Chapter 294: Soothing Her-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 294: Soothing Her-2
"Have you calmed down now?"
Sun-woo spoke as he looked at Neung So-hwa, whose eyes were still quite red.
Perhaps embarrassed by his question, Neung So-hwa merely gave a slight nod in response.
Seeing her like that, Sun-woo let out a small chuckle. He found this unexpected side of her quite adorable.
Who would ever look at her now and think she was the most noble woman in the Central Plains? Seeing her this way, a mischievous streak began to stir within him.
"I never imagined you’d actually burst into tears," Sun-woo said with a playful smirk.
"…Stop mentioning it," Neung So-hwa replied, her voice as faint as a crawling ant, clearly overcome with shame.
"Were you that upset because I got angry?"
"…I said, stop it."
"To think our Commandery Princess was such a crybaby."
"…Don't. Please," she pleaded.
As Sun-woo continued to tease her, Neung So-hwa felt a wave of bottomless embarrassment wash over her. She had cried. For the first time in twenty-eight years, she had let the tears fall—and in front of a man who wasn't even family, no less.
How could she not be ashamed?
She was mortified. Utterly so. How could a grown woman of twenty-eight burst into tears like a small child? If anyone who knew her had witnessed this, they would have been beyond shocked.
"Alright, alright. I'll stop, my little crybaby Princess."
"I told you to stop!" Neung So-hwa raised her voice. Her embarrassment had finally curdled into indignation. "How can you be so insensitive to a lady's shame? You should just move on as if nothing happened!"
"I mean, how am I supposed to ignore the fact that you already cried?"
"If I tell you to ignore it, then ignore it! It is humiliating enough that I showed you such an unsightly side of myself! How can you be so wicked as to keep teasing me?"
Neung So-hwa shouted, feigning anger. In truth, it wasn't something to get truly angry about, but she raised her voice intentionally to escape the awkwardness.
"You weren't unsightly," Sun-woo said, looking at her as if she were the cutest thing in the world.
"You are lying!"
"I'm serious."
"Liar! My eyes were red and my nose was running so pathetically. How could that not be unsightly?" Neung So-hwa countered, finding his claim absurd.
She was certain Sun-woo was just playing another one of his ridiculous jokes. She was well aware that while she was crying, her nose had been running along with the tears. At the time, her sorrow had been too overwhelming to care, but now that she had calmed down, the shame was hitting her in waves.
How could a crying face not be ugly? Especially when a grown woman was sobbing with tears and snot everywhere.
"I mean it."
Sun-woo looked into Neung So-hwa's eyes with a sincere gaze.
"It wasn't unsightly at all. In fact, you looked beautiful."
"Liar!"
Of course, she didn't believe him.
"I'm telling the truth. I was actually surprised by how beautiful you looked, even while crying."
"…You are wicked."
Neung So-hwa turned her head away, her face and ears flushing red as she gave a blunt reply.
"The look in your eyes while you cried sparkled like starlight, and your falling tears were as beautiful as the Milky Way."
Sun-woo continued, his gaze incredibly earnest as he stared into her eyes.
"…I am… embarrassed… Do not… say such things."
Hearing his dead-serious romantic lines, Neung So-hwa’s jade-like face turned a deep crimson. She spoke in a voice barely audible. It was unbearable to hear such things said with such a straight face. It wasn't as if his tongue was coated in honey, so how could he say such sweet things?
"Of course, the runny nose was a little funny, though," Sun-woo added, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I knew you were teasing me!"
Neung So-hwa flared up, her voice rising again. She knew it! He was definitely making fun of her. How could he be so mischievous?
"Pffft, hahaha!"
"Hmph! Fine! I shall not believe a single word you say from now on!"
Neung So-hwa huffed and whipped her head to the side, pouting.
"I'm sorry. You just looked so embarrassed that I couldn't help but tease you a little."
Seeing her reaction, Sun-woo offered a playful apology.
"Hmph."
Despite the apology, Neung So-hwa merely snorted, her anger seemingly unappeased. Sun-woo watched her with a warm smile. He found her indescribably cute.
The stiffness she had carried since their first meeting had long since vanished. The rigid, high-handed, and overbearing woman was nowhere to be found; in her place was a woman who pouted and got cross just like anyone else. Moreover, the way she reacted so sharply to every little thing was incredibly endearing.
How could anyone not call such a woman cute?
Pat, pat.
Sun-woo reached out and began to stroke the head of the pouting princess.
Though startled at first, Neung So-hwa didn't reject his touch. She simply stayed still and accepted it. In fact, for a commoner like Sun-woo to pat the head of a member of the Imperial Family was more than just rude—it was an act of lèse-majesté. If anyone else had seen this, there would have been hell to pay.
However, Neung So-hwa didn't seem to mind his impudence at all. She even closed her eyes, basking in the comfort his hand provided.
Sun-woo gently stroked her fiery red hair for a long while, and Neung So-hwa found peace of mind in that soft sensation.
After some time had passed, Sun-woo slowly pulled his hand away.
"Ah…"
Neung So-hwa let out a small sigh of regret as the warmth left her head.
"Are you disappointed?"
Finding her reaction amusing, Sun-woo asked her with a broad grin.
"Not at all!"
Neung So-hwa shouted, her face turning as red as a ripe apple.
"If you say so."
Sun-woo responded nonchalantly to her overreaction.
Pinch.
Perhaps finding his attitude annoying, Neung So-hwa pinched Sun-woo's arm.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
Sun-woo cried out in pain as his skin was yanked.
"Stop playing around! Do you take this lady for your plaything?"
"Why would you put it like that? That sounds… suggestive," Sun-woo blurted out, taken aback.
"I heard that men call women they toy with when they are bored 'playthings'!"
"Who on earth told you that?"
"Seol-hyang told me!"
"That's a bad word. Don't use it," Sun-woo said, looking exasperated.
Of all the good words in the world, why would she teach her something as strange as 'plaything'? It seemed that while Neung So-hwa had learned to express a variety of emotions by hanging out with Seol-hyang, there were definitely some side effects.
"I think I should stop letting you hang out with Seol-hyang."
"We do not 'hang out.' I merely tolerate her company."
"That's exactly what hanging out is."
"It is different," Neung So-hwa insisted with conviction.
Sun-woo chuckled. She claimed she was just 'tolerating' her, yet she was the one getting teased every single time.
"Are you mocking me right now?"
Irritated by his chuckle, Neung So-hwa glared at him with sharp eyes.
"No, I just thought of something funny."
Sun-woo brushed it off with a vague excuse.
"I am suspicious. I suspect you were thinking something very rude."
She eyed him skeptically.
Her intuition is sharp, Sun-woo thought, impressed. She might be the weakest link when it came to verbal sparring, but her instincts were something else.
"Anyway, when do you plan on consuming the Ice Essence?"
Sensing her mood, Sun-woo quickly changed the subject. He didn't want to give her a reason to nag him.
"You mean this?"
At his question, she pulled a small wooden box from her robes. It was the Ice Essence she had received from Bukgung Yeon.
"It really is impressive," Sun-woo muttered, looking at the box.
"What is?"
"Before the deal, you two were fighting like cats and dogs, but the price negotiation ended in an instant."
Sun-woo spoke with genuine admiration. He had expected the negotiation to take a considerable amount of time, given how much emotional energy and shouting had been involved just to open the deal. But the actual price adjustment had ended so abruptly it felt almost anticlimactic.
It was all because Neung So-hwa had pulled out three Cat's Eye Stones, each the size of a fist.
Because of their unique luster, even a Cat's Eye Stone the size of a fingernail traded for an incredibly high price. How could Bukgung Yeon possibly refuse when three fist-sized ones were offered?
At first, Bukgung Yeon had been glaring at Neung So-hwa with a face full of defiance. But the moment she saw the stones, she had handed over the Ice Essence immediately. That was how absurdly enormous the sum was.
"It is thanks to the Cat's Eye Stones. They are easy to carry and beyond precious, so it is only natural the trade concluded quickly."
Neung So-hwa smiled brightly as she spoke.
"But did you really need to use that many? Honestly, I think she would have been more than happy to trade for just two."
Sun-woo spoke with a hint of regret. While the Ice Essence was a treasure worth a fortune, three Cat's Eye Stones were worth far more than that. It felt like a waste to give them up without a second thought. He truly believed Bukgung Yeon wouldn't have been able to refuse even one or two.
"To me, the Ice Essence is more necessary than anything else. The Cat's Eye Stones are precious, but to me, they are nothing more than useless pebbles. Besides, stones like those are rolling around everywhere in my detached palace."
Neung So-hwa spoke as if it were no big deal. And she was telling the truth. To her, Cat's Eye Stones were as common as dirt. The Emperor's wealth was greater than the combined fortunes of the Five Great Merchants of the Central Plains. And in the residence of Neung So-hwa, whom the Emperor doted on, expensive mystical artifacts were everywhere. To her, a Cat's Eye Stone was just one of many common treasures—nothing more, nothing less.
"Hah…"
Sun-woo let out a hollow laugh. He was feeling the staggering wealth gap all over again. Four Cat's Eye Stones would be a sum that even the Tang Clan—the greatest power in Sichuan—would struggle to afford. Seeing her treat such a fortune with total indifference reminded him that royalty was indeed royalty.
"Neung So-hwa."
Sun-woo looked at her and called her name.
"You're really obnoxious."
"Hmph. If you are envious, just say so," Neung So-hwa replied with a snort.
She had been called obnoxious countless times before. By now, she had the composure to fire back shamelessly.
"The gap is so vast I can't even feel envious," Sun-woo said, shaking his head.
Envy only happens when the levels are somewhat comparable. Looking at a person as unimaginably wealthy as Neung So-hwa inspired awe rather than jealousy.
"In any case, I wish to consume the Ice Essence immediately."
Perhaps finding Sun-woo's admiring gaze burdensome, Neung So-hwa quickly shifted the topic.
"Isn't it too soon?"
"Is there not a saying to strike while the iron is hot? Since things have come to this, I wish to settle it at once."
"Where are you going to do it?"
"Somewhere without people would be best. If something goes wrong and the Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Art goes berserk, innocent people might get caught in the crossfire."
Neung So-hwa spoke with a heavy, worried expression.
"It'll go well."
Sun-woo looked at her with eyes full of trust.
"No, one must consider all possibilities in every matter. For the sake of any potential situation, I must be cautious and then cautious again."
Neung So-hwa spoke with an incredibly serious face. She was anxious—anxious that someone might be caught in the flames of the Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Art. Things could go wrong. The Ice Essence might fail to soothe the heat, or the two opposing energies might clash violently.
Theoretically, the two energies should cancel each other out and reach a state of harmony, but when did human affairs ever go exactly as planned? Anything could go wrong. That was why she intended to absorb the Ice Essence as far away from people as possible.
"So, where are you going to do it?" Sun-woo asked curiously.
"First, we must leave the Ice Palace. And we must travel far enough to be at least half a shijin away."
"That far?"
Sun-woo didn't quite understand.
"My body is currently like a Thunderbolt Bomb that could explode at any moment. I must be at least that far away to ensure no harm comes to others."
Neung So-hwa spoke with a grim expression. Her tone was dead serious.