“Have you lost your mind?”
Seol Yeong shot up like he was about to grab Yeo Il by the collar, voice raised in disbelief.
But Yeo Il’s eyes were fixed solely on the young maid, who looked utterly stunned.
“Th-this foolish girl can’t even begin to understand what you mean, great warrior… How could you say such a thing…?”
“Namgung Soyou entrusted you with one last wish, didn’t she?”
The maid’s small and dirt-streaked hand instinctively touched the crystal pendant hanging at her neck.
“You couldn’t fulfill it alone. But if Namgung Soyou were still alive… she might yet have a chance to find her mother.”
If luck had its way, perhaps the mother would come find her instead.
Yeo Il returned to the carriage and retrieved the scroll she always carried. She came back, sat down beside the maid, and unrolled it on the ground.
“Do you see this?”
“What… what is all this?”
“The final wishes of my master. The reason I’ve been wandering the martial world.”
The maid leaned forward, reading the characters. Her face began to twist, as if trying to suppress a laugh.
“So that earlier remark… it was because of these? These… um… these are quite… unique, to say the least.”
“You can just say they’re crazy. It’s fine. Here—read this one.”
Yeo Il pointed to a line with her pale finger, and the maid’s eyes followed:
- If you meet someone who has lost their parents, grant them one request.
It was one of the top entries in the scroll.
Yet Yeo Il had never found a chance to fulfill it. There were plenty of orphans in the world but no way for her to recognize one at a glance.
“So… you mean to grant my wish because I’ve lost my parents? Because my request is to find Lady Soyou’s mother?”
At the hesitant question, Yeo Il reached out and gently patted the maid’s head.
“So you’ve lost your parents too. But the one whose request I’ll fulfill is Namgung Soyou. She lost her mother and was cast out by her father, that’s close enough.”
“……”
“If you ever doubt my intentions, feel free to tell the Namgung Clan everything. I’ll run like hell with tail between my legs.”
“No, I don’t doubt you. You saved my life. And besides, you’re strong enough to kill me right here and steal Lady Soyou’s identity if you wanted to.”
As she said this, the maid clung tighter to Namgung Soyou’s hand.
Then, after a long moment of thought, she raised her head with a face full of resolve.
“You’re right. Without Lady Soyou, I have nowhere to go. The Namgung Clan won’t accept me, they’ll toss me back into the streets.”
Her young face twisted with emotion, like she might cry again.
At last, Seol Yeong—who had been watching in silence—put a hand on his hip and clicked his tongue.
“This is ridiculous. You’re going to impersonate the daughter of a great martial family? That’s insane, noona!”
“More insane than the old man’s dying wishes?”
“I’m only reacting because this is so out of character! Since when do you go this far for anyone’s last words? What if someone from the clan recognizes you?”
“I have her mother’s keepsake. And the only surviving maid will treat me like the real lady. Who’s going to doubt me?”
“The assassins we just let go—they know Namgung Soyou’s face.”
“Seol Yeong. Who in this world would take an assassin’s word seriously?”
Her tone had sharpened. That silenced him.
She gave his still-pouting face a quick pat before the maid’s trembling voice spoke again:
“If… if you really do find Lady Soyou’s mother… then after that…”
“I’ll disappear. Go back to wandering.”
Yeo Il answered lightly, helping the maid to her feet. As she lifted her, the dead woman’s hand slipped away from the maid’s like an ebbing tide.
“Namgung Soyou’s wish gets fulfilled. I complete my master’s will…”
“……”
“And you, little one, will learn how to survive without her.”
Whatever resolve the maid had built up, it crystallized in that moment.
Suddenly, she pushed Yeo Il’s hand aside and dropped into a deep bow.
“Understood, great warrior. I’ll serve you, and help you see Lady Soyou’s wish through to the end!”
It was the kind of sigh that could dig through solid rock and Seol Yeong let it out with his whole chest.
Some days later, in the middle of a bustling street, an old carriage came to a stop.
Inside, Yeo Il—now dressed in the modest garb of a noble clan daughter—gazed out at the lively scene. Beside her sat the young maid, her new companion.
“Chang-a.”
“Yes, young lady?”
The girl, Namgung Soyou’s former maid, still looked nervous whenever she addressed her.
“That shop over there. Is that the one that’s been selling tanghulu here for seventy years?”
“Seventy…? I’m not sure.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter whose tanghulu I eat. Go buy three. And bring back the information I asked for. You can have one for yourself.”
“R-really? Thank you, my lady! I’ll be right back!”
Yeo Il watched her round little head bob away in excitement.
The girl had cried nonstop for two straight days, but had finally begun to regain her composure that morning. Now that they were close to the Namgung estate, she looked pensive, probably realizing what they were really about to do.
Once Chang-a was gone, Seol Yeong’s grumble rose from the driver’s seat.
“I still don’t get it, noona.”
“Young lady.”
Seol Yeong twitched.
“Y-yes, damn it. Lady Namgung Soyou…”
Yeo Il smothered a laugh.
“Finally feeling talkative, hmm? I suppose I’ll indulge you. What don’t you understand?”
She was fully prepared for her role as Namgung Soyou.
Her clothes were suitably faded—not too fine. Her hair was down, loose in a noble’s style. She’d even cut her arm for dramatic effect to earn sympathy.
The real Namgung Soyou and her maids had been buried near Tianzhushan, with Seol Yeong’s sibling handling the arrangements. With that, she could probably pass undetected for at least a few days.
“Why are you going this far?”
“Hmm.”
So that was it, he was questioning her actions themselves.
“Noona—er, young lady—you’ve always had a soft heart, but this is beyond soft. Even if it is one of your master’s wishes, impersonating the daughter of the Namgung Clan? That’s madness! There are orphans everywhere!”
Afraid someone might overhear, he pressed his face to the window and whispered furiously.
Yeo Il clicked her tongue.
“Sometimes, a person just decides to help the unfortunate. Maybe I’m doing it out of the goodness of my heart.”
But Seol Yeong clearly didn’t buy it. He looked like he’d caught her red-handed.
“You’re hiding something.”
“I’m not.”
“Then how dangerous is it?”
“There’s nothing to hide.”
“I’m not even worried about you—I just want to know what I’m walking into. Please, just tell me.”
“I said there’s nothing.”
(But there was.)
The kill list rumored to be hidden in the Namgung estate.
That was the real reason.
But Yeo Il had no intention of telling him.
Seol Yeong didn’t know about her past with Salmak, the assassin syndicate. Though Salmak had vanished a few years ago, just being connected to them put him in danger.
Yeo Il wasn’t about to give him more reasons to get dragged into her mess.
At that moment, Chang-a came running back with bright eyes, and Yeo Il waved Seol Yeong off with a flick of her hand.
Not great.
The tanghulu wasn’t as good as she’d hoped.
Maybe it was just the shop Chang-a picked—or maybe tanghulu was just a sour-sweet mess of sugar on a stick. Either way, she didn’t plan to try it again.
“All this for some candied hawthorn? That twisted old man really was insane.”
Still, she had crossed it off the list.
She handed Chang-a the last piece and listened closely as the girl relayed what she’d learned. Then the carriage jolted to a stop.
There was only one reason for Seol Yeong to stop now.
“We’ve arrived at the Namgung estate.”
“Gulp.”
Chang-a barely had time to swallow her hawthorn before a man’s voice called from outside the carriage.
“Who goes there?”
