Stolen Ch 5 part 1

“Why won’t you explain what’s going on?”

When Yi-ryung asked, she quickly realized how stupid this question was.

It was stupid to ask a man who couldn’t speak to explain something.

But she had no idea what was happening right now.

The man had begun packing.

He packed Yi-ryung’s clothes in a bundle along with the things she brought. He even packed his own clothes along with her medicine that he had been brewing for her. He then went outside the house and moved various things onto the cart.

Just by looking at his behavior, she could tell that he was preparing to leave this house.

But why were they suddenly leaving this house?

“I like it here.”

Although this house was small and shabby, Yi-ryung liked this place.

Even though they could only rely on a brazier to survive the cold and the space was shabby with mud walls, this house was a place that brought her happiness.

So why did he want to leave?

Besides, the rabbits were here too.

A few days ago, they put a roof on the rabbit enclosure.

She had also prepared a lot of dried grass for the rabbits to eat.

She was happy that she had made enough to feed the rabbits all winter. But if they abandoned this house and went somewhere else, what would she do with the rabbits and the dried grass?

Winter was coming soon.

She couldn’t leave the rabbits behind.

“Okay. I want to take the rabbits with us when we go. I’ll have to take some of the dried grass with me too.”

She felt that the man wouldn’t be doing all this for no reason.

Yi-ryung trusted him.

There must be a good reason for all this.

The man walked to Yi-ryung and gently tapped her shoulder.

Strangely enough, she could tell what he was trying to say just by his actions alone.

He was clearly telling her not to worry. That he would take the rabbits with them.

He sat Yi-ryung down on the floor, put a padded coat over her shoulders, opened the door, and placed the brazier next to her.

Then he pointed over to the fence with his hand before pointing to his chest.

It meant that he would be back soon, so she should wait here.

Although she didn’t know where they were moving to, it was definitely not too far from here.

It was clear that he intended to move the baggage first with the cart and come back.

The man walked through the fence, carrying a cart full of firewood, sacks of rice, and various other things.

A little over an hour later, the man returned.

That day, the man went back and forth three times, carrying baggage in the cart.

“Stay still.”

Yi-ryung had the man sit in the room by the flickering lamp and began to do what she had always wanted to do.

It was something she had wanted to do the whole time she was here.

One of them was to shave off the man’s bushy beard, and the other was to comb out the man’s unkempt hair.

Yi-ryung took out one of her most prized possessions: her comb.

The comb was an heirloom from her mother.

She took out the comb she had never used in fear of wearing it out and sat behind him.

And then she began to slowly comb his hair.

His hair was quite tangled and difficult to comb.

Still, Yi-ryung patiently unraveled each strand, one by one.

The man quietly sat there while she combed his hair.

“Does it hurt?”

Every time Yi-ryung asked the man this question, he shook his head.

“Once I finish combing your hair, can I shave your beard?”

Yi-ryung’s ultimate goal was that beard.

She couldn’t understand why he grew out his beard like this.

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment when he heard that she wanted to shave his beard.

“Do you have a big scar on your face?”

She was only trying to shave his beard.

But why was he hesitating?

Was there a big scar on his face that he didn’t want to show?

“If you don’t want me to, I’ll shave the beard later. But I don’t care if you have a big scar on your face. Your face doesn’t matter at all.”

Yi-ryung combed his hair as she muttered to herself.

These words were her truth.

The man’s face that was hidden beneath his beard didn’t really matter to Yi-ryung.

It didn’t matter if he had a big scar on his face or if he was an incredibly ugly man.

Because she hadn’t given her heart to this man just by looking at his face.

The reason Yi-ryung fell in love with this man was not because of his face but because of the way he treated her.

It was because of this man’s sincerity towards her.

Because she had fallen for him due to his sincerity, nothing else mattered.

Just like how this man did not put any importance in her past.

If the man had a big scar on his face, then she had a big scar on her body.

Her big scar was being raped by an unknown assailant, but this man didn’t care about it at all.

This man might have a scar too.

He may have a scar, whether it was on his face or some other place she was not aware of.

But it didn’t matter.

If people with scars, people with shortcomings, people with flaws could live by relying on each other like this, that was enough.

If they could live each day holding each other in a warm embrace, that was enough.

Yi-ryung was so grateful to him for treasuring her, so he was even more precious to her.

“When will all the baggage be completely moved?”

Today, the man carried the cart out about three times.

But there was still a lot of baggage left in the house.

They didn’t even have any furniture in the house, so why was there so much to take? Most of it was grain and firewood in the barn and also the tools the man used.

Wouldn’t it take four more days to carry all of this by cart?

She knew that the move was going slowly because he had to brew her medicine and cook the meals in between.

Yi-ryung still didn’t know how to take care of herself.

She wanted to learn, but the man wouldn’t let her.

He even did the laundry.

The man did not let a single drop of water touch her hands.

Therefore, Yi-ryung didn’t even know how to do the laundry.

Because the man couldn’t talk back, Yi-ryung always talked to herself.

But even as she talked to herself, she felt happy.

When she said something, the man would nod or stare blankly at her, giving her a non-answer.

“It’s almost done.”

After combing his hair, Yi-ryung fumbled around with her hands to find something with which to tie the man’s hair.

His hair was so short, so he didn’t have to tie it up, but Yi-ryung insisted on tying up the handful of hair anyway.

The ribbon Yi-ryung used to tie his hair was the ribbon that her mother had personally embroidered for her tenth birthday.

His short hair was tied with a ribbon embroidered with yellow thread on red cloth. But the man looked good in red, so it didn’t look strange at all.

She gave the man both of the things she treasured most.

She combed his hair with her mother’s comb and tied his hair with the ribbon her mother gave her.

Although she did not have a formal wedding with this man, Yi-ryung thought that this could be considered a wedding gift, so it was as good as having had a wedding.

The man gave her rabbits, and she gave the man a ribbon.

Since they exchanged gifts like this, no matter what anyone said, they were now a married couple.

“Let’s shave your beard later. Okay?”

Yi-ryung flashed him a faint smile and ran her hand through his bushy beard.

The man nodded.

Yi-ryung was suddenly pulled into his arms.

He laid her down on the blanket while holding her in an embrace.

Yi-ryung closed her eyes under his body as it pressed down on her.

She really liked the feel of his hands on her skin.

She liked his breaths as he swallowed her breast.

A while later, when she opened her eyes, she saw the red ribbon she had tied around his hair fluttering in front of her.

The red ribbon was shaking along with the man’s body as it shook on top of her.

* * *

The man opened his eyes just after midnight.

He had fallen asleep earlier than usual.

He chose to go to bed early because he had a lot of work to do in the morning.

He would be finished moving everything in a day or two.

The new house they were moving into needed some more work.

There were some parts that were a bit dilapidated because they had been left unattended for a long time. So he had to fix them in order to safely get through the winter. Therefore it took some time to do some repairs while moving things.

But it would take three days at most.

There was still time.

All he’d have to do is leave this house before the Seventh Prince Sadok carried out his plan.

Then no one would be able to find them.

Even if Sadok succeeded in overthrowing the Emperor, who could find them if they did not reveal themselves to the world?

The man knew that he was betraying Sadok.

But he wanted to have her even if it meant betraying his benefactor.

It was an odious heart to have.

Even so, he wanted to live with her now. Even if it meant paying for his sins with his death.

There was only one thing he wished for.

The man sat up and looked at the door.

He definitely felt someone’s presence a little while ago.

It was not time for Ja-in to come.

Ja-in always came around dawn.

After confirming that Yi-ryung was deep asleep, he opened the door and went out.

The first thing he noticed when he stepped outside was the smell of blood.

The man’s job was to slaughter livestock.

All day long, he held a knife in his hand and killed animals.

There was no way he wouldn’t be able to recognize the smell of blood.

It was clearly the smell of blood.

The man immediately knew whose blood it was.

Because something black was wriggling under the fence.

“How did you end up like this?”

The man walked over to the fence and knelt down in front of Ja-in, who was writhing on the ground.

Ja-in was bleeding from stab wounds all over his body.

He was gravely injured.

It was too early to say if it was anything life-threatening.

But what on earth had happened?

“The rebellion…”

Ja-in barely managed to open his mouth.

His hands were also covered in blood.

“It was discovered. So everyone involved was arrested, and…”

The man already knew what he was going to say without having to hear any more.

Although the operation had been prepared in secret, it had been discovered by the Emperor.

The Emperor had held his position for a long time.

He was cautious, suspicious, cunning, and cruel.

There was no way he wouldn’t have detected any suspicious movement.

Even though the Seventh King Sadok must have prepared and planned everything meticulously, the heavens had chosen the Emperor as the victor.

Since they were caught before they even attempted the revolt, it was certain that the Seventh Prince and all those involved would be killed.

This is what the man had hoped for.

Sadok’s plans were fated to end up this way from the beginning.

If this rebellion was successful, Yi-ryung would return and marry the Crown Prince, but if it failed, the man would take charge of Yi-ryung and become her husband.

Sadok had prepared these two paths for Yi-ryung.

Now that the first path had failed, the second path remained.

It was what the man had hoped for, and it was what the man had already been doing.

He should have been happy.

He should have been glad that the uprising had failed and that Yi-ryung would have no place to return to.

He should have been happy that he didn’t steal Yi-ryung. That Yi-ryung was now rightfully his, but he didn’t feel happy at all.

“Let’s start by treating your wounds.”

The man helped Ja-in up.

He had no intention of asking why it failed.

Knowing the reason wouldn’t change anything.

The man took Ja-in to the barn and took off his clothes.

There were several stab wounds on his upper body.

“You did well coming here.”

He must have come here in this condition because of Yi-ryung.

This man was a loyal bodyguard, and he came here bleeding because he couldn’t die and leave his mistress behind.

Luckily, he had bought some medicine beforehand.

He didn’t know that the ointment he had bought at Yi-ryung’s insistence would be used like this.

“Please take care of the young lady.”

Ja-in looked at the man with a pale face.

“This place can become dangerous as well, so it would be best for you to take the young lady and go far away.”

That’s what he had planned on doing anyway.

But the man didn’t say this.

“What has become of His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”

“I see.”

Not knowing whether he was dead or alive meant that he was as good as dead.

“What about the Seventh Prince…”

“He was just arrested and taken away, so he’s probably…”

Ja-in mumbled out an answer.

He couldn’t bear to speak of his master’s death with his own mouth.

“There was a traitor. So the plot was discovered…”

“Since this is being carried out by humans, it isn’t surprising that one would betray the rest.”

The man’s heart throbbed when he heard the word ‘traitor’.

Although he did not betray the rebellion, he had been thinking of betraying Sadok and running away with Yi-ryung.

In that sense, he himself was also a traitor.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“I… intend to save the Seventh Prince.”

“You’re going to die a dog’s death.”

“I cannot survive alone and abandon my master. Even if I die, I must die with him.”

The man closed his mouth at Ja-in’s answer.

He understood Ja-in’s loyalty.

For some people, loyalty was more precious than life itself.

But for him, the most precious thing was not mercy, loyalty, or law. It was Yi-ryung.

If Yi-ryung smiled, he felt like he could do anything. And if he could live with Yi-ryung, he would do anything.

If he had to be a traitor, he would do it. And if he had to become a murderer, he would do that too.

“Stay here until your wounds heal. Who can you possibly save in that state?”

“The young lady…”

“I won’t tell her anything.”

“Thank you.”

The man exited the barn and returned with an old quilt in his hands.

He covered Ja-in’s body with it and took out an unused brazier. He put firewood in it and started a fire.

“It’s cold.”

After saying this, he left the barn.

It was still dark.

Something cold touched the back of his hand as he stood out in the yard.

He looked up at the sky and saw something white slowly falling down.

It was snow.

It had been getting cold lately, and now it was snowing.

He could hear the rabbits rustling inside the covered enclosure in the corner of the yard.

If he covered the ground with some straw, they would be a little warmer and not freeze to death.

They were animals that originally lived by digging holes and burrowing, so he wasn’t sure if they’d survive a makeshift cage like this.

Actually, this was also his first time raising rabbits.

He’d only slaughtered animals. He’d never raised any.

He’d never lived with someone before.

He had always been alone since he was little, and he was used to living alone.

He never dreamed of living with anyone, be it an animal or a person.

But now, he had Yi-ryung by his side and he was also raising rabbits.

It was quite a satisfying life.

If he could continue to live like this, he would certainly be satisfied.

Yi-ryung, himself, and the rabbits.

They could forget about the world and live happily.

“I can probably move all the baggage in two days.”

The man muttered as he looked up at the white snow falling from the night sky.

He raised his hand and touched the ribbon that tied his short hair together.

Yi-ryung had given this to him.

He was certain that it was something precious to her.

Considering the fact that Yi-ryung, who didn’t wear a hair ribbon, brought this with her when she left Yi-an Palace, it must mean that it was something very precious.

And she had given it to him.

But he didn’t give her anything.

Yi-ryung gave him everything that was precious to her, but he had not given anything in return.

It was unacceptable for someone to be this shameless.

“Yeah. A person should have some shame.”

The man muttered quietly.

A person should have some shame. He repeated this to himself.