"Yeon!" "What?" "What are you thinking about that has you blushing so deeply like that? Your face looks like a tomato right now." "Ae-Cha!" "What? You're the one who is bashing like a baboon's bottom!" "Stop it!" "I thought you told me that you were virgin and that you have never had any experiences with men at all!" "I haven't! I haven't done anything with anyone!" "Yeah right! What else could be possibly have you blushing this much!" And now I couldn't stop thinking about that night we spent in his mother's quarters and something possessive me to trace him as much as he touched me over and over again as if he had every right to, as if he wanted to do that and so much more...just like I did when I...

"Ok then tell me, have you let anyone hold you?" "I..." what was wrong with me? I knew that men thought of sex all of the time, so what was my excuse? Why couldn't I stop thinking about him every time he touched me, looked at me, kissed me, stalked me? Even when I slept all I could do was think about Seon-Ho and how his big muscular body would glisten in the moonlight with sweat when he trained as close as he could to my quarters... "...have you even let a man kiss you?" "Well..." every single time he kissed me, it wasn't a light or romantic kiss at all. It was hot, it was sweet, he always pulled me right into his chest so I could not escape, and it was as if he was hungry for it...

"Ae-Cha?" "Yes?" "Is it normal...when a man kisses you...that he...his tongue..." "Oh my goodness! Yeon!" "What!" What is it?" "Have you done...it?" "It? What on earth are you..." "you know exactly what I am talking about! Men only use tongues in kissing when they want to...have a marital night with a woman!" Myself and Ae-Cha were both conversing next to a lake in winter and I was still blushing so badly that I thought my cheeks were going to burn in embarrassment. "How do you know...that when a man uses tongue...that he wants to..." "Have you forgotten my story already? Everyone in my village knows what happened to me." "I'm sure that it wasn't your fault..." "it wasn't! But out of everybody who was supposed to support me and love me unconditionally, only you seem to believe in me." "But...did you really..." "Yes, I gave myself to a man who swore to me that he loved me he that he would marry me. But as soon as he got what he wanted, he threw me out of the inn that he rented just as my spiteful stepmother brought my father into town. Everyone saw me half naked, and he rejoined his fiancé that night for a party. He had never even mentioned her to me, he kept the fact the he was engaged hidden from me the entire time that he was courting me. But I heard that he is still messing around to this day with any woman that walks in his sight.' "But...but you did..." "he used tongue in his kiss and so much more." "So you did to it?" "Yes." "Can you tell me what that is like? Please, I am so confused." "Are you sure?" "I need to know, I really do." "Ok then, but remember, you were the one who asked for it..."

As intelligent as I was, there were still somethings about my own sex that I was completely clueless about since had no mother or sister to guide me in life. All I had was a smattering of makeup and hair accessories that the kisengs taught me how to use, and therefore, I still didn't know about a lot of things, including the relations between a man and a woman apart from kissing. "There is something else I had to ask you." "Ok" "How can you tell if someone is being genuine with you?" "What do you mean? Can't you feel it?" "This man I have...sort of been involved with...is unlike any many you have ever come across before." "Why? Is he a bad man?" "He isn't bad, but he's not all the way good either." "What do you mean?" "He has had a very traumatising childhood because he is illegitimate, even hough he has half-noble. He has had no choice but to rely on manipulation to get what he wants. He is also a very petty person; he will always get his revenge for the smallest of grievances." "Like what?" "If...you ignore him...if you abandon him..." just thinking about it all was enough to make my heart race out of fear if I ever ran into him again. 'Yeon..." "What?" "Well, I'm not as experienced as you think I am, but that type of person will need leave your life." "Really?" "He will hunt you down like one of the dogs the royal family have when they go for hunting." "Well...Ouch! Why did you just pinch me!" "He's coming! The young master is coming! Quickly look busy so it isn't obvious that we have been waiting here for him!" "So that's why you dragged me out of bed so early! I wanted to meet his father so I could go over some homework..." "Yeon!" "Now what is it?" Books, books, books. Work, work, work. Chores, chores, chores. You are turning 21 soon and you are in the prime of your youth and beauty. Men are already head over heels for you, you should be thinking about a marriage..." "You're so beautiful Yeonnie, you have no idea..." he would always touch me after that; he would either stroke my hair or my bare legs under my skirt and he would kiss me...as if he really meant it. No one had ever told me I was beautiful before, but things were so complicated with Seon-Ho. I could still feel his anger underneath every single word he said. And now he was trying to marry me, so he could privately torture me and get his revenge on me because of how much I hid from him. I always knew he would be angry, as my brother was with me for a while. But never in my life did I expect him to take it this personally; everything I did was for him and my brother. So why was he acting as if I had tried to kill him and left him on his own to bleed out? Why was he taking this so personally? Was he really going to go this far? For what?

"Good morning Young master, did you sleep well? I..." "Good morning helper, and good morning to you Seo Yeon. How are you this morning?" "Good morning, young master." I managed to mumble before my thoughts immediately turned over to the devil of the man I had to leave behind for now until I returned to the village. Then what was he going to do to me? If anything that Ae-Cha just told me about...it, then I already had an idea...

"Yeon? Seo Yeon? What happened? Are you ok?" 'What do you mean?" "You look pale. Have you been sleeping well?" "Young master, I..." "I am well, thank you, young master. Excuse me, I have a lot of work to catch up on with your father, I will see you soon." "Yeon! Wait!" "Young master, please!" "What! What is it?" Even though I was walking away, I could already feel the tension between the son of my tutor and Ae-Cha. I pitied her a lot; after her public scandal in her home town, she was almost sold into a brothel by her stepmother until she ran away and found work as a teacher's assistant. But ever since she set eyes on the young master, like most women around here, she coldest get over his good looks and charm...and the money he was going to inherit once his father passed away, which would be any day soon due to his chronic illness. His father had been a tutor all of his life and would die doing so, so he told me. But I was worried about Ae-Cha; she clearly hadn't learnt her lesson despite how traumatised she was, why was she suddenly obsessed with the young master? She practically stalked his every move and always tried to bump into him to make up some excuse to get close to him. Didn't she learn her lesson already? What was wrong with her?

And then I thought about every single time that Seon-Ho just watched me, even when I was forced to kneel in his office for unnecessary punishments. He would just stare so intensely at me, but I still couldn't be sure. Even the dynamics of the relationship between himself and Hui-Je had changed so drastically that there was always a possibility that they could end up together. I understood my brother has his issues with his woman but avoiding it wasn't going to solve the issue, and the mere thought of Seon-Ho and Hui-Jee getting together was enough to keep me awake and crying all night long in my bed. I couldn't sleep or eat properly, and instead of enjoying my time being educated, I had carried on my job as a washerwoman just to distract myself from these awful thoughts that kept on creeping up in my head. Would Seon-Ho really go far as to exploit my feelings for him just to get even with me? He wasn't incapable of it; I had fully witnessed the dark side of him that his father kept on encouraging that he kept from myself and my brother. What if...what he wanted the both if us? Hui-Jee to be his wife and he would probably keep me as a consume, just to torture me...

****************

"How did it go?" "I did everything that you asked me to; I have an old friend who is watching her every movements, and I tore her room apart." "You didn't touch her scrolls, did you?" "You told me not to and I didn't." "And what about that promiscuous woman who follows her around everywhere? Have you found out who the man was behind her scandal?" "He is one of Bang-Won's men; his father is also a senior scholar and the most corrupt one of them all." "How is that possible?" Sung-Rok asked in disbelief but I just smiled at him. "I told you, Seo Yeon is the biggest lucky charm I could have ever have discovered. She always surrounds herself in the most problematic situations that seem to benefit everyone, most especially myself." "This is the second time now, this cannot be a coincidence." "I told you, finding Seo Hwi and sticking by his side from childhood was my biggest blessing. But his sister, she seemed to have been born just for me, a gift that my mother left in her place to look after me." I couldn't help but to whisper that last sentence as I ran my fingers through the embroidery that I found it Yeon's quarter's. It was a lover's token but it was unfinished, and I needed to bring it to her to finish it for me. "So now what is the plan?" "Now is the time to be reunited with Yeon, whilst you Sung-Rok, will start to release his enemies from custody. Yeon herself has worked hard to get me this job, and I will not be controlled by these seniors. As for the ex-fiance of this low-class woman who cannot tear herself from Yeon, I need to meet up with Hwi for that. You will have to bring him to me." "Will he meet you?" "He wants to be rid of Bang-Won just as much as I want him to be. Chun-Ae, ddi you bring me what I asked you to?" "Yes, young master, I have brought with me a lock of the girl's hair, like you asked me to." I didn't like the tone in her voice; I had no idea what she had against Yeon but I was getting tired of it, and I made it known when I had suddenly grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and I brought her close to me so she could see how serious I was. "If I find out that you have messed up her hair or her looks in any way, I will slaughter you in your sleep." "Master! I have followed you every single day when that orphan girl murdered your father with her own hands! I would not disappoint you at all! I never have and I never will!" "Good, now where is that obnoxious cousin of yours? Bring her to me, I have a task for her." "Yes Master."

"I thought you were ok with fraternising with low-borns, so what is your problem with this Ae-Cha woman?" "There is a difference between people who were born into poverty; the low-borns. But a low-class woman like this one is defined by her morals, and she clearly has none at all." "So you have heard the whole story?" "I had it investigated ever since Hwa-Wol brought it up as a concern to me, and she was right to . She isn't educated or intelligent, but growing up in a brothel gave her a sharp sense of intuition. She will be of great help to myself and Yeon in the future, that is why I rewarded her with a tutor instead of money." "I don't get it." "A woman's purpose in this life is to secure a good marriage for herself and elevate her status as well as that of her family. But Yeon is an orphan and her brother has already made a name for himself with the help of the prince, and he even has money now that he is investing into businesses. Even Hwa-Wol as a kiseng herself isn't any better off than Yeon. But Moon-Bok adores her, no, he almost worships her. Do you know that is the difference between these noble woman and these lowborn ones?" "Money?" "The noble women have the advantage of being educated but rarely use it at all; they only care about their wealth, their social statuses and spending their husband's money in exchange for the limited life they have had to live before and after marriage. But both Yeon and Hwa-Wol know what it is to work hard for what they want and to provide for others as well as themselves. Hwa-Wol sends half of her pay for her man so he can gather resources for his own shop and if she receives his education that I am paying for well enough, she will not only elevate her own social status after marriage, she has the potential to help her man build up his own career." "And since when have you ever been interested in intelligent women? Or women at all, for that matter?" I shot him a warning look before I focused on Yeon;s ribbon again that kept brushing against my skin, just as Yeon herself used to find any and every excuse to come around me in the past before her memory loss, and even afterwards. " I have never been against a woman reicneveing an education, but u have to admit that I was never looking at them either. But with Hwa-Wol's empathy and her growing up in an environment where kisengs are mistreated a lot, she will help her to build up her husband's business successfully and raise his children to be successful as well. What else does a man need? As for Yeon, we are not even married and yet look how much she has helped me out already. She has lead me from one treasure chest from another to handle for myself instead of trying to compete for freedom from me like Hui-jee does with Hwi. She is used to being in control; it is not unusual for a woman to be competitive in her limited world, but to overly compete with a man is rather obnoxious and repulsive. No wonder Hwi is avoiding spending any time with her." "So...are you just using Yeon? Or do you really want to marry her?" "That is for her to figure out since she thinks that she can just run off to wherever she likes without facing any consequences at all." "Whatever, as long as you don't actually marry her, then I'm good. I'll head back to the palace now and bring that boy to you."

As much as I was enjoying my new role in the disaster relief plan where everyone was treated equally due to the emergency of the situation, my predictions had come true. The closer I was getting to the Emperor, the more that the prince was making his stance against me known. Trekking knew how much influence his son had in all of the high positions and he was tasking me with the mission to tear it down. Once again, myself and Hwi were thrown into a power battle against father and son, but this time it was different. Hwi had given me the silent treatment for way too long and I was getting sick of it. If I wanted to marry his sister, then I knew I could not just simply elope with her and tear them apart again. I needed Hwi's blessing to give his sister the life that she deserved and myself and Hwi needed to team up to take down the prince. If anyone was going to free him of the devil prince, it was going to be myself even if I lost my life since I was the one who got him into this mess. Luckily for me, Moon-Bok accepted my position for him and I knew of Hwi's every single movements, so finding him would be easy enough. But I also couldn't deny as the weeks turned into months, I was also beginning to panic; I hadn't been away from Yeon for this long for my entire life and I wasn't used to it, despite my plots of revenge against her. What was going on? Did I do something wrong? Why wasn't she coming to see me? Didn't she know how much I had missed her? Didn't she miss me at all? Why was she running away from me? She was still a hot topic of discussion no matter how much time had passed by, so I had to endure so many rumours of her whereabouts flying all over the place of jobs she was taking on whilst being educated. swear that I tried to stay away from her at one point in time...after everything that I had put her through, but her absence was torturing me until I could take it no longer. I needed her by my side if I wanted to breathe, eat and sleep again. Her constant presence around me that I once had doubts about and even ashamedly doubted now all haunted me in almost every single waking moment that I had. Every single day I could hear her footsteps behind me like when she used to follow us before her memory loss, or her calling out to me to try some new dish that she had invented in the kitchen or her serving me tea every evening as her way of checking up on me I had now realised...she only wanted what was best for me, and the only thing I could do to repay her kindness was with was to distance myself and dared to think of another woman who was never mine whilst Yeon was suffering 100 different torments that I had no idea about. I abandoned her emotionally when she was always there for me no matter what mood I was on or what I was facing...even if a part of me knew that I didn't deserve to get her again, I had to at least try to repay everything that she did for me...and simultaneously try not to get caught up in my anger that was only growing day by day. She had every right to leave my side...so why was I this angry about it? Why did I feel so immensely different about her compared to everyone else? Hwi needed more time but I knew he would come around eventually like he always would so it was natural that he needed more time to figure things out but why did I feel...like I was entitled to Yeon? Like she was a possession of mine? I had made myself different from my father in all aspects and I actually genuinely respected women but Yeon...maybe it was because I knew her almost for the entirely of my life and the fact that she chose to stay by my side.