Chapter 271: A War of Nerves Between Two Women - Part 2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 271: A War of Nerves Between Two Women - Part 2
"I look forward to our time together. My name is Seol-hyang."
Seol-hyang said as she climbed into the carriage and looked at Neung So-hwa.
"As do I. This lady is called Neung So-hwa."
"Oh my, Neung So-hwa? What a lovely name."
Hearing her words, Seol-hyang gave a bright, clear smile.
"I thank you."
Neung So-hwa offered a small smile at the compliment.
"But is that really your real name?"
"..........."
Neung So-hwa clamped her mouth shut at Seol-hyang’s sudden question.
"It’s just such a beautiful name. And the surname Neung isn't exactly common."
"Of... of course it is."
Neung So-hwa blurted out, looking flustered.
Lying weighed on her conscience, but she didn't want her pseudonym to be exposed.
"Must be nice. Having such a pretty name and all."
Seeing Neung So-hwa's reaction, Seol-hyang continued with a mischievous, bratty smile.
She’s a terrible liar.
Seol-hyang thought to herself. She concluded that this young lady was incapable of deceit.
"The name Seol-hyang is also quite lovely."
Neung So-hwa hurriedly returned the compliment, perhaps trying to change the subject.
"Thank you."
Seol-hyang replied with another clear smile.
"Mine is my real name, by the way."
"............."
Neung So-hwa had no choice but to fall silent at Seol-hyang’s follow-up.
She had grasped Seol-hyang’s intention.
It was sarcasm. And a very pointed one at that.
Neung So-hwa began to feel a strange sensation. What on earth was this feeling she was experiencing for the first time in her life?
As Neung So-hwa was questioning herself, Seol-hyang spoke up again.
"By the way, how old are you?"
With a bright smile, Seol-hyang looked at Neung So-hwa and tossed out the question.
"This lady is twenty-eight."
She answered curtly.
"Whoa! You’re older than me? Can I call you Big Sister?"
She asked Neung So-hwa, feigning great surprise.
"I’ve only just turned twenty, Big Sister."
"..........."
It was subtle. A very subtle, irritating feeling.
Seol-hyang was technically saying the right things and looking at her with eyes full of apparent goodwill.
Yet, strangely, every word she uttered began to grate on Neung So-hwa's nerves.
Was she the one being strange? Or was the woman in front of her the odd one?
"I never said you could call me 'Big Sister'."
Neung So-hwa spoke, looking at Seol-hyang with her red eyes, which she tried to fill with an air of dignity.
"I’m so sorry. I only have older brothers, so whenever I see an older sister, I get excited without realizing it..."
Hearing Neung So-hwa's rebuff, Seol-hyang continued with a look of feigned apology.
And that attitude began to irritate Neung So-hwa even more.
She knew all too well. She knew exactly how old she was.
In the Central Plains, it was customary to be betrothed before twenty and married by twenty.
By the standards of the Central Plains, and even by the slightly more lenient standards of the Murim, Neung So-hwa was at an age where she was undeniably considered an old maid.
Having her age constantly brought up made it impossible for her not to be annoyed.
"Regardless, refrain from calling me 'Big Sister.' I prefer to maintain proper etiquette."
She continued, her expression showing her displeasure.
"I’m sorry."
Hearing her words, Seol-hyang spoke again, once more wearing a face of feigned apology.
"Then what should I call you? Madam Neung?"
"This lady is unmarried!"
Angered by Seol-hyang’s absurd suggestion, Neung So-hwa raised her voice and shouted.
What kind of nonsense was this to a virgin who had never even properly held a man's hand?
Madam?!
"I’m so sorry. In the Murim, everyone tends to be married by that age, so I naturally assumed you were too."
She once again put on a sorry expression.
Grind.
Neung So-hwa ground her teeth without realizing it.
An inexplicable surge of resentment welled up inside her. Even as dense as she was, she could tell.
The woman in front of her was trying to provoke her.
Neung So-hwa’s gaze toward Seol-hyang turned cold.
"I understand. I suppose one could think that."
Neung So-hwa continued, cooling her temper.
She realized that bickering with the much younger Seol-hyang would only make her look ridiculous.
"Thank you, Lady Neung. By the way, Lady Neung, what brings you to the North Sea?"
"It is a secret."
Neung So-hwa answered curtly. Her desire for long conversation had vanished.
"Then what did you do before this?"
"It is a secret."
"Are you always this full of secrets?"
"Are you always this talkative?"
Neung So-hwa, seemingly annoyed by Seol-hyang’s relentless questioning, frowned her beautiful brows and asked.
"Oh my, they do say young chicks chirp the most."
"In all my life, I have never heard such a saying."
"That's because I just made it up."
"............"
"It’s understandable that you wouldn't know it."
"Are you playing word games with me right now?!"
Neung So-hwa raised her voice, finally snapping at Seol-hyang’s wordplay.
"I was just joking so we could get closer."
"This lady has no desire to get close to you!"
"Aw, don't be so angry."
Neung So-hwa and Seol-hyang continued their back-and-forth.
It was a conversation that would have ended if even one of them had ignored the other, yet neither of them stopped.
Sun-woo and Chief Ma could only break into a cold sweat as they watched the war of nerves between the two.
Sun-woo was bewildered.
He never imagined that Seol-hyang, upon entering the carriage, would charge in so recklessly like a wild boar.
She had relentlessly engaged in a war of nerves under the guise of playfulness, putting herself at odds with Neung So-hwa.
Her initial thought of wanting to become friends seemed to have vanished into thin air.
There was no way Neung So-hwa, who seemed to have been raised nobly in the depths of a secluded palace, could be a match for Seol-hyang, who reigned at the top of the food chain in the female-dominated environment of the Emei Sect.
She began to get swept up in Seol-hyang’s venomous remarks disguised as jokes, her face flushing as she raised her voice repeatedly.
If she was going to be handled like that, one would think she’d just ignore her, but Neung So-hwa did the opposite. She reacted to every single one of Seol-hyang’s barbs, providing the perfect fuel for more teasing.
Their bickering continued throughout the carriage ride, with never a moment of silence.
Sun-woo glanced to the side.
There, he saw Ma Il-gwon with his jaw hanging open.
Ma Il-gwon had just woken up after being unconscious for about half a day.
After hearing the explanation of the situation and boarding the carriage, he was now utterly perplexed.
He was witnessing an impossible sight.
The woman called one of the two pillars guarding the Imperial Palace alongside General Lee Yeon, the First Sword of the Imperial Palace...
The woman who carried the blood of the Son of Heaven and could be called more noble than anyone else in the Central Plains...
The woman who was always aloof, haughty, and exuded natural dignity...
Was now engaged in a shouting match with a girl who looked barely twenty.
Chief Ma wondered if he was dreaming.
Pinch.
He reached up and pinched his cheek.
It hurt.
That meant it wasn't a dream, so how could such an unbelievable scene be unfolding?
The words being exchanged between them weren't about heavy topics like the safety of the Imperial Family, the state of the Central Plains, or the subjugation of the North.
They were nothing but incredibly petty and lighthearted word games.
That was why he couldn't understand. How could the noble Princess Gyeonghwa show such a side of herself?
This was just like a common argument between ordinary women.
Chief Ma’s mind was in a state of chaos. This new side of Princess Gyeonghwa was that shocking.
He could only stare blankly at their bickering.
*
"What an utterly rude woman!"
After Seol-hyang returned to her own carriage, Neung So-hwa spat out the words in anger.
It wasn't her style to badmouth someone behind their back, but she felt she had to say something.
"I have no idea how she manages to pick only the words that grate on one's nerves so perfectly!"
"You seemed to be having fun, though?"
Sun-woo, who had been listening to Neung So-hwa, spoke calmly.
"Fun?! This lady was merely humoring her!"
Neung So-hwa shouted, flaring up at Sun-woo's remark.
"A fight can only occur between opponents of equal standing. That woman was nowhere near my lofty level!"
"I don't know, you two looked pretty similar to me."
"Are you mocking me as well?! Why are the people of the Central Plains so incredibly rude!"
Seeing Sun-woo's reaction, Neung So-hwa shouted in frustration.
"How can a child who just turned twenty have so much backtalk!"
"Old fogey."
"What is an 'old fogey'?"
"It’s a compliment. It’s a word used for someone exactly like you."
Sun-woo lied through his teeth at her question.
"Well, anyway, that’s not what’s important. She was so spiteful about my age. If my martial arts were intact, I would have given her a good smack on the head."
"That part was a bit much. Even I noticed it."
Sun-woo nodded in agreement.
He also thought the attacks on her age were a bit cruel. Unlike the modern world, the marriageable age in the Central Plains was twenty.
Anyone older than that was inevitably treated as an old maid.
In that sense, twenty-eight-year-old Neung So-hwa was definitely in the 'old maid' category.
Though she was far too beautiful to be called one.
"She is a disagreeable woman in every way!"
She continued to vent her anger.
"Still, you know you two spent the whole day chatting?"
"I did no such thing!"
"I thought you guys were actually enjoying yourselves..."
At her intense reaction, Sun-woo tilted his head and continued.
"How could that be! I was nothing but teased!"
Neung So-hwa raised her voice, bristling at Sun-woo's words.
All day long, she had been teased by that tiny woman. Teased in a way that was too petty to get truly angry about, yet frustrating enough to make her blood boil.
How could anyone enjoy that?
"Then should I tell her not to come back next time?"
"..........."
Neung So-hwa fell silent at Sun-woo's suggestion.
Strangely, the words wouldn't come out.
"No... you don't have to go that far."
Eventually, Neung So-hwa slowly opened her mouth to decline.
"I thought you said you couldn't stand the sight of her?"
Sun-woo asked back, amused.
"I cannot stand the sight of her, but I have yet to avenge today's humiliation. When she comes tomorrow, I shall make her weep bitter tears!"
She declared proudly, looking at Sun-woo.
That was it. She had been teased all day. She had to avenge this disgrace.
But if the woman didn't come, she wouldn't have the chance, would she?
It was only natural. Just as water flows from high to low and the sun sets in the west.
Sun-woo chuckled at her reaction.
On the surface, she claimed to hate it, but it seemed she had taken a liking to Seol-hyang.
Despite teasing her relentlessly, Seol-hyang had surprisingly kept within certain boundaries.
She could have easily mocked her red hair, red eyebrows, or red eyes—features that were clearly alien—but she hadn't made a single derogatory remark about them.
It felt as if she had drawn her own line and teased only within it.
Neung So-hwa seemed to have felt a sense of goodwill toward that unique conversational style.
Though she herself didn't seem to realize it at all.
Sun-woo wore a small smile.
He had been secretly worried when Seol-hyang joined them. But it seemed she got along with Neung So-hwa better than expected.
At least the journey wouldn't be boring.
"She’s absolutely awful! What’s with that look-down-her-nose attitude when we just met!"
Seol-hyang began to recount every detail of what happened in the carriage to Un-hye.
"Is that so?"
Un-hye gave a half-hearted response to Seol-hyang’s words.
Her senior was prone to great exaggeration, so she knew she had to take it with a grain of salt.
"And do you know how much she puts on airs? You should have seen it, Junior!"
"Did she really put on that many airs?"
"I’m telling you! At first, I thought she was some kind of royalty."
"She did have a dignified appearance, though."
"Dignified, my foot! Empty vessels make the most noise, and that fits her perfectly! She’s the worst!"
Seol-hyang raised her voice at Un-hye’s comment.
Her strong will to deny any praise for Neung So-hwa was palpable.
"...Right. Come to think of it, she felt more 'alien' than 'dignified.' Especially that hair..."
Faced with Seol-hyang’s stubbornness, Un-hye tried to play along.
"Junior."
Hearing Un-hye’s agreement, Seol-hyang’s face went serious as she called her name.
"Yes?!"
"How can a disciple of the Buddha, with a heart full of compassion, criticize another person's appearance? Is that the kind of person you are?"
"No... I..."
Un-hye stammered, flustered by Seol-hyang’s sudden change in attitude.
"I’m disappointed. You shouldn't mock or ridicule someone for things they were born with."
She spoke with a stern expression.
"..........."
Having been harshly rebuked, Un-hye hung her head low.
A sense of injustice washed over her. She had only been playing along with what came to mind, so why was she being scolded so severely?
"I... I’m sorry. I wasn't thinking."
With her head bowed, Un-hye slowly apologized.
"As long as you know. Don't do it again."
Once she apologized, Seol-hyang nodded with satisfaction.
Un-hye could only look at Seol-hyang with a complicated gaze.