Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 46

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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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Episode 46
A short while later, a thin brush rested in my hand.
I stared at the ink seeping into the brush tip and asked hesitantly.
“Are you really going to make me do this?”
“Of course. I even ground the ink for you. Just draw already.”
Dang Seho raised his voice as if to say, what are you going on about now?
I gazed down at Dang Juyeop’s face. Thin, crooked stubble was sketched across his pale cheeks.
Swallowing a sigh, I dotted the corner of Dang Juyeop’s eye, and Dang Seho, cackling with glee, drew a line at the other.
“Haha, look at that. I drew that well, didn’t I?”
“…Yeah. You did fine.”
Don’t go into art as a career.
I set the brush down and replied. Watching this boy gleam with pride over scribbling on someone else’s face was absurd.
Despite his massive frame, his behavior was unmistakably childish.
Is this guy really fifteen? His mental age seems about five.
With the brush laid aside, I asked flatly.
“Is this really okay? He’s a patient.”
“So what? You said your older brother poisoned you, didn’t you? He’s done wrong too, so he can’t say anything.”
…Did this brat drag me in here just to use me as a shield?
He spoke casually, dipping the brush in ink.
“If anything comes up, just say you did it.”
How’s that supposed to work? Everyone at the Medicine Chamber saw you bring the inkstone and brush.
“That’s enough. When your older brother wakes up, you’re getting scolded.”
Dang Seho’s expression grew stern at my words, and he shot back sharply.
“It’s your older brother, not mine. My birthday comes before yours, remember?”
I don’t even know my own birthday—how would you know it?
I glanced at Dang Seho and asked.
“When’s your birthday?”
“February.”
“What about mine?”
“What? Why are you asking me? It’s got to be later than mine.”
…So he just took a wild guess. What if I was born in January?
“Yes, yes. Older Brother. Your brushwork is truly magnificent. It’s so magnificent that even Zhuge Liang would weep.”
“Yeah. Even Zhuge Liang would… Wait? You’re mocking me!”
Dang Seho, who had been nodding along, belatedly realized I was being sarcastic and pointed accusingly. I muttered under my breath.
“True Dang bloodline.”
Seeing how he was a spitting image of Dang Youngho confirmed they were brothers from the same womb.
The bristling boy set down the brush, crossed his arms, and glared at me.
“Don’t get cocky just because you’ve been admitted. I’m the youngest in this household.”
“But didn’t you ask me to call you older brother?”
“My birthday comes before yours, so I’m your older brother.”
“Then how are you the youngest?”
“I don’t know! Anyway, I’m the youngest!”
Ah, what am I supposed to do with this?
You want to be treated as an older brother but also enjoy the privileges of being the youngest?
I replied with a note of exasperation.
“Are you stupid? Pick one—either be the older brother or be the youngest.”
“What? I’m not stupid! …Wait. I’m thinking about it, so hold on.”
The boy furrowed his brow and began deliberating seriously over which to choose.
I lowered my guard toward Dang Seho.
He seemed a bit dim-witted, and since his thoughts were transparent, he didn’t seem hard to handle.
Even now he’s so fixated on being called older brother that he hasn’t noticed I’m speaking casually to him.
At that moment, Dang Juyeop’s body trembled like someone caught in a nightmare. He seemed to be coming to.
“Oh, he’s moving. Dang Ju—! Mgh!”
As I tried to call for the Medicine Chamber attendant, Dang Seho clamped his hand over my mouth.
“Not yet. I haven’t drawn the eyebrows.”
“Mgh-mgh.”
Fine, but let go. It stinks. Absolutely rank.
When I narrowed my eyes fiercely, Dang Seho flinched and quickly withdrew his hand. I scrubbed at my lips vigorously.
Ugh, blech. I got ink in my mouth.
Dang Seho watched my expression, set down the brush, and spoke as if granting me a favor.
“Decided. You’re the youngest. I’ll be your older brother.”
“Good. Older brother.”
It’s not like words wear out anyway—might as well call me that.
The boy’s shoulders straightened with pride at hearing himself called older brother, clearly pleased with the arrangement.
I let a sly smile slip through.
“So if I’m the younger one, shouldn’t I get something?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, Ju Hui was always giving the youngest all sorts of clothes. This outfit came from her too.”
“If Ju Hui gave it to you, that should be enough. What am I supposed to give you?”
“Of course you are. You’re the older brother. Older brothers are supposed to look after their younger siblings.”
“Uh… what?”
Dang Seho’s expression clouded with hesitation as he took my nonsense at face value.
I bit back a laugh and waited for his reaction. Easy enough to handle, this one.
After a long moment of deliberation, he retrieved a small jar and glanced at me nervously.
“Um… would you like this?”
“What is it?”
“My Scorpion. It’s really precious to me. I’ve raised it for four years.”
…Why on earth would he give me that?
“No. I don’t need it. You keep it.”
“Don’t ‘you’ me! You’re supposed to call me older brother!”
“Yes, yes. Older brother raises plenty of scorpions himself.”
I grimaced and stepped away from Dang Seho.
* * *
The days rolled forward the same whether Dang Jung was present or not.
Mornings I trained with Dang Geunmyeong in his stead, and afternoons I studied Classical Studies with Dang Un.
The difference was that I had to go to Dang Un’s Residence myself. There was no one like Grandfather to carry Dang Un out for me.
Dang Un’s Residence sat in a secluded corner deep within the Inner City.
The Great Lady had built this pavilion personally so he could convalesce in peace, and it had the warm, sheltered air of a forest villa because of it.
I passed through the gate, which was surrounded by thick woods, opened the door, and found a small pavilion. An old Guqin rested on top of it.
Standing before the door, I called out softly.
“Ahem, older brother. Are you in?”
“…….”
“Older brother? Are you not here?”
“He appears to be sleeping, Miss.”
Deok Ju, sensing the atmosphere inside the building, whispered low. I whispered back.
“Older brother must be tired. Let’s not wake him. We’ll just go back today.”
“That won’t do, Miss. If the Mistress finds out, we’ll be scolded.”
Damn. That didn’t work.
His tone was so firm—sharp enough to draw no blood even from a needle’s prick—that I clicked my tongue in frustration.
He was always a friend who knew nothing of flexibility.
“Older brother, I’m coming in.”
I carefully opened the door and found Dang Un asleep in a chair by the window.
His brown hair, streaked here and there with silver, caught the sunlight and gleamed.
A book lay open across his lap, suggesting he’d fallen asleep while reading.
Seeing him sleep so soundly, I felt reluctant to wake him for my Classical Studies. Wouldn’t it be all right to let him rest a bit longer?
This was entirely because I was worried about his health. Absolutely not because I had no desire to study.
Having rationalized the situation, I rose onto the balls of my feet and crept inside.
The neatly arranged reception room felt devoid of any lived-in warmth.
Most of the shelves were empty, with only delicate Orchids placed here and there, one by one.
With so little in the way of possessions, the space felt like a carefully staged model home.
The moment I reached out and lightly touched one of the Orchids on the shelf, a soft voice reached my ears.
“Dendrobium, they call it. The roots are good steeped as a tea for coughs, so I started keeping one, and before I knew it, flowers had bloomed. Do you like it? Shall I give you one?”
Oh, you startled me. I nearly bit my tongue.
I turned around and waved my hand awkwardly.
“You’re awake?”
“Why didn’t you wake me when you arrived?”
“I thought you might be tired. Ha, ha. Older brother, your residence is incredibly clean. How do you keep it so neat?”
At that, Dang Un’s eyes widened in laughter.
“What use would worldly desires be to someone who will depart? I have no wish to burden others needlessly, so I keep things as they are.”
Hearing his answer, I wanted to bite my own tongue for the thoughtless words that had tumbled out.
Which is to say he’d arranged everything in advance, not knowing when death might come.
I pressed my lips together and stared at the ceiling. Every time Dang Un carried himself like a man who’d already accepted his death, I never knew what expression I should wear.
He was a man who’d accepted his death, after all. But still. Even so.
Unlike my stammering, Dang Un seemed entirely untroubled.
“You needn’t worry. Come sit over here. Shall I have some tea brought? I sent word for ice today—I noticed So Hye has taken a liking to cold tea.”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
Rising slowly, Dang Un soon returned with a cup of tea bobbing with ice and two cups of warm tea.
“Here. Have a cup yourself, Deok Ju.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Even Deok Ju, who would normally have demurred, seemed to find it difficult to refuse Dang Un’s kindness and accepted the cup with quiet courtesy.
As I glanced around nervously and dropped ice into my mouth, Dang Un, sitting across from me with a smile, widened his eyes and spoke.
“Today we’ll be reading Shen Nong’s Materia Medica.”
“Shen Nong’s Materia Medica?”
A title like that made it sound as though it would be crammed full of every medicinal herb imaginable.
Noticing my reluctant expression and hearing the tone in my voice, Dang Un laughed and asked.
“My, do you dislike it so much?”
“Of course I dislike—well, no, not that! It’s just there’s so much to memorize.”
At my feeble excuse, Dang Un nodded and swept his hair back.
“I understand. When I was your age, So Hye, I despised studying just as much. But what’s to be done? We are the heirs of Shen Nong’s spirit—shouldn’t we inherit his knowledge as well?”
“Who was Shen Nong?”
“Shen Nong was the god of medicine—a great physician who tasted all manner of plants himself, distinguishing herbs from poisons and teaching the people which was which.”
……So that’s where we inherited it from. The Dang Clan’s peculiar spirit of gorging on poison at every opportunity clearly traces back to Shen Nong, all in the name of learning its properties.
Seeing my obvious distaste, Dang Un’s shoulders drooped and his expression turned forlorn.
“Of course I don’t mean to force you. Grandfather will grow furious and ask what use I’ve been, unable to even oversee my youngest sister’s Classical Studies, but I cannot make you study something you dislike.”
“No, I didn’t say I wouldn’t….”
“Grandfather’s anger may crush me and I may cough blood again, but what’s to be done? It’s all the fault of your elder brother’s inadequacy…. Cough, cough! Ack!”
Dang Un coughed pointedly, pressing a handkerchief to his mouth. I understood. I understood already.
“Fine, fine! Older brother. I’ll memorize it. I’ll memorize it, won’t I?”
“Our So Hye is such a good heart.”
Dang Un smiled faintly and tucked away the handkerchief. The pristine cloth bore not a single drop of blood.
…….
I swallowed a hollow laugh and opened the book.
Dang Un had completely mastered the art of handling me.

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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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