Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 28

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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 28
Sewage water rushed into my nose and mouth, tasting like garbage itself.
My entire body reeked of filth, my clothes clung damply to my skin, and my water-logged shoes squelched unpleasantly with every step.
I swept back my dripping hair, bits of refuse tumbling free, and clenched my teeth.
My reflection in the puddle looked like a drowned rat fished from a gutter.
I barely choked back a stream of curses before spitting and glaring at Sim Yang.
“What exactly are you doing?”
Not that I needed to ask. There was no harassment more crude and primitive than dumping sewage water on someone.
What I couldn’t understand was why she’d turned on me when I’d done nothing to provoke her.
I had no recent memory of clashing with Sim Yang’s group. We barely crossed paths at all.
“They say a meek cat climbs the stove first, and old wisdom doesn’t lie. You plotted this from the start, didn’t you?”
Sim Yang’s sharp cry pierced my ears painfully. I fought to keep hold of my composure.
Hold on. Don’t start trouble now. They say patience three times over can even spare a murderer from death…….
No, wait. But she threw the first punch—wouldn’t grabbing her by the hair be considered provoked self-defense?
Before I could finish weighing my options, Sim Yang didn’t give my patience time to gather itself.
The mad girl planted her fists on her hips and hurled curses at me.
“Not only do you fawn over this young lady, now you’ve seduced even the young lord of House Namgung himself? What kind of fox scheme did you pull in broad daylight to make him change his clothes? Say it yourself, you shameless wretch!”
“What?”
“You think I haven’t seen maids who relied only on their faces and walked out as corpses? You’re no different. Who do you think you are?”
Tail? Seduced? She didn’t even know the facts and was already spouting nonsense about corpses. Was she insane?
Faced with senseless ranting, harsh words spilled out of me unbidden.
“What are you even saying? You look like leftover dog scraps.”
“Wh-what, leftover……dog scraps? Are you finished?”
“Not yet. Where did you learn this idiot’s trick of calling random passersby and dumping sewage water on them? Did you lose your mind?”
“You, you……! Don’t you dare speak to your elders that way!”
“How do you expect refined words to come out when you’re covered in filthy water? Want me to pour some on you too?”
Sim Yang’s face showed alarm. As she glanced backward, her followers crept into view and circled me threateningly.
“Honestly. Did you hear how she talks? Orphans always show their true nature.”
“Right. No parents means no education, so no manners either.”
What did they know? The Household Head they served was my father.
I shot back with biting sarcasm.
“How wonderful are your parents that they only taught you to speak ill of others’ parents to their face? I’d love to meet these superior parents of yours.”
“Wh-what……!”
Unable to find words, Sim Yang stepped forward and shouted.
“How disrespectful! You’re the one with no manners. Who was it that sneaked into an opportunity that comes once every five years? Today’s banquet service should have gone to A Sae, not you.”
“That’s right. It was my turn! It was supposed to be mine, but you butted in……!”
One of the girls standing behind Sim Yang huffed indignantly, as if wronged.
Now I understood why I’d been doused with sewage. It had nothing to do with me—it was over who served at the banquet.
These girls really had no sense of proportion. Did they truly believe that serving guests at a banquet would make them concubines of some young lord from a Noble House? The absurdity was so complete I couldn’t even laugh.
I fixed A Sae with a hard stare and opened my mouth.
“Then you go.”
“What?”
“If you want to serve all day standing beside some young lords, go in yourself. Why dump sewage on someone over it? Do slaves really compete over whose collar shines brighter? I……. No. It’s pointless talking to block-heads. I’m just wasting my breath.”
“Who are you calling a slave? I earn wages for honest work! This is really……!”
A Sae stormed forward, arms raised, and swung at my face with a stubby hand.
Before thought could catch up, my body moved on instinct. I deflected A Sae’s hand reflexively.
Crack!
“Ahhh! My hand!”
And then A Sae’s wrist snapped clean off like a stick of pocky.
……Why did it break like that?
“Wahhh, Mother!”
A Sae grabbed her dangling wrist and crumpled to the ground wailing. The startled maids rushed to help her up.
“A Sae, are you all right?”
“How could you lay hands on A Sae? Her bone is broken!”
“Is that girl insane? A Sae, can you stand?”
The maids shrieked accusations at me.
She was the one who tried to hit me first. I’d only blocked her.
Even as indignation flared at being painted as the villain, watching A Sae’s wrist hang limp filled me with a flicker of guilt. A very small one. Mouse-sized.
My strength seemed to have grown stronger. Did the Coin Throwing Training actually work?
I awkwardly hid my hands behind my back, and Sim Yang raised her voice even louder.
“What are you doing? You’re an orphan of unknown birth, you don’t appreciate the Dang Household’s kindness in taking you in, and you dare raise your hand against one of their people? How could you—!”
“How could I?”
“That’s right! How could you possibly—!”
I let out a scoff and cut Sim Yang off.
“Look. I’m too exasperated to even listen to this. You—what exactly are you?”
“Wh-what?”
“I’m asking what you are. You’re not the Household Head’s daughter, and you and I are both just maids. You have no standing to invoke the household’s kindness.”
“That’s—my mother is part of the Dang Household, so—”
“You’re not. You didn’t even take the Dang name. Why do you keep pretending to be a branch family? That’s fraud. That’s deception.”
If anyone here has the right to speak of the Dang Household’s kindness, it’s me alone. I’m the Household Head’s daughter, however illegitimate.
I crossed my arms and fixed Sim Yang with a stare. She swallowed hard at my cool tone. I was nothing like my usual docile self, and it unsettled her.
I could practically hear the gears turning in her head from here. She was weighing whether to back off now or press her advantage while she had it.
When Sim Yang, the ringleader, fell silent, Polecat stepped in and pointed an accusing finger instead.
“You’ve really lost your mind, haven’t you?”
“Haven’t you? Want me to give you a firsthand lesson in what it’s like to be covered in sewage water and still have your wits about you?”
I kicked the bucket that had held the sewage water. Polecat jumped back with a yelp, retreating a step.
That pathetic show of cowardice only made my anger burn hotter. These insignificant creatures had been huddling together and tormenting a single gentle child. That’s what it amounted to.
Sensing that my mood had turned genuinely dangerous, some of the frightened maids lowered their voices and tried to pull Sim Yang away.
“Sim Yang? Let’s just go. She looks crazy.”
“Yeah. Sim Yang. There’s nothing to gain from tangling with someone like her.”
Despite her companions’ protests, Sim Yang showed no sign of backing down. She seemed determined to crush me while she had the chance.
Composing her expression, Sim Yang spoke with cool arrogance.
“If you keep this up, it’ll stop being fun. Next time, maybe it’ll be Song Ji who gets a bucket of sewage poured over her. Wouldn’t that be entertaining?”
The clumsy threat sent a chill through my mind.
There it was again—Song Ji, Song Ji, always Song Ji. They really can’t threaten anyone without dragging her into it, can they?
We may have grown close, but let’s be honest: Song Ji is just a roommate I’ve known for a couple of months. Whatever she was before, that’s what she is to me now.
If something happened to her, I’d regret it. But that didn’t mean I had to swallow unreasonable demands and grovel every time they dangled her over my head.
I bared my teeth and raised my voice.
“Try it. I’ll shove your face into that filth first.”
If I could, I’d do it right now.
The maids exchanged nervous glances at my sharp response.
“Sim Yang. Don’t do this. We need to get A Sae’s wrist treated.”
“Yeah, let’s just chalk this up to stepping in dung. We should leave.”
Several maids even tugged at Sim Yang’s sleeve, urging her to go. But Sim Yang remained motionless.
Pressing her lips together, she drew a Short Sword from her robe and pointed it at me.
“Sim Yang!”
“What are you doing!”
The startled maids shrieked and shuffled backward hesitantly.
“I’m not done with you.”
“Then what are you going to do about it?”
“If I scar that pretty face, you won’t be so full of yourself anymore!”
Sim Yang’s hand trembled as she gripped the blade. Her stance was clumsy—she’d never properly held a Short Sword before.
She’s genuinely lost it.
I fixed her with a stare, trying to look unaffected, but my heart hammered against my ribs.
Had I pushed too hard? I hadn’t realized she was so far gone that she’d actually draw a blade over it.
But I couldn’t back down now.
Across all times and places, there’s only one way to beat a madwoman.
Act even madder than she is.
I feigned composure and stepped closer to Sim Yang.
“Go ahead. Cut.”
“Wh—what?”
“Whether it’s my face or my throat, cut away. What’s wrong? Scared?”
I drew the blade toward my neck. Terrified, Sim Yang’s teeth began to chatter.
“S-Sim Yang! Stop! This has gone too far!”
“Don’t do it!”
The watching maids stamped their feet in agitation, but Sim Yang didn’t retreat.
“I—I, if I’m told to cut, I m-might actually do it?”
Sim Yang cried out sharply and swung her arm. The blade grazed my skin, and a sharp sting bloomed across the wound.
“B-blood—!”
“Ahhhhh!”
It was I who’d been cut, yet the foolish maids shrieked as though blood were pouring everywhere. Even Sim Yang trembled at the sight of what she’d done.
I let out a soft laugh and asked her.
“Tell me—can you handle the consequences?”
“What, what?”
“I’m asking if you can handle what comes after stabbing me. By anyone’s measure, you’ve just laid hands on someone from the Dang Household. How exactly do you plan to explain that to the Gwan Ga Won?”
“If… if you put it that way, it seems I shouldn’t have touched you at all?”
“Right. You shouldn’t have.”
My calm response sent colour flooding and draining from Sim Yang’s face in turns. Her lips quivered; she bit down hard and screamed in desperation.
“Die! Just die already!”
In that instant, someone seized Sim Yang’s wrist with swift certainty.
“What is this commotion?”
I lifted my head slowly. Dang Geun Myeong stood there, his brow deeply furrowed.

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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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