WBDS CH 08

Chapter 8

“Ouch!”

The girl shoved So-ye hard.

So-ye fell back on her butt.

She could have resisted, but controlling her strength against a child wasn’t safe.

The girl—clearly So-cheong’s older sister—pulled her brother behind her back.

Her eyes flickered for a moment when she saw So-ye fall, but she quickly steeled herself and snapped:

“What did you do to my brother?!”

“We were just playing.”

So-ye hunched her shoulders a little on purpose.

The sister looked sharp and fierce, but her heart seemed soft.

“Playing?”

“Are you So-cheong’s sister? I’m So-ye.”

“I’m Tang So-so. And—”

So-so put her hands on her hips.

“Who’s going to believe you were playing? Obviously, you bullied him.”

“Why would I bully him? We were playing.”

***

She knew the girl wouldn’t believe her, but explained anyway.

“Look at him! He’s all dirty!”

So-ye turned to look at So-cheong.

When she first saw him, he had been neatly dressed.

Now, after their wild ball game, he was a total mess.

It looked like someone had rolled him up in a mat and dragged him across the dirt.

His clothes—especially his shoes—were completely ruined.

“But that’s normal for kids his age… they get like that if you take your eyes off them for a second.”

So-ye felt wronged.

“I—I’m dirty too, see?”

She glanced down at herself.

Her clothes were smudged from chasing the ball and rolling on the ground, but compared to So-cheong, she looked almost spotless.

The difference was simple: inside, she was still an adult.

Kids played like crazy and forgot about the consequences.

Adults thought ahead—to laundry, baths, cleaning.

“Big fun always comes with big responsibility…”

Her face went strangely wistful.

So-so pressed harder.

“You even broke his ball! Am I wrong?”

She held up the wooden ball.

***

The ball had taken a beating from their rough play.

Its smooth surface was now cracked and splintering—sharp enough to scratch a hand.

So-ye hadn’t noticed before, and now her face stiffened in guilt.

“I-I didn’t…”

“So-cheong loved this ball so much…”

So-so’s voice trembled.

She tried to act grown-up, but she was still a child.

She really believed her brother had been bullied while she wasn’t watching.

“You said you didn’t want to hang around with branch family kids. So why hurt him?”

Her nose was turning red as she tried to hold back tears.

So-ye blinked.

“Me?”

She was stunned.

Sure, there must be reasons why she (as Tang So-ye) wasn’t staying in the Tang Clan’s main house, but what did that have to do with her?

“So that’s why we left you alone to be by yourself!”

“When did I ever say that?”

“Your nanny told my mom! She said, ‘Don’t push low-class kids onto the precious young miss!’”

So-ye’s eyes went wide.

“That woman…!”

This wasn’t just about dirt.

The hostility was deeper than that.

So even that was the nanny’s doing?

“Really?”

So-ye asked, stunned.

“I said that?”

“Don’t play dumb. I heard your nanny say it myself.”

Tang So-so’s face was red with both anger and shame.

“No matter if you’re a direct descendant, you’ve ignored my mother, the Branch Master, for a whole year…”

Her shoulders trembled, her nose turning red.

“Anyway, don’t you dare think of bullying my brother again!”

So-ye swallowed a sigh.

This wasn’t a moment to argue, “I didn’t know.”

She had to prove it with actions.

“That’s the nanny’s idea.”

She put her hands firmly on her hips and looked So-so in the eye.

“I’m going to play with So-cheong! From now on too!”

Then she sharply turned her head toward the boy.

So-cheong, frozen under his sister’s glare, jolted when he met So-ye’s gaze.

“Hey. Say it.”

Was that too aggressive? Too much like picking a fight?

Too late to take it back now.

So-ye looked straight at the boy.
“We had fun, didn’t we?”

“No!”

The boy flatly denied it So-ye staggered as if hit.

She thought they’d played well together—what went wrong?

“See! She did bully you!”

So-so hugged her brother tightly.

But So-cheong answered brightly:

“She didn’t bully me. We played.”

“With her? I told you not to play with the young miss in the pavilion!”

So-cheong shook his head.

“Not with the miss. With the ball!”

Both So-ye and So-so nearly toppled over.

“What? The ball?”

The words were pure, innocent nonsense.

“Wow. I told him to say he was playing with the ball, but… he actually believed it.”

It was impossible to follow the thought process of a real child.

So-so stared at her brother in shock.

“B-but I told you not to play with her!”

So-cheong puffed up proudly.

“So I only played with the ball!”

So-ye had to fight to keep her mouth from curling up.

Whoever this boy’s parents were, he was clever.

“You—wait till we get home.”

So-so grabbed her brother’s hand and clutched his ball under her arm.

She turned back toward So-ye.
“I understand what happened today.”

Her voice was less harsh now.

If it had been anyone else, she might still be suspicious, but she clearly trusted So-cheong.

“Should I be relieved or not…”

“But don’t come near me or So-cheong again.”

So-so spun around, her lavender skirt swirling prettily as she walked away.

So-ye just watched the two siblings leave.
“How am I supposed to clear up this misunderstanding?”

At least, after So-cheong’s words, the prickly hedgehog-like spikes of So-so had softened a little.

“But it’s not enough.”

Her real goal—to meet So-cheong’s guardian—had failed.

Still, one useful fact came out: So-so’s mother was the Branch Master of Tang Family Hall.

Not a bad person to approach.

But another thought nagged her—what So-so had revealed about the nanny.

“So the nanny used me as an excuse to do things I never said or did… Why?”

So-ye folded her arms and thought deeply.

One thing was clear: the nanny had to be stopped.

And to do that…

“I need to make her take responsibility for something.”

So-ye made up her mind.

***

She didn’t go straight back to her quarters.

Instead, she lingered on the path, knowing the nanny would pass this way.

“Young miss?”

Soon enough, the nanny appeared, carrying a basket.

“You said you were only going to the garden.”

Sagong Hui frowned when she spotted her.
“This isn’t the garden. You’re not well—coming out this far—”

Her tone was sharp.

“Nanny!”

So-ye ran up and hugged her tightly.
Not around the waist—her little arms only reached the woman’s legs.

But it was still a hug, in her mind.

“Oh?”

So-ye looked up with a sweet smile. Pretending to be a good child and lowering the nanny’s guard was easy.

“But it makes me sick inside.”

“I was waiting for you. Sing me a lullaby.”

It was all just to disarm suspicion.

So-ye clung to the only warmth she could get while scheming.

“…Just this once.”

Sagong Hui rolled her eyes fondly but took So-ye’s hand and led her back inside.

***

The nanny began cutting down on solo errands.

Too many times now, the “sickly girl who promised to stay in the garden” was being caught outside.

Exactly as So-ye had planned.

First: The nanny had tried to isolate her.

Through So-so she’d learned her own reputation: selfish, spoiled, unwilling to meet anyone for a whole year, speaking only through the nanny.

Even before she regained her past-life memories, things had already been like this.

But now, with her health back, So-ye was wandering freely.

This was the second time she’d slipped out.

Sagong Hui would be worried.

If rumors spread, people might realize So-ye was nothing like the picture the nanny had painted.

Second: The nanny had been involved in her poisoning.

Why else would she steal the medicine bottle—the evidence itself?

Just last night, So-ye overheard her scolding Geum-a again.

Her voice sounded more anxious than threatening.

Third: The nanny was alone.

So-ye’s eyes followed Sagong Hui’s back as the woman glanced nervously out the window.

“She has no allies.”