The Master's bedchambers in any household signified power, favour, wealth, and even affection, thesis why the new concubine was retraining herself quite a bit when she hard the news that my man publicised, and it was a very grand room indeed. But everything here was to that woman's taste and I couldn't believe that this man was really so insensitive to put me in this place without consideration for myself at all, especially after what he put me through, which was almost a whole year of nothing but silence, separation and heartbreak, on my side at least. As for him, well I had no idea if he was really as miserable as he acted, or if he was enjoying the best of both worlds here without me. I had tried to leave these quarters of his, but he had guards stationed outside of the doors just like he did with me at the brothel from the day after that happened to me, so I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to.
"What is the matter? Why are her food trays full? Hans't she eaten anything yet?" "My Lord, she hasn't eaten anything since she was moved to these quarters, she has just stayed in bed and refuses to do anything." "Very well, retreat and leave us alone, but do not leave beyond the doors in case I need you." "Very well Master." "And where is all of the room's furniture and decorations?" "The Mistress Seo ordered everything to be stripped and donated to local orphanages." "That was a very expensive move, wife, you should have informed me first." "You should have never brought me here to that woman's home and her bedchambers." "What are you talking about? She never set foot in here, not even once." "Do you really expect me to believe that? After that engagement ceremony that she put me through? And you were just standing there like a mute fool who was too embarrassed to even face me that day! I do not know why you even brought me back here at all when there is no point to it anymore!"
"What do you mean there is no point in it? We are husband and wife, we are one…." "We are nothing! I am not the one that you married, I am not the one that got engaged to you and I am not the one who can give you what you want?" "What are you saying? That I have lost your trust after all of this time? After everything we have been through?" "What did you expect from me when you abandoned me with no word, no plan and no warning? You said clear away from me for almost a year, so what do you want from me now?" "I expected you to wait for me, so where is this coming from? I saw you every day, I kept a roof over your head in that seedy place and I was living in misery every single day that I was away from you!" "I do not believe you, not anymore. So please let me go…" "Go where? Back to a brothel? Where other men can stare at you all day long? So that you can be in their company instead of mine! Am I really that awful to be around?" "I cannot read your mind, I have no idea what you are plotting and I cannot believe that you still hold any affection for me anymore." "So what are you saying? That you don't want this anymore? And what exactly will you do with your life from now on? Will you waste away in isolation as you intended to, a long time ago? How exactly can you function in this world without me?" "You just watch! I will leave this home and…" "You will not take a single step out of here until we rid ourselves of these woman and regain our footing in society! You will not take a step out of here until I get justice for us all! And you will not step out of here, even if you cannot give me what I want!" "And what about me? Who am I to you exactly? A pawn to exploit? A sex slave? Someone to do all of your dirty work for you, just like your father did to you! Why! Why are you treating me this way when I did everything for you! I warned you, didn't I? To say away from me if you could't commit to me? Well, now I am done with all of your false promises and lies! So let me go!"
"You cannot be serious about this! You are just upset…yes, that is it. I hurt you and I know I did and I will do overhang I can to make you forgive me!" 'Please, just let me put an end to all of this misery now and…" "I will be off for the palace, and then I expect you to have dinner with me. I have a lot to say to you, to explain to you and maybe then you can understand me a little more. I know that this is entirely my fault and I have a lot to make up for, so please let me do it instead of throwing me away like this. Please give me another chance, just one last chance…and I am sorry for hurting you in the brothel. I cannot remember it, but I am so sorry."
I could feel the sincerity in his voice, so much so that he himself was on the brink of tears as was i. I had no idea why my paranoia and insecurities were peaking right now, but there was a sense of uneasiness that I felt here and it was being heightened by that girl. In fact, it got so bad the guards had no choice but to let me go due to the sudden bout of nausea that just hit me out of nowhere. This allowed me to wonder around the yangban for a while to explore the place, but then I found myself missing the time where I was hostage the first time. I missed the way that he approached me so sporadically the first time and how intent he was on keeping me safe despite already using me for his plans as son as I woke up from that drowning incident that took place in the yangban. He gifted me a very large set of flowers that were already rare for that season, he kept me as close to him as possible and he…
"…I could tell that you were incredibly verbose at breakfast today, I heard all about it from my servants. Why are you so quiet now?" "I beg for you to forgive me Mistress." "Why? What have you done wrong for me to forgive you? You are a concubine after all, so weren't you pleased with yourself when you were waving your paws in his face!" "My Lady, please! If you dislike the comb that you have thrown at me, then you can just gift it to me instead. It would be a pity to leave it like that, and I have bought your tonics for you. It was just a mindless comment from The Lord Nam to make that woman jealous, and he will not be pleased wih me if I do anything about it." "Noe even my own place as a sly minx; a quick witted and honey muted one for that as well." "We are all here to serve him My Lady and there is nothing that we can do about that apart from acting generously towards one another." "You must find a way to banish that girl from his yangban." "My Lady, he has plans to relocate us to another property that is currently undergoing some work. And I heard them argue yesterday as planned; she hates being relocated to your former chambers and wishes to return to hers incessantly." "Then do everything in your power to stop her from returning there until it comes time for the big move and try to leave her in my home alone. That is when I will make my return and take back what belongs to me for the final time. She will never see him again from that point on, I shall make sure of that. You must not reveal any anger on your face in the meantime; being nice to her will perceive your generosity which will ensure that you gain favour from your new husband. I knew he is just going in and out of her chambers without caring that he is being rejected at all. You acting docile and appeased will only make you look more sophisticated compared to her." "Do not fret My Lady, he is just temporarily infatuated with her, he will surely loose interest in her sooner or later." "He has been 'temporarily infatuated' with the girl for years and he hasn't experienced rejection since he had her in his grasp. He isn't used to her rejecting him, so he will work even harder to secure her, so you must do everything that you can to douse out that fire within him."
So, this was what was going on? That woman was still ever present in this home of hers, so much so that she managed to evade my man's security system and infiltrate this yangban however much she wanted to? Very well, I could now see that there would be no future for myself and my man if I continued to let this woman live. She would even cause my brother harm for her revenge, and I wasn't going to let that happen. She had caused so much damage and I had foolishly been far too lienient with her and making the mistake of letting Seonho deal with her in my place. If only I had gotten rid of her long ago, then I would have been married a long time ago and I would have never been left behind by the man that I could no longer function without. What was that they accused me of? Riling up my man's desire to conquer me? Really? So why don't we put that to the test for the last time then?
"God afternoon My Lord." "Concubine? Why are you waiting here for me? How long have you been waiting for me in the cold? Hasn't Yeon distributed the winter clothes to you yet?" "I do not mind My Lord, giving her cold attitude towards you recently." "I do not mind it, I probably deserve it to be honest, but I will not let her take it too far either." "Of course My Lord, may I suggest that you let her kisaengs come to the yangban to see her? She might be excessively worried about them?" "I cannot allow that to happen, as she might run away with them at any given opportunity." "Then how about having perform for you to alleviate her of her apparent boredom and depression. I have always heard about her wild and untamed nature and it might revive your marriage." "Very good, you are doing well by not showing any jealousy at all, so how can I reward you for this?" "My Lord, if you wouldn't mind, then can I also receive a hand written plaque from you? As you, I haven't had a titling ceremony yet and I would greatly appreciate a sentimental gift on your behalf before we…" "Aunt? Where have you been? I have been looking for you everywhere." "Nephew? Is something the matter? Why are you looking for me? Have you eaten yet?" "No, she hasn't fed me at all today?" "Really? Are you being serious? Very well, I shall instruct the servants to make us some dinner and we can eat together."