The Moonlight Confession
After the sparring match ended, Baek Yuseong had no choice but to endure the Sword King’s barrage of questions.
How had Namgung Yurin managed to use that technique and still be perfectly fine afterward? What was her limit? And so on.
The Sword King’s expression was so intense it looked like he was on the verge of losing his mind, completely unlike his usual self.
Yuseong answered as casually as he could. Telling him everything would only make things more bothersome, so he gave a heavily condensed version.
“Grandfather, please stop. Yuseong-ssi is getting uncomfortable.”
Only after Namgung Yurin spoke up did the Sword King finally relent.
“In any case, that was truly remarkable. Perhaps…”
The Sword King’s mouth opened and closed several times, clearly wanting to ask something more.
Yuseong simply waited in silence.
‘What could he possibly want to say that’s making him hesitate like this?’
He waited for a long time, but the old man remained silent. Even though the Sword King was usually so bold and arrogant, why was he now hesitating?
Yuseong glanced sideways and saw the Sword King’s gaze drifting to the side.
Namgung Yuhyeon and Namgung Hwan were deep in conversation, their faces glowing with unmistakable joy.
From the way they were moving their mouths, it seemed like they were discussing a marriage… but he couldn’t be sure.
“It’s not like that. I’ve decided I won’t interfere in those matters anymore…”
The Sword King looked at Yuseong one last time with a hint of regret, then turned and walked away.
***
Late at night, Yuseong walked beside Namgung Yurin through the back courtyard of the Namgung Clan.
The courtyard featured a small pond surrounded by beautiful flowers, a tranquil spot.
“Yuseong-ssi, you must be tired. I didn’t bring you here just to waste your time, did I?”
“I’m fine. It’s you who should be worried. You must have had a rough day.”
“Because of the treatment Yuseong-ssi gave me, I’m completely healed. In fact, I feel more refreshed than ever.”
“Refreshed?”
“I think all that accumulated tension from Grandfather must have been weighing on me. But sparring with you in earnest really eased the knot in my heart.”
Yuseong nodded, having a good idea of what she meant.
The authoritative Sword King, the man who had controlled her for so long. How many years had she lived without ever properly rebelling?
Before Yuseong appeared, no one had truly listened to her words. How frustrated she must have felt.
Namgung Yurin didn’t bring up the main reason for calling him out here yet, so Yuseong simply talked with her as they walked.
As they strolled, they passed the pond and reached a small pavilion set up to one side.
The two naturally sat down together.
A huge full moon hung brightly in the sky.
Just like that day.
“It’s a full moon. Do you remember that time before?”
“Of course. The day I healed Jang Chil’s mother.”
“That’s right. Actually… back then it wasn’t like this.”
“Not like this? What do you mean?”
“...It’s just that.”
Namgung Yurin glanced at Yuseong’s face, then looked back up at the moon.
When they had sat together under the pavilion at the Murim Academy that day, her feelings toward him hadn’t been very strong yet.
There had been a little fondness, but that was all.
But.
As she received more and more help from him, she gradually fell.
Not just as his benefactor, but as a man.
Exactly like today, when he had first come to find her.
After healing her uncle and Juyeon’s injuries, her heart soared to its limit.
It had become too difficult to hide the feelings she carried.
So she had arranged this place.
‘...I’m so nervous.’
Namgung Yurin fidgeted with her fingers more than she had before the sparring match with her grandfather.
Her own heart was this big, but she wondered what Yuseong thought of it all.
He seemed to treat her better than most others, yet there was also this nagging sense of insecurity that it might all be her own imagination.
While lost in thought,
“Why are you doing that?”
“Huh? Fingers?”
Namgung Yurin jolted at the question and answered.
“My fingers. I can’t stay still.”
“Ah…”
Namgung Yurin stopped fidgeting and turned to face Yuseong again.
He was smiling at her as if he found her adorable.
Namgung Yurin made up her mind in that heart-melting smile.
‘Yes… how long am I going to hesitate? There aren’t many chances like this when it’s just the two of us.’
It was only possible here in her own Namgung Clan home. When they returned to the Murim Alliance, there would be too many eyes watching.
It would be hard to speak so freely in a place where anyone could appear at any moment.
She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
She had wanted to speak calmly, but her voice trembled.
“What… what do you think of me, Yuseong-ssi?”
Yuseong carefully observed the woman facing him.
Her cheeks were flushed red, her eyes full of anxiety, and her two hands resting on her knees were fidgeting again.
She was waiting for his answer, nerves on edge.
‘Could it be…?’
A strong suspicion rose in his mind. He had felt something similar before.
Was Yurin perhaps falling for him?
But he lacked certainty.
No one could read another person’s heart perfectly.
Since their first meeting she had always been cautious with him, the subtle shifts in her attitude hadn’t been obvious enough to notice.
And since he couldn’t ask her outright if she liked him, he had simply assumed it was all in his imagination…
Swallowing hard.
Sitting side by side in the quiet pavilion where only the crickets could be heard, Namgung Yurin’s swallow sounded like thunder.
He hadn’t realized it before, but now he did.
The way she was acting was from nerves.
Her slightly touching shoulder was trembling faintly.
Putting it all together, he reached one clear conclusion.
‘It wasn’t my imagination after all. Yurin really likes me.’
Yuseong recalled how he had once thought of her.
At their first meeting he had been captivated by her beautiful eyes and delicate beauty.
Even back when she had black hair and black eyes, the current atmosphere with her blue hair and eyes was even more mysterious.
A pure and innocent appearance could make any man’s heart race.
It wasn’t just her looks.
After he learned of her difficult situation, a sense of pity and the desire to help had slowly grown.
In Sichuan they had saved each other’s lives, so there was no way a kind and sensitive woman like her could remain indifferent.
But.
‘There is something I’m worried about…’
Actually, before they stepped out for this walk, Yuseong had been thinking of someone.
The person who had made him want to return to the Murim Alliance as quickly as possible after finishing the affairs of the Namgung Clan.
Unlike Namgung Yurin, she had sharp eyes and sometimes twitched when thinking.
Jegal Yeong-yeong.
Even now, while listening to a confession-like question, her face floated into his mind, meaning his feelings for her had grown deeply without him even realizing.
‘Right, judging only by how many times I’ve seen her face, aside from the others, it’s the most.’
The more often you see someone, the more affection naturally builds. Especially if they’re beautiful.
Jegal Yeong-yeong had always shared casual conversation during treatments, even when she was busy.
She had given him expensive gifts on occasion… and had even actively helped with his work.
Accumulating all those things, it seemed he had unknowingly developed special feelings for her.
‘This is why I decided to hug her before we left here…’
It was scary how someone who claimed she was terrified hadn’t even properly dressed, yet she fit so naturally in his arms.
Unlike Namgung Yurin, Yuseong hadn’t directly confirmed Jegal Yeong-yeong’s feelings, but from the way she had acted he had a fairly good sense.
‘I don’t know how the game will end, but while I’m here, I need to live as if I really belong to this place.’
If it took decades to see the game’s ending and then I still couldn’t return to the present and remained in this isekai state, I didn’t want to be a loner bachelor.
And today.
He had also clearly understood something from Namgung Yurin’s question.
‘I already like both of them…’
He had liked two people at once. Since both were outstandingly beautiful women, it was only natural his heart could sway.
‘Is it possible to have good relationships with both of them?’
As a man, he felt a certain greed.
This wasn’t the modern world, where only one wife was allowed. In this wuxia world it was possible to have multiple wives.
But there were still practical difficulties.
The women he liked weren’t ordinary families, and they weren’t just the daughters of the Five Great Clans.
It would already be difficult to gain their approval. Having just experienced the Sword King, he realized gaining the clan’s approval would be even harder.
From the Central Plains’s Five Great Clans, the daughters entering as secondary wives or concubines would be unthinkable.
Yuseong’s thoughts, which had been branching off from Namgung Yurin’s question, eventually ended with a faint sigh.
‘Sigh… Maybe it was all just my own imagination. Anyway, what should I say to Yurin?’
Namgung Yurin, sitting right beside him, had seen every change in his expression.
She accepted his sigh in a slightly different way.
“...No matter what you feel, it’s fine. I’ll speak my own heart first. I like you, Yuseong-ssi.”
“...”
Yuseong didn’t answer right away, but Namgung Yurin didn’t look disappointed.
It was enough to express her feelings first and wait. He could turn them back if he had different ones.
He had already failed to turn back his grandfather’s heart.
“Of course, you’ve met my grandfather, so you might not like our clan… but I can persuade you. Grandfather praised my training achievements greatly earlier. If I keep training hard and win his heart, he won’t oppose you unconditionally.”
“I… I don’t dislike you either. The hesitation is for another reason. There’s something bothering me…”
Namgung Yurin’s expression brightened. As long as it wasn’t because she disliked him, everything was fine.
“What is it that’s bothering you?”
“That’s…”
She looked troubled.
Her heart had already been revealed, and she had heard a satisfying answer. There was no need to wait any longer.
“You don’t have to say it. I can wait forever.”