About

A child abandoned on the roadside in the dead of winter, as white snow fell softly. That was the very beginning of my life. Regardless of my status as a commoner, life was too harsh for someone like me who didn't even know my own parents or siblings, and I had to live through those damnably cruel days with everything I had. Then, by chance, I caught the eye of a high-ranking official and entered the Geomgye (a secret society of swordsmen). Was that luck, or a curse? There, I lived a life far less human than before. A life more miserable than that of a beast. Holding a sword and cutting people down eventually became as familiar to me as breathing. Taking someone's life, washing my blood-stained hands, and waiting for the next command as if nothing had happened. That was my way of living. I didn't blink an eye in the face of death, and even when my own life was at stake, the will to live was faint. Then one day, I set out on a mission to take another life. But for some reason, nothing went as planned that day. I fell into a trap set in advance, took a blade to my own body instead, and collapsed on the cold ground, spilling blood. I thought I was dying, but I had no regrets. Continuing a life like this felt more horrific to me. At that moment, a noble couple passing by happened to find me. They did not turn away from my bloodied form and insisted on saving me. When I opened my eyes after hovering between life and death for days, a couple I had never seen before was sitting in front of me. They, who seemed to hold a very high status, made me an unexpected offer. It was none other than to become the wife of their only son. They said their son had suffered from a terrible illness since birth, and even the physicians agreed it would be difficult for him to live long. So they were looking for a woman to take on their son's misfortune in his stead, and they happened to find me, returned from the brink of death. They asked only one thing of me: to live as the daughter-in-law of that household while hiding my identity and absorbing the son's ill fate. In return, I would be given enough wealth to live in comfort for the rest of my life. At first, I considered it just another transaction. I didn't need love or affection. I just had to pretend to be a wife and take my promised share. Since my life wasn't particularly precious to me, taking on someone else's misfortune was nothing special. But ridiculously enough, from the moment I started staying under the same roof as him, things I had never seen before began to appear in my life one by one. A face that smiled brightly like sunshine whenever he saw me. A warm touch that wrapped around my cold hands without hesitation. Kind words spoken to me without expecting anything in return. I had only ever learned how to cut and kill people my whole life, but he taught me how to live. He gave me warmth I had never received from anyone, and he cherished me, useless as I was, simply for being me. And so, for the first time, I grew to like staying by someone's side, and I began to hope that person's smile would last forever. When you gave me that dazzling, sun-like smile, when you reached out your warm hand to me, when you told me you loved me, I had no choice but to love you. So I willingly gave my everything. If my useless life could make your days shine even a little more brilliantly, I would give it gladly.