The Love They Never Had: The Chase

Chapter 205: Reminiscence (Hoesang)

My life had somewhat turned around here since I was invited to dine for breakfast in the quarters of the Prince who was trying to recruit me. I had already solved the murder of Sung-Rok in less than a week and I wasn't really that surprised that the man who was acquainted with the Third Prince was responsible for his death. But as angry as I was, I could not act to impetuously without the Emperor's protection, so I kept his body close to me. But low and behold, as soon as I was done with that case, the Prince handed me another one straight away of some sort of eunuch scam that was going on in the palace by none other than another one of the Third Prince's man who also had ties with his dead colleagues father, who has taken his son's disappearance as a big hit and was unable to leave his bed for a while. But this was all I needed to insert in my own ideas and portfolio under the name their names and the idea worked, just like Yeon said it would...
"Young Master? We have been invited to a banquet tonight that the Prince is hosting once again..." "my goodness, I have had enough of these never-ending banquets. You can go, I need to catch up on all the sleep that I can get tonight." "But Master! You have been personally invited by the Lady Min..." "The sister-in-law of the Third Prince? I am not walking into a trap like that, even you must have enough common sense. Now leave me alone." I barely watched her walk away to get ready for the banquet before I slowly made my way towards those mysterious quarters that I couldn't stop being so suspicious about. There was something big happening over there, bigger than just my competition that I still hadn't met yet. How strange was that? And even more so, all f her favourite dishes were being made in front of me, how could I be in denial abut that? I never for one second believed that Yeon got married along with her brother and they suddenly wanted nothing to do with me. Someone was hiding them from me and I needed power from this Prince to face them and bring them back to me, although I had to admit that my doubts got the better of me when the sun went down and I was left all alone in bed at night. I was a broken man since the war had ended and it was getting harder and harder to distract myself from their absence, especially her's. She wasn't in my life to tend to me, to help me, to heal my wounds and to keep me company, no-one could do all of these things like she did. And maybe...maybe it was due to the opium that I was taking to help calm myself down without her, but I had a nagging feeling that she was somewhat close to me, and she had been all of this time...

"Young Master Nam? Is that you?" I almost jumped right out of my skin when I realised that there was a woman who was following me around and I could't sense it, I must have really lost my touch not to have heard her behind me at all. But if I could make a mistake like this now, then what other mistakes could I have made as of late? "Lady Min? How..." "Do you recognise me? From the Liadong war?" "You were the only female in an entire military camp, how could possibly forget you?" I really did not like the look this woman had on her face, she almost looked just as deranged as every other womanish had crashed int my life with the exception of the only one that I would settle for. The Lady Min had a less than appealing personality and face, but her sister wasn't any better than her. The Lady Min was chubby, her sister was as thin as a bean sprout with an equally thin face that did not do her any favours at all. The Lady Min had the personality and face of a pig, whereas the Princess Consort looked and behaved like a shrewd rat who liked to stalk her husband everywhere he went.
"Forgive me, My Lady, but I have some official matters to take care of, so...." "Why are you walking in this direction? Aren't you coming to my banquet tonight? Why aren't you dressed for it?" "My Lady, just as I said, I have tight deadlines to meet when it comes to work, so I fear that I cannot attend at all...." "But you must! We haven't seen each other in years and I was so looking forward for this ever since we last met and..." The Lady Min was also trying to stop me from entering those quarters, just what on earth was going on here? Where had I landed myself at? Whose game was I a part of now? I knew very well when I was being controlled, and ever since I found myself here, everything was off and I hated loosing control...

"Young Master? Are you listening to me? Would you really rather wander around in such a cold place instead of staying somewhere warm, like a festive banquet?" "I need t stay committed to my training, and the cold weather helps with that." "So you will not eat, because of me?" "Who says my work commitments have anything to do with you?" This woman was by far the most annoying girl I had ever come across and I was already getting frustrated at her attempts to derail me from the quarters that I was trying to access. "You are making me feel guilty now..." "My Lady forgive me, my maid has kept me up with her constant nightmares and I really need to catch up on some sleep as well." "Ok, that seems like a justifiable excuse, but nevertheless, I shall wait for you to show up." Why? Why did all of the women in the world suddenly take an interest in me of all people when I was trying to commit to someone else? Why? Where are you Seo Yeon? Where are you? Where are you hiding? Are you close-by, like I keep imagining? I smell your foods everywhere, I see you playing in the courtyard or in my bed but I can't touch you or take in your scent that I hope to pass down to my children.
I tried, I really tried to keep myself distracted, but I simply couldn't get Yeon out of my head today and it was driving me crazy, to the point where I ended up attending the banquet after all. But no matter how much gold was hiding up this place, it still couldn't stop me from losing myself in alcohol.

"...these golden dates are especially served as snacks for the ladies. It had undergone a sophisticated coking process as a dainty snack, please have a taste. But I suppose that this is a first time for the maid of the Young Master Nam. Unless you can tell us how this is made?" "My Lady, I believe that this is made from a butter pastry stuffed with honey that underwent steaming and frying process. The appearance of the pastry resembles the red dates..." even if I was drunk, I could see the Lady Min's face drained of colour from the humiliation that my maid gave her, although I had no idea where she had learnt this from. And I was in a foul mood, so I couldn't help myself but to insert myself in this meaningless conversation that Yeon would have surely laughed about if she saw this.
"His Majesty promotes fragility throughout the nation, especially after this war that I have fought to keep everyone here safe. But you, the sister-in-law of the Princess Consort dares to look down at everyone for their ignorance towards dainty food? No-one has the leisure to think about such things with such a sophisticated process at such a time when we have natural disasters to worry about after this."

"Young Master! I..." "Soldiers are risking their lives on the battlefield dauntlessly for you to enjoy such a leisurely life here safe in the city..." I was talking like Seo Hwi now and I couldn't help myself, I knew he would be disgusted if he was forced to attend such an event like this one. "...everything in this feast was served on the table was thanks to our benevolence and the industrious rulers who served at the frontline. I really wonder how disrespectful you are to mock the descendant of generals and so on whilst enjoying a carefree life. Such a soothing life isn't suitable for sliders like myself I am afraid, so I shall just excuse myself where soldiers and generals are not even welcome here since they are not present here."

"Young Master Nam! You have been risking lives and limbs on the battlefield and has made significant achievements in this country under the age of 30 years old. We all here admire you very much and we welcome your arrival and...where are you going? Master Nam! Please wait! Men! Bring out the Jacob's tears soup with rice, since this servant claims to have enough nightmares to keep her Master up at night, thus is the reason why he is in such a bad mood today!" She was crossing the line and she knew it, this was enough to shock me as well, but unlike the previous women who have talked into my life, this woman had power and not even I could do anything to her.
"My...My Lady? What nightmares are you speaking of? I..." "since I was only just informed of this matter, I have had no time to boil the soup properly, but I have sent enough to fill up 5 bowls, since the nightmares are an important issue to tackle for your Master. Drink it up." "My Lady, I still do not understand..." "You are a lowly maid that has never been high in favour, despite your delusions. So you are to compete with me by messing up your Master's sleep, so he forgets his manners towards me. I have tired my upmost to make him stay in this banquet today, but your lily tricks have lured him away, after I have waited 5 years to meet this man again. And unfortunately, he has no wife to control his household for him and no other woman whose words carry their weight against you. To your master, this may be nothing more than a squabble between two women and is ignorant of his own image, so I shall be the bad woman today and help him tackle this issue, lets he brushes this matter off with some perfunctory condemnation."