Taeyeon gave Hae-Sun a timid smile when he finished talking about his late wife and son. Such a hard life for the poor man, as he and his son had to fight in the war against the japanese 20 years ago. His son died in the war and his wife became sick during their departure and ended up dying from the illness, leaving Hae-Sun’s completely on his own. When the war was over and the man returned to Stoneguard, he decided to establish his own tavern to comfort men who suffered in the spoils of the war just as he suffered.

“Hard to survive sometimes though, li’le fella.”

“Yeah, I can see why. It is still good that your tavern is here for the people in this town, Hae-Sun.”

“Thank you.” He sighed, nodding his head. Taeyeon drank more of her hot green tea. “But I’m curious though…. How are you planning to leave the town? Wouldn’t be an easy thing for you to escape from Master Shin’s men.”

Taeyeon had thought through it. The plan she came up with was to embrace her natural gender for the brief moment she was crossing the gate. Taeyeon was aware how different her image from being a woman and a man was. No one would bat an eye on her if she decided to disguise herself as a woman. However, she had to do carefully, as no one could spot her as being the man Master Shin was looking for.

“I have my ways.” She said, smiling.

“Interesting fella you are.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. You’re suddenly calm for a man who’s being hunted by Shin Yunsuk.”

“I’m not afraid of him. And I’m a bastard child. That means I have nothing to lose.” She sipped her tea once again.

“I guess you can see it that way.” Hae-Sun chuckled. “Who’s your father?”

Taeyeon looked at him. “My father? I just told you I’m a bastard child. I have no father.”

“You are a bastard child but every bastard has a biological father, ain’t it? Depending on whom your father is, you have a lot to lose.”

“I don’t think so.”

“If you are a bastard child of a Master Lord, if this Master has no living heirs, his heritage will go to you.”

Taeyeon had memories of Master Kim. But the words spoken by Lady Miyoung came back for a second.Why would a top tier military officer raise a bastard child born so far away from his own hometown? “I don’t know who my father is.” She said, her semblance now changing to a grim one. “There was a man who took care of me when I was young. He taught me how to read and how to swordfight. I look up to him as my father. But I’m not his bastard son. So I don’t think I’m entitled to anything on his name.”

“If he taught you how to swordfight, that means he was a warrior.”

“I guess.”

“Did he fight in the war as well?”

Taeyeon blinked, thinking about it. “Probably. But he didn’t tell me anything about it.”

“You were born after the invasion happened. Sometimes it is better to not know things.”

Taeyeon nodded her head, sipping her tea again. But she was starting to find weird how there were “things” where Master Kim didn’t really bother to tell her. Why did he never mention he fought in the war? Why did he leave Hanyang to find himself in Ironstow? If he indeed was a top tier military officer as Lady Hwang once suggested, why wasn’t he called for duties in the name of the King?

Taeyeon found herself curious about a lot of things regarding her late master. And after the conversation she shared with Lady Hwang, more and more questions about him started to rise in her mind. Had Master Kim actually known who Taeyeon’s real father was? Was it a friend of his? Did he decide to take care of Taeyeon on behalf of her father? Was Taeyeon’s father actually Park Minshik? Taeyeon couldn’t tell.

And maybe Lady Hwang was right. Maybe, the only one who could answer her questions was Park Minshik himself, the man she has to find in the capital city.

“Still... I wish he could have told me all these things before he passed away.” She said, sipping her tea once again and feeling her lips become a little numb after a couple of seconds.

“What about your mother, didn’t she say anything to you about your father?”

Taeyeon blinked. “I never met my mother.”

“Never?”

“She died giving birth to me, Lady Boshi told me.”

“Who’s Lady Boshi?”

“The woman who raised me. She took care of me during hard times. I owe her a lot.” Sometimes Taeyeon missed talking to Lady Boshi. She probably would help Taeyeon a lot regarding Lady Hwang’s situation. “If I am here alive talking to you, it is probably due to Lady Boshi.”

“So, you’re like, completely on your own?” He asked, slightly interested.

“Yeah.” Taeyeon nodded. She said, and she tried to smile, but a yawn soon followed afterwards.

“Indeed you are an interesting piece.”

“People often tell me this. I wonder why.”

“Have you managed to look up on your bounty?” He asked, amused.

Taeyeon frowned her brows. “What do you mean?”

Hae-Sun then pulled up a bounty poster from behind his counter, showing Taeyeon her own face on the parchment. Her figure had been drawn more seriously than she would have liked. Taeyeon wasn’t able to read the text as it was written in chinese. The only thing she could recognize was the price tag on the bottom of the poster. “100 gold?”

“You’re worth a lot of money, lit’le fel