Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 5

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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 5

After that, Mother tried to treat me even better.

As if she had shouldered some kind of duty, as if she couldn’t bear it otherwise. She acted as if nothing was wrong while desperately trying to do more for me.

“Dan-a, you’re back? Are you feeling alright? I’m worried since your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

“Lady Po butchered a chicken today and shared some with us. I was waiting to eat it together with Dan-a. Come sit down quickly.”

“Do you remember these marks? I used to mark them every time Dan-a grew taller. You used to sing about wanting to be taller than Mother… Should we mark it once more while we’re at it?”

Receiving Mother’s endless affection, I felt embarrassed and burdened. It was worse because I knew that affection wasn’t meant for me.

But I tried hard to hide it, knowing Mother would be hurt if I showed it. And sometimes I found myself wondering.

‘Where did the real Seo Dan go?’

It wasn’t like in novels where I could feel another soul inside me, nor did I feel like my body had changed.

It was just that sometimes I had such thoughts about this body that moved as naturally as my own.

‘Perhaps, the real Seo Dan is already…’

“Dan-a? Was it very difficult? You don’t look well… Is there somewhere that hurts? Your head isn’t aching again, is it?”

I quickly came to my senses and smiled.

“No. It’s just, the work was a bit tiring. I had to move around busily from this morning.”

“I see. Do you want to lie down if you’re tired?”

“I’m fine! But Mother, do you know what I bought today? Ta-da, it’s meat! Uncle Hwang gave me some money today. He told me to buy something delicious to eat with Mother…”

That night I spent a pleasant time eating meat with Mother for the first time in a while.

And the next day.

“Mother, I’ll be going now—”

“Dan-a, wait a moment.”

I paused as I was about to step outside. Unlike usual, Mother was approaching me holding something.

“Try this on.”

I looked at what Mother held out to me. It was a neatly folded set of clothes.

“Your current clothes are too worn out. I made new clothes in my spare time and finally finished them last night…”

“Ah…”

So that’s why she’d been sleeping late recently.

I scratched my head awkwardly.

“Hey, they’ll just get dirty while cleaning the latrine anyway. There’s no need to wear new clothes…”

“Child. No matter what work you do, you should always dress neatly so you won’t be disliked. Is there some law saying people who clean latrines can’t dress cleanly?”

“Well…”

“Hurry up and put them on.”

Unable to resist Mother’s insistence, I returned to the room. Only when I quickly changed clothes and stood up did Mother smile softly with satisfaction.

“They suit you so well, why didn’t you want to wear them? Does the fit feel right? I made them a bit loose thinking Dan-a would grow, but I’m not sure if it’s okay.”

“It’s fine, it’s comfortable!”

“Really? That’s a relief. Then…”

Mother took a step closer to me. Then she pulled me into a tight embrace and said.

“Come home safely today too, my dear child.”

I held my breath as I was embraced in Mother’s warm arms. I closed my eyes tightly as I heard the sound of Mother’s beating heart by my ear.

Somehow, my chest ached a little.

Now that I think about it, let me tell you a little about my past life…

I had no family.

To be precise, I had one but they disappeared. My parents divorced when I was very young.

In the end, Father got custody, but that wasn’t because he wanted me either. It was because Mother, who had an affair, had already started a new family and declared she absolutely couldn’t take me with her.

Father eventually left me with my paternal grandmother.

At first, Father came to see me for a while. As a young child, I was happy even with Father’s rare visits. I pestered Grandmother every day, asking ‘When is Daddy coming again?’

But one day, Father stopped coming.

I only saw Father again after Grandmother passed away.

“Dad’s getting remarried.”

Father, who didn’t even show up at the funeral hall, appeared when it was time to settle Grandmother’s estate. After taking the house deed, which wasn’t worth much anyway, Father suddenly announced this to me.

I stared intently at Father’s face, which I was seeing after so long. Father had a face that was even more unfamiliar than the one in my imagination.

“You can take care of yourself, right? I’m going to rent this place out, so I’d like you to move out quickly.”

“…”

“I hope we don’t have any more business after this.”

Somehow, I felt something welling up in my throat.

But I didn’t know why I was feeling this way, or what this emotion was. So I suppressed my feelings and just smiled vaguely.

“Yes.”

I never met any family after that.

I used to think about visiting Mother, but I stopped after that day. Somehow, I had a feeling that even if I went to see Mother, the same thing would just repeat itself.

Only then could I understand the true nature of the emotion I had felt. The feeling I had when I heard Father’s words wasn’t anger, disappointment, sadness, or resignation.

I think it was loneliness…

“Dan-a?”

But that’s all in the past now.

Now I have a family too. Even if it’s someone else’s family.

That’s why I wanted to be even better to her. So that I could become her precious person too, filling the role of the daughter she loved. So that even though I’m not her real daughter, I could become true family…

“Mm-hmm, it’s nothing.”

I smiled brightly.

“I’m happy because I’m wearing new clothes. I’ll take good care of them.”

“You don’t need to save them for special occasions. When clothes wear out, Mother can just make you new ones. Actually, I want to make you a skirt, but I can’t…”

“Hey, what I have now is great. You can make me a skirt when I’m older, right? Right?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Mother and I smiled at each other. Then, noticing the sky gradually brightening, we prepared to part ways again.

“I’ll be going now. Mother, please don’t overwork yourself and make sure to take care of your health, okay?”

“This child, when did you become such a worrier?”

“Just in case. Well then, I’ll really be going now.”

I finally stepped outside. Suddenly, I turned back toward Mother and shouted loudly.

“Mother, thank you for the clothes!”

I could see Mother’s smiling figure from afar.

That image remained in my memory for quite a long time.

* * *

As soon as I arrived at the Seo Family Estate, the first thing I did was look for a place to change clothes.

Mother had told me to wear them cleanly wherever I went, but that was impossible. Given the nature of my work, it was inevitable that my clothes would get dirty.

‘I need to wear them sparingly.’

These were clothes Mother had gone to the trouble of making for me, so it would be too wasteful to dirty them right away.

As I was looking around for a suitable place like that.

“Huuung…!”

I turned my head at the sudden sound of crying.

Looking closely, I could see a small figure in the back over there. More precisely, it was a girl crouched and sitting behind the corner of a building.

‘What’s this?’

The girl, who looked obviously young, was wearing the clothes that servant girls at the Seo Family Estate wore, and with her chubby cheeks that hadn’t lost their baby fat and her bun hairstyle, she had quite a cute appearance.

But perhaps because she had been crying so much, her eyes were red and swollen, which naturally made me feel sorry for her. I found myself speaking without thinking.

“Is something wrong?”

At my call, the servant girl looked up. Then, spotting me, she opened her rabbit-like eyes wide.

“Dung boy?”

Dung boy.

Shit kid. It was the title used to address me, the kid who cleaned up shit in this place.

“That’s right, why are you crying like that?”

I nodded and showed her a good-natured smile. But at my smile, the girl’s face soured even more.

“What’s it to you? You smell, so don’t talk to me!”

What kind of ill-mannered kid is this?

But actually, that kind of reaction was pretty typical. More precisely, it wasn’t my problem but because of the occupation called ‘Dung Carrier.’

Due to the nature of the job, the smell was no ordinary matter, so most people were reluctant to come near me.

‘Still, being ignored like this really doesn’t feel good.’

I clicked my tongue and said.

“Ah, yes… Then please continue crying there. I’ll be going to work now, so whether you stay there or not…”

“Wait!”

As I was about to turn around without any lingering attachment, the girl urgently called out to stop me. When I glanced back, the girl hesitated and said quietly.

“…If, if you sit far away, it’s okay.”

“What? I can’t hear you very well?”

“I’m… fine…”

“Ugh, I can’t even get close because you might smell like poop… What am I supposed to do… Can you say it louder?”

“Just go away!”

And so I came to hear her story.

The girl’s name was A-so.

She was a maid who did menial tasks like laundry and cleaning.

A-so was on her way back from doing laundry as usual when suddenly a group of maids called out to her. Then they told A-so to take this medicine and go somewhere immediately.

“Where to?”

“So-nang Garden.”

“Gasp.”

I unconsciously covered my mouth.

Where was So-nang Garden again?

It was where the precious daughter of the Seo Family and the only villainess in 【King of the Heavenly Pillar】, Seo Yeon-ri, resided.

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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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