As I watched my man make his way to the palace with his unruly nephew in tow, he still didn't hesitate to look back at me to let me know that he was alright, that he was expecting to see me first thing when he came home and that he was going to need me when I went home. The look that he gave me was almost similar to the look that he would give me under his father's roof when I was his hostage and he just wouldn't stop staring at me. His various moods and stares towards me probably brought me the comfort out of everything that he did for me, and all of the times that I had to go without it just made me cherish it even more. Just like the times when I first settled into the brothel when I found out that my man had been taken into custody. I wanted for him to return back to me for an entire month under the watch of HuiJae's hired Madame who didn't take kindly to me at all, although she did her very best to pretend to like me as all of the kisaengs took me in immediately when they saw me. HwaWol came to see me a few times, which I was grateful for and she really did help me out a lot since she had her place running the place after The Madame.
"I want you to unpack all of The Mistress Seo's things nicely this time and get a fire going in her quarters! Light up the incense sticks, close all of the windows and start dusting! And as for you servant, you can get a head start on all of her laundry! And wipe away the now outside of her quarters! Do not even think of going too seep until it's done!" "Yu didnt have to punish her too severe sister…" "Don't even go there Yeon, I do not tolerate thieves under this roof and neither does your husband! And I did it in front of you to show her exactly who she has to answer to if she tries anything silly again and that she will not be able to retaliate against you later on. Is this how we are doing things now? I am far too old to tolerate those who still tread on the weak in this nation of ours. I'll just see who can refute me in the future." "Sister…" "She was already showing her guilty conscious to me when I confronted her earlier, so you forget all about this now."
"Thank you for taking care of me and…" "Your husband will pretty much kill me at this point if I do not, so do not worry about it. He has been far too hard n himself without you; simply courtesy has gone out of the window with him and he has certainly blunted his sharp thorn in there; I wouldn't be surprised if he jumped on you from the moment he sees you once again…" "Sister!" "Don't ac so coy sister, I have a feeling that I know exactly what the two of you been upto for years before your marriage…" "He was only helping me address all of the justices that have been done to my family…" "Whilst filling you up with a family of his own I am sure…" "What is his excuse that I cannot see him in the dungeons?" "It is the royal astrologist who come up with some nonsense about people who have been recently intimate with their partners should abstain from seeing them in such a filthy place to avoid the aura of such place messing up with the progeny. And he said something else about 'special commitments that requires physical and spiritual purity…" "of course she is using his own astrologist against him to keep him, that sounds exactly like something that he would do to me…" "My Lady, The Madame calls upon Mistress Seo to pay her respects…." "To a brothel madame? Seriously? Just who does she think she is?" "My Lady?" "Relay this message to her on my behalf; 'if you truly have respect for someone in your heart, is it really necessary to pay your respects every single day? Whom can we tell is two faced even when they to pay their respects? Do you become respected just because you say you are?" "You are still just as untamed and unruly as my daughter is at the moment, who knew that little girls had such big mouths on them?" "What have you told him about me?" "I have told him where you are and the chores that you do here; collecting firewood and washing clothes and even cooking until his return. Think I even mentioned something about you carrying water all about the place." "You haven't told him that I am ill am I?" "Well…" "HwaWol!" "Yeon, now more than ever he needs to know himself how much you are enduring by waiting for him to come home to you after that vile woman finds a way to have him all to herself once again no doubt. This way he will be constantly thinking about you and he will want to reagin your favour once again after he recovers. He will also care for your brother and his family more to make it up to them, which is a favour that you do need from him and so does your brother. Otherwise The Seo family will live in disgrace after coming back from the dead when you eventually expose that scandal." "So what are you suggesting?" "A name and age change until you prove your innocence apart from when you are around his family clan, as they have no power to be heard in The Emperor's court anymore."
"Will I really have to go live in that home that she has grossly decorated?" "You must take advantage of her temperament to the fullest extent quietly to really get under her skin. Throw mud on her to damager her reputation before she does it to you and your brother's family." "And this place?" "The fact that I am always at odds with this madame doesn't sit right with me at all, so I will not hesitate to throw mud on her until The Lord Nam has the time to pay attention to her a little more. I shall tell him how she kept you waiting outside in the cold for so long, long enough for you to develop a serious cold. I will make him take care of your daily needs in here…" "As long as he continues to genuinely have me in his heart, I will never truly experience hardship, not anymore." "He would never allow you ti live a lonely life, given how loving, perceptive and thoughtful you are towards him, and the better he treats you, the more he dotes on your nephews, and even my own children for that matter. I just cannot wait to see what he is like with your children." "We will both keep it private until I start showing no doubt, and…" And I was right; we were keeping it private and it was a mistake on my part to announce the news to his clan, but as they were family=oriented, I could only hope and pray that they had the best intentions for me. But as soon as I saw something that could put me in harms way, then I was out of here without hesitation. But then if that happened, then his family would surely cause some drama to bring me home and make me help them climb up the social ladder even though I was already sick to my teeth doing it for my husband who had suffered unjustly so that he could regain his good name and so on…
"My Lady! Quick! The neice of The Lord Nam's aunt has been caught sneaking out of her quarters to follow your husband into the palace to meet The Prince that she wishes to marry…!" "Oh for goodness sake, can't I get a day's peace in here? I'd much rather be back at the brothel with the kisanegs than to deal with this rubbish!" "Forgive me My Lady…" "Gather everyone in the main hall, I will make my way there shortly." "My Lady; the Nam girl seems to have been caught in The Prince's residence, but the case for adultery is not yet confirmed." "Adultery? What are you taking about?" "The girl was caught dressed in disguise as a chambermaid; she was sitting on his bed when she was caught trespassing and…" "Oh my goodness, where on earth is my husband and nephew? Has he heard about this yet? How angry is he? He must be so…" "I understand that he is making his way home already and he is in quite foul mood. Her mortar is doing everything in her power to shield her daughter whist the rest of the clan are reportedly quite furious with her." "Oh my goodness, what on earth can I salvage from this incident? I must do something before my husband kills them all, and then our work would have been for nothing at all…wait, what does The Prince himself have to say about this incident?" "There is no way for us to know what is on his mind, since he hasn't gotten the chance to say anything about it at all." "Is that so? Maybe I can make something out of this after all…"
Only a few weeks ago I was dressed into rags and helping out in brothel , hoping and praying with all of my might that I would not attract too much attention. And now today, I was dressed in tithe finest scented silk once again in my husband's home as I began to scheme each and every way so that my husband could become successful, and I wouldn't have to interact with his family all that much to begin with. Wasn't there someone else in my home who was just as desperate to become myself as I was to see my own husband come home to me and our unborn child every single day. And since she was so desperate to become myself, then I would leave her to come up will all of the solutions with her little helper and see how far they got with my husband. In face, why don't promote them myself? After living such a life of turmoil, secret and instability, then I would grab every single moment that I could get to attain some peace to enjoy my pregnancy for as long as I could. If she wanted to be a successful hostess, then she was going to have to learn how to prioritise my husband over herself whilst I watched her fail miserable from the distance with my baby as safe as it could be.