When Peony Blooms #AMBW

Chapter 46: " A petal of blessings."

" You can't just go out like that what if it went wrong?" Lady Choi asked. Paying her no mind
A ripple of smiles danced about, a singular testament to Hye-Jin's amusement.

"The expression she wore, truly priceless," she chuckled, her laughter surrounding about in the room. As she turned, her eyes met the stern gaze of Lady Choi. The older woman was seated in silence, her sigh hanging heavy in the room.

"Your game was dangerous, my queen," Lady Choi warned, her voice hushed yet firm. She dabbed at a fresh cut gracing Hye-Jin's cheek, a mark left by Ji-yun's ring.

Hye-Jin brushed off her concern with a nonchalant wave. "You worry too much, I assure you, I'm fine," she replied, turning to meet Lady Choi's worried eyes.

"But you have only just recovered if barley. She left you for dead once. Your second chance at life does not mean to throw it to the wolves of her likeness. Your well-being is hardly assured. What if Ji-yun informs others?" The worry etched in Lady Choi's lines deepened.

"And who would believe her? She seemed as though she'd encountered a ghost." Hye-Jin's laughter filled the room once again, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Indeed, she did see a ghost," Lady Choi retorted, her tone laced with severity. Her stern gaze bore into Hye-Jin, a silent plea for her to tread cautiously. " Your are suppose to be that ghost!"

Hye-Jin merely sighed, a faint smile tugging at her lips. Lady Choi shook her head as she continued to speak. "You and Ayodele, both cut from the same cloth," she mused, her gaze trailing after as she busied herself with tidying the room.

The queen leaned back, her fingers trailing across the surface of the dark wood table. "That's what makes lifeworth living, I'm trying to regain my time lost." she countered, her voice low but vibrant, mirroring the spark in her eyes.

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards, a glint of defiance shimmering in her gaze. "Besides, if I were to cower now, wouldn't that make me disappointing?"

Lady Choi was unmoved by Hye-Jin's apparent joviality. Her brows knitted further, an evident frown etched into her face. "yeowang," she rebuked gently.

"Believe me, no one is more aware of the stakes than I am," Hye-Jin shot back, her voice maintaining its lighthearted pitch. She paused, her gaze softening, "But trust me, Choi. I know what I'm doing."

The queen's reassurance comforted Lady Choi while searching her face for a trace of doubt, finding none. She gave a resigned sigh, her fingers absent-mindedly arranging a stray ornament. " I hope you're right. I don't want to find anyone dying again."

"I understand," Hye-Jin hummed, her gaze distant as if absorbing Lady Choi's words. Her eyes twinkled with a dangerous kind of resolution, her fingers tracing the outline of Ji-yun's ring mark on her cheek. Her chuckle echoed once more in the room, " let's ensure that history doesn't repeat itself, shall we?"

" Where are you off to?" Lady Choi asked. The queen blended some things together as she turned her head. " I'm trying to get some things for Ayodele." Lady Choi nodded bowing shortly after mentally shooing the queen away already tired of her antic.

Three months prior...

The silence was stifling, an unyielding stillness that drowned heavily in the opulent royal chamber. Lady Choi stepped inside, the usually scattered space of books partly opened, and notes scattered around eerily deserted. A frigid gust of wind entered through the slightly ajar window, causing the heavy silk curtains to flutter, their shadows dancing ominously across the room.

"Yeowang!?" Lady Choi called, her voice echoing against the cold walls. An eerie dread was beginning to coil in her stomach as she made her way deeper into the chamber, her gaze quickly falling on the unsettling sight that awaited her.