Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 49

 

The Seo Family Estate was turned upside down.

 

The bride had vanished without a trace the day before the wedding.

 

The Previous Master flew into a rage.

 

He cursed with every foul word imaginable, saying that ungrateful brat didn’t know the grace of being raised, that he should never have had her in the first place, and screamed for them to bring Seo Yeong-yeong back immediately.

 

Seo Cheong-ja was simply stunned.

 

‘Why on earth? Why would that child…?’

 

The Seo Yeong-yeong that Seo Cheong-ja knew was a delicate child.

 

When it was hot, she would complain about the heat, and when it was cold, she would complain about the cold. She especially hated pain, so it was routine for her to run to Seo Cheong-ja and whine whenever she got even slightly hurt.

 

That’s why Seo Cheong-ja thought Seo Yeong-yeong wouldn’t last long outside. That she would return soon.

 

He was completely wrong.

 

One day passed, two days passed, a month passed, and even after half a year.

 

Seo Yeong-yeong did not return.

 

They couldn’t even hear a single piece of news about Seo Yeong-yeong. No matter how many people they sent out, they couldn’t find even a trace of her clothing, and she had vanished as if she had never existed in this world.

 

Only then did Seo Cheong-ja feel regret.

 

‘I should have understood that child’s heart. If I had done something, if I hadn’t turned away…’

 

But the deed was already done, and all Seo Cheong-ja could do was send out more people to search for Seo Yeong-yeong.

 

However, even that soon became difficult.

 

Because misfortunes struck the household one after another.

 

The first misfortune to strike was the death of the Former Master Couple. They had been invited to a banquet by an Allied Family in Sichuan, and on their way there, a landslide occurred and they met their end.

 

For two people who had disliked each other so much to die together at the same moment, Seo Cheong-ja thought it was a strange twist of fate and was deeply grieved.

 

The second misfortune befell Seo Cheong-ja himself.

 

He lost his wife and child all at once.

 

At the time, Seo Cheong-ja had one wife, and that too was an arranged marriage with a young lady chosen by the Previous Master.

 

Since it wasn’t a marriage born of love, the two lived together rather distantly. But they respected each other appropriately and maintained propriety, so their relationship wasn’t bad, and eventually his wife became pregnant.

 

Seo Cheong-ja was happy for the first time in a long while. But that joy didn’t last long either.

 

“I can only save one person.”

 

Seo Cheong-ja’s wife had fallen ill.

 

If they used strong medicine to treat his wife’s illness, the child’s life would be in danger, and if they immediately delivered the child, Seo Cheong-ja’s wife could die. Seo Cheong-ja was faced with a choice.

 

Save the child, or save the wife?

 

Coincidentally, it wasn’t he who made the choice.

 

“Please save the child.”

 

Seo Cheong-ja’s wife had earnestly pleaded with him.

 

His wife, who had barely opened her eyes, must have heard the situation from the Physician and brought up the topic to Seo Cheong-ja first. Seo Cheong-ja, who hadn’t decided anything yet, didn’t know what to do.

 

“But my lady…”

 

“I know my own body well. I won’t be able to hold on much longer. In that case, the child… please save the child.”

 

“…”

 

“If the child dies like this too, even if I live, it won’t be living. Please, so that I can close my eyes peacefully even in the Afterlife, please…”

 

Seo Cheong-ja had never seen his wife plead so earnestly before.

 

His wife had a naturally gentle disposition and always prioritized Seo Cheong-ja’s words, following them without complaint. But now that same wife was looking at him with clear, determined eyes.

 

So there was only one thing Seo Cheong-ja could say.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

However, that choice was also not a good one.

 

Because the child they barely managed to bring out didn’t live long either.

 

Seo Cheong-ja held his cold wife and child and wept for a long time. Only after burying his wife and child was Seo Cheong-ja forced to look back on his life.

 

‘I was wrong.’

 

He didn’t know where it had started going wrong.

 

Should he have saved his wife? Should he have stopped his parents from going to the banquet? Or perhaps even before that…

 

‘Young-a.’

 

Should he have protected Seo Yeong-yeong?

 

The beginning of all his mistakes went back to the night before Seo Yeong-yeong left. When he thought everything was going well, he had turned away from his younger sister. He had turned away from his own cowardice.

 

But even if he could go back to the past, would he have been able to make a different choice? Seo Cheong-ja shook his head while shedding tears.

 

‘Young-a, your elder brother is such a pathetic person.’

 

Perhaps it was only natural that no one remained around him.

 

Seo Cheong-ja spent every night drinking. While he was wandering in a deep swamp, endlessly chewing over his regrets.

 

“Master!”

 

Chief Steward Jeok came in bringing someone with him. Behind him was a face that was both familiar and strange.

 

Seo Cheong-ja’s hands trembled.

 

It was Seo Yeong-yeong.

 

Seo Yeong-yeong had returned after three years.

 

* * *

 

Seo Yeong-yeong, whom he met after three years, looked unfamiliar.

 

Her face, completely stripped of baby fat, had become sharp. Her face, which had matured considerably from hardships outside, even carried a gloomy atmosphere.

 

Seo Cheong-ja looked at Seo Yeong-yeong as if she were a stranger.

 

Then he soon shed tears.

 

His younger sister had changed so much that she felt unfamiliar, and because it all seemed to be his fault, Seo Cheong-ja apologized endlessly.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

 

Seo Yeong-yeong just quietly watched such a Seo Cheong-ja.

 

Seo Cheong-ja seated Seo Yeong-yeong and asked her various things. But Seo Yeong-yeong didn’t answer properly. Rather, as if she had something troubling her, she lowered her eyes, then finally opened her mouth.

 

“Elder Brother, I…”

 

The words she uttered were like a bolt from the blue.

 

“I’m pregnant.”

 

Seo Cheong-ja opened his mouth in a daze.

 

All sorts of thoughts tangled in his head at once. Pregnant? What had happened outside? When did she get married? Then where was her husband? Why had she come alone?

 

His face flushed red, Seo Cheong-ja tried to say something. But he soon closed his mouth.

 

Seo Yeong-yeong was crying.

 

Just like that day before Seo Yeong-yeong left. Seeing Seo Yeong-yeong bow her head and cry quietly, looking more tormented than anyone else, Seo Cheong-ja could say no more.

 

He could only manage these few words.

 

“…Leave it to me.”

 

Seo Cheong-ja built a small house at the far end of the manor.

 

He had Seo Yeong-yeong stay there and especially ordered the surrounding servants to keep their mouths shut. He made up a story that his returned sister had fallen ill.

 

At first, the relationship between the siblings was awkward.

 

But even that gradually improved. Seo Yeong-yeong was grateful to her elder brother who had accepted her, and Seo Cheong-ja tried his best to treat her well, feeling as sorry as he did toward Seo Yeong-yeong.

 

Soon the siblings became harmonious again, and they were able to laugh together and even share old stories. Seo Cheong-ja seemed to have found happiness again.

 

‘I wish we could continue living like this.’

 

But perhaps he had wished for something too great.

 

Despair came to Seo Cheong-ja once again.

 

“Elder Brother, the child…”

 

He had to hear those nightmare-like words again.

 

“Please save the child.”

 

Seo Yeong-yeong’s body had become much weaker than before.

 

In the past, she used to run around the manor grounds quite well or go out to play here and there, but now she would quickly become short of breath even from a brief walk.

 

Her condition became even worse as childbirth approached.

 

No matter how renowned a physician they called, they couldn’t determine the cause. They only said that at this rate, the mother’s life would be in danger, and they couldn’t guarantee she could safely give birth to the child.

 

Seo Cheong-ja was startled to hear this. And from that day on, he began persuading Seo Yeong-yeong to ‘give up the child.’

 

However, Seo Yeong-yeong refused to the end.

 

“…I’m sorry, Elder Brother.”

 

Even as childbirth approached, even when she finally had to lie in bed unable to get up, Seo Yeong-yeong’s thoughts remained unchanged.

 

In the end, Seo Cheong-ja broke down.

 

“This can’t, this can’t happen. I can’t lose you like this. How did we meet, we’ve only just been able to live together, how can I…”

 

“Elder Brother…”

 

Seo Yeong-yeong quietly looked at the tearful Seo Cheong-ja. Then she struggled to sit up and took Seo Cheong-ja’s hand.

 

“Elder Brother, I have something to tell you.”

 

“Yes, tell me. Anything, anything at all…”

 

“I, actually… I resented you, Elder Brother.”

 

Seo Cheong-ja flinched. Seo Yeong-yeong pretended not to notice and continued speaking gently.

 

“You pretended not to know me back then. Actually, that was more shocking than what Father forced on me. Because to me, you were my real parent, Elder Brother. It felt like being abandoned by a parent…”

 

“…I’m sorry. I, I’m truly sorry…”

 

“I didn’t say this to receive an apology. It’s just…”

 

“…”

 

“I really resented you then, but as time passed, I think I understood. You must have been scared too, Elder Brother. Like me, afraid of disappointing our parents…”

 

Seo Yeong-yeong continued with a faint smile.

 

“So please don’t feel sorry anymore. I, I no longer resent you, Elder Brother.”

 

“Young-a…”

 

“Now I’m only grateful. You raised me like your own child when our parents turned away, loved me, and helped me when I was in trouble. It must have been really… difficult.”

 

“No, what’s difficult about it. Lean on me as much as you want, alright? Your elder brother will do anything for you.”

 

“Really? Then Elder Brother….”

 

Seo Yeong-yeong’s voice became earnest.

 

“Please… take good care of my child.”

 

“….”

 

“Just as you did for me, please do for my child what you would have done for me.”

 

“….”

 

“Please show that child the wide world. How much the world sparkles, how many things there are to love in this world…. So they can see and feel it directly, please tell them in my place.”

 

“….”

 

“And if my child becomes happy because of that….”

 

Seo Cheong-ja suddenly looked at Seo Yeong-yeong. Seo Yeong-yeong’s eyes were filled with warm light.

 

“I too will be truly happy.”

 

Seo Cheong-ja could not continue speaking.

 

The girl who had possessed the most innocent eyes in the world had somehow changed. She already had eyes that had grown deep from loving someone so much.

 

Seo Cheong-ja recognized those eyes. The same eyes that he and his wife had once possessed.

 

They were the eyes of a ‘parent.’

 

How could he not answer before those eyes?

 

“…Yes.”

 

“….”

 

“I will do so. I promise, I will do so.”

 

Seo Yeong-yeong smiled joyfully.

 

That was the last sight of Seo Yeong-yeong that Seo Cheong-ja ever saw.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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