Retribution Under a Heavy Sky

Returning to my detached pavilion, I had only one objective: rest.

Yet, remembering how Eighteenth had explicitly mentioned looking forward to seeing me properly dressed up, I hadn’t even been able to sit down. Instead, I had been forced to try on one outfit after another until my head spun. Just thinking about it now made me dizzy.

“Haa.”

I had changed so many times that it was only after arriving at the banquet that I could finally sit down and catch my breath.

Even though I had made it blatantly obvious that my body was frail, Eighteenth had insisted on seeing me in full finery. That was frustrating enough, but arriving at the venue only to find the high-ranking officials of Hefei smugly occupying the prime seats made the situation utterly absurd.

To barge into someone else’s estate, put on insufferable airs, and brazenly down liquor before the main guest of honor had even arrived… I had heard rumors that these bureaucrats were ill-mannered, but I never expected them to disregard the imperial family itself.

“Seo-yul.”

“Yes, Sister?”

At the call, I turned my head to find my older sister watching me with deeply worried eyes. As I blinked in mild confusion, her lips parted slightly.

“You remember, right?”

“Yes.”

Since I had used the excuse of being ill, the plan was for me to stay only for a brief moment before slipping away early. That was what she was reminding me of now.

I offered a reassuring smile and nodded to my sister before turning my gaze back to scan the banquet hall once more.

‘…’

The only guests originally intended for this banquet were the family of the Mangeum Bank and Eighteenth. The only reason the gathering had bloated to this scale was because of them.

Where on earth had the rumor leaked? How had these high-ranking officials from Hefei Castle managed to catch wind of Eighteenth’s presence and crawl all the way here?

Tilted the teacup before me, I shifted my gaze back toward the bureaucrats.

It was only then that I realized the officials, already thoroughly flushed with alcohol, were casting sly glares in my direction.

‘…’

They swaggered about, desperately pretending to be high-born scholars, but they couldn’t conceal the sheer malice in their eyes. Their eyes gleamed with a vulgar curiosity that made it entirely obvious what vile thoughts were churning in their minds. Locking eyes with them, I felt my mood plummet to an all-time low.

‘I will absolutely make you pay for today.’

Gnashing my teeth inwardly, I was about to look away when one man from the group—the very one who had been stealing the most glances at me—raised his voice.

“In any case, the ways of the world truly remain a mystery!”

‘And I certainly don’t understand what goes on inside the minds of you drunks, carousing away before Eighteenth has even arrived.’

Curious to hear what kind of nonsense he was about to spout, I turned my gaze toward him. Another official sitting beside the instigator quickly chimed in.

“My Lord, what matter do you refer to?”

“I speak of that scandalous rumor sweeping through Hefei! I have encountered many bizarre and grotesque tales in my lifetime, but I have never heard of anything more preposterous than this.”

“Is the Mangeum Bank not the very place rumored to make even the Imperial Court take a step back? Their power is so staggering that they could undoubtedly obtain any rare, mystical medicine beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals!”

‘Should I keep listening to this, or should I just leave?’

I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just enjoy their liquor in peace instead of suddenly dragging the name of Geum Seo-yul into the mud. I tried my best to suppress the boiling anger inside me, but the man’s next words finally caused my brow to furrow sharply.

“Is it not so? Of all things, for a man to become pregnant! Though, seeing how my own heart stirs upon looking at such a man today, I suppose it is entirely possible!”

“Ahem, ahem!”

The man looked like a venomous toad, yet he possessed an incredibly foul tongue. As I stared blankly at him with entirely emotionless eyes—his face crimson and bloated from the alcohol as he spewed his reckless vitriol—the officials sitting near him hurriedly averted their gazes.

Seeing how they chose to look away rather than rein him in, I realized they were all cut from the same wretched cloth. I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth, but the man merely glanced around at his peers and let out a mocking cackle, deliberately scraping at my raw nerves once more.

“It seems everyone agrees with me! As expected, I knew everyone found it bizarre! To go so far as to become pregnant, yet fail to properly protect his own lover… Is that not a thoroughly pathetic sight to behold?”

Watching this man stride recklessly over the line into an outright rampage, I could no longer endure it.

Combining the venomous reputation of the notorious Geum Seo-yul over the past five years with my own genuine, burning fury, I opened my mouth to speak.

Suddenly, a sharp clatter echoed from the seat beside me, followed instantly by my mother’s biting, ice-cold voice.

“Can you truly bear the responsibility for the words you have just spoken?”

At her frostbitten tone, the entire banquet hall fell into a deathly, suffocating silence. Yet, the man seemed entirely oblivious to the gravity of the situation. He scowled, glaring back at my mother.

“What responsibility should I bear? Ah, unless you intend to force someone who has already miscarried onto me—”

“I asked if you are prepared to wage war against the Mangeum Bank.”

‘…’

Perhaps it was the sheer, crushing weight of the name ‘Mangeum Bank,’ or perhaps it was the lethal, blade-like glare in my mother’s eyes. Slowly, focus began to return to the man’s drunken, unfocused eyes.

But even if he realized he had blundered catastrophically and tried to perform damage control, it was already far too late.

Indeed, even if by some miracle my family chose to forgive him, I had absolutely no intention of letting him walk away unscathed.

Yet, once again, I was denied the chance to step forward.

Just as my mother opened her mouth to speak further, the doors swung open, and a group of familiar figures appeared.

“…Why is the atmosphere so grim?”

My father, who was entering the banquet hall alongside Prince Eighteenth and my older brother, scanned the room with a deeply bewildered expression. Eventually, his gaze locked onto my mother.

“Madam?”

“Husband.”

At my father’s confused inquiry, my mother’s rigid composure instantly crumbled. As she swayed on her feet, I quickly stood up to support her, prompting my father and brother to rush forward in alarm.

“What on earth happened here?”

“I know this gathering was meant to welcome His Highness and the Grand Officials, but I can no longer stand by and watch these people insult our Mangeum Bank!”

Seeing my father’s utter bewilderment, my sister raised her voice passionately.

Because she rarely ever stepped forward in settings like this, her explosive reaction caused my father’s and brother’s expressions to instantly turn grave.

“Tell me exactly what transpired. Leave out nothing.”

“The truth is…”

Fuming with rage, my sister immediately launched into a detailed recount of the situation, laying bare every single insult that had just been uttered.

“…What?”

“What did you say?”

“Look at Yul! He has turned utterly pale from having such vile words hurled straight at his face!”

Personally, I thought my face would be flushed hot with anger, so I hadn’t realized I looked as though the blood had been drained from me. As I remained silently composed in the wake of my sister’s words, countless gazes pierced into me.

In particular, the stare radiating from Eighteenth was hotter than anything I had ever felt before.

I briefly met his gaze, which carried a weight I couldn’t quite decipher, before casting my eyes down. As I did, I noticed his hands curling into tight, trembling fists.

“So, at a gathering explicitly arranged for me, someone dared to spew such impious profanity.”

“Mercy! Please show mercy, Your Highness!”

At Eighteenth’s cold declaration, the man who had spewed the insults—along with the rest of the officials—finally seemed to snap awake.

They scrambled out of their seats and threw themselves flat onto the ground. A few of them, entirely overcome by the alcohol, practically collapsed into their prostrations. Looking at their pathetic display, it felt like a miracle that Hefei had functioned properly at all until now.

“The Emperor despises nothing more than those who slander others. And I, executing His Majesty’s decrees, hold the exact same view.”

‘…’

“Now, tell me. Who among you dared to insult the host and ruin the atmosphere of my banquet?”

“It was that man! And that one over there joined in as well!”

As if she had been waiting for this exact question, my sister immediately pointed her finger, identifying every single official who had participated.

The men she pointed at hurriedly bowed their heads even lower, desperately trying to hide. Because of this, I had a front-row seat to the sheer, unadulterated despair settling onto their faces.

‘You should have known when to draw the line.’

While it was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t exact vengeance with my own hands, looking at it another way, it was a perfectly clean victory achieved without lifting a single finger.

After thoroughly pointing out everyone involved, my sister finally lowered her hand. Eighteenth nodded slowly, casting a brief glance at me before shifting his hardened, icy expression back toward the cowering bureaucrats.

“I shall ask one more time. Who among you dared to utter such reckless insults against the Mangeum Bank, and against Young Master Seo-yul, whom I hold dear?”

‘…’

“I asked who it was.”

When Eighteenth growled in a flat, monotonic voice, the surrounding officials finally began to shift their gazes toward the true culprit.

Sensing that every single eye in the room was pinned entirely on him, the main offender finally slammed his forehead against the floor.

“M-Mercy… Please show mercy…”

“Mercy is a virtue reserved for those who understand how to be grateful for it. As of this day, you are stripped of your official rank. Furthermore, I will ensure that not a single soul up to your eighth degree of kinship will ever set foot in the civil service again.”

Indeed, if he had possessed even a shred of sense to discern where he could wag his tongue, a ruinous disaster like this would never have befallen him.

Watching Eighteenth—no, Prince Eighteenth—defend me so thoroughly and decisively that it cleared away all my lingering frustration, I felt his favorability rating, which had been deeply in the negatives, crawl up just a tiny fraction.

Feeling a wave of relief wash over me, I let out a soft, quiet sigh. Hearing this, Prince Eighteenth closed the distance between us in a flash and tightly grasped my hand.

“Young Master Seo-yul, are you unhurt?”

“Yes. I can only offer my deepest gratitude for your profound concern, Your Highness.”

“Think nothing of it. Had I known such an incident would occur, I would have postponed our discussions until tomorrow.”

The length of their prior discussion wasn’t the issue. The blame rested entirely on that wretched fool who couldn’t control his own mouth.

…Still, even though it was physically comfortable to have the situation resolved before I even had to step forward, I couldn’t shake off a strange, lingering sense of discomfort.

And it was obvious why.

While my heart felt warm knowing there were people eager to protect me, to any outside observer, this entire ordeal would look like nothing short of a theatrical farce.

‘…’

Experiencing this firsthand made me realize one thing with absolute certainty: those absurd rumors regarding my alleged pregnancy and miscarriage were profoundly detrimental to both myself and the Mangeum Bank.

I resolved that the moment Prince Eighteenth returned to the capital, I would put much more effort into correcting those rumors once and for all. Just as the thought crossed my mind, the grip of the man holding my hand tightened significantly.

I immediately lifted my gaze, locking eyes directly with Prince Eighteenth.