Chapter 13
One that required him to wait indefinitely in front of the main gate, at that.
“Why?”
Before the unidentified expert could even answer, Yeon Sang-hyeon continued.
“Don’t like it? Then try doing things your way again this time too.”
Chapter 13: Uninvited Guest
“From now on, you are the main gate liaison. Starting now, you will wait at the main gate indefinitely.”
“Pardon?!”
The unidentified expert jerked his head up and stared at Yeon Sang-hyeon.
“There are facilities at the main gate that the previous liaison servants used. Use them as your quarters.”
Without paying him the slightest attention, Yeon Sang-hyeon continued.
“Your authority to make contact extends only to areas excluding my residence. Do not forget that.”
His words were essentially the same as saying that he would officially make the man a mere errand runner.
“Y-Young Master?”
For someone who was nothing more than a “mere expert,” those words were far too heavy for him to bear.
At least here and now, there were no choices available to him.
“…I shall obey your command, Young Master.”
The Young Master did not even bother answering him. Instead, he looked toward Jeong-ah.
“And what are you still standing there for?”
“I will go at once, Young Master.”
Without the slightest delay, she bowed deeply and retreated backward.
***
“What kind of treatment is this when a guest has come to visit?!”
The man who shouted the moment he saw Jeong-ah was a giant, a full head taller than most sturdy men who prided themselves on their strength.
Reading the other party with her “eyes,” Jeong-ah lowered her head in greeting.
“…This is our first meeting. My name is Jeong-ah.”
The Three Arts Warrior did not seem inclined to accept such a greeting from her.
He snorted and said, “Guide me inside. I must meet your master.”
“…What a lunatic.”
Jeong-ah sighed inwardly.
The surrounding guards were merely watching them with keen interest, making it perfectly clear that they had no intention of helping her.
“The Young Master has not granted permission for entry.”
“What…?!”
Jeong-ah deliberately cut him off.
“If you have business with me, please state it here.”
Her eyes were cast down gently, but there was not the slightest expression on her face.
It was the very same dignity that had earned her the name “Ice Flower” among the guests at the reception hall.
And, naturally, at an action that was practically a “provocation,” the Three Arts Warrior exploded.
“You mad wench…?!”
He took one step toward the main gate.
One step inside the boundary stone of the main gate.
“Stop.”
There was not even the sound of swords being drawn.
It was simply as though they had been that way from the beginning.
The blades raised by the experts dressed as guards at the main gate were all aimed at the Three Arts Warrior at once.
“Wh-what?”
The Three Arts Warrior stepped back in shock.
Then, from behind, the squad leader of the guards—who had ended up becoming Yeon Sang-hyeon’s liaison—sighed while clutching his head and warned him.
“This is a special restricted area. If you want to pass through here at will, you need security clearance of at least Class One…”
He bared his teeth, making no attempt to hide his irritation.
“…Damn it, in any case, you do not qualify, so do not act up.”
His eyes gleamed.
“This is your final warning.”
“U-understood.”
The Three Arts Warrior raised both hands, showing that he had no intention of opposing them.
Only then did the guards sheathe their swords again, step back, and return to being spectators.
The squad leader leaned against one side of the gate and sank down on the spot.
Then he began clutching at his hair again.
“Haa, haa.”
Seeing that attitude, which clearly said they would not care as long as he did not enter, the Three Arts Warrior cleared his throat a few times and decided to focus solely on Jeong-a.
“You must come with me to the Third Young Master.”
It was an unreasonable request, but his momentum had visibly diminished.
Without even inclining her head, Jeong-ah refused him.
“The Third Young Master does not decide my movements.”
The Three Arts Warrior sneered at her.
“That is none of your concern. A slave wench has no right to argue over this and that.”
It was an insulting remark, but Jeong-ah did not so much as blink as she answered.
“I was merely speaking of the family’s rules.”
“Enough. If the Third Young Master says something, that is the rule. Come with me at once.”
He reached out with a hand like a pot lid, and Jeong-ah naturally took one step back.
“You bitch…?!”
Once Jeong-ah stepped back, he could no longer grab her without stepping inside.
“My name is Jeong-ah, however.”
His face flushed, and his toes twitched.
Just one step.
With just one step, he could twist the neck of that haughty wench.
But it was impossible to ignore the unidentified experts watching him with amused expressions.
“…I will make sure to see whether you can act so high and mighty in front of the Third Young Master as well.”
The sound of his teeth grinding rang out chillingly.
“Until then, you had better conduct that body of yours carefully. The Third Young Master dislikes using things that have already been used by others.”
Jeong-ah lowered her head slightly in farewell.
“I will not see you off.”
He spat on the ground and turned away.
Watching him disappear into the distance, Jeong-ah wanted nothing more than to collapse right where she stood.
The aura the Three Arts Warrior was spewing was so fierce that it was not something an ordinary person without even a shred of inner force could possibly withstand.
And yet, without the slightest tremble, she stood firm and endured it to the very end.
Part of it was her determination not to show weakness to anyone, but more than anything, another guest was approaching the main gate.
The middle-aged man who crossed paths with the Three Arts Warrior let out a low snort, and the Three Arts Warrior snorted loudly in return.
Just from that sight alone, it was easy to guess where the middle-aged man had come from.
“I am the steward in charge of the Second Young Master’s Howon.”
“Jeong-a, a maid serving the Young Master, greets the steward of Howon.”
He spread open a fan—in the middle of winter!—and looked at Jeong-ah with displeasure from over the top of it.
“Impudent girl. I have nothing to say to you, so hurry and guide me to your master.”
“I apologize, but the Young Master is not receiving guests.”
“What…?!”
Veins bulged on the hand holding the fan.
“Do you know that this steward has come in the Second Young Master’s place, and yet you still dare spout such words?”
Jeong-ah answered without the slightest change in her complexion.
“I am truly sorry.”
The eyes of the Howon steward narrowed beyond the fan.
From Jeong-a’s appearance and attitude as she stood without stepping outside the main gate, he grasped far more than a few words could have told him.
“…I thought you were merely impudent, but you are a girl without even a shred of discernment.”
Jeong-ah gave no answer to his low murmur, tinged with anger.
He turned his gaze away from Jeong-a, who showed no reaction at all, and greeted the guard squad leader sitting on the ground.
“You must be going through much hardship.”
From his tone alone, it was clear that he had noticed these men were no ordinary guards.
Though he did not possess even a handful of inner force, he was showing that he had not won his position as steward by playing children’s games.
“By any chance, as this girl says, is it certain that the Young Master is not receiving visitors?”
At his question, the guard standing at the very front shrugged.
“We do not know either.”
“Ah, is that so? Then is there perhaps someone who does know?”
In that brief moment, the gaze of the guard squad leader, who had been clutching his head, rested on Jeong-ah for an instant.
Jeong-ah flinched slightly under that gaze, but she did not look away.
“Ah, if none of you know, then it cannot be helped.”
The Howon steward took a letter from within his robes and showed it as he continued.
On the envelope of the letter, the Second Young Master’s seal was clearly stamped.
“As one who bears the responsibility of delivering the Second Young Master’s letter without fail, I am unavoidably—”
At that moment, with a short sigh, the guard squad leader rose from his seat.
“The Young Master is not receiving guests.”
The Howon steward’s long eyebrows twitched.
“…Is that so?”
The guard squad leader smacked his lips and said, “I myself was just reprimanded over that very matter and sent out.”
“Hmm…”
The Howon steward stroked his thin beard.
“This has become troublesome.”
He organized his thoughts for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
“Then it cannot be helped.”
Jeong-ah tried to receive the Second Young Master’s letter from him.
However, the Howon steward did not release the hand holding the letter and instead looked at the guard squad leader.
“Could you perhaps confirm whether this girl properly delivers the letter?”
The guard squad leader wore an expression that showed he was not at all inclined to do so, but in the end, he reluctantly nodded.
“I shall do that.”
Only then did the Howon steward loosen his grip and allow Jeong-ah to take and secure the letter.
“…Make sure you remember this well.”
Looking down at Jeong-ah with eyes like a viper’s, he spoke in a low voice.
“No matter what thoughts you turn over in that little head of yours, in the end, you are on the Second Young Master’s palm.”
Then he offered a greeting to the guards, turned around, and walked away.
“Steward of Howon, I will not see you off.”
Only a snort came back in response to Jeong-a’s farewell.
When he had gone far enough away, one of the guards shrugged.
“…What unpleasant bastards.”
“Indeed.”
Then they all nodded to Jeong-ah.
“For such a young lady, you have remarkable spirit.”
“Mm, mm. I do not know the circumstances, but seeing you stand so proudly makes me feel proud of you.”
It was a manner of speech that did not suit a guard.
“Thank you for thinking well of me.”
But Jeong-ah actually considered it a good result.
It was because they had acknowledged her sincerely, not as false guards, but as their true selves.
After briefly exchanging greetings with them, Jeong-ah barely managed to move her feet while hiding the fact that her body would not stop trembling.
“Wait a moment.”
It was none other than the guard squad leader.
“…Do you have something to say to me?”
Having followed her as far as the forest path, he spoke to her in a low voice.
“The Young Master never actually said that visits were forbidden, did he?”
Jeong-ah bit her lip for a moment.
“He did not command it directly, but in my judgment…”
He waved his hand, stopping her from continuing.
“As you know, I do not have a single good feeling toward that Young Master of yours.”
“The only reason I am saying this is because it bothers me to see a child around my daughter’s age in such a difficult situation.”
Jeong-ah lowered her head.
“I will take your words to heart.”
He sighed for a moment, blaming his own excessive meddling, but ultimately continued.
“You do know that the Young Master could have protected you, but chose not to, yes?”
At those words, Jeong-ah showed a troubled expression.
“…I am merely a maid.”
He waved his hand.
“No, no. It seems there is some misunderstanding. What I mean is different from what you are imagining.”
Roughly scratching his head, he said, “Since I have spent my entire life with a sword, my eloquence is absurdly lacking. But because I have lived as a warrior, there are things that catch my eye instead.”
His gaze turned to Jeong-ah.
“Are you trying to offer your loyalty to the Young Master? Or are you trying to protect yourself? When I saw you trying to guess the Young Master’s thoughts earlier, that was what came to my mind.”
It was as though she had been struck by lightning.
Jeong-ah’s body froze on the spot.
“The Young Master could have driven them away with a single word. Then why do you think he did not?”
In the end, she could not answer at all.
Seeing her like that, the guard squad leader gave a bitter smile.
“Then I shall return.”
Only then did Jeong-ah come back to her senses and hurriedly ask him, “Do you not need to confirm that I deliver the letter?”
He had already turned and was heading back toward the main gate.
“No, no. You take care of that yourself. I need to figure out how to get away from that Young Master as quickly as possible.”
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from sight.
But as Jeong-ah turned in the opposite direction, she found herself unable to easily move her feet.
The words the guard squad leader had left behind would not leave her mind.
“Are you trying to offer your loyalty to the Young Master? Or are you trying to protect yourself?”