Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 2

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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 2
Despite my gloomy mood, the sky hung cloudless and brilliant. I lowered my gaze from that endless blue and moved forward. Work awaited, cheerless or not.
Exiting the pavilion and turning left past the willows, the Laundry Grounds should be… but they weren’t.
I couldn’t find them.
Panic rising, I retraced my steps. If I went back to where I started and moved carefully forward, I ought to be able to find it…
…but I couldn’t. Where was I?
I stood paralyzed at a three-way fork, spinning slowly to take in my surroundings. I’d clearly lost my way.
If there were anyone about, I could have stopped them and asked. But the area lay empty.
Left? Right? Or back again? As I wrestled with the choice, I set the Laundry Basket down on the ground. It was dreadfully heavy.
My legs ached from so much walking. Since I’d come this far already, sitting down to catch my breath seemed the wisest course.
The moment I let out a resigned sigh and settled onto the ground, someone spoke to me.
“Where are you headed?”
I jumped at the voice and turned around. A child stood there wearing a Green Robe of elegant cut.
Perhaps thirteen or fourteen years old. That complexion—as luminous as jade—bore the unmistakable air of noble birth. Hair gathered and bound tightly with silk cord gleamed with an almost liquid luster, while his large eyes held a curious, dusky-blue hue.
His young face was smooth as porcelain, not a whisker’s shadow to be seen. His voice, too, was crystalline—I could tell at once that Secondary Sexual Characteristics had yet to arrive. His height was nearly level with my own, hovering around one hundred fifty centimeters.
Dazed by the child’s beauty, I jolted upright and bowed deeply.
Though I knew little of Dang Manor’s customs, any youth wearing a Green Robe at that age had to be of considerable standing. It meant he’d been recognized as a Martial Artist of the household—not someone to address carelessly.
As I bowed, ornate embroidery stitched in golden thread caught my eye. He might even be of the Direct Lineage. I answered with every measure of courtesy I could muster, careful not to offend.
“I was heading to do laundry, but I’ve lost my way.”
“Seems your head is rather empty, then.”
Excuse me?
My composure cracked visibly; I bit my lip and bowed deeper still.
Appraising someone’s intellect outright and without ceremony—what sort of upbringing taught that?
Judging by his manner of speech, the Dang household’s domestic education had failed spectacularly.
“A-ha-ha. I’m still clumsy at my duties, Young Master.”
“…Young Master?”
The child’s brow furrowed. Displeasure tinged his voice, and I swallowed hard, searching for the right response.
Had I used the wrong title? Should it be “Young Lord”? “Little Lord”? Or simply “Master”? As I fumbled and my eyes darted about, he sighed and waved his hand dismissively.
“Never mind. A girl who can’t find her way hardly knows who I am. Come along.”
With that, he walked ahead. His bearing made plain he had no desire to exchange words with someone he’d deemed foolish.
That strange manner of speech, coupled with his willingness to dismiss me as dim-witted, confirmed his high standing.
The child moved with unsettling speed. Each step he took seemed to carry him ten paces forward, leaving me far behind in an instant.
I huffed and puffed, scrambling to keep up. Clearly, even youth didn’t diminish a Martial Artist’s abilities.
Hearing my ragged breathing, he glanced back, clicked his tongue, and slowed to match my pace, walking deliberately unhurried beside me.
His manner was brusque, but he showed me the way and adjusted his stride for my sake—he wasn’t entirely heartless, it seemed.
“Here we are.”
After walking for some time, the child pointed to a side gate. Beyond it, I glimpsed the familiar contours of the Laundry Grounds. I bowed gratefully.
“Thank you, Young Master.”
“You ought to learn the paths more quickly. Clumsy as you are, you won’t even manage to earn your rice and broth.”
His reproof carried an undertone of amusement. With a slight laugh, he turned as if to leave, then looked back at me once more.
“What is your name?”
I opened my mouth to answer, and my mind went blank.
Wait. What was my name?
Only then did it strike me—I didn’t know my own name. Though I’d been here four days now, no one had ever called me by it. In all that time, no one had spoken my name aloud.
When I failed to answer, the child’s eyes narrowed. Cold sweat broke across my back. This was the first real danger since I’d arrived in this body.
“It is… not a name worthy of a noble person to remember.”
The evasion made his eyebrows rise. Yet he seemed uninterested in pressing further; he merely clicked his tongue lightly.
“Fine. Off with you.”
Before he could change his mind, I bolted toward the Laundry Grounds. My heart hammered—would he think me suspicious?
I am a law-abiding citizen of the Republic of Korea. Or rather—a law-abiding servant here.
Glancing back over my shoulder, the child still stood at the gate. His gaze, fixed on me, held something inscrutable.
I pretended not to notice and fished the clothes from the ash-water soak, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up. That persistent stare weighed on me.
When I finally did raise my head, I was alone. I gazed uneasily toward the gate where he’d stood. An odd, uneasy feeling lingered.
* * *
I made it back to Guan Ga Won just before the Hour of the Horse began. Song Ji spotted me and gestured urgently.
“Come here, quickly.”
I took my place beside Song Ji and wiped the sweat from my brow.
More than a hundred servants had already gathered in the courtyard before Guan Ga Won.
I’d expected a large estate to keep many hands, but I was still taken aback by the sheer numbers.
I wondered how much money it took to feed, clothe, house, and pay wages to so many people.
“Ahem. Ahem!”
Someone cleared their throat. In that instant, the chatter that had filled the air fell silent.
A middle-aged man dressed in a green robe was walking toward them from a distance.
His hair was neatly arranged beneath a formal headpiece, and his beard was streaked with grey; his eyes were sharp and penetrating. He had the bearing of someone exacting—surely, this must be the Chief Steward.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes, Chief Steward.”
A middle-aged woman in a plain green robe—unmarked, but impeccably tailored—stepped forward to answer. Her dress was different from that of the other attendants, whose garments were muted in hue with green sashes at the waist. Song Ji whispered beside me.
“That’s Madam Jin. When that other woman left for her family home, Madam Jin rose to oversee all the attendants. I envy her. Will a day come when I can wear the green robe too?”
“Ah.”
So she was the one who managed the attendants. The Chief Steward’s gaze swept across the assembled group before he spoke, his words measured and deliberate.
“You all understand that the Five Great Houses Gathering is approaching soon. See that there is nothing lacking in how we receive our guests.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Five Great Houses Gathering? The Five Great Houses that I’d only heard spoken of—they were gathering here?
I turned my full attention to the Chief Steward’s words.
“There must be no fault to find. The honor of the Dae Sa Cheon Dang Sect hangs in the balance. Have the quilting in the Guest Hall bedding remade with fresh filling, and examine carefully for any worn furniture. Furthermore……”
To put it simply, he was impressing upon us that the reputation of Dang Manor itself depended on this reception, and we were to prepare with absolute thoroughness.
The Chief Steward repeated himself roughly six times over before issuing some instruction to Madam Jin and departing.
“Did you all hear? Move quickly now! I won’t tolerate anyone dawdling.”
As Madam Jin spoke with newfound authority, her voice rising, the assembled group scattered like leaves before the wind. Glancing nervously about, I followed Song Ji out of Guan Ga Won.
The prospect of meeting people from the Five Great Houses—those I’d only read about—stirred a small excitement in me.
The Five Great Houses had different rosters depending on which novel you read. Which families would arrive?
The Namgung Family would certainly come, and the Jegal Family? The Moyong Family was said to have many beauties—I wanted to see them with my own eyes. Would the remaining seat go to the Pearl Family? Or the Habuk Peng Family?
“Sister, where are the Five Great Houses from?”
“Our Dae Sa Cheon Dang Family, the Namgung Family, the Habuk Peng Family, the Moyong Family, and the Jegal Family.”
So this was how it was in this world. It was the most reasonable combination, at least. I nodded and asked again.
“Do the Five Great Houses Gatherings happen often?”
“Once a year. They rotate hosting duties every year, so the Dang Sect only receives guests once every five years. Wait—you’ve lived your whole life in the Dang Sect. How do you not know this?”
Song Ji, who had been answering me patiently, suddenly bristled with irritation. But I could have forgotten, couldn’t I?
The moment I pouted, Song Ji grabbed my cheek and pulled it.
“Ow, ow, ow!”
“So Hye, listen. If you can’t control your expressions like that, you’re in serious trouble. One slip of your face in front of the First or Third Young Master and you’re finished—finished. You’ll be sent to the other world.”
“I understand.”
Once Song Ji released my cheek, she drew a finger across her own neck in a cutting gesture.
I rubbed my tingling cheek as I answered. I couldn’t quite tell if she was being considerate or harsh.
Now that I thought about it, she’d just called me So Hye. So my name here was So Hye, then.
As I stood there in a daze, chewing over this unfamiliar name, Song Ji tugged at my arm.
“What are you doing? Aren’t we going to eat lunch?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Cheeks still puffed out, I followed Song Ji away.
* * *
Though preparations for receiving guests began in earnest, my own routine remained unchanged. I was assigned to laundry, after all. The day before yesterday, yesterday, and today—I washed the green robes with the same steady rhythm.
Mountains are mountains, and water is water. If anyone ever achieved enlightenment by beating clothes with a washboard, it would be me.
With the blissful expression of one touched by the heavens, I beat the washboard; beside me sat a small Young Master, chewing on grass blades.
“Young Master, sir. A person of your standing shouldn’t keep coming to a place like this.”
“There’s nowhere in Dang Manor I cannot go.”
The child let out a derisive snort at my words.
Yes, yes, of course, sir. That’s the problem with these well-bred young masters—they think the whole world belongs to them.
Since I’d shown him the way a few days ago, he’d returned to the Laundry Grounds every day to pass the time. It seemed he’d taken a liking to watching me work.
The fact that he sought out ‘So Hye’ specifically, someone close to his own age, suggested he was lonely with no friends to play with. At middle school age, he should still want to be with his peers.
“Are you all right?”
“No, sir. This is hard work.”
“You seem fine to me.”
“I’m telling you it’s hard.”
After beating the washboard for over an hour, how could I possibly be fine? My grumbling drew a bright grin from the boy.
“Do you know what you’re washing?”
“The green robes worn by the martial artists of Dang Manor, sir.”
“That’s right. What do you think is stained on the robe?”
“I’m not sure. Ginger soup residue? Dried rice starch?”
“No. What’s under your hands right now is refined poison made from oleander extract. Ordinary people fall into critical condition just by inhaling a small amount of powder.”
“Pardon?”
Why are you telling me this now! I jumped to my feet and hurled the laundry to the ground.

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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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