“We need to hurry and get to Lady Hong Geum-so. She’s in danger.”
Lady Hong Geum-so is in danger?
“Could you explain it in a bit more detail?”
At my question, Lady Seohyang shook her head, her face dark.
“I don’t know the details either. I just saw Escort Guard Seo Wu holding Lady Hong Geum-so in his arms, sobbing his heart out. And next to him, the Deputy Merchant Lord looked heartbroken too. Anyway, we really need to get there as fast as possible.”
So that’s why she asked how many hours it would take. But just from that, I still can’t tell why Lady Hong Geum-so is in danger.
“Is there any other clue? Even something very small is fine.”
Lady Seohyang thought back for a moment, then seemed to remember something.
“Now that I think about it, she was covered in blood and her ankle… her ankle was purple.”
Ah…
“Was the place inside a building, by any chance? Or outside?”
“Outside.”
I think I understand the situation.
Lady Hong Geum-so must have hurt her ankle while doing something.
On a normal day she might barely manage to get up by herself, but right now Lady Hong Geum-so is pregnant.
And she’s full-term.
So her body is heavy and she can’t get up on her own.
It’s the Twelfth Month, mid–winter.
If she can’t move for a long time outside, she’ll end up freezing to death.
On top of that, she’s said to be covered in blood, and this is the time when wild animals are starving.
There’s no time for this.
I jumped up from my seat.
“Palgap!”
Palgap, quick on the uptake, answered at once.
“Yes! I’ll tell the Merchant Lord that Young Master had something urgent come up and went ahead to the main branch.”
“Thanks.”
I spoke to Escort Guard Seo Wu.
“Escort Guard Seo Wu, let’s go.”
“Please.”
“You don’t need to say that. Madam Hong is someone precious to me too. I won’t lose her so meaninglessly.”
Even so, I felt uneasy.
That phrase, covered in blood, kept nagging at me. And the sun was already setting.
Night is when dangerous animals come out.
Just then, a good idea came to me.
“Geumryeong.”
“Kui!”
“Find Lady Hong Geum-so. And if she’s in any danger, you stay and protect her.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong immediately launched its body forward and in an instant turned into a tiny dot in the distance.
Escort Guard Seo Wu and I exchanged a glance, then used our lightness skill and sprinted forward at full speed.
With her due date drawing near, Lady Hong Geum-so hadn’t been going out to the merchant group and stayed at home.
The Eunhae Merchant Group allowed the women working there to take a few months off once their due date was close.
But being stuck inside the house made her feel suffocated, so she decided to go for a walk.
Of course, she should have brought someone along to help her, but she didn’t want to trouble anyone and quietly slipped out alone.
It felt so refreshing and nice to step outside after such a long time.
“Honggwa, you like it too, don’t you?”
Honggwa was the baby’s prenatal name, chosen because she’d had a conception dream about picking a red fruit.
“Your father will probably arrive tomorrow or the day after. Aren’t you curious what kind of person your father is? Once you see him, you’ll really like him. He’s a very wonderful man.”
She’d only been able to send news of the pregnancy through letters. Seo Wu’s reply had been filled with joy.
Their child – hers and Seo Wu’s.
She’d thought that after what happened to Seo Wu, they’d never be able to have a child, but then he’d miraculously survived, and this precious baby had come to them.
As she stroked her belly and talked to the baby like that, she eventually realized she’d walked farther than she’d meant to.
“Oh my! The sun’s already setting! I need to hurry back.”
She quickened her steps.
Maybe she tried to hurry too much.
She misstepped, twisted her ankle, and to make matters worse, rolled down the slope beside the path.
“Ugh…”
She tried to get up, but with her ankle injured she couldn’t put any strength into her leg.
On top of that, being full-term made it hard for her to move at all.
Suddenly she felt movement from the baby in her belly.
She calmly rubbed her stomach.
“No, Honggwa. It’s not your fault. Mommy just stepped wrong.”
In this situation she had no choice but to rely on someone else’s help.
But it was a lonely, rarely traveled spot, and nobody passed by.
The sky gradually darkened and the sun disappeared.
In every way, it was a troubling situation.
She blamed herself, thinking she should never have come out alone.
But she couldn’t just lie there and keep regretting it.
She had to hold on to her senses somehow.
Thankfully, the baby was still alive, and she had to keep that life safe.
How long did she lie there sprawled on the ground like that?
“Grrrr…”
She heard a low animal growl. At the sound, Lady Hong Geum-so bit her lip.
Yellow eyes were approaching her.
It was pitch–black all around, but those eyes she could see clearly.
It was definitely a wolf.
‘At this rate, I’m going to end up as a wolf’s meal!’
She frantically groped around and grabbed a fist–sized rock.
It was the only weapon she had to fight the wolf. Just then, while that standoff between Lady Hong Geum-so and the wolf dragged on…
“Kui!”
A strange sound rang out of nowhere, and at that sound the wolf faltered.
“Kuii!”
“Whiiine…”
When the sound echoed out once more, the wolf seemed frightened, tucked its tail, and ran away.
After confirming the wolf had fled, she finally let go of the rock she’d been clutching.
‘That sound just now… I’ve heard it somewhere before, haven’t I?’
“Thud, thud, thud.”
Something was approaching her – a fist–sized animal that looked like a pig.
It was so dark she couldn’t see even a handspan in front of her, yet strangely, that pig–like animal was easy to make out.
That was because its whole body was giving off a faint golden light.
“So you’re the spirit beast I’ve only heard about. Were you the one who chased the wolf away?”
At her question, the cute animal nodded.
“Thank you.”
At her words, the animal began to write something.
[Geumryeong]
[Sent by Eun Seo-ho]
Thanks to the soft light coming from the animal, she could clearly see the letters.
Her eyes grew wide as she read them.
An animal writing words was surprising enough, and on top of that, they said Eun Seo-ho had sent it.
But when she thought about his past actions, she realized it wasn’t all that strange.
She also remembered that she’d sometimes heard a ‘Kui’ sound around him.
“Phew.”
She let out a sigh and shivered.
“Kui?”
When it made a questioning sound, as if asking what was wrong, Lady Hong Geum-so answered.
“It’s cold.”
“Kui!”
The pig–like spirit beast that had identified itself as Geumryeong let out a Kui and headed off somewhere.
After about fifteen minutes.
Geumryeong came back.
But… it wasn’t alone.
It had brought a group of animals with it.
Herbivores like deer and rabbits.
The animals came up to Lady Hong Geum-so and sat down around her in a circle.
Feeling the warmth of their bodies, she stopped shivering.
Then Geumryeong passed her what it had been carrying in its mouth.
“This? Is this for me to eat?”
“Kui!”
“Thank you.”
She ate the fruit, easing both her hunger and her thirst.
How many hours passed like that?
Before she knew it, the sky in the east was turning pale.
“Kui?”
Geumryeong tilted its head and looked at Lady Hong Geum-so.
For some reason, it looked like Geumryeong was smiling.
Then it disappeared somewhere.
“Geum-so!”
Soon after, she heard the voice of the man she’d been longing to see, and saw him running toward her.
“Ah…”
“My lady!”
Maybe because the tension finally drained away…
She lost consciousness on the spot.
“My lady! My lady!”
Escort Guard Seo Wu held Lady Hong Geum-so in his arms and called out to her in desperation.
When we arrived at the Hubei main branch, I called for Geumryeong, and Geumryeong guided us to where Lady Hong Geum-so was.
“Kui! Kui!”
“Oh, you threatened the other animals because she was cold and made them do that?”
“Kui!”
“Good job.”
“Kui! Kui! Kuiik!”
“You even chased away a wolf and picked fruit in case she was hungry?”
“Kui!”
“Thank you, really.”
I stroked Geumryeong.
I honestly had no idea what we would have done without Geumryeong – I was incredibly grateful.
I put a hand on Escort Guard Seo Wu’s shoulder and spoke.
“You don’t need to worry. Madam only fainted because her strength gave out. Let’s move her inside.”
“Ah, yes.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu held Lady Hong Geum-so in his arms, and we headed to his house.
The household was in an uproar.
The reason was simple – Lady Hong Geum-so hadn’t come home.
From the way people bustled about with anxious faces, they must have been out searching for her.
Even so, they hadn’t been able to find her, because the place where she’d been found was remote, and she’d rolled down off the side of the road.
“Madam!”
The servants and maids, seeing Lady Hong Geum-so in Escort Guard Seo Wu’s arms, cried out in shock and rushed over.
“Where did you find her?”
“We searched so much and still couldn’t find her…”
“Th–this isn’t the time for that, hurry and bring her inside…”
Escort Guard Seo Wu laid his wife down on the warmed bed.
Then he held her wrist beside her and bit his lip.
“I’ll go bring a physician.”
As I left Escort Guard Seo Wu’s house, I stroked Geumryeong inside my sleeve.
“Thank you. Because of you, I was able to protect someone precious to me.”
“Kui.”
“You’re saying this much is just the basics?”
“Kui. Kui!”
“So you’re saying I can just show my thanks with money?”
That was so like Geumryeong.
I went straight to the Hubei main branch, brought back a physician, and returned to Escort Guard Seo Wu’s house.
Since Lady Hong Geum-so was pregnant, I’d intentionally brought a physician who was well–versed in such matters.
While the physician checked Lady Hong Geum-so’s condition, Escort Guard Seo Wu and I waited outside.
“Thank you so much.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu bowed his head deeply in thanks, and I gently shook mine.
“Don’t say that. I was scared out of my wits too.”
With a grave expression, Escort Guard Seo Wu spoke up.
“By the way… what kind of person is Deputy Gwak? He doesn’t seem like an ordinary deputy.”
“That’s right.”
“Does she… see the future?”
I nodded.
“To be honest, when we secretly spirited Deputy Gwak away before, I did wonder why we had to go that far. I think I finally understand the reason now.”
Back then, Lady Seohyang’s ability had still been a secret. Even so, Escort Guard Seo Wu and the other escort guards had obediently followed my lead.
“It’s a useful ability, but in some ways it’s dangerous too.”
At my words, Escort Guard Seo Wu nodded.
“Just as you say, my lord. In any case, we now owe Deputy Gwak a great debt. If not for Deputy Gwak, really… something I don’t even want to imagine would have happened.”
“It’s the same for me.”
I let out a sigh.
“Deputy Gwak is a very clever person. Because she lost her original status thanks to that ability, she’s extremely cautious about it. She could have kept quiet about this incident too, but she didn’t.”
“Which just shows she’s kind by nature.”
“I think so too. In any case, since we owe Deputy Gwak a favor, please make sure this incident doesn’t put her in danger.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu nodded.
“There’s someone else we should thank as well. Thinking about it now, if not for Geumryeong, things would have gone terribly wrong. I heard a bit about it earlier. I’m truly grateful.”
“Kui!”
At those words, I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
Seriously, this little one…
“What is it saying?”
“It says you should show your thanks with money.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu let out a soft laugh.
“That’s an amusing joke.”
“It’s serious.”
“What?”
Escort Guard Seo Wu looked flustered.
I lightly tapped my sleeve and called out to Geumryeong.
“Geumryeong, come out.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong slipped out of my sleeve and dropped to the floor. I took out a silver tael from my pouch.
“Here, you worked hard today.”
When I held it out to Geumryeong, it flicked out its tongue, grabbed the silver tael, and gulped it down.
“…”
Escort Guard Seo Wu stared in shock. It was natural – I’d never shown anyone else how I fed Geumryeong money.
“It… eats money?”
“It only eats money.”
“Ah… I suppose that can happen with a spirit beast.”
“It’s a spirit beast that devours quite a bit of money. Still, it more than pulls its weight.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu soon regained his composure and took a silver tael out of his own pouch.
He held it out to Geumryeong.
“Thank you for today.”
Geumryeong didn’t immediately swallow it like before, but looked at me first.
It was asking permission to eat this one.
Come to think of it, I’d told it that if anyone else gave it money, it had to get its owner’s consent before eating it.
When I nodded, Geumryeong took the money and swallowed it in one gulp.
Then it let out a pleased sound.
“Kui kui.”
Of course it was happy.
It had just eaten two silver taels.
Honestly, what it did this time was worth a gold tael – no, even a gold tael.
We’d avoided something terrible thanks to Geumryeong.
But if I pulled out a gold tael right now, Escort Guard Seo Wu would feel pressured to take one out as well.
So I’d purposely taken out a silver tael.
Any gold tael Escort Guard Seo Wu might have given Geumryeong should be spent on the baby, not on Geumryeong.
As for the gold taels, I could just give two myself.
“Creak.”
Just then, the door opened and the maid who had been assisting the physician poked her head out.
“He says you may come in.”
At her words, we quickly went inside.
“How is Madam’s condition?”
At my question, the physician answered.
“There are no major problems. She just has some bruises, probably from rolling down the slope.”
“What about the baby?”
At my question, the physician nodded.
“The child in her womb is safe as well.”
“Phew, that’s a real relief.”
Only then could I truly relax.
“However…”
Huh? However what?
–TL Notes–
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