Aero's Anguish and the Stepmother's Desperate Plea
“Haa...”
Near Myeonghwa Pavilion stood a private residence. Nominally owned by the pavilion, it was in truth the domain of Aero, Joseon's renowned top-class gisaeng.
As she prepared a teacup, Aero let out a heavy sigh unlike her usual poise.
That man from yesterday... He said he knew about Yeok-in's situation...?
Her only son, Joo Yeok-in, had vanished abruptly not long ago. Though she was now an untouchable top-class gisaeng, Aero had once been a mid-tier one who sold her body. Back then, a miscalculation during her monthly cycle had unexpectedly given her a son. Though the boy knew not even his father's face, she had raised him with all a mother's devotion.
He hadn't inherited her stunning beauty, but he was born with exceptional talent in song and dance, along with keen intelligence—her beloved son. The shock of learning he had eloped with some nobleman's daughter, leaving only a single letter, had hit her like a thunderbolt.
She could guess why he'd done it. To spare his mother, who held her own status as a top-class gisaeng, any shame. If word got out, it would have been a scandal worthy of severe punishment. Fortunately, things remained quiet around that "noble house," and she'd brushed off inquiries about her son by saying vaguely that he'd gone far away to learn the merchant trade.
For now, the truth stayed buried, but who knew when it might explode? In that sense, she was grateful for her son's discretion in vanishing without a trace. Yet as a mother, it pained her deeply that he hadn't shared more details—it left her regretting and apologizing to herself.
Regret for creating a situation where her child had no choice but to act this way.
If only he'd at least told me who he ran off with...
Aero prayed for her departed son's happiness, not even knowing the face of the woman who might become her daughter-in-law. But in this midst, the "guest" she'd met yesterday—the man known as heir to the prestigious Han family—had whispered to her.
That he knew her son's whereabouts. And if she wanted details, to answer his summons in a fortnight.
Normally, even as Han family heir, she—a top-class gisaeng who ignored all but high officials—wouldn't deign to meet him twice, let alone someone without rank. Just recently, if not for a gathering of noble houses, she would have flatly refused such a young pup's call.
But his claim of knowing her son's fate... It went beyond a mother's curiosity. Depending on the circumstances, it could even be a veiled threat.
What should I do...? I have to go see him, but if something's happened to that child...
Aero pondered the dilemma with no easy answer.
At that moment.
“What's wrong, my lady? Your complexion looks poor.”
“! Ah... It's nothing. Please, have some tea, my lord.”
Snapping from her thoughts, Aero hurriedly served tea to the man before her.
The middle-aged man seated across from her drained his cup and asked, “Come to think of it, I haven't seen that boy lately. Where's he gone?”
“Ah... Yeok-in won't be home for a while. He left with a merchant guild to learn the trade not long ago.”
“The trade, eh...? Well, a grown son can't leech off his mother's house forever. Good for him.”
The man set down his cup, showing little interest. Baek Man-hwan, Joseon's famed merchant lord whose wealth even high officials envied. Six years ago, he had taken Aero as his wife.
Though viewed as lowly for a merchant, he sipped his tea with the refinement of a noble. Watching him, Aero's worries deepened.
He's such a fine man... One I feel unworthy of...
Though she was concubine rather than wife, and continued gisaeng work after marriage, her feelings for him were genuine. He adored her, made her laugh—a capable man. His age only endeared him more to her.
Yet even this man she cherished so deeply couldn't hear the turmoil in her heart now. He was flawless save one fatal flaw: his utter disdain for her only son, Joo Yeok-in, the root of her current agony.
Though formally married and thus his stepson, Baek showed the boy no affection—quite the opposite, constantly scheming how to be rid of him cleanly. He lavished love on Aero, but wanted nothing to do with a child not of his blood.
Even now, as a great merchant lord, he offered not a hand to the son supposedly off learning trade. This disparity shone starkly against his other children—those of his true blood—with his wives and concubines.
Telling him about Yeok-in now would bring no help, only worsen things.
No choice... I'll have to face it myself...
Reaching that reluctant conclusion amid frustration, she clenched her fist tight in the arms of her husband, who had begun undressing her. In the end, she alone could protect her son in this world.
*
“...”
In a darkened room, long after nightfall, Lee So-young trembled alone, unable to sleep.
Han Sook-beon's condition worsened by the day. The physician urged her to prepare her heart. Yet household affairs slipped from her grasp. Food tasted of nothing; even in bed, sleep evaded her.
Servants like Yoo Cheon-hyang and others saw it as a wife's grief over her dying husband.
But in truth, the dying lord wasn't even on her mind.
For two days now, the terror gnawing at her soul—the force robbing her of normal life—was unspeakable to anyone.
Her master. Her son. Han Taeyang.
What... will happen? What... what should I do...?
Three days since her torture of Im Jeong-ok was exposed and the icy warning delivered. Since then, Han Taeyang had said nothing to her. He merely greeted her as one would a mother.
But this silence only fanned the flames of her anxiety with time.
Fear of being discarded. Vivid dread that he might never come to her again. Even her surging lusts lay dormant now; she endured each day in agony.
I can't... go on like this... I should kneel and beg forgiveness...
Whether he'd accept it, she didn't know. But her body, once tasting pleasure, could neither return to the past nor endure without it.
In this plight, her only recourse was to plead for her master's mercy.
Resolved, she clutched her pounding chest and rose to go to him.
Then.
- Rrrumble!
“!!”
A figure appeared before her eyes. The moment she saw him enter through the door, a twisted smile of terror and hope warped Lee So-young's lips.
“M-Mas... Master...”
“...”
Trembling, she approached the man. Even fearing it a dream, she clung desperately to his body.
“Ah...”
His solid warmth filled her hands. Realizing it no illusion, she collapsed to her knees before him.
And.
“I-I'm... sorry... Forgive me, Master!”
Her apology began softly, head bowed to the floor, but soon grew frantic and desperate.
“It was my fault! How dare I touch your wife! I... I swear... never again. Please, just once... forgive my mistake...!”
She kowtowed repeatedly, begging.
Then.
“!”
Han Taeyang's hand on her shoulder. Hope flickering that he might forgive her, she slowly raised her head.
But his face remained coldly impassive. As fear gripped her anew, he spoke calmly.
“If you know you were wrong, you must accept punishment, right?”
“! P-Pun... punishment?”
Her voice quavered in question. Yet her greater fear wasn't some unknown penalty, but that this hard-won visit might end with him leaving.
“Y-Yes! Anything... I'll accept anything. Please... please forgive this slave's error!”
She pleaded earnestly. A chilling smile crept across Han Taeyang's lips.
And.