On my way back from early morning training, I stopped by the underground cell and dragged Soowa out.
“O-oh, my lady…”
“You’re still here? You must’ve had a hard time. Come have a seat and listen up”
Some time had passed since that whole mess, and Moyong Wi had regained enough sanity that convincing him wasn’t too hard.
‘Father, for my sake—can’t you forgive Soowa? Please?’
I said just that one line, like biting my own tongue to spit it out. I really had gotten shameless.
Soowa crept over like she was afraid her eyeballs would spin clean out of her skull and sat down with a nervous twitch. Her face had gotten noticeably thinner.
I gave her the nicest smile I could manage and opened my mouth.
“If you’re hungry, you can have—”
“Kh-hmm-hmm!”
“Oh, you can drink this tea too—”
“Kh-heuh-heuh-HMM!”
“…Hyangah, do you have a cold?”
“No? I’m perfectly healthy. My arms and legs are full of strength.”
Yeah, that’s clear.
I’d made up my mind to act like a generous, forgiving person for once, but Hyangah wasn’t helping. She was standing behind me like the gatekeeper to hell, hacking like she had something stuck in her throat.
I shot her a quick look to cut it out, but she was too busy glaring daggers at Soowa to notice.
Come to think of it, Hyangah had said before—if Soowa got out of the cell, she’d break her legs, or smear shit on her face. Clearly, she still meant it.
The more Hyangah fumed, the more Soowa shrank like she’d disappear any second.
Couldn’t have her dying under pressure before she even got to play the role I needed. In the end, I decided to kick Hyangah out.
“Hyangah, stop coughing and go pick some cherries.”
“Cherries? Where’d that come from?”
“I’m craving them so bad I might die. Please. As many as you can.”
I even grabbed her hands as I begged. Hyangah pouted, clearly displeased, but nodded. Of course, she made sure to shoot Soowa one last deadly glare on her way out. Message received loud and clear—one wrong move and she’d really kill her.
Once the door shut, I patted the trembling Soowa on the back.
“H-Hyangah’s just like that because she’s too loyal to me. Don’t be scared. She’s warm-hearted… probably. Maybe.”
“Y-Yes… of course.”
“Good, eat up. You should always eat well after going through something rough.”
I nudged the food toward her, and Soowa hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out. Then she started scarfing everything down like she hadn’t eaten in days.
I patiently waited for her to calm down a bit. When the food was about halfway gone, I spoke in a relaxed voice.
“I’ll say it again—you really went through a lot. If I’d known you’d suffer this long, I would’ve stepped in sooner.”
“N-No, not at all. I’m just grateful…”
“Honestly, I’ve felt guilty the whole time. But I figured Sohae would take care of you. You were her person, after all—it’d be weird for me to butt in.”
“……”
“I should’ve just ignored all that and gotten you out myself. I’m sorry.”
Soowa slowly set down the dumpling she was holding. Her voice came out choked, like something was caught in her throat. Her head dipped, and tears began to fall onto the table with soft little plops.
“There, there, go ahead and cry. You must’ve gone through hell.”
“H-Hrrk, my lady…”
“There, there. I get it.”
I gave her some generic comforting gestures. She couldn’t see anything while crying anyway, so I picked my ear, yawned quietly, and looked around the room a bit.
Soowa cried for a long while. By the time her eyes had puffed up like a goldfish, she finally settled down. I’d been worried Hyangah might come back in the middle of it, but thankfully, she calmed down first.
“Feel a bit better now?”
“…Yes, my lady. I’m sorry.”
“For what. From now on, I’ll look after you and your household. You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ve already spoken to the Clan Head. All you need to do now is work for me.”
“Please give me any task. Truly, I’ll give you my all!”
Soowa bowed deeply, forehead nearly to the ground. I’d never seen that kind of loyalty in someone’s eyes before. Different from Hyangah’s—this was the ‘I’d die for you’ kind of loyalty.
I smiled, pleased. Still, just in case, I hammered the nail in a bit deeper.
“If by any chance you feel like going back to Sohae…”
“No! Not even a speck! Not the tiniest crumb of desire!”
Nearly burst my eardrums. Guess she’s well and truly sick of Sohae now. Good—if she’s feeling that strongly, we can get down to business.
Sure, I’ll be leaving this place eventually, but sticking with me was still a better deal than staying with Sohae. I mean, I don’t treat people like livestock.
“Alright, then. Let’s get along. And on that note—here’s a job for you.”
“P-Pardon? Of course! Do you need a bath prepared? Or maybe some tea?”
“Eh, would I go to all this trouble just to have you do that kind of grunt work? Don’t worry about those little chores.”
Soowa’s eyes welled up again, like she was overwhelmed.
I curled my lips into a wide grin.
“There’s something much bigger I need you to handle.”
Just to be clear—I don’t treat subordinates like pigs or dogs. You can’t send a pig to run errands, right?
But I could already picture Soowa someday staring at my other servants with longing, thinking, Man, even being a grunt would be easier than this.
* * *
Sure enough, after just a few days, Soowa had wilted like boiled greens. Only then did Hyangah start calming down, like her fury had finally cooled a bit.
“It’s a relief you didn’t forgive her too easily, my lady.”
“Aren’t people usually supposed to say you should forgive and show mercy?”
“Well, I’m not your mother, so how could I dare say that? And honestly, easy forgiveness only brings easy betrayal.”
Hyangah snorted as she said it. I chuckled and nodded. Honestly, she wasn’t wrong.
“So what kind of job did you give Soowa, anyway? She left at dawn and didn’t come back until deep into the night. I heard she started groaning as soon as she walked in.”
“Oh, nothing big. I just figured we’d need a lot of hands to clean out the warehouse, so I asked her to help.”
“The warehouse? Didn’t Sahyeon already finish—”
Hyangah stopped mid-sentence and sucked in a sharp breath. Something clicked. She looked at me like she couldn’t believe it, then shook her head.
“My lady, you’re just a merciless god.”
“That’s a compliment, right?”
“Of course. The highest praise possible.”
“Thanks.”
I puffed my chest like a pigeon and rubbed under my nose. Always nice to be recognized for your talents.
The place I sent Soowa was just an ordinary warehouse. Well—ordinarily, it is.
But right now, with the Moyong Clan preparing for Moyong Muhyeok’s birthday banquet, all kinds of gifts were flowing in. The warehouse Soowa went to was being used to sort and store those gifts.
“Still, why send her there? There’s plenty to do in here.”
“Well, I just got curious what kind of gifts someone like the Young Master of the Moyong Clan gets.”
No matter how you looked at it, if someone wanted to harm Moyong Muhyeok, the banquet would be the perfect opportunity.
People from every clan would be gathered, so martial artists would have an easy excuse to be around. Even mixing something into the food would be a breeze.
“Inspect every ingredient, drink, and gift brought into the house. Don’t miss a single coin. If anything seems suspicious, make a note and report it to me—quietly. Also, there’s bound to be a ledger listing all the incoming goods. Copy that too.”
“H-How am I supposed to…”
“Ah, and if you leave out even one letter… I’ll be very heartbroken. Got it? Don’t disappoint me.”
Soowa had looked like she knew something was off, but she still followed my orders obediently. It had already been three days of her drowning in boxes, and there still wasn’t a single useful lead.
It was starting to feel weird—suspiciously clean.
I’d gone through the ledgers so many times I practically had them memorized. But honestly, I couldn’t make heads or tails of most of it. Would’ve been easier if I could examine the goods directly, but hanging around the warehouse day after day would draw attention. My head was starting to ache.
Clearly, when you don’t know something… it’s time to ask someone who does.
I jumped up from my seat. Hyangah didn’t even blink anymore.
“Off to training again, my lady?”
“Nope. I’m going to see Dang Iheon.”
“Oh my, then you should at least brush your hair! You’re going out like that?”
“I brushed it this morning. I’m fine.”
“That was hours ago!”
We stared at each other like we were speaking different languages. I brushed my hair after morning practice and haven’t moved since—why would I need to brush it again? Hyangah’s the type to make work where none exists.
Luckily, I won that one and slipped out without incident—though I did have to swap out my belt.
I flung open the door, hoping Dang Iheon was somewhere inside the Moyong estate. Turns out I didn’t even need to look.
He was standing right outside. He looked startled, eyes wide, probably because I’d practically kicked the door open.
He blinked at me, then awkwardly raised one hand.
“Uh… I came to see you for a quick chat… Were you heading somewhere, Yeonhwa?”
Perfect timing. I was going to him anyway, and now he’d saved me the trip. I opened my mouth to greet him—but then I felt someone’s presence.
I turned—and there was Sahyeon, staring holes through me. He was wearing his mask again, just like always, but one thing was definitely off.
Why were his eyes like that? They were pissed. Like I’d just murdered his dog and laughed about it. I gave him a present yesterday, and I haven’t done anything today—so what’s with the look?
Still staring at Sahyeon, I answered Dang Iheon.
“Uh… I was on my way to see you.”
“Really? What a coincidence.”
I tore my eyes away from Sahyeon and turned back to Dang Iheon. He glanced at Sahyeon for a second, but didn’t seem too concerned.
Anyway, talking to Dang Iheon took priority.
“Yeah, I needed to ask you something.”
“Then how about we walk and talk? My sister sent some tea leaves and said we should enjoy them together. Want to try it?”
Dang Iheon smiled gently. I nodded and started walking beside him. Even as I passed right next to Sahyeon, he didn’t move an inch. Normally he’d exaggerate a bow or sneak in some quiet jab—but not today.
It bothered me, just enough to glance back.
Our eyes met again.
Then, out of nowhere, Sahyeon—who never spoke in front of others—suddenly said,
“Where are you going?”
“…Huh?”
I froze. What the hell did he just say? Did he eat something bad?
When I stopped walking, Dang Iheon turned back too. Sahyeon slowly straightened his back, which he usually kept slightly hunched as a disguise.
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