Jinhae
Seolhwa's breathing turned shallow and fast.
I kept both palms on her through the robes. One between her shoulder blades. One just above the cleft of her ass. Will cycled her Qi in slow loops while the lactation pathways finished locking in.
Her hips rolled again. A broken little exhale left her throat.
The white-and-blue cloth between her thighs had gone dark.
I held the circuit one last time, then eased the pressure and lifted my hands.
“That's enough for tonight.”
Seolhwa pushed up on her elbows almost before I finished speaking. She sat up too fast. The loose robes clung to the sweat along her spine. Color rode high across her cheekbones.
“I—thank you.” The boyish pitch cracked for half a second. She forced it back down. “I can feel… something.”
“You'll feel the real difference tomorrow.” I stood and rolled my shoulders. “During training. Then the smaller corrections will settle in over the next day or two. We keep the sessions going. At least once a week.”
She nodded once. Already scooting toward the edge of the mat.
“Got it.”
Strength obsession still won. I watched it beat back the wet heat she refused to name. Discomfort sat plain in the tight line of her mouth. She wanted me gone.
I gave her the out.
“One more thing. We leave for the Royal Academy in three days. I have one last detail to arrange in the city.”
Seolhwa's head snapped up.
“Three days.”
“Three days.”
She accepted it without a single follow-up question.
“Fine. Three days. I'll be ready.”
“Good.”
I turned toward the door.
Behind me the status page kept ticking.
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SEOLHWA (Disguised)
Haeun cover — concealed Namgung heir
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Lust .................... 71 → 79 / 100 ↑
Submission .............. 18 → 22 / 100 ↑
*— “Get out. Get out. I need—”
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I stepped into the corridor and pulled the door shut.
Ahyun knelt in the garden bed under the side window exactly where I had left her. One hand buried under her hanfu. Fingers shiny. Thighs trembling. Eyes glassy and huge.
I caught her wrist before she could finish the stroke.
“Stop.”
She froze. A broken whimper leaked out.
“Y-Young Master— I didn't— I was only—”
“I said hands off.” I hauled her up by the arm and started walking. “You're coming with me. And you still don't get to come.”
We were ten paces down the corridor when the soft, desperate sounds started behind Seolhwa's door.
The blue screens kept firing while Ahyun and I walked away—another three minutes of soft wet noise behind the door.
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[RELATIONSHIP UPDATE]
Seolhwa (Disguised)
Lust .................... 79 → 94 / 100 ↑↑
*— Confusion spike / shame spike
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I smiled all the way back to my chambers.
The next two days stayed quiet on the surface.
Morning spars with Seolhwa in the private yard. I kept the Will taps light. Just enough to hold her lust meter in the fifties while her sword forms got sharper and her breathing got less steady.
Ahyun remained my edge toy.
I bent her over the desk after breakfast and spanked that fat ass until both cheeks glowed and her cunt dripped audible strings onto the floorboards. I pinched her thick nipples until she sobbed and thanked me for not letting her finish. I made her sleep with her hands tied loosely to the bedframe so the ache stayed all night.
Most of my hours went to the city.
I took a light purse and the Academy plaque as proof of House Kang's new backing. Merchants who used to sneer at the cripple heir suddenly found their best stock. I bought trail rations sealed in waxed cloth. Spare boots. A second medicine kit sized for long roads. Rope. Torches. A compact tent that packed small. Two sets of sturdy travel clothes. A heavier cloak for myself.
And the special items.
Everything I needed for the next event.
I was reviewing the Academy road maps when the shouting started from the main pavilion.
Ahyun fell in behind me without being told.
The central courtyard was already packed. Kitchen staff. Guards off rotation. My father stood at the base of the steps with his iron-gray hair and the permanent lines of disappointment.
They were hauling a man off a horse.
Guardsman Yeon.
I knew the face from the original route. One of the twelve who had ridden out with Lady Seo and Minji. Blood soaked both sleeves. Crude tourniquets bit into his upper arms. His face was gray with blood loss and exhaustion. He could barely stand when they set him against a pillar.
Household physicians swarmed. Clean cloth. Strong wine. Fingers checking pulse points.
I stopped at the edge of the ring of bodies and focused.
Kang Daewon's voice cut across the noise.
“Report.”
Yeon's head lolled. He forced his eyes open.
“Patriarch… ambush. Yesterday. Mountain pass on the Yeongwol road. Thirty of them. Maybe more. They came out of the trees like animals.” He coughed. “We fought. We killed some. Not enough. They dragged the palanquin into the trees. Lady Seo and the young miss… alive when I last saw. The rest of the escort…”
His voice failed.
Daewon's face went still as stone.
“Survivors?”
“Only me. They threw me off the cliff edge. I caught a root. Stole a horse from a woodcutter. Rode through the night.” Yeon's bloodshot eyes found my father's. “The others are dead.”
Seojun stepped forward.
“I'll go.” His voice carried. “Give me thirty of the best. I'll ride to the ambush site and hunt from there. I'll bring Mother and Minji back.”
Daewon looked at him.
“You are still recovering from meridian backlash.”
“I can do it. I can fight. I will not sit here while they have my mother and my sister.”
A long breath.
Daewon nodded once.
“Thirty men. You leave within the hour. Guardsman Yeon will mark the pass on your map before the physicians finish with him.” His gaze swept the courtyard. “Anyone who slows the column answers to me.”
Seojun bowed sharp and turned, already barking orders. Soldiers peeled off toward the armory. Stable hands ran for horses.
I watched the whole performance with my hands loose at my sides.
Exactly as scripted.
The second son charges out half-healed to play hero. The patriarch spends the house's best blades on a frontal sweep. And the real window—the one that actually saved both women in the optimal route—opened for the player who already knew where the bandits dragged their prizes after the first night.
I turned and walked back toward my wing before anyone thought to look at the eldest son.
Ahyun’s voice came thin behind me. “Young Master… Lady Minji… Lady Seo… what do we do?”
“We wait,” I said.
I slid my door shut behind us and crossed straight to the packs I had spent two days building.
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[EVENT STARTED]
Mountain Abduction — Yeongwol Road
*— Lady Seo Yunhee and Kang Minji taken alive
*— Bandit force: ~30
*— Primary rescue window: 36 hours
*— Hidden flags available
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