Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 8
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 8
The head steward — Jeok Sun-chung — closed the door and entered the room.
The man who followed him in spoke up.
“Are you really sure about this?”
Jeok Sun-chung turned around. Hwang San-pung, a man who had devoted himself to the Seo Family Estate for a long time since Shandong, was looking at him with worried eyes.
Jeok Sun-chung let out a bitter laugh.
“You recommended him yourself, and now you’re worried?”
“Still, I was surprised you agreed so easily. Shouldn’t you look into that boy a bit more…?”
“I’ve already looked into everything I needed to.”
“Pardon?”
Jeok Sun-chung said nothing. Hwang San-pung read the unspoken words in his silence. The background investigation was already complete.
‘Seo Dan, was it…?’
The boy Seo Dan’s background was nothing special.
Just a poor boy living in Boluo County with his widowed mother. If there was anything worth adding, it would be that he was a filial child who would do anything for his sick mother.
There was nothing else particularly noteworthy, so Jeok Sun-chung hadn’t paid much attention to Seo Dan.
It was the same when he heard about the incident. He thought it was something a boy had done impulsively, wanting to impress a girl his age.
However, the child he actually met was different.
‘He didn’t cry?’
Of course, there had been maids who served the Young Master who didn’t cry. But children of that age cried nine times out of ten. Especially if they had seen blood, there was no need to say more.
But that strangely calm appearance, as if he was reading the situation…?
“Have you perhaps learned martial arts?”
Jeok Sun-chung found himself asking without realizing it. Even though he thought the boy probably hadn’t learned any, judging by the wound on his neck.
Though the Young Master was physically weak, he had learned the family martial arts from the Master of Seo Family.
So he was well-versed in pressure points and meridians, and this wound was clearly thrown to slightly miss while appearing to aim for a vital spot on the neck.
If it were a supreme master whose martial arts had reached the peak, they might have anticipated even that and remained still, but an ordinary martial artist would have taken action, either dodging or catching the hidden weapon.
‘But this wound…’
It was a wound from taking no action. A wound as if someone who didn’t even know a hidden weapon was coming had been hit directly…
‘He doesn’t seem to be a supreme master though.’
Just in case, he had checked directly, and it was as expected.
That child remained still even when his pulse point, which could be called a martial artist’s vital spot, was grasped.
Even when he sent internal energy into his body to probe, or when he suddenly pushed his body to see if he had learned external arts, he couldn’t sense anything at all.
Jeok Sun-chung had to acknowledge it.
‘…Then he’s truly remarkable.’
If that child was an ordinary person who knew nothing, it was remarkable.
Even adults often panic and lose control when subjected to such a surprise attack, yet though he was startled, he regained his composure in such a short time.
Moreover, didn’t he immediately notice from his questions that he was ‘under suspicion’? His quick thinking wasn’t bad either…
‘Bold, flexible, and quick-witted.’
Wouldn’t he be a suitable talent to serve the Young Master?
In the end, Jeok Sun-chung chose Seo Dan. Since he had done something wrong, he wouldn’t be able to refuse, and since he was said to like money, if they gave him sufficient compensation, that child would also be satisfied.
He was worried whether the Young Master would be alright… Actually, rather than worrying about the Young Master, it was a situation where he should worry about that child’s safety.
Still, since they were boys of the same age, wouldn’t the Young Master treat him more comfortably?
‘The Young Master has been alone for so long.’
Jeok Sun-chung just chuckled, saying that if he could make a friend through this opportunity, nothing would be better than that.
“It’ll be fine. We have to hope so.”
* * *
In just one day, I became Seo Yeon-ri’s servant.
It’s absurd.
‘It’s this easy?’
Actually, I had prepared myself to be beaten and kicked out, just as the Chief Steward had said.
Far from getting acquainted with the Young Miss, the fact that I had intruded on my own had been revealed, so regardless of my past contributions, I thought I would be immediately thrown out of the Seo Family Estate.
“You should serve the Young Miss.”
…I never expected to hear such words.
Moreover, it wasn’t even ‘Would you like to try serving the Young Miss?’ but ‘You should serve the Young Miss.’ Wasn’t that an attitude that the answer was already decided and I just needed to respond?
‘Don’t they have anyone else to do it?’
Hmm… That’s probably the case.
As soon as those words came out, not only the people around but even Lady Ma looked at me with pity…
The reactions around me were varied.
“Ah, you were pretty good at cleaning up dung though. Where am I going to find another person…”
Uncle Hwang was the first to express regret. It seemed he found it wasteful that after teaching me diligently to make me a proper dung carrier, I was suddenly changing jobs.
“No matter how I think about it, I don’t understand! Putting back a kid who almost got cut by a sword? Isn’t that really too much? Can’t you just say you won’t do it?”
A-so was indignant. Perhaps because she was the most shocked person to see me get cut by the sword, she was appalled by the Chief Steward’s decision and burst out in anger. I had to break out in a cold sweat trying to calm A-so down for a while.
And.
“You’re going to serve the Young Miss? I see.”
Mother accepted it.
When I returned home, I told Mother in detail about what had happened that day. Of course, I left out the part about getting cut by the sword. I roughly made up that the bandage around my neck was from falling while running away.
Mother stared intently at the bandage. I broke out in a cold sweat, worried that Mother might lift the bandage to look.
After a moment of silence, Mother said one thing.
“It’s alright, isn’t it?”
I said brightly.
“Of course! It’s nothing serious.”
For a moment, Mother’s face seemed to cloud over. However, Mother quickly changed her expression and said.
“Then that’s good. Dan-a is smart, so you’ll do well serving the Young Miss too. Don’t worry and… Cough, cough!”
I quickly supported Mother.
“Mother, please lie down for now. You haven’t been feeling well lately either.”
“I’m fine, I’m just a little tired. I need to talk more with Dan-a…”
“We can talk anytime. And if you miss me, I’ll stay by your side and keep talking to you. That would be fine, right?”
Mother smiled softly and murmured.
“Our Dan-a shouldn’t have to suffer…”
I just smiled without saying anything.
Mother said I shouldn’t suffer, but I knew. Now wasn’t the time to avoid hardship.
Mother’s illness was getting worse by the day.
Mother’s disease was incurable like Seo Yeon-ri’s. They said they knew neither the cause nor the cure.
They could only prescribe medicine to strengthen her body and watch, but even that was reaching its limits these days.
No matter how many physicians we brought, it was useless. To at least slow the disease, we needed better medicine, but the cost was no small matter.
‘I need money.’
Fortunately, Seo Yeon-ri’s servant position paid twice as much as a dung carrier.
Moreover, if I could gain the trust of Seo Yeon-ri and Master Seo, I might be able to obtain rare medicinal herbs or skilled physicians.
Yes, perhaps this could be an opportunity.
An opportunity to save lives using knowledge from the original story. Not just Seo Yeon-ri’s life, but our mother’s as well…
‘I’m sorry, Mother.’
To do that, now was the time to endure hardship.
I looked at Mother’s sleeping face and stepped outside. The midnight sky was dark, but it wasn’t pitch black thanks to the surrounding stars.
I gazed blankly at the sky and clenched my fist.
‘Yes, I’ll do whatever it takes.’
Even if that path means getting beaten up by Seo Yeon-ri.
Wait for me, Seo Yeon-ri.
I will definitely become close with you!
* * *
[Some month, some day.
I’m so frustrated that I’m starting to write a diary.
Though it’s just scribbling in Korean on the dirt ground. I told Mother I was being treated well, so I have nowhere else to vent.
Anyway, it’s the third day since I started serving the Young Miss.
The Young Miss is completely ignoring me.
At first, I understood.
Yes, I was rude during our first meeting. To make up for it, this time let me politely announce myself and wait until the Young Miss tells me to come in.
The Young Miss is human too, so if I wait all day, wouldn’t she open the door at least once out of pity? I thought.
Well, that didn’t happen.
Whether I waited one hour, two hours, went to warm medicine, went to eat, came back with evening medicine, or waited until sunset, she didn’t answer even once.
That’s when I realized.
Ah, the Young Miss isn’t human!
No, but even so, completely ignoring me for three whole days is a bit too much, isn’t it? Coming this far, I’m starting to feel stubborn.
Right, Seo Yeon-ri.
Let’s see who wins!]
.
.
.
[Some month, some day.
Young Miss, I lost.]
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
![I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Hate In-Law Conflicts [Exclusive Side Story]](https://lunoxscans.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Im-a-Mother-in-Law-but-I-Hate-In-Law-Conflicts-Exclusive-Side-Story-75x106.jpg)
Outaku82
Poor danah 😭💖 hope their intraction develope also thanks again for your hard work lunox team 🙏🏻🫂💚🌿