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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“Here you go, brother. Eat up.”
“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
He took the bowl of rice that Yeonhwa had generously served him with a bright smile and ate it.
A happy, yet somewhat feels wrong, a situation where his younger sister and lover was serving him at the same table under the same roof.
Ah… no matter what others thought, this was Zoroastrian-style pure love.
Honestly, to think that the Persians had been hoarding such a good religion all to themselves, they were greedy.
-Munch munch.
Anyway, he glanced to the side and saw Master Wang Meiyang eating deliciously, her one cheek slightly puffed out like a cute rodent.
She had been a little shy before, but he was glad to see that she was now used to eating together at the table.
Though the master of the house was not present.
He stared at his father’s empty seat.
“Where’s Father?”
At his question, Yeonhwa sighed and shook her head.
“He said he has something to think about and will eat in his room.”
‘Again?’
He had been like this since he had arrived home yesterday. He had said he had something to tell him, but he hadn’t shown his face.
He was almost like Cao Cao, who refused to come out of his room because he didn’t want to send Guan Yu away.
As he was looking at the empty seat at the table, another empty seat caught his eye.
It was Feng Lan’s seat.
Come to think of it, Lan isn’t here either.
She was the daughter of his father’s friend and subordinate, Feng Bai, and was staying here with him while he was on business.
“Uncle, Lan isn’t here. Is something wrong?”
“She said she has something to think about and will eat in her room today.”
He nodded at Feng Bai’s words. He had noticed a hint of fatigue on her face this morning.
Since she was out for a walk at dawn like him, maybe she had stayed up all night or had a restless sleep.
“Hmm~ that’s a big problem.”
“Haha… indeed.”
A stiff laugh escaped Feng Bai’s lips at Mancheon’s nonchalant concern, which was clearly the main cause of Feng Lan’s worries.
He couldn’t understand why his only precious daughter had fallen for such a scoundrel.
And there was one more person who had been unintentionally harmed by the scoundrel.
The Sima family’s servant, guard, and assassin.
“Hey, really! Young Master! Control your girlfriend! I almost died!!”
Jang Sam-bung burst into the dining room, holding an arrow with a letter tied to it.
“Girlfriend? Gwahae? What about Gwahae?”
The situation was roughly like this:
Gwahae, who wanted to see Mancheon but was wary of his father, Sima Bu… her future father in law, had climbed the mansion’s wall and was looking around.
“Ekk…!!”
She recognized a familiar face from her childhood.
“I’m Jang Sam~ the master~ of sweeping~ the yard~ in the Young Master’s style~ a sophisticated~ servant~ dederoge~ dederoge~.”
She had spotted the servant, Jang Sam, who was happily humming and sweeping the yard.
-Whoosh!!
“Huh?!”
She had quickly shot an arrow with a letter tied to it at a nearby pillar, or rather, it had grazed Jang Sam’s head and stuck into the pillar right behind him.
“She’s like a nomad… Young Master, be careful not to get kidnapped later.”
“Stop with the nonsense and give me the letter. I’ll read it.”
He ignored Jang Sam, who was exaggerating after easily dodging an arrow without any inner energy, and
unfolded the letter Gwahae had sent him. The content was simple.
[I miss you. Let’s meet tonight.]
Of course, he missed Gwahae too, and if he wanted to see her, he could just go out and see her, but…
“Tonight?”
He tilted his head at the words “let’s meet tonight”, without a specific meeting place.
“Ah!”
Jang Sam let out a short exclamation, as if he had just remembered something.
“Ah… well… a message came from the Martial Alliance while the Young Master was out.”
“They’re having a party tonight for the Dragon Phoenix Gathering… people from various families and sects will be there, so the Young Master should also show his face…”
Jang Sam, who had been muttering, avoiding his gaze, suddenly hit himself on the head lightly, stuck out his tongue, and acted cute.
“Hehe~ I’m cute, so forgive me!”
He blinked, dumbfounded.
He wondered where he had learned that, but of course, he had learned it from him.
“Sigh…”
He quietly lifted Taegu-zzang and lightly hit Jang Sam on the head.
“Ouch?!”
“You’ve worked hard sweeping the yard. Go eat.”
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The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering after-party, hosted by the Martial Alliance.
Well, if only he was a participant, yet he was the one who had wrecked the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, and he had received the title of “Clever Tiger”, so he was the winner, but… was it really okay for him to go? Wouldn’t he ruin the party atmosphere?
‘Hey, Sima Mancheon! You’ve ruined all the fun, so take responsibility!’
Should he take responsibility and play the electric guitar with a geomungo to liven up the atmosphere…
Anyway, he had plenty of time until the evening, so…
-tap… tap…
He leaned on his staff and went to the family’s study room.
Because his father, who had said he had something to tell him, was cooped up in his room and wouldn’t come out.
It wasn’t the main house, but a villa built near the Martial Alliance headquarters. He might find a book about the family’s history if he looked around.
He didn’t think he would find out all the secrets, but… it was better than just sitting around and waiting.
-Creeak.
As he was thinking this, he opened the study door and saw that someone was already there.
Feng Lan, the troubled girl, was sitting in the light streaming through the window.
Her back was straight, and her beautiful hair was tied in a single ponytail.
A tower of books was piled on the desk, as if she had been researching something.
-Rustle… rustle…
The sound of her carefully turning the pages echoed quietly in the room.
She looked like a literary girl straight out of a painting.
“Hmm…”
He found himself staring blankly at her for a moment.
Feng Lan, noticing his presence, also turned her head and looked at him.
“Who’s there… Y-Young Master?!”
“Sorry if I disturbed you.”
He smiled and spoke casually to Feng Lan, who had half-risen from her seat in surprise.
“N-no! It’s the Young Master’s house after all… and…”
Feng Lan, whose eyes were swirling as if in a daze, quickly got up, gathered the books around her, and ran out as if to escape.
“E-excuse me…!!”
-Thud.
But Feng Lan didn’t know. While she was reading in the study, stuck on her novel, Mancheon had entered, and in her haste to get out before he discovered she was writing a novel, she had accidentally dropped the most important book, the one she was writing.
And that Mancheon had found it and read the title.
“A palace maid becomes the queen of the northern khan?”
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After reading a little, he found that it was, as the title suggested, a romance fantasy.
The setting was a fictional, East Asian-style empire and a world where nomads lived in the north.
The story began when the empire, defeated by the rising power of the north, Dogollon Khan, decided to offer a princess.
But saying that the imperial bloodline should not be passed on to a barbarian savage, they chose a random palace maid, gave her the imperial surname, and sent her to marry Dogollon Khan.
‘Hmm~ a palace maid disguised as a princess~.’
Still, it was an empire. Would they really tell such an obvious lie that would be easily discovered?
But that was what the Han Dynasty had actually done after being defeated by the Xiongnu.
“Defufufu~ those stupid barbarians will never notice!”
They had sent a fake princess.
Of course, they were found out, and later, they had to send a real princess.
Anyway, shall he continue reading? He hadn’t read much romance fantasy, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t read any at all.
Thinking back, “Fushigi Yugi”, which he had enjoyed as a child, was also a romance fantasy.
‘Fly high~ Suzaku~ wings of illusion~.’
Well, the latter half had been a series of frustrating and serious developments that had hurt his young heart, but… he also had fond memories of the love scene between the female and male protagonists, which was not often shown in shonen manga.
Anyway, he turned the page. He knew the basic setting, so he was curious about the next chapter.
In an instant, she was given the imperial surname “Jin.”
The girl, now named Jin Lan, smiled a self-deprecating smile.
Jin (金) for gold and Lan (蘭) for orchid.
The name seemed to fit her situation, being beautifully adorned with sparkling gold and sold as a tribute.
Normally, she would be cleaning the palace at this time, but now, sitting demurely in this barbarian’s tent, waiting for the khan who would receive her as a tribute, felt so unreal that it was like a lie.
“Ho~ so this is the empire’s princess, who will be offered to the khan. She’s quite pretty.”
“A woman’s job is to have a big butt and give birth to many children, and to have big breasts and feed them well. Why do you care about her face?”
As two high ranking barbarians with scimitars at their waists approached and chattered, Jin Lan wondered if one of them was Dogollon Khan and looked at the official who had accompanied her as a translator and envoy.
But he shook his head firmly, without a moment’s hesitation.
And then, the sound of a horn echoed, and a loud shout was heard.
“Dogollon Khan! Arrives!!”
“Eh…!!”
At that single shout, everyone’s expression changed. The excited atmosphere of the crowd, who had been looking at the empire’s tribute, grew cold.
-Tap… tap…
The proud warriors and the dignified chieftains from before now made way for the khan and bowed on either side.
-Tap… tap…
In the unpleasantly silent tent, only the sound of a staff hitting the ground could be heard.
For some reason, Jin Lan found herself asking the translator.
“Dogollon… what does it mean?”
“Cripple…”
He must have spoken quietly, but his voice was unusually clear.
He was sweating, and his voice was a sharp whisper, filled with fear and even a hint of awe, something unimaginable for a usually arrogant imperial official.
“Cripple… Khan.”
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And on the same time, Feng Lan’s room was in chaos.
“I-i-it’s gone! It’s gone! It’s gone!?”
No matter how much she searched, the creative novel she had written, starring the Young Master she secretly admired, Mancheon, and herself, was nowhere to be found.
“W-where is it… please come out…”
Tears welled up in her beautiful green eyes.
She didn’t want to think about it, but if Mancheon had found and read the lost novel… she would have to die.
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A novel inside a novel 🤔
