Chapter 14
“Well, Seol-ha, now that I’ve seen you’re doing fine, I’ll be off. I can’t keep a busy girl like you tied up.”
“Yeah, being the Second Young Master’s personal maid keeps me busy. But I can talk with you a little longer, Grandmother.”
It had only been a few days since I became Jeok I-geon’s personal maid, but to me, it felt like a month had passed.
Meeting my grandmother after all that made me feel emotional.
I clung to her and rubbed my face against her chest like a child.
“Grandmother smells so nice! It feels like all my worries have disappeared.”
“What other troubles do you have besides that damned man?”
“Oh? Uh, it’s nothing serious…”
“What is it? Tell this old lady everything.”
As expected, Shin Geum’s perceptiveness was unmatched.
The moment I denied it, her narrowing eyes turned into a lie detector.
Yesterday, the Heavenly Demon had come to see me and asked strange questions.
Today, he even gave me a hairpin.
The way he looked at me felt so sorrowful.
It had been weighing on my mind.
I didn’t want to lie to my grandmother, but I also couldn’t tell her the truth about meeting the Heavenly Demon.
She had already rushed here out of worry; the last thing I wanted was to burden her further.
“Well, working as the Second Young Master’s personal maid means I meet other high-ranking people, too. It’s just a bit exhausting since I get so nervous around them.”
“You’re not used to it yet, but it’ll get easier over time.”
“I hope so, really.”
“So, who did you meet? Don’t tell me it was the Cult Leader.”
“…Of course not! To see the Cult Leader, I’d have to go near Heavenly Demon’s Residence, and maids like me aren’t even allowed there!”
“Right?”
“Yeah. But I did meet someone important—the Ghostly Soul Pavilion Master!”
“…Who?”
“The Ghostly Soul Pavilion handles information for the Demonic Cult, and he’s their leader. He looked just like a scholar—so smart and impressive.”
Although Gong Pae-cheon dies early in the novel, additional details about him appear later.
Many of the plans that Jeok I-geon used to conquer the martial world were actually prepared by Gong Pae-cheon for the previous Heavenly Demon.
The plans were so flawless that even after killing him, Jeok I-geon used them without alteration.
I didn’t know much about Gong Pae-cheon, but I had always thought of him as a pitiful character.
“Grandmother, why did you suddenly go quiet? Are you worried about me?”
“…I’m always worried about my precious granddaughter. But now that I’ve seen you, I feel relieved. I’ll really go now. You’d better head back inside!”
“You’re going straight home, right?”
“Of course. I need to get back and open the shop for dinner.”
“Alright, Grandmother. Thanks for coming today. You gave me so much strength!”
“If anything happens, you must tell this old lady. Got it? I’ll take care of everything!”
“Of course! There’s no one like you, Grandmother!”
I hugged her tightly.
Seeing her outside of home made the moment feel even more precious.
“Well, Grandmother, I’ll go first. Take care!”
As I walked backward, waving, I called out.
“Be careful or you’ll trip! Go on, now!”
She always talks tough, but she’s such a softie for her granddaughter.
I chuckled and turned around to walk properly.
“Hehe, I feel so good.”
Filled with my grandmother’s love, my steps felt lighter.
“Wait! The noodle shop!”
I suddenly froze, struck by a memory.
The Ghostly Soul Pavilion Master, Gong Pae-cheon.
When I first saw him a few days ago, I thought he looked strangely familiar.
I couldn’t recall where I’d seen him, so I brushed it off.
But now I remembered.
Ridiculously, the first time I saw him was at my grandmother’s noodle shop.
To be precise, it was on one of her shop’s off days when I was helping her.
The presence of a customer so out of place with the old shop’s atmosphere had caught my attention as I served noodles.
I was shocked when he spoke to my grandmother like they knew each other.
Why had Gong Pae-cheon pretended not to recognize me?
Was it because too much time had passed and he didn’t remember my face?
What was his relationship with my grandmother?
They seemed far too familiar to be just a customer and shop owner.
Yet from my grandmother’s reaction earlier, it seemed like she had no idea who the Ghostly Soul Pavilion Master was.
“Ah, Gong Pae-cheon, you’re so suspicious.”
The lightheartedness I felt earlier was replaced by a tangle of questions.
I’ll have to ask Grandmother directly during my next leave.
“This is so frustrating.”
I was counting the days until my next leave as I stepped through the gates.
“Are you just arriving now?”
It was Cheon Gang who approached me, as if he’d been waiting.
“I just came back from Jamigwan.”
I bowed slightly and explained.
“Did something troubling happen?”
“…What?”
“You look pale.”
“Oh, I’m just a little tired…”
“It seems you’ve been pushing yourself the past few days. You’ve gone through a rough ordeal and haven’t had any proper rest. Tsk, tsk.”
“It’s nothing. This is my duty, after all. Thanks to the ointment you gave me, the wound has nearly healed. Thank you again.”
The morning after the incident, Cheon Gang handed me ointment, having somehow heard about my injury.
It wasn’t even a major wound, so I hadn’t thought to apply anything. Yet, he was considerate enough to worry about me possibly getting a scar on my neck.
I couldn’t have been more touched by his kindness.
I’d internally repeated at least a hundred times that the real protagonist of this story should have been Cheon Gang, not Jeok I-geon.
“I’d like to tell you to rest right now, but the Young Master is asking for you.”
“…Me?”
“Yes, he’s waiting inside.”
“Has he already finished his afternoon training?”
At this time of day, Jeok I-geon should have been at the training grounds.
I hadn’t expected to see him until dinner, so this felt like a thunderbolt out of nowhere.
“Even the Young Master needs a break sometimes. Go on inside.”
Urged by Cheon Gang, I nervously headed to the inner chambers.
Jeok I-geon had always followed a predictable routine.
Today’s summons was a major variable for me.
Did I do something wrong?
I couldn’t think of anything that might have gotten me in trouble.
I’d been serving him meals—especially noodles—of all kinds and preparing dumplings for late-night snacks.
He seemed to enjoy the freshly steamed dumplings so much that just watching him eat made my mouth water.
Aside from the accident on the first day, I thought I’d been fulfilling my role as his personal maid quite well.
So, don’t panic, Shin Seol-ha.
“Young Master, you called for me.”
Jeok I-geon was seated with his legs crossed, reading a book.
He looked like a painting.
Even though I saw him every day, I couldn’t help but admire him each time.
It was a weakness I had reluctantly acknowledged on my third day as his personal maid—yesterday, to be exact.
Yes, he was still terrifying and intimidating, but I couldn’t deny the reality: he was also stunningly pleasant to look at.
Thud!
He closed the book and placed it beside him.
Now he would look at me.
Steeling myself, I waited as his gaze fell on me.
His expression was inscrutable, as always, and his piercing eyes were as unsettling as ever.
Still, having spent four days with him, I was less scared than I had been at the beginning.
“I have something to ask you. Who taught you martial arts?”
“…What do you mean by that, Young Master?”
Caught off guard, I feigned ignorance.
“I have not learned any martial arts. How could a lowly maid like me have had the chance to learn such a thing? You saw it yourself, didn’t you? How I was helpless when I was taken hostage by the Martial Alliance spy?”
“Is that so? You truly know no martial arts?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Then how do you explain this?”
Huh? Explain what?
I didn’t even have time to ask before Jeok I-geon suddenly closed the distance between us and grabbed my wrist.
W-what is this? Why is he holding my wrist?
Experiencing physical contact with him for the first time, I internally screamed in shock.
A surge of fear gripped me—was he going to hit me?
“You claim to know no martial arts, yet your body is radiating this extraordinary energy. What is that?”
“…Energy?”
What energy could he possibly mean?
“Are you truly unaware of your own condition?”
His tone softened slightly, as though he saw sincerity in my confusion.
“I truly don’t understand what you’re talking about, Young Master.”
“If that’s the case, then there’s no helping it. Starting tomorrow, you will train for two hours a day.”
“Tr-train? What do you mean, train?”
“You need to learn to fully harness and control the energy within you.”
W-who’s going to train me?
Wait, don’t tell me… Jeok I-geon himself?
As I stood there, dumbfounded and gaping, Jeok I-geon continued.
“What will you do if a similar incident occurs again? There’s no guarantee I’ll always be there to save you. You need to know how to protect yourself.”
This can’t be happening.
Did I just hear him say he’s worried about me?
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