chapter 17
A breeze passed through the blue sky.
There was movement, yet nothing to be seen.
Swish!
It was a sword strike so fast it was invisible—like wind brushing across the heavens.
“Ah!”
Hong-seol instinctively lifted her wooden sword and blocked Namgung Uigyeol’s downward strike.
“Oh?”
A proud smile spread across his lips.
“Well done. Then, can you guess what the next move will be?”
“Since the opponent blocked a downward strike, their side would be open, so…”
Deep in thought, Hong-seol continued:
“You’d probably tilt the blade sideways and go for the waist.”
“And how should the opponent defend?”
“Hmm… Move the sword down to the left like this, and step back?”
Hong-seol spun lightly, retreating outside Namgung Uigyeol’s attack range.
“Haha!”
His laughter rang throughout the training hall.
“Teaching is only this fun when someone’s like Young Master Namgung Baek!”
Hong-seol blinked.
“Namgung Baek… my senior?”
“Your senior?”
“Well… since we share the same teacher…”
Namgung Uigyeol, the Master of Changcheon Hall, also taught the clan’s direct descendants on behalf of the clan head.
But whether his relationship with Namgung Baek could really be called “master and disciple” made him hesitate.
“No?”
“Well, technically yes, but we don’t really use terms like ‘senior brother’ inside the clan.”
Wondering if she had done something wrong again, Hong-seol grew worried.
“Th-then… what should I call you?”
“Why not call me ‘orabeoni’*?”
(*A respectful, older-brother term used by girls.)
Orabeoni…?
Hong-seol’s cheeks flushed at the embarrassingly intimate title.
“Ahem. Anyway.”
Namgung Uigyeol continued, and only then did Hong-seol escape her embarrassment.
“In the past, everyone said Young Master Namgung Baek possessed the talent to inherit the position of Grand Patriarch.”
As he finished, the expression on his face dimmed.
Why does he talk like it’s something from long ago?
Hong-seol couldn’t understand. She had seen Namgung Baek not long ago—the martial skill he displayed was unbelievably exceptional.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Uigyeol’s voice.
“You failed to properly receive my wooden sword earlier, didn’t you?”
Ah.
He noticed.
His stern voice boomed above Hong-seol’s head.
“Even if you understand sword paths with your head, if you lack stamina, you cannot avoid your opponent’s blade.”
He folded his arms firmly.
“From now on, I’ll personally take responsibility for building up your stamina.”
Unlike his previous forced training, this time it would be at a level Hong-seol’s body could actually endure.
…Though even that was enough to make his young lady collapse from exhaustion.
“Hah… hah…”
What was that sound?
It was like a tiny animal panting.
A Changcheon Hall warrior had escaped training and was now pressing his ear to the door of the inner courtyard training hall, holding his breath so the Hall Master wouldn’t notice.
“What is that sound!”
He jolted in shock not long after.
The voice of the Hall Master—who usually drove them like demons during training—sounded utterly different.
“You’re doing well! Our Young Lady Hong-seol is definitely a genius!”
Very different, in fact.
What kind of training could possibly make him call someone a genius?
Unable to resist curiosity, the warrior peeked through the gap in the door.
Inside was a sight he could hardly believe.
“One, two! One, two!”
A little girl, barely half his height, wearing training clothes, was running around the martial yard.
Around her tiny waist were three loops of straw rope.
And tied to the end were stones about the size of two adult fists.
Stones that the burly Hall Master might use as game pieces.
But even those seemed heavy for the child.
Sweat beaded on her forehead and scattered like jewels every time she took a step.
The warrior unconsciously sighed.
Good grief, the soles of her feet will wear out…
How could such a small young lady train so hard?
Seeing her, he thought of the lazy juniors sprawled all over the training yard.
Those useless brats! How hard is one hour of horse stance and a thousand sword swings!
Heat flared in his head.
Now he was starting to understand why the Hall Master always roared with anger.
With that thought, he trudged back toward the outer courtyard.
Not long after, screams of warriors echoed from the training yard used by Changcheon Hall.
For once, the afternoon was free of training.
“Sometimes you must rest to grow faster. How about a light walk?”
Hong-seol strolled through the inner courtyard as Namgung Uigyeol suggested. Maeran walked beside her.
“There’s a rear garden full of plum trees, miss. The blossoms are in full bloom these days. Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
She answered politely, and Maeran smiled warmly. Hong-seol grinned happily in response.
“Thank you for coming with me, Maeran.”
“Oh, miss… it’s my job.”
As Maeran said, the plum blossoms were in full bloom. When the breeze shook the petals, a sweet fragrance filled the air.
The sunlight was so bright that Hong-seol narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Please wait, miss. I’ll go fetch a parasol!”
“Ah, wait—!”
Before Hong-seol could grab her sleeve, Maeran had already sprinted off.
Hong-seol murmured quietly:
“I’m a little scared being here alone…”
No matter how hard she tried to stay calm, her palms grew damp with sweat.
What if the Namgung family’s three grandsons come here to see the blossoms too?
She still found the second brother, Heuk, and the youngest, Jeok, overwhelming.
They approached her without hesitation, no matter where or when.
Suddenly opening doors to ask how she was doing was harmless enough—but they would then insist on sharing tangerines or floating paper boats on the pond.
They’re just like the troublesome twin boys of the Myo family…
Back when she was locked in her small room, the ones who visited Hong-seol most were Myo Geum-myeong and Myo Eun-myeong—side-branch boys of similar age.
To the always-hungry Hong-seol, the snacks they passed through the window felt like salvation.
Talking with them had been fun too.
Hong-seol believed they were her only friends.
…until the day she ate the rice cake Geum-myeong gave her.
“Ugh!”
After eating it, she rolled on the cold floor, soaked in cold sweat.
“I think big brother accidentally gave you a spoiled rice cake. Here, if you drink this medicine, you’ll feel better right away!”
Barely conscious, she crawled to the window, took the small ceramic bowl Eun-myeong offered, and drank it without doubt.
But something was wrong.
Instead of easing, the pain worsened.
Her hands and feet swelled rapidly, even her eyelids puffed up.
Clatter!
The empty ceramic bowl slipped from her swollen fingers and rolled across the floor.
Face down, unable even to lift her head, Hong-seol asked weakly:
“E-Eun-myeong… is there something wrong with… the medicine…?”
From above came laughter.
“See? Didn’t I tell you? She’ll drink even rotten weed water if I hand it to her.”
“Really? Eun-myeong, you’re so smart.”
They tricked me.
Hong-seol lay there, quietly crying.
I thought they were my friends…
Worse, that day was only the beginning.
After that, the twins tormented her endlessly.
They threw stones at her forehead to make it bleed, or spat on her from the window above.
Will the same thing happen in the Namgung family?
Heuk and Jeok might also pretend to be kind at first, only to betray her later—just like the Myo family twins.
So the mere interest those two showed her was terrifying.
Unlock soon!~