The Heavenly Demon Cult’s Strongest Maid - Chapter 74

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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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Chapter 74

The situation was unfolding far too urgently in just one day.

Cheon-yeong, who had received Tak Joong-hak’s orders, ran at the fastest speed he could manage and knocked on the door of Yeong-eun Hall.

The problem was that the person who should naturally be there was absent.

“You’re saying the First Miss is not in?”

Unable to believe it, Cheon-yeong asked again, which was unlike him.

“Yes, warrior. The First Miss left for her family home early this morning.”

Sook could see the urgency in his expression. Just as she was about to shrink back from feeling self-conscious, Cheon-yeong asked again.

“Excuse me, but aren’t you the First Miss’s bodyguard?”

A question flashed in Cheon-yeong’s eyes as he looked at Seo-ryeon standing behind Sook.

He couldn’t understand why the bodyguard remained when the master had gone out.

“Ah, well, she went out alone before I arrived. She said she’d return soon, so I’m waiting. We might have missed each other on the way.”

Since he was from the Hyeon-ma Tak Clan, Seo-ryeon answered with her own kind of courtesy.

“I see.”

Cheon-yeong hesitated for a moment before leaving a request.

“When the First Miss returns, could you please come to the Tak Mansion together?”

“To the Tak Mansion?”

“Yes. The First Miss’s grandmother is at the Tak Mansion.”

Lady Seolha’s grandmother is at the Tak Mansion?

It was difficult to understand at first glance.

However, since it involved the Tak Family, Seo-ryeon nodded and said she understood.

She didn’t know what was happening, but it didn’t feel ordinary.

“Then I’ll trust you and return.”

“Seo-ryeon, what could this be about?”

As soon as Cheon-yeong left, Sook looked up at Seo-ryeon with anxious eyes.

“It’s probably nothing. Don’t worry.”

In reality, Seo-ryeon also felt extremely uneasy, but she couldn’t show that to Sook.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have hurried this morning.’

Though it wasn’t her fault, Seo-ryeon felt regretful.

Most of all, the look in the eyes of the Tak Family warrior who had just visited was unsettling and bothered her greatly.

“Sigh.”

It wasn’t easy to gauge how much time had passed.

The anxiety kept growing. At some point, Sook had started pacing back and forth.

In Seo-ryeon’s mind too, all sorts of thoughts kept tangling up, appearing and disappearing repeatedly.

“Sook, I think I should just go to the shop.”

“Will you do that?”

Since Seolha’s return was delayed, Sook had been secretly hoping for that too.

“I’ll go and escort her back.”

Just as Seo-ryeon was patting Sook’s shoulder as if to say she should rest easy, it happened.

“Who are you going to escort?”

Suddenly, Eok I-geon’s voice was heard from the entrance. Soon he appeared and approached with large strides.

“We greet Prince Lee.”

Seo-ryeon and Sook hurriedly bowed at the waist to show their respects.

“…I don’t see Seolha.”

Eok I-geon’s words contained many implications.

Though they were the two who assisted Seolha, strangely they had spent quite a long time with Eok I-geon as well.

As a result, they had reached the point where they could recognize his mood just from his tone of voice.

Right now, perhaps due to Seolha’s absence, he was in a considerably low state.

“The First Miss went to her family home early this morning.”

“What did she go there for?”

As far as Eok I-geon knew, Seolha had no sudden reason to do so.

Moreover, they had an arrangement to train together at Macheongtian every day at the hours of ja and o.

Yesterday they had only taken a brief break due to the Tak Family’s invitation, but their training wasn’t finished.

“I don’t know the reason, but actually, the First Miss seemed to be in an uncomfortable mood since yesterday evening.”

Under the pressure that Eok I-geon exuded, Sook unconsciously confessed honestly what she had felt.

“If it was since yesterday evening…”

Eok I-geon’s gaze shifted to Seo-ryeon.

Though no words followed, Seo-ryeon wasn’t foolish enough not to know what he was demanding.

“That is…”

Seo-ryeon fell into contemplation.

She had promised Seolha not to tell anyone about the portrait, but faced with this situation, she felt conflicted.

To speak would be betrayal, but to remain silent made her fear that something might have really happened to Seolha.

“Without lies. Exactly as you saw.”

To the hesitating Seo-ryeon, Eok I-geon commanded briefly and dryly.

It was an ominous sign.

Seo-ryeon comforted herself that revealing the truth would be the way to help Seolha, and finally brought up the portrait story.

“Actually, yesterday…”

“You’re saying you discovered a portrait of Seolha in an abandoned pavilion of the Tak Family?”

“Not of Lady Seolha, but a portrait of someone else who looked exactly like Lady Seolha. It seemed to have been painted quite some time ago.”

“…Is that so?”

It wasn’t a tone that expected an answer to the question.

Seo-ryeon simply bowed her head. Even though it was unavoidable, she had broken her promise with Seolha.

“Then was it because of that painting that the Tak Family warrior came by?”

Sook, who was beside them, tilted her head and whispered to Seo-ryeon. She was also hearing about the portrait for the first time.

“Well. I’m not sure about that either…”

“Did you just say someone from the Tak Family came and went?”

“Yes, Prince. They asked for the First Miss to come to the Tak Mansion as soon as she returns. It seems her grandmother is there.”

“Seolha’s grandmother is at the Tak Mansion?”

Eok I-geon’s complexion changed.

Something had definitely happened.

Though he didn’t know the details of the circumstances, all the people mentioned were formidable.

“I need to go out and look for Seolha. Seo-ryeon, follow me.”

“Yes, Prince.”

As soon as they left Yeong-eun Hall, the place Eok I-geon headed to was Gwihongak.

From what Seo-ryeon had heard, this place originally didn’t let just anyone in, but Eok I-geon seemed to be an exception.

At his appearance, the Gwihongak soldiers bowed with discipline and immediately guided them to the sect leader’s room.

Knock knock.

“Prince Lee?”

Gong Pae-cheon, the Gwihongak leader who had been busy organizing documents, stood up from his seat with a somewhat surprised face.

“What brings you here?”

“I’ve come with a request.”

“Please speak.”

“Seolha has disappeared.”

“…Pardon? You mean the First Miss?”

To Gong Pae-cheon, it was like hearing something out of the blue.

At the same time, what flashed through his mind was Shin Geum.

Since she cherished Seolha dearly, he became worried.

“Yesterday, Seolha visited the Tak Family and discovered a portrait of a woman who looked exactly like her. Do you know anything about this, Sect Leader?”

“…!”

“Even the Tak Family came all the way to Yeong-eun Hall to ask about Seolha….”

Eok I-geon carefully observed Gong Pae-cheon’s expression, which changed moment by moment as he spoke.

‘To think he can’t hide it this poorly in front of me.’

He clearly seemed to know something.

But even if asked, it was obvious he wouldn’t answer.

In that case.

“Find out.”

It wasn’t ‘please find out’ but ‘find out.’

“Understood.”

Nevertheless, Gong Pae-cheon immediately answered that he would do so.

If he hadn’t known from the beginning, it would be one thing.

Since Ghost Spirit Hall had started investigating, there was nothing they couldn’t find out.

‘Shin Seolha….’

Eok I-geon waited for contact from Ghost Spirit Hall, struggling to hide his impatience.

Meanwhile, as soon as Cheon-yeong left the castle, he mobilized all of Hyeon-wol-dang’s shadows to focus on finding Seolha.

And it didn’t take long at all before he located her position.

“The First Miss appears to be currently at the Cheonhyeol Yeo Clan.”

“At the Yeo-ga?”

“Is that true?”

“What business does Seolha have there?”

For Tak Joong-hak and Shin Geum, it was like a bolt from the blue. Their purpose was all too obvious.

“It seems she came to the noodle shop early in the morning. Neighbors witnessed her returning with some man she met in front of the shop, and his appearance matched that of Hyeok Ri-cheon, the leader of the Blood Wolf Unit.”

“Yeo Gong made the first move.”

Curses rarely escaped from Tak Joong-hak’s mouth.

“This won’t do. How dare they lay a hand on my granddaughter. Today I’ll take Yeo Gong’s head!”

Shin Geum was anxious, fearing that bastard might harm Seolha.

Now that she was misunderstood as a spy, there was no telling what he might do to Seolha.

“Since our identity has been discovered anyway, there’s nothing more to hide. I’ll go openly and bring Seolha back.”

“Wait and see.”

Tak Joong-hak had already resolved not to hold back this time either.

He had lost his precious daughter long ago.

He couldn’t afford to lose the treasure she had left behind as well.

“Cheon-yeong.”

“Yes, Family Head.”

“I’ll go with No-gak.”

No-gak was the captain who led the Baek-gwi Hyeon-ma-dae, the military force representing the Hyeon-ma Tak Family.

Taking them along meant he was prepared for all-out war with the Yeo-ga.

“I’ll prepare.”

Cheon-yeong also welcomed this.

Shortly after, the Tak Clan Warriors, fully armed, began marching toward the Cheonhyeol Yeo Clan with desperate determination.

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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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