Chapter 11
Translator: uly
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Murong Family's Scoundrel Fiancé - 5
I really liked fairy tale books when I was young.
While tales of good triumphing over evil were the mainstay, inside them were the protagonist's wit, perseverance, effort, and success.
Kids are picky and quickly get bored if something isn't fun. So, in those very thin books made for those kids, both entertainment and a lesson had to be contained. Fairy tale books were essentially web novels for children.
The interesting thing is that when you get older, fairy tale books look different.
Among the fairy tales I read as a child, there is one called "The Fairy and the Woodcutter."
A deer being chased by gangsters is coincidentally saved by a genius with an axe. The deer tells the woodcutter they're now bros and reveals the hotspot where a fairy he'd occasionally been peeping on takes a bath.
"Sister, are you sure it's really okay here?"
"You worry too much! We've been here how many times. It's fine."
The fairy hot spring must have certainly paid attention to security. But what kind of beings are the woodcutters of that era? They are masters of stealth who chop wood while avoiding tigers.
The woodcutter infiltrates the fairy hot spring with infiltration skills rivaling an assassin's and finds the winged robe. He must have pondered deeply.
'Which robe belongs to the prettiest fairy?'
It's a guaranteed gacha, but you still have to pull the S-rank. Even idols have a visual center and those who are less visually gifted but are skill-based, right? It must have been the same for fairies.
The woodcutter, to find a woman with a thin waist, large bust, and big hips on top of that, picked a robe by comparing and analyzing them one by one.
Fortunately, he wasn't all thumbs, and he pulled a good S-rank gacha, marrying the fairy who lost her winged robe. But it seems the woodcutter didn't know that nurturing is as important as pulling the gacha.
He should have tried to have a happy married life as the deer bro said and had at least three kids so she couldn't run away, but he failed.
One day, the woodcutter, drunk from a village feast, stumbles home and accidentally tells his wife the location of the hidden winged robe.
And so, the fairy runs away with two children. Judging by how she ignored her husband begging her not to go from behind, she must have really hated married life. Well, in that era, if you got married, you had at least five kids, but they only had two.
When I was young, I just accepted it as 'be kind to pitiful animals and if someone gives you advice, you should keep it well,' but seeing it as an adult, it was a truly remarkable fairy tale.
Theft, kidnapping, fraudulent marriage. As this shows, when an adult reads a book made for children, they can perceive a different meaning.
"The Masked Princess," which I wrote to survive as a novelist, was created with that intention.
A slightly strange story, but one that could be passed off as just a foreign folktale. However, I prepared a device that Murong Sang-ah wouldn't be able to easily overlook if she read "The Masked Princess."
A princess suffering due to demons in a mask, the fact that the villain who cast the curse is family, her father dying, and everyone around her leaving.
It's just like her own situation. That heightens immersion. But since that alone isn't enough, I frequently used specific characters or words. Especially the character I used most often was, of course,
'Ma ( Demon)'
A story that Murong Sang-ah couldn't help but get immersed in. Moreover, characters like 'Ma' (Demon) are not good words, often mentioned enough in old storybooks, so Murong Sang-ah would be bothered by those characters as if hitting a speed bump.
Reading like this, a word that now reminds her of Kang Yun-ho appears.
A clown mask with a broken string. In more familiar terms, it means a kite with a broken string, referring to a person with no one to rely on. It's also what Kang Yun-ho said when he first met Murong Sang-ah.
Originally, Kang Yun-ho didn't say that with any profound hidden meaning. It was just to insult a woman who had lost the succession competition and was practically being sold to his family.
But what if that phrase is used as a device?
If she is made to 'misconceive' that the words he said to insult her actually came from this story, she will definitely look at this story very carefully.
No matter how you look at it, this is her story.
If Murong Sang-ah, in her confused state of mind, reads it again, she will notice.
The fact that the fonts of specific words are different.
And then, combining the words with different fonts would shock her.
Now, if she's noticed even the words, the Kang Yun-ho washing machine starts to spin.
'Just what is going on?'
Why does that man want to talk to me? Was he actually acting all along? Did he actually notice the existence of the Demonic Cult? Was he someone who cared for me, like the husband in "The Masked Princess"?
The more the suspicion repeats, the Kang Yun-ho washing machine spins in Murong Sang-ah's heart.
Kang Yun-ho needs laundering.
Scrub scrub.
You should do your own laundry, you irresponsible Kang Yun-ho bastard. Well, that's why you got stabbed and died. But since I'm the one wearing dirty clothes now, I needed to launder them quickly.
Murong Sang-ah's unsolvable misconceptions and misunderstandings deepen.
The questions about misconceptions and misunderstandings develop into a desire to resolve them.
And there's only one way to resolve that desire.
"Are you inside?"
A servant from the Murong Family had come.
"Young Master Kang. Lady Murong Sang-ah says she wishes to take the exam in a secluded room, just the two of you. Would that be acceptable?"
Yes, this is it.
------
"I wish to take the exam with just the two of us."
I had met Murong Bi beforehand and requested to take the exam in a quiet place.
"Brother-in-law, leaving an unmarried man and woman alone in a secluded room to talk doesn't look very good."
"In Joseon, the family head takes the exam alone with the daughter-in-law. It is so the daughter-in-law is not caught by other family members. However, as my father is currently absent, it is only with me."
"But,"
"Are you worried I might intentionally let her pass the exam? If that wench fails, I plan to be the first to run to you, brother, and suggest we take the exam in front of everyone. Do not worry."
"Then it's fine. If it's Joseon's custom, we should follow it. However, leaving an unmarried couple alone doesn't look good, so I'll station warriors outside the door."
Murong Bi pondered briefly and accepted with a condition attached.
"Do so."
As if I would try to assault Murong Sang-ah or something. I'd be diced into 17 pieces on the spot.
The situation of Murong Sang-ah assaulting me....
That doesn't sound too bad? No, thank you. It's an honor. You're sure there are no hidden cameras, right? This seems like the kind of thing.
The disappointing thing is that if it really were an assault situation, it would be with a sword, not her body, so I'd have to avoid it.
I wanted to talk comfortably, but to prevent the warriors from eavesdropping, it seems we'll have to proceed with written conversation.
----
The exam took place in a room in the Murong Family where people seldom tread.
As I waited in the room, Murong Sang-ah entered.
"Please come in."
Murong Sang-ah's attire this time we met again was quite simple. Perhaps it was training clothes. They looked comfortable for movement. However, Murong Sang-ah's face did not look so comfortable.
She seemed to be feigning calmness, but her slightly pursed lips and glare at me reeked of suspicion.
"Please sit."
We sat facing each other, a little distance apart.
"Have you finished reading all the books I gave you?"
I spoke to Murong Sang-ah in a soft tone, different from before. Even this manner of speech would come as a minor shock to Murong Sang-ah, who had only heard blunt speech and verbal abuse.
As expected, Murong Sang-ah's eyes widened slightly.
"The contents of the Joseon Women's Conduct Guide were too radical, so I couldn't study it much. However, I was able to read the folktale collection a lot."
Radical? It's a collection of things a Kang Yun-ho living in the 2020s would want his girlfriend to do for him.
"I see. Then, among the stories in the folktale collection, which one did you like the most?"
Please. Have noticed. If you've come this far and say you haven't noticed, I'm really in big trouble.
"The story called 'The Masked Princess' really resonated with me."
Good. Good!
"Is that so. Then, could you write down the most impressive two-character word from 'The Masked Princess'?"
".... Two characters, not four?"
"Yes. I will also write my answer, so let's show them simultaneously."
"Understood."
But contrary to her answer, Murong Sang-ah could not easily write the characters.
Should she write that word? Perhaps she's thinking that what she thought was a misunderstanding is just her own delusion of grandeur.
"Young Lady."
"Yes."
"The papers with the written answers will all be burned after the exam is over. Write as you think, as you studied. I will treat any answer seriously."
I spoke to Murong Sang-ah in a low, soft tone meant to reassure.
"Understood."
Murong Sang-ah gave a small nod. Then, she took a small deep breath and wrote two characters. I also wrote my answer after seeing Murong Sang-ah write.
"Then let's show each other what's written on the papers simultaneously."
".... Yes."
We simultaneously unfolded papers with the same characters written on them.
A word that would make even a white paper look blackly corrupted just by seeing it.
'Demonic Cult'
Yes, I succeeded.