In an instant, he leaned down slowly, his slender fingers closing gently around her hand....as though he feared she might slip away from the world itself. His lips brushed the back of her hand in the faintest touch…a kiss as soft as a passing breath.
Then he released her just as delicately, as if letting the most fragile thing in the world drift free upon the wind.
Soran remained frozen, stunned where she stood. Her heart pounded so fiercely she nearly lost her breath. Words caught in her throat as her mind scrambled to grasp what had just happened.
All she could manage was a trembling whisper.....
"Y–young master…?"
His lips curled into a sly smile.
"Your hands are so very soft…That alone is enough for me to forgive you. I'll come find you again."
Before Soran could utter even a single reply, the young master turned away, gliding off with a grace like a breeze passing through. Only then did she feel the weight around her wrist.She glanced down, and there it was: the thin jade bracelet now clasped snugly in place.
Her slender fingers brushed the cool stone gently, hardly believing this was not a dream.She searched for the faint silhouette of the young master in the dim corners of the residence....But he had already vanished into the winding corridors of the great house. A soft laugh escaped her lips, half-amused and half-bewildered.
"In truth… the peculiarities of noblemen are much like the dance of the moon upon water,"
Soran whispered, stroking the jade lightly with her fingertips.
The afternoon sunlight bathed the courtyard in pale gold.Leaves rustled softly as though whispering secrets only the heart could understand.And in that still, gentle moment, Soran felt the beginning of a new chapter, woven with mystery, hope, and the tender promise of unexpected kindness.
Inside Youngwon's private library,
the truth was far simpler: it was only a small, empty room.
Youngwon, however, adored reading, so he kept a personal library of his own, no different from a studious young prince.
The room was quiet, save for the turning of pages and the faint breeze brushing past sheer curtains.
Afternoon light streamed through the old wooden window, painting pale streaks of gold across the worn wooden desk piled high with ancient texts.
Youngwon sat behind the table, his slender fingers carefully opening a volume of Confucian teachings.
His calm expression concealed deeper thoughts, yet his eyes shimmered with wandering turmoil as he tried to grasp the philosophies of virtue and duty written within.
"Humility… honesty… respect for one's elders…"
He murmured, as though chanting a spell, his lips forming each word slowly, deliberately.
"These principles shall guide me through heavy burdens…and preserve the honor of my family…"
Though the book was dense with philosophy,His eyes shone with steadfast resolve, a determination to understand these ancient teachings until enlightenment dawned, so that he might overcome the shadows of conflictand mend the strained bonds entangled by duty and fate.
A deep breath escaped him, like the quiet sigh of a heart beginning to hope,opening itself to change.
Autumn - 가을 (Ga-eul)
Youngwon gazed out the old window.
The gentle chill of autumn wind drifted in, red and golden maple leaves scattering along the stone path outside.
His heart tightened at the thought of Inhyeong, the woman he once loved,the one who had walked beside him.
He opened to a clean page, took up his quill,and dipped it into ink with slow, deliberate care, as though each movement could piece together the blurred emotions inside him.
Youngwon's Poem
Leaves drift and fade away, carried by the cold wind.The full moon hides beyond reach, as does the shadow of my heart.Ah… this longing stretches farther than the distant horizon.Even the slightest breeze upon a branch makes my heart tremble so.
Youngwon paused.His hand trembled slightly from the weight of old memories. The pain was like a leaf falling from a branch, slow, quiet, inevitable.
Yet within that sorrow, a small ember of hope still lived.
He returned to his writing, determined to express a love that refused to fade, even as time continued to steal everything away…
Beside his unfinished poem lay a romance novel..."The Mortal's Reverie in the Whirlpool of Farewell."A book written by Youngwon himself.
He had secretly sent the manuscript to a small bookstore outside the city, and it had become a rising favorite. Yet no one knew the true identity of the author.....
The mysterious writer known only as"The Lost Blind Young Master."