บท 60: Chapter 56: Bulhwagsilhan (Uncertain)
She would have slapped me if the Young Master didn't arrive in that moment with an indifferent look on his face as he just walked past me without acknowledging me at all once again. I was on my knees at this point and he just didn't do anything. "Young Master!" "What has happened now?" "Husband, I have never endured such anger before! That unruly orphan girl has such a loose tongue and dares to talk back to me every time I have something to say to her! All of this is because you and your father indulge her too much!" "She only said a few words, what on earth is there to cry about? People have said much worse and I have never cried before. It isn't some grand incident, so have some decorum please for once in your life." "I...this may not be a grand event to you, but there are rules and etiquette in place for a reason." "Says the maid who climbed into the bed of her Master to elevate her own status with some unknown child in her belly." At least the words that he said gave her the same effect of being slapped across the face as she did to me. Her mouth hung from how jaw so widely before she burst into tears that made us both completely uncomfortable. "But...but my punishing her isn't in discord with the rules of seniority! I only said a few things to her and she..." "For the love of god! How many times do I have to sit here with you and hear you complain about my own family member! All you do is complain like a miserable witch when you have everything everyone could ever dream of in this household! What more do you want! What more do you need! What will satiate your ever growing greed! What do you want from me!"
I saw it coming before anyone else; he was going to work himself up in a rage and then have a near heart attack if he kept taking in all of the pressure from every single angle before I could even get to him with my own questions about my brother. But I still needed to take care of him and make sure that he was well enough to function normally like a normal man. So I didn't hesitate to run over to him and just throw my arms around him from behind without hesitation. "Please calm down. I am sorry, it is all my fault why you are so angry. Please calm down, I cannot survive this here without you. I am sorry, please forgive me." That seemed to do the trick after chanting the same words for 5 minutes or so whilst the concubine was still stuck on her little rant about me. "...what about all of the compromises that I have had to make here? Doesn't that count for anything now anymore? Where can I complain? With whom can I talk to and confide in like you both...I am terrified if you believe in anything that she says about me and sow discord between us! She already bullies me and I cannot clear up my honour even if I had a hundred mouths..." "brother? Are you ok?" "...you never even visit me especially when we live together...what could have annoyed you so much about me already...." "I am fine Yeonna. Thank you. Go on and sort out the food stalls then come right back here to these quarters to clean up a bit since my so-called concubine and her servants have no idea how to clean up their own mess." "Young Master! You cannot let her go after she just..." "She can carry on her punishment afterwards, but as soon as all of the mess and chaos is cleared up in our courtyard, the better is it for all of us. Get this done as soon as possible so we can all resume our duties." "Is there anything else that you need before I leave?" "I have some more books for you to read waiting for you in our quarters." 'Our quarters? Our?' Did he really just say that? In front of everyone? "I...thank you." "And Yeon?" "Yes?" "Do not forget that you cannot step outside unless it comes to your monthly days out. If you need to run any errands then have the servants do it." "But..." "No buts Yeon and I mean it, or I will never let you do this again." "Ok, I understand." At least I got him to calm down, because it had been long overdue to put my efforts and attention on somebody else for a change. And i was only getting this chance to Seon-Ho being busy at work with Sung-Rok or I would have probably never been able to get away from him at all.
I was still thinking about that curly-haired servant whom I was sure was my brother when I noticed the concubines servants running away hurriedly from the kitchen store room just as the porridges and soups were being made. The concubine wasn't able to get her way with me once again, so I couldn't be too surprised if she was still trying to find ways to mess this up for me as well. And usually, I would go out of my way to repay 'the favour', but she was already crying hysterically and she was pregnant, so I couldn't get back at her the way that I used to. And I had my 'brother's health on the line to think about and that was far more important to me than she could ever be to me. So I tried to act as normal as not to give myself away as I rummaged through the bags of rice that we had, only to discover mouldy rice in each bags underneath a fine layer of good quality rice that we had. Thank goodness that porridge wasn't the only thing that we were giving away, otherwise I would have been in some serious trouble. But I was still angry enough not to let them get away with this. So I marched over back to my old quarters to summon the concubines servants in front of Seon-Ho who was busy with some reports to help me since all of the servants part from the kitchen maids were given a day off especially.
"Are you back already?" "Brother, I need some help with the bags of rice." "The concubines servants, they are pretty much useless here anyways." "Young Master!" "Thank you. Come on then, we need to shift the bags to the kitchen, whilst I just retrieve something from my room." The look on their face was well worth restraining my anger, for now anyways. They knew I was leaving them alone with the rice and if any unfavourable incidents occurred, then they would become liable to reap the consequences of their own actions without me having to do anything at all. I, on the other hand, went straight into the kitchens and started prepping new food especially for my brother and his friends whilst I got my own maid to investigate exactly what was going on with the mouldy rice.
In my early days here I ended up throwing up almost every meal that I had because I was not used to the delicacies at all, and now I had an idea why that was. But at the same time, I wasn't going to give them the servant's meals either. I packed some small amounts of beef and steamed vegetables for them along with some noodles to keep them going for a while. I just hoped that he liked it and the young master didn't overly praise my food for nothing at all. The man usually ate everything that I left for him anyways so this shouldn't be a problem at all.
"Young Mistress? I found various jugs of rice vinegar in the servant's quarters." "I thought so. Ok, I want you and the rest of my servant to conduct a raid in their quarters and do not be sneaky about it. Try to make as much noise as possible." "I do not understand..." "if merchants pour rice vinegar into water that washes the rice, it only removes the mouldy smell and not the toxicity. It will kill anyone who eats it." "But what about the food!" "I have already told the kitchen maids to stop making porridge but I am making them stand near the food that is already made to catch them out in case anyone wants it. Let us see how they will react when they are the one serving the food. By the way, remember who we need to look out for." "There is no need for that young mistress, he is already here near the front of the queue!" "Really? Already? Wait, do I look alright? I do not stink of food, do I? Is my dress ok? I tried on my most simple dress so it doesn't look...arrogant. I didn't put on too much makeup either." "Young Mistress...." "What is it? Why has your face gone all pale? Are you ill?" All of a sudden she looked like she was looking at a ghost behind me and I really couldn't figure out what was wrong with her until I suddenly caught a glimpse of the one person who's face I really didn't expect to see now of all times through a steel cooking pan. And he was just standing on the spot almost 5 feet away from me and I had no idea how to react either in that moment. My servant tried to steer him away but it wasn't working, I tried to busy myself with the cooking and he just came over after starting me for a full ten minutes and took the food for himself. It was one of the most awkward and intense situations that we had ever been in so far, but when I placed my hand gently on top of his to stop him from taking everything that I had just poured my heart and soul into, he lost it. He took a tray of piping hot tea cups and he smashed it on the floor without even thinking of himself. And neither did I when I pushed him aside before he could scald himself senselessly.
"Just what do you think you are doing! Why did you do that!" He kept his mouth shut as usual but his face said it all; he was terrified for me to ask him any questions at all. So there was nothing that he could do apart from trying to storm off when all of a sudden we could hear utter chaos erupting from outside. I completely forgot about the food that I was cooking and we all ran outside to see that the servants had lost control and were getting frustrated at the concubines servants who refused to hand out the porridge that the kitchen maids spent hours working on early in the morning. And just when the Young Master found himself being pulled in all directions, I caught a glimpse of the man and his friends specifically looking for me. Up until this point; I had never come close enough to the man to take a really good look at his face, but I had managed to walk closer to him today at an angle where he couldn't see me. I still couldn't remember that I had a brother, but when I saw how similar we looked, I could feel my heart slip from my chest all the way down to my feet. All of this time, I felt as if I had been neglecting something important, and now I could feel angry hot tears burning down my cheeks and my whole body tremble in a deep sense of guilt that I had never felt before. Someone was going to pay for doing this to us and very soon, I would make sure of that.
บท 61: Chapter 57: Banhang (Rebellion)
I could see my sweet and innocent baby sister looking at me with her curious eyes after all of these years and it was completely undoing me on the spot. I already knew that she was up to something when she volunteered to put up a food stall for the servants, but now I knew that I should have never come here at all. I was even starting to pity the man who was responsible for all of this chaos between us; Seon-Ho must behaving a hard time trying to figure out exactly who she was compared to the awkward and extremely naive teenager that I introduced her to. But I had my reasons for that and there was no way for me to expect things to turn out the way they did. I had already lost my parents at a young age and I put my heart and soul into caring for my disabled sister when I could have easily sold her off like the rest of the lowborn that we were forced to become after being orphaned. She was my entire world in our poor as destitute lives where people like us weren't given a chance anywhere, and I had been on edge from the moment that she was ripped away from me. I was risking my life every single day in the hopes that she could regain her memories, and not just the ones that she had lost recently. I was her older brother and it was my duty to keep her safe, but only I knew how resourceful she truly was, and it was to the point that I had made her look different to everyone else so they wouldn't know- including the only other person that I had let into out world, and that had proven to be a mistake.
"Excuse me? I...wait! Please! Do not walk away!" I was completely covered in filth this time as the river was too crowded today for me to take a bath and I stank from a mile away. My sister, on the other hand, was dressed in a simple yet elegant and expensive dress and was perfumed from every single angle that she could be. I felt dirty in front of her, and ashamed of myself that I was the one who hadn't worked hard enough to change our fortunes to be the one responsible for her new rich lifestyle. Even though I knew that I did everything that I could do put the smile on her face that she had now as she tried to get a look at my face. But there was no point in conversing with her when she couldn't remember me at all. "I am sorry...I didn't mean to disturb you..." "I have been waiting for you to come back here for a long time now."
I had been thrown into poverty, thrown into being a carer at the age of 6, thrown into an unlikely friendship with someone from the polar opposite of my world, thrown into a war that I was not prepared for and now I had bene thrown into a very dangerous situation amongst some members of the royal family and risking my life every single day to keep Yeonnie alive. So I could not be more grateful for the fact that her memory loss had not altered her personality at all. She was still the kindest, empathetic, sweetest and pure girl I knew, like untouched snow. Despite the huge difference between us now, she still put her hand in mine just like she used to every time I would leave our home to buy us food or go to work. Just that alone was enough to reduce me to tears, even to the point where it was obvious that a grown man like me was crying on the street and she didn't say anything at all. And it really didn't help at all that she looked more and more like my mother with the little makeup that she was wearing now and her intricate hairstyle that she could never wear before.
"I have made up some food for you and your friends in the kitchens. Please come with me to collect it, I cannot do it on my own and it is the servant's day off today." "Did you...cook it personally?" "I have been learning how to cook since my first day here." She replied with one of her simple smiles that was beginning to melt the stone in my heart. Because of her epilepsy, I had never let her near any fires in case it triggered her, so I had to learn how to cook at such a young age. The fact that she was now cooking by herself and for me it seemed...well it was all beginning to overwhelm me a little. I was so extremely proud of her for overcoming her epilepsy and I couldn't be more over the moon about it. But she started pulling me away right into the lion's den and into the kitchen where she had trays of good food that I had never even smelled before lined up...just for me. Smoked rich beef, noodles, some mackerel and other fish that I had never tasted before. It was enough to make all of our jaws drop once the other men caught up with me and they immediately ran to the food like a pack of wild animals. I almost had to throw myself at my sister to protect her from these wild men that I had picked up in the war, but she in turn seemed to be amused by them. And once we all had grabbed our trays of food, she led all 4 of us men to her huge quarters which seemed to be bigger than our entire home without a hint of fear or shame. "Please, enjoy the food whilst you can. The master of the household is out today." "And what about Seon-the young master?" "He is busy with some trouble he is dealing with." "So he is home?" "Yes, but as you can see, he is dealing with some issues of the food stall for his servants." "Shouldn't...you be there with him? To sort it all out?" "Why should I be there when I am not the one causing all these issues?"
That was another side to my sister that nobody else knew about, with probably the exception of Seon-Ho now. Despite her purity and empathy, she also had the rare ability to expose anyone who tried to harm us with only a few words and bring them to their ruin. She wasn't a mean or unfair woman; she was just fair in it's truest sense and didn't hold back at all. She could smell a rat with dishonest intentions from a mile away and right now I needed her skills to carry out this seemly impossible mission that I had been burdened with so I could bring her home with me. I wasn't anywhere near as smart and witty as she was; and despite my father's swordsmanship being passed down to me, I was only a simple blacksmith and I was not equipped to deal with the schemes and tricks that the royal family members carried out on a daily basis and other men of nobility, just like the scum of the earth who did this to my family. "Please eat everything, otherwise I will not let you leave. How is the food?" "It is really delicious. Thank you so much for doing this for us." "You're welcome, I am trying to give something back to all to the Nam's servants after all of their years of service." I couldn't help but to wince at that statement, but I guess that in her eyes, that was exactly what I was. "But why?" "Because it is important to the young master that I do this." "Are you...is he making you ...do things? For him?" I honestly regretted loosing my temper at him when we were reunited in the war, but using my sister like this was my biggest fear and the fact that it came from him was almost pushing me to smother him in his bed with his pillow at this point. That man could set me on fire and I wouldn't bat an eyelid, not after everything that we had been through. But any involvement with my sister that was deemed inappropriate by society's standards would push me too far. No matter what our reputation or family was like now currently; a woman's reputation was her lifeline in this cruel life of ours. Even using her to do his dirty work like he was doing to me was really testing the limits of my patience in my already frail and fragile life. And I had every intention in the world to make him pay for it, or so I thought until I heard him make his way into these huge quarters. At first, I was rather confused about how Yeon easily let him in like that without asking for permission at all. But when I saw him make his way around easily without making eye-contact with me, it dawn on me that he might have actually gave his own quarters away to my sister. But why? Why would he do that? He never did anything for anyone unless it benefitted him....and how was he so calm about me meeting my sister so openly in his father's absence?
"How long are you going to stay here for? There is a whole scene playing out in front in case you haven't noticed." "I have noticed, but what do you want me to do about it? Even if I do, you will just allow her to stay, no matter what right?" "Yeon." "She is your problem, brother. You sort it out for once." "You know that I cannot do that without your help." "Since the concubine wants to be in charge, why don't you let her try and sort it out? I am still on punishment, am I not? How can I flaunt that authority if she doesn't get the chance to?" "Understood. And Yeon, do not take too long. Wrap this up quickly and carry out your punishment." "Yes, brother." Nam Seon-Ho, the cold man who lorded himself in front of me to relay his father's messages was now transformed into...something rather tamed and quiet around my baby sister, which was totally unusual for his usually brash personality. He kept his beady little eyes fixed on her the entire time with various looks of anticipation, resolution and even approval. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it sounded like he was waiting for her approval or orders about something going on in his own household before he just stormed off.
"Why are you all looking at me with your mouths open? Please finish off your food whilst I bring you dessert." Dessert? I hadn't ha done of those in well...ever. I could never afford to buy anything sweet for us and here she was, baking it at home like a kitchen maid? She wasn't even acting like a woman of nobility who had servants to do everything for them.
"Are you all thinking what I am thinking?" "What? That you never told us that your sister was a damned good cook? Even better than some of those private chefs in the city?" "Or how she seems to have the young master and this entire household wrapped around her fingers? Even the maids seemed to be looking to take simple orders from her earlier on when we were in the kitchen." "Forget matchmaking in these higher up classes, anyone would be lucky enough to marry that young girl, bless her hands." "Shut up! She isn't getting married to anyone! I mean...because of her epilepsy, I cannot let her..." "Your sister hasn't had a single fit since she woke up here, so you do not need to worry about that. And she has everything that she can possibly want in this life and more under this roof of mine, so you can stop taking peeks at her to draw you in. Finish your food and leave before the guards report you to my father, and even then I will not be able to save you."
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