Time passed by as Ha Goyun picked out all of the fabrics she liked. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of fabric that she liked and Byuk Aerin offered to buy it all, only for Ha Goyun to shake her head. She insisted on buying only three, with one of them being for Ha Gojun, her brother.
Byuk Aerin understood Ha Goyun’s thoughts on this.
‘She had to think like an adult.’
It seemed to be due to the hard life she had been through. She was still young enough to be stubborn and selfish, but she didn’t let it get to her.
“These fabrics shall be delivered to the address I wrote down.”
“Yes, ma’am. It shall be done.”
The owner of the tailoring shop bowed back to the extent where his nose touched his legs as he responded.
As soon as Byuk Aerin and Ha Goyun left the shop and disappeared, the owner of the tailoring shop let out a sigh of relief as the clerk hurriedly asked, “Who was that, master?”
“Ugh! You fool!”
“What’s wrong?”
“It was a close call. Consider yourself lucky that I came out! I told you to keep a good look on your face in front of any guest!”
“That’s the woman said that she is a cook of the Hwachun Academy. Why are you groveling so much in front of her?”
“Cook? Hah! I don’t know why she’s doing that, but that woman… is the owner of this alley.”
“What?”
“All the shops in this alley are her’s!”
“What?!”
The clerk was startled. She was the legendary landlord of the entire bazaar.
“But I heard the owner of this alley was Elder Byuk Aerin?”
“That’s right.”
“What?”
“It was her. The one who just left was Elder Byuk Aerin.”
“No way. But I heard she’s over eighty…”
“I told you before, didn’t I? Never judge people by their appearances. And when we are talking about the Red Empress Elder, consider that she can freely change her appearance, so be extra careful!”
“Oh, I see!”
***
“What do you want for dinner, Goyun?”
On the way back to their residence, Byuk Aerin asked Ha Goyun.
“What? Dinner?”
“Yes, I’m going to grab some dinner. I thought I’d ask you something you want to eat.”
“I…”
All of a sudden, Ha Goyun thought of walking along the street with her parents. At that time, her parents bought her some rice soup, which was still vivid in her memory. She then answered in a small voice, “Well, I want to eat rice soup.”
“Rice soup?”
“Is that okay…?”
Byuk Aerin smiled gently at her question.
“There’s nothing that can’t be done. Why not? Let’s ask the cook to make rice soup this evening.”
“Yes!”
At that moment, a street vendor approached them.
“Two beautiful ladies, here are some pretty hairbrushes! It’s an item you’ll never regret buying!”
Indeed, the combs were engraved with various colorful patterns that dazzled the eyes.
“Wow! Pretty!”
“Do you want one?”
“Is it okay?”
“Pick one out.”
Ha Goyun looked at the combs with a blushed face while Byuk Aerin looked at the girl with a pleased expression. Byuk Aerin liked cute beings, but somehow, she was more interested in her. Perhaps she wanted to do something more for Ha Goyun because Ha Goyun reminded her of her sister who died early from an accident. It was then that…
Someone shouted.
“It’s a pickpocket!”
At the cry, Byuk Aerin turned her head and found a pickpocket who stole someone’s purse and ran away. She quickly took a coin out of her purse and threw it at the pickpocket. The coin soon pierced the pickpocket’s leg, and he fell as it was.
“Argh!”
“Catch him!”
Soon enough, people rushed in and beat the pickpocket with clubs.
‘They’ll take care of the rest.’
It was now time to take Ha Goyun back to the manor…
“Huh?”
Byuk Aerin became shocked. It was because Ha Goyun, who had been next to her until just now, had disappeared.
“Goyun!”
She called Ha Goyun but couldn’t hear any answer. She then turned to the street vendor who was selling her the comb. Byuk Aerin felt that the street vendor was suspicious. She was the former head of the Jimil Intelligence Corps, which meant that she went through not only a ton of wars but also in intelligence and underground warfare.
As she was nicknamed the Nine-tailed Fox of Hwachun Clan, she could not have missed the suspiciousness of the street vendor. Strangely enough, he was avoiding her eyes.
“The girl here. Do you know where she went?”
“I don’t know, Ma’am. I don’t know.”
Byuk Aerin did not hesitate to grab the street vendor by the collar.
“Tell me the truth. If you don’t want to die.”
“No-no, please save me!”
The vendor’s heart seemed to have jumped out from the abrupt change in her personality. She was so sweet just now, but right now, she was completely different from before. She was akin to the ice itself.
“If you don’t speak up after I count to three, your third leg won’t be in good shape.”
“I…”
“One, two…”
“Some woman threatened me! She said that if I don’t do what she asks, she won’t let me do business here.”
“What does she look like?”
He explained the appearance of the woman who threatened him, and Byuk Aerin, who heard the explanation, could easily tell who the culprit was.
‘Yu Aeah. It’s her!’
She then asked, “So where did the girl next to me go?”
“Oh, a man took her! That way!”
She now realized that she can feel Ha Goyun’s energy there. Byuk Aerin soon gnashed her teeth.
“You’re dead!”