I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 2

Chapter 1. Chung-rin

My head was hot and my breathing was rough.

I had burned all my remaining qi, so I should have died too…

‘Huh?’

Strangely, my eyes opened.

My head rang and throbbed. My body creaked and ached like a poorly fitted hinge.

Pain was proof that I was alive.

‘I… didn’t die?’

I urgently looked around while lying down.

Cold air that pierced my lungs.

The faded pillars and old bed of the residence.

The musty smell and the cheap incense burned to cover it were all unfamiliar.

I stopped mid-motion while trying to move my arm to sit up.

My wrist was gaunt, and the place where burn scars should have been was clean.

This wasn’t my hand.

Something was wrong.

Every corner of my body was filled with something strange and awkward.

Even breathing felt foreign, and all the sensations flowing through my body were uncomfortable, like wearing someone else’s clothes.

When I struggled to sit up, wheat-colored hair flowed down onto the bed. It was a different color from mine.

An ominous feeling overwhelmed me.

“Miss?”

A woman who appeared to be a maid discovered me and widened her eyes.

‘…Miss?’

That unfamiliar title sent chills down my spine.

At that moment, fragmentary memories flowed in along with heavy pain.

They weren’t my memories.

“A sorcerer from Mageyo prophesied that ‘the next Heavenly Demon will be born borrowing the womb of Seolsan Jeokga.'”

It was the words of a woman presumed to be the head of Seolsan Jeokga.

“I’m sorry, but to protect the family, Chung-rin, I must send you there.”

‘Chung-rin.’

It was the name of a woman who had lived confined since she was twelve because of the prophecy.

To avoid conflict with Mageyo, who had finally found Seolsan Jeokga’s hideout, the family head decided to send her daughter as a prospective bride for peace. It was called peace, but in reality, she was giving her daughter away to do with as they pleased.

Chung-rin was moved to the Yeomhwa Family in Cheonsan with her martial arts crippled to prevent escape.

As soon as she arrived there, the people of the Yeomhwa Family marked her arm with a virginity seal.

She was hidden in the depths of the Yeomhwa Family’s residence as merely a tool to produce an heir, until the wedding ceremony.

Having seen this far, the wave of memories suddenly stopped.

My breath caught in my throat.

As I barely managed to exhale, the maid from earlier approached in panic.

“Miss, I’ll call a physician, so please wait a moment.”

The maid hurriedly left.

I was catching my breath when I picked up a cloudy mirror from an old vanity.

A strange face was reflected in it.

Light-colored hair and clear, bright eyes.

The beautiful but pale face looked fragile, and the eyes were cold as if they contained ice from the northern sea.

It was around the same age as my original self, but the appearance was completely different and unfamiliar.

Seolsan Jeokga, Mageyo, Yeomhwa Family.

The memories remaining in this body ultimately led me to one conclusion.

That I had become her, Chung-rin.

I don’t know why this happened.

Anyway, I’m alive.

If I can get a chance to take revenge on those who killed Baekah, reasons don’t matter.

I hurriedly checked my dantian, and as expected, I couldn’t feel any internal energy.

Even in this newly acquired body, my martial arts were crippled.

It was disappointing, but I thought it was still better than being dead.

Then, I sensed someone’s presence outside the residence.

“Miss Jeok.”

It was an unfamiliar man’s voice.

“I am Yeomnhoryeong. May I come in?”

‘Yeomnhoryeong?’

According to information I had obtained in the past, it was the name of the second son among the Yeomhwa Family head’s two sons.

‘Fifteen years old, one year younger than Baekah, wasn’t he?’

Since this place was the Yeomhwa Family according to Chung-rin’s memories, it wouldn’t be strange for Yeomnhoryeong to be here.

The door opened with a click.

‘Huh?’

The person who entered the residence wasn’t a fifteen-year-old boy.

He was a man about six feet tall wearing a long robe with a handsome face. Perhaps because of his calm impression, he felt more like a scholar than a warrior.

‘Is that man really Yeomnhoryeong?’

No matter how I looked at him, he appeared to be a grown man in his mid-twenties.

“Are you feeling alright?”

Yeomnhoryeong approached me with a worried expression. His voice was also deep, making it hard to see him as a boy.

When I tried to get up in surprise, he gestured for me to remain seated.

“…You’re not fifteen years old, are you?”

When I asked in a hoarse voice, Yeomnhoryeong sighed as if troubled.

“Did you have some old dream? I’m twenty-five now…”

My eyes widened when I heard his answer.

‘Ten years have passed since I died?!’

It felt like not much time had passed since I lost consciousness, but it meant years had flown by in an instant.

Losing my disciple Baekah and the home I was supposed to return to with my disciple had all become events from ten years ago.

Even I, who rarely got surprised by most things, couldn’t help but be shocked.

It was already inexplicable that I, who should have died, became Chung-rin, but to think so many years had passed.

Yeomnhoryeong sat down beside me as I couldn’t escape from the shock.

“Well, you did fall into the lake and were on the brink of death from that, so I understand your confusion.”

Yeomnhoryeong smiled gently at me.

“Did you perhaps dream of when you first came here? I was fifteen at that time.”

Yeomnhoryeong naturally reached out and grasped my left wrist.

Before I could resist, he rolled up my sleeve.

His fingertips brushed past the skin on the inside of my wrist.

My entire body instinctively felt repulsion at his cold touch. It was bewildering.

I didn’t know this man, but my body was telling me. That this man was troublesome.

He spoke to me in a kind tone, but something felt off.

Then, Yeomnhoryeong’s gaze reached the inside of my wrist. Immediately after, the corners of his eyes curved gently.

“I’m relieved that there seems to be nothing wrong with your body.”

He looked satisfied seeing the red dot on the inside of my wrist. He was clearly checking this body’s chastity.

I felt disgusted.

“Let go of this hand.”

When I swatted his arm away, Yeomnhoryeong obediently released my hand.

“I apologize. I was worried that man might have laid a hand on you. We can’t have any misunderstandings before the wedding day.”

“…That man?”

“The one who saved you from drowning in the lake.”

Suddenly, I recalled the red eyes I had seen in the deep water.

I thought it was something that happened just before I lost consciousness as Chung-rin, but perhaps that was actually the first memory I had after becoming this body.

“No, that person might have put you in danger instead.”

Yeomnhoryeong muttered as if talking to himself, then whispered carefully this time.

“I was worried when you didn’t come that day. I had finished all the preparations…”

My mind went cold at Yeomnhoryeong’s cryptic words.

Though Yeomnhoryeong appeared affectionate on the surface, this body kept sending warnings that I shouldn’t trust this man.

“Young Master.”

I pushed him away. Yeomnhoryeong’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at me.

“I’m sorry, but… I don’t remember. Nothing at all.”

“What… did you say?”

Sangteon-dang Rule 35.

If suspected while infiltrating enemy territory in disguise, feign memory loss.

This was an effective method in practice.

Especially right after an accident, it would be even more effective.

‘If he knows I don’t remember anything, he’ll underestimate me more.’

The more the opponent relaxed and let their guard down, the easier it would be to obtain information.

“…Do you know who I am?”

I lowered my voice while maintaining the most confused expression possible.

“Don’t tell me you can’t even remember that you’re Chung-rin?”

A subtle crack appeared on Yeomnhoryeong’s face, which had seemed gentle all along.

“I understand that’s my name.”

“This is…!”

Yeomnhoryeong sighed as if in despair.

“Miss Chung. You are engaged to my elder brother, but in truth, you and I…”

Yeomnhoryeong’s words couldn’t continue from there.

The maid and physician had entered the bedroom.

❖ ❖ ❖

The physician definitively diagnosed my condition as memory loss due to shock.

This was because I had answered “I don’t know” to every single question.

Unlike injuries or illness, the physician had no choice but to believe my words.

In the end, he prescribed drinking herbal medicine for several days while monitoring my condition.

Yeomnhoryeong left the residence with the physician, saying he would return again.

Darkness had fallen before I knew it, and I lay down on the bed after drinking the medicine the maid had brought.

Finally, I was alone.

Now it was time to organize my thoughts.

I had entered the body of Chung-rin, the prospective bride of the Yeomhwa Family, and the martial world I knew had become the past from 10 years ago.

Moreover, since I was currently a captive, I couldn’t even go search for Baekah’s body.

Still, I couldn’t just sit idle.

I needed information to assess the current situation.

Fortunately, my mind still retained information from my past days working at Sangteon-dang.

‘And there are Sangteon-dang informants within the Yeomhwa Family as well.’

I carefully got up and headed outside the residence when everyone had fallen asleep.

Perhaps because Chung-rin had been quietly confined, there were no guards.

I approached the wall adjacent to the outer wall of the residence.

There was a small pile of stones there.

I carved a coded message on it.

Current situation of Mageyo and Yeomhwa Family needed.

It was when I stood up after leaving a small but clear trace.

I saw an unfamiliar man crossing the threshold of my residence with the dawn light behind him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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