Chapter 281 : Woobin, Promises
Chapter 281: Woobin, Promises
“Seol will be left with Lady Song and Escort Dan.”
Lady Song referred to Songhwa, Dan Woobin’s wife, and Escort Dan referred to the maidservant, Dan Ah.
“Please send the two of them to that hideout.”
“My Lady.”
“I am well aware that you are acting out of affection for me, Chief Strategist. But please do as I ask.”
“But in the absolute worst case scenario, the baby will grow up without parents.”
“If that is the child’s destiny, then we must accept it.”
She was calm.
She was someone who could die in place of her baby ten or a hundred times over.
Adding to that, she continued.
“Strategist Dan, please go there with Lady Song as well.”
“I cannot!”
Dan Woobin, who let out a sudden shout, quickly bowed his head as he realized he had made a mistake.
“I apologize. I got worked up. Regardless, what you say is absolutely out of the question.”
“Please look at me for a moment.”
“I refuse.”
“Strategist Dan.”
Eventually, Dan Woobin raised his head and stared at Baek Seolyoung.
She spoke calmly.
“If things go wrong, please raise Seol with Lady Song for me.”
“My Lady!”
Baek Seolyoung spoke while looking at Dan Woobin, who was about to get agitated.
“I know that you don’t hesitate to spare your own life. That is why this task must be handled by the strongest person among the four of you.”
“I may not be of much help since I have no martial arts. However, I am not a person who would leave the Alliance Leader and my comrades behind just to save myself. Do not worry. I will act in a way that is never a burden.”
At that, Baek Seolyoung spoke with a smile.
“I am not telling you to avoid this simply because you don't know martial arts, Strategist Dan.”
“If not that, then why?”
“It is because I believe you two can raise our Seol the best.”
Dan Woobin was flustered by the unexpected words. Baek Seolyoung’s subsequent action surprised him even further.
Baek Seolyoung performed a deep bow right there on the spot.
“My Lady! Why are you doing this?”
Dan Woobin tried to help her stand up.
“This is my first and last request. Will you promise me?”
The gazes of the two intertwined in the air.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Dan Woobin. What must be the heart of a woman who was entrusting her newborn daughter to someone else? Could she even imagine being separated from Seol?
Even though her heart must have been tearing apart just by saying these words, Baek Seolyoung was hiding that sorrow and persuading him.
“I know how heavy the burden is for those who are left behind. Please shoulder it, Strategist Dan. I beg of you.”
Dan Woobin could no longer refuse. He let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“I promise.”
Baek Seolyoung smiled brightly and spoke.
“Thank you.”
Watching that scene, Lee Jaseung could feel a new emotion he discovered within her.
It was none other than maternal instinct.
She knew. She knew that she could not raise the child well if she were left alone. Her heart, having lost everyone, would be filled with nothing but longing and sadness.
However, if it were Dan Woobin and Songhwa, they would surely raise the child better than she could.
Because the two of them were together.
The thought occurred that he did not know if her choice was right. After all, having the parents raise the child personally would also be the path for the baby.
However, Lee Jaseung made up his mind to follow her choice.
Because he knew how much she must have agonized for this selection.
The moment had come to say those words to Baek Seolyoung, the words that had come up several times throughout the drinking session with his subordinates today.
Yes. Let’s either die, or live together.
* * *
Mountain sought out Cheon Myeongin.
Since he knew the Heavenly Demon Soul was inside Cheon Myeongin’s body, visiting at this point was an adventure that risked his life.
Cheon Myeongin’s body was already completely taken over by the Heavenly Demon Soul. Both eyes were black without a single trace of white, and an eerie Demonic Qi was flowing from his entire body. Cheon Myeongin was merely a shell.
“Do you remember me?”
Long ago, Mountain personally experienced the presence of the Heavenly Demon Soul that was in Cheon Myeongin’s body.
“Of course.”
“I have come to find you because I have something to say.”
Mountain was very polite. He could not dismiss the Heavenly Demon Soul as mere demonic trash derived from a demonic art.
“Master, you are being deceived by Lee Jaseung.”
“Master?”
“Since the day we first met, I have been serving you as my master.”
The corners of the Heavenly Demon Soul’s mouth curled up. It was a blatant mockery, but Mountain pretended not to see it and spoke seriously.
“I will surely be necessary for the great cause ahead.”
He could have served a pile of dung on the road as his master. As long as he could survive and eventually achieve what he dreamed of.
“What is it you have to say?”
“Lee Jaseung has not learned the Nine Divine Demonic Arts at all until now.”
“How did you find that out?”
The gaze of the Heavenly Demon Soul grew intense.
“Don’t underestimate me.”
Mountain had been paying close attention to Lee Jaseung and Cheon Myeongin. By predicting what the Heavenly Demon Soul would want and observing Lee Jaseung calling Ho Yeonshin to ask about the Heavenly Demon Soul, he had been able to deduce what happened between the two.
However, he could not understand the subsequent actions of the Heavenly Demon Soul at all.
If it had made such a demand of Lee Jaseung, it should have monitored him periodically.
However, the Heavenly Demon Soul simply stayed holed up in a certain location without budging. It had shown no interest regardless of what Lee Jaseung did.
“You took the man named Lee Jaseung too lightly. He is not a man who will ever succumb to outside pressure.”
The two pitch-black pupils of the Heavenly Demon Soul grew even darker.
“I know.”
Mountain was flustered by the unexpected answer.
“Then why?”
The Heavenly Demon Soul said nothing.
Mountain could feel it. It was not a lie made up on the spot, but the truth.
What the Heavenly Demon Soul wanted was not the peak mastery of the Nine Divine Demonic Arts.
‘Then what on earth did it want?’
However, he could not discover that intent anywhere in those dark and fearful eyes.
Mountain trembled.
‘This bastard is not a mere monster.’
The Heavenly Demon Soul spoke in a solemn voice.
“When I come to rule this world, I will give you power as well.”
Mountain knelt on the spot and bowed his head.
“My Lord!”
Because he bowed his head, Mountain did not see it.
On the face of the being called master, there was a clear mockery that such a thing would never happen. Of course, Mountain did not have any true loyalty either. It was a false loyalty for survival, and the direction of his blade would change whenever the opportunity arose.
“Please tell me the path to move forward.”
“You will know soon.”
The Heavenly Demon Soul raised its head and looked at the sky.
The pitch-black pupils, so contrasting with the deep blue sky, grew even darker.
* * *
Lee Jaseung spent the entire day with Baek Seolyoung and the baby.
Less than ten days remained of the time promised with the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Lee Jaseung considered further martial arts training to be meaningless.
He did the things he had not been able to do.
They bathed the baby together, and the two of them also took baths together.
He went for walks while holding the baby, and visited famous restaurants to eat.
He enjoyed a life that was ordinary yet charming.
Today as well, Lee Jaseung did not leave the baby’s side. Lying on the bed side by side, he looked only at his daughter.
The way she wiggled while rolling her eyes here and there was too cute.
“Seol’s face will wear away.”
“Oh? Seol just looked at me and smiled.”
“She probably just smiled randomly. She cannot recognize human faces yet.”
“No, I am telling you she definitely looked at me and smiled.”
“Haha, let’s say that is the case.”
He had heard that all parents who raise babies become liars.
Baek Seolyoung smiled as if she could not help him.
Lee Jaseung wanted to see Seol grow up. He wanted to see her become a little lady like Cho Somi, and grow into a beautiful woman like Baek Seolyoung.
After being lost in contemplation of Seol for a long time again, Lee Jaseung spoke thoughtfully.
“When should I clear her Ren and Du meridians? What kind of spiritual pills should I have her take? What kind of martial arts should I teach her?”
Baek Seolyoung spoke with an absurd expression.
“Listen! It is early, far too early for such thoughts!”
“Really?”
Looking at Lee Jaseung, who still did not even raise his head, Baek Seolyoung pouted her lips.
“I feel a bit left out.”
“Hmm? About what?”
Only then did Lee Jaseung raise his head.
“Because it feels like your top priority is being taken away. No, perhaps it has already been taken?”
“Of course not.”
However, Lee Jaseung’s gaze immediately turned back to his daughter.
Baek Seolyoung wore a look of disbelief but soon broke into a smile. The sight of Lee Jaseung being so absorbed in his daughter looked very good.
Yes, be very happy.
He was someone who spent his entire life in martial arts training and war. Now, she hoped he would be even happier. If the parents were truly happy, that happiness would be transmitted to the child.
So she hoped everyone would become happy.
Baek Seolyoung put her whole heart into that wish.
* * *
The person who called out Mujin and Dan Woobin was Ma Young-gi.
Since such a thing had never happened before, Mujin and Dan Woobin were inwardly tense.
Mujin spoke first.
“Shall I guess why you called us?”
Mujin narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Ma Young-gi’s face.
“It is that we should face the Heavenly Demon Soul first, right? For our Lord, the Lady, and Seol.”
Thinking that the prediction was likely correct, Dan Woobin was moved. In fact, since the opponent was so incredible, he had not even thought about doing something first.
However, Ma Young-gi was going to risk his life for the Alliance Leader. The important thing was that the effort was active, not passive.
Mujin looked at Dan Woobin and spoke.
“And that you want the smart strategist to find the way for that.”
Dan Woobin looked at Ma Young-gi with a fresh gaze.
“So this is what a true martial artist is like.”
“It is the reason you must not look down on our Captain Ma.”
“Captain Ma! If there is anything I have done wrong until now, please forgive me.”
Watching the conversation between Dan Woobin and Mujin, Ma Young-gi blinked and spoke.
“It is not…… because of that that I came.”
“It isn’t?”
“How could we possibly face that terrifying Heavenly Demon Soul?”
“……That is true.”
Dan Woobin thought a sense of foreboding flashed through his mind for some reason, and then Ma Young-gi brought up words he had never expected, like exploding a Thunderquakes.
“Should we not at least give a gift to the Alliance Leader and the Lady to celebrate the birth of Seol?”
It was something they had overlooked. It was something they should have regarded as fortunate, thinking, ‘Ah, we should!’.
‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’
In the next moment, Dan Woobin let out a startled scream.
“Ah!”
The thought of all the agonizing he did to choose Lee Jaseung’s wedding gift in the past came to mind. After truly agonizing for days and days, the gift he eventually gave was…….
Regardless of Dan Woobin falling into shock and horror, Ma Young-gi spoke seriously.
“I believe this time is a more meaningful occasion than then. That is why I am saying, I have a good idea.”
Seeing Ma Young-gi’s eyes sparkling with more seriousness than ever, Dan Woobin and Mujin shouted simultaneously.
“Stop!”
In the end, they were the ones who sang and danced the song Ma Young-gi had suggested at the wedding ceremony. Even now, they were the ones who kicked their blankets while sleeping because they were so embarrassed.
“Wait, I have a better idea this time—”
The two shouted even louder.
“Shut up!”