“I thought Miss Jegal might have sensed it to some extent. Am I wrong?”
It would have been a lie to say she hadn’t.
No one lives a life without hardship. Some burdens may not be visible, but everyone carries at least one unspoken worry close to their heart.
No matter how selfless someone may be, they can’t possibly solve everyone’s troubles. If someone steps forward to resolve one person’s hardship, there’s usually only one reason for it.
It’s because they feel a deep emotion for that person. And if that bond is between a man and a woman, that feeling is, more often than not, rooted in affection.
“Y-Yes… I… I had guessed as much.”
Her head dropped weakly.
She was smart; there was no way she hadn’t realized this. From the moment Baek Woo Jin said he wanted to help Tang Seon Yeong, she had sensed something ominous.
She only tried to ignore it. She didn’t want to pry. She could bear vague, shapeless worries, but she feared that if those worries took form and began to suffocate her, all the happiness she had known would dissolve like a mirage.
She clenched her tiny hands into tight fists.
“I… am I… not allowed to…?”
“What…?”
The sound of his confusion pained her even more. She wondered if everything had just been a misunderstanding.
She had done everything she could. They had held each other, shared a kiss, and even exchanged words of affection.
She hadn’t said it outright, but she had thought of them as halfway to being a couple. Had it all been in her head?
Her shoulders drooped helplessly.
“Of course… Miss Tang suits you far better than I ever could…”
Lost in despair, she tried to rationalize it to herself.
Unlike her who was small and shy, Miss Tang had everything. Seeing her standing next to Baek Woo Jin, with her confident smile so similar to his own, they looked like a perfect match.
They seemed so fitting together that she could only imagine how he saw it. Surely no man could resist such an enchanting smile.
Sniff!
She sucked her runny nose and wiped her tears with her sleeve. She looked at Baek Woo Jin with a foolish smile.
“I understand. I know exactly what you’re trying to say, so…”
I’ll just—
“Enough.”
Baek Woo Jin raised his hand and covered her mouth.
It was ridiculous. She cried all by herself, accepted it, and then practically told him to leave her behind and be happy with Tang Seon Yeong.
A warm tear trailed down her cheek, dampening Baek Woo Jin’s hand where it pressed against her mouth.
“You want me to go to Miss Tang?”
“Mmmph… mmmph!”
At his words, Jegal Yeon Ji’s tears which had stopped for a moment suddenly burst out again. She whimpered through her covered mouth as if she was overwhelmed by grief.
When he released her mouth just slightly, she began speaking rapidly,
“Then what am I supposed to do…! You like Miss Tang, but, but I… hic! I… don’t have anything going for me…!”
Watching her cry so bitterly left him feeling slightly uneasy.
He gently wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face and, holding her cheeks in both hands, forced her to look up at him.
“That’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
“Eh…?”
Jegal Yeon Ji looked up at Baek Woo Jin. Her eyes were wide and round like a startled rabbit.
“The reason I’m saying this isn’t because I want to leave you for Miss Tang. I just wanted to ask if… I could like you both.”
“Oh, ah…!”
Her face flushed bright red.
She remembered how she panicked, rationalized that she’d let him go, and insisted that they looked better together…. she wanted to disappear into a hole and hide her face forever.
Baek Woo Jin hadn’t intended to leave her; he was only asking for her understanding. Which meant, in essence, that he also saw them as lovers or at least something close to it.
So it wasn’t all in my head…
She felt relieved, but she also felt a sudden flicker of resentment toward Baek Woo Jin.
“A-Aen’t you… being a little greedy…?”
It was because of his bold remark about wanting to be in a relationship with two women at once.
Regardless of the circumstances, these two women were daughters of the five most prestigious families in the martial arts world. People who had managed to have both of them as lovers at the same time could be counted on one hand.
Isn’t he being greedy…?
But then, when she considered the abilities he had shown so far, she thought maybe it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Her heart had already leaned toward him. As long as he didn’t abandon her and would love her equally, then even if there was one or two other women, she could—well, she couldn’t be exactly generous about it, but she could endure a few jealous tears and perhaps even ripping through a pillowcase or two with her teeth.
But I can’t just agree so easily…!
In all the love stories she had read to win over Baek Woo Jin’s heart, it said that a woman who was too easy to win over, someone who would give her all too readily, lacked appeal.
“I-I need time.”
Turning her head, she replied in her most stiff voice.
“……”
Baek Woo Jin nodded his head as if he understood.
Did I go too far?
He had been greedy, just as she said.
He told himself he wanted to open up about everything so she wouldn’t be left crying alone, but in truth it was just a flimsy excuse to justify his desire to be with both women at once.
Perhaps he had thought about it too lightly. Just because polygamy was allowed in this world, he spoke as if it were a given. But he should have first considered whether she, the one involved, could actually accept it. Regardless of what the law allowed.
Thinking about it the other way around gave him the answer. How would he feel if the woman he loved told him she wanted to marry another man, too?
I’d… kill them all.
He would probably start a fight immediately. And yet, here he was, pressing her to understand him. It was absolutely ridiculous.
He felt sorry for both women. He wondered if he should let one of them go, but he knew that was impossible.
Thinking it over, he realized how incredible she was for simply asking for time rather than slapping him on the spot.
“…I know it’s hard to accept, but please, just think it over seriously, just once.”
Seated on a tree stump on one knee, Baek Woo Jin looked up at her with such sad and lonely eyes that she could hardly bear to look at him.
Unable to resist the unfair effect of his expression, she squeezed her eyes shut.
How am I supposed to have time to think at all like this…?
At a loss, she fidgeted with her fingers, but a glint appeared in her eyes from behind her long hair.
She just had a good idea.
Instead of taking time to think, why not ask for something even more valuable?
“Y-Young Master Baek, there’s something you need to ask for before you get my permission.”
“Is there?”
“Th-There is.”
After taking a deep breath, she continued with a bright red face.
“Wh-What exactly… is our relationship? Young Master Baek, you haven’t clearly defined it… yet.”
“Ah…?”
Of course, he was about to say “lovers”.
Only now did he realize that while they had hinted at their feelings for each other, neither had ever voiced them or tried to deepen their relationship.
Idiot, you absolute idiot…!
He had gone and asked a woman, to whom he hadn’t even properly confessed, to allow him to be with another woman as well!
Far from winning over either woman, it seemed he was on his way to being rejected by both.
To fix this, the first thing he needed to do was define his relationship with her above all else.
“Hoo…”
He let out an unsteady breath and stared at her with his eyes shaking uncontrollably as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Miss Jegal.”
“Y-Yes…?”
She was equally nervous and responded in a comically strained voice. Her reaction eased some of his own tension, and with a little more calm, he continued speaking in a steady tone.
“I’ve… hardly ever had anything that was truly mine in my life.”
On Earth, he had grown up an orphan.
In the orphanage, everything had been shared, and when he was thrust into society at twenty, he moved from one small room to another, never able to find anything he could truly call his own.
Even in this new world, where he had been thrown after his only solace had been reading web novels, things were no different. Honor, fame, all those meaningless things had filled his life, but it was almost impossible to truly call something or someone your own while living in someone else’s body.
That’s why he was always desperate. His desire for what he didn’t have soared without end
This woman who had come to love him as he was now, more than she had ever loved “Baek Woo Jin” before. This woman who saw him, who saw only him, was someone he wanted to claim as his own.
“That’s why I’m fiercely possessive of what’s mine. Once I’ve taken something to heart, once it’s become mine, I’d rather die than let it go.”
Jegal Yeon Ji’s eyes widened in surprise.
It was the first time she had ever felt such intense possessiveness and desire from him. This was the same man who freely shared priceless elixirs, and treasures of the highest value to any martial artists among his subordinates without hesitation.
Her body warmed at the realization. No one had ever wanted her this fiercely before.
It was a strangely unfamiliar yet addictive feeling.
“Like I said before, once you’re bound to me, you can never escape. No, I will not let you escape. Even if, someday in the distant future… Miss Jegal comes to hate me.”
He wondered if he had revealed too much of himself. Could this even be called a confession? Yet it was something he needed to say. Baek Woo Jin intended to stake everything in her life, to claim it fully.
“If you want to run, now might be your last chance. But…”
Was this really something a person confessing his feelings should say?
He tried to make up for his jumbled, tangled words by ending with something impressive, but he couldn’t figure out what to say.
“So, uh, well…”
Even for someone like him who’s been through countless trials, he had his shortcomings and clumsy moments. Human relationships were like that for him. Although he had countless people by his side, he had never confessed his feelings to anyone so sincerely.
There was a reason for the saying “the final touch to the dragon’s eye”—that last, delicate brushstroke that completes the painting of a dragon. He wanted to finish this confession just as beautifully, but his mind was blank like a snowy mountain covered in white.
Who am I kidding?
Finally, he gave up and turned away abruptly. He quickly opened his gourd and took a long swig. When the alcohol flowed through him, his courage which had shrunk like a deflated balloon began to swell again.
He then turned back to Jegal Yeon Ji and spoke in a strong voice.
“If possible, accept it all and stay by my side!”
Please!
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