I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 34
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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 34
Ornate red flowers were embroidered over Wicheonso’s black robe.
He seemed to enjoy wearing flashy clothes at other times too, but today especially, he appeared to have deliberately chosen an outfit that could captivate anyone he encountered.
“I greet the Third Young Master.”
As I hurriedly bowed my head in greeting, the maids also bowed their heads.
“I am Chung-rin. I heard that you helped me before. I offer my thanks.”
Since this was the first time we were officially meeting after I fell into the lake, I opened with this.
“Think nothing of it.”
“But why are you here, Young Master?”
“I came to rest briefly at the Yeon family’s guest house. While looking around, I saw a familiar figure from behind and approached, and it was indeed Miss Chung, as I thought.”
Wicheonso shamelessly lied.
The fact that he had come from the beginning intending to make contact with me, using the Evergreen Magnolia as an excuse, was something both he and I knew.
“How is your health?”
“Thanks to you, I’m fine.”
As I continued conversing with Wicheonso, I felt a gaze from not far away. It was eyes watching me.
“Then I shall take my leave now.”
I bowed my head and stepped back. It was an action meant to convey that further conversation would be difficult with so many watching eyes.
But then Wicheonso strode toward the Evergreen Magnolia and grasped one of its black branches. At its tip, delicate flowers that looked like purple snow clusters bloomed beautifully.
“There’s a rumor in Cheonsan. They say that if you hang a sachet with a person’s name written on it from a branch of the Evergreen Magnolia, good fortune will come.”
“I didn’t know the Third Young Master believed in such rumors.”
Wicheonso smiled silently.
“I’ll hang this to celebrate Miss Chung’s wedding.”
He reached out and hung a red sachet on the tip of the Evergreen Magnolia branch. My surname was written on it.
“What’s inside it?”
“Just ordinary dried flower petals. Would you like to see?”
When I showed interest, Wicheonso pulled the branch toward me.
I pretended to touch the sachet while examining its contents.
There was a small medicine bottle inside.
Wicheonso had brought the antidote as promised.
I quickly slipped it into my hand.
“Some poisons can also become medicine. I hope this wedding will be like that for Miss Chung.”
It meant that the poison he had given me could become medicine when combined with the antidote.
“I will keep those words in mind.”
While pretending to bow in greeting, I carefully tucked the medicine bottle into my sleeve.
Just as I was about to withdraw again, Wicheonso gazed at the Evergreen Magnolia flowers and muttered to himself.
“This place may become chaotic for a while, but don’t be too distressed. The wedding will definitely be held somewhere.”
Though his tone was dry, the meaning he conveyed was clear.
The wedding ceremony would be held somewhere other than the Yeomhwa Family estate.
This also meant that Wicheonso had received the Leader’s permission for marriage with me.
“Then I’ll see you at the wedding ceremony.”
“I hope Young Master also achieves what he desires.”
His cold gaze briefly touched me before growing distant again.
He was the first to leave.
‘I thought he would ask me about the whereabouts of the Bloodstone Flower…’
He asked nothing at all.
Perhaps he was confident he could find it without my telling him, or he believed he would meet me again – it had to be one of the two.
It was when I returned to my residence with these questions in mind.
“Where have you been going in that condition?”
An agitated voice.
It was Yeonhopyeong, his eyes bloodshot red.
He was also the owner of the gaze that had been watching me all along.
“A bride before her wedding shouldn’t go around meeting just anyone. No matter what the family says, there are many watching eyes.”
As if he had seen everything between Wicheonso and me, Yeonhopyeong twisted up the corner of his mouth.
Whether it was because he had killed his younger brother Yeon Ho-ryeong last night, or because Wicheonso, whom he considered an enemy, was nearby, I couldn’t tell, but he was highly agitated.
“I told you not to worry about me until the wedding. I’m tired and need to rest.”
When I replied with a cold look, Yeonhopyeong’s brow furrowed fiercely.
“You…”
Yeonhopyeong started to raise his hand, but seeing the maids stick close to my side, he soon gave up.
He must have feared word getting back to Yeonjo through the maids.
“Just wait until after the wedding. From then on, if you so much as glance at another man, I’ll punish you according to family law.”
Showing off his power in front of a woman who couldn’t even use martial arts. What a pathetic man.
From the way he was even snorting heavily, it seemed he was burning inside because he couldn’t do anything to me right now.
‘I thought he’d be anxious about the Bloodstone Flower being discovered, but there’s no sign of that at all.’
Had he hidden it somewhere absolutely impossible to find?
“Yeonhopyeong.”
When I called out to stop him, a gaze mixed with irritation, displeasure, and subtle anticipation fixed on me.
“I just thought of something I’m curious about… you’re naturally weaker than the Third Young Master, aren’t you?”
The moment he heard those words, Yeonhopyeong’s head tilted with a creak.
Wicheonso was the Leader’s disciple.
Though the Yeomhwa Family’s Fire Demon Arts were explosive in power, they couldn’t compare to the Heavenly Moon Arts that the Leader had taught Wicheonso.
So I had assumed Wicheonso’s martial prowess would be superior.
Still, seeing Yeonhopyeong’s face contort, it seemed the inner inferiority complex he had long harbored had surfaced.
“Naturally?”
Along with suffocating killing intent, heat radiated from him.
The dark red energy flow spreading around Yeonhopyeong was clearly visible to my eyes.
It was the energy of the Bloodstone Flower.
It was certain that his Fire Demon Arts had risen a level thanks to taking part of the Bloodstone Flower.
The energy absorbed from the Bloodstone Flower had merged with his Fire Demon Arts.
The next moment, a chilling smile appeared on his face, which I had expected to contort.
“That’s something you can’t know until you actually compete.”
As expected, my judgment wasn’t wrong.
Yeonhopyeong was confident that Wicheonso would absolutely never find the Bloodstone Flower.
He left the residence without even saying goodbye to me.
As Yeonhopyeong’s figure disappeared, the maids breathed sighs of relief.
‘Where could he have hidden the Bloodstone Flower…’
Perhaps he had smuggled it out of the Yeomhwa Family estate and moved it elsewhere.
‘Will Wicheonso be able to find it?’
At that moment, the information about Wicheonso I had received from my eleventh brother came to mind.
The martial arts Wicheonso had learned from the Leader weren’t just the publicly known Heavenly Moon Arts.
I had heard he had mastered the Phantom Demon Arts, which disturbed opponents’ minds.
[The Phantom Demon Arts are powerful demonic arts that induce hallucinations in opponents, but they have the drawback that the practitioner must continuously see blood while using them.]
I had heard that Wicheonso’s ability to find apostates was possible because of these Phantom Demon Arts. So perhaps he could easily find the Bloodstone Flower too.
That evening, after having a comfortable meal for once, I bathed with Sawol’s help.
During this time, Sawol carefully examined my body, worried that some injury might have remained.
“I’m so relieved that Miss wasn’t hurt by yesterday’s incident.”
Sawol patted her chest with a relieved expression.
“Would the Family Head scold you if I got hurt?”
“He didn’t say that exactly, but… I’m just scared. If I make a mistake, my family could get hurt too.”
Sawol answered quietly while watching my expression.
“So you have family.”
“I have my father and four younger siblings.”
Sawol said her mother had passed away early and only her farming father remained. But the harvests were poor, so her siblings often went hungry.
“If I hadn’t worked here, my family might have starved to death. That’s why I have to do my job well.”
Sawol had apparently grown comfortable with me and opened up about her inner thoughts.
Yeonjo had sent Sawol to monitor me, and Sawol had probably taken on this task for her family’s sake.
So Sawol’s behavior wasn’t born from loyalty to the Yeomhwa Family, but from fear that she might be cast out if she made a mistake.
‘The way to earn Sawol’s loyalty is clear.’
If I help her family live safely, her heart will lean toward me.
The problem was that I couldn’t move freely, so I couldn’t help Sawol’s family right away.
I concluded I’d have to borrow Chung-rin’s power and put on my nightclothes.
“I’m going to sleep now, so both of you go back.”
“Yes, Miss. If anything happens, even at dawn, please call for us. Please!”
Sawol earnestly entreated me and returned to the maids’ quarters with Okxiang.
Today I planned to quietly practice my breathing exercises while using the antidote I’d received from Wicheonso.
The poison Wicheonso had given me helped me absorb the Bloodstone Flower’s energy, but I couldn’t know what variables it might cause later. So it was right to remove it as quickly as possible.
I sat on the bed with only one lamp lit and took out the hidden bottle of antidote.
‘Do I just drink this as is?’
Just as I was about to open the medicine bottle’s cap.
Tap tap.
I heard the sound of someone knocking on my bedroom window.
Someone had come looking for me.
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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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