Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 63

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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 63
Gyeong A clamped her lips shut, too indignant and frustrated to form words properly.
“Why, why…! She said it wasn’t ready yet, didn’t she…?”
“I told you—there’s no one to prepare the porridge because we’re short-handed.”
“But still… Sohye said she would eat it… how could you just…!”
Gyeong A’s face flushed red with protest.
That the kitchen staff ignored Gyeong A was nothing new—it happened all the time.
But this was too much. To neglect an ailing young mistress’s meals like that?
Gyeong A took a breath and tried again, composing herself as best she could.
“Even now, we could… please hurry and prepare something… the young mistress’s health is fragile…”
“Ugh, this is exhausting. What are you going on about? If you’re so unhappy, make it yourself and take it to her!”
“Then… please give me the ingredients! I c-can make it myself…”
“That’s enough. Stop it.”
Just as Gyeong A was about to raise her voice further, someone grabbed her by the neck and pulled her back.
“I’ll make it for her. Come on. You go to Madam Jo’s quarters and tidy up the dishes there for me, will you?”
“Moon… Moon Yeong…!”
Gyeong A’s face brightened at the familiar face. Moon Yeong was the only one in the kitchen who treated her kindly.
“And the rest of you—don’t make trouble for Gyeong A. Don’t you know the Elder of the Medicine House and the Elder of the Poison House are both desperate to please the youngest mistress? Better watch your step, or you’ll regret it later.”
At Moon Yeong’s warning, the kitchen staff flinched and looked away.
Moon Yeong gave the staff a withering glance before turning to Gyeong A.
“So, what should I make? The young mistress isn’t well, you said? Shall I prepare chicken porridge?”
“C-chicken porridge would be… wonderful…”
“Got it. I’ll have the chicken porridge ready, so don’t worry and just go on your way.”
Moon Yeong smiled and patted Gyeong A gently on the back. Gyeong A nodded quietly and slipped out of the kitchen.
Somehow the meal situation had been resolved, but Gyeong A couldn’t shake her sighs.
‘How much longer do I have to keep fighting like this…?’
Nearly three months had passed since Gyeong A had moved quarters with Sohye and taken over responsibility for meals in the Byeoldang.
Yet the household staff still refused to accept Sohye as a direct-line young mistress—she had been a servant until recently.
The kitchen cooks were no different. Whenever Gyeong A wasn’t watching, they would neglect the meal preparations, and days like today they wouldn’t prepare anything at all, deliberately putting her in an awkward position.
Gyeong A swallowed her sigh and made a decision.
‘I mustn’t let the young mistress know.’
She had been suddenly elevated to the direct line, and her entire life had been turned upside down. Between her training from dawn to late night and her studies, she was already exhausted enough. Gyeong A didn’t want to add to her burdens with more troubles.
“What brings you here?”
At the gruff voice, Gyeong A lifted her head and found herself already standing before Madam Three’s quarters. The gatekeeper was staring at her fixedly.
Gyeong A hunched her shoulders and stammered out a reply.
“I… the k-kitchen sent me to… gather the d-dishes…”
“Go on in.”
The gatekeeper merely pointed to the side door without another word. Gyeong A bowed her head and slowly pushed the door open.
She spotted the dishes the servants had arranged in a corner of the quarters. She began carefully transferring them onto a small cart.
It was then that a sharp voice reached her ears.
“Why do you insist on waiting? She has already begun receiving the teachings of the Dok Moon Martial Arts. If we delay any longer, it will be beyond our reach.”
“The time is not right, madam. Public attention is still fixed upon that bastard child. Let us observe a while longer.”
Gyeong A’s heart sank at the ominous exchange.
A bastard child beginning to receive the Dok Moon Martial Arts—it could only be Sohye.
Her fingers trembled, but Gyeong A held her breath, desperate to know who was speaking with Madam Three.
“Do not forget our agreement, Elder. Only when Hwa Yeop becomes the clan head can…”
“I am aware. Stop pestering me. No one desires to remove that child more than I do.”
‘Remove… the young mistress?’
Startled, Gyeong A dropped the dish she was holding. She caught it reflexively, but couldn’t entirely muffle the clink of ceramic.
The man who had been denouncing Jo Buhin noticed the faint sound and snarled.
“A rat has crept in here, has it? Who goes there?”
Gyeong A pretended not to have heard and lowered her body, continuing to load the dishes onto the cart. She couldn’t afford to show her alarm.
In the next instant, the man crossed the distance of hundreds of paces in a single leap and seized Gyeong A roughly by the shoulder.
“You.”
“Y-yes? Did you… did you call me?”
Gyeong A forced herself to appear calm as she turned to face him, though her heart was pounding violently with fear.
The man conspiring with Jo Buhin was Dang Gak, the Elder.
Dang Gak shook Gyeong A’s shoulder with an angry face.
“What were you doing back there? Did you dare listen in?”
Gyeong A answered slowly.
“I’m… I’m so sorry… Elder. I… I can’t… hear well. Could you… speak a little… louder……?”
Only then did Dang Gak’s expression soften.
“Fine. Stop dawdling and get out of here.”
But Jo Buhin showed no intention of backing down easily. She glared at Dang Gak with irritation.
“Is that all? Who knows where she’ll go wagging her tongue.”
“If her ears don’t work well and she stammers like that, who’ll listen to her anyway? What does the girl know? Labor is short enough as it is—just leave her be.”
Dang Gak waved his hand dismissively. Even at his roundabout refusal, Jo Buhin did not relent. She narrowed her long eyes.
“You don’t leave loose ends. If you’re going to spare her life, you should cut out her tongue.”
Jo Buhin spoke coldly.
* * *
After dismissing all the noisy well-wishers, my energy drained away. I sprawled across the bed like a jellyfish, limp and boneless.
“Song Ji. I want to wash up.”
“Just a moment. I’ll clean your face with a wet cloth.”
“Right. By the way, Gyeong A is late.”
“That’s odd. She said she was going to fetch the porridge, but she hasn’t come back at all. Should I go check on her?”
“Would you? Wash your face when you return.”
“Yes, miss.”
After sending Song Ji off, I buried my face in the pillow. It wasn’t as good as yesterday’s porridge, but my body still felt heavy.
At this rate, I would fall asleep before Gyeong A could bring the porridge back.
As my consciousness began to blur in drowsy haze, I heard Song Ji’s voice—urgent, piercing with alarm.
“Miss, miss!”
I jerked my head up in shock and saw Song Ji racing toward me, tears streaming down her face.
“Oh, miss! Something terrible has happened!”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Gyeong A, Gyeong A…!”
“What about Gyeong A?”
I bolted upright from the bed.
* * *
Even after the suffocating, heavy anesthetic incense had cleared, Gyeong A remained unconscious.
Her bloodless face was pale as a wax figure.
I gripped Gyeong A’s hand tightly. Her ice-cold fingers made my chest lurch.
This morning she had fetched fresh water and combed my hair without a care in the world; now she hovered between life and death.
“Miss……”
Song Ji sniffled and wiped her eyes. Tears streamed ceaselessly from her swollen eyes.
Dang Ju Hee glanced sidelong at Song Ji and spoke curtly.
“A severed tongue won’t kill her. There’s no danger to her life, so stop sniveling. The youngest one should go back to the Cheoso. Why is she wandering around while sick?”
“I’d like to stay a while longer.”
I said this while wiping Gyeong A’s sweat with muslin cloth. Watching her suffer without even being able to cry out twisted my chest.
“When will she wake?”
“Tomorrow at the earliest. Or the day after. The anesthetic takes time to wear off.”
I nodded and slowly washed my face with dry hands. None of this felt real.
“What happened? Why did… why Gyeong A?”
“Isn’t it obvious? She overheard something she shouldn’t have.”
“What?”
“Her tongue was cut so she couldn’t tell anyone. I don’t know what she heard, but she was probably taught a lesson beforehand. The youngest one was just unlucky. I’ll need to bring in a new maidservant.”
Dang Ju Hee answered with a shrug.
My mind felt clouded. I couldn’t quite understand what Dang Ju Hee was saying.
Gyeong A was unlucky?
A new maidservant would be brought in?
When I fell silent in confusion, Dang Ju Hee spoke in a soothing tone.
“I understand you’re upset that I touched your property, but let’s forget it happened. The way this was handled smells like something our aunt would do, doesn’t it? Crossing her won’t do you any good—you’ll only lose. You can’t handle her. I’ll give you a new maidservant who’s good at her work, so let’s put this behind us.”
She spoke as though discussing a broken object, not a person.
The hair on my entire body stood on end.
I’d known since she casually tried to feed me poison that Dang Ju Hee was not ordinary. But it hadn’t truly struck me.
I had a tolerance to poison—it was like being punished with anchovy sauce, unpleasant and tasteless but ultimately harmless. So I could dismiss her as simply an odd person and move on.
But now, Dang Ju Hee terrified me in a way that made my skin crawl.
Even when an animal lies bleeding, a human being feels pity. How much more so when it’s a person who’s been hurt.
Isn’t there a compassion that any human should possess, regardless of station?
Dang Ju Hee felt nothing. The way she looked at Gyeong A—it was no different from gazing at a stone rolling across the ground.
Her way of thinking was fundamentally different. To Dang Ju Hee, Gyeong A was not a person.
To him, Gyeong A was nothing but an asset—a servant who could be replaced at any moment, like a worn-out tool.
If I hadn’t been registered as a direct heir, I’d still be serving. Still washing dishes, mending clothes, scrubbing floors.
It could have been me lying there with my tongue severed, not her.
I clapped a hand over my mouth in panic.
“Ungh!”
“Stomach turning? Want some rice porridge? I told you to go back and rest. All you martial artists are the same—think you’re fine as soon as the fever breaks, then you’re flat on your back again. Gives the physician no end of trouble.”
Dang Ju Hee steadied me as she muttered, but her words blurred past my ears.
Sweat or tears—I couldn’t tell which—kept streaming down my face. At the same time, bile rose acrid and bitter in my throat.
I’d been deluding myself that I’d adapted to this world. The truth was I’d never adapted to the Martial World, to the Dang Clan—not at all.
I didn’t belong in this savagery.

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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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