Chapter 14

Jeong-ah realized then that she had never once truly contemplated the concept of ‘loyalty.’ Since being sold to the Sword Clan, there had been many people she was grateful for, and she believed she had been faithful in repaying their kindness. But those actions had stemmed from a fundamental principle of returning what she had received.

She now saw that she had been approaching the Grand Young Master in the same way. If I do this much for him, then he will protect me.

But from the Grand Young Master’s perspective, what was she to him?

***

Upon her return, Jeong-ah found Yeon So-hyeon leaning back at his leisure, engrossed in a book. This time, it was a medical text. She first announced her presence, then held out the Second Young Master’s letter.

“Here is the letter from the Second Young Master, my lord.”

“Is that so?”

The moment he took it from her, he tossed it into the brazier beside him. A flame flared up with a whoosh, and after belching a plume of black smoke, the letter was instantly reduced to ash.

“G-Grand Young Master…?!”

This time, even Jeong-ah could not hide her astonishment.

“What is it?”

Yeon So-hyeon turned a page as if nothing had happened.

“That letter, my lord, was a message from the Second Young Master to you.”

“I heard you.” A detached reply.

“Ah, that is, I surmise that the letter may have concerned me as well.”

“You?”

Another page turned.

“Yes… I believe it was likely a letter from the Second Young Master to you regarding my position here.”

“I see.”

Another page turned. Jeong-ah licked her dry lips and spoke again. “Is it all right for you not to read it?”

“Mm-hm.”

Another page.

“Ah, yes… I understand.”

Only then did Yeon So-hyeon add a short remark. “If it were truly important, he would have come himself.”

At his words, Jeong-ah’s mouth fell slightly open, and she could not close it.

“…”

Yeon So-hyeon waved a hand from behind his book. “Bring me some tea. And refreshments.”

“Y-Yes. Right away, Grand Young Master.”

As Jeong-ah hastily composed herself and turned to leave, he asked, “If you were so curious, why didn’t you read it?”

“What do you mean by that, my lord…?”

She looked at him, but his eyes remained fixed on the pages. “I said, if it bothered you that much, you should have read it beforehand.”

Jeong-ah dropped to her knees at once. “How could a lowly woman such as myself dare to commit such an act!”

The finger that was about to turn the page paused for a moment. “…Is that so?”

“Of course, my lord!” Jeong-ah carefully lifted her anxious eyes to look at him, but she still could not see his expression.

“Just bring the tea.”

***

She couldn’t understand it. If you were so curious, why didn’t you read it? Waiting for the water to boil, Jeong-ah sighed at the tangled thoughts in her head.

What on earth did he mean…?

If anyone else had said it, she could have dismissed it as a joke or a simple attempt at flattery. But this was the Grand Young Master. Though she had only known him for a day, she couldn’t imagine him speaking a single word without thought.

“…”

Her gaze, which had been wandering through the air, fell upon the dining table set in the corner—the very table where she and the Grand Young Master had eaten.

“…Hm?”

Jeong-ah shot to her feet and began to examine the leftover dishes. She recalled his behavior during their meals since yesterday. Then, the words of the man in charge of the main gate—the master who had been demoted to messenger by Yeon So-hyeon—came to mind.

…Of course. So that’s what it was.

She quickly finished her preparations and left the kitchen.

***

“Grand Young Master, the tea and refreshments are ready.”

“Mm.”

Jeong-ah approached him cautiously and, with practiced hands, began to prepare the tea. “May this lowly one also partake?”

“Go ahead.”

With a small nod, Jeong-ah prepared a portion for herself as well. “The tea is ready, my lord.”

“Mm.”

Yeon So-hyeon replied, but he seemed completely absorbed in his book. Jeong-ah, trying her best not to be conscious of him, drank her tea with an elegant posture. The aroma was superb.

Then, Yeon So-hyeon’s hand fumbled for his teacup and, without taking his eyes from the page, he began to drink. Jeong-ah proceeded to enjoy the refreshments one by one, pairing them with her tea.

And then, she was certain.

I knew it.

The Grand Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, only ate or drank something after Jeong-ah had consumed it first. That was what she had just noticed on the dining table. When she had been forced to leave in the middle of their meal, there had been a dish she had worked hard to prepare but hadn’t had a chance to taste. And that dish had been left untouched. It was a dish she had cooked, not him.

Did he really have nothing better to do than to show up and ‘help’ her every time she prepared a meal?

‘Poison tasting…’

He didn’t trust her at all. No, to be more precise, he regarded their relationship as a purely transactional one. Yeon So-hyeon probably wouldn’t have cared if she had read the Second Young Master’s letter beforehand. After all, the letter was about her. But any letter that was truly important to him, he would likely never let her see. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even asked why the subordinates of the Second and Third Young Masters had visited.

When her thoughts reached that point, the words escaped her lips like a sigh. “…This lowly one was just another uninvited guest, my lord.”

The hand turning the page stilled. “…Indeed.”

And then, the page turned.

Jeong-ah laughed, a hollow sound, and continued. “My report is late, but after the man called the Three Absolutes Warrior, another called the Howon Steward came.”

“Mm.”

“And I sent them all away. I took the liberty of telling them that the Grand Young Master would not be receiving guests.”

“Mm.”

The words pent up inside Jeong-ah began to pour out. “I am a foolish woman.”

“Are you?”

“I acted as if I were so clever, as if I knew everything, but I was ignorant of what truly mattered.”

This time, there was no reply. Only the sound of a page turning. But Jeong-ah felt much more at ease with the silence.

“I wonder if I have been so preoccupied with mere survival all this time. I also wonder if the problem was that I worked for so long in the Reception Hall, where I had no one to truly serve. It all began when I was first sold to this Sword Clan of Luoyang.”

The story of her life, from the day she first arrived at the clan, began to unfold. Now, even the sound of pages turning had ceased, but she no longer cared. Her tale soon reached the matter of the Second and Third Young Masters.

“…And that is how the Second and Third Young Masters came to know of my existence. At first, of course, nothing happened. But soon…”

Her story continued, detailing how a rivalry over her had sparked between them, how that rivalry had escalated, and how she had finally come to the Wongakjeong with the General Steward’s help. She confessed everything about her conversation with the General Steward. She spoke at length about the thoughts and judgments that had led her to seek out Yeon So-hyeon. She even laid bare what had been going through her mind when she faced the subordinates of his two brothers earlier today.

And finally, she finished with the story of her eyes.

“…Grand Young Master.”

“Mm.”

At some point, Yeon So-hyeon had put down his book and was now watching her in silence. Jeong-ah looked into his unreadable eyes and asked, “If this lowly one were to pledge her undying loyalty, with everything she has, starting now… would you accept it?”

She hoped for a simple answer, like the ‘yes’ or ‘mm’ he had given until now.

“…Hmm.”

But unlike before, an answer did not readily come. Instead, Yeon So-hyeon posed a question back to the crestfallen Jeong-ah. “No matter what happens, no matter what you come to know, no matter what dangers may arise, can you pledge your loyalty to me?”

Jeong-ah nodded resolutely. “Of course, my lord.”

But Yeon So-hyeon offered a faint, enigmatic smile and added another question. “Do you know of my father?”

It was an absurd question. “Is he not the Supreme Retired Patriarch? I have heard that he is currently suffering from an illness and does not leave his chambers, handling all affairs great and small from his sickbed…”

That was the reason the Grand Young Master’s father was the Supreme Retired Patriarch and not the current Patriarch. A patriarch who could no longer perform his duties had retired to the supreme position, leaving the seat of the Sword Clan of Luoyang’s Patriarch vacant.

Just then, a flash of lightning went through Jeong-ah’s mind. “Don’t tell me…?!”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded. “It is not an illness. My father has long been in a coma, due to poison.”

“What…?!”

Jeong-ah’s eyes fell upon the medical text that Yeon So-hyeon had cast aside. “Forget affairs great and small; he is not even conscious. The Sword Clan of Luoyang is currently being run by its highest decision-making council.”

“…”

Jeong-ah was rendered speechless by the enormity of the secret she had just learned. This was a secret one would have to die for knowing, a truth permitted only to a handful of people within the clan.

“And so, since I was a child, I have sourced all my food and drink from within the Wongakjeong.”

“…”

It was a feat made possible only by the Wongakjeong’s vast size and its formation, which allowed for cultivation in any season. “Even so, how many assassination attempts by poison do you think there have been?”

“…I cannot even begin to imagine, my lord.”

Yeon So-hyeon gave a bitter smile. “Well, after I achieved some mastery in medicine and pharmacology, poisoning became rather meaningless, but it has become a habit.”

And now, on top of that, he was the Fated One of the primeval monster, the scripture. He slowly drank the now-cold tea and spoke again. “In fact, until you just pointed it out, I hadn’t even realized that I only eat things that someone else has touched first.”

“…”

He rolled the empty teacup in his palm and asked, “What I have just told you is but a single fragment of the darkness this Sword Clan of Luoyang harbors. And still, you would serve me?”

Jeong-ah pressed one trembling hand with the other and answered. “…Please allow me to serve you as my master.”

Still, Yeon So-hyeon did not reply. Instead, he pulled a bundle of documents from his sleeve. “Look at this.”

Jeong-ah respectfully accepted the papers and carefully unfolded them. The moment she read the contents, she felt her breath catch in her throat. The document was a report of sorts, sent from the General Steward to Yeon So-hyeon. It contained every detail the General Steward knew about her. It even mentioned things she herself could not remember. But it wasn’t just a list of facts. As she turned the pages, she found his multifaceted analysis and assessment of her character.

“Read the last page aloud.”

With a trembling hand, Jeong-ah turned to the final page. “…Therefore, if this child confesses all the above facts honestly, I ask that you take her in and work her like a horse or an ox.”

A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. “However, if she cannot abandon her innate disposition and attempts to make a deal with you, Grand Young Master…”

Her voice trembled. “…I recommend that you quietly kill her, so that there will be no chance of the other young masters using her to threaten your peace.”

The bundle of papers fell from her hands.