Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: Struck in the Worst Possible Place (3)
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Even I felt dizzy.
Honestly, I wanted to double-check if I'd misheard, but Huangbo Jun's expression was so grave that I couldn't bring myself to do it.
[Refuse it.]
Namgung Hye's telepathic voice rang in my ear. She was looking at me with half a crying face and half an angry one.
[Anyone else is bad enough, but you especially can't.]
Yeah, I figured as much. I thought the same.
"Young Master Huangbo, I'd really prefer to pretend I never heard this..."
"I understand your shock. Even speaking the words myself was excruciating."
Huangbo Jun let out a heavy sigh before confessing the shocking truth.
"But if a man has become... incapacitated, what other options are there?"
I resisted the superhuman urge to glance at his lower body.
Eunuch? Eunuch!
If he'd been that way from the start, there wouldn't have been a wedding in the first place. It must have been a lingering effect from the injury he took this time.
"I have no regrets. If I hadn't blocked it then, my wife's life would have been in danger."
Huangbo Jun's voice trembled. No matter how much he said he'd do the same thing over again, it couldn't erase the lingering regret.
But even if he himself was now impotent, it was still weird for the situation to circle back to me.
Wouldn't it make more sense to ask one of his own brothers...?
"...Why did you come to me of all people?"
"Two reasons. First, if word of this gets out, the marriage could be annulled."
He'd already been examined by a physician from the Namgung family, so there was no telling how long the man could keep it hidden.
But if she got pregnant—even if the child wasn't his—the chances of annulling the marriage would drop to near zero.
"It's a selfish decision. But I don't want to lose my wife."
"My lord..."
Huangbo Jun exchanged a tender glance with Namgung Hye, took a deep breath, and stated the second reason.
"And if she must bear another man's child, I wanted it to be someone she could accept."
What?
Namgung Hye and I instinctively locked eyes, her face twisting momentarily. Mine probably did the same.
"From what I know, you're the only man she treats without reservation. Perhaps your bond goes beyond mere friendship..."
No, really no. Not the kind of relationship you're imagining.
"My lord, that's not—"
"No need to deny it now. Your husband isn't Young Master Kang anymore—it's me, isn't it? I'm not doubting her true feelings."
I had no idea where he got that strange conviction from, but he wore a look of firm belief that Namgung Hye and I had been flirting.
"I even felt pangs of jealousy in my heart... But isn't it fate that you're here now?"
"Young Master Huangbo, Lady Namgung and I truly aren't in that kind of relationship."
Despite my firm denial, Huangbo Jun clasped his hands in a formal salute and said,
"Young Master Kang, if you still hold any affection for Hye-mae, please grant this humble request. I'll kneel if you ask. Help ensure this foolish man's greed doesn't bring misery to one woman."
I'm going insane.
Namgung Hye was still shooting me looks to refuse, but one worry gnawed at me.
"...May I speak with your wife alone for a moment?"
"Young Master Kang!"
"No need to decide right away. Take time to talk it over... and give us your answer."
Huangbo Jun wasn't without thoughts of his own. My mentality wasn't steel enough to watch his anguished face indifferently, so I opened the door and stepped outside.
"What are you thinking? You're not actually considering it, are you?"
"Why ask something so obvious?"
As I shot back sharply, Namgung Hye's attitude softened a bit.
"Then why... ask to talk to me?"
"Of course I'll refuse, but I felt the need to sort out the situation first."
If Eon So-young found out I'd slept with Namgung Hye, she'd explode. No point struggling to force open a route that's blocked from the start.
"Is having a child that important to Young Master Huangbo? You're not even the heir. If you're both fine with a childless life, why not just live happily together?"
"Th-that's..."
Her response made me want to slap my forehead.
"So, you told him you wanted a child even before the wedding?"
"Yes..."
It wasn't really Namgung Hye's fault. Who could predict, right before the ceremony and on the wedding night, that he'd end up impotent in that short span?
But if she hadn't said that, Huangbo Jun wouldn't be backed into this corner either.
"Even if I refuse, there's a chance he'll ask someone else..."
Before I could finish, Namgung Hye's face went pale.
Huangbo Jun was undeniably a good, kind man, but that very kindness was twisting things up worse.
No matter how much Namgung Hye said it was fine, he'd carry that unease in his heart. He'd blame himself forever.
"Lady Namgung."
"I'm married now."
"...Let's not get hung up on details. Right, Lady Huangbo—can you persuade your husband?"
The shift in title was actually a little thrilling, but I ignored it.
Married or widow, she was still Eon So-young's daughter.
Besides, I wasn't so starved for milfs that I'd fall for some fresh, half-baked virgin milf like this!
"I want to refuse outright, but if it can't be handled cleanly, rushing it isn't wise. You get that, right?"
"I do, but... how do I persuade him?"
"No idea."
She'd spent more sweet, cozy time with him preparing for the wedding than I had with him total—which was less than 24 hours combined. Why ask me?
But it did seem hopeless. It wasn't as simple as trash-talking me to him; she had to erase all the baby-making hints she'd dropped so far.
Honestly, getting a divorce amid public humiliation might be easier.
'But Huangbo Jun doesn't want to separate, so it's a headache.'
Namgung Hye couldn't ignore his wishes.
"For now, buy as much time as possible."
"Got it..."
We agreed to delay the trip to the Huangbo family as much as we could and somehow convince Huangbo Jun between us.
Huangbo Jun had accepted my request to think it over. Part of him seemed relieved I wasn't jumping in right away, but if you're relieved, don't ask in the first place.
No matter that her husband approved, it was pure risk for me.
I needed to sweet-talk Namgung Hak and take Eon So-young away soon—but if he found out I'd slept with his sister?
'I'd be coming at my own neck first.'
He might even demand I bring her back after I took her.
Ah, why do I have to deal with this crap?
I just want to wrap things up, take Eon So-young home, and ravish her freely!
"Master, what happened?"
Huang Du-myeong tilted his teacup while meeting the gaze of the man before him—the one called Black Tiger, who'd led the raid on the Namgung family.
"What do you mean?"
"Lord Tiger Command clearly ordered only Namgung Hye captured. Yet you told me otherwise, claiming it was his will."
"Hmm, otherwise? Did I?"
Bam!
"You said it plainly! Give the Namgung patriarch's mother a proper thrashing! That woman's martial arts..."
"Now, now, calm down. I have no such memory, but let's go over it step by step. The Namgung family head's mother—you mean Eon So-young, right?"
"Who else?"
Black Tiger ground his teeth. Hadn't his master, Tiger Command, said through his tiger mask, 'I never gave such an order'?
Yet this old man had deceived him in Tiger Command's name, foiling the mission and forcing him back like a defeated remnant.
"I can't understand it. Killing Eon So-young might make sense, but what does 'give her a proper thrashing' even mean?"
Black Tiger was losing his mind. If the man kept denying it to the end, with no witnesses or evidence, he had nothing more to say.
He shoved back from his seat and turned to leave.
"Hmm, how strange..."
Huang Du-myeong stroked his chin, watching Black Tiger's retreating figure with genuine puzzlement.
His expression truly seemed baffled.
Now that proper etiquette had been observed, most guests had left the Namgung family.
The two who'd stayed late—the Tripeaks who could no longer be called that now that one was married—were offering blessings to Namgung Hye.
"Live happily. Ah, I want to get married too..."
"Marriage is the grave of life. Once you're in, there's no getting out—so live well."
As Namgung Hye awkwardly smiled through the ambiguously joyful well-wishes, Mae So-hyang and Dan Yu-ran watched from behind.
[So-hyang, see you later.]
[...Not planning to see you that often.]
Mae So-hyang replied curtly to the telepathic message from the man standing a slight distance away.
Despite her feelings toward him softening quite a bit after being toyed with thoroughly during her stay, her prickly demeanor remained.
[But if you miss me... you know, right?]
[No clue. Know what?]
She didn't hate his clingy attitude that much, but she couldn't stand seeing him cowed—so she left the Namgung family with that final sight of him.
After seeing off the guests, Namgung Hye stole a glance at Huangbo Jun.
Days had passed since he'd made that unimaginable proposal.
It was heartbreaking to see him growing paler by the day, yet outsiders who didn't know teased him with things like, 'The groom must be worn out from nightly exertions.'
He brushed it off with a smile in public, but alone, he'd wear a devastated expression and brood.
Wife, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...
She couldn't even comfort him by saying he was fine and not to worry. That only made it harder for him.
She'd tried subtly acting like kids weren't that essential, but he took it as pity for himself and hurt more.
Fortunately, Kang Yun was holding to his word, but Namgung Hye felt Huangbo Jun's crumbling state was slowly cornering her.
Above all, the frustration was that no one but the parties involved could know about this.
'If only I could tell Mother...'
The mother she'd relied on her whole life had become, for this one issue at least, someone she absolutely could not turn to.
Like a tangled ball of yarn with no end in sight, Namgung Hye had no idea how to escape this mess.