“No, not like that! You must write it like this.” Seulhee heard Shinwoo correcting one of the village children. The man, who was maybe thirty years old, had been sent by the king to help her with running the school. At first he had been rather patronizing toward everyone, riding on his merchant class status, but once he saw that Seulhee was no dimwit and that the children had a thirst for learning, he’d softened up considerably.

When the village council had learned of her monetary assets, a few had tried to persuade her to hand them over. She had refused, insisting that she would use the money to start a school. It would benefit the village and not just a few people.

It had taken a while to build the school, which only had two rooms, but everyone in the village had chipped in, and although it was no architectural masterpiece, they were all quite proud of the building. It was named after Joora, the woman who had taught Seulhee months ago, albeit not reading and writing.

The school had opened a few weeks prior, and the children had pretty much all learned the alphabet. Their handwriting could use some work, but they were writing out words and phrases now.

“Seulhee!” She looked to the door to see a man from the village waving at her. “There’s someone here to see you.”

She left the lesson to Shinwoo and left the school. It was built across from her house, so it took a few seconds to go home.

Her father was out in the fields, so her mother was entertaining their guest.

“Sungjong?” She had been expecting Sungyeol, though the man probably would have mentioned his name if it had been him.

The younger boy jumped up from his chair to hug her. “Seulhee! I missed you.” She found herself blushing.

“Me, too. What brings you here?”

“Well, I’ve been promoted. Because of my magic, I’m second only to the head hostler.”

“So you’re in charge of the stable? Why aren’t they making you do other things?”

“They want me to train the horses since I have the ability to communicate with them.”

“You can?” Seulhee knew that the boy was good with animals, but…

“Yeah. I’ve been encouraged to test the limits of my bond with animals, and that’s what I found out. I can read their minds. Well, mostly I get random images and ideas from them. I think I’ll get better at it, though.”

“That’s amazing,” she said.

“It is, isn’t it? Carrot was pretty surprised when I started sending her thoughts the other day. She looked at me funny, I swear.”

Seulhee laughed. “I’m sure she did. But is that the only reason you’re here? I mean, you could have sent a letter or something.”

“Oh, that’s not the only thing,” Sungjong said with a shake of his head. “I’m asking you to come to the city with me.”

“Wait, why?”

“It’s the king’s idea. After you started this school here, he realized that it would be a good idea to begin educating the common people. There’s a school opening in the capital, and His Majesty wants you to teach there.”

Seulhee was impressed and quite cheered to hear that the king had made such a decision. “But I’m still learning myself. I’m no scholar. Shinwoo has yet to teach me everything he knows.”

“Shinwoo?”

“He’s the one who helps me with the school.”

“Are you marrying him?” Sungjong asked, looking distraught.

“Shinwoo? No. He has a fiancée back in his hometown. They’re getting married in a few months. She’ll probably move down here to help him.”

“Good.”

“Are we supposed to expect a marriage proposal?”

Both Seulhee and Sungjong jumped. They’d all but forgotten her mother, who was watching them in amusement.

“Mother!”

“No, not yet,” said Sungjong, causing Seulhee to flush. “I’m a long way off from being ready to marry anyone.”

“Well, I still have quite a few years in me to wait for grandchildren,” Seulhee’s mother mused. She went into the bedroom and shut the door, conveniently leaving Seulhee alone with Sungjong.

He was studying her now, a hesitant look on his face. She realized that his gaze rested on her lips, so she leaned forward, shifting her weight to her toes, and kissed him.

Much to her surprise, he fell backwards into his chair. His face was tinged pink, and he touched his lips with a shaking hand. If they were like hers, then they were still tingling from the contact. “I wanted to do that long ago, in the stable loft,” he confessed.

“Ladies first,” Seulhee replied, a wry smile on her face.

“Of course.” Then, he stood up again, taking her hand. “And your answer?”

“Huh?” She was confused for a moment, thinking he was asking her to marry him.

“Are you coming to the capital?”

“Ah.” Though she hadn’t wanted to admit it, she did miss the capital. Home was familiar and it was a place she would never fully leave behind, but the city had stolen part of her heart, and she longed to be reunited with it.

“It will be my pleasure.”

End of Seulhee: Post-Heroism