Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 67

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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 67
This was my first time alone with Dang Muhyeok.
We’d glimpsed each other at family meals now and then, but we’d never exchanged words.
He treated me as if I didn’t exist—what choice did I have?
Whenever our eyes met, he looked at me like I was garbage. What could I possibly say to such a man?
So when he summoned me alone, I felt nothing but dread. What on earth did he want?
As I arrived at the Family Head’s Office, the guard shouted inward.
“Head of the Family. The youngest miss has arrived.”
“Let her in.”
At the reply, the guard opened the door. I climbed the steps slowly.
When I entered the study, Dang Muhyeok sat buried under his usual mountain of documents. I bowed respectfully.
“You called for me, Head of the Family.”
He didn’t even lift his head at my greeting, launching straight into what he’d summoned me for.
“Prepare for marriage.”
“…I’m sorry?”
A sharp edge crept into my voice, but he paid no attention whatsoever. He spoke with mechanical indifference, saying only what he needed to say.
“A man betrothed to you will arrive at the Dang Clan soon. We’ll need to receive the marriage proposal document, so hold your coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow.”
At this announcement—no request, no inquiry into my wishes—curses rose unbidden to my lips.
I know I’m an illegitimate child he doesn’t even acknowledge, but selling me off like this? Should I be grateful he’s telling me now instead of just shipping me off?
When I didn’t answer, Dang Muhyeok looked up with visible irritation, and our eyes met. His brow furrowed as he spoke coldly.
“Don’t botch this.”
“I—”
“I’ve fed and clothed you all these years. Now make yourself useful. This conversation is over. Get out.”
Before I could respond, he cut me off and buried his nose back in the documents. The message was clear: leave.
I swallowed the obscenities that had gathered on my tongue and turned away.
I needed to talk to Grandfather first.
* * *
Dang Jung wore the expression of someone who’d seen this coming.
“As long as you bear the Dang name, a political marriage is unavoidable. That’s the kind of family we are. If it must happen, choose a man you can manage—someone docile.”
“Is there no option to refuse?”
“You are the Head’s daughter, aren’t you? If you were only the Elder’s daughter, I might have stopped it. But for me to block your marriage would exceed my authority.”
I quite like that overstepping. Very much indeed.
Though my mouth had turned bitter, I understood Grandfather’s position.
I now knew that moving the Council of Elders to register me into the family records had been a violation of his own principles.
The authority Dang Jung wielded within the clan surpassed even that of the Head.
He was an elder so far removed from us by age, and such a renowned master in the martial world that no one dared stand against him.
He occupied precisely the sort of position that could throw the Dang Clan’s entire power structure into chaos.
For that reason, Dang Jung refrained from interfering in clan matters unless the family’s survival was at stake.
I couldn’t move him for my own selfish reasons.
I hesitated, gauging Grandfather’s mood.
“Still, there’s order to these things. Shouldn’t Sister Juhui and Sister Chohui go first?”
“Both of them are already betrothed. Your turn is next.”
…They are?
I quickly abandoned my plan to cling to my older sisters’ skirts and plead my case.
In its place, hope bloomed.
That meant I could be betrothed without actually marrying—I could delay. With luck, the engagement might even be broken off!
“Enough. If you knew what it took to have a betrothal dissolved, you wouldn’t entertain such ideas.”
Dang Jung read my thoughts like a spirit and wagged his finger at me. I felt a flicker of curiosity.
“What would I have to do to break it off?”
“Do you have it in you to act more unhinged than Juhui?”
“…No.”
“Then resign yourself.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
So Dang Juhui didn’t have her betrothal dissolved either. This won’t work.
Dang Jung crossed his arms and continued.
“Still, the Head is watching me. He says he’ll give you the choice. There are apparently several candidates—go and meet them. You should see the man’s face before deciding.”
So he’s telling me to go on a formal meeting. And I actually get to choose my husband’s face?
I’d never been on a formal meeting in my entire working life, and here I was at sixteen. My life was a complete mess.
Seeing my expression darken, Dang Jung spoke in a soothing tone.
“If the man who’ll be your husband doesn’t suit you, Grandfather will bring different candidates. Don’t worry—choose carefully.”
Grandfather, would you please stop discussing my future husband as if you were picking out potatoes at the market?
“I’ve heard the Family Head has the third son of the Yujusanghoe in mind. I don’t think it’s a bad choice. If he’s the sort who sits hunched over a desk scribbling away, at least he’ll lack the strength to be troublesome. Martial arts men are rough—difficult to manage.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. When martial arts men come in as live-in sons-in-law, they tend to develop an inferiority complex, convinced they’re men too. Living in their wife’s family home makes them feel like servants, and their pride takes a blow.”
Servitude—wasn’t that exactly what it was?
I found myself thinking of the sickly, pallid husband of the Independent King’s Consort.
Grandmother On Jung’s husband—I couldn’t even remember his name—never had a moment when ink wasn’t drying on his fingertips. He had to copy down her experimental notes every single day.
Small wonder he kept running away to Seongdo.
As I smacked my lips, Dang Jung tapped the floor with the tip of his finger.
“Sohye, I’ve never seen you accept a man with such a temperament. Bring in someone docile. If he’s a merchant’s son from the trading house, he won’t dare treat you carelessly, will he? And if he gets out of line, you can just beat some sense into him.”
Don’t say such barbarous things with that calm expression. I have no intention of becoming a wife who beats her husband.
“The age is perfect too. Didn’t you say you preferred someone older? Four years your senior—that’s suitable.”
“You remembered that?”
Yes, I’d said it. But that was just another way of saying you had no interest in some little slip of a girl.
It seemed Dang Jung was quite taken with the conditions of my prospective suitor.
“Very well. I’ll agree to meet him.”
“Good. I’ll tell the Family Head.”
And so my first formal meeting was decided.
* * *
My first suitor was a man named Gu Gyeongcheon of the Gu Family.
He was the third son of the Yujusanghoe, which had recently expanded its operations in Seongdo, but since the family’s reputation was only newly established, there was little gossip circulating about him.
Even Hwa Hong didn’t know much, which suggested he wasn’t the type who frequented pleasure houses or tea rooms.
Instead, his eldest brother was said to have remarkable talent for commerce.
Many believed that if the eldest’s gift for money-making proved as exceptional as rumored, he would inherit the trading house and expand it into a proper merchant guild within a few years.
There was talk that the Baekpoong Sangdan, the merchant company of Mrs. Jin’s family, would soon cease its dominance over Sichuan.
So that’s why the man was laying groundwork in advance.
Looking at it plainly, even if his character was worthless, his instinct for profit and loss was second to none in all the land.
The portrait of Gu Gyeongcheon that the Gu Family sent was neat and pleasant enough.
Of course, whether reality matched was another matter. I’d heard there was a brisk trade in forged portraits.
Unlike the Gu Family, who had taken great care in rendering the groom’s likeness, I had not submitted a portrait of my own.
Grandfather had forbidden it, saying what did it matter if my face displeased them—why go to the trouble?
“Spare yourself the bother. All you’ll do is invite gossip.”
When Dang Jung gave an order, the painter the steward brought had to leave without even grinding his ink.
Between preparing for the coming-of-age ceremony and arranging this meeting, I was utterly consumed with the frantic preparations for the betrothal.
As the day of Gu Gyeongcheon’s visit to the Dang Clan drew near, Song Ji spent the entire day absorbed in choosing clothes.
“Miss, which appeals to you more? The pale sky-blue silk looks elegant, and the crimson silk is so radiant it might even help you seize the initiative.”
Song Ji, who seizes the initiative at a first meeting?
I laughed and waved my hand dismissively.
“Can’t I just throw something on?”
“You absolutely cannot, Miss. You’re meeting a man who might become your husband for the first time—you can’t possibly go in plain dress!”
I was half-hoping they’d take one look and reject me outright.
Reject? How I wish they would.
As I scratched my head and clicked my tongue, Song Ji’s face fell. I turned away, pretending not to notice.
“I’m going to embroider. Eat with Gyeong.”
“Miss, at least try one on first—”
“Later.”
I fled into the adjoining room, where Mrs. Jin rose from her seat.
“You’ve arrived, Miss.”
“Good day, Mrs. Jin.”
Lately she had been coming to the Byeoldang to teach me embroidery—apparently, the bride’s own handiwork had to be part of the dowry.
Of course, I had no talent for embroidery whatsoever.
“Miss, what exactly is this lump supposed to be?”
“A peony.”
“…And this wild creature?”
“A phoenix.”
From all those times stitching through someone else’s skin, my needlework was meticulous—but my embroidered designs were pure nonsense.
Watching Mrs. Jin’s face fall, I ventured carefully: “Do I really have to embroider it myself? Can’t I just purchase embroidered cloth from a specialist?”
“Even so, it’s part of the dowry—the minimum courtesy demands… Yes. That would be best. I’ll commission an embroiderer.”
Mrs. Jin pressed her forehead and nodded. It was clear she couldn’t even begin to salvage my embroidery in the short time remaining.

“So that’s the end of it?”
“Yes, Miss. Once the embroidery is finished, I’ll call on you.”
“Thank you so much.”
After seeing Mrs. Jin out, I collapsed onto the table and let out a long, heavy sigh.
Bride lessons—as if such a thing were written in my fate. I would have preferred to be training instead. I found myself longing for those days stretched out in Dang Un’s quarters, lost in books.
As I recalled that summer when Dang Un and I shared peaches together, I suddenly realized it had been a long time since I’d seen him.
It wasn’t unusual for him to shut himself away when his health was poor, but this time the absence had stretched on.
“Deok Ju, have you seen Brother lately?”
“No, Miss. Shall I go check if he’s in his quarters?”
“No. Let’s go now.”
A strange unease crept over me.
Nearly ten days without a glimpse of him—perhaps he couldn’t move about freely. I worried the cold weather might have brought a sudden decline in his health.
The weather had turned foul. As we stepped outside, snow swirled down from the darkening sky.
It had been snowing for some time; the whole world lay blanketed white. Along the path to Dang Un’s quarters, Deok Ju’s footprints and mine dotted the snow in measured intervals.
I carefully opened the door to his pavilion.
Dang Un stood holding an oiled paper umbrella. Snow had accumulated thickly on it, as though he’d been standing outside for quite some time.
I crept closer, meaning to startle him, when he let out a soft, breathy laugh.
“Sohye, is that you?”
“How did you know?”
“I can tell by your footsteps. When you walk, you tread as lightly as a cat—soft, delicate steps. You’ll need more practice if you want to truly mask the sound.”
He turned slowly to face me.
“Grandfather says the same thing. I suppose I need to practice my Stepping Technique more.”
I hurried toward him with a small complaint, then caught my breath.
His graceful gestures, his gentle smile—all were as they always were, and yet something was different.
His transparent eyes held no focus.

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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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