Chapter 10
Had about one sikgyeong passed? My legs, folded beneath me in a crouch, were beginning to tingle and go numb.
Was it just a scrap of paper someone threw away?
I was lightly tapping my numb legs when it happened. The darkness ahead suddenly rippled, and a black shadow dropped down with a swift motion.
What was that movement?
The ground was covered everywhere with dry bamboo leaves, yet not a single footstep could be heard.
A master?
Now I simply rolled my eyes around, scanning the surroundings while waiting to see when the person meant to meet that shadow would appear.
But then the black figure began walking in a single direction.
More precisely—toward the spot where I was crouching.
Uh… this doesn’t look good.
I tilted my head in confusion. In the meantime, the figure wrapped in pitch-black martial robes stopped right in front of me, only his eyes visible above a mask.
“W-what—?! Mm—!”
A swift hand clamped over my mouth. He seized my shoulder firmly, pinning me in place.
I hadn’t known.
I hadn’t known that having your movements subdued in an instant could be this terrifying.
I couldn’t even think of running away. My trembling eyes could only beg silently for my life.
“You’re not acting like yourself.”
A deep, low voice.
Not like… me? What did that mean?
He slowly loosened his grip and released me.
Wait… does he know me?
I hid my trembling hands behind my back and kept my lips tightly sealed.
Get a grip. Get a grip.
They say that even if a tiger bites you, you’ll live as long as you keep your wits about you. I steadied my ragged breathing.
Slowly, I pushed away the hand that covered my mouth.
Surprisingly, it yielded easily.
I straightened the body that had leaned backward in retreat and hardened my expression.
“Last half-month… you didn’t come out. Did something happen?”
You came out last half-month too? Wait—last half-month…
Ah, the replacement of the inner and outer hall maids!
“The inner hall….”
“Ah, I heard about that. They say the maids of the outer and inner halls were replaced in large numbers.”
He heard about it? From whom exactly?
The conversation was gradually shifting into something far more chilling than I had expected.
“Your face looks terrible. You’re not hurt anywhere else, are you? Surely you must have run short on Jeoksin-hwan….”
Why was he talking so much? And what was Jeoksin-hwan?
I didn’t know anything, so I simply stared at him.
At times like this—
the best strategy was to keep your mouth shut.
Then the other person might reveal information on their own.
“Since the plan seems to have fallen through, here. Take care of the Jeoksin-hwan first.”
He produced a small vial, then rummaged through his clothes again.
“And this—I brought it because I thought it might be good for you to learn. Take your time with it.”
He pulled a booklet from his chest and pressed it into my hands.
Then he tilted his head slightly as he looked at me.
“You’re unusually quiet today. Is your body unwell because of the Jeoksin-hwan, perhaps?”
At his words, I let out a quiet sigh and nodded slightly.
His eyes curved gently, as if he were smiling.
“When you train based on this book, make absolutely sure no one sees you. And under no circumstances let anyone take it from you.”
His words continued, sounding almost like nagging.
I found myself letting out a long sigh, wishing he would just leave already.
The moment I realized what I had done, my body stiffened.
Surely he won’t kill me just because I sighed… right?
I cautiously rolled my eyes to observe him. A soft puff of air escaped his lips.
“I know. You don’t like nagging. But you still need to know these things.”
At that, I nodded twice.
“And one more thing.”
He took my clenched fist, opened it, and placed another small vial in my palm.
“This is Bosin-hwan. When your condition is poor, take one pill at a time. If you feel unwell, make sure to use it.”
“Th-thank… you.”
He had given me a book and two pills that looked like medicinal elixirs.
It felt only right to thank him.
Once again, the corners of his eyes curved gently.
Above his dark brown eyes, long eyelashes arched upward like crescent moons.
Even beneath the mask, the bridge of his nose appeared quite high, and I found myself wondering what his face might look like.
But considering that my curiosity had already gotten me into this mess, I simply wished for this moment to pass quietly with all my limbs still attached.
He stood up and tightened the sleeves and ankles of his martial robes.
Was he finally leaving?
“For safety’s sake, let me ask. Is the current method of contact still acceptable?”
“No!”
His eyes instantly turned fierce.
Whether because of that or because of the memory of nearly collapsing earlier, the back of my head throbbed.
“N-no….”
“Has someone discovered it?”
“That’s not it. But… something just feels—”
“So it’s not safe anymore. I’ll return to the Sect and discuss another method.”
I nodded faintly.
Then my whole body stiffened.
Wait… did I hear that right just now?
I twisted my head awkwardly, debating whether I should ask again.
Meanwhile, my heart pounded and my breathing grew quick.
No… I should ask.
“Um… just now, you said ‘Sect’…?”
When I lifted my head to look—
no one was there.
Only the bamboo stalks swayed in the wind, as if no one had ever stood there.
“No… that can’t be right. And surely…”
…Surely that “Sect” isn’t the Demonic Cult I know?
Cruel.
This was far too cruel.
Or perhaps it was just the world I had ended up in that was completely insane.
Inside my head, screams and curses were running rampant.
But outwardly, I couldn’t show a thing.
Being possessed into a novel.
Becoming a maid.
Having no way to return.
I had accepted all of that.
Work could be done. As Chuseol had said, as long as I bowed deeply before the high-ranking people and behaved with a bit of tact, things would be fine.
But this—
this was on an entirely different level.
Dropped into the middle of the Orthodox Sect.
And I was a spy of the Demonic Cult.
The scale of misfortune was simply too extreme.
“Ugh…”
“When the young master is reading, be quiet. Don’t make any noise.”
Sobuk shot me a glare.
Why was this brat always acting like he wanted to eat me alive whenever he saw me?
But after what I experienced yesterday, his petty bullying didn’t bother me in the slightest.
My head could literally roll off at any moment, you little punk!
“Sobuk, do you know—”
“Know what?”
“The sound of stepping on dry bamboo leaves.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? If you’re sick, go lie down.”
But it wasn’t nonsense.
The man who had walked across those dry bamboo leaves had brought disaster upon me.
What should I do? What do I do? What do I do?
Without realizing it, I began gnawing anxiously at my fingernails.
Watching me, Sobuk pointed his index finger at his temple and spun it around in a circle.
Then suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind like lightning.
My life is already a gamble anyway.
Yes.
All or nothing.
If I couldn’t escape the world of this novel—
Then I have no choice but to learn martial arts myself.
I didn’t know how, but once that thought settled in my mind, I felt like I could breathe again.
Ah—the book!
The book he had given me, saying it was for self-defense.
Just a guess, but it probably contained methods for training martial arts.
But there was one problem.
I had to hide it.
“I’ll go back to my quarters for a moment.”
“Why?”
“Well… if you really want to know. Women have that thing once a month.”
The moment I said it, Sobuk’s face flushed bright red.
“Ah—ah—alright! That’s enough! You could’ve just said you were going to the latrine. Why go that far?!”
“Oh… right.”
Come to think of it, Sobuk was unexpectedly considerate.
I should tell Danso about that.
Nodding repeatedly, I ran toward my quarters instead of the latrine.
The moment I saw the door, I flung it open.
Where was it? Where had I put it?
After rummaging through everything, I finally found it tucked between folded blankets.
Thankfully, no one had discovered it.
“So what should I do with this now?”
I couldn’t just leave it in my quarters.
I had no private space.
Its size was only slightly bigger than the palm of my hand.
“Maybe carrying it on me would be best.”
Since the ribbon of my skirt tied near my chest, it seemed like a good place to use.
If I tucked it there and let my outer garment fall over it…
After trying it out, it seemed fine.
I couldn’t check without a full-length mirror, but nothing bulged out awkwardly. It looked smooth enough.
As I headed back toward the Third Young Master’s residence, I recalled the recent incident—the murder of an outer hall disciple.
And then, just yesterday—
Considering that the man in black martial robes I met because of my damned curiosity clearly knew me…
that meant I was a spy sent by the Demonic Cult.
I didn’t know the reason, but usually the Demonic Cult stood in opposition to the Orthodox Sect.
They killed each other because they were enemies.
I suddenly stopped walking.
Wait.
What if… I’m the culprit?
The body I had been controlling since before my possession—
had it been attacking people of the Moyong family under orders from the Demonic Cult?
