“Why are those bastards chasing me?”“I don’t know either.”Hae-rak added as if he had one guess.“The foot-wipers only move that briskly when it’s their master’s order or when they’re barking to protect him, so it’s probably related to that old man… but it’s all speculation.”When Sohwa looked at him, Hae-rak frowned.“Why?”“What exactly are your restrictions based on, that you can talk about the Blood Cult sometimes and not other times?”Hae-rak let out a small laugh.“It’s because it depends on will. As long as it doesn’t go against the will, there’s no problem.”“The will?”“Right. If that person thinks I don’t know, he doesn’t worry I’ll talk, so it’s fine. And even something held with firm will can change over time, so what’s dangerous at one moment might not be dangerous at another. Of course, there’s no need to test his fickleness, so I just stay cautious.”Suddenly, Hae-rak snickered. Because it wasn’t something to laugh about at all, Sohwa furrowed her brows.“Why are you laughing?”“The truth is, the binding power of the restriction has weakened a bit. I was wondering whether I should tell you or not, but I found it absurd that I blabbed about the restriction so easily.”Sohwa scowled at those words.“Are you joking? Of course you should tell me. You said I have to know every variable related to the dokgo.”Instead of answering, Hae-rak only smiled faintly.“Why are you smiling again?”“All right, I’ll do it. If you insist that much, what can I do?”After saying something so evasive, Hae-rak turned his gaze toward the riverbank. The boat was drawing close to the inn again, as if that warning had been all there was.“Still, it really is a festival season. Every shop is packed with people. Well, it’s evening, so everyone’s crawling out to fill their stomachs.”As if something came to mind, Hae-rak squinted one eye and looked at Sohwa.“But why did you leave so much food? That’s the best-tasting place in Wuhan. Was it not good?”Sohwa was dumbfounded that he could so casually switch from serious talk to mundane chatter. He said Blood Cult bastards were chasing her, admitted hiding the dokgo’s traits, and now he was talking about food. She couldn’t keep up with his conversation style. Could he not act normal for even a moment? Giving up, Sohwa sighed and answered roughly.“It was good.”“You say that even after seeing that plump fish flesh? From ingredients to spices, not a single thing was lacking.”Sohwa didn’t respond. Hae-rak sighed and shook his head.“You were raised too delicately. There are so many people in the world starving, yet you complain about good food. If you go hungry for a few days, you’ll learn to appreciate the world’s delicacies more deeply.”At that, Sohwa let out a small laugh. Hae-rak’s brows drew together.“Why are you laughing?”Sohwa didn’t answer. Hae-rak looked at her with narrowed eyes.“So this is why you kept asking me why I laugh. When you suddenly laugh out of nowhere, it drives me crazy wondering why.”Even then, Sohwa kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t very well say that what he’d said was funny.'You’ll appreciate the world’s delicacies after starving, huh?'She had starved for a very long time. But hunger hadn’t been able to inflict much pain on her.After Yeon-a’s death, Namgung Hyun had cut off all the funds allocated to Tang Sohwa, and even withdrew all the maids and guards assigned to her pavilion. Those who held power in the Namgung Clan were Namgung Hyun’s people, so none of them raised their voices for Sohwa’s sake. Those who pitied her had no power to help. Namgung Hyun hadn’t intended to kill the Tang’s last direct descendant just because the Tang Clan had fallen. He was a man who valued appearances before others. He simply wanted to see Tang Sohwa kneel.Sohwa thought she’d rather die than do that. But her life wouldn’t end so easily. Her body was stubbornly vital, so she didn’t die even after starving for days. Even when she couldn’t stand her thirst and drank the stagnant, rotten pond water, she didn’t get sick once.Sohwa realized it would take a very long time for her breath to stop. There weren’t many options for her to choose. Either kneel and beg Namgung Hyun to end her suffering, or wait for death that might never come. Between the two, endless pain seemed the better choice. Why should she comfort his pain with her pride, when his pain could never compare to hers?Sohwa simply wished death would come quickly. But what came to her wasn’t death.In that dark pavilion where there wasn’t even oil to light a lamp, a woman came. Was she the wife of the Outer Overseer or the Inner Overseer?—a young woman who had entered the Namgung household as someone’s daughter-in-law. She asked whether Sohwa could embroider a choksu onto her baby’s clothes.Sohwa had intended to refuse. If that woman hadn’t mentioned Yeon-a’s name, she would have. The woman said she’d been born a merchant’s daughter and wanted to join imperial trade like Yeon-a. She spoke of how the choksu Yeon-a had sold to the Western Regions had come back to the Central Plains at the price of a ship, and she praised Yeon-a’s cleverness. She said she wanted her child to see and touch only good things in the world, and asked Sohwa to embroider a choksu onto the baby’s clothes.Exhausted and drained, Sohwa rose from her bed for the first time in days. When she rolled up her sleeves and said she would do it, the woman’s eyes widened in shock. She must have been startled by her appearance. Sohwa understood that reaction. She hadn’t bathed or eaten properly, so she must have looked pitiful.The woman fled in embarrassment, leaving the baby’s clothes and threads behind. Sohwa was left alone, staring at the baby clothes and the threads. That strange feeling from then was still vivid. She had felt a hollow emptiness looking at the small choksu brocade. Those precious things seemed like something she had lost—family, memories, dignity—things she had held without realizing their worth seemed to appear before her eyes.At dawn, she went to the stream where the maids washed laundry. Wearing only a thin undergarment, she stepped into the cold water and washed her body clean. Afterward, she dusted off an old cloth, wiped the moisture away, and tidied herself. Using the dawn light pouring through the window as a lamp, she began to embroider.Her skilled hands quickly completed a beautiful lotus. When the woman returned the next day for the choksu, she was so delighted and thankful that she made a fuss. That evening, the woman came again—this time with clothes and food. After eating proper food, strangely enough, her body regained strength, and her mind became clear again.Thanks to that, Sohwa realized what she truly wanted. If there were no choices, then she could make them.Sohwa went to the servants’ quarters, took the cleaning tools the maids used, and scrubbed the pavilion all night long. Before dawn, she fetched water from the stream and bathed. She was the last bloodline of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Now everything about her represented the Tang. Even if she herself became shabby, the Tang could not be.Treating it like an important duty, Tang Sohwa repeated cleaning and bathing every day. She polished the empty pavilion until it gleamed, and always kept herself neat and clean. One day, the same woman brought food and new clothes again. A few days later, another woman came bringing a hair ribbon. Gradually, more and more people secretly came to visit. Seeing food piling up in the pavilion, they began bringing other things instead. Some brought tea; others offered cheap accessories.None of the items pleased her. Even so, Sohwa always embroidered with all her heart. The choksu was her only way to communicate with the outside world, so like a flower luring a butterfly, she stitched the most dazzling patterns she could, to announce her existence.Finally, after three months, a man from a merchant group that traded with Namgung came. He wanted to buy her choksu and offered silk belts and gold threads. Only then could Sohwa ask for something she wanted. She requested rare tea leaves. She planned to decide her method after confirming the merchant group’s ability. The Anguk Merchant Group, true to its reputation as one that ruled the Central Plains, brought the tea she wanted within half a day.Because of that, Sohwa was able to quickly prepare the plan she had desired. She waited for that day, scrubbing the pavilion until her hands blistered and embroidering ceaselessly.Born a noble daughter of the Tang Clan, she endured the humiliating life of becoming a servant and an embroideress. If she could topple everything that bastard had built for decades, if she could see him die with that hollow, pained face, then this kind of disgrace was nothing but sweet.In the end, Sohwa achieved her goal. She thought she would now finally gain eternal rest, but instead she returned to the past.A past where she hadn’t yet lost everything she loved. A chance to protect everything before it was gone. She knew she should treasure it.But whenever she faced the truth, she often found it hard to bear. She didn’t like being weak, but sometimes fear overwhelmed her.'If I lose everything again, will the me of this life be able to endure it?'The memory of loss ruled her thoughts and actions. Everything her eyes touched in the Tang estate each day painfully forced up the memories of that day.For the past three years, Sohwa endured by ignoring that fear. She had no time to fall into it. She knew what would come if she gave up, so she kept turning away. But there were still times when the fear overwhelmed her. Whenever that happened, she returned to the day she lost everything. Just like now.Sohwa clenched the gold coin hidden inside her sleeve. The metal, warmed by her fading body heat, touched her pale hand. It was a warm sensation. But sometimes… the hope she held in her hand felt heavy. Because she had lost before, the people who were precious to her now made her afraid. Not knowing when they might slip away, just holding on to them always made her uneasy.Realizing her mind had wavered, Sohwa exhaled and tried to bury those emotions.Splash.The sound of nearing shore tickled her eardrums. People sitting along the riverbank glanced this way. She filled her vision with the Blood Cult bastards who were chasing her, and her head with thoughts of the Blood Demon, pushing her unease away completely. Feeling her heart grow calm again, Sohwa tucked the gold coin back into her sleeve.Then, the Blood Cult bastard sitting across from her called her name.“Sohwa.”Sohwa met Hae-rak’s eyes, who was smiling with a faint, unreadable expression. He placed his hand over his chest and sighed before speaking.“What I’m about to say now is something I’m staking my life on, so listen well.”“……”“I’m going to kill the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Blood Demon.”Sohwa’s brows slowly furrowed.“I know. He’s terrifying. No one in the world can defeat him. History’s already proven that. But still…”His amber-green eyes glimmered faintly with madness.“Even so, I’ll kill him. I’ll burn my life away if I must, to erase him from this world.”Even while uttering such frightening words, Hae-rak’s lips curved softly, paradoxically gentle.“So there’s no need to look so scared. You’re not the only one who fears him, and you’re not the only one who wants to kill him.”Lowering the oar, Hae-rak added,“If you want, you can just sit back and watch me kill him. All you need to do is find a way to drive the bug out of my body—then your goal will be achieved, so don’t worry.”Sohwa let out a faint, hollow laugh.He was the one everyone feared. The one everyone wanted dead. Whether they gathered strength to kill him together, or simply took advantage of someone else’s labor, it didn’t matter—as long as the result changed.Strangely, that joke was a comfort.Before she knew it, the boat had reached the shore.

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