Chaotic Nights

Chapter 21. Meeting (7)

As Jo Youngho writhed in agony, Jihak handed the bloody sword back to Yuljae and looked at Yongi sitting limply on the ground.

When he saw her from a distance, he thought that the owner of the courtesan house had captured Eunha and forced her to dress like a courtesan after she left his mansion. His judgment then became clouded, and he moved in to dismember the bastard who coveted what was his.

However, it wasn’t Eunha. Very fortunately.

“Your scared face is similar, but my girl doesn’t need to dress up.”

Jihak said coldly. He then turned around and walked to the East Tower, leaving behind the dying Jo Youngho.

But Yongi stood up abruptly, rushed towards Jihak like crazy and grabbed him by the taoist robe. In an instant, Yuljae’s sword reached Yongi’s neck.

Fresh blood flowed from a small scratch on Yongi’s neck. Even though her neck was almost cut, Yongi looked determinedly at Jihak and asked,

“Sir. Is the girl Eunha? Are you talking about Eunha?”

Jihak smiled as he looked down at Yongi’s hand, which shakily clutched his robe collar.

“How should I answer your question? Let’s just say it’s none of your business. I hate answering questions before I ask them.”

“I’m, I’m sorry. But she is my precious younger sister. She disappeared suddenly and I don’t know if she is alive or dead, the pain in my chest increases day by day. Please tell me, sir. Is that girl… our Eunha?”

Yongi’s last words made Jihak finally lose his cool. He grabbed her wrist and twisted it.

“She’s not our Eunha, she’s my girl. So be careful what you say.”

Although she must have felt immense pain since he was about to break her wrist, it didn’t seem like it. Rather, she placed her other hand on her chest in relief as tears fell down her cheeks.

“Eunha… Thank you for taking care of Eunha, Sir. Thank you.”

Then, as if she had lost her strength, she fell to her knees on the ground. Jihak looked at Yongi with eyes that bordered on contempt and turned around again without hesitation.

He didn’t believe in blood ties, so he found the behavior shown by Yongi ridiculous and trivial. At most, they were only blood sisters. Nothing else.

What he liked least was that she dared to add the word ‘our’ to what was his. As he walked away in annoyance, Yuljae extended a stick to him.

Only then did Jihak realize that he had momentarily forgotten his role as a blind man.

“Ha, it always happens to me in this place, it’s strange. Or… could it be that her face, similar to my girl’s, affected me in some way?”

“In any case, you can’t let go of the stick anymore.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll act like a real blind man.”

With his vacant stare, Jihak took the stick offered by Yuljae.

***

When the numerous guards posted at the entrance to the East Tower saw the two men approach, their faces gradually turned paler.

While many people had never seen the Deposed Crown Prince Seo Jihak, there was no one in the capital who didn’t know Yuljae, a renowned swordsman and important member of the Left-Wing.

Terrified by the appearance of Yuljae, the ‘battlefield reaper’, they blocked both of their paths with stiff expressions. They were aware that they could lose their heads because of it.

Simdeok, who was watching from a distance, hurried over breathlessly.

“My Lord, I will take you inside.”

It was the first time others saw Simdeok, who was always composed and dignified like a magnolia flower, bowing her head deeply in a nervous voice.

“From the voice, you must be the mistress of that day.”

Jihak’s voice was slow, which made it more authoritative. The owner of the courtesan house bowed her head further and pushed the guards aside.

“Yes. Please follow me, follow me.”

The mistress’s eyes passed over the tip of Yuljae’s sword, covered in blood. For a moment, a shiver ran down her spine.

Jihak was guided by Simdeok into the East Tower. In that place completely isolated from the outside, high officials with familiar faces stood here and there as soon as he entered as if to pay their respects, with courtesans on both sides.

Perhaps they acted politely because they thought Jihak was not blind, or they simply did it to maintain customs…

After Yuljae helped him sit in the empty seat at the head of the table, he whispered in his ear. Jihak then smiled with his head tilted, looked straight ahead and nodded,

“Did you all miss me that much? Did you come all this way together just to pay your respects to me?”