EPILOGUE
Years later, children gathered beneath the old plum tree in the courtyard of the restored hanok. They listened, wide-eyed, as a graceful woman in a pale blue hanbok read aloud from a worn, hand-bound book.
*"There once was a noblewoman and a scholar, tied not by fate, but by choice…"*
Her name was Seo-mi—the daughter of Hae-won and Jin-seo.
Around her neck, a red thread hung gently, a quiet symbol passed down.
Inside the hanok, scrolls lined the walls—poems, letters, and drawings once hidden, now preserved. The school had expanded, its name carved in wood: *The House of Quiet Stars*.
Though Hae-won's hair had grayed and Jin-seo's eyes now held the wisdom of time, they still walked hand in hand each morning. Still smiled at plum blossoms. Still believed in love that defied walls.
And every year, on the night of the harvest moon, lanterns floated across the river—carrying stories of courage, of sacrifice, of the choice to live not by duty, but by the heart.
The red string never broke.
And their love, quiet and powerful, lived on in every bloom, every poem, every child's laughter.
Forever.
—
THE END