Chapter 14

Those Who Come Bear No Good Will

Jeong-ah  realized that, until now, she had never once properly thought about the concept of “loyalty.”

Ever since she had been sold to the Sword Clan, there had been many people to whom she was grateful.

And she had believed that she had been faithful in repaying them, in returning the favors she had received.

Those actions had fundamentally come from the idea of paying back what she had been given.

She realized that she had been approaching the Young Master in the same way.

If she did this much for the Young Master, then the Young Master would protect her.

That was how she had thought.

But what about from the Young Master’s perspective?

When Jeong-ah  returned, she saw Yeon Sang-hyeon leisurely leaning back and reading a book.

This time, it was a medical text.

Jeong-ah  first announced that she had returned, then took out the Second Young Master’s letter.

“This is a letter from the Second Young Master.”

“Is it?”

The moment he received it, he tossed it into the brazier beside him.

With a whoosh, the flames rose for a moment, spewing black smoke, and in no time, the letter had turned to ash.

“Y-Young Master…?!”

This time, even Jeong-ah  could not hide her shock.

“What?”

As though nothing had happened, Yeon Sang-hyeon turned a page.

“That letter was sent to you by the Second Young Master.”

“I heard.”

An indifferent answer.

“Ah, it is just… I suspect that the letter was most likely related to me as well.”

“To you?”

Another page turned.

“Yes… I believe it was likely a letter in which the Second Young Master addressed you regarding my status.”

“I see.”

Another page turned.

Jeong-ah  licked her drying lips and spoke again.

“Is it truly all right not to read it?”

“If it is really important, he will come himself.”

At those words, Jeong-ah’s mouth fell slightly open, and she could not close it.

“Oh.”

Another page turned again.

“Ah, yes… I understand.”

Only then did Yeon Sang-hyeon add briefly.

From beyond the book, Yeon Sang-hyeon waved his hand.

“Bring me some tea. And refreshments too.”

“Yes, yes. I understand, Young Master.”

Jeong-ah  hurriedly gathered herself and was about to withdraw when Yeon Sang-hyeon asked,

“If you were so curious, why did you not read it?”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Jeong-ah  looked at him, but his gaze was still fixed on the book.

“I am saying, if it bothered you that much, why did you not read it beforehand?”

Jeong-ah  hurriedly dropped to her knees.

“How could this lowly girl dare do such a thing!”

The fingers he had been using to turn the page paused for a moment.

“…Is that so?”

“Of course!”

Jeong-ah  carefully raised her anxious eyes and looked at Yeon Sang-hyeon.

But she still could not see his expression.

“Just bring the tea.”

***

She could not understand it.

Why did he say she should have read it beforehand if she was curious?

As Jeong-ah  waited for the water to boil, she let out a sigh at how complicated her thoughts had become.

‘What in the world does he mean…?’

If someone else had said it, she could have simply taken it as a joke or let it pass.

But it had been none other than the Young Master who had said it.

She had only seen him in person for a single day, and yet even so, it was difficult for her to imagine that the Young Master would say anything without meaning it.

As her gaze wandered through the air, it landed on the dining table placed in the corner.

It was the table where the Young Master and she had eaten.

“…Hm?”

Jeong-ah  sprang to her feet and began carefully examining the food placed on that table.

Then she recalled Yeon Sang-hyeon’s actions during mealtimes since yesterday.

What came to mind next was the story told to her by the person in charge of the main gate—the expert who had been turned into a liaison by Yeon Sang-hyeon.

‘…I see. So that was it.’

She hurriedly finished the preparations and left.

***

“Young Master, the tea and refreshments are ready.”

“Good.”

Jeong-ah  carefully approached Yeon Sang-hyeon and began brewing the tea with practiced movements.

“May this lowly girl drink with you as well?”

“Do as you wish.”

Jeong-ah  gave a small nod and finished preparing her own share as well.

“The tea is ready.”

“Good.”

Yeon Sang-hyeon answered, but he seemed absorbed in his book.

Trying as much as possible not to be conscious of Yeon Sang-hyeon, Jeong-ah  drank her tea with elegant posture.

It had an excellent fragrance.

Then Yeon Sang-hyeon’s hand groped around for the teacup, and without taking his eyes off the book, he began drinking the tea.

Jeong-ah  then began enjoying the refreshments one by one alongside the tea.

And with that, she became certain.

‘As expected.’

The Young Master, Yeon Sang-hyeon, only ate after Jeong-ah  had eaten first.

That was exactly what she had seen on the dining table earlier.

When Jeong-ah  had left midway through the meal, there had been a dish she had worked hard to make but had not yet tasted, and it had remained untouched.

And that dish had not been made by Yeon Sang-hyeon, but by Jeong-ah.

Could it really be that he had nothing better to do, and that was why he had quietly appeared and helped her every time she prepared a meal?

‘Poisoning through food and drink…’

He did not trust her at all.

No, to be precise,

He regarded the relationship between himself and Jeong-ah  as nothing more than a clear exchange of give and take.

Even if she had read the Second Young Master’s letter first, Yeon Sang-hyeon probably would not have cared much.

Because that letter had been about her.

Instead, it was unlikely that he would ever show her any letters that were important to him personally.

Come to think of it, Yeon Sang-hyeon had not even asked why the Third Young Master’s and the Second Young Master’s subordinates had visited.

When her thoughts reached that point, words slipped from her mouth like a sigh without her realizing it.

“…This lowly girl was also merely another uninvited guest.”

Yeon Sang-hyeon’s hand, which had been turning a page, stopped.

“…I see.”

Then the page turned again.

Jeong-ah  smiled hollowly and said, “My report is late, but after the Third Young Master’s Three Arts Warrior, a man called the Second Young Master’s Howon steward came.”

“I see.”

“And I sent them all back. On my own authority, I claimed that you had said you would not receive guests.”

“I see.”

The words inside Jeong-ah  began to spill out like that.

“I am a foolish woman.”

“Is that so?”

“I have acted so clever, pretending to know everything, but I did not know what was truly important.”

This time, there was no answer.

Only the sound of pages turning could be heard.

But to Jeong-ah, that was far more comfortable.

“I have wondered whether, until now, I was simply desperate to survive. And I have wondered whether the problem was that I worked for so long in the reception hall, where there was no one I truly served. It began when I was sold to this Luoyang Sword Clan.”

She began speaking of the time when she had first come to the Luoyang Sword Clan.

Now, even the sound of pages turning had stopped, but Jeong-ah  no longer cared.

And before she knew it, the story she poured out had reached the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master.

“…That was how the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master came to know of my existence. Of course, at first, nothing much happened. But soon…”

Thus, the story continued to how a contest of pride had broken out between the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master over Jeong-ah, how that conflict had begun to intensify, and how, in the end, with the help of the Chief Steward, she had come to Wongak Pavilion.

She also revealed everything about the conversation she had shared with the Chief Steward.

She spoke in detail about what thoughts and judgments had led her to seek out Yeon Sang-hyeon.

She even disclosed what she had thought today in front of the Second Young Master’s and Third Young Master’s subordinates.

And finally, she finished by telling him everything about her “eyes.”

“…Young Master.”

“I see.”

At some point, Yeon Sang-hyeon had set down his book and was silently looking at her.

Looking into Yeon Sang-hyeon’s eyes, which revealed nothing of what he was thinking, Jeong-ah  asked,

“If this lowly girl were to say, even now, that she would offer everything and serve you loyally, would you accept me?”

She wanted him to answer simply, as he had until now, with “I see” or “Mm.”

“…Hmm.”

But unlike before, no easy answer came from Yeon Sang-hyeon’s mouth.

Instead, he asked Jeong-ah, who looked disheartened, a question in return.

“No matter what happens, no matter what you come to learn, no matter what danger there may be, can you remain loyal to me?”

Jeong-ah  nodded firmly.

“Of course.”

But Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a faint, subtle smile and added one more question.

“Do you know about my father?”

It was an absurd question.

“Is he not the Grand Patriarch? I heard that he is currently confined due to illness, never leaving his quarters, and that he handles all matters, great and small, from his sickbed…”

That was also the reason why the Young Master’s father was not the Patriarch, but the Grand Patriarch.

The Patriarch, no longer able to act normally, had stepped down to the position of Grand Patriarch, and the seat of Patriarch of the Luoyang Sword Clan was currently vacant.

At that moment, a flash of lightning sparked through Jeong-ah’s mind.

“Could it be…?!”

Yeon Sang-hyeon nodded.

“It is not an illness. My father has been unconscious for a long time because he was poisoned.”

“Such a thing…?!”

Jeong-ah’s eyes landed on the medical text Yeon Sang-hyeon had tossed aside.

“Forget handling all matters, great and small. He is not even conscious. Right now, the Luoyang Sword Clan is effectively being run by its highest decision-making body.”

Jeong-ah  did not dare say anything in the face of the tremendous secret she had suddenly learned.

It was the sort of secret for which one could be killed merely for knowing it, a secret among secrets that only the smallest number of people in the Luoyang Sword Clan were permitted to know.

“Since I was young, I have lived inside Wongak Pavilion like that, taking care of what I drank and ate myself.”

That was possible because Wongak Pavilion boasted an enormous area, and thanks to an absolute formation, crops could be grown there in any season.

“And yet, how many attempts at poisoning do you think there have been until now?”

“…I would not dare to guess.”

Yeon Sang-hyeon smiled bitterly.

“Well, after I achieved a certain level in medicine and pharmacology, poison in food and drink became meaningless, but by then it had already become a habit.”

On top of that, he was now the practitioner of the greatest demonic art of all time, The Ruler Of Darkness.

He slowly drank the tea that had gone cold, then opened his mouth again.

“Even the fact that, until now, I have only been eating things someone else has touched first—I did not realize that myself until you told me.”

Rolling the empty teacup in his palm, he asked,

“What I have just told you is nothing more than a mere fragment of the darkness this Luoyang Sword Clan holds. Even so, you say you will serve me?”

Jeong-ah  pressed her trembling hand down with her other hand and answered.

“…Please allow me to serve you as my master.”

Still, Yeon Sang-hyeon did not answer her words.

Instead, he took out a bundle of documents from his sleeve.

“Read this.”

Jeong-ah  respectfully accepted the letter and carefully unfolded it.

The moment she saw its contents, she felt as though her breath had stopped.

The document was none other than a kind of report sent to Yeon Sang-hyeon by the Chief Steward.

It contained every detail the Chief Steward had grasped about Jeong-ah.

It even mentioned things that she herself did not remember, and it did not merely list the facts.

As she turned further back, there were also analyses and evaluations of Jeong-ah  from various angles.

“Read the last page aloud.”

With trembling hands, Jeong-ah  opened the final page.

“…Therefore, if this girl honestly confesses all of the aforementioned facts, take her in and work her like a horse or an ox.”

Cold sweat flowed down Jeong-ah’s forehead.

“However, if she cannot abandon her innate nature and attempts to make a transaction with you, Young Master…”

Her voice began to tremble.

“…I recommend that she be quietly killed and disposed of, so that there will be no risk of the other young masters threatening your peace.”

The bundle of documents slipped from her hands and dropped to the floor.