WBDS CH 10

Chapter 10

So-ye’s flailing arm accidentally brushed aside the boy’s veil.

Through the thin fabric, she met his eyes.

For a moment, she was stunned.

Black hair, a pale bloodless face, and eyes slightly reddened.

He looked like a sculpture carved from flawless white jade.

Pretty.

“Wow.”

So-ye didn’t even notice the sound slip from her lips.

“Are you hurt?”

The boy dusted her clothes gently as he asked.

So-ye nodded.

“Where’s your guardian?”

That question snapped her out of her daze.

“Oh no—my nanny!”

So-ye was like a crow: whenever she saw something shiny, she lost her focus.

“N-nanny…” she whimpered belatedly, pretending to cry.

The boy frowned.

“Looks like you were swept up in the crowd and lost her.”

He clicked his tongue.

Meanwhile, So-ye was already sizing him up.

The fabric looks plain, but the sheen is too fine. His sword is wrapped in cloth, but he has calluses on his hands despite such pale skin. His shoes are almost spotless… And in the shadows, there are clearly guards.

Her instincts as a thief flared.

He was obviously a young master from a wealthy family.

And the kind you rob once and then end up robbed yourself…

She smacked her lips.

“Can you find out where this child came from?” the boy asked one of his attendants.

Luckily, So-ye could answer that herself.

“I came from the Tang Family Hall.”

“The Tang Family Hall? Don’t tell me…”

The boy blinked slowly, then smiled like a blooming flower.

“It seems things really are working out in my favor.”

What’s he talking about now?

Puzzled, So-ye tilted her head.

“Come. I’ll take you back.”

***

“Even children notice your looks.”

“Children are usually the ones who point it out most.”

“But still, Young… master, you’re a bit much.”

The guards whispered among themselves.

He had even refused their offer to carry the little girl.

Well, it’s not just his face—though, yes, his face is a problem…

No—So-ye was only observing him carefully.

What did it matter if a child was handsome? He was still just a child.

But the way his guards are relaxed around him… he must have quite a bit of respect.

Their eyes met, and So-ye couldn’t help but grin.

“Hehe.”

Perhaps he thought she wasn’t suspicious at all, because the boy simply patted her head.

It was convenient, being a child.

“We’re here.”

The Tang estate wasn’t far from the marketplace.

“Wow, my home!”

So-ye clapped her hands on purpose, acting delighted.

“Go on in. Everyone must be worried about you.”

Right then, cries spilled over the walls.

“It was all the nanny’s orders!”

Oh.

So-ye covered her mouth.

Geum-ah.

She wasn’t surprised.

I knew she’d make her move.

Of course, the problem was that So-ye’s disappearance had sped up the nanny’s return.

She’ll try to cut Geum-ah off.

After all, that had been her plan from the start.

As So-ye moved to step forward, the boy caught her arm.

He covered her ears with his hands.

When the maid cried out, he thought first of protecting the child.

A child who thought her guardian was her whole world—how could she bear to hear accusations against that guardian?

The boy himself had come to the Tang Family Hall in search of the source of a certain “substance.” In the process, he had learned much and even narrowed down a list of suspects.

And one of them was this little girl’s nanny.

If those accusations weren’t just about So-ye’s disappearance, then they had to be about the nanny’s crimes.

Even if the girl didn’t understand it now, one day she would.

The boy didn’t want this moment to scar her too deeply.

Why?

So-ye blinked wide-eyed up at him.

But he was already looking toward the estate.

“Nanny told me to steal poison from the storage! And—and—”

Geum-ah’s desperate voice pierced even through his hands.

“Young Miss So-ye collapsed because of it!”

So-ye.

The boy’s lips moved faintly, his gaze sliding back to the child in his arms.

“Me?”

Then came the nanny’s icy, furious voice.

“My young lady has vanished, and instead of helping us find her, you make baseless accusations?”

So-ye’s eyes widened.

“Covering her ears wasn’t enough, huh,” the boy muttered with a sigh.

He lifted So-ye into his arms.

“Words like that—hear them in one ear, let them out the other. Don’t try to understand, don’t even remember.”

So-ye blinked at his gentle advice.

He’s kind… for someone I just met.

Not that she needed his protection—if she were fragile enough to be broken by words, she wouldn’t be laying these schemes at all.

At the gate, the guards gasped.

“Young Miss!”

“She was lost in the market, so I brought her back,” the boy said.

“Please, come inside!”

The guards hurried to lead him in.

From the other side of the courtyard, the nanny’s pleading voice rang out:

“Branch Master, we must find her! Poor Young Miss So-ye—how much she must be crying after losing me!”

Her performance was convincing.

But then Geum-ah’s sharp retort cut through:

“You only took her out today to cover up your poisoning attempt! You planned to abandon her in the market, so no one would ever know what poison she swallowed!”

“Geum-ah, if we don’t find the young miss because of you—”

The nanny’s voice shook with rage.

So-ye tilted her head.

She really does sound worried sometimes.

But no, it was all to protect herself.

She’s just shifting blame and keeping her escape routes open.

“Here! The evidence she ordered me to steal. This bottle holds the poison!” Geum-ah shouted.

At that moment, the boy and So-ye turned the corner.

There were the Branch Master, the nanny, and Tang family warriors.

“Please, examine it and protect Young Miss So-ye!”

Weren’t you on her side? So-ye thought dryly.

Geum-ah was only trying to save herself—too foolish to see it would backfire.

“For now, we’ll investigate,” the Branch Master said heavily. “Until then, confine Geum-ah.”

“And you, Sagong Hui—”

But the boy cut in.

“Is that bottle from the Tang Family Hall’s poison stores?”

So-ye’s eyes went wide.

The poison was leaked outside the Tang Family? …Oh, right—the Tang family always collects the empty poison bottles, records them, and disposes of them properly. That way, no poison can be stolen or misused.

She remembered learning this method long ago.

If this porcelain bottle was really a leaked Tang Family poison, then the poison used on her wasn’t this one at all.

No one noticed her flicker of realization—everyone’s attention was on the boy.

“Young Miss!”

The nanny screamed, rushing forward.

So-ye tugged the boy’s sleeve, and he gently set her down.

“Oh, my poor girl!”

The nanny dropped to her knees, pulling her into her arms.

“Thank heaven you’re safe, ahh…”

The boy gestured, and his guards pulled her away.

“Who are you people?!” the nanny shrieked.

“We are here on behalf of one who was poisoned, to hold you accountable,” one replied.

The stolen Tang poison had already been used elsewhere. But instead of the Tang young miss, the victim was someone close to this boy.

So that was her plan… she fed me cheap poison, saving the expensive one to use against them.

It had nearly killed her anyway. But this proved the nanny’s betrayal went far deeper.

‘Good thing the Tang always keep track of their bottles,’ So-ye thought.

Sagong Hui’s face turned ghostly pale. She had hoped to make quick profit, never expecting her stolen poison would be traced back like this.

Even the Branch Master stared in shock. That poison had leaked from under her management—an unforgivable mistake.

So-ye, too, realized the boy’s smile earlier made sense now.

If he had introduced himself as the victim’s side, the Tang Family might not have let him in.

But by returning a “lost Tang child”?

That was a free pass.

The gatekeeper was sweating bullets.

The Branch Master rubbed her temples, finally speaking with weary resignation.

“Let us continue this matter inside.”

Then, using sound transmission, she ordered her people: Confine the nanny Sagong Hui and the maid Geum-ah under guard.

Dragged away, the nanny’s eyes blazed at So-ye.

She would never betray me. She can’t.

So-ye only waved her little hand at the boy.

Dressed in yellow, she looked like a fluttering blossom.

“See you again.”

***

The Branch Master’s head throbbed.

A direct descendant under her care had nearly died from poison.

Now, a maid accused the nanny of attempted murder and even produced evidence.

That much could have been handled internally.

But an outsider had appeared.

This can’t be covered up anymore.

The boy sat across from her, his face cold in the light.

He wasn’t like other children—there was an undeniable authority about him, the kind that made even adults uneasy.

‘So the Tang poison has truly fallen into dangerous hands.’

Sweat trickled down her temples, but she forced her voice steady.

“May I ask who you are?”