Part 14 - Those Who Come Are Not Well-Intentioned
Jeong-a realized that up to now, she had never truly thought about the concept of "loyalty."
Ever since she had been sold to the Sword Clan, there had been so many people she was grateful to.
And she believed she had been faithful in repaying them—returning the favor, settling the debt of gratitude.
But those actions, at their core, had come from a simple idea: repay exactly what you receive.
She realized she had been approaching the First Young Master the same way.
If I do this much for him, then he will protect me—that kind of thinking.
But from the First Young Master's point of view… what would it look like?
***
When Jeong-a returned, she saw Yeon Sang-hyeon lounging comfortably, reading a book.
This time, it was a medical text.
Jeong-a first announced that she had returned, then took out the Second Young Master's letter and held it up.
"Here is the Second Young Master's letter."
"Yeah?"
The moment he took it from her, he tossed it into the brazier beside him.
Whoosh. The flame flared up briefly, belched black smoke, and the letter turned to ash in an instant.
"F-First Young Master…?!"
This time, Jeong-a couldn't hide her shock.
"Why?"
Yeon Sang-hyeon flipped the page as if nothing had happened.
"That letter was sent by the Second Young Master to you, First Young Master."
"I heard you."
A careless reply.
"Ah… that is… I suspect that letter is probably related to me as well."
"To you?"
Another page turned.
"Yes… I believe it was likely a letter concerning my disposition—about what is to be done with me."
"Yeah."
Another page.
Jeong-a licked her drying lips and spoke again.
"Is it truly alright not to read it?"
"Uh-huh."
Another page.
"Ah… yes… I understand, then."
Only then did Yeon Sang-hyeon add, briefly.
"If it were really important, he'd come himself."
Jeong-a's mouth fell slightly open and didn't close.
"..."
Yeon Sang-hyeon waved a hand over the top of his book.
"Bring tea. And sweets."
"Yes—yes. Understood, First Young Master."
Jeong-a hurriedly gathered herself and was about to withdraw, when Yeon Sang-hyeon asked.
"If you were that curious, why didn't you read it?"
"What do you mean by that…?"
Jeong-a looked at him, but his gaze was still fixed on his book.
"If it bothered you that much, I'm asking why you didn't read it beforehand."
Jeong-a dropped to her knees in panic.
"How could a lowly maid dare do such a thing!"
The finger that had been turning pages paused for a moment.
"…Really?"
"Of course!"
Jeong-a cautiously raised an anxious gaze toward Yeon Sang-hyeon.
But she still couldn't see his expression.
"Bring the tea."
***
She couldn't understand.
If you were curious, why didn't you read it? As she waited for the water to boil, Jeong-a sighed as her thoughts tangled into knots.
What does that even mean…?
If someone else had said it, she could've dismissed it as a joke—or a trap she could ignore.
But it was the First Young Master who said it.
She'd only seen him for a single day, yet even so, she couldn't imagine him speaking thoughtlessly.
"..."
As her drifting gaze caught on something in the corner, she saw the small dining table.
The table where she and the First Young Master had eaten.
"…Hm?"
Jeong-a sprang to her feet and stared closely at the food still placed on it.
Then she recalled Yeon Sang-hyeon's behavior at mealtimes since yesterday.
And next, she remembered what the master—who had become the main-gate liaison by Yeon Sang-hyeon's command—had told her.
…So that's what it was.
After quickly preparing, she left.
***
"First Young Master, the tea and sweets are ready."
"Good."
Jeong-a approached carefully and began to brew the tea with practiced hands.
"May this maid drink with you as well?"
"Sure."
Jeong-a gave a small nod and prepared her portion too.
"The tea is ready."
"Good."
Yeon Sang-hyeon answered, but he looked completely absorbed in his book.
Jeong-a, trying as hard as possible not to be conscious of him, sipped her tea with an elegant posture.
The aroma was excellent.
Then Yeon Sang-hyeon's hand fumbled for his teacup, and without taking his eyes off the book, he began to drink.
Jeong-a then began to enjoy the sweets one by one along with the tea.
And she became certain.
So it really was like that.
The First Young Master—Yeon Sang-hyeon—only ate after Jeong-a tasted something first.
What she had just seen at the dining table was exactly that.
When she had stepped away midway through the meal, there had been a dish she had worked hard to make but hadn't gotten to taste—and it had been left untouched.
And that dish wasn't something Yeon Sang-hyeon had made.
It was something Jeong-a had made.
Had he really been appearing whenever she prepared meals just because he had nothing better to do?
Poisoning…
He didn't trust her at all.
No—more precisely—
He regarded the relationship between himself and Jeong-a as nothing more than a relationship where giving and receiving was guaranteed.
Yeon Sang-hyeon probably wouldn't have cared much even if Jeong-a had read the Second Young Master's letter first.
Because it was a letter about her.
Instead, letters that truly mattered to him would never be shown to her from now on.
Come to think of it, Yeon Sang-hyeon hadn't even asked why the subordinates of the Third Young Master and Second Young Master had come at all.
When her thoughts reached that point, a sigh-like murmur slipped out of her mouth without her realizing.
"…This maid, too, was nothing more than yet another uninvited guest."
Yeon Sang-hyeon's hand froze mid-page.
"…Yeah."
Then the page turned again.
Jeong-a laughed hollowly and said.
"I was late in reporting, but after that man—the Third Young Master's Third-Grade Elite Warrior—left, a man called the Howon steward arrived."
"Yeah."
"And I sent them all back. I made excuses on my own, saying you had said you would not receive guests."
"Yeah."
The words that had been piling up inside Jeong-a began to spill out.
"I am a stupid woman."
"Are you?"
"I've acted smart, acted like I knew everything… but I didn't understand what truly mattered."
This time, there was no answer.
Only the sound of a page turning.
But that made Jeong-a feel more at ease.
"I wonder if I was only desperate to survive until now. And perhaps it was a problem that I spent so long working in a reception house where there was no one I truly served. It began when I was sold into this Luoyang Sword Clan."
And she began telling the story from when she first arrived at the Luoyang Sword Clan.
Now even the sound of pages turning had stopped, but Jeong-a no longer cared.
Her story eventually reached the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master.
"…And that was how the Second and Third Young Masters learned of my existence. At first, nothing happened. But soon…"
She spoke of how a battle of pride broke out between them over her, how it began to intensify, and how in the end she came to Wongakjeong with the help of the Steward's Office chief.
She confessed everything she had discussed with the Steward's Office chief.
She spoke in detail about the thoughts and judgments that led her to seek out Yeon Sang-hyeon.
She even laid out what she had been thinking today in front of the Second and Third Young Masters' subordinates.
And finally, she told him everything about her 'eyes'.
"…First Young Master."
"Yeah."
At some point, Yeon Sang-hyeon had set the book aside and was silently watching her.
Jeong-a looked into Yeon Sang-hyeon's eyes—eyes she couldn't read at all—and asked.
"If this maid were to offer everything and swear loyalty now… would you accept it?"
She wanted him to answer simply, as always—Yeah, or Mm-hm.
"…Hmmm."
But unlike before, an answer didn't come easily from Yeon Sang-hyeon's lips.
Instead, he asked her a question in return, as Jeong-a's face fell.
"Even if something happens, even if you learn something, even if there's danger—can you still be loyal to me?"
Jeong-a nodded firmly.
"Of course."
But Yeon Sang-hyeon asked another question, wearing a faint, subtle smile.
"Do you know about my father?"
It was a ridiculous question.
"Do you mean the Retired Supreme Clan Lord? He has shut himself away due to illness, and I heard he handles all matters great and small from his sickbed…"
That was why the First Young Master's father was not the Clan Lord, but the Retired Supreme Clan Lord.
The Clan Lord, unable to function normally, had stepped down into retirement, and the position of Clan Lord of the Luoyang Sword Clan was currently vacant.
At that moment, lightning flashed through Jeong-a's mind.
"Don't tell me…?!"
Yeon Sang-hyeon nodded.
"It isn't illness. My father has been unconscious for a long time… because of poisoning."
"H-How could that…?!"
Jeong-a's eyes fell on the medical text Yeon Sang-hyeon had thrown aside.
"He can't handle anything, big or small. He isn't even conscious. In truth, the Luoyang Sword Clan is being run by the highest decision-making body."
"..."
Jeong-a couldn't dare say a word at the monstrous secret she had just learned.
It was the kind of secret that could get you killed just for knowing it—confidential among confidential matters, permitted to only a tiny handful within the Luoyang Sword Clan.
"I've been solving my food and drink within Wongakjeong since I was little."
"..."
Given Wongakjeong's immense size, and the Jeol formation that allowed farming in any season, it was possible.
"And how many times do you think someone's tried to poison me even so?"
"…This maid would not dare guess."
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a bitter smile.
"Well, after I achieved mastery in medicine and pharmacology, poisoning stopped meaning anything… but it became a habit."
Moreover, he was now even a Disciple of the ancient demon beast, The Ruler Of Darkness.
He slowly drank the tea that had gone cold, then spoke again.
"Even that I've only been eating things after someone else has tasted them first… I didn't actually realize, until you told me."
"..."
Rolling the now-empty teacup across his palm, he asked.
"What I just told you is only a fragment of the darkness this Luoyang Sword Clan carries. Even so, you want to serve me?"
Jeong-a restrained her trembling hand with her other hand and answered.
"…Please allow me to serve you as my master."
Still, Yeon Sang-hyeon did not answer her.
Instead, he pulled out a stack of documents from his sleeve.
"Look at this."
Jeong-a accepted the letter bundle respectfully and carefully unfolded it.
The moment she read it, she felt her breath stop.
The documents were a kind of report the Steward's Office chief had sent to Yeon Sang-hyeon.
They recorded everything the Steward's Office chief had discovered about Jeong-a.
It even mentioned things she herself could no longer remember.
And it wasn't only a list of facts.
As she turned the pages, there were analyses and evaluations of Jeong-a from multiple angles.
"Read the last page out loud."
With shaking hands, Jeong-a opened the last page.
"…Therefore, if this child confesses all of the above truthfully, take her in and use her like a horse or an ox."
Cold sweat ran down Jeong-a's forehead.
"But if she cannot discard her inborn nature, and attempts to bargain with the First Young Master…"
Her voice began to tremble.
"…quietly kill her and erase her, so that there will be no chance for the other young masters to threaten the First Young Master's peace."
The stack of documents slipped from her hands and fell with a dull thud.