Gu family book

Chapter 1

*Seo Hwa’s POV*

The sky had never seemed so heavy.

Dark clouds swirled overhead, as if the heavens themselves mourned the tragedy unfolding beneath them. The once vibrant palace grounds, alive with laughter and music just days ago, were now eerily silent except for the harsh footsteps of armored guards echoing off the stone walls. Their presence was like cold chains binding my family’s fate.

I held my younger brother’s hand tightly—he was only two years younger than me, but in that moment, I felt the weight of protecting him like never before.

“Seo Hwa, stay close,” Dam whispered, her voice trembling but steady. Our family maid had been with us since the days when life felt safe, when our biggest worry was the coming spring festival. Now, her calm was the only anchor I had.

The crowds parted before us, eyes filled with suspicion, disdain, and cruelty. Mothers pulled their children away, while merchants whispered rumors, each word like a dagger twisting in my chest.

I caught a glimpse of my father, the noble Lord Seo, standing on the scaffold at the palace courtyard’s center. His robes were torn, his face pale but proud. His hands were bound, but his gaze held no fear—only a quiet dignity.

“Father,” I wanted to scream, to run to him, to hold his hand and tell him it would be alright. But my feet were heavy with chains of despair.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Father was a man of honor, a loyal servant to the kingdom for decades. His word was law in our province, and his enemies were few—until Jo Gwan-woong.

Jo was once Father’s closest friend, a man I admired as a child. He had taught me how to read the stars and shared stories of ancient dragons. But power had poisoned his heart. The truth was hidden beneath his smiles and empty promises.

That morning, the kingdom’s court had convened in secret. Jo Gwan-woong accused Father of treason, claiming he plotted against the king. The evidence was forged—letters I had never seen, witnesses bribed to lie. The king, though once respectful of my father, had no choice. His hands were tied by politics and paranoia.

I remember the moment the verdict was passed: death by execution.

As Father was led away, his voice rose one final time, breaking the suffocating silence.

“Protect your brother. Protect each other,” he said, looking at me and my younger brother with eyes full of love and sorrow.

Then the sword fell.

The sound of the blade slicing through the air echoed louder than the crowd’s gasp.

I closed my eyes, tears burning like fire.

When I dared to look again, Father was gone.

I was no longer the daughter of Lord Seo.

I was a prisoner of fate.

The king’s decree followed swiftly: all family of the traitor were to be stripped of their titles and sent away. The law was clear—children were to be sent to the pleasure houses, a dark place I had only heard whispered about in fearful tales.

“Why?” my brother asked, clutching my hand with his determined fingers.

“Because the world is cruel,” I whispered, unable to offer him hope I no longer had.

Dam gathered our belongings hastily. Her eyes were fierce now, no longer the timid maid I had known. “We will survive this, my lady. I swear it.”

We were escorted by guards through narrow streets, away from the kingdom’s grandeur, until we reached the gates of the Gisaeng House—a brothel where young girls were trained to entertain and obey.

The air here was thick with perfume and despair.