Chapter 128: Seo Hwi

"So you want to keep the Seo's by you by marrying Yeon and giving her half of your assets over guilt?" Even I could hear the hint of bitter jealously in her voice that was making me uncomfortable in front of the man I had grown up with. But this was the first time I had seen where he didn't fly into a rage to defend himself or put the blame onto his brith circumstances. Instead he just smiled innocently at her as he made his points knows to us. "Yes, I would transfer half of my wealth of Yeon for nothing. But I do have my reasons as to why she deserves it, reasons that a woman like you would not understand." "And just what is that supposed to mean?" "Yeon helped me to be where I am today, so of course I would fulfil her every wish and desire that she has. She has restored my reputation in the palace depict my father becoming a traitor to the nation that I serve, the Emperor has strengthened his belief in me and I am now his right hand man. Instead of contempt and constant bullying that I had to put up with my entire life, Yeon has given me face and respect in my new status. She took care of me, she talked to me and listened Tony ideas without judgment and she always treated me as her closest being. So why can't I give her everything that I had since she worked to hard to give me everything I have desired since I was locked up in this hellhole by myself since my mother's death?" There was nothing that either of us could say to that; I knew that Seon-Ho's father had broken him but he would barely let me anywhere near his son as it was and he had a lot of power when he did what he did to us. I couldn't get any closer to Seon-Ho even if I tired and my efforts were spent on my sister; it was a regret that was going to haunt me until the day I died. I had no idea if something had happened between them already but it looked like Yeon had touched Seon-Ho in a way that I just wasn't able to. But I was aware of his lonely personality more than anybody else despite his efforts to hide it from me; once he opened up to someone like he had evidently did to my sister, there was no chance in hell that he was ever going to let them go, not in this broken lifetime that he was forced to survive in. And now I was stuck in dilemma myself; i hated the fact that my sister would be educated out of my sight when I barely had any time with her. But do I still find a groom for her? Should I just make a home for her and myself after she had finished her education? Or do I give her to the man who looked like he was willing to risk out precarious relationship to steal her from me yet again. But this time he was offering my lowborn disabled sister everything myself and my father could only dream of; marriage with every benefit that a noble woman would receive and more than her entire family would get in the lifetime. Good god on earth, this is exactly why I made her disguise herself into an awkward pre-teenage girl with no special talents at all to hide her intellect and progressive mind. Our father was right; as soon as a woman displayed even a fraction of their reasoning and intelligence, every man in her path would go out of their way to claim her in marriage. When I told Yeon I was going to look for a groom for her, this is not what I had in mind at all.

"Hwi?" "Just…give her the space she needs to complete her education and I will figure this out later." "Don't even think about putting this off, you know more than anyone how men react to an intelligent woman. They will not be able to take it and they will bully her worse than any woman could. It is a competitive world for her sex, and men would take any advantage over jealous women to do their bidding and you know it." "What the hell are you saying now?" "Educated women can only marry men they are educated alongside with. Look at the attention and new reputation that Yeon has throughout the kingdom, do you really think that they will let her be educated in peace? Her educational level almost matches mine and she has never even hd any schooling before." "So what do you suggest that I do?" "Agree to this marriage so I can send her over there under the protection of being my fiancé. A single woman being educated amongst men will only court a lot of disasters, and you cannot deny that many have approach you for her hand in marriage already can you? No mater how angry you are at me or how much you want to keep Yeon to herself, you know that you still cannot trust anyone in this world with her apart from me even to this day." "I…I…" "I have never let Yeon down in my care and I never will. And honestly speaking, you know I cannot be around anyone I do not trust. I do not have any hope of marriage myself or having my own family unless Yeon is the one who can become my spouse and give me the children that she herself has always wanted and you know it delisted her constant objections that come from her disability that I have witnessed myself."

"Enjoyed that, did you? Stealing my sister and enjoying the benefits she gave you? Good food? Good clothes?" "Good perfume, warm bedroom, hotter bath's, sleeping incense…I had to admit, I never thought the day would come where I would be envious of you, but here I am admitting it. And don't think that your dry jokes can make up for the fact that you hid you sister under those ugly big rags she had to wear and those pigtails she had until she was 16!" "Number one, it was for her safety, and number two it was my father's idea for her to act that way after his death." "And what does that mean now? Why are you and your father so damned paranoid about her?" "For the same reason that you are, or why else would you storm in here with such an attitude when my sister is perfectly fine where she is?"

"I don't know what you are talking about" he muttered in reply as his face was getting redder and redder by the second, and for some reason that I couldn't explain, I felt my heart drop into my stomach when I saw this. Only Yeon would get that reaction out of someone who was so rigid like Seon-Ho. "You know what day and age we are living in; which community would welcome an intelligent and educated woman? A woman who has been a social outcast since childhood because of the epilepsy that she developed from trauma instead of genetics? Do me a favour, go back to the school and watch her, take a good look at all of the scenarios that my sister will be pulled into due to jealousy? Ambition? Imagine the most beautiful of kisengs coming here and taking up all the customers of the other girls here? Wouldn't they want to kill her? Bully her? Make her life a living hell? And that's just the women, my sister is going up against men as well, men who have a lot to lose if they fail just like you did to me in the military exam."

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"Why does it sound like you already have a plan?" "Because I do and it was none other than Yeon who pulled it all together for me. Was your sister born on a lucky day or something? How is it possible that she is in the middle of almost everything? i can ask you that, since you have hidden so much of her from me." "She was always like this, even my father knew it when he saw the signs of how intelligent she was even as a toddler. She was born with so much talent, more so than any son of noblemen than we have known for decades, even centuries. But I had to admit, even though father always gave Yeon freedom, but there was part of him that always wanted her to have her own family, no matter how stubborn she is being about the issue, My sister isn't 100% the little girl she used to be, that is why. She is embarrassed by her own illness that the entire village has witnessed, no wonder she wants to start a new life somewhere new." "Yeon is only running away because she already has someone in her heart, but will not admit it." This rendered Hwi and myself silent but for very different reasons.

I also told him I knew about Yeon's new friend that Hwa-Wol wasn't too sure about, and the connection that she had to the Prince himself, as just as I had expected, made his mouth fall open before rolling his eyes as if he was sued to his sister being the centre of everything. "So what's the plan?" "What's wrong if I use myself as bait?" "On my own sister? Have you lost your damned mind?" "Ok, I'll just leave her in the hands of the Young Master who likes her very much, along with the 6 other concubines he has. Or some of the father's of her male colleagues who are already looking at her to add to their now lists of mistresses. All of her male colleagues are threatened by her intelligence already since she is the highest ranking student there, so even if they did propose to her via you, do you really think that they will treat her well? Anyways, it isn't about Yeon, for now. "Still…" "Better me than anyone else, don't you think?" "Not really." "And why is that." "Do you really think I'm going to let you anywhere near her with your woman that clearly wants to kill her like how she framed her for the palace poisonings? Yeon's safety comes before your plans, so you had better stay away from this and just do your part without interacting with my sister I mean it. I will take over for now." "And who will you use?" "You think my sister already doesn't have men lining up for her hand in marriage already? I can use any one of those men." He was deliberately testing me, and I knew it, but not even he could keep me away from Yeon no matter what his decision was as her older brother, it was far too late for that now.

"Hwi, i know you are upset about this and I really should apologise to you for this, but…" "But what?" "I will not because she isn't worth it." "What do you mean?" "She has turned into an ice queen since your absence and is capable of doing anything to raise her social status, including copying your sister and stealing her ideas, far more than you can imagine.

"So we get the girl, threaten the boy's father with a repeat of the scandal?" "That will weaken the Prince's hold on the scholar department, and in the meantime, the rest of you figure out how to dismantle the rest of the prince's men, before he gets us to kill each other. And of course, I have to record everything as proof to the King, who is the only one who can sentence the prince…" "But…" "But there is one more enemy we all have on our backs that we may not be able to control; the Princess Consort of your prince. My father died due to the failure of her enemies orders, but what do you think will stop her from scouting me to take down her enemies in the palace to save my own life? She might also start instigating you and myself to fight for good measure, she might even grant me concubines as the scholar department is on the Prince's behalf to control me. That is where the girls come in, of course." "And how do you suppose that will go?" He snapped at me and I had to really restrain myself from strangling him right there and then. "I own Ihwaru since I am funding it, so I might sell it to her where she can use the kisaengs as spies on her behalf to watch the Third Prince since he still goes there, due to her well-known obsession with him."