Chapter 16
Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Murong Sang-ah's Scoundrel Fiancé - 5
Wedding Ceremony
I thought it was an event that would never happen to me. Whenever my friends got married, I always dutifully gave congratulatory money, trying not to feel bitter, but a part of me did sting a little. It was money I'd probably never get back, after all.
Now that I'm getting married like this, I want to invite all my friends. Chang-sik, man. I'm getting married. I put in 200,000 won for your wedding, why haven't you even called? Jin-woo called to thank me even though I only gave him 100,000 won.
Myung-jun, the friend who contacted me out of the blue after a year of no contact to say he was getting married. I was a bit upset at the time, but I still gave a decent amount for the gift. And he's been attending gatherings properly since then. I didn't say anything, but I was a little hurt back then. If you come this time, I'll forgive you.
Who am I marrying?
A lady named Murong Sang-ah who lives in Liaodong Fortress. You ask if she's Chinese? Well, she is. Hey! Do I look like the kind of guy who'd call an international marriage agency to get married, no matter how desperate I was for a woman? Still, congratulate me, it's an international couple.
Where should you go?
The Martial Arts Dating Sim. Liaodong Fortress. The Murong Family. Yeah, it's tough? Why? You don't want to come because it'll be a bloody wedding? Fine, don't come. Come to think of it, maybe it's better you don't.
"What a bizarre dream."
I had a terrible dream where I invited my friends to my wedding but no one showed up. I woke up screaming, 'My congratulatory money!'
*****
The wedding ceremony was held in the late afternoon, after lunch.
A wedding, a once-in-a-lifetime event, ends faster than you'd think.
Just as the preparation for a trip is the main event and the trip itself is just DLC, weddings are also troublesome only up until the preparation; the actual ceremony itself is short.
On top of that, the parents from both families couldn't attend the wedding, and the scale wasn't that grand for the Murong Family.
I thought famous figures from the martial world would all come to congratulate us, but I heard there weren't many invitations sent to martial world notables or celebrities. It seems they didn't want rumors to spread, as Sang-ah was essentially being sold off.
Of course, while the scale wasn't large because few celebrities came, there were still many guests. In this era, it wasn't about exchanging invitation cards for meal tickets; it was proper etiquette to entertain any guest who came to celebrate.
A wedding with no distinguished guests, no parents from either family, and modest for a martial family.
However, even at such a wedding, there was something that wouldn't lose to any other wedding.
"My goodness, look at how beautiful Lady Sang-ah is."
"Mommy! There's a fairy over there!"
"She was always beautiful, but now she's truly peerless."
"A beauty that topples nations. A woman so beautiful it's hard to believe she's human."
"To give such a beautiful lady like Sang-ah to that scoundrel... Huk!"
Seriously. No bride could possibly be this beautiful. Seeing Murong Sang-ah in her wedding attire, I couldn't control my jaw from dropping.
My god.
Even though I have to run away tonight, with such beauty, it wouldn't be a matter of her leaving me ten li behind; it feels like I'd just turn around and go back to the bridal chamber.
Now I understand why Kang Yun-ho in the original tried to assault Murong Sang-ah even after hearing the news of treason. Having to go to your death without even sharing a bed with a bride who looks like that? Unbearable.
"If you stare like that, I'll be embarrassed."
Murong Sang-ah, seeing my dropped jaw and stunned face, smiled slightly and averted her gaze.
"Today, Murong Sang-ah is marrying Kang Yun-ho of Joseon. Now! We will proceed with the hairpin ceremony according to Joseon's wedding customs. Groom, please place the hairpin in the bride's hair."
Following the officiant's words, I approached Sang-ah, who had turned and was sitting with her back to me.
All eyes were on us, making me nervous.
I had practiced in preparation for the wedding, so I tidied her hair and placed the hairpin quite skillfully.
The sight of Murong Sang-ah's snow-white nape flushing slightly pink, along with the fragrant scent tickling my nose, made my head spin.
Couldn't the treason news come just one day late?
Please, just give me one day. I've lived my life diligently. Of course, me thinking this doesn't change the outcome, so the wedding ceremony continued.
"Wow! It must be the groom's first wedding, yet how did he place the hairpin so skillfully? I wonder if the bride will have a hard time ahead. Haha."
The officiant joked about Kang Yun-ho's womanizing reputation to the guests, and amidst the cheerful atmosphere, the guests laughed in response.
And so the wedding continued.
Voices admiring Murong Sang-ah's beauty.
Voices calling Kang Yun-ho a thief.
Murong Bi's relieved expression.
Wedding speeches.
Seeing and hearing these things while thinking about the future, before I knew it, the wedding was over.
"Now, the newlywed couple will proceed to the bridal chamber!"
That's too blatant. Even though they're now a married couple. I shouldn't care about such things in this era, but still.
"Oh my!"
"Kyaaah!"
"Huk-huk-huk! My lady!!"
Amidst the guests' welcoming—or perhaps not so welcoming—cheers, Sang-ah and I left the wedding hall.
Paradise and hell are separated by a thin sheet of paper.
That's what marriage felt like to Murong Sang-ah.
Marrying a man she loathed felt like walking through the gates of hell. She had even plotted a scheme to avoid entering those gates, though it ultimately failed. But once she realized the man's true nature, everything looked different.
The path to hell was actually a path leading to paradise.
When she became aware of the Demonic Cult's presence within the family, each day was hell.
Of course, her situation was still hellish even now. Marrying Gaga hadn't changed anything. But as she walked through that hell from now on, her husband would be by her side.
If it was with Gaga, she could walk through hellfire. No, Gaga would dislike even the flames touching her and would carry her through hell.
How could a marriage with such a man be hell?
Night deepened.
Murong Sang-ah took off her wedding attire, fixed her makeup, and changed into lighter clothes. If she went to the bridal chamber and waited, Gaga would soon come to find her.
The first night is important for both the man and the woman.
If she lies demurely, he will lead her. Would it be difficult for Gaga if she just lies there? Then she should sit demurely with her eyes closed.
'Where will he lead me tonight?'
Should she use what she learned from the Joseon Women's Conduct Guide? Lost in slightly brazen thoughts, Murong Sang-ah was about to head to the bridal chamber.
"My lady!!"
Suddenly, the Leader of the Changbong Guard appeared before Sang-ah, who was on her way to the chamber, prostrating himself.
"It is improper for a woman who has just completed her wedding rites to be intercepted on her way to the bridal chamber. Step aside if you do not wish to be severely punished."
For an outsider man to appear before a woman about to be undressed in the bridal chamber was a serious breach of propriety.
"I will gladly accept any punishment after delivering this news."
"……If the Leader of the Changbong Guard is prepared, then it must be important. Speak."
"The Kang Family… has been exterminated."
From the leader's mouth came the news Sang-ah had desperately hoped would never come true.
"Wh-what are you saying?"
Murong Sang-ah's voice trembled thinly.
"A letter arrived from our intelligence network in Joseon, which had lost contact. The Kang Family has been exterminated on charges of treason. Kang Yun-ho's father and his clan were beheaded."
"Ah, aah."
Shaken, Sang-ah's legs trembled, and she lost her balance, leaning against the wall.
"Only you and I know this news right now. But in a few days, the family will also find out."
"Wh-what have I done……."
The news made Sang-ah dizzy. How could this happen? She was told it failed.
"My lady, you must pull yourself together. It's not too late yet. I brought a sword."
The Leader of the Changbong Guard tried to hand her a sheathed sword.
"What am I to do with this?"
She had ruined everything.
She had committed an unforgivable sin against the chivalrous man who came to Dragon's Pool Tiger's Lair to save her.
How on earth could she atone for this?
Should she commit suicide with the sword?
"Use that sword to kill Young Master Kang Yun-ho."
"Wh-what did you say?"
"Though the wedding ceremony has been performed, you have not yet consummated the marriage. If you kill Young Master Kang Yun-ho now, you can return as a member of the Murong Family."
The Leader of the Changbong Guard presented his lifelong plan.
"I will pretend I didn't hear that."
"My lady!! Think of your father! Think of the Murong Family!"
Knowing the gravity of the situation, the leader pleaded with Sang-ah.
"……Are you saying I must kill my innocent husband for the sake of our family?"
"It was you, my lady! Murong Sang-ah herself, who tried to frame that man's family for treason and have them exterminated!"
"……."
Faced with that devastating fact, Murong Sang-ah couldn't offer any rebuttal.
"That man may be a scoundrel, but he hasn't committed a capital crime. However, from the moment you, my lady, sent false evidence to the Joseon court, Young Master Kang Yun-ho was a dead man walking."
Yes.
That's right.
It was her fault that everything was ruined.
Intoxicated by her talent with the sword, she failed to look around her.
When she defeated her brother, how arrogantly had she acted?
She didn't consider her brother, who was sinking into inferiority amidst the praise of those around him.
Her father collapsed.
When people said her brother was acting strange, why had she ignored it?
People around her started dying mysterious deaths, one by one.
Trembling in fear, when they came to her to plead, she was solely focused on her sword training.
She lost to her brother.
The people who had placed their hopes in her turned their backs that day.
Only after losing with her pitiful swordsmanship did she realize her place had vanished.
Up until that situation arose, she had done nothing.
She just didn't want to get married.
So for the first time, she acted proactively. And what was the result?
A man who risked his life to find her.
Her husband's family, all slaughtered.
She took away everything precious to him.
She exterminated the family of the only man who extended a saving hand to her.
All because of what she had done.
"Ah……. Ah, ah, ah."
It was all her fault that everything was ruined.
"My lady! Pull yourself together!"
If she stays still, everything collapses; if she acts, she ruins it.
I am now standing in hell.
"It's about time for the news to arrive."
Before heading to the bridal chamber, I changed out of my wedding attire into comfortable clothes in the waiting room. Clothes that would be easy to escape in.
A wedding was more tense and exhausting than I thought. I'm so drained I feel like lying down right here.
But now, the news from Joseon should be arriving soon.
"Are you there?"
"Who is it?"
"It's the Guard Captain."
"Right. Come in."
The Guard Captain who had led the Kang Family wedding procession opened the door and strode purposefully toward me.
"Young Master. Please don't be shocked by what I'm about to say."
The Guard Captain stood before me with a grave expression. It's fine. I won't be shocked even when I hear that news.
"Speak."
"It is said that your family has been seized on charges of treason and exterminated. The Family Head and all close relatives have reportedly been beheaded."
Finally, what was bound to happen has happened!
"So, it has come to that."
I spoke in a tone of quiet lament.
"Young Master?"
He must have expected me to be shocked, because he was the one surprised by my different reaction. Hey, my time is too precious right now to waste being shocked together and asking 'what do we do now?'
"Father did give me a hint before coming to the wedding. Guard Captain, do the people here know about this?"
"They likely do not. I learned of it through an urgent letter that arrived via the Kang Family's emergency communication network in Liaodong Fortress. Young Master."
"Good. Since the family has been exterminated, this place is not my in-laws' home but a den of thieves coveting our family's assets. We must flee immediately."
"Yes. I understand."
"However, if I flee without visiting the bridal chamber, the people here will be alarmed. Whether they know of the Kang Family's news or not, they will likely send pursuers to capture us."
"Yes, that seems certain."
The Guard Captain nodded, sensing the urgency of the rapidly unfolding situation.
"Therefore, I will briefly visit the bridal chamber and then come out. Guard Captain, you leave the Murong Family estate and find Dolsoe, who should be preparing for a contingency. Then, prepare to escape the Murong Family together with Dolsoe."
"Understood. I will prepare immediately."
"I leave it to you."
The Guard Captain bowed his head and left the room. Then I also cautiously left the room.
Finally, the anticipated situation has arrived.
Now for the final hurdle.