FDOT 09

Chapter 9 …

Brothers

Butler Jang slowly approached Seoryeon, pressing a blade against So-hyang’s nearly unconscious throat.

“Put that blade away first.”

“I’ll consider it if the young lady puts down her swords first.”

Thud, thud.

Without a trace of hesitation, Seoryeon dropped both of her swords to the floor.

“Now it’s fine.”

At that moment, Butler Jang withdrew the blade he had been holding over So-hyang.

Then it happened.

So-hyang could no longer hold on and collapsed with a thud.

“Mother!”

Seoryeon immediately ran to her side.

She pulled off her mother’s jacket to examine the wound on her shoulder, eyes widening.

‘This…!’

The spot grazed by the arrow was darkening.

It was a poisoned arrow.

Without the poison, the wound would have been survivable.

“Butler Jang! We need a doctor!”

In urgency, Seoryeon clung to Butler Jang.

“Then follow me quietly.”

Seoryeon had no choice but to follow him. Saving her mother came first.

Clang, clang.

The deck was still filled with the clash of metal.

Meanwhile, the number of enemies had increased. Yu Won-seok, fighting them, looked fatigued. The black cloth tied to his leg was soaked with blood, seeping through the fabric.

Though more enemies had appeared, no archers were visible—meaning they were still positioned outside the boat.

For now, they weren’t firing because allies were on deck. But the moment Butler Jang gave the order, they’d become target practice, some even using poisoned arrows.

Seoryeon scanned the surroundings with a grave expression, realizing instinctively:

This fight was already lost.

In a dark room, silence reigned, broken only by the soft creak of a door.

As Butler Jang entered first and lit a celadon lamp, Lee Ja-gyeom stepped in behind him.

Lee Ja-gyeom seated himself at a table filled with untouched food.

“You won’t touch a bite, huh?”

“What happened to Mother?”

Seoryeon, her face buried in her knees on the bed, asked.

“She’s past the worst.”

Only then did Seoryeon rise and sit at the table.

“I’ve kept my promise and saved your mother. Now it’s your turn to keep yours.”

“And Sa-hyung?”

“I thought you were clever, but you’re utterly foolish.”

Seoryeon put down the spoon she had been about to raise.

“I sent someone to monitor Cheok Jun-gyeong, and he’s playing tricks instead.”

“I asked about Sa-hyung.”

“I’m still deciding. Should I take him back into my hands, or give him one more chance? He’s too valuable to waste. That one surpasses twenty of the Mokjadan.”

So Sa-hyung was still alive.

In this situation, opposing Gukgong’s will would be unwise.

Seoryeon forced herself to swallow the porridge in her mouth.

“From the next meal, include meat. Eating meat will make your skin glow.”

She barely held back the porridge threatening to come back up, pressing her chest.

Then her hand brushed something firm.

‘The dagger is still in my grasp.’

Though her twin swords had been confiscated, the small dagger she had kept close to her chest went unnoticed by them.

Once the Gukgong was gone… everything would return to its proper place.

Sensing her intent, Butler Jang tightened his grip on his blade and stepped closer behind her.

“Don’t even think about acting rashly. The day my life is threatened, your mother, and anyone you call brother, will only see another life.”

He even picked up chopsticks himself, placing side dishes on her plate with deliberate composure.

Seoryeon suppressed her rising anger and ate the food, even chewing down the side dishes he had placed.

“I am a man who grants leniency to those who keep promises,” he said.

After swallowing, Seoryeon asked, her tone weary:

“Why you?”

“On the day I returned from Beopcheon Temple after speaking with you, I had much to ponder. I wondered if perhaps you might betray me,” he continued, his snake-like eyes half-lidded.

“But then I realized… you are the most vulnerable child I’ve ever known.”

Seoryeon listened quietly.

“And yet here you sit obediently before me over such trivial affection. I knew it had to be you.”

Lee Ja-gyeom smiled with complete satisfaction, studying her.

“Yet your eyes are full of resentment toward me.”

Seoryeon glared at him, chewing her food like grinding stones.

“Shall I teach you how to take revenge?”

Taking her silence as consent, Lee Ja-gyeom leaned in to whisper:

“Become queen.”

The moment they left the room, Seoryeon grabbed an empty jar in the corner and vomited everything she had forced down.

“Ha…”

She leaned against the wall, letting out a deep sigh.

If she couldn’t kill him with her own hands… perhaps…

With a despairing heart, she drew the dagger from her chest.

Moonlight streaming through the window caught the blade.

“…!”

[X生有擇]

The engraving, meant to read “살생유택” (“choose carefully whom you kill”), had the first character partially destroyed.

Seoryeon had never parted from the dagger, day or night.

“Who… did this?!”

Suddenly, she remembered what happened at Haewolgak.

The day after waking in the same room as him, he had held her back and returned the dagger with these words:

‘Try not to kill the living with those delicate hands.’

At the time, she had laughed at the absurdity, thinking only someone skilled in killing bandits could say that.

“Then… that means…”

Seoryeon looked again at the damaged engraving.

[X生有擇]

The Gwisalmun motto, meant to mean “kill selectively,” had been altered by the destruction of the first character, giving it a completely different meaning.

“Life… is a series of choices…”

Perhaps the time to make that choice had come.

In the courtyard, lit only by torches, the smell of burning flesh mingled with the screams of men.

“Argh!”

One man could not withstand the agony and dropped his head.

Splash.

Cold water poured over his face.

“Speak! Who is the Salmunju?”

Jang lifted the man’s chin with a club, but he clenched his teeth and remained silent.

As they prepared to brand his chest with a heated iron again, a tall man stepped forward.

Dressed like the others being punished, he alone remained unharmed.

“We are only trainee killers, not yet through the preliminary trials. Only full-fledged killers know the Salmunju’s face,” he said.

“Are you asking me to believe that? How can you follow him without knowing his face? What happened to the others? Haven’t you caught them yet?”

“This is no different from the promise. We said if we surrender Seoryeon, the others will remain unharmed—”

“That’s only if Cheok Jun-gyeong is captured!”

“Chae So-chu! Do you think you could still see your master after that?!”

Even under cruel torture, the man refused to speak, shouting at Chae So-chu.

At a gesture from Jang, a heated iron pressed again against the man’s chest.

“Argh!”

Chae So-chu averted his gaze.

When Lee Ja-gyeom’s forces arrived at Beopcheon Temple, all buildings once used by Salmun had burned to ashes.

Even Lee Ja-gyeom had not anticipated that Cheok Jun-gyeong, appointed to a high official post, would resign and disappear.

The disciples, held captive one by one, bore the brunt of his wrath.

“Bring that one too.”

“Yes.”

Shortly after, a figure, unrecognizable due to the state of his body, was dragged by two soldiers.

Thud.

Near a corpse, he was thrown like a bundle at Butler Jang’s feet.

Chae So-chu’s pupils widened upon recognizing him.

“You were told to keep him alive, but he won’t speak. Chae So-chu, you must make him talk.”

As Jang and the soldiers withdrew, Chae So-chu approached, helped the man to his feet.

“Sa-hyung! Sa-hyung! Snap out of it!”

“Ugh… Wh-Who…”

Yu Won-seok groaned, barely able to speak.

Recognizing him, Chae So-chu gasped.

“Sa-hyung… your eyes…”

Both eyes were scarred black.

“Who did this? What bastard!”

“Cho… it’s you… you survived. Thank goodness, thank goodness.”

Yu Won-seok flailed helplessly, then took Chae So-chu’s hand for reassurance.

“Argh… that woman… why… why did it have to be this far!”

Chae So-chu cried out in frustration.

“Chae So-chu, what about Seoryeon?”

Chae So-chu’s face hardened.

“Even after all this, you worry about her?”

“Even just asking!”

“She’s alive. Perfectly fine! Focus on Sa-hyung instead.”

“Then that’s enough, that’s enough.”

Yu Won-seok breathed a faint smile in relief.

“They’re all insane. I told them not to let her in! To kick her out earlier!”

“Chae So-chu, even if you had, we would’ve done the same.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Just tell me where our master is. That’s our only way to survive.”

Seoryeon was strong, but for Chae So-chu, the greatest source of resentment was Master Cheok Jun-gyeong himself, who chose Seoryeon over the Gwisalmun. If they surrendered her, Lee Ja-gyeom would no longer pursue them.

“So tell me. Where is our master?!”

Yu Won-seok shook his head.

“I’ll kill her. I’ll kill Seoryeon with my own hands. Then our master will appear. His cherished disciple will be dead, he’ll come!”

As he sprang up, Yu Won-seok grabbed his ankle in a panic.

“Don’t, Chae So-chu. Don’t.”

Right now, the one suffering most was Seoryeon. Though she appeared strong, she was the most fragile of all.

She could not abandon a wounded fellow disciple, scaling mountains with men twice her size, and even sought revenge for a comrade who lost an arm to a tiger. She cherished her comrades fiercely.

Who would not want to protect someone like her?

Yu Won-seok’s face faintly smiled.

Seeing him at peace as if he had no regrets, Chae So-chu let out a bitter laugh.

“Brothers, my ass…”