! I cannot speak to you freely, I cannot accompany you anywhere, I cannot even dine with you! Do you have any idea how hard this is? Even when you used to coldly push me away and ignore me, I would still wait for you to come home so I can tend to you and finally wait for the day when you will trust me, open up to me and tell me everything that you are hiding from me! But you still haven't! You have a woman that you love now that keeps you outside of your home whist I am still stuck in my room in household that despises me!" "You...what exactly are you saying? That you would have married him? That you would have left me alone?" "But you are not alone, are you? You have someone, and I have nothing; no memories, no money and no support. My life would have changed if I had gotten married, but you find every reason in the book to keep me by you. You even use me the minute that you are away from your woman! You have ruined the only thing that I had, which was my reputation! Why did you tell him that I was in a relationship with you? And that you were going to marry me! When you know that cannot happen!"

If I thought that he was angry when he came into the library, then I had no idea how to describe him now. He still had a tight hold of me, but his eyes suddenly turned as black as ravens as he got right into my face. "Are you rejecting my proposal?" "I...what proposal? What are you talking about..." with his other hand, he punched a hole in the wall right next to my head. It was late at night and there were not many candles lit, and our 'interaction' was currently going in the darkest part of the library. He was beginning to frighten me and I couldn't help but to bury myself into his chest when he punched the wall to threaten me. I didn't just do that; before I could regain my senses, I had actually flung my arms around him in a panic. I had never been so close to him as I was now, and even though he was still drunk, he wouldn't let me go.