Chapter 11: Oath of Eternal Love (3)
Seohyo collapsed onto the outdoor chair as if she could sink into it completely. A shop assistant rushed over to take her order, and before she could even step inside, returned with a tray. It was time for sweet treats and tea.
Without even catching her breath, she downed a glass of cold water in one gulp, finally letting out a sigh as if she had truly come back to life. Sipping the tea the butler had poured, she bit into a cookie filled with white bean paste.
The cool autumn breeze was a blessing.
“You really didn’t need to trouble yourself,” Chaon said, his voice flat.
“If you hadn’t stopped me that day, he’d have been dead long ago. And you wouldn’t have had to wander in the blazing sun. We all would’ve been better off.”
Seohyo swallowed her cookie along with a sip of tea.
“It was exhausting. Thanks for accompanying me, Chaon. But… could you stop talking about killing him?”
“Lost items must be found by their owner,” he replied.
“That’s true.”
“Then let’s head home now. Any remaining places are likely empty. I feel like he’s taking revenge for being choked.”
Seohyo lifted the plate holding the two cookies she had eaten so far.
“Eating this will give me energy. Let’s go check the last house after we’ve had a little treat, alright?”
“I am not your lady,” Chaon muttered, glancing at her sideways.
“Don’t you think the past few days’ hardships are too much to just be brushed over with sweets?”
The whole trouble started with Mr. Ga.
He had somehow figured out when Seohyo was alone and came to her with a list of places where he suspected evidence could be found. When she asked why he wasn’t going himself, he snapped that he was incapacitated because the lady’s servant had injured him. Indeed, Ga’s neck was bruised dark blue, leaving Seohyo no reply.
It was like being a mother dealing with a reckless child. And judging by how much Chaon had fussed, Ga had looked like he was about to hang himself.
The list he handed over had ten locations.
Many were remote, far beyond what Seohyo imagined necessary to search, so she had no choice but to accept Chaon’s assistance. Naturally, he would not let her go alone.
Today marked the fifth day. Only one location remained.
“Even if it’s a wild goose chase, don’t rush out to kill Mr. Ga,” Seohyo warned just in case. Chaon scoffed, drinking in the moment.
“Anyway, we don’t know his address.”
Not revealing his whereabouts was the smartest thing Ga had done. After filling her stomach, Seohyo headed to the last house. It wasn’t particularly grand, but not shabby either, when the two of them arrived at its gate.
It was a normal household.
Hopefully, they could finally find some evidence this time.
Seohyo straightened her clothes and reached to knock on the door—but before her lightly clenched fist could touch it, the door flung open from the inside.
“You little rascal!”
A young lady yanked the ear of a girl who looked around twelve, shoving her outside the gate. The girl didn’t collapse, thanks to the lady’s strength, but her face was completely intimidated. She trembled, unable to meet the lady’s eyes.
“You’re already up to tricks!”
The girl was too scared to protest. She looked pitiful, biting her lips though she might have burst into tears.
“I told you to go clean, yet you lie in your father’s room. ‘Lady servant’ is far too noble a term for you, child!”
“Oh—uh…”
Feeling sympathy for the girl being scolded unfairly, Seohyo decided to step in. The young lady, who had been unaware of anyone outside the gate, jumped in surprise, then widened her eyes when she saw Seohyo standing behind her.
“Uh… hello, Miss. I’m the owner of Baekhwa Pharmacy…”
“Oh my.”
“I’ve come to see you about—”
As Seohyo carefully tried to explain, she suddenly wondered if the young lady was even listening. Her eyes looked vacant, as if her mind had wandered elsewhere, yet at moments, a sudden blush would color her cheeks.
“Miss?”
“Yes,” she replied promptly.
Seohyo waved her hands in front of the girl’s face, though one shouldn’t do that in front of someone. Normally, the girl should have been annoyed, but she just smiled faintly.
Only one person stood behind Seohyo. Someone aware of his own influence yet utterly unshaken—a handsome man indifferent to everything.
Had it been a good idea to bring Chaon along?
While it did immediately put the young lady at ease, talking to her felt like conversing with a dazed doll. Seohyo tried a light cough to get her attention.
It was useless.
“Miss, may I ask you something? Do you know anything about an object like this?”
Seohyo unfolded a piece of paper. She added a small lie about the butler urgently searching for it, which finally piqued the young lady’s interest.
This time, she studied the picture intently, then shook her head with a disappointed expression.
“I’m not sure.”
It was a discouraging answer, but at this moment, no one else could feel her ignorance more keenly. She wanted to help, to find a lead, but not knowing meant not knowing.
The young lady tried to recall, then let out a deep, regretful sigh.
“I’ve never seen it before. Is it something your butler owns? Did you lose it?”
Chaon crossed his arms and stayed silent, stepping aside. Seohyo was quietly grateful that he wouldn’t go chasing Ga to kill him in the moment. Preserving the young lady’s dignity was preferable to risking a life.
“It isn’t mine, but it’s important.”
Seohyo answered on behalf of the butler, lowering her gaze at the image with a sigh.
She wondered what logic Ga had used to pick these locations. Everyone they asked had claimed they had never seen the object before.
“Uh… Miss?”
A girl, who had been cornered and forgotten, spoke in a faint voice.
Almost calling her “sister,” she corrected herself to “Miss,” hinting at the treatment she received.
“I’ve finished the cleaning you asked. I was about to leave, but Father said I should rest a bit. I couldn’t refuse… I just sat for a little while.”
The girl’s tiny hands clutched her skirt.
“I fell asleep… I’m sorry…”
“You fall asleep at night, and then again in the day?!”
The young lady snapped, frustrated that her cherished time had been interrupted. Being a child of a formal wife, she naturally resented both her father and mother for past grievances.
Yet, in her eyes there was something beyond simple annoyance.
What emotion was that?
Hatred? Vengeance? Perhaps, but there was also a hint of self-reproach.
Seohyo felt a strange sense of déjà vu in those ambiguous eyes.
The girl’s voice faded like a distant dream. Seohyo couldn’t catch her words; they were too soft and trembling. Even Chaon likely couldn’t hear them.
Yet the words triggered the young lady’s anger.
Her hands trembled, holding back from striking the girl with every ounce of willpower.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You think I would ever like someone like you?”
Why did the one throwing sharp words appear to be the one on the verge of tears?
“No matter what you do, I won’t accept you as a sister! You ungrateful child!”
Chaon seemed ready to leave, but Seohyo couldn’t move her feet.
Why?
Why did her entire body feel frozen?
“Even if the sun rises in the west tomorrow, it won’t happen!”
The world wobbled before her eyes.
It was the first time she had felt like this.
Even as she realized her body was collapsing, she couldn’t move a finger. Her frail body slowly gave way, and she could sense the young lady’s shocked gaze.
Before hitting the ground, Chaon caught her.
His previously bored expression now looked bewildered.
“Miss,” Chaon said, holding Seohyo. Her eyes were open, but her vision was blurred, her focus gone. She could hear his voice but couldn’t respond.
Suddenly, she felt as if she were falling into an endless abyss, trembling softly.
“Your body is cold… why is this happening?”
Chaon felt her pulse and massaged her arm. Her skin was chillingly cold, despite his warm hands.
She couldn’t control her body, as if she might cry. Was this what people meant by being paralyzed? Seohyo clenched her fingers, hard enough to feel a sting.
Her nails dug into her palms. She didn’t relax her grip until semi-circular indentations formed.
Thanks to this—or Chaon’s help—she gradually regained movement. Her breathing eased, and her vision cleared slightly.
“Ugh…”
Seohyo furrowed her brow and pressed her palm to her forehead. It was an indescribable experience. She marveled at how quickly one’s mood could deteriorate.
Both the young lady and the girl looked at her, startled.
Ugh, how embarrassing.
Would they think she was a weak woman collapsing without warning?
Not used to being noticed, Seohyo felt her cheeks flush. Even now, she remained in Chaon’s arms, which embarrassed her.
She tried to stand but her legs still lacked strength. She wobbled with a comical “ugh” before Chaon caught her again.
Even a passerby stopped to stare.
“Cha… Chaon, put me down. What is this? Everyone’s staring!”
“And you tell me not to kill him?”
“What does this have to do with Ga? Wait—wait. To the Miss—”
“Stay still.”
Chaon ignored her complaints and walked on, holding Seohyo.
“I’ll give you your decoction as soon as we get home.”
Seohyo’s face twisted in protest.
“Decoction? No way. Bitter. Disgusting. That’s for humans to drink anyway.”
“Say one more word and I’ll carry you on my shoulder the whole way,” he warned.
Seohyo pressed her lips tightly together.
Chaon was angry. He must have been shocked when she collapsed earlier. His fury, following alarm, was intense.
Even his usual anger couldn’t be challenged by the lady of the house.
Even if she were carried like a tragic heroine and walked through the village, she would have to endure the curious gazes.
But this was too much.
Seohyo mustered the courage to speak.
“I… I don’t mind being carried on your back.”
Chaon shot her a freezing glare. She quickly shut her eyes. A guilty person has no right to argue.
Why was he only skilled at household matters and choking threats?
If only he could fold the ground and move her faster, it would shorten this embarrassing moment.
Seohyo closed her eyes tight, lamenting the limitations of the butler’s abilities.
“Chaon, water.”
“Chaon, the water isn’t cold enough.”
“Chaon, could you add some honey?”
“Chaon, I think there are tiny beans under my pillow.”
From the day they returned, Seohyo was confined to patient status. Except for brief morning moments, she couldn’t leave her room.
Chaon made her drink her decoction on schedule. The herbs were so potent and bitter that it was the harshest decoction she had ever endured.
By the second day, her patience ran out.
By the third day, she began scheming little tricks.
Calls starting with “Chaon” lasted from sunrise until the owl’s cry at night. Her requests were so trivial and varied that Seohyo expected Chaon to surrender soon.
Her goal was simple: hear that she could move around on her own.
But the butler’s persistence exceeded her imagination.
It took nearly a week of being trapped in her room before Chaon said anything other than “Yes.”
“Chaon, I…”
“Miss.”
He stared at her with a sharp, icy gaze.
“Have you… secretly resumed your cycle?”
Pfft!
Seohyo, sipping juice with ice, spewed it in shock. Luckily, only the blanket was soaked, not Chaon’s face.
This was no joke. Chaon rarely joked, usually responding with ridicule and sarcasm.
Seohyo wiped her mouth, watching Chaon. He seemed more concerned about her reaction than the blanket.
“Why would you think that?”
“You’ve been craving sweets, sour things, and cold things all day, unusually irritable. And you collapsed in broad daylight—it’s strange.”
“You said it was the heat.”
Before she caused more trouble, Seohyo moved the juice aside.
The cravings were because she had barely moved and hadn’t digested her meals properly. The cold thirst was because Chaon had wrapped her tightly in feathered blankets.
And her irritability?
Seohyo rolled her eyes. She had worked hard to be irritable.
But Chaon only snorted, dismissing her feeble excuse.
“Autumn equinox was long ago.”
Chaon ground his teeth quietly.
“Once we find the object, he’ll come to the pharmacy. I’ll snap his neck then.”
The vision of Ga’s fragile neck breaking in Chaon’s hands flashed in her mind. Chaon’s unexplained hostility still burned bright.
So first impressions really matter.
If Ga hadn’t attacked Seohyo recklessly, would Chaon be this furious?
Seohyo shook her head.
“No… I didn’t secretly resume. And then… I don’t know. I just felt dizzy.”
Chaon approached, frowning as if she were ill again.
“Don’t worry, Chaon.”
“You don’t seem like someone who worries,” he said, gazing down at her serene face.
Her face was so clear and bright it seemed almost translucent, as if she could vanish like butterfly petals. If she collapsed, no one could intervene.
The thread connecting her to the world felt razor-thin.
Seohyo narrowed her eyes at Chaon.
“If you keep this up, I’ll start acting spoiled.”
“As much as you like.”
“Ha! I won’t miss the chance. I’ll take advantage of it, now that you’re being nice.”
Chaon smiled bitterly. He knew she was trying to lighten the mood with a playful threat.
“People might think I treat you like a servant all the time,” he said.
“Of course. Grind herbs, pack them, do this, do that. Who else would have a servant treat them this way?”
Seohyo added, “So you’d better prepare yourself.”
Chaon merely watched her silently, returning to his usual demeanor. He said that if she didn’t drink her decoction today, she’d welcome the new year in her room. And he noted that he always noticed what remained at the bottom of the bowl.
“From tomorrow, you may move around. Above all, play with those noisy things in the herb drawer. I can’t handle that otherwise.”
He raised his hand, and she thought he might pinch her cheek again, but instead, he lightly stroked her head.
Seohyo felt a ticklish warmth for a moment, enjoying his touch.
She liked being cared for by Chaon.
A small smile spread across her lips.
