Sahyeon clutched the note and arrow tight, body tensing like he’d launch off any second. If I hadn’t grabbed him in time, he probably would’ve vanished straight toward wherever that arrow had come from.
He snapped, sharp as a blade.
“We have to catch them.”
“No. If they really meant to kill me, there were easier ways. They wouldn’t have waited till there was still daylight left, or bothered leaving a note.”
“They almost fucking hit you!”
“Yeah, well, they were probably fine with giving me a little scar for my trouble. Anyway, didn’t hit me, did they?”
I plucked the note and arrow right back out of his hand. Honestly, back when I was Seol Danhae, this kind of ambush wouldn’t have even earned a scoff. But this body hadn’t been trained nearly as long, so my senses were definitely duller.
I fiddled with the arrow—heavier than I expected. If not for Sahyeon… my second life would’ve ended just as pathetically.
A cold chill raced down my spine, belated.
“…Thanks.”
“What?”
“You saved my ass.”
Always give thanks promptly. That was one of my few rules. After keeping to it, I finally let go of the wrist I’d been gripping to hold him back.
Sahyeon still looked like he couldn’t quite process it.
“Why won’t you go after the bastard? Do you know who it is?”
“No?”
“Then what—do you get off on this shit? Is it a thrill for you?”
“You think I’m a pervert like you?”
He actually looked mad, which was weird. Normally he’d smirk, crack some joke about secret admirers spying on us, that sort of crap.
Was he… shaken? The mighty Sahyeon?
Guess even someone who walks around drenched in other people’s blood might still jump the first time he’s ambushed. Hell, I was jumpy my first time too.
I hesitated, then awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.
“Uh, a warm cup of tea might help. Or a soak in the baths.”
“…What the hell are you even saying?”
“Ways to calm down after a scare.”
Look at me, handing out helpful advice. I’d gotten disgustingly nice in this second life. At this rate, I’d be shaving my head and joining a monastery.
But for some reason, Sahyeon looked even more pissed.
“My lady, does this still not feel real to you? Or do you have like, ten spare lives? You could’ve actually died. Why aren’t we hunting them down?”
I didn’t answer. Like I didn’t want to catch them? The only ones who’d ever gotten away after messing with me was the bastard who dumped me in the river at the end. Anyone else? They never lived comfortably afterward.
I was the one who’d nearly taken an arrow to the face. Of course I wanted to grab whoever did it, pry open their mouth, and demand what the hell they meant by knowing about my “deceit.”
But I couldn’t. The only “deceit” I had was my true identity. If I charged off after them right now and Sahyeon somehow found out, I’d be handing him an even bigger piece of blackmail on a silver platter.
And if whoever sent that note really did know, I didn’t even know if they were an outsider, an insider, or how many of them there were. I had to be cautious.
Plus, if the Moyong Clan found out someone had tried to shoot me, it’d make it way harder for me to move around quietly.
So it was better to wait, see what they did next, and try to figure out who they were that way.
“Just hold onto the arrow for me. If I take it back inside and Hyangah finds it, she’ll throw a fit.”
“….”
“And what about this wall? Someone’s gonna freak when they see it.”
More than freak. The hole in the wall was obvious. The arrow hadn’t been qi-infused, so it wasn’t huge, but the cracks screamed “something slammed into this,” which would scream “ambush,” which would blow everything up.
I glanced around and quickly came up with a brilliant solution. Because of course I did. I’m a genius.
A few little white flowers were growing in a patch of moss. I tore the whole clump out and stuffed it into the hole. Looked like it had been growing there all along.
“Should’ve been doing intellectual work,” I muttered, admiring my own handiwork before glancing at Sahyeon. That was his cue to praise me. But he just stared, then started walking.
I felt weirdly sheepish. Damn. Must’ve really rattled him. Maybe I should have Hyangah send him some tea later.
When we neared my quarters, Sahyeon handed me back my things, then disappeared as quietly as ever—arrow and all. His lingering irritation stuck with me for about half a second before I shoved it out of my head.
I looked around and quietly slipped back to where the arrow had flown.
The tip wasn’t the kind you’d see from an orthodox clan or major household. It was the type used all over by unorthodox bastards for straight-up killing. So, no way to pin down exactly who.
Didn’t seem like they were really out to kill me, though. Probably more about sending that note.
Were they trying to shake me down for money? Or was it some old grudge against Seol Danhae?
“Fuck. I’ve got way too many possibilities and none that actually add up.”
Then again… if it really was someone from the Martial Arts World who knew my true identity, they wouldn’t bother with a cute little threat like this.
‘Seol Danhae stole the precious body of the Moyong Clan’s youngest daughter.’
That alone would have every old enemy I ever had storming in, trying to tear me apart.
I scouted around, mind whirring. No signs of a fight. But there was grass pressed flat where someone had been lying in wait for a while. They’d known I’d pass through here.
Which meant they’d either tailed me or spent days watching. Could an outsider even manage that? Was there another infiltrator besides Sahyeon?
For now, it was safest to watch and wait. Rushing off could get me killed.
I was deep in thought, still walking, when someone suddenly yanked me to a stop. Instinctively, I braced to strike. But it was just… Hyangah.
“My lady! What were you thinking about so hard you didn’t hear me? I called you so many times. Good heavens, you’re even sweating buckets today.”
I was sweating? I touched my face and realized it was damp with cold sweat. I covered with some excuse about training harder than usual and started walking again.
Hyangah quickly fell in beside me, then dropped unexpected news.
“The Young Lord and Lady Dang Choye sent word—they’d like to dine with you tomorrow evening. It seems Lady Dang Choye is quite taken with you. For her to send an invitation this fast…”
“Mm. Sure, tell them that’s fine.”
I didn’t really care who I shared a meal with. The Dang siblings didn’t exactly seem like suspects—they were outsiders, which might even be helpful. Maybe I could poke around, see if they noticed anything on their way here.
Weirdly enough, it was also a little novel, seeing people outside the Moyong Clan who actually liked me.
And if there was some hidden agenda? Dinner was a perfect way to let them slip.
Hyangah, muttering that I needed a bath first, practically dragged me along by the wrist while I drifted, still chewing on thoughts.
* * *
Ever since I came to the Moyong Clan, it was the first time I half-ignored my meal like this. Over a single arrow. Seriously. In my last life, I was everyone’s target, and ambushes were so common they didn’t even count as events.
Maybe it was because Moyong Yeonhwa, the owner of this body, had been raised too damn delicately—so much so she’d never once imagined someone might come for her life.
My head stayed calm, but my chest felt strangely restless. It pissed me off.
I decided to just sleep it off and lay down as soon as the sun dipped. Hyangah kept asking if I was sick—like a hundred times—but I didn’t feel like talking, so I just waved her away.
After closing my eyes for a bit, I slid my hand under the pillow. The dagger was still there, right where it should be. That settled me just a tiny bit.
I am Seol Danhae. Sure, the shell was Moyong Yeonhwa, but inside, I was still the unorthodox master whose name carried all kinds of fame and infamy across the Martial Arts World. If there was one thing I was good at, it was staying alive. In the end, the strongest person on the Jianghu was the one who survived. I would keep living.
I repeated that to myself again and again, slowly sinking into the darkness.
And then…
“Haah!”
It’d been ages since I’d had such a wretched nightmare.
Around me, the quiet of early morning was thick, utterly at odds with the dream’s violence.
There’d been a time I could sleep fine even while being hunted, snatching rest in tiny bursts. Now I had scented burners made just for sleep, soft silk quilts—and still woke drenched in sweat from a nightmare. Maybe I’d soaked in too much peace lately.
My hand fumbled back under the pillow, gripping the dagger. Still here. Still safe.
It was so absurd I let out a short, breathless laugh.
I’d lost count of how many times I’d actually been hit by arrows. I’d been stabbed and sliced more times than I could bother recalling. And I still clawed my way through it, lived. Was it just that I was in a weaker body now, so my mind was getting weak too?
Or maybe it was because I’d already died once—and had zero interest in doing it again.
I tossed and turned until I couldn’t stand it anymore, then suddenly shot up. I bent my knees and stood, then bent and stood again. This was exactly the time to build muscle.
I kept moving in the moonless dark until my body grew hot, then flopped back down. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to close my eyes.
Didn’t want to admit it, but… I was scared. I had this ugly certainty that if I shut my eyes, I’d have another nightmare. And I couldn’t just call for Hyangah—she was probably fast asleep.
“Stupid, go to sleep. You need to sleep so you can train at dawn…”
Muttering at myself, I rolled over clutching the dagger. I’d just turned to face the wall when I suddenly felt someone behind me.
My body moved before my brain could catch up. I drew the dagger and twisted up into a crouch, shielding my head and chest.
A figure stepped out of the dark. It was Sahyeon.
All the tension went straight out of me.
“You bastard, you can’t just sneak into someone’s room like—!”
“Shh.”
No idea how I’d ended up being relieved by seeing this dangerous asshole, but whatever. The exhaustion hit me all at once. I dropped the dagger like it was nothing and sat down hard.
Sahyeon dragged a chair over to sit by the bed. Looked perfectly natural doing it, too—like this was his room.
“Knew you’d be up like this, so I came to help you sleep.”
“What the hell makes you think you can help me sleep?”
“Well, I did save your life, so I’m basically your lifesaver? And it’s only polite to handle the aftercare, right?”
“You’ve been thanked enough. Get out.”
He hadn’t even bothered with a mask—just that pretty face of his, no sign left of the little flash of anger from earlier. He smiled that usual sly grin, tucked me back down, and pulled the blanket nearly over my nose.
“If someone else tries to shoot, I’ll block it. So just relax and sleep.”
“You’re the biggest threat to me, actually.”
“Aw, come on. If I wanted to kill you, it wouldn’t have to be right now, would it?”
Was that… actually a challenge?
But it made me laugh. Weirdly enough, it was more comforting when he put it like that.
After he practically wrapped me up like a dumpling, Sahyeon tapped my forehead with his fingertips. Made me notice—damn, even his hands were long and pretty. Almost too good for someone pretending to be a servant.
The room was silent. His low voice brushed by my ear like a breeze.
“Sweet dreams.”
Something ticklish fluttered inside me, like wind through my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Sahyeon didn’t add anything else—just stayed there. I was tempted to peek, but resisted. I could feel his gaze, which got under my skin, but it wasn’t scary.
I only knew he was still there by the faint sounds of his breathing, the rustle of his clothes now and then.
Who knows how long it was before my eyelids finally started to droop. And no more nightmares came.
When I woke to birdsong at dawn, the chair by the bed still held the faint trace of his warmth.
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