Before I End Up as Rabbit Stew - Chapter 13

Yimae relentlessly pressed her face against Heukryong’s chest, grumbling.

“Aigo, my back… Aigo, my legs…”

The ornament Heukryong had hung on her ear sparkled finely in the morning sunlight. Heukryong quietly stared at it before raising his hand. He then touched the ornament very slowly and meticulously. Feeling the touch, Yimae quickly raised her head.

“Are you alright?”

Heukryong wordlessly slipped his index and middle fingers into Yimae’s hand, which was clutching his collar. His two fingers were much larger than Yimae’s hand. Was the size difference between men and women always this significant in every aspect? As Yimae blankly pondered this while holding Heukryong’s fingers, she suddenly startled.

“We have to, have to get up!”

She shouted loudly and scrambled off Heukryong’s body. Heukryong, with a blank expression, stood up and offered Yimae a hand. After hesitating for a moment, Yimae grabbed his thick wrist instead of his hand. Heukryong helped her up without a word.

“You go first.”

“Yes.”

Silence followed as they walked. Even the occasional birdsong couldn’t break the suffocating stillness between them. Yimae couldn’t walk straight, especially when she felt him watching from behind. She only had two legs, but they twisted and tangled as if she had a dozen.

“Um.”

Yimae eventually turned around. Heukryong, who had been walking about three steps behind, glanced at her subtly.

“Can’t we walk side by side?”

After a few seconds, Heukryong answered by walking three steps forward. Yimae matched his pace and started walking again.

“But where are we going?”

Heukryong entered Yongju Palace. The royal guards protecting the main hall and the palace servants busy with morning cleaning cast glances at Yimae. However, at the sight of his cold, black eyes, their gazes quickly scattered into the air. The number of palace servants in Yongju Palace was significantly smaller than in Cheonje Palace or Wol Palace, and there wasn’t a single woman.

“This is truly fascinating.”

Yimae struggled to climb the stairs leading to the main hall’s courtyard. Her legs weren’t yet accustomed enough to climb one step at a time, so she slowly climbed one step at a time with both feet. It looked as if a baby just learning to walk was climbing. Heukryong, matching her pace beside her, asked.

“What is?”

“That all the palace servants are men.”

It soon became apparent that the stairs were arched. Just when she thought she had finished climbing the uphill, a downhill immediately followed. Yimae, breathing shallowly, kicked the stair pillar in frustration.

“It’ll collapse.”

“My legs feel like they’re about to collapse first, you know?”

“Slowly.”

Heukryong went down a few steps first. Then, he offered Yimae his wrist. Seeing him offer his wrist directly this time instead of his hand, Yimae smiled slightly. She deliberately passed Heukryong and grabbed the railing.

“I can go down by myself.”

Heukryong didn’t offer twice.

“Are we almost there?”

“This way.”

Descending the stairs also took several times longer than it would for an average person. Heukryong, who had waited patiently, turned right, skirting the courtyard. The courtyard was as clean and tidy as the path to the main palace. Low-cut green grass, diligently trimmed, was laid out, and waist-high flowering trees were planted in a charming manner. It seemed they had deliberately chosen trees with small heights to plant.

“You take such excellent care of this garden, so why is the back garden in such a state?”

Yimae muttered to herself. Heukryong pretended not to hear and entered a building at the end of the path on the right.

It was the clothing pavilion, where clothes, shoes, hats, and outerwear were stored. There were several identical Yongpo robes like the one Yimae was wearing, and quilted durumagi and daechangui with the same dragon-patterned gold leaf. The mirror standing against one wall was so large, like a folding screen, that one could believe it could contain all of creation.

“Come here.”

Heukryong called Yimae from further inside. Yimae, admiring the hundreds of clothes and shoes, followed his voice.

“What’s that?”

Heukryong opened a huge wooden wardrobe. Yimae’s eyes, which had been fixed on the wardrobe, widened. Clothes were piled up in the wardrobe, as many as Heukryong’s. All of them were top-quality clothes, with not a single stitch carelessly sewn.

“Did you buy these in preparation for bringing in the Queen?”

Heukryong closed his mouth as if he had decided not to answer anything. He picked out a few pieces and spread them out in front of Yimae. They were plain and smooth clothes without any decorations or patterns, but Yimae, who had desperately wanted something to wear while working in the fields, exclaimed.

“Good!”

Heukryong also took out a few jeogori with narrow sleeves.

“What about this?”

“Very good!”

“How about this?”

“All good!”

Yimae hugged the clothes that Heukryong handed her. Heukryong also gave her a few pairs of shoes as she hopped around. They were dainty shoes made to fit a woman’s foot size. There were shoes made of soft leather, boots that went up to the ankles, and even athletic shoes with wooden soles. All the shoes had a dragon pattern, symbolizing Heukryong, meticulously embroidered on the toe. Yimae plopped down on the floor and tried on a pair of shoes. Her small foot slipped right into the boot.

“It’s a bit big.”

“It’s okay. It’s enough if I can just wear them.”

“If you don’t wear shoes that fit your feet, your gait will be disrupted.”

Yimae waved her hand and walked back and forth. It was much better than her muddy bare feet, even if the heels lifted and dragged. Heukryong looked down at the shoes for a moment and said.

“Change and come out. Leave the Yongpo here.”

“Yes, yes.”

Yimae smiled broadly and chose one of the clothes she had received. She heard Heukryong walking towards the entrance. She stood up, took off the Yongpo, and also took off the willow branch mat, which had already lost all its leaves and couldn’t even function as clothing. Then, she put on a light pink dress like an apricot blossom that had just bloomed in spring.

It was a fairly elastic and easy-to-move dress, whether it was a cook’s uniform or a house dress. She wondered why Heukryong had so many of these women’s clothes, but she figured he wouldn’t tell her anyway.

“Oh well.”

Compared to the fluttering, ethereal clothes worn by the Wol Palace fairies, Yimae’s clothes were neither feminine nor pretty. However, Yimae liked this plain dress more than a hundred sets of fairy clothes. Just wearing decent human clothes made her feel like she had escaped from being a moon rabbit.

“Can I take all of this with me?”

Heukryong was standing at the entrance of the building. Yimae, carrying the shoes and clothes, ran to him. The big shoes flopped.

“Walk slowly.”

Heukryong clicked his tongue and stopped Yimae. Yimae, who had been staggering, stopped, leaning almost entirely on Heukryong’s palm.

“I’ll get used to falling before I get used to walking well.”

Yimae made a joke and laughed, but Heukryong didn’t laugh. He called one of the passing palace servants.

“Take these clothes to the bedroom.”

He handed the clothes and shoes in Yimae’s arms to the palace servant. Yimae lowered her eyebrows like a child who had just had candy taken away.

“Giving and then taking away. You’re not a gentleman after all.”

“If you’re going to curse, do it behind my back.”

“Are you really taking them away? If you had told me in advance, I would have chosen something I liked more.”

At that moment, someone suddenly appeared from behind the building. It was a burly man who looked as if his entire body was made of stone. He was wearing the same uniform as the royal guards, but the colors of his cuffs and collar were subtly different. He strode towards the entrance of the building and bowed deeply to Heukryong.

Heukryong acknowledged the greeting with a nod and said to Yimae.

“I have somewhere to go, so you can get the clothes back in the evening.”

“Really? Really?”

He extended his wrist towards Yimae. There were about five low steps at the entrance of the building. They were like stepping stones without a railing. So, Yimae relied on his arm this time.

“Where are you going?”

“You said you needed to buy saplings.”

It seemed he remembered everything Yimae said, even if he didn’t respond. Heukryong ordered the stone-like man.

“Open the door.”

Then, the man waved his thick hands in the air as if stirring water. His spiritual power spread out like thin threads. It became a shining pattern as he moved his hands.

“The head of the royal guards, I see.”

The head of the royal guards of the Four Gods Palace could summon doors with spiritual power. It was their special ability to open doors to wherever their lord wanted to go. Yimae, vaguely remembering what she had learned in Oreum Garden, muttered to him.

“Have a good trip.”

The head of the royal guards bowed to Heukryong again. The pattern he had summoned remained as a doorknob. When Heukryong pulled the doorknob, the air split open, revealing a new space.

“This is…?”

Yimae, sticking her face through the door, recognized the changed scenery at a glance.

A bustling street where gods, divine beasts, celestial beings, and monsters were intertwined. A marketplace that always turned on its vermilion lanterns and welcomed guests, regardless of whether it was morning or night.

It was the Celestial Night Market, Bipamung.

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