Chapter 56
Baek Yuhwa.
Baek Yuhwa.
Ya Socheong tried to remember if that name had ever been mentioned in the novel, but the name did not come to mind.
There had been mention of the Baek family, which had produced the Demonic Empress, but it seemed that Baek Yuhwa had never appeared.
"I will gratefully accept your proposal. Since it is not something I can decide on my own, I will discuss it with my junior brothers."
Baek Yuhwa nodded as if that answer was enough.
"Young master, if you don't have to go back in a hurry, could you give me some time?"
"Is there more you have to say?"
"That's not it, but I want to know more about you, young master. Aren't you curious about me? I think it would be better to ask me directly rather than hearing it through others."
Ya Socheong did not dislike Baek Yuhwa's direct attitude.
He had aged steadily since coming here, and now his mind and body had matured.
Baek Yuhwa was a woman so beautiful that it was difficult for anyone to take their eyes off her, and she was so alluring that one could fall in love at first sight.
To be honest, it was Ya Socheong himself who had not been able to leave the place even after his conversation with Baek Yuhwa was over.
Baek Yuhwa had said this much, but the words that he had to go because his junior brothers were waiting just wouldn't come out.
"Alright."
At that, Baek Yuhwa's face brightened.
"Just in case, I brought two horses."
Baek Yuhwa looked excited.
"It must have been difficult to bring two horses."
"The road was well-paved, so it wasn't that bad. While I was riding another horse, it followed me well without going anywhere else."
Still, it was easier said than done, and it seemed that if he were asked to do it, he wouldn't be able to.
Baek Yuhwa went to the place where she had tied the horses first, and Ya Socheong followed her.
Ya Socheong was now at a level where he was not inferior to most people in horsemanship, so he easily mounted the horse.
Baek Yuhwa, seeing that, rode her horse first.
She was no longer wearing a mask.
"Do you often wear a mask?"
As he rode alongside Baek Yuhwa and asked, she laughed and said yes.
"Why?"
"I don't like it when people show interest in me after seeing my face."
"But why are you not wearing a mask now?"
"Because I want you to look at my face to your heart's content and like it, young master."
Baek Yuhwa seemed to be more honest than any woman Ya Socheong had ever met.
But even if she hadn't said that, Ya Socheong was already doing so.
"Why don't you ask where we are going?"
"I'll know when we get there."
"What if I take you to a bad place?"
"My junior brothers are very worried about me, so they are probably watching me from somewhere right now. So you shouldn't treat me carelessly. Even if you didn't intend to, my junior brothers are not always good at grasping the situation."
Baek Yuhwa burst out laughing with a clear sound.
Her already pretty face looked like a painting when she laughed so loudly.
"We're going to the ferry. My family has a private boat."
"A boat?"
"Yes, there's no better place than a boat to talk quietly."
"Ah, I see."
Until then, what Ya Socheong had thought of was a small boat that would be almost full if two people got on.
Then, when they reached the ferry, he saw a large boat, but he hadn't imagined that that was the boat they would be riding.
He had thought that the two of them would be riding, but the boat was so large that it could carry over a hundred people at once.
But Baek Yuhwa went that way without hesitation, and the people who saw her approaching rushed out from one side.
"Miss, you've come out."
Seeing their attitude towards Baek Yuhwa, it seemed that he could tell what her status was within the family.
"Set sail."
"Yes, miss."
Ya Socheong, who had been thinking 'no way' until then, was surprised by Baek Yuhwa's magnanimity.
"You mean you're setting sail with such a large boat for just two people?"
"Yes, so that both of us can concentrate on our conversation without having to worry about rowing. Ah, I haven't prepared any refreshments... I'll prepare them next time."
Ya Socheong shook his head.
They were things he couldn't have even imagined.
"I am trying very hard right now, young master. Because I want to look good to you."
When she said that, he couldn't tell how much was sincere and how much was just words.
"I'm trembling a lot right now, and I'm trying to hide it."
"You don't look like it at all."
"That's a shame."
Ya Socheong burst out laughing again, and Baek Yuhwa also laughed.
Ya Socheong looked at Baek Yuhwa several times.
Her appearance, shining brightly under the hot sun, looked different from the appearance he had seen until then.
She was so pretty that it didn't even feel real.
The two of them often made eye contact, and Baek Yuhwa often smiled at him.
And finally, they boarded the boat.
The boat felt bigger than it had looked from the outside, and the inside was so splendid that it was extravagant.
"This is the first time I've been on such a large boat."
Although he said that, it was actually the first time he had ever been on a boat.
At least since coming here.
"May I look around?"
It seemed that it would be helpful to also learn the structure of such a boat when he had the chance.
They could be attacked while riding the boat, and there might be a time when they had to protect the boat.
"Of course."
While Ya Socheong was looking around the boat, Baek Yuhwa also followed him.
A cool breeze blew, and the hems of their clothes and their hair fluttered.
He thought that it had been a long time since he had enjoyed such a peaceful time.
"If you're on a boat like this, your junior brothers won't be able to help you. You're not someone who wouldn't have thought of that, and you must have boarded the boat following me because you trusted me, right?"
"I think I have the strength to protect one person."
"Are you confident in your martial prowess?"
"It's not just that I'm confident in my martial prowess. There are many ways to protect oneself."
It meant that he could take Baek Yuhwa hostage if necessary, but he thought, 'What's the point of going deep into such a story?', so Ya Socheong also stopped at that.
The two of them held the railing and looked down at the river.
"I have had many thoughts while going through this. Seeing someone who solves what happened to them in a completely different way. I have never experienced the same thing as you, young master, but I have also thought about what I would have done if I were like you."
Ya Socheong listened to what Baek Yuhwa was saying.
If someone else had spoken as if they understood and sympathized with his pain, he would not have felt good.
But seeing Baek Yuhwa trying to understand him, he didn't dislike it so much.
He also realized that it stemmed from a feeling of liking someone.
In his life before coming here and his life here, this was his first such experience.
He had never met a woman he liked, nor had he ever thought that he would like it if he fell in love with that person.
It seemed that there had never been a partner with whom it was so comfortable and enjoyable to just be together and spend time together.
That's why what Baek Yuhwa was saying came to him without any discomfort.
"I have looked into what the Cho family has done extensively. I also found out about Nether Shadow Valley and the Heavenly Forest. In the process, I also found out what you have done, young master. Every time the truth was revealed, I became curious about you. What kind of person you are. I thought that for you, going back to Nether Shadow Valley would have been worse than death, but knowing that you eventually went back there, tears came to my eyes."
Ya Socheong laughed.
He himself had not given his decision such a deep meaning, but that decision had not been easy.
But it felt strange to hear that someone he didn't even know well had cried while thinking about his feelings.
"You took the children you rescued from there as your junior brothers, didn't you? And you taught them martial arts."
"I learn more from those children."
"From now on, you will have to fight with the Sect Leader. The Sect Leader is, perhaps I don't need to say this, but he is a persistent person. He is a greedy person, and he has no mercy. If it becomes known that I have feelings for you, he will not stand still. And because of that, perhaps people who want to harm you will also appear in my family."
Ya Socheong stared blankly at the empty air.
That was right.
Although Baek Yuhwa had decided to help him and had said that she would let him use the Baek family as his sword, she would not be able to suppress all the opposition.
There would be people who thought normally, and there would also be people who would raise a hand against him out of loyalty to the Heavenly Demon, going beyond the Baek family.
If the family's power was strong, the loyalty to the Heavenly Demon might be dispersed, but in any case, the mainstay of the Heavenly Demon Sect was the Heavenly Demon.
"Miss, it might be better to keep our distance in the future."
"I'm disappointed. Is a connection something that can be broken so easily? And it doesn't seem that you are very scared anyway."
Ya Socheong let out a hollow laugh.
He had a feeling that all the things that had happened to him since coming here had been leading him in one direction.
His meeting with Pae Maseong, who would become a Heavenly Demon, his parting with him, and his reunion.
The confrontation with the Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-san must have been decided from the beginning.
"But since an arrow won't fly at you today, enjoy today, young master. I will try to block the people of the main family as much as possible."
"Don't try too hard. A person's heart is not something that can be held down by pressing from above, is it?"
"If there is anything I can help you with right now, please tell me."
"I can't think of anything right now, but I will contact you often in the future."
Baek Yuhwa nodded.
"By any chance."
"Yes."
"If this doesn't sound unpleasant... how about you go out into the martial world for a while?"
Baek Yuhwa seemed to be quite worried about Ya Socheong.
So it seemed that she wanted to send Ya Socheong out of the Heavenly Demon Sect until the storm subsided to some extent and sort things out here.
Since he was not unaware of that, Ya Socheong was not offended.
"I don't know if a situation where I have to do that will come, but if it's not, I won't avoid it."
Baek Yuhwa nodded as if she had expected such an answer.
"If you want to see me, come to that place anytime, young master. I can't always go and wait, but I will send a person to see if you are there."
"What a waste of manpower."
"It's a willing thing, so please just let me waste it."
Ya Socheong nodded.
As if it had been discussed from the beginning, the boat did not go far and was turning around and going back to the ferry.
(End of Chapter)