“What?”
Sahyeon froze like he’d just heard something profoundly unpleasant.
“Why else do you keep helping me like this? Got nothing better to do?”
I asked, deadpan. He rose out of the bushes then — that fancy silk robe from earlier was gone, replaced by simple black martial clothes that were easier to move in.
It’s not like he carried around spare outfits. So how the hell did he keep changing clothes every time I blinked?
Then he just gave this casual little shrug.
“…Well, my interest in you has always been pretty intense, hasn’t it, my lady?”
“It’s so intense it’s suspicious. You’re shady as hell, you know that?”
I grumbled under my breath, glancing back. From inside the tea house came the constant hum of people cozying up to each other, with faint music drifting out.
Sahyeon tugged me a little deeper into the bushes and crouched down. I ended up squatting beside him without even thinking. Grass or dirt would probably stick to my skirt, but who cared — only thing left was going back to the Moyong Clan.
Sahyeon casually pulled sunflower seeds out of his inner pocket and held out a handful. I wasn’t hungry, but he’d offered me snacks so many times it was almost reflex to take them.
While we cracked and popped seeds together, he asked,
“Did you know ahead of time that Chae Yeop would be the one to win it?”
“Huh? No.”
It’s not like I could read minds. Chae Yeop had just decided to blow a huge pile of cash, that was all.
“What if he’d refused the messenger pigeon and just asked you to arrange a meal instead?”
“Then I’d… I dunno. Probably just have asked the Young Master to give him one meal.”
Sahyeon let out this hollow little laugh.
“Sometimes you really are exactly like a clueless rich girl.”
Not wrong, but still kinda unfair.
“I just swung the weapon I had. And the Young Master already said he’d help with anything that didn’t put me in danger.”
“Yeah… of course he did.”
“You think he was lying?”
“No, it was definitely sincere.”
Hearing that, I gave a tiny nod, secretly relieved. Because honestly, even I could tell how damn genuine that fool family’s affection for Moyong Yeonhwa was.
“But more importantly — you! What were you planning to do if no one else bid? How were you gonna pay that much yourself? Do you have some giant stash of hidden money or something?”
“…My lady, you’re looking at me like a robber right now.”
“That obvious?”
“Very.”
Tsk. I clicked my tongue, and Sahyeon let out a soft laugh.
“Well… not like I would’ve even had the chance. With Young Lord Dang’s overwhelming show, you saw it.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you notice how intense he was? Looks like he’s set on becoming the world’s best lovesick fiancé.”
He pulled this fake frightened face that wasn’t scared at all — actually kind of irritating. I just answered blandly.
“Bullshit. Probably just wanted to show off how rich he is.”
“Come on, the entire Martial Arts World knows how wealthy the Sichuan Dang Clan is. What would he need to prove?”
…Fair point?
Honestly I hadn’t thought about it much. Just figured it was a money flex. But apparently Sahyeon saw it differently.
“Hm. So you really are breaking off the engagement with Young Hero Dang? That’s final?”
“Told you already, yeah.”
“Hmm…”
Sahyeon gave me this weird look, almost pitying. That bugged the hell out of me.
But it was hard to snap at him outright. Then he muttered,
“Well, yeah. That’s very much like you, my lady.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Sahyeon grinned, then suddenly tossed something into my mouth.
“What… ugh, ptuh!”
It was a sunflower seed shell.
“You little shit, do you have a death wish—!”
“Shh. Don’t make a scene. There’s someone in that carriage right now.”
Sahyeon clamped a hand over my mouth and whispered. I peeled his hand off and spat out the rest of the shell bits, whipping my head around. The carriage he jerked his chin toward looked oddly familiar.
“Huh? Sohae?”
“Yeah. Went in there alone earlier and hasn’t come out since.”
Now that he mentioned it, she had looked pretty pale. Maybe she was resting because she was sick. Should I ask Hyangah to bring her some medicine? Though Hyangah would hate it…
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it looked like the carriage was trembling slightly.
* * *
Instead of screaming outright, the person inside the carriage just kept pounding their fists on the walls. The carriage didn’t so much as crack — it only rocked a little. All that did was hurt those delicate hands.
But the maid sitting directly across from her, forced to watch her mistress’s rage up close, was practically frozen in terror. Moyong Sohae, usually praised as an ethereal fairy, now looked like some demon that had just crawled out of hell.
“How dare she, how dare she, how dare…!”
She didn’t scream loud enough for the sound to carry outside, but even that low mutter carried enough fury to make it obvious.
Her carefully arranged hair was already a mess, stray strands spilling out everywhere. Her outfit was rumpled too from all her thrashing.
Moyong Sohae, eyes bloodshot and glaring into empty air, suddenly whipped her head around to the maid. The maid flinched and dropped her gaze immediately.
“That bitch Moyong Yeonhwa, are you absolutely sure she never met with Young Lord Dang in private? Never asked him to buy the piece or raise the bid?”
The maid screwed her eyes shut and bobbed her head in a quick nod.
She’d spent the entire day trailing Moyong Yeonhwa, barely even sneaking off to the privy, all because of orders to watch if she met anyone in secret. It was even harder since she had to dodge Hyangah, who wasn’t exactly mild.
And this was the thanks she got — not praise, but getting ripped apart because the results didn’t please Sohae.
Actually, calling it ‘displeased’ was generous.
Moyong Sohae felt like she’d wasted all her effort only to be humiliated. She was supposed to be the one who drew the most attention tonight — the host, the one with the highest auction bid. This entire event was supposed to be hers.
“That slut made a fool of me, how dare she! It was all planned from the moment she picked that dress, damn it all!”
“M-my lady. Please, calm yourself…”
The maid tried to soothe her as Sohae’s voice rose, clearly losing control, and swallowed back words she didn’t dare speak out loud.
That dress was supposed to be yours, my lady…
You’d refused it yourself and pushed it on Moyong Yeonhwa. And now you say this? But she was smart enough not to voice that thought. Instead, she offered a cool cup of water.
“My lady. Please, calm down. If someone hears, this could become a problem. Let’s return to the clan first…”
“The clan! Ha, right. The clan. What will Grandfather say about all this? He already thinks I’m useless for being born a girl — he’ll say I can’t even handle something this simple.”
Fear and rage flashed across both of Moyong Sohae’s eyes. It was clear even in the dark carriage.
“She’s not going to be easy. I can’t afford to keep handling her gently.”
Hearing her mistress mutter that, the maid felt a cold prickle at her nape. Moyong Sohae sounded like she might tear someone’s face off at any moment when she spoke again.
“If Young Lord Dang happens to cross paths with Yeonhwa at all, you come straight to me and report it.”
Which basically meant: keep tailing her all day, just like today. Completely unreasonable. But what could a servant do but obey? The maid swallowed a sob and nodded. Her fate was sealed the day she ended up under the wrong mistress.
Moyong Sohae looked around the wrecked carriage and drew herself up coldly.
“It’s a mess. Have all this cleaned before we depart.”
She smoothed her hair, straightened her wrinkled dress, reset her expression — and looked like a completely different person than the one raging seconds ago.
Because she’d sent even the driver away, the maid quickly got out first and dropped to one knee. Moyong Sohae stepped down naturally, using her maid’s back, and swept her gaze around.
The tea house was still noisy inside, but out here there wasn’t a soul in sight. Meaning no one had overheard her pouring out her fury in the carriage.
She let out a small breath and flicked her skirts straight. Just then, she sensed something over by the bushes. Already on edge, Sohae instinctively pressed close to the carriage and held her breath.
Moments later, someone pushed through the leaves and stepped out. Brushing off bits of leaves and dust was, shockingly…
“Moyong Yeonhwa…?”
Sohae’s face twisted strangely. Meanwhile, her maid was still stuck kneeling with her head down, holding her breath like she was about to die. Her face burned red from the tiny stones digging into her knee.
But Sohae pressed down hard on the maid’s head to keep her from rising or making a sound, eyes locked on Moyong Yeonhwa.
No one followed Moyong Yeonhwa out of the bushes. Strange. Why would she come out of there alone?
Suspicion flitted across Moyong Sohae’s face.
* * *
The trip from the Hwaan Tea House back to the Moyong Clan was over in a blink. Mostly because I fell asleep before I could even get bored.
By the time I opened my eyes, the blanket Hyangah had tucked around me had slipped off. Meanwhile, she was nodding off without anything over her shoulders. Somehow that made me feel weirdly guilty.
Even though it was pretty late, the Young Master Moyong Muhyeok was waiting outside to greet us. The moment he saw me, he smiled like he was relieved.
“You didn’t return until so late, I was worried. Well? Did you have a safe, enjoyable time?”
He sounded like he was asking a little kid, “So, what did you play today?” It made me a bit embarrassed.
“Eh, it was alright.”
Truth was, a hell of a lot had happened. But it felt weird to spill every detail at this hour.
Meanwhile, Sohae — who’d looked like death earlier — stepped down from her carriage with a perfectly composed face. Maybe she’d recovered some strength on the way back? She greeted Moyong Muhyeok politely.
“Young Master, seeing you come all this way to greet us… I’m almost envious, thinking how reassuring it must be for Sister.”
Moyong Muhyeok just gave her that same awkward, formal smile. From what I’d observed these last few days, he was generally kind to almost everyone. But he made his dislike of Moyong Sohae painfully obvious. Probably because his relationship with Elder Pae was shit.
Not that Sohae seemed to care. She just kept speaking sweetly.
“Thanks to Sister, my humble little event became so much grander and more impressive. It’s truly a shame you weren’t there to see it, Young Master.”
“Is that so? Yeonhwa must’ve created a truly splendid piece.”
He looked at me with a proud smile. Like, did he really not know how mediocre my embroidery was? Or was he genuinely that proud anyway?
Seriously, Moyong Muhyeok was quietly insane.
Sohae’s eyes sparkled as she nodded, agreeing with him.
“Of course. And it wasn’t just the piece. She boldly promised that anyone who showed equivalent sincerity would earn the Moyong Clan’s favor — so we received an enormous outpouring of donations. Everyone was shocked by Sister’s nerve.”
“…What did you say?”
“Everyone wants closer ties with the Moyong Clan, so the crowd responded passionately. The piece ended up selling for a full half-million gold. Isn’t Sister incredible?”
As Sohae chattered on with that gentle smile, Moyong Muhyeok’s face slowly went rigid. Not that she was wrong — but I hadn’t expected her to blurt it out so bluntly.
He looked at me with that stiff expression for a moment, then let out a sigh and said,
“We’ll talk in the morning. You must be tired. Go on and get some rest.”
I glanced over at Sohae. For a second, I could’ve sworn there was a smirk at the corner of her lips. Maybe it was just my imagination, because she quickly dipped her head politely and walked off toward her quarters.
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