Chapter 90: Seolyoung, Dreams

Baek Seolyoung was dreaming too.

It was a strange dream, much like the one Lee Jaseung had that morning.

She wasn’t able to move her body.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a large snake coiled tightly around her body.

She screamed, but no sound came from her mouth.

Sssssss.

She could feel the snake’s head moving up toward her face. All the fine hairs on her body stood on end.

‘Help me!’

She cried out desperately, and the person who came to mind at that moment was Lee Jaseung.

‘Please help me.’

But Lee Jaseung did not appear.

Then, the snake’s head appeared right in front of her face.

She was about to scream, but she froze in surprise. The snake’s head was Lee Jaseung’s face.

‘Huh?’

Normally she should have been even more terrified, but the fear faded, and instead she felt it was somehow funny. Then the thought in her mind came out of her mouth.

"You? What on earth are you doing?"

Then the snake with Lee Jaseung’s face replied.

"Why do you think I’m doing this? I’m hungry, so I’m going to eat you!"

As soon as Lee Jaseung opened his mouth wide, she woke up with her eyes snapping open.

‘My goodness! Why did I have such a bizarre dream?’

A wry smile tugged at her lips as she wore an expression of disbelief.

The way Lee Jaseung had said he would eat her because he was hungry was just too funny. It was more comical than scary.

She turned her head to the side without thinking, but she was startled immediately after.

Lee Jaseung was sitting beside her, asleep. It was only then that Baek Seolyoung remembered what had happened yesterday.

Lee Jaseung had fallen into a state of complete absorption, and she had stood motionless beside him until she collapsed.

Someone might say that standing still was not so difficult, but only someone who had actually stood in the same spot for eight whole hours without moving could know how hard it was.

‘Ah! It was truly exhausting.’

On top of that, the tension from worrying she might break his concentration had made it several times harder.

Just then, sensing movement, Lee Jaseung opened his eyes.

Their gazes met.

"You're awake?"

His voice was incomparably gentle.

"Yeah."

"Are you alright?"

"I’m not."

Her answer made Lee Jaseung chuckle softly.

"Do you want to sleep more?"

"No."

She did not want to get up, nor did she want to sleep. She just wanted to keep lying there like that. The warm sunlight streamed into the bed, and he was sitting right next to her. For some reason, it gave her a pleasant feeling.

More than anything, the look in Lee Jaseung’s eyes toward her was incomparably warm and gentle.

Lee Jaseung was deeply grateful to Baek Seolyoung. What she had endured this time was truly important. If she had broken his state of absorption at that moment, he would not have been able to step up to the next level as perfectly as he had.

If, by bad luck, he had advanced to the next stage without properly consolidating himself, it would have been far worse than remaining at his original level.

Normally, after reaching a new stage, it took a lot of time to truly match the skill of that stage. Because it required time to adapt to the new level, martial arts could even regress temporarily.

However, because Lee Jaseung had experienced and organized so much during the state of absorption immediately after reaching the fourth stage, he was able to display the skill of that level without any regression. This was entirely thanks to her patience.

Baek Seolyoung asked seriously.

"At the marriage tournament, you won in the early rounds by luck, right?"

"I did."

"That wasn’t luck, was it?"

Lee Jaseung nodded without hesitation. There was no reason to hide it now.

"Yes, it was a kind of strategy. To avoid drawing too much attention from others."

"I knew it."

Baek Seolyoung thought that even that strategy had probably not been necessary.

"One day my father told me. That in Jianghu, there are eccentric geniuses like grains of sand on the beach. That in every corner of the world live masters and renowned figures you couldn’t even imagine. I think I understand what he meant now."

"I’m not such an amazing person you know."

"I wasn’t saying you were."

"Huh?"

When Lee Jaseung looked slightly flustered, she grinned. It was clear she had said it to tease him.

"Thank you."

Baek Seolyoung was able to feel that she had been of great help to his martial arts training, just as much as he was sincerely grateful to her.

She sat up from the bed and spoke words he wasn’t able to understand.

"Since I’ve already moved you, might as well finish it properly."

* * *

"At this rate, you will end up falling to the Alliance Leader."

At Heukso’s words, Ban Yeo said nothing. He sat deep in his chair as if sinking into it, lost in deep thought.

The Alliance Leader’s power was immense.

Ban Yeo had seen it before. Those terrifying figures who aided the Leader.

‘A head-on confrontation has absolutely no chance of victory.’

It was still the same conclusion. It was also the reason that, despite the great ambition in his heart, he was still content to be second-in-command.

"Why do you think the Leader did that? No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand him."

Heukso too had watched Jang Wonso and Ban Yeo’s years together from the sidelines. He had never imagined the Leader would turn his back so quickly.

But Ban Yeo found the root of the problem elsewhere.

"The problem isn’t with the Leader."

"What?"

"Seop Mu-pyeong, he’s good."

"Good enough to sway the Alliance Leader?"

"You could say that."

"I think it’s time we told the Leader that he’s a descendant of the Hainan Sect."

Ban Yeo nodded at Heukso’s words.

"Yes, we should."

That was what Ban Yeo believed as well. The Leader would not be able to simply overlook that fact.

The Hainan Sect was the key to bringing the Alliance Leader’s downfall after all.

* * *

After leaving the Alliance, Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung arrived at a smithy located a little away from the market. At the entrance, she spoke softly.

"This smithy has the best craftsmen near the Murim Alliance. I went out yesterday to ask you to come here with me."

"Why here?"

"I was originally going to have a dagger made here as a surprise gift. But then I thought that since it’s a weapon, I shouldn’t do it that way. If you order what you want, I’ll buy it for you."

"Why the sudden gift?"

"Just because…"

It was truly just because she wanted to. Of course, if she had to, she could give reasons.

He had already saved her several times, trained her, and helped her gain many insights. Above all else, she was grateful that he had become her husband.

But she did not say such reasons. She felt the meaning would be diminished the moment they came out of her mouth.

"Just because I want to."

At those words, Lee Jaseung smiled.

"Thank you."

As they walked inside, he asked,

"Can I choose something expensive?"

Following behind, she quickly asked,

"How expensive are we talking?"

"Why are you so tense?"

"I’m not tense!"

The truth was she was tense. When she had seen him promise Yim Sayeon without hesitation that he would buy thirty million silver coins worth of liquor, she knew his generosity was no small thing.

But then what if he asked for the most expensive dagger in the smithy? And what if it cost tens of thousands of silver coins?

That would be a problem. She personally did not have that kind of money. To raise such a large sum, she would have to use the Northern Sky Clan’s funds, and no matter that she was the Lord, she could not spend that much on something personal.

Whether he knew her thoughts or not, Lee Jaseung leisurely looked over the weapons hanging on one wall of the smithy.

His eye for assessing weapons was as sharp as his martial skills.

Judging from the weapons on the wall, this craftsman’s skill was in the upper tier. His reputation was not undeserved.

An elderly man approached the two. He was the owner of the smithy and the most famous craftsman in the area.

"That is a very fine sword."

Seeing where Lee Jaseung’s gaze lingered, the old man spoke with a pleased expression.

"You know how to judge the quality I see."

The sword Lee Jaseung had praised was the best work the old man had ever made.

Even among warriors, few could recognize its value with just a glance, yet Lee Jaseung had spotted it immediately. For a craftsman, a customer who appreciated value was always a joy.

Lee Jaseung asked politely.

"Do you have good steel?"

"I do."

"Then please make me twenty daggers from it."

"Daggers?"

Lee Jaseung took a dagger from his robe and showed it.

"This is the dagger I’m using now."

The old man’s eyes flashed flames as he examined it. That flame’s name was competitiveness. It had been made by the most skilled craftsman in the Black Way Alliance, so it was natural for the old man to be shocked by the quality.  

Lee Jaseung poured a little oil on the burning flame.

"If you can’t make something better than this, I suggest you give up. If I can’t use it, it will be thrown away, so you’d be making it for nothing."

The old man snorted.

"Hmph! Don’t talk nonsense and come back in ten days to collect them."

As they left the smithy, Baek Seolyoung poked his side.

"That was mean."

"Wanting something better is a natural right, isn’t it?"

"What if he gets spiteful and makes them worse?"

"If some fool did that, I’d throw them away just like I said."

When she looked at him with an exasperated expression, he added,

"If that pushes him to make something better, then he ends up creating a masterpiece. It’s good for him, good for me, and good for you giving the gift. Everyone’s happy that way."

"What a grand philosophy! I hope you’re proud."

She said it teasingly, but it was partly out of admiration.

He was right. His demand was a natural right.

But often, out of unnecessary politeness or awkwardness, people gave up rights they should rightfully enjoy. Baek Seolyoung had lived like that too.

Perhaps acting like Lee Jaseung was, in some cases, actually the more proper way to deal with others.

"Let’s go."

"Where?"

"I got a gift, so I should return the favor. I’ll treat you to something delicious."

Just then, Mook Young’s voice came through a sound transmission.

— My apologies, but Strategist Dan wishes to see you immediately. He says it’s urgent.

Lee Jaseung looked at her with an apologetic expression.

"Ah, I’ll have to postpone. I just remembered somewhere I need to go."

"Isn’t that too cold after I even bought you a gift?"

"Sorry. Let’s have a drink tonight."

"How is it that you’re busier than I am, and I’m the Lord?"

"Sorry."

He strode off.

Watching him walk away in the distance, Baek Seolyoung called out loudly.

"It better be something special and splendid!"

From afar, Lee Jaseung turned to look at her. He nodded once as if making a promise, then walked on.

It was shaping up to be an evening to look forward to.

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