When I ventured out on my next work trip, I made sure to buy a very big bunch of cherries that unfortunately only lasted on the journey there. Cherries, that was exactly what Yeon tasted of when I kissed her last and it was a taste that i missed sorely upon seeing them in the marketplace. Right now, she should be residing in the same place as her worst enemy as i was out here to carry on my plans to tackle the corrupt scholar before he had a chance to recover and come for me. Besides, Yeonie was always the one who wanted space from me, so now i was giving it to her after I had made the biggest mistake of my life…saving The Third Prince so that i could not be framed for his attack. I was also taking some time from the palace to recuperate with the new medicine that Moon-bok had worked so hard for me to sober up from my opium addiction that was slowly but surely ruining all of my hard work. If i hadn't have become an addict by now, I wouldn't have stoped so low as to cut a deal with The Concubine Choi to marry Yeon as soon as The Third Prince woke up so that he wouldn't get any ideas with Yeon in the palace. I would have found a solution on my own and not start keeping secrets from her. What right did i have over her if i was acing the same way as her? i had already put that girl through a lot before we were even married and this should be the last thing I was doing now, but she could thank Hui-Jae for this mess that she had put us in and I could only hope that Yeon would tear her apart before i returned to the palace for her. I now had Hui-Jae's disruptive behaviour to deal with on top of everything else and I had to spare Yeon from harm, and I couldn't quite believe that I was saying this, but it was almost worse than loosing Hwi in some ways. Now more than ever, I had realised that I needed my own person, and it had unwittingly become Yeon. I was trapped from every angle possible with no way out and I didn't want Yeon to see how stressed out I was. But no matter how hard I tried to keep busy, there would always be something that reminded me of her, whether it would be watching girls huddle in groups around new books, jewellery pieces that were in her favourite colours or even watching lovers desperately trying to find places to meet up.
Just that very thought of our limited freedom made me break the glass I was holding in my hands in my second brothel that I had stepped into. I was not a man that particularly divulged into pleasure like this apart from my drinks, so I felt disgusted by myself for even stepping foot here…I felt as if I was betraying her. But I had to at least try to move on for her brother's sake, the last thing that should happen was that I take her right back from him after stealing her in the first place…more or less…and she was very on and off with me already. Someday's she would be comforting and other days she would keep her distance due to me still hiding her and not telling her about her memories properly…but no matter what mood she was in she would always give me the same smile that I gave her to tell her that everything was ok. But when I tried to approach her she just used the same cold excuses that that I did to maintain my distance from her, leaving me reeling in my own guilt that I was barely able to survive in. Yeon was having an effect on me that was slowly swallowing me whole; every single day I was by her side she would follow me, but now that she was no longer waiting for me and was doing things without my consultation or guidance I felt completely lost and cold with no path to walk on until Yeon once again turned to me. Now that I got a tase of what I myself had put her through I had never felt so miserable, sad and almost disoriented in my entire life. Maybe…should I do something? To make sure that she remembers who it was that was looking after her? Should I use Hui-Jae against her? It wasn't like she was giving me any other choice…
So I took another look around at the women who were all either too young, too old, too dense or over-confident in their selves to be here. I had some throw themselves at me from the minute I walked inside and drag me to a spot where could indulge myself as much as possible. But no matter how many women were sent to me, they couldn't make up for her warm presence and secret smiles that Yeon had only for me. I had been here for only a few minutes but she was still the only thing I could think about…and right now, for the first time in my life longed to be home…maybe if I told her everything that was going on, I would be absolved of this emotional torture much sooner, no matter how she saw me after this. I would give her as much space as she needed…but as for her brother's wishes…I had to talk to them, both of them to not only clear up any misunderstandings between us…but to secure our lives together…maybe through marriage. If it kept Yeon safe for the rest of her life, then why not? It would be unfair to her to just keep her as a companion and…and I couldn't deny that the thought of her being with someone else when she had me to take care of her really started to make me feel uncomfortable. And angry. There was absolutely nobody in this village or even the entire kingdom that was worthy of her, that was why her brother only introduced her to me. And Yeon was an intellectual rather than a materialistic woman, and there was nobody in her class that could afford to educate her, never mind allowing a woman to read and write at all. And even if Yeon hated me for the rest of her life I would always have her besides me, where she would surely in time forgive me, and would hopefully give us both a fresh new start and a brand new future to look forward to. I knew she wasn't one to pass time just by being a housewife. If she wanted to be educated, I would work to support that, and if she wanted to take up work…well I wouldn't be too enthusiastic about it, but if that was what she wanted to do, I would only allow it if she worked under me. Now that she was free of her epilepsy, I knew that she would want to make the most of her time and intelligence, but there was no way that I would allow her to work for somebody that I didn't know…in fact I didn't want her working with anyone else at all, and I'm pretty sure that I had her brother's support on that, no matter how strained our relationship was at the moment.
I still had all of these thoughts going through my mind that I didn't even notice that Hui-Jae of all people had actually followed me well out of the village with a furious look on her face. But before I could fully process her presence, she had actually barged her way past me and grabbed the hair of the nearest prostitute that was standing next to me with her arm wrapped around mine. I hadn't even noticed that but I couldn't say anything either as she actually…wrestled this girl to the ground before she started slapping her aggressively and even started pulling out chunks of this woman's hair before I started pulling her off and trying to push her out of the door. This crazy bitch actually had the nerve to slap me before confronting me as if she was my wife. "Just what the hell are you laughing at? You actually have the nerve to be caught in a place like this and you're laughing at me? After everything I have done for you, you dare to be unfaithful to me?!" "Are you out of your senses? How am I being unfaithful to a person I had no ties with at all?" And with that, I tried to walk away but she stepped out in front of me, and started clinging onto me in full view of everyone that was outside "are you being serious right now? You know that I only came home just for you when I could have carried on with my travels. I missed you and I want us to finally get married."
My jaw hit the floor and I started to laugh, thinking about all the tricks she would pull in my home when she visited, which was almost every single week. She took over the kitchen a few days ago and surprised us all with a 'home cooked meal' which tasted more rancid than anything I had ever tried, even in the Liadong war. The next day I got sent mismatched and badly sewn clothes with an entirely new scent that I'm pretty sure she had invented herself. Even before Yeon's memory loss she wasn't this bad, in fact she still hadn't done anything like this at all. I could only roll my eyes at this and it honestly made things awkward between myself and Yeon, whom I had no choice but to lock up Yeon myself in case this crazy bitch did something horrible to her.
Hui-Jae had a reputation of being an extremely jealous woman and had been known 'to deal' with maids to tried to pass themselves at he customers back in Ihwaru and the palace now; some ended up fired, poisoned, barren or even dead. But what bothered me more than anything was the fact that Yeon didn't even bother pleading for her freedom, or for me to show her mercy…she didn't even look at me as I had to not only lock her doors but I also threw in someone guards to protect her. She didn't wish me good luck on my travels like she used to, or pack up some food and clothes for me….she didn't say anything to me at all.
I tried to walk away once again, longing to drown out this woman's delusional speech's when I came across Concubine Choi's brother, whom i had left with Yeon back in the palace brothel. I had meant to catch up with him a long time ago, but I didn't have the time thanks to Hui-Jae's antics. I was behind on so many things and now I had the chance to catch up with it all, but he I didn't like the look in his face when he saw me at all. "Young Master Nam, there is something that i need to tell you about The Young Mistress Seo before she came into the palace…"