Chapter 159: Priorities (Useon Sun-Wi)

Seon-Ho and Seo Yeon, who were we now? Yeon meant beautiful and Seon-Ho meant handsome and seductive. That was right, he was seducing me our of my poverty, my schooling, my dreams over into his. He was seducing me to become his wife and the mother of his children, did this make any sense to anyone else? He was going to make me give up my independence for my long lost dreams that I had buried inside me from the moment that I had my first epileptic fit. He knew I couldn't marry anyone due to my condition and it was even less likely that I would be able to get pregnant at all…is that why he was being forceful like this and raising the stakes? Making me choose between my own ambitions and our potential future together? And what did I even want now? My justice? My revenge? Or a family with the man that I will love forever. And him? He had stopped going to brothels, he had stopped entertaining other women and he gave up his biggest pawn in his game just for me. He gave me a home, clothes, food and my own private quarters. He made in charge of his household and servants, he gave me free access to his study and he even let me tend to him. I was already sleeping with him and…wasn't I already his wife? No wonder he wanted a real marriage, he was so lonely, as was I…he was sweet-natured but just as equally short-tempered. He was handsome yet seductive and he used his big body and size to his advantage. His tongue gave me both pleasure and pain when it came to his demands and his selfishness, and his hands marked me with bruises for his branding. He gave me love bite right on my lips to mark me again so that even I could nor forget who it was that I ultimately belonged to. I could always feel him on me even when he wasn't around me at all. His phantom lips were always on my cheek, lips or navel, his hands were always all over me and I could feel his hair trailing on my shoulders.

I started getting ready and dressing myself in the clothes, makeup and accessories of his choice. I perfumed myself with his favourite scent and I…couldn't stop imagining what it wild be like to carry his seed inside me that would bloom to either such a beautiful daughter or a brave son. Who would they look like? Who would they take after? What kind of a father wild he turn out to be? A loving one? Or a harsh one? Would he only want boys? Would he ignore our daughter if we had one? Or more? Would having children relieve him of his and temper and his quick demands? Would he finally give me a little tenderness and freedom?

"…who dares to sell someone else's property? Even if you try to break her skin, you must get the approval of the Young Master himself. You do no even have her selling contract, how can you possibly become s arrogant as to take change of somebody else's home? Who said harsh words first and who was in the wrong first for being ungrateful? Do you have any idea how many families these items can feed? But since you are not interested, then I suppose I will have no choice but to give these items to lowborn families." "Who are you to speak for the Young Master?" "I am a long-time acquaintance of his and his fiancé's elder. He trusts me enough to speak on his behalf in his absence. And I have enough authority to evict you from his home." "How dare you insult me also! You just wait until I tell him about this!" I ran to the women just in time to see Ae-Cha attempting to slap Hwa-Wol, but she skilfully caught her arm and pushed her to the floor. "How dare a ksieng touch me? Do you know who I am ? And which family I come from?" "Yes, your father is known for his donations to the many brothels that he sleeps in, and I also know that he personally sold his daughter to one to pay off some rather urgent debts." "Do not presume to tell me about my family when you…" "When I what? Worked off my own debt with my own hard work? Which paid off well since I am now married to a renowned physician? And how about you? Still unmarried and lost your virginity before securing a life-long partner? Whilst Yeon has her's, along with many social invitations to recognise her status as his wife." "You still dare to show off in front of me! You bitch!" "Every woman in this hushed has her own families, and you? Where is yours?"

"You bitch! I shall destroy your face! What then? Who will love you! Who will look at you!" Before she had another chance to strike at Hwa-Wol, Moon-Bok himself came running towards us and slapped her personally to the ground before dragging her by her arm and physically threw her out of the home whilst I ran to Hwa-Wol's side. She was a few years older than me and I took her to be a big sister of mine. But it turns out that she was more than that, as I started getting suspicious of her relationship with my man. "Hwa-Wol…" "Husband, please finish packing up and tend to our daughter for a while whilst I sit with Yeon. I need to talk to her before we depart home." "10 minutes and no more wife. And as for you little sister, I have my instructions to keep you inside today." "I have no plans to leave anyways, thank you for everything, big brother." "We are all waiting for your return to the capital so you can treat us to a meal." "Very well. Hwa-Wol, what exactly is going on between yourself and Seon-Ho?" "Yeon, you are a smart little girl, but you are immature and inexperienced in other areas due to your lack of parentage." "What are you talking about?" "I expect you want to understand the nature of my relationship with your man? Very well, I shall not hide anything from you since I consider you to be a little sister of mine. I have been acting as the Young Master's spy for a while now…" "His spy? Against whom exactly? In the brothel or the palace?" "Against you Yeon, I am the reason how he finds out where you are."

My word was already leaning quite closely to his and now I find out that he even paid my closest ones to spy on me? I couldn't believe this; here I was, trying to claim my independence and he was doing everything that he could to take even that away from me. "But…Hwa-Wol! I trusted you! I…" "And you were right to trust me Yeon, because I still haven't betrayed you, not really." "What on earth are you talking about? You just admitted to…" "Do you have any idea what your man did to recruit me? He paid for a tutor so that I could become literate to help my husband in his work. Does that sound like a bad person to you?" "Wait a minute…he did what?" "Yeon, I have met a lot of personalities in my time in the brothel, and it is usually the quiet and cold ones that have the biggest hearts that they cannot show or share with many people at all. I confess to telling him your secrets, because I know that he will never harm you, and you are also aware of this. He can be angry at you because he has never had anyone coax his temper before, he can treat you like a possession because he is afraid of you leaving him and he can indulge in his passions because he is actively trying to keep you bound to him even after giving you everything that he has. He bought this home with many rooms, servants and luxuries just for you Yeon. He disrupts his grand plans and work schedules just to find you anywhere that you go. He watches you because he feels less lonely that way even during times that he feels he cannot communicate with you. And he is infatuated with you to the point where he will repress some of his urges my limiting himself to only a single woman for the rest of his life. The same woman whose body will grow and change even after childbirth. This is something very rare in this world to experience anymore and you will be no better than a fool to throw this kind of man away. Do you understand what it is that I am saying, Yeon?"

"I…I don't quite know…" "Yeon, Seon-Ho is infatuated with you. He is obsessed to you to the point where I am sure he has centred his plans around you, and that is because he is giving you the same importance as his ambition, which is also rare. He is in love with you Yeon, in a way that goes beyond a single lifetime. He is even shamelessly pressuring your brother into giving your hand in marriage, which he has eventually agreed on." "What! He agreed to…marry me off? To Seon-Ho…" "He has been high and drunk in your absence and sitting with almost every single kiseng in my gibang to get information about the both of you. Especially you for that matter. In fact, he's even gotten angry with some of them a few times when they didn't have any information for him about you at all."

I almost collapsed to my knees and I suddenly had a little trouble breathing properly, in fact, Hwa-Wol had to catch me and sit me down until I was able to process everything she had told me. "Hwa-Wol…about him and Hui-Jae…" "Yeon, that was nothing at all. He had a stupid crush on her for a while, but one of the reasons why I didn't take him seriously was because he was never serious about her in the first place, not like he is about you. The things he's done for you, not even your brother had done any of that for me yet. To be honest, I have a suspicion that his feelings for you changed the minute you stayed in his home. You understand him in a way that I would never been able to, and you see him in a way that I just can't see, because I haven't known him for nearly as long as you have."

The man had all sorts of people in power giving him the respect he finally deserved, and he got everyones attention like he wanted. He held a lot of power in his hands right now and had much bigger influence than anyone who tormented and bullied us in our youths. And he chose me for his wife? Me?

"Yeon, I have no idea what you are planning and I know that you want to protect Seon-Ho and your bother. But I am telling you, however scared you are, you must come clean with him. You do not want to get onto the bad side of his obsession that will turn you into his pray and victim rather than a wife with a fruitful life full of children and happiness. Do not hurt or reject that man before he hurts you instead, and then he will never let you leave, even if you want to. You need to treasure his love before it all backfires and you loose him. You also need to marry him as soon as possible before the people in the palace come for your hand and back your brother into a corner. The Third Prince also cannot order Seon-Ho's death when he is married to his man's sister. There are a lot of factors weighing on your marriage apart from love, but I can promise you that it is the biggest reason for his…impulsiveness when it comes to you." "But…he never says it…so it makes me doubt his intentions so much…" "He will never acknowledge it due to the guilt that he has for you and your brother. His way of repenting himself is to never directly express himself, so he buries himself in his work instead, do you understand? Quickly finish your work and marry him to secure your lives together and protect your men from the wrath of the Third Prince and the Emperor himself."