Part 12 - Roof
Jeong-a opened her eyes at exactly the same time she always did.
She could only guess it was because of the influence of her 'Eye', but her ability to sense time was also extraordinarily sharp.
The bed was comfortable.
Unlike the maid dormitory in the reception hall, there were no night-shift girls coming and going, and no security captain making constant patrols.
And the room—how spacious it was, how excellent the facilities were.
Just by looking at the lodgings, she could feel how much Yeon Sang-hyeon normally cared for the people beneath him.
She had woken once because of a nightmare, but it was nothing serious.
It felt like she'd experienced again that horrific sensation from yesterday, right before she passed out in the forest.
Still, she decided she must not have fully broken free from the influence of the formation they called a barrier.
Even while thinking all sorts of things, she never let her body rest and kept moving.
Considering the First Young Master's appetite yesterday, it was better to hurry as much as possible.
***
In less than a day, she had already figured out several things about this man called the First Young Master, and this place called Wongakjeong.
The first:
The First Young Master enjoyed eccentricities that shattered decorum.
"Now, now. Let's have a cheerful breakfast today as well."
"F-First Young Master…?!"
Sure enough, even today the First Young Master stormed into the kitchen with vegetables he'd harvested himself tucked under his arm.
And then he bustled around, claiming he was going to help with breakfast preparations.
Of course, he was astonishingly skilled at kitchen work, so he helped rather than got in the way.
But there was an immeasurable gap in status between them.
When someone like that went back and forth right next to her, it was unavoidable that it made her nerves feel rubbed raw.
"...Are you telling me to dine with you again today?"
The First Young Master looked at her as if she'd said something absurd.
"Not 'again today'. Always. From now on, always."
"..."
"Now, now. Don't just stand there spacing out—taste this braise. It's my handiwork, and it turned out absurdly well."
The second:
The two-story main building where the First Young Master's quarters were located was dangerous.
"First Young Master, it is Jeong-a. I've brought tea and refreshments."
Before entering the main building, she announced herself loudly.
Soon, Yeon Sang-hyeon's voice answered from inside.
"Yeah. Leave it at the entrance. I'll take it in a bit."
"How could I dare do that?"
Shaking her head, Jeong-a opened the door and cautiously stepped inside.
"..."
And the moment she entered, she turned right back around and left.
"...I will leave it at the entrance."
"Fine."
What she saw the instant she went in were bamboo slips left strewn across the floor.
She'd caught the titles in passing—martial arts manuals, without question.
A martial arts manual recorded on bamboo slips.
It had to be unimaginably old, and therefore of value beyond imagining.
And that wasn't all.
Other famous secret manuals—ones she'd heard of at least once while working for a Sword Clan—were rolling around on the floor like trash.
If she so much as peeked at the contents, she'd obviously vanish without a trace that very day.
If she was lucky, maybe it would end with her eyes being gouged out and her tongue cut off.
Yesterday it wasn't this dangerous…
It seemed that today's interest of the First Young Master was martial arts.
Maybe I shouldn't go in there for a while.
And the third—
The third was the most important issue for her.
The First Young Master had no interest in her at all.
Not even a little. Not the slightest bit of interest.
He showed none about her personal history, none about her thoughts or opinions—he didn't even show the most basic sexual curiosity.
The first two things aside, the lack of curiosity was deeply unexpected.
Luoyang Sword Clan entrusted "secret entertainments" entirely to thoroughly selected and vetted outside contractors.
So the women of the reception hall—made up of beauties without equal—were, if anything, given excessive attention.
And among them was Jeong-a, whose beauty was enough for her to be called a "flower (Ice Flower)."
As far as she could remember, she'd lived her whole life under men's gazes, and she was used to ignoring them.
But this First Young Master hardly ever even looked at her.
It wasn't as though she simply couldn't feel his gaze from blind spots because he was a strange man her 'Eye' couldn't properly grasp.
No matter how she looked at it, he clearly had no interest in her.
If she hadn't seen erotic paintings and obscene books scattered around Wongakjeong while walking about—shocking in its own right—she might have questioned his sexual tastes.
"This book's pretty fun."
Even now, at lunch, he was snickering as he read an obscene book.
"...Yes, First Young Master."
Jeong-a forced herself to look away and focus on the meal.
…This is really confusing.
She swallowed a sigh.
Part of her felt relieved that the First Young Master wasn't interested in her body, but that didn't mean it was necessarily a good thing.
It wasn't because of some maiden's carelessness—pushing away while leaving a sliver of possibility.
This was a matter of her own survival.
From the beginning, she hadn't tried to escape the hands of the Second Young Master and Third Young Master just to protect the "purity" of a lowly servant woman.
They were the sort who, on a whim, took women into their grasp—and when they broke them, they discarded them without hesitation.
She didn't know whether it was because of some vile sexual taste, or because they were so intoxicated by their own status that they viewed every woman within reach as less than an object.
But one thing was clear: every woman they took an interest in and claimed disappeared.
Others believed those women had simply been reassigned to better postings.
But Jeong-a, who had heard the truth through the chief of the Steward's Office, knew that was absolutely not the case.
She had steeled herself even before coming to Wongakjeong.
If the First Young Master truly was as extraordinary as she'd hoped, throwing herself into his arms and securing safety would have been an excellent option.
But it seemed that option had never existed in the first place.
And if he had no interest even in her as a person…
Was she truly under the First Young Master's roof right now?
The answer came far too quickly.
"Um, First Young Master."
Before lunch even ended in the elegant pavilion at Wongakjeong, someone in a guard's uniform quietly appeared.
It was one of the "masters" Jeong-a had seen at Wongakjeong's entrance yesterday—someone who looked like a squad leader.
"The First Young Master is in the middle of a meal. What is it?"
Jeong-a rose and asked.
"Ah, well… a guest has come."
He was openly acting annoyed.
She knew he was hiding his true identity, but even accounting for that, it was rude.
She had even told him the First Young Master was eating, yet he seemed not to care at all.
So many things surged up to the tip of her throat, but for now Jeong-a was still only a newcomer here.
She pressed it down and asked.
"…Who has come?"
The squad leader let out a visible sigh and answered.
"What was it? He said he was a Third-Grade Elite Warrior from the main house, I think."
A Third-Grade Elite Warrior…!
Jeong-a felt stunned.
There were countless martial groups within the Luoyang Sword Clan, large and small—but there was only one group that classified rank using the term "Elite (Jeol)".
The Third Young Master's personal armed force!
Jeong-a swallowed hard and spoke.
"Why would a Third-Grade Elite Warrior have business with the First Young Master?"
"No, not with the First Young Master…"
The squad leader sighed and continued.
"Well, he said to call out the maid who came yesterday, or something…"
So it had come.
Jeong-a bit her lip.
She glanced at Yeon Sang-hyeon.
He was still scooping up rice while reading the obscene book.
Jeong-a organized the situation in her mind.
No matter what the business was, the best method was to avoid meeting them at all.
Fortunately, this was Wongakjeong, where just anyone couldn't enter—there was plenty of room to use that fact.
"…I am that maid. How dare a Third-Grade Elite Warrior order the First Young Master's maid around as he pleases?"
She was right.
Strictly speaking, a Third-Grade Elite Warrior was of course far above a mere maid—but if that maid belonged to the First Young Master, it stopped being so simple.
At her words, the guard captain let out a long, heavy sigh.
"I said that too, but… he said he came under the Third Young Master's orders, and I can't just decide on my own to refuse…"
At the words "the Third Young Master's orders", Jeong-a clenched her teeth.
"No matter what, I am the First Young Master's maid. Even if he came under the Third Young Master's orders, isn't it improper to demand I receive a command directly?"
"Well, still…"
At that moment, Yeon Sang-hyeon set his chopsticks down with a tap.
"Go."
That single word decided that she had not, in fact, entered under the First Young Master's roof.
"…First Young Master?"
Yeon Sang-hyeon continued, his gaze still fixed on the obscene book.
"You're noisy. Go hear what he wants and come back."
For a moment Jeong-a nearly lost all strength in her legs, but she endured.
Right. No matter how arrogant the Third Young Master is, he can't ignore every procedure and take me away immediately.
And even if he tried to follow procedure, the deputy steward on her side would drag things out plenty.
"…First Young Master, then I will go and return."
As she descended from the pavilion, barely hiding her trembling legs, Yeon Sang-hyeon's voice came from behind.
"Wait."
Jeong-a turned around with a sliver of hope.
"Yes, First Young Master."
But the First Young Master's gaze wasn't on her.
"You. You there."
With his chopsticks, he pointed at the guard captain.
"Me…?"
Yeon Sang-hyeon asked in an indifferent tone.
"Who told you you could enter this place whenever you feel like it?"
The guard captain answered, flustered.
"Ah, that is… I know that entering without permission is forbidden, but…"
Yeon Sang-hyeon's eyes looking down at him from the pavilion were chillingly indifferent.
"You knew you can't enter without permission, and yet you entered?"
"N-no. It's not that—normally there was always a liaison servant near the front gate, but after what happened yesterday…"
Yeon Sang-hyeon's pupils didn't so much as twitch.
"So if there's nobody there, you can just come in however you want?"
"N-no, sir!"
It was the same pressure Jeong-a had felt yesterday—Yeon Sang-hyeon's oppressive aura.
He pressed him with several more lines.
A way of speaking that steadily drove a person into a corner, and an aura that didn't permit the slightest objection.
Before she knew it, the guard captain was kneeling.
"I'm sorry, First Young Master! I'll make sure this never happens again!"
A Third-Grade Elite Warrior was certainly formidable.
But compared to this master of unknown affiliation, he was nothing.
And Yeon Sang-hyeon made such a master tremble and apologize with absurd ease.
At the sight of Yeon Sang-hyeon like that, Jeong-a tightened her curled fingers slightly.
"Is that so? Then I'll forgive you this once. Instead, from now on, you're the front gate liaison. You'll wait at the front gate indefinitely, starting now."
The guard captain, who had his head pressed to the ground, jolted in shock.
"…Pardon?!"