Chapter 07
The dim alley no longer held the liveliness of daytime. The shops were closed, and even the merchants had gone home. Only the lanterns hung outside the gisaeng house flickered here and there, faintly lighting the narrow path. After quickly scanning the alley, Iseo grabbed her mother’s hand, pulled her inside, and firmly bolted the door.
Her mother, Lady Jeong, had hands as cold as ice.
“Mother, why are you here? And where is Brother?”
“Iseo!”
Lady Jeong covered her mouth, unable to continue. Iseo’s unease grew.
“Did Brother cause trouble again?”
“Well…”
“Please tell me quickly. I need to know to figure out what to do.”
“Iseo, as you know, Hyunwoo didn’t mean any harm.”
Lady Jeong began by defending him.
Iseo knew well enough that her brother wasn’t a bad person. That was exactly why she had spent all this time quietly cleaning up after his messes.
Since childhood, Iseo had done every kind of work to earn money. She ran errands in the market by day, copied books at night, and even wrote and sold romance novels by drawing on memories of her previous life.
If not for all the money spent covering Hyunwoo’s troubles, she could have owned the largest shop in the market street by now.
She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them, forcing herself to speak calmly.
“I know. So what is it this time?”
“He… agreed to be a proxy test-taker.”
Lady Jeong couldn’t finish and shut her eyes tightly. Iseo doubted her own ears.
A proxy test-taker?
“What do you mean? That’s when someone takes the civil service exam in another person’s place, isn’t it?”
Lady Jeong nodded, avoiding her gaze, yet continued to make excuses for Hyunwoo.
“He pitied how hard you’ve been working alone, and he kept saying that even if he took the exam, if our family’s past were exposed as traitors, everything would be for nothing… He said it so often… and yet, he still went and did this.”
“Mother!”
Iseo cut herself off, inhaling sharply. Others seemed to live just fine—why did her life always twist into knots?
Hyunwoo wasn’t entirely wrong. Even if he passed the exam, a successful career would be unlikely. If their identity were exposed, it wouldn’t just be his future at stake, but his life.
But Iseo had something she was counting on. The male lead of this world, Grand Prince Je-an, remembered what had happened over a decade ago. Because of her—because of the guilt he felt toward her ruined family and the young fiancée who had died before her time—he would, upon gaining power, clear the false charges against the Hwang Yunseok family and seek out the surviving members to care for them.
Iseo, his former fiancée, was already dead—but her brother Hyunwoo was supposed to regain their family name and live happily with their mother.
She was sure that’s how the story had gone.
And yet, everything kept going wrong.
“Why of all things a proxy test? He must know it’s forbidden by the state! Why would he—no, the exam hasn’t happened yet, so it’s not too late. Just return the money.”
“He promised to take the exam for Choi Si-hwan, the son of Minister Choi Yunseok. And if he breaks the agreement, he has to pay back double the advance… And it seems like someone’s been following him since.”
Lady Jeong glanced anxiously at the door.
“How much is it?”
They only needed to endure until the Grand Prince grew powerful—she had heard he had already returned. Iseo looked at her mother with reddened eyes, holding back tears.
“He received five thousand nyang… so we must repay ten thousand.”
Iseo let out a quiet curse without realizing it. Though she knew every curse from years in the marketplace, she had never spoken one aloud—certainly not in front of her mother.
Her mother, who had grown up as a noble lady and had never known hardship, had struggled greatly raising them in hiding. Iseo knew that well, and she had always tried her best to care for her.
But this time, she couldn’t endure it.
Not only was the sum enormous, but her mother’s insistence on defending her son despite knowing his fault was deeply disappointing.
“Ten thousand nyang!”
Hearing Iseo’s hollow voice, Lady Jeong hesitated before speaking.
“Still, thankfully, he didn’t spend any of the five thousand. So if you could somehow gather just that amount…”
“This is fraud. Not a single coin was spent, yet we have to repay five thousand in a few days? What kind of interest is that? The proxy deal was bait from the start.”
Lady Jeong sighed deeply. Fraud or not, the other party was the son of the Chief State Councillor. And Hyunwoo wasn’t entirely blameless.
Besides, they were fugitives. The only way to resolve this quietly was for Iseo to repay the money. With the Councillor’s power reaching the heavens, where could they possibly go to accuse his son of fraud?
“Iseo…”
Lady Jeong called gently, trying to soothe her.
“Should we just give up everything and flee to another country?”
Iseo muttered, letting out a bitter sigh. She had struggled to survive in this harsh world—but the result was always the same.
‘It was like this in my past life, too.’
Perhaps she was trapped in some cruel parallel of fate, unable to escape.
From the large cauldron in the kitchen came the warm, nutty aroma of red beans cooking. Normally she would have stirred it a dozen times to keep it from burning, but she couldn’t muster the strength.
What was the point of working tirelessly without sleep? In the end, she was destined to fail or die.
If she had known, it might have been better to die early by Seokcheol’s blade, just as the original story had gone.
Burying her face in her hands, Iseo bowed her head. Watching her tears slip through her fingers, Lady Jeong couldn’t lift her own head.
“Has the kitchen cook been replaced?”
Ryun wasn’t one for sweets. But the yakgwa he picked up, drawn by its neat appearance, wasn’t overly sweet and left a clean aftertaste. Instead of answering, Yuji smiled and called for more to be brought.
“Shall I pack some for you later?”
“Hmm.”
Yuji expected him to scoff and refuse, but seeing him hesitate, her eyes widened. His handsome face grew unusually serious. The playful glint in his eyes vanished, replaced by something deep and sharp, while his firmly set red lips carried an inexplicable allure.
No wonder the proud gisaengs of Haewolgeak lingered outside Yuji’s room whenever Ryun visited.
Watching him hesitate over something as trivial as a snack, Yuji burst into laughter.
“My, for the great Grand Prince Je-an to be so serious over something like this! Just say the word, and I’ll pack as much as you like.”
Ryun looked at her incredulously.
“Do you think I’m agonizing over mere sweets?”
“Then is something troubling you?”
He frowned and fell into thought again. The face of the Queen Dowager he had seen earlier that day came to mind. Though still beautiful despite the years, she looked noticeably thinner than he remembered.
The court ladies often said she skipped meals, which worried them. He could guess the reason—but he had no solution.
His mother had always had a small appetite, and it seemed to have worsened while he was away.
“She used to like sweets like these…”
His gaze returned to the confections. The yakgwa was crisp yet rich, and the delicately colored dasik carried a subtle, refined fragrance.
“Could you have more of these made in the kitchen?”
“So he really likes them,” Yuji thought, smiling with satisfaction.
“The kitchen here is skilled, but they can’t make sweets quite like this.”
“Then?”
“There’s a shop in the market street called Iseodang. The young master there is exceptionally talented. It’s a bit pricey, but everyone who’s tried it says their sweets are the best.”
“A young master? A nobleman—let alone a man—made these?”
Yuji pouted slightly.
“What, are you going to say that nobles shouldn’t do such lowly work?”
“No. I’ve just seen too many nobles who do nothing but exploit others.”
“Exactly.”
Yuji nodded in agreement.
“Still, how did he end up making sweets? Most nobles aim to pass the state exam.”
“I don’t know the details. My own life’s tangled enough—why bother digging into someone else’s problems I can’t solve? As long as the sweets taste good.”
With a playful smile, Yuji popped a piece of yakgwa into Ryun’s mouth and slid a cup of tea toward him. The tea was topped with walnuts, pine nuts, and even a floating egg yolk resembling a full moon. It didn’t quite suit Ryun’s preference for clean, simple teas, and he eyed it skeptically.
“Not just the sweets—the ssanghwa tea and sikhye are excellent too.”
“What is this?”
“Isn’t it ssanghwa tea?”
“I know that. Tea is meant to clear the body and mind—why is this so…?”
Yuji scoffed and pushed the cup closer.
“Try it first before judging.”
Frowning, Ryun lifted the cup. Years of wandering had taught him one thing—he had to try things himself to understand them.
He blew on the hot tea and took a cautious sip. Then his eyes widened.
“It’s good, isn’t it? It’s made with all sorts of medicinal herbs—great for when you feel a cold coming on. I’m only serving it because it’s you.”
Yuji said proudly.
“So where is this shop?”
Grand Prince Je-an Ryun set down the cup and asked.
