Chapter 405: Goodbye!?

Around the time I arrived at the destination following Pae Woo-cheol’s guidance.

I saw a carriage I hadn’t seen before entering the campsite.

Seeing the carriage that looked somehow messed up, and the horse panting as if extremely exhausted.

It seemed like the carriage had been driven quite roughly.

‘…Isn’t it going to die like that?’

The horse looked like it could die at any moment.

Judging by its muscle condition and the aura it gave off, it looked like a very high-quality horse.

How on earth could one drive a carriage to make it end up like this? I moved my steps, looking at the panting horse as if it were pitiful.

Walking a little further, I saw a familiar face.

It was Moyong Hi-ah, collapsed while clutching the carriage as if exhausted.

Why is she over there acting like that…?

Approaching her cautiously at the sight, I asked her.

“Why are you like this?”

“M-Master… Ugh…”

Moyong Hi-ah’s condition was not good at all.

Not only was her hair disheveled, but her originally beautiful appearance looked quite haggard.

What is it? Did she get motion sickness?

‘No way.’

Moyong Hi-ah is a martial artist who has reached a first-class level in her own right. It wasn’t possible for her to be in this state from mere motion sickness, of all things.

“Are you okay…?”

“No…”

“Yeah, you don’t look okay.”

What could have happened to make her this way?

“…”

Watching her quietly, I moved closer and knelt on one knee.

As I suddenly met her gaze, Moyong Hi-ah looked at me as if asking why.

I reached out and gently brushed aside Moyong Hi-ah’s hair that was covering her cheek.

It was because the hair stuck to her skin, perhaps from cold sweat, was quite bothersome.

“…!”

Was that the problem? Moyong Hi-ah’s eyes suddenly widened.

Following that, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly snatched the hand brushing her cheek.

“What is it?”

“Hmm…?”

My hand suddenly grabbed, I looked at Moyong Hi-ah with a bewildered expression.

“This… what is this?”

“What do you mean, what is this?”

I asked with some puzzlement at Moyong Hi-ah’s sudden action, but her reaction didn’t subside.

She said to me.

“Why are you suddenly flirting?”

“What?”

What crazy talk is this all of a sudden? Who was flirting?

“No… what is this, really? Did you eat something wrong?”

“You seem like the one who ate something wrong…? Don’t you have a fever?”

As I tried to lightly touch her forehead, Moyong Hi-ah flinched back in surprise.

“R-really, why are you acting like this.”

“…No.”

“Did something happen…? Are you sick somewhere?”

I wondered why she was reacting so flusteredly. Why on earth is she acting like that?

Just as I started wondering if my actions were somehow strange.

‘Hmm.’

Sensing something strange, I put a little distance between myself and Moyong Hi-ah.

Because the thought that the distance had become somewhat narrow crossed my mind.

‘This…’

Could it be because, during the previous conversation with the Poison King, I recognized that these kids were already inside me?

Is she acting like this because she realized her possessiveness towards me?

Her behavior seemed somewhat strange.

‘I need to be careful.’

Thinking about that made my stomach feel inexplicably bloated.

It felt like unnecessary self-loathing was pouring in.

Not yet.

‘Not yet.’

I repeated inwardly.

Whatever it was, I shouldn’t hold it in my arms yet.

Leaving the exhausted-looking Moyong Hi-ah, I stood up.

‘I heard Baek Ryeon-geom also arrived.’

Since Moyong Hi-ah also seemed to have arrived safely, I figured I could stop worrying now.

Now that a superior has arrived, I should greet them first. I decided to ask a servant to take care of Moyong Hi-ah and let her rest, and that I should go find Baek Ryeon-geom now.

Just as I was heading in that direction.

I turned back, looked at Moyong Hi-ah, and left a message.

“Come to me tonight.”

“…!”

After leaving the message, I disappeared to find Baek Ryeon-geom, and Moyong Hi-ah, left alone, wore a vacant expression looking in the direction I had gone.

The young man I met after a long time somehow felt a little different.

I was flustered because that changed feeling felt much hotter than expected.

Moreover.

‘What is this… really.’

Moyong Hi-ah knew that his words didn’t carry any particular hidden meaning.

As it was time to receive his passion, she figured he called her for that reason.

-Come to me tonight.

The sensation felt from the words was quite subtle.

If he had said this intentionally, it would have felt quite annoying, but Moyong Hi-ah knew he wasn’t the type of person to stir up trouble like that.

Which is why, even more so…

“…Honestly, what a petty person.”

There were many reasons why she didn’t like it.

---

It wasn’t particularly difficult for me to find Baek Ryeon-geom.

The fact that Pae Woo-cheol had already come to deliver a message to me meant that Baek Ryeon-geom had moved as soon as they arrived.

Since the carriage had arrived and Baek Ryeon-geom would head somewhere, there was only one place they could have gone.

As heading towards the leader of the group was the natural course of action, Baek Ryeon-geom must have headed for the Poison King.

Thinking so, I headed towards where the people of the Tang family were gathered.

Sure enough.

I saw an unfamiliar figure standing among the Poison King’s group.

Even.

“It’s been a while!”

The voice that reached me was also quite loud.

My gaze shifted.

Hahaha-! It was directed towards the woman facing the Poison King, laughing as if delighted.

The woman looked exactly the same as when I first met her.

“Should I call you Tang Family Head now?”

At the words of the woman, Baek Ryeon-geom, the Poison King merely smiled as if taken aback.

“It’s been a long time, Baek Ryeon-geom.”

“I heard the news that you became the Family Head.”

“That was already over ten years ago…”

As the Poison King said that as if incredulously, Baek Ryeon-geom chuckled sheepishly.

“It’s just that I’m not usually interested in worldly affairs.”

“Putting that aside… May I ask why you, Baek Ryeon-geom, have come?”

For what purpose have you come here? The Poison King asked Baek Ryeon-geom.

Hearing the question, Baek Ryeon-geom tilted her head.

Her expression was as if asking why he would ask such an obvious question.

“It’s nothing else, my child felt anxious about going on a long journey, so they sent me as an escort.”

“…You, Baek Ryeon-geom, as an escort?”

“Yes.”

The Poison King looked at her doubtfully.

I thought I would feel the same way if I were him.

It was only natural to find it strange that someone of Baek Ryeon-geom’s caliber would go as an escort.

‘Does this mean she came as Moyong Hi-ah’s escort?’

Of course, it wasn’t a situation where the Poison King could say anything about it.

There was no reason to stop her or anything.

A martial artist of Baek Ryeon-geom’s level would also be helpful for transportation, so it was indeed not a bad participation for the Poison King.

‘He looks quite reluctant.’

Although I didn’t know what kind of person Baek Ryeon-geom was, I could tell she was an unusual figure, enough for the Poison King to be so reluctant.

Such an expression from the Poison King, who seemed adept at politics… What on earth has Baek Ryeon-geom been up to?

“Anyway, that’s how it is, so please take good care of me.”

“…”

What does ‘that’s how it is’ even mean?

As I slowly approached and listened to the conversation, the flow of the story was quite strange.

‘Is that person really of Moyong family lineage?’

To be a member of the Moyong family, characterized by ideals and calculated actions, she gave off a feeling of unpredictability.

She certainly looked the part.

Why is she so different from her appearance? I couldn’t understand it no matter how I looked.

“Oh, and… Oh.”

Baek Ryeon-geom, who had been engrossed in conversation with the Poison King, seemed to sense my presence and turned her gaze this way.

Perhaps because of that, she suddenly approached me, leaving her conversation with the Poison King.

“Hello!?”

She came right up to me and shouted like that.

Her greeting was so energetic it almost made my ears ring.

“We’ve met before, right?”

I couldn’t say anything to her question, asked with a bright smile.

“Hello. Senior.”

At my words, Baek Ryeon-geom frowned as if displeased.

“Your address is still so stiff? I told you to call me ‘Noona’.”

“That’s a bit…”

Calling an auntie who looked about my father’s age ‘Noona’ felt rather shameless.

‘Besides.’

For what reason?

Did she really set out as an escort upon Baek Cheon-geom-ju’s request?

I didn’t truly believe that was the case.

It felt like there was some other reason.

‘It’s not my business to worry about.’

I thought it wasn’t something I needed to look into further.

Seeing Baek Ryeon-geom reminds me of Gu Huibi, so I’m hesitant, but…

Judging by my feelings, she didn’t seem like a bad person.

It should be fine as long as I keep an appropriate distance.

Just as I was about to nod, thinking that.

“Well then, please take good care of me from now on.”

“Yes… I’ll take good c… Huh?”

I had to wear a puzzled expression at Baek Ryeon-geom’s words.

Take good care of me? For what?

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh? Didn’t I say it earlier? That I came as an escort.”

“Yes, I heard that, but…”

What does that have to do with me?

“I don’t see the connection between that and what you’re saying…”

“Of course, there is.”

Baek Ryeon-geom replied with a hearty laugh at my words.

“I came as your escort. So who else would I be talking to?”

“What?!”

At those shocking words, I felt like my soul was leaving my body.

The person Baek Ryeon-geom was escorting wasn’t Moyong Hi-ah?

Moreover.

“…Me?”

She came out of nowhere to escort me? What on earth is this?

As I stared at Baek Ryeon-geom with a dumbfounded expression, she maintained her smile as she looked at me.

“So, please take care of me, okay? Nephew-in-law.”

The preceding statement was so shocking that I didn’t even properly register the title that followed.