Chapter 71
* * *
Afternoon.
For once, the whole family had gathered in the tea room, enjoying a leisurely cup of tea together.
Namgung Baek was staring intently at his younger brother, Namgung Heuk, for some unknown reason.
‘Hmm...’
The way he was rhythmically tapping his folding fan against his other hand suggested that something was bothering him deeply.
‘Namgung Heuk’s belt also has a blue silk ribbon ornament.’
His gaze then shifted to the youngest, Jeok, who looked rather naive.
‘Namgung Jeok has his hair tied with that same blue silk ribbon.’
He had just happened to witness Hong-seol, Soso, and Do-jin in front of the rear garden a short while ago.
‘Even those wild rascals were wearing bracelets made of blue silk ribbon.’
It was information he had only been able to glean by channeling his Inner Energy to sharpen his vision.
All those blue silk ribbons were undoubtedly Hong-seol’s.
He was certain of it, having seen her clumsily sewing with the maid Maeran several times.
‘I’m the only one who doesn’t have one.’
That was the source of Namgung Baek’s shock.
‘Seol-ah didn’t give that blue silk ribbon to anyone but me...’
Namgung Baek lifted his gaze, filled with resentment, to look at Hong-seol.
‘Why? Am I not the one who treats her the best?’
Hong-seol, who was enjoying the tea time with her family, was smiling brightly, completely oblivious to his thoughts.
That sight only served to further churn Namgung Baek’s insides.
‘She even gave a blue ribbon to that beggar and the child from the Deng Clan, even though she’s barely known them for any time at all!’
It was the moment Namgung Baek gripped his folding fan until it nearly snapped.
Hong-seol shouted proudly.
“I’m a member of the Eight Faithful Friends!”
“What is that?”
Namgung Ho set down his teacup and tilted his head.
Namgung Baek muttered quietly to himself.
“Surely not.”
“My friends! Deng Soso, Yang Do-jin, and me. The three of us formed the Eight Faithful Friends!”
The ‘surely not’ turned out to be true.
Namgung Baek suddenly felt a throbbing headache.
“It’s good that you’ve made friends, our Hong-seol.”
Because his oblivious father chimed in with unnecessary encouragement, Namgung Baek felt even more uncomfortable.
“No, isn’t the little one’s circle of friends already complete with us?”
Namgung Heuk remarked.
For a fleeting moment, Namgung Baek thought, for the first time in his life, that he wanted to pat his younger brother on the head.
“I’m here, and Jeok is here, so why would she need more friends?”
‘Ha, why did you leave my name out?’
Though the feeling of appreciation vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Just then, the maid Maeran entered carrying a plate.
“Wow, sweets!”
Excited, Jeok clapped his hands. Heuk didn’t show it, but he looked thrilled as well.
“Sweets!”
Hong-seol stood up, ready to grab one, but then she flinched.
She had met Namgung Ho’s stern, uncompromising gaze.
“The Immortal Physician of Ten Thousand Miles said that you cannot have sweets for the time being, Hong-seol. Your teeth are weak, and they might rot easily, don’t you know?”
“Hing...”
“You should answer with a ‘Yes’!”
“Yes!”
Unlike her spirited answer, Hong-seol sat back down with a sullen face.
There were three sweets on the plate. None of them were for Hong-seol.
Unlike Heuk and Jeok, who were happily munching on the sweets, Namgung Baek just stared at them.
Seeing this, Namgung Ho remarked.
“Tsk, is this why the rumor that the eldest young master of the Namgung Clan has a picky palate is echoing throughout the city?”
Even at those words, Namgung Baek remained motionless, staring only at the sweets.
Heuk, having devoured his share of the sweets, asked Namgung Baek.
“Brother, aren’t you eating?”
“...”
Baek turned his head away without a word. Heuk, catching a glimpse of this, reached his hand toward the plate.
“Then I’ll eat them?”
Clack.
Baek’s fingers stood guard over the sweet dish like a gatekeeper, leaving no room for error.
The glare that seemed capable of burning him was an added bonus.
“If you don’t want to give them to me, just say so... You’re really too much.”
“Namgung Heuk!”
Startled by Namgung On’s roar, Namgung Heuk clamped his mouth shut.
As time passed, the busy family members left one by one.
By chance, only Hong-seol and Namgung Baek remained in the tea room.
The dish containing the sweets still sat in front of Namgung Baek.
‘It’s finally quiet.’
He slid the dish of sweets toward Hong-seol.
“Here, eat.”
“Oh?”
Surprised, Hong-seol blinked.
“Can I… can I really eat these?”
Namgung Baek chuckled.
“Isn’t that why you’ve been waiting all this time?”
Hong-seol’s face brightened like the sun emerging from behind the clouds.
“Thank you!”
Hong-seol took a sweet from Namgung Baek’s hand and crunched into it.
“It’s so, so delicious!”
The sweetness she hadn’t tasted in such a long time made her cheeks flush like polished apples.
Namgung Baek watched her with a heavy heart.
‘I treat her so well, so why is it that she won’t give the blue silk ribbon to anyone but them?’
He was curious, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
‘That’s a question that would make me look too petty.’
Namgung Baek hesitated, uncharacteristically clenching his fist.
Besides, what if, by any chance, she didn’t think of him as a close friend, which was why she hadn’t given him a blue silk ribbon?
With a deeply troubled Namgung Baek before her, Hong-seol was stealthily looking for an opportunity.
‘Now that it’s just the two of us, maybe Brother will grant my request!’
After quickly chewing and swallowing the sweet that filled her cheeks, Hong-seol gathered her courage and spoke.
“Brother!”
Namgung Baek, who had been lost in thought, quietly lifted his gaze.
“Um, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
Hong-seol pulled a blue silk ribbon from her robes.
“That is...”
Namgung Baek wore an ambiguous expression, neither crying nor smiling.
“Thank you.”
The moment he reached out with trembling hands to accept the blue silk ribbon.
“I’ll put it to good...”
“No, I didn’t give it to you for you to use, Brother!”
Hong-seol raised her small hand to cover her mouth so the sound wouldn’t escape and whispered into Namgung Baek’s ear.
“Actually...”
After hearing Hong-seol’s story, he cleared his throat, “Ahem, ahem,” to hide his embarrassment.
“You’ll help me, right?”
“...It’s not a difficult task. Sigh.”
Hong-seol, having missed the sigh at the very end, shouted excitedly.
“Thank you, Brother! I should go quickly and pick out clothes for when I go out!”
However, just as she turned to leave, Hong-seol felt her collar being grabbed.
“Wait. You’re just going to leave after eating the sweets?”
Namgung Baek held out a small hemp pouch with a stern face. Inside were a pinch of salt and a well-whittled willow branch.
“Yes? But...”
“Hurry.”
“Okay.”
Accepting the hemp pouch for brushing her teeth, Hong-seol left the room, looking sullen.
Namgung Baek, who had been watching Hong-seol’s retreating figure, turned his head and looked down at the blue silk ribbon remaining in his hand.
He had thought he’d finally received a silk ribbon, only to find out it wasn’t for him.
“Sigh.”
He ruffled the back of his hair with his free hand, the one not holding the ribbon, and hung his head low.
* * *
Before long, the month that Hong-seol, Soso, and Do-jin had promised had passed.
“Sister!”
“Do-jin!”
Do-jin, dressed in patched clothes, came running and stopped in front of the Eumyu Inn.
“Sister, are you all prepared?”
“Yes. I’ve prepared everything to cook the fish just as you said, but… what is all this…?”
Mae Ok-ryeong looked bewildered.
And with good reason; in front of the inn, men she had never seen before were unloading cargo.
“Hey, move aside!”
“Just wait a moment! I’ll show you fish as fresh as if they’d just come out of the water.”
Among them, a man with a sun-tanned face said triumphantly.
“I guarantee it, they’ll be in the exact same state as when I caught them yesterday afternoon!”
But the fish they unloaded from the carriage were wrapped in straw and didn’t move an inch.
Mae Ok-ryeong looked as if she couldn’t believe it.
“This… is this going to work?”
The fisherman rolled up his sleeves, parted the straw, and came out with a large sea bass slung over his shoulder.
He placed it on a large wooden cutting board prepared at the inn.
“Now, watch closely!”
It was when he pressed a few spots around the fish’s gills with lightning-fast movements.
Flap! Flap!
The fish, which had been still, suddenly began to thrash about, stirring its tail and fins.
“Good heavens!”
Mae Ok-ryeong screamed in surprise.
The fish flapping before her eyes looked exactly as if it had just been caught from a boat.
Mae Ok-ryeong, who had usually only been able to obtain mediocre ingredients due to the pressure from other shops, seemed thrilled.
“I must try cooking this as a test!”
Seeing Mae Ok-ryeong’s much brighter expression, Do-jin’s face lit up as well.
“I’ll look forward to it, Sister!”
A short while later, a rich fish feast was laid out before Do-jin, who sat at the table.
“Wow!”
There was a wide variety: fish fillets steamed and drizzled with sauce, others lightly pickled in black vinegar and kelp, and some with the bones removed and fried until crispy.
Among them, one dish particularly caught Do-jin’s eye.
“Sister, what is this?”
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