A faint cold sweat formed on the back of Woo-hye’s neck.

Not wanting anyone to see her in a bad state, she stood up without hesitation.

“I should go.”

“You look pale. Let me take you back to the carriage.”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Woo-hye waved off Gayu, who followed her worriedly, and returned to the herb shop with Hyang-eum.

Seeing them return from their errand, Mokcheon handed them a bowl of medicinal decoction he had prepared in advance.

“This is an antidote. Drink it and take the tonic herbs I’ve prepared outside to replenish your strength. It’ll count as payment for the baskets.”

Woo-hye brought the bowl to her lips and drank the antidote slowly.

Even though the effects hadn’t kicked in yet, she forced a smile on her face and tried to pretend that she was completely fine.

“I’ll bring some dumplings next time. Let’s eat together.”

“No need. More customers have been coming to the apothecary lately. You should go back.”

As soon as they left the storeroom, Hyang-eum quietly led Woo-hye to a corner of the pharmacy.

Lately, more and more strangers had been trying to approach Woo-hye without permission.

Hyang-eum hid her behind some furniture where no one could see her.

“I’ll get the herbs. Please wait here, my lady.”

“Okay. Go on.”

As soon as Hyang-eum’s presence faded, Woo-hye let out a small sigh.

She wasn’t feeling well – she’d pushed herself too far.

The side effects of the poison needles varied depending on her physical condition.

The slower her strength recovered, the longer it would take for her vision to return, and that weighed heavily on her.

‘But I had no choice… because of the marriage.’

Elegant revenge is only possible when it’s backed by overwhelming power.

For someone like her, a small fish, dreaming of revenge meant putting her life on the line and fighting with everything she had – just like now.

Woo-hye was quietly leaning against the wall when it happened.

Suddenly she felt a presence close to her – too close and unfamiliar.

Someone grabbed her roughly.

“Hngh…!”

Her air was cut off without warning, and before she could fight back, her body went limp.

Her body was limp, but fortunately she remained conscious.

And there was something else.

‘What…? I can see again.’

Her vision, blocked by the side effects of the poison needles, had returned.

It seemed that the mixture of poisons and drugs – possibly used by the assassins – had combined in her body to produce this unexpected result.

A welcome twist in such a dire situation.

‘I can’t let them know I’m awake.’

If they realised she was conscious, they would undoubtedly knock her out for real this time.

Through slitted eyes, Woo-hye took in her surroundings.

‘A carriage…?’

At that moment, thinking she was still unconscious, the men began to speak freely.

“So once we get her on the boat, our job is done?”

“Yes. After that, the coachman will take care of the rest. We just have to take this carriage and get out of town.”

“Phew, they’re thorough. I don’t know who hired us, but they’re clearly doing everything they can to cover their tracks.”

There were two men talking, and with the coachman supposedly part of the plan, that made at least three accomplices.

She caught a glimpse of their faces – they were unfamiliar. Complete strangers.

‘Putting me on a boat…? Are they trying to take me far away? But why?’

Woo-hye had already come to the conclusion that Seol Mi-hee was behind it.

She had both the motive and the devious style to pull something like this off.

And judging by the tone of the men – who, although they had no proof, seemed to have figured it out by intuition – they mentioned her by name.

“She may be a stepdaughter, but to try to ruin her virtue? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“They say that noble families are always full of plots and tricks. All we have to do is think about how we’re going to spend the silver we got for doing their dirty work.”

“Well, anyway, that girl’s sudden appearance almost ruined the plan – but luckily it all worked out in the end.”

Only then did Woo-hye fully understand why Seol Mi-hee had done this.

‘Even if she marries me off to Cheong-un, she still wants to avoid being called a heartless stepmother. So she’s trying to destroy my chastity.’

Seol Mi-hee’s plan was to turn her into a ruined woman – damaged goods that no one would want, no matter how cheaply she was sold on the market.

This would give her the perfect excuse to marry off the Dan family’s legitimate daughter to a commoner like Cheong-un.

To pull off such a plan on the very day that the marriage letter was sent – that was Seol Mi-hee through and through.

“Hey, get that woman out of here.”

The coachman ordered coldly as he stopped the carriage.

Woo-hye instinctively felt that this coachman was no ordinary person.

His voice carried the arrogant coldness of someone who believed he held the lives of others in his hands.

His condescension was so blatant that even the other two men were visibly irritated.

“Who the hell does this bastard think he is, barking orders at us?”

“There’s always one c*cky bastard like that. Maybe it’s time we showed him his place.”

‘They’re both going to die.’

If this was Seol Mi-hee’s doing, it was only natural that she would send someone trained in martial arts to tie up loose ends – and silence everyone involved.

Woo-hye kept her eyes closed in silence, waiting for the inevitable.

Thud!

She heard two heavy thumps as bodies hit the ground – exactly twice.

Everything was unfolding exactly as she had predicted.

After disposing of the men, the coachman hoisted Woo-hye over his shoulder and started walking somewhere.

They seemed to be heading for the boat.

He pushed his way through an overgrown path where carriages couldn’t go and finally arrived at the water’s edge where a small ferry was moored.

The boat, covered with a roof and decorated with fluttering red silk, was clearly decorated to attract attention.

Perhaps the drug the men had used on her had begun to wear off – although still weak, Woo-hye could now move her body slightly. Even that was something to be thankful for in this situation.

‘Finally.’

Without noticing anything, the coachman boarded the boat and set her down, then untied the rope from the mooring post.

The boat swayed with the current and began to move.

He rowed towards a place where young people were enjoying themselves on pleasure boats.

While he concentrated on rowing, Woo-hye, her eyes suddenly sharp with determination, grabbed a dagger that had somehow ended up in her hand and aimed it at the coachman’s neck.

‘You underestimated me, Seol Mi-hee. Did you really think I’d back down from something like this?’

“Kgh-! Wh-what the-?”

But the coachman sensed something was wrong and moved just in time, so the blade only grazed him – not enough to be fatal.

Woo-hye quickly kicked the man, knocking him into the water, then grabbed the oars and started rowing.

She had to get far enough away so that he couldn’t catch up with her.

But even in perfect condition, rowing was difficult – and in her current state, it was almost impossible.

Splash!

The coachman caught up in no time and grabbed onto the boat.

“Haah… Huff! You miserable b*tch!”

Woo-hye tried to stomp on his hand to stop him climbing up, but the boat rocked violently, throwing her backwards.

“Ugh…!”

Her body felt as sluggish as if she were drunk – nothing was going the way she wanted. A curse rose in her throat.

Meanwhile, the coachman climbed aboard.

“Hah, you sly little thing. You weren’t really blind, were you?”

As Woo-hye tried to push herself up from the floor, he kicked her in the side.

“Agh!”

Now seething with rage, the coachman drew a blade from his waist.

Woo-hye glared up at him, her eyes burning red as if she could kill him with her gaze.

She had survived countless dangerous moments before.

But this time she was out on the river with no one to help her.

‘Is this really where my life ends? At the hands of someone so utterly worthless?’

‘I haven’t even ruined a single thing of Seol Mi-hee’s!’

‘I can’t die here. I can’t die. I won’t die!’

The coachman raised his blade.

“Don’t think you’ll make it out of here, alien-“

Thud!

At that moment, an arrow went straight into the coachman’s head.

Thud!

His body collapsed forward and the boat rocked violently from the impact, water sloshing in.

Woo-hye stared ahead, her eyes wide open. She tried to keep her composure, telling herself she wouldn’t be shaken by something like this – but she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking.

A large ship was rapidly approaching from the opposite side.

At its bow stood a man cloaked head to toe in black, his hair whipping in the wind as he stared directly at her.

‘He’s the one who fired the arrow.’

‘Enemy? Or ally?’

One thing was certain – the man was highly suspicious. After all, there would be no reason to cover his face if he had nothing to hide.

‘Should I pretend I still can’t see?’

Just in case, Woo-hye lowered her eyes. Pretending to shake with confusion, she looked pitiful and started to back away.

As she moved to the other side of the corpse, a hook with a rope attached to it flew through the air and latched onto the boat.

The small ferry was forcibly pulled towards the larger pleasure craft.

When the boats were close enough to almost collide, the man who had fired the arrow leapt over with effortless grace.

‘A martial artist.’

She had guessed it from his archery skills, but now it was clear – this man was on a completely different level to the coachman.

As if startled by the sound, Woo-hye turned her head quickly.

‘If I raised my eyes a little more, I could see his face…’

Fighting back her frustration, she asked.

“Who are you?”

The man didn’t answer.

“Did Seol Mi-hee send you?”

Again, no answer. He just walked towards her, quietly and purposefully.

“What do you want?”

“……”

“Are you here to kill me? Or to r*pe me?”

“……”

His silence was so stubborn it was almost obsessive.

‘If he really wanted to kill me, would he have been so careful with his words?’

“Answer me, now! If not, I’ll jump in the water!”

He ducked under the roof of the boat and stepped over to her.

Now.

Woo-hye seized the moment – just as the man emerged from under the roof, she slashed at his back with the dagger in her hand and lifted her eyes to get a better look at his face.

Although the lower half of his face was covered in black cloth, what little she could see above the bridge of his nose was striking – an unforgettable face.

She had never felt this way when looking at a portrait before.

“…!”

‘Did… did our eyes meet?’

She had looked away quickly the moment she saw his face – surely not…

In that brief moment, her dagger was taken from her.

Without a second thought, Woo-hye tried to throw herself into the water – but was stopped immediately.

Thud!

That was the last sound she heard before everything went black.