Garan hadn’t enjoyed himself like this in many years. The more furious this woman became, the happier he felt. What did this mean?

How dare she put me through so much trouble and escape!

Whenever he recalled what had happened at the ChiHwaRu, he’d wake up from his sleep and burst up from his bed. She dared to steal his lips before slapping his cheek. And this woman dared to kick him in between his legs. Did she not know what would happen if that part of a man was destroyed?

And he couldn’t forget how she had escaped with his horse in that kind of outfit. The clothing had drooped down due to the rainy wind. Her pale, exposed back. Her disheveled hair that smelled like peonies. Although she looked like a crazy woman, she kept appearing in his dreams.

He must be losing his mind!

Now wasn’t the time to think thoughts like these. He needed to figure out what this ‘Heukra’ was and why it went around with his mother’s waistband.

He had also seen that strange mark at the ChiHwaRu. The seal of the three-legged crow. It was definitely a seal of the ancient civilization of Paran. If this girl had seen that symbol as well, he believed that she would come to the Academy to find any clues related to it.

He had already seen all the clues at the Academy, but he himself didn’t know why he had waited for her at the Academy for the past three days.

And as expected, the woman appeared at the Academy. This time, she wasn’t a courtesan. Instead, she came as dressed as a scholar. However, how could he forget her face? Her scent…

“Untie me.”

She warned chillingly as she glared at him. He enjoyed seeing her furious expression.

Hmph, I already know what will happen if I untie you, so why would I do something so stupid like that?

Considering what she did to him at the ChiHwaRu, this was nothing. Even if she didn’t know who he truly was, she dared to slap the cheek of a king and even steal his horse. Considering her crimes, hanging her from the ceiling was a small price to pay.

However, it didn’t matter right now. He needed to know who this woman was and why she was chasing after the Heukra.

“Now, why don’t you tell me? Who are you?”

He smiled coldly as he gripped her chin with one hand. He felt her flinch, but all the playfulness had left his eyes.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to punish you.”

“Very funny.”

Yujo grit her teeth and spit out her next words.

“Why don’t you tell me who you are? Why are you chasing after the Heukra?”

“I’m…”

Garan laughed coldly.

“That’s none of your business.”

He arrogantly disregarded her.

“Well, my identity is none of your business as well.”

Ha! She sure had guts. Garan continued to grasp her chin as he glared down at her. How strange. Why wasn’t he angry? Why was he having so much fun?

Usually, in situations like this, he would just torture her for information.

However, he didn’t feel like doing that right now. Actually, he wanted to give her the bamboo slip she so desperately wanted.

Men were such fickle creatures.

Garan scoffed at himself. He gripped her chin even harder.

He examined her face. She was as impertinent and as sassy as ever. The slightly slanted eyes that were glaring daggers at him reminded him of a cat’s. Her cheeks were flushed because she had been jumping from roof to roof as she pursued him earlier.

Cute.

Garan couldn’t believe the thought that just popped into his head.

This woman was cute. Seeing her hanging in the air like this made her seem even cuter. Her sharp eyes, her nose, her red lips… They were all cute. He wanted to eat her up.

And wasn’t this girl the one who stole his lips first?

He should repay the kindness.

Garan pulled her face to his and bit her soft lips.

She tasted as tart as the cherries that ripened in the spring and as sweet as honey. Just as her fragrance began to gradually fill his mouth, he felt a sting. She had bitten his lips as if she were going to rip them off.

Oh my, was there a bee hidden inside the flower?

Their eyes met. Her eyes were clearly overflowing with wrath.

Garan burst out laughing.

Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head for another kiss as if he were punishing her. Yujo began to struggle with her whole body. A muffled groan escaped her lips.

Their lips tangled together. As if they were in the middle of a fierce battle, one pair of lips attacked and the other blocked its advances. As the man continued to push and plunge, the woman tried to push him away and tried to bite him.

Garan grabbed her chin and pressed down. Then he deeply plunged into her mouth and bit her tongue. Nng… A small moan burst out of her throat. When Garan heard that sound, his body tensed up.

Damn it.

He cursed inside his heart.

What on earth am I doing right now? Red King, have you gone insane?

In this storeroom, he wanted to push this woman down and plunge into her. He wanted to bury his cock inside her and thrust in and out until he came. And then he wanted to pump into her again and again.

However, Yujo’s lips suddenly dropped down to the floor.

Although she had been trapped inside the silk, she had managed to take out her dagger and cut her way out. Yujo fell to the floor and crouched down before she pushed him away.

Losing his balance, Garan fell back with a crash. He turned around to see that he had bumped into a stack of crates. They shook dangerously and looked like they were going to topple over.

Suddenly, their eyes met. No way. They both thought the same thing as the crates tilted before falling down on him.

He didn’t have any time to avoid them. Garan reflexively raised his arm to shield his face, and the crates came crashing down.

Boom! The crates toppled over, and clouds of dust filled the storeroom. Then they heard the merchants outside shout as they heard the commotion inside.

Garan opened his eyes. He didn’t feel any pain. He looked down and saw that the woman had pushed him out of the way. She had even enclosed his body with hers. Her slender body was covering his as if she were trying to protect him.

As if she were surprised by her own actions, Yujo looked down at him in shock. Suddenly, she angrily glared at him as she backed away. The bamboo slip had fallen on the floor not too far away. Yujo quickly made her way to it.

Oh, no you don’t!

Garan quickly released his chi at the bamboo slip. The wind caused the bamboo slip to fly in the air and crash into the wall. It shattered into many pieces as it fell back to the floor.

“What in the world?! You horrible bastard!”

Yujo turned around and shouted at him. If the merchants hadn’t burst through the door in that moment, she would have thrown fists down at his face.

“If I ever see you again, you’ll regret it!”

Then she quickly gathered as much of the bamboo shards she could and escaped out through the window.

Garan got up and chased after her. However, he didn’t see any trace of her once he made it outside the window.

He turned his head and called for his subordinate. Like a black bird, a shadow flew down and a man crouched down on his knees in front of Garan as he waited for an order.

“Shut down this storeroom.”

“Yes, sir.”

Suddenly, everything was silent. Garan remained standing still with a stiff expression on his face before he turned around and walked back inside the storeroom. He observed the remaining bamboo shards on the floor.

As expected, they contained symbols of the ancient language of Paran.

“That horrible bastard!”

Yujo wiped the rest of his taste from her lips as she cursed. Safely inside her own carriage, Yujo looked out through the crack of the window and clearly saw the man’s face as he continued to look for her.

What should she do? Should she go back to the storeroom and try to find the remaining bamboo shards?

But what if she was caught by that jerk again?

“Just what kind of guy is he?”

Yujo whispered as she clenched her teeth. As Yujo struggled to decide on whether she should go back in search of the remaining bamboo shards, a man in civilian clothing approached the man and handed him something.

It was the remaining bamboo shards. Yujo bit her lips and leaned back into her seat. She had worked really hard to find this clue, but to think that it was snatched away like this! She felt as if her chest was burning.

Suddenly, the door to the carriage burst open. Yujo let out a cry of surprise. Jewol stood outside the door with an even more shocked expression.

“W-Wife. When did come back?”

Jewol spoke in a loud voice so that it would be heard by the attendants. He entered the carriage and whispered to her.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Let’s hurry home.”

“Why?”

“Just go! Hurry!”

Yujo gestured to him with her hands as she lowered her body.

Oh my god.

Jewol and Yujo spent the whole night putting the shards back together. Yujo let out a scream inside her heart.

They were only missing one part of the bamboo slip shards. However, it ended up being the most important part!

“What happened?”

Jewol lit another lantern as he asked. Yujo sighed and grasped her forehead.

“Brother, I’m sorry. You worked so hard to get me inside the Academy, but…”

“What kind of guy was he?”

Yujo was reluctant to tell him that she had met this man before. He had already scolded her enough for secretly entering the ChiHwaRu.

“I’m not sure. All I know is that he was also looking for the bamboo slip.”

“What did he look like?”

“Um, he was about six feet and had a strong build.”

Suddenly, it was as if the man was standing right before her eyes. She could see him so clearly in her mind. A strange feeling swept through her. She definitely should have felt disgust and hatred, but his lips…

“And?”

At Jewol’s question, Yujo returned to her senses.

“I think he was a government official. His clothes…”

His scent was odd. It was an elegant fragrance she had never smelled before. It was as if his whole body had been emitting it.

He had definitely taken a long bath where an expensive fragrance had been added. His eyes were so black that it seemed to suck everything in, and his gaze was sharp. His straight nose and his grinning, red lips. His lips…

Yujo immediately shook her head. She was so angry that her heart raced inside her chest.

Crazy. Why had she saved him? Since he was such a strong martial artist, he would have been able to handle a few falling crates on his own. However, even though he was an excellent martial artist, he wasn’t invincible. She only wanted to save a fellow human life. That’s all it was. There was no special reason for saving him. Definitely not.

“The judicial office is offering a reward for the one who catches the Heukra.”

Unaware of the thoughts that were running through her mind, Jewol spoke up.

“There are probably a lot of men who have their eyes on the reward. Be careful.”

They were interested in the reward? Was that it? But that man seemed to be wealthy in his own right…?

“Anyways…”

Yujo tossed that thought out of her head and looked down at the bamboo slip. Jewol also began to observe the bamboo slip.

“Do you see anything?”

At Jewol’s question, Yujo shook her head.

“It’s very difficult to tell.”

“Take your time. Aren’t you using your head too much?”

Yujo grinned at him.

“You’re probably right. I’m better at using my body rather than using my head.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you’ve learned so far. Sometimes saying it out loud can lead to an epiphany.”

“Should I do that?”

Yujo laughed brightly. Then she placed her finger on one portion of the bamboo slip.

“Do you see this symbol for the three-legged crow?”

“Yeah.”

“This symbol is enclosed in a box that contains nine strokes.”

“Okay.”

“This symbolizes the Nine Families. It represents the nine families of the northern province that protected the three-legged crow.”

Jewol nodded. He had heard about this before. After finding out that the mark Yujo had seen at the ChiHwaRu was the three-legged crow, Yujo had gone to the Academy and found out that the three-legged crow was connected to the nine families of the northern province.

This was a legend that had been passed down from the times of Ancient Paran. On Paran’s Holy Mountain stood the Holy Temple of Paran. The priestess of the temple was called the ‘three-legged crow, and the nine households that protected this priestess were called the Nine Families.

“All of the victims were from the northern province. The mark left behind in the room where the Danju died, and now this…”

Yujo pointed to the bamboo slip. The bamboo writing listed the names of the families, and they matched up with the surnames of the eight victims who had burned to death.

However, the missing piece of the bamboo slip had contained the final surname as well as the name of the priestess.

“Also, why are the descendants of the Nine Families currently in YeonSung? Could it be…”

This next thought was a bit unbelievable, but she couldn’t think of another explanation.

“Could it be that the priestess of Paran exists? And is she currently in YeonSung?”

Jewol silently stared at Yujo.

“What is it, Brother? Does it sound stupid?”

“No, not at all. I was just a bit surprised at how smart you sounded.”

“What? Brother!”

Yujo glared at him when she realized that he was making fun of her. Jewol chuckled and vigorously rubbed her head, messing up her hair.

“If you need any more materials, I’ll get them for you. All I ask is that you remember to properly eat your meals.”

“All right, I understand.”

“Let’s go to sleep.”

“Yes, in a minute.”

Yujo focused her eyes back down on the bamboo slip. Jewol’s eyes darkened as he gazed at her. Yujo was doing a good job. An amazingly good job.

However, when she realized the truth, what would she do? What would she do when she found out how this all started? How deep its roots were… How terrible the sin was… Would she be able to forgive him?

He already knew about the symbol of the three-legged crow.

He had seen it a long time ago.

“Brother?”

Ah!

Jewol returned to his senses when he heard Yujo’s voice call him. What had he been thinking about? Yujo’s eyes gazed at him. Jewol’s hands had been tightly clenched into fists.

“What’s wrong? Do you feel unwell?”

“N-Not at all. I just think I need some rest.”

“Okay, go and rest. You face looks pale.”

He couldn’t look Yujo in the face. Jewol turned his head away with much effort.

“I think I’m a bit tired. I’ll go and rest first, so you should turn in for the night as well.”

“Yes, don’t worry about me and just go to sleep.”

Yujo walked him to the door and saw him off.