Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10
I drew a slow, deep breath. Darkness might hide one’s expression, but there was no benefit in revealing raw emotion.
Dang Un was surely a martial artist too. Like those of high station, even if he seemed kind, there was no telling when he might change his demeanor. Hadn’t Dang Jung been the same?
I forced a smile onto my face and squeezed out words dripping with courtesy.
“It’s far too generous a gift for me to accept. I’ll treasure your kindness in spirit.”
When I declined indirectly, Dang Un’s eyebrows drooped.
“You’re as stubborn as ever, So Hye. Still, do accept it. It pains me when you reject your brother’s sincerity so thoroughly.”
And what exactly do you think that sincerity means?
I didn’t answer, only stared at Dang Un. The way he was so quick to cast himself in the role of older brother didn’t sit right with me, and he seemed like someone best kept at arm’s length.
The worst sort are always the ones who go around acting like they’re everyone’s friend.
“You refused last time too. Would it really hurt just to try it in your hair? I brought it back from Hubuk.”
……
“So Hye.”
When I made no effort to hide my wariness, he drew the hairpin away again with a sad smile.
“Have I made things difficult for you?”
His plaintive tone stirred an uncomfortable feeling in my chest.
Dang Un’s pale eyes held a sorrowful light. Without a word, I looked away.
The Dang Family members I’d encountered so far had resembled black panthers or hyenas, but this one had the look of a gentle deer. There was no venom in his gaze.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to put you in an awkward position.”
Seeing him apologize when he could tell he’d made me uncomfortable almost made me think he wasn’t such a bad person after all. But……
No. If he had any sense, he wouldn’t be here at this hour. I’d nearly fallen for that face.
I bowed my head slowly.
“Forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. What could you possibly have done wrong? It’s this brother who wasn’t thinking clearly. I should go now. Get some rest.”
“Yes.”
“……That is, So Hye.”
“I’m listening.”
He seemed to want to say something, his lips moving slightly, before he let out a small sigh.
“Never mind. I was about to say something foolish.”
Dang Un murmured this with a bitter smile, taking a step back. His drooping shoulders, like those of a rain-soaked pup, stirred an unwelcome pang of sympathy.
I felt like a cruel person, though I’d done nothing wrong.
I hardened my gaze so as not to be swayed by Dang Un’s face. I’d nearly been bewitched.
“Remember, if ever you face hardship, come to me anytime.”
With those gentle words, he made an elegant gesture and drew back his sleeve. From it, he produced a small pouch.
“Would a small treat be all right? Your brother simply wanted to give you something.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed and accepted the pouch. The atmosphere made it clear that refusing this too would not be advisable.
“Rest well.”
Dang Un smiled faintly and withdrew slowly. He glanced back at me several times, his expression worried.
When our eyes met, he gestured as if urging me inside, and I forced the corners of my mouth upward, nodding repeatedly.
The moment Dang Un’s figure disappeared, Song Ji, who’d been holding her breath by the door, yanked it open.
“Has he gone? What did he say?”
“I don’t know. Why did he come.”
I shrugged and opened the pouch, finding dried meat inside, carefully prepared.
Surely nothing strange was mixed in. Poison, perhaps. Or poison. Somehow, the Dang Family was impossible to trust.
I pressed my nose to the jerky and sniffed deeply, which prompted Song Ji to scold me.
“He cares for you—that’s why. The Jegal Family guests have only just arrived within the past hour. He came to see you the moment he stepped foot in Sungdo.”
The connection between these facts eluded me, and my head tilted in confusion. What did the Jegal Family have to do with anything?
“Why did the Jegal Family guests come with the Young Master?”
“That’s only natural, isn’t it? They’re your mother’s relatives—of course they came together. Are you feeling strange lately? Did you eat some tainted meat?”
Song Ji shot me a look. So Mother was of the Jegal line. That beauty must have come through her side of the family after all.
“I suppose so. With work being so taxing, everything’s become a blur. Sister, I’m tired. Let me sleep quickly.”
I quickly agreed and shoved the jerky into Song Ji’s mouth.
“Mmph. Thash great. Mm-hmm, real good.”
Song Ji, her cheeks full, laughed and gestured for me to go. Seeing how contentedly she chewed, it seemed nothing foul had been added.
I hastily went inside and shut the door firmly.
Whether it was Dang Un or the Jegal Family, I couldn’t bring myself to care—I only wanted to sleep.
* * *
Beginning with the Jegal Family’s late-night arrival, guests who had traveled from afar began trickling in one by one.
Between receiving guests and preparing for the Gathering, everyone rushed about with barely time to catch their breath, yet my own daily life remained peaceful.
Dang Jung had kept me confined to his quarters.
“Your appearance attracts attention. Don’t go wandering about and get yourself tangled up in needless trouble—stay here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve already informed Geun Myeong, so no one will come looking for you.”
That was rather convenient.
I obeyed Dang Jung’s wishes without complaint. Not that I had a choice, but truthfully, I didn’t want to work.
Without a single day off, I’d been assigned every task the other servants dreaded most—day and night, without respite. Surely I deserved to shirk my duties now and then.
It was necessary to maintain the world’s equilibrium by taking these small reprieves.
As Dang Jung prepared to leave, he seemed troubled about leaving me alone and kept offering fresh instructions.
“You understand? No matter who calls for you, don’t leave this place. You can simply practice the Coin Fishing in the garden.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t just answer—I mean it. Don’t step beyond Jeon-gak. The Jegal crowd worry me, with their lack of self-awareness and their arrogant reliance on bloodline. They’re fools, the lot of them.”
Though sir, you’re one of them yourself.
When he didn’t catch my pointed remark, I nodded, and Dang Jung’s grumbling continued.
“They say old habits die hard—these dogs, the moment they see a pretty servant girl, they start loosening their belts. Half of them deserve to be gelded……”
I probably shouldn’t be hearing this.
The crude vocabulary choice made me shift my eyes awkwardly.
That’s when I understood Dang Jung’s real concern. So Hye was beautiful, and he worried the flies would swarm.
Saying it that way makes me sound like a narcissist. But it’s true—So Hye is a beauty.
Her mother, Cho Ryeon, was said to be the finest beauty in Sungdo. So the daughter’s looks need no explanation.
Even in these shabby clothes, she stands out. If she’d been born into a noble house, surely she would have made quite a name for herself.
Perhaps she’d have earned a title like “Most Beautiful in Sichuan.”
Of course, it was idle speculation. In any age, beautiful women court hardship. What good is a servant girl’s beauty? It only makes her fate harsher.
So Dang Jung’s judgment to keep her from attracting notice was sound.
He says he’ll take me as his disciple, and yet he worries over me like this.
While I fiddled about, Dang Jung finished his preparations and offered one final warning.
“I’ll be away for several days for a gathering. If trouble arises, invoke my name without hesitation. If that fails, demand to meet Geun Myeong. He’ll handle it from there.”
“Yes, sir. Safe trav—ah, you’ve gone.”
He’d already left before I could finish my parting words.
Alone in Jeon-gak, I slowly rose to my feet.
I’d wipe down the tea room, eat a light meal, then practice the Coin Fishing. That seemed like a reasonable plan.
Though I wasn’t sure “fishing” was the right word for it.
Perhaps “coin casting” or “coin skipping” would be more honest.
I clicked my tongue and turned a coin over in my hands. The thin ice on the pond had long since melted with the warming weather, yet my Coin Fishing showed no progress whatsoever.
If anything, the carp had grown sharper, trained by my repeated tosses. I couldn’t tell anymore whether I was the one in training or they were.
Ah, forget it. Just one more throw, then I’ll go clean.
No, two.
…Three won’t work either.
I sighed heavily and lobbed the coin into the pond with a soft splash, when someone behind me offered unsolicited advice.
“Fish move in streamlined paths. Throw like that and you’ll miss for a hundred years straight.”
Who are you?
Startled, I turned to see a boy I’d never encountered before.
His elaborate robes, embroidered with clouds in blue silk, marked him as no member of the Dang Family. He must be a guest visiting for the gathering.
I found myself uncertain whether to point out that he’d entered the Sovereign Dang Jung’s quarters unbidden, or bow respectfully as befitted a servant.
The boy strode closer and spoke up.
“Did you hear me? You keep throwing in a straight line. You have to watch the fish’s trajectory and lead it—that’s how you’ll even graze a scale.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Hopeless. This is how you do it. Honestly.”
The boy, tutting with disapproval, suddenly seized my hand.
What is this? Why is he grabbing an unrelated woman’s hand?
I went rigid in surprise, and the boy frowned, tugging at my arm.
“Focus. Watch how I do this.”
Then he pulled my arm through the motion alongside his own.
The coin, guided by his trajectory, grazed the carp’s head lightly and ricocheted away.
Seeing the result, the boy puffed out his chest with pride.
“Told you I was right, didn’t I?”
“Ah, yes.”
You did graze it.
It didn’t look all that different from what I was doing.
My halfhearted reply drew a sullen retort from the boy.
“That’s right.”
“Yes, it is.”
The boy seemed displeased with the answer and raised his voice.
“You listen here. I taught you directly, and this is how you repay me—with such rudeness?”
Rudeness? That’s exactly what I wanted to say to him.
It was rude to seize a lady’s hand on first meeting, and it was equally rude to pry into another family’s internal affairs without regard for propriety.
Right now you’re someone who broke into the private chambers of the Dang Family’s Grand Elder. A criminal, in fact.
I simply looked up at the boy, and at that his face flushed crimson.
“Do you know who I am, looking at me like that?”
To hear such words—”Do you know who I am?”—tumble from the mouth of this snot-nosed child.
I found myself deeply sympathizing with what Dang Jung had said.
Sir. These brats really do seem to be fools who trust only their bloodline and strut about.
I swallowed a sigh and opened my mouth.
“You must be a guest of the Dang Family.”
“I’m Namgung Hui! Young Master of the Namgung!”
In the voice announcing his identity, pride in his house and arrogance demanding proper deference mingled together.
An empty laugh escaped before I could stop it.
……Damn. So you’re Namgung Hui.

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