The Fiancée's Last Leaf
Ak sojeo had picked up some strange habit and was applying it in strange ways, but since she had her own sins to atone for, all I could do was play along. I figured accepting her pranks naturally would help soothe her heart. After all, I was the heartless sinner who hadn't sent even a single letter to his fiancée.
"I'm glad I could see you, Gaga, before all those leaves fall."
"Ah, yes...?"
But talking about leaves in the full bloom of midsummer greenery caught me off guard. Even if a typhoon swept through Ak Wangjeo, those leaves would probably still cling on—
"I thought you'd only come once that tree was bare, Gaga."
"I'm sorry, sojeo."
Her words—that it wasn't the last leaf, but her last shred of patience—made me bow my head on instinct. If there'd been no word until the tree stood skeletal, an enraged Ak Wang and the Ak family troops would've come hunting me down. I'd probably have been hauled back like a criminal, limbs bound. Just imagining it chilled my blood.
Thank goodness Ak Wang had issued a summons to pull me here midway.
"No atonement can repay the sin of keeping you waiting, but I thought of you every single day while roaming the Central Plains."
With that gratitude and apology, I pulled a necklace from my bosom and offered it to Ak sojeo. It was the flashiest, most expensive trinket among the countless gifts the Baekryeon Cult Leader had showered on me. The carriage was already stuffed with presents for her, but handing one over personally was essential to beg her mercy.
"Oh my."
Ak sojeo dramatically covered her mouth and widened her eyes at the necklace. At least there was no displeasure or annoyance. She might feel neglected by me, but not angry enough to rage.
"If Gaga puts it on me with his own loving hands, I'll never forget this day."
"Of course I'll put it on you myself."
I flashed a subtle smile at her bold request and approached. If hanging one necklace could wipe away my karma, I'd gladly do ten. I gently swept her hair aside to expose her neck and was about to clasp it on when—
"Hup...!"
Ak sojeo, gazing up at me with sparkling eyes, suddenly clamped her mouth shut and doubled over.
"Sojeo!"
I rushed to place a hand on her back, channeling qi. This was bewildering. I'd thought she was up and about today because her condition had improved, but no—she'd been forcing herself.
"Sojeo, how could you push yourself like this when you're not well?!"
My voice rose at the sight of her coughing fit. I was already the villain who'd neglected her. Learning I'd driven her to this made my heart ache unbearably.
"How can you call it 'pushing' when I have all my limbs intact and just sat up for a bit?"
But once her coughing eased, Ak sojeo just smiled, heedless of my anger.
"Besides, I didn't want to greet Gaga—whom I haven't seen in so long—while lying down."
Her words pierced even deeper.
"Seeing you lying down is far better than seeing you in pain."
"I prefer being at eye level with Gaga."
I let out a small sigh at her stubbornness in such an odd place. If eye level was what she wanted, why had she bowed earlier? Ak I-yeon. My fiancée and Ak Wang's eldest granddaughter. Reputed to have inherited the thickest share of Ak Wang's blood, she'd shown peerless achievements among her generation, hailed as the future of the Ak Wang household. At just ten, she'd reached the second-rate realm, enough for one warrior's worth; by fifteen, she'd hit first-rate. "Genius" didn't do her justice.
But there's a saying for good reason: those who rise too young to office live unhappy lives. Burdened by the world's expectations, envy, and admiration, Ak sojeo had crumbled under the weight.
"I should at least have come to Yeon-a sooner to comfort her."
After laying the still-coughing Ak sojeo back in bed, Ak Wang—who'd rushed in at the sound—muttered bitterly during our private talk.
"Everyone kept calling her a genius about to breach the Peak wall. How scared must that child have been? Even this old man, instead of easing her burden, was too busy rejoicing in her feats."
I gave a wry smile at Ak Wang's lament. I knew well the tragedy Ak sojeo had endured. Not just as her fiancé, but because we were from allied royal houses and close in age, we were constantly compared. Even without interest, people shoved it straight into my ears.
A genius warrior had appeared in the Ak Wang house.
But the genius, chased by impatience and pressure, overreached—and paid with qi deviation. Thanks to Ak Wang's mastery and the household's vast elixirs, she'd regained her sanity, but the genius warrior became an invalid who struggled with daily life.
"It's all my karma, my karma."
That's why, when Ak sojeo coughed up blood, Ak Wang had raced to her room with a face like his own limbs were being torn.
As if he'd ruined his precious granddaughter.
As if he'd broken a promising young talent.
"How could that be Your Highness's karma? No one was at fault."
I poured tea into Ak Wang's cup, offering comfort. Years of guilt and pain wouldn't vanish with words, but it wasn't pleasant watching an innocent man treat himself like a criminal.
"Han Un."
"Yes, Your Highness. Speak."
"Can you stay here a few days?"
Not his usual command, but a plea—I nodded without hesitation. After seeing my fiancée strain herself to greet me only to collapse, what kind of monster would shrug and head home? My only regret was arriving in Kaepyeong and coming straight here without greeting my parents, but they'd tell me not to even think of visiting in these circumstances.
"I'll stay until you tell me to leave."
"That's what I always say to your grandfather."
Ak Wang chuckled, his face a touch brighter.
"...Yeon-a will wake soon. Take this."
He cleared his throat lightly and handed me a small pouch.
"Deer antler powder. Dissolve it in water and feed her."
"Yes, understo—...?"
My body froze at "deer antler." Come to think of it, the noisy deer had gone suspiciously quiet. No way.
"I had it on hand. Do you see me as rude enough to poach the spirit beasts your guest rode in on?"
"N-no, of course not."
I bowed again at his irritated tone. Sorry, but in my mind, Ak Wang was the type to club others' spirit beasts for his granddaughter.
I felt a soft sensation the moment I opened my eyes. The familiar bed made me smile bitterly.
'Fainted again.'
I remembered coughing in Gaga's arms. Nothing after that, so I'd blacked out mid-cough again.
'Our reunion after so long...'
A sigh escaped me. I wanted just a bit more talk with Gaga, whom I'd missed. To see him trying to soothe me a little longer. Even that small wish was beyond this body.
Chatting a few words, sitting up briefly—fainting from that? Ridiculous.
'...Be grateful I'm alive.'
I shook my head gently, banishing negativity. I should thank the heavens for life itself. I'd dared chase a master's realm too fast, without steady steps—and survived. Lucky. If Grandfather weren't a top Central Plains expert, if Ak Wang house weren't wealthy, I'd be dead.
'He must've gone back by now?'
Negativity gone, another sigh. Gaga was busy, unlike me bedridden all day. Too many duties to waste time on me.
"You should've held out a bit longer."
I muttered alone in regret. A little more, and I'd have seen him clasp the necklace himself. Begged him to return when he left.
No complaints, though. How could a bedridden waster like me urge Gaga on? Grandfather had intervened for him to come to Kaepyeong; normally, impossible.
So wait patiently. Greet him casually, smile, joke lightly—show I'm fine. This time I fainted midway and failed, but next—
—Thud.
Thump.
'Hm?'
My head turned at the odd sound from the window. Like something tapping the wall, a wind-whipped branch scraping.
But too forceful for a mere branch.
'What is it?'
A strangely shaped shadow flickered on the window. Had they planted a new tree while I was out? No, impossible. Grandfather wouldn't allow a single flower near me.
'A beast snuck in?'
Heart pounding, I cautiously reached out. Whatever it was, I'd check myself.
"Hey! What're you doing there?!"
"Eek!"
Gaga's voice made me yank my hand back from the window. My heart raced. Shocking he was still at Ak Wangjeo—I'd thought he'd left—but that he'd yell at me?
—Kki-ing?
The beast's cry came with the window shadow wriggling.
"That's not for eating, you rascal! I told you to stay put—how'd you get here?!"
—Kki-iiing!
I dazedly listened to the one-sided exchange outside. Specifically, Gaga's fury. Reaching for the window again.
Gaga... traveling the Central Plains, he'd even learned to talk with beasts...?
'Impressive.'
As expected of Gaga. Far beyond me, buried in books all day.