Translator: Nabi

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Chapter 20

Min-ha quickly hugged and patted Noah, startled and bewildered at the sight of him crying.

The eyes of passersby were focused on the sound of a child’s cry. Because of that, she thought that she should go to a quieter place to calm him down, so Min-ha got up while holding the little boy in her arms.

Thinking that, she said her greetings to the shopkeeper, who was watching her anxiously, lest she ever tried to refund the amber necklace.

“Thank you! Hope your business goes well!”

“…Oh, madam! You can take your time to calm him down here.”

“You have to do business, so I can’t cause you trouble like that. I’ll be on my way!”

“Ah! No, let’s go look around a little more! Here’s an emerald necklace that matches the color of your eyes as well!”

“I’m sorry, I’ll be back next time!”

As she finished her words, Min-ha took Noah and walked towards the bench on the other side of the market.

The middle-aged woman, who looked at Min-ha’s back, sighed deeply as she expressed her regret. She got to meet a rich lady with a lot of cash after a long time, and when she met such a customer, she had wanted to sell a lot of jewelry.

While putting back the emerald necklace she had put out to show Min-ha, the jeweler suddenly raised her head as someone tapped the table lightly.

“Oh, my God!”

When she lifted her head, the person whom she saw was Seth. The middle-aged woman asked in a stammering voice, feeling unwittingly overwhelmed by his appearance.

“…Uh, w, what’s going on? Is everything all right?”

“That emerald necklace, I’ll buy it.”

“…Yes?”

“That should be enough.”

“Yes? …Excuse me, sir?! Wait, thank you!”

Finishing his words, Seth took a sack of gold from his arms, laid it on the table, and wrapped the emerald necklace around his wrist. Even at the call of a middle-aged woman, who just returned to her senses, he just strode towards the direction Min-ha had taken Noah.

At the situation in front of her, the jeweler was left with a puzzled face. She quickly took a deep breath and unpack the pocket of gold that Seth had left before leaving. She was wondering, but if he didn’t pay enough for the necklace, she had to check and follow him.

“Oh, my…”

As she stared into the pocket with such a heart, she soon exclaimed. It was because inside the pocket was filled with a gold coin worth twice the amount of the emerald necklace.

‘It’s a windfall! This is a windfall!’

“Bring your son and wife back next time, my lord!”

The middle-aged woman shouted in a jubilant voice in the direction Seth had left. Of course, she didn’t forget to wave her hand violently.

* * *

Maybe it was because a lot of things had accumulated and piled up because she hadn’t been noticing. Noah, who did not stop crying even though Min-ha hugged and gently patted him, and even with Seth, who approached him, comforted him with kind words, eventually fell asleep only when the sun went down.

Min-ha wiped Noah’s face with red eyes and said to Seth, who was sitting next to her.

“He fell asleep.”

“Give him to me. I’ll carry him.”

“What if he wakes up, then? That’s dangerous.”

“I think it’ll be more stable than you holding him.”

‘Anyway, there’s no way he’d speak nicely.’

Min-ha pouted her lips as she carefully placed the child on Seth’s back. He then gently embraced the sleeping Noah as if he were used to it. Seth took a few steps forward before looking back.

He gazed at Min-ha, who was still sitting on her bench.

‘Is he wanting me to follow him?’

Unsure, she tilted her head and got up from her seat and approached him. Seeing that, Seth walked forward again.

Min-ha walked beside Seth and glanced at Noah, who was asleep while holding the amber necklace tightly. He cried a lot after receiving the amber necklace, so she was worried that the little child wouldn’t like it, but luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Thinking it was a relief, she smiled as she gazed at the sleeping Noah. Seth looked at her quietly and said,

“I will pay you back for the necklace when we return to the castle.”

“What? I told you money isn’t a problem.”

“But, right now, aren’t you sad about spending a penny.”

“It’s money, I can earn it again. Why? Are you cutting me off? Don’t you want to clean up and pay money now?”

“No way. It’s not bad to see a proud person like you clean up for money.”

“…Wow. That’s a bad hobby to have. Is that fun?”

Min-ha retorted with disgust and replied back.

At that, Seth let out a low laugh at her. She peered at him with a surprised face. It was the first time… for him to laugh so purely without ridicule or look down on her own words.

‘What’s so handsome about this guy?’

Without even realizing it, she turned her head away as her earlobes turned red when his handsome face was smiling softly enough to make it seem like he wasn’t a human being.​​Doesn’t he normally get angry at Min-ha like that?

He continued with a gaze that seemed to be looking at her face indifferently as if it wasn’t Seth.

“Yeah, not bad. That’s why I want you to keep cleaning the East Annex even without me being there.”

“…Hm? Are you going anywhere?”

“I’m going to do something you find terrible.”

“What do I find terrible? You’re not going to sin, are you?”

When Min-ha asked in a light tone, Seth laughed bitterly at the words. He deliberately took his gaze away from her and answered in a low, locked voice.

“Well, if you hear it, you could say that I might be going to sin.”

“So, what is it?”

“Invading the castle of some nobleman and cutting off the head of the castle owner. Even though he’s a comrade who has previously been through countless battlefields together with me before.”

“….”

“What do you think? Isn’t it something you feel terrible about? Like you said, it’s perfect for me as a killer.”

Seth spoke sarcastically in a relatively light tone, although his expression was not light at all.

Is it an illusion that his words sounded like he was talking himself rather than being sarcastic to Minase? Min-ha thought as she gazed at his bitterly smiling face. Surely, killing people is hard and painful, and he might get karma later on…

‘…But—’

She turned her head and looked at Seth, who wasn’t looking at her, and opened her mouth.

“No, I don’t think so. After all, you don’t want to kill him because you wanted to.”

“What…”

“As mercenaries and knights, you went to war, and of course, you had to point your sword at an enemy to protect your army. And now, as a nobleman and a soldier, you are going to punish him according to the Emperor’s command, aren’t you?”

“….”

“It’s not just for your pleasure or because you want to steal or harass. You are faithfully doing your job. If that’s the case, then, should the executioners and the guards be called murderers?”

“….”

“Obviously, that’s never a justification for murder. However, there are things that humans have to do for their respective positions… Of course, you may hear resentments later.”

As she spoke, Min-ha, who was a little excited without knowing it, exhaled at a high speed and met Seth’s eyes staring at him. She became embarrassed, worrying that he might have thought that she raised her voice alone for nothing, yelling out loud.

“…What, why are you looking like that? Well, you might think it’s nonsense hearing that, but that’s what I think!”

“…No, I don’t mean that. It’s just weird.”

“What is weird?”

When she asked back with a pouty lip, thinking that I might get another sarcastic answer, Seth answered, still staring at Min-ha.

“You were the one who accused me of being a murderer, though now you comfort me by saying it was something I had to do for my job. I think it’s too different.”

“…I don’t know what it was like before, but that’s what I think now! People can change in their life!”

“That’s right, it can happen. Now, it feels like you’ve changed into a completely new person, somehow.”

“Hahaha… So, you don’t like how I changed? Because you can’t pick a fight?”

As he suddenly looked at her with serious eyes, Min-ha smiled awkwardly and turned away. A bitter smile painted on Seth’s face as his eyes deepened as he replied.

“No, I like it. Enough to think how great it would have been if you were like this from the beginning.”

“…Yes, yes?”

“Of course, it’s already too late.”

“…Oh, I see.”

Seeing Seth taking his gaze away from her with a cold face again, Min-ha replied as if she expected such an answer.

‘I suppose to him, I’m just ‘Minase Persen’.’

No matter how much she changed, it was only natural that he couldn’t believe it because the things that had been happening for the past years were longer. So, it seems like he wanted to get rid of her.

Thinking so, Min-ha said to Seth as if to make him feel relieved.

“Don’t worry. I’m learning from Mrs. Wanda how to make clothes, and I’m saving up money, so I won’t be staying in this mansion for as long as you think.”

“….”

“Oh, I’m tired. Let’s go.”

“…All right.”

‘I mean, I know it well even if he doesn’t tell me all the time.’

In the end, she deliberately ended the conversation with an exaggeratedly tired expression and quickly started walking first.

Min-ha doesn’t even know that behind her, Seth was holding onto something tightly as he gazed quietly at her back.

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