Chapter 19

“There’s no room in the reception hall at the moment,” the gatekeeper said.
Not enough space to greet a guest in the Baengri residence? Was someone hosting a banquet? Instead of accusing the gatekeeper of blatantly lying, I tempered my anger. “It’s fine. If there aren’t any seats in the reception hall, I’ll take him straight to my father’s quarters. After all, he’s my father’s guest.”
“Children…” the gatekeeper sighed condescendingly. “Young miss, I didn’t want to have to say this, but we can’t let unidentified strangers enter the residence. I’m only saying this because you seem to be unaware.”
Eondu, fed up with the gatekeeper’s impudence, shoved his way in front of the gatekeeper. “Hey, that’s enough.”
“Beat it, I don’t take orders from a servant,” the gatekeeper replied.
“You don’t understand, this is... Ugh!” Eondu beat his chest in frustration, unable to speak the truth.
Why are the gatekeepers running wild like this? It was odd, especially considering that the servants had been wary of me ever since they’d heard that my grandfather was taking an interest in me... A-ha!
Grasping the situation, I held back Eondu, who was still yelling at the gatekeeper. “It’s fine,” I told him. “Just go inside and tell Father that his guest has arrived.”
The gatekeeper scoffed. “There’s no point. Master Euigang is currently out.”
“Out? He didn’t say anything about going out to me,” Eondu said, surprised. Glaring suspiciously at the gatekeeper, he turned to me and whispered in my ear. “Young miss, I’ll go inside and check for myself.”
“All right. See if anyone knows of my father’s whereabouts,” I replied.
Lord Wan had been watching all this unfold before him. “It’s fine,” he said, his voice strained with irritation. “Go on ahead. Apparently Euigang is out, so I suppose I’ll just wait here until he’s back! He’s got to come home eventually!”
“No, I’ll stay here with you as well.”
“What?”
I smiled at Lord Wan.
“My father’s guest is my guest as well,” I said.
He stared at me with a deep frown. “Do you even understand what you’ve just said?”
I nodded with a smile.
When I was being kicked this way and that by my relatives after Father had passed away in my last life, Lord Wan had suggested I marry his one and only son. But of course, Uncle Euimook and Aunt Euiran had done all they could to prevent that from happening, and in the end it hadn’t come to pass. Although in the novel that incident filled Baengri Yeon’s head with romantic delusions and was one of the reasons she kept clinging to the hero...
Either way, it was true that he had made that offer out of kindness. With that memory in mind, I knew I had to stay by his side now to stop the gatekeepers from insulting him any more than they already had. Sure enough, the gatekeepers looked sour when they heard I’d be staying.
“As you wish,” Lord Wan said.
Before he left to go inside, Eondu called out to Lord Wan, “Please look after the young miss,” to which Lord Wan waved him off reassuringly.
After Eondu left, Lord Wan examined me slowly and asked, “What is that?”
I wondered for a moment what he was referring to before holding out the box in my arms. “You mean this?”
“Yes.”
I looked down at the ornate box. It was indeed rather hard to ignore. As I worked the box open, the fresh smell of peonies filled the air.
“They’re flowers! Aren’t they pretty?”
“Flowers? But why keep them in a box?”
I explained the whole story to Lord Wan to pass the time until Eondu’s return. “And that’s why that boy gave me these peonies. I’m going to put one in Father’s study, one in my room, and the last one I’ll dry and turn into a sachet.”
“A sachet?”
“Yes. It’s Father’s birthday soon, but I heard that he’s too busy to hold a celebration because of me, and that he wouldn’t be accepting gifts either. I figured even if no one else did, I’d still give him something.”
A thought crossed my mind just then. This could actually work. I leaned into the “innocent kid” act hard. “Mister, you said you’re Father’s close friend, right?”
“Yes...”
“So that means you’ll get him a present too, right?”
Hand over my dad’s present! is what it sounded like, but I wasn’t asking out of greed. In my past life, Lord Wan had prepared a gift for Father, but Father had rejected it until the very end. Though no one ever mentioned what exactly the actual gift had been, the rumors said that Lord Wan and Father had had a big fight about it. And though, as close friends should, they had later on managed to patch things up, wasn’t it best to avoid a fight when possible?
“Father probably won’t accept your present, but you can still give it to him without getting angry, right?”
As a reminder, this absolutely, definitely wasn’t because I didn’t want to give up the amazing gift they’d said he’d brought!
“I never thought I’d meet a bandit in front of the Baengri clan gates,” Lord Wan muttered.
“A bandit? Of course not...” I giggled in embarrassment.
He stretched his arm out as if to pat my head, but halted and crossed his arms instead. He pondered for a moment before speaking again. “You said you’re making a sachet?”
“Yes!”
“Make me one as well.”
“Wh-what?”
“If you do, I’ll be sure to get your father a gift.”
What? I stared at him blankly, my mouth falling open.
The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “Do you even know how to sew?”
Isn’t it a bit late to be asking that? Hoping that Lord Wan would fall for it, I put on my best pitiful face. “I’m not very good.”
“You still have to make it yourself. I’m going to be checking.”
I hadn’t been planning to get someone else to sew it for me, but the way he emphasized it, I was tempted to do just that. I knew that Father would cherish anything I made him, no matter how poorly it was done, but how could I possibly gift Lord Wan something terribly made?
I hesitated. “Well... I know how to sew, but I’m very, very bad at it. It will take a long, long, long, looong time.”
“I can wait,” he said.
Damn it, had I just made things more complicated? Well, if I can stop them from fighting with a simple sachet, I’d say that’s a win-win.
“But it seems you know your father rather well, to say that he’d reject my gift. Or is it that... you know what I’ve brought him?”
“No,” I said, my eyes sparkling with curiosity. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Why would I?”
I blinked. How petty… Maybe the noble Namgoong Wan wasn’t so noble of heart after all.
It was then that I heard an ominous voice from behind. “Huh? What’s that half-wit doing here?”
“She said she’s too sick for class, but she seems all right to me. Isn’t she just faking it?”
It was the twins, Wuak and Pyo, with Myung getting off the carriage behind them. Myung made a dismayed face when he met my eyes, but he didn’t stop the twins, either.
Not one of them bothered to acknowledge the man standing behind me—they hadn’t recognized him as anyone of any importance, let alone Lord Wan.
Sauntering closer, Pyo pointed at the box in my arms. “What’s that?”
“Flowers...”
“Really? Let me see.”
When I hesitated, he shouted, “Why aren’t you opening it? It’s not flowers, is it? Give it here! If you can’t, I’ll do it.”
I could tell he was going to pester me until he got what he wanted. I sighed and opened the box.
Pyo was blatantly disappointed by its contents. “Seriously? It’s really just flowers?”
“I told you it was.”
“Geez, why would you bother putting this stuff in a box? How lame.” Pyo kicked at the dirt out of frustration, and Wuak appeared next to him.
“Why not? I think they’re pretty.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?”
Wuak, who was laughing despite Pyo’s comments, pointed at the peonies. “Give me one.” He stretched his hand out. “It’s a perfect present for Riri. You know she couldn’t even come to school because she’s sick.”
As longtime partners in crime, Pyo immediately understood what his brother was up to. He smiled evilly and immediately changed his tune. “You’re right. You’re not gonna say no to a single flower, are you?”
“Of course she won’t. You don’t think it’s a waste giving us one, do you?”
Myung, who was watching us the whole time, spoke up. “Pyo, Ak, don’t press her so hard. I’m sure she understands.” He then turned toward me. “Yeon, they’re your cousins. You should share nice things with them.”
I sighed. Nothing good came about when they were around. I glanced at Lord Wan. I couldn’t make out his expression from under his mask, but I noticed the veins bulging on the back of the hand on his sword.
“Sure, I don’t mind. I didn’t know you were so interested in flowers,” I said and handed a single flower over to the boys.
Just as I was thinking to myself that it wouldn’t hurt to part with just the one, the peony in Pyo’s hand fell to the ground and was immediately trampled under Wuak’s foot. The beautiful light pink petals tore and scattered, crushed into the dirt.

Chapter end