Chapter 1
"Someone… I wish someone could get me out of here."
It was like someone had deliberately placed her in this precarious situation, leaving her no choice but to stumble along like a toothless beast.
The salty taste lingered incessantly in her mouth as if several needles had been stuck into her gums inside the water.
"Look carefully. I've given clear orders, so step inside quickly, Your Highness."
From outside, the sound of the executioner's voice could be heard.
The flickering candlelight, trembling precariously, reflected Seol-ah's distressed state.
Her face gradually twisted in pain.
Soon, that door will open, and the servant who claimed to be her father's lackey would storm in and strip away his dignity with his laughter.
She had tried several times to reject this summons, struggling and even attempting to escape, but all her efforts ended in failure.
'If I had tolerated you for three or four years, I thought I'd be able to at least have some leverage over you, but it seems I was wrong.'
She recalled the moment when the servant forcefully grabbed her wrist not long ago.
"I never said I'd pay for my meals by doing such menial work! A summons? …! I'm not even a proper follower!"
"You seem to be misunderstanding something. You're here as a beggar."
'I brought you here to sell you to this place. I didn't buy you to make you a mere servant.'
The other women who had arrived at the gibang around the same time as Seol-ah lit candles to honor their ancestors and accepted their fate as courtesans. However, due to Seol-ah's pleading, she still remained untouched.
But now, the servant could no longer stand to leave her idle, wasting the chance to make her valuable.
"It still bothers me that the child is a noble's daughter, no matter how ruined her family is. A ruined noble is still a noble…"
At that moment, the sound of the headmistress's voice came from outside.
"A noble's daughter."
Perhaps it was that very past that made Seol-ah's current situation even more tormenting.
Seol-ah was once the noble daughter of a prestigious family who was called "young miss."
However, due to her uncle's treachery, her aunt and father, who had been the pillars of the family, were killed, and the household collapsed in an instant.
Seol-ah, too, should have died alongside them, but her father sacrificed himself to save her and helped the remaining family members escape.
Barely surviving in the mountains, Seol-ah, her mother, her young sibling, and her older brother managed to cling to life day by day.
One fateful day, while evading those pursuing them, they ended up wandering deep into the mountains.
Their hard-earned savings were squandered as her older brother fell into gambling and debauchery. Eventually, her mother, younger sibling, and older brother all succumbed to poverty, leaving Seol-ah abandoned on the streets.
Not once had Seol-ah cooked a proper meal with her own hands, yet here she was, thrown into a world of endless hardships.
To support her mother and younger sibling, Seol-ah took on the alias "Dan" and worked tirelessly, earning money through any means necessary.
However, her older brother, who had already sold his body into slavery to pay off his gambling debts, ultimately sold Seol-ah to the gibang to settle the remainder of his loans.
Even if her family's status as nobles was completely ruined, nobility was still nobility.
Rather than serving drinks, Seol-ah chose to do menial chores around the gibang. With the little money she earned, she managed to feed her younger sibling and mother, keeping the two of them alive.
"My older brother sold me because he had no money. What a miserable life."
"..."
"I can't stand seeing her just doing petty chores anymore. They're planning to make her an official courtesan. Don't be stubborn and just accept it."
"Light the candle," the executioner's voice echoed, and Seol-ah's lips tightened.
Facing reality so bluntly was always a difficult thing for her.
Just then, the heavy door of the gibang creaked open, and a large shadow loomed over Seol-ah.
"...!"
Reeking of a strong, foul scent, a servant descended from a noble house entered the room as casually as if he owned the place.
"Ah."
The old servant, who was known as the headmistress's confidant, discovered Seol-ah and immediately stopped in his tracks, frozen in awe.
Her beauty, so radiant it couldn't even be described as merely a "blooming flower," left him speechless.
Even so, she had been adorned with the finest accessories and garments befitting a noblewoman, courtesy of the headmistress's attendants. Yet no words could adequately capture Seol-ah's beauty.
The servant's thick throat bobbed up and down nervously.
The moment he laid eyes on Seol-ah, his entire body grew hot, and he couldn't suppress his reaction.
"Ah."
With a low cry, he moved toward Seol-ah, unable to restrain himself.
"Wait, wait a moment, sir…!"
It was a desperate plea.
"What's the matter, hmm?"
The servant's trembling hand, now void of reason, moved slowly yet fervently toward Seol-ah's shoulder.
Seol-ah, thinking this might be her last chance, knelt before him.
"Please, help me just this once. My brother said he sent me here."
However, the old servant, already captivated by her beauty, had no intention of letting her go.
A flower that could be plucked with just the reach of a hand was right before his eyes. How could he possibly turn away from her?
The old servant, as if dismissing any doubts, moved her trembling shoulders.
"You're just a courtesan. If you can't bring in money, you'll have to bow down to fate for my sake."
With those words, the servant pulled Seol-ah into his arms.
The servant's coarse hand tugged at her clothing, but it came loose with a sharp snap.
At that moment, Seol-ah grabbed the silver hairpin her grandmother had given her and held it firmly against her neck.
"What, what are you doing?!"
"I would rather die with dignity!"
Seol-ah glared at him with tear-filled, reddened eyes.
"As a noblewoman and as a person, if I cannot protect my honor, then I believe it would be better to end my life here and now."
Just then, with a loud bang, the seemingly unyielding door swung open effortlessly.
Startled, Seol-ah, still holding the hairpin to her neck, turned to look toward the source of the sound.
"Who's there?!"
The head servant shouted as he leapt to his feet. A young man stood in the doorway, blocking the exit while looking down at Seol-ah with a calm gaze.
"Is this a rescue scene?"
His dry voice filled the room, carrying a faint trace of mockery that made it difficult to tell if he was serious.
Seol-ah turned her head toward the source of the voice. Her tear-streaked face was pale, her expression frozen.
"I couldn't just stand by and watch."
The unfamiliar voice, calm yet unwavering, seemed to change the air in the room.
The servant's gaze naturally shifted toward the silver hairpin, still pressed against Seol-ah's neck.
The servant's gaze fell upon Seol-ah, who held the silver hairpin against her neck. The eyes of the two locked, clashing silently in the air.
As the servant's stern expression reflected in Seol-ah's trembling pupils, her own black eyes seemed to waver, overwhelmed.
"Seonbi… nim?"
It was a face she recognized, yet she couldn't fathom why this person was here in this moment.
Her furrowed brow gradually relaxed, and the meaning behind the man's gaze shifted, stirring something unfamiliar within her.
"Even if it's to take your own life," he said.
"…Ah."
The servant hesitated, then cautiously approached Seol-ah, gently brushing against her trembling hand. Slowly, he wrapped his hand around hers.
At those words, the enraged head servant turned to glare at the young man.
"This is the courtesan who was meant to serve me tonight! Where do you think you're taking her?!"
The head servant, trembling with anger, reached out and grabbed the man's sword-bearing hand, gripping it tightly. Blood began to drip from his palm where the blade had cut.
"She is mine now."
"...What?"
"I paid for her. She belongs to me now."
At the mention of payment, Seol-ah's lips tightened in shock. Without hesitation, the man took off his outer garment and tossed it to her.
"Wear it."
Without even glancing back at Seol-ah, the man firmly blocked the older servant and spoke resolutely.
"Put that on and leave immediately. Pack your things. You're leaving the gibang."
(Note: Gibang is the place where the geisha women lived and entertained their customers. It's not a brothel, as geisha were professional entertainers trained in singing and dancing.)