Something Beautiful
Chapter - 29

Mingyu looked surprised, the man turned his head and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to talk, but somehow no words came out. At first Lisa was confused to see the man was silent, but then she understood. He shook his head and sighed with sympathy. "You don't know either, do you?"

Mingyu's laughter exploded like a gunshot, his head was jolted backwards, he laughed out loud until he finally managed to draw quite a lot of air into his lungs and choked.

"Yes, Lisa... I know."

This week since meeting Lisa, I have laughed more than a year, Mingyu thought.

Slightly offended by Mingyu's reaction, Lisa said, "Well then, how do I make a baby?"

The amused sparkles still in Mingyu's eyes slowly disappeared as he placed his fingers on Lisa's cheeks and stroked her back while tidying her hair. Finally he said in an awkward voice, "I'll show you how tonight."

Mingyu barely said anything more as their carriage went out of the way and into the courtyard of the inn whose windows were all brightly lit.

***

The next night they make a short stop in London, and while Mingyu is doing business, the coachman takes Lisa on a two-hour tour around the city that Lisa thinks is the most exciting city in the world.

The sun had set on the horizon of the ocean when they arrived on the ship the next day. Lisa joyfully took a deep sip of the beautiful scenery as well as the sounds of the harbor, watching the port porters walking up and down the bridge while lightly carrying large crates on their shoulders, while a giant crane lifted a net of containers from the port and lowered them on board. Large sailors walked along the pier holding women whose faces were cheek-red and the dresses were so festive that Lisa's dress looked dull.

Upon arrival on board, the ship's own captain welcomes and invites them to jointly enjoy a 'simple' dinner in his cabin. The 'simple' dinner consisted of fourteen different meals, each served with a different wine, and interesting discussions about the wars the British fought against the French and Americans. In Morsham, when Lisa read about the fierce land wars with Napoleon's army and the battles that took place at sea, it felt so far away and unreal. Now, with warships leaning around them, the war felt like something more real and terrifying.

Nonetheless, when Mingyu accompanied her down to the cabin Lisa was already drinking too much over the captain's persuasion, so she was a little dizzy and very sleepy. Mingyu suitcases have been placed in the cabin, Lisa smiles happily while wondering in her heart whether her husband will make love to her again tonight. The man seemed to be keeping some distance after returning home from his meeting in London last night, and did not ask him to make love when they stopped at the inn in the southern part of London. Nonetheless, the man gave her a kiss of good-night, and hugged her until she fell asleep.

"Is this boat shrewd?" lisa asked, clutching a small table nearby.

Mingyu chuckled, his voice sounding deep and soulful. "It's a boat, not a boat and you're the one who's whiny, my sweetie. Looks like you've had too much to drink at dinner."

"The captain insisted that I taste every drink" Lisa protested. "He's very good" he added, quite satisfied with his world.

Mingyu politely turned her back when Lisa changed clothes, then she took the woman to bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"My Lord," Lisa said, "Didn't you sleep with me?" Lisa hoped she wouldn't have to call him Your Grace or My Lord, but the grandmother had told her out loud that she should call her husband that, unless her husband allows her not to. And the man hasn't given her permission.

"I'm going to go up to the deck for a bit to catch some wind" Mingyu said, pausing to check the gun out of the jacket pocket and tucking it in the waistband of her dark blue trousers.

Lisa had fallen asleep before Mingyu reached the end of a narrow alley leading to the stairs leading to the upper deck. On the staircase, Mingyu reached into her pocket and picked up a slender cigar she used to enjoy after dinner. Covering the other end, he lit the cigar and stood looking out at the ocean in front of him, thinking of the complicated matter regarding Lisa. After many years of contact with experienced, contrite, and immoral women, Mingyu considered all women to be just like that, he married a plain, funny, clever girl, and noble heart.

And he didn't know what to do with that woman. Lisa had a ridiculous notion that he was a noble, kind and handsome man. While he, of course, knew well that he was cynical, logical and immoral. In this short life, there were already countless people he killed and the number of women he slept with.

Lisa believes in openness, trust in others, and love. And he was trying to make Mingyu believe that as well. Mingyu did not want to deal with openness, trusting others, or love.

Lisa is a gentle dreamer, whereas she is logical and hard. In fact, the woman was such a severe dreamer that she actually believed that something beautiful was going to happen, and that was not so surprising, as Lisa also considered the wet ground in spring to smell like perfume.

Lisa wanted to make Mingyu see such a world, fresh, alive and untainted, but it was too late. All Mingyu could do was try to keep that vile world away from Lisa for as long as she could. But he doesn't want to be in that imaginary world with Lisa. That's not the place.

In Devon, Lisa will be safe from the ill effects of the nobility, safe from the carefree and immoral attitude of her world, a world where Mingyu feels at ease, a place where he is not expected to feel something like love, a place where he is not expected to trust others, or express what is in his deepest thoughts and feelings.

She was afraid that she would see the hurt on Lisa's face if she knew she wasn't planning to stay in Devon with her, because she wouldn't be living there. Can't stay there.

In front of him, the ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, its black sea surface illuminated by a huge yellow light from the moon. Annoyed, Mingyu threw his cigar to the side of the ship, and then remembered it was his last cigar. He had left a flattened box of packaging with his entire contents at Una's home in London last night.

Tired of being confined to a train for days and unable to find a way out of her problem with Lisa, she turns her back from the stairs and looks along the dock, the light of the lamps came out of the taverns and the foul-mouthed sailors limped, their hands around to the prostitutes who walked beside them.

Not twenty meters from where he stood, two men nimbly ran into the shadow of the ship and squatted between two rope rolls to make it invisible to Mingyu/

Hoping to buy some cigars at the tavern across the pier, Mingyu walked along the deck to the bridge steps. Two shadows came out from his hiding among the rope rolls and followed him, silent for a moment, watching.