Chapter 6
“Grand Kitchen Head Grandma, can I sleep with Hyang-a tonight?”
“Oh my! Young Miss.”
Hyang-a glanced nervously at Dang-a, lowering her eyes carefully as if worried Dang-a might feel hurt.
“Well… if Hyang-a finds it troublesome, then it can’t be helped.”
I lowered my head sadly.
Seeing my expression, Hyang-a waved her hands in panic.
“Troublesome? Of course not! I was just worried the young miss might feel uncomfortable because my room is so simple. Ah—it’s not dirty or anything! I just washed all the bedding yesterday.”
Hyang-a had lost her husband and child during the war with the unorthodox factions.
With nowhere to place her heart, she had always lived in loneliness.
Later, when she became my nanny, she leaned on me emotionally and lived through that connection.
“The blankets dried nicely in the sun. They’re very soft and fluffy.”
Hyang-a subtly expressed how much she wanted me to stay with her.
“Soft fluffy blankets… yawn… Just imagining it makes me sleepy.”
“Oh dear.”
Seeing me yawn repeatedly, Hyang-a lifted me into her arms.
“Hyang-a, the young miss clearly likes you very much. I suppose I shouldn’t insist any further. Take good care of her.”
Dang-a gently stroked my hair, though regret was visible in her touch.
“Grand Kitchen Head Grandma, I’ll sleep with Hyang-a tonight and visit you tomorrow morning. Let’s drink the ginkgo leaf tea together, then.”
“Shall we? I’ll prepare it carefully so it doesn’t taste bitter. I’ll make some delicious food too. Sleep well, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Soon after, Hyang-a carried me on her back toward the servants’ quarters.
The cooks’ dormitory was located at the far edge of the outer residence.
This was so that the early morning movements of kitchen staff would not disturb the guests staying in the guest rooms.
We passed several doors and crossed in front of the medicine hall.
Lights burned brightly there, since medicinal herbs were boiled through the night.
The stronger the smell of medicine became, the more uneasy I felt.
My body trembled.
“Young miss, are you cold? You’re shivering.”
“I’m fine.”
I lay flat against Hyang-a’s back and glanced sideways toward the medicine hall.
Steam rose from the boiling pots, and glowing charcoal seemed to flicker before my eyes.
I’m scared.
In my previous life, I had been bullied by Gyoa for two days and ended up catching a severe chill.
The floor in the guest room had been ice-cold, and the blanket was as thin as paper.
Driven by my instinct to survive, I wandered outside looking for warmth.
That warmth led me to the medicine hall.
I didn’t know it would become the place where I almost died.
While warming myself beside the brazier, I slowly drifted into sleep.
Then suddenly a harsh smell of smoke filled the air.
A maid in the medicine hall had grown tired of fanning the charcoal all night to boil the herbal medicine.
So she secretly used coal instead.
Because of the intense heat, the medicinal pots began to boil over.
Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem.
But oil was different.
When badger oil, used to make medicinal ointments, caught fire, flames shot up to the ceiling.
In an instant, I was trapped inside the fire.
I screamed.
Hyang-a’s room was right next to the medicine hall.
Hearing my screams, she rushed into the flames without hesitation.
At that time, she didn’t even know me.
Because of that accident, Hyang-a suffered severe burns on her face.
“So her left face was completely ruined? With that face, can she even continue working in the kitchen?”
“This happened because someone brought a strange person inside. This time the medicine hall burned, but next time it could be the main residence.”
“Oh my, so the youngest young miss started the fire?”
“You didn’t know? Several people said they saw the youngest young miss playing with fire!”
A false rumor spread quickly.
People began saying that I had started the fire.
By the time my father and grandfather returned to the Tang estate, I had already become the custodian of the medicine hall.
Later, my father caught the maid who had used coal.
But by then, the prejudice against me had already taken root.
If I suddenly claimed tonight that a fire would happen, people would think it strange.
Small suspicions destroy trust.
And once trust breaks, it leads to even bigger misunderstandings.
That was why I chose to sleep with Hyang-a instead of going with Dang-a.
All I have to do is stop them from using coal.
When we reached her room, Hyang-a brought water and washed my face and hands.
She even brushed my teeth with a small brush.
“Young miss, sleep well.”
As she gently patted my chest to lull me to sleep, Hyang-a gradually fell asleep herself.
I quietly sat up.
Ah… I’m so sleepy.
Rubbing my drooping eyelids, I headed toward the medicine hall.
My plan was simple.
I would wait along the path used by the medicine hall maid.
If she came carrying a bucket of coal, I would stop her.
If we struggled and made noise, the guards on night watch would come running.
Once that happened, the rest would take care of itself.
After all, using coal in the medicine hall was forbidden.
Maybe I should wait here.
Just as I was peeking around near the medicine hall door—
“Song-ok, have you seen a tiny brat wandering around?”
It was Gyoa’s voice.
I quickly hid myself.
“A tiny brat? No, I haven’t.”
“Ugh, seriously! Where did she go? This is so annoying!”
Gyoa stomped her foot.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“The guest hall supervisor told me to wash and feed that smelly beggar kid. So I roughly cleaned her up and left her in the room, but now she’s gone.”
“If the beggar kid disappeared, isn’t that a good thing?”
“Well… the Grand Kitchen Head suddenly asked which maid was responsible for that beggar kid. Damn it… maybe that beggar isn’t just a beggar after all. Anyway, can you help me find her?”
Gyoa grabbed the arm of Song-ok, the medicine hall maid.
“I’m on my way to replace the charcoal in the brazier.”
“Charcoal, my foot. Like anyone doesn’t know you use coal—”
Song-ok quickly covered Gyoa’s mouth.
“Watch what you say! Do you want someone to get beaten to death?”
“I know, I know! Just dump the coal into the brazier quickly and help me search, okay? We’re from the same hometown—help me out.”
“Then help me finish my work first. If you do that, I’ll help you look for the beggar.”
“Fine.”
The two of them walked side by side toward the medicine hall.
So Gyoa knew that Song-ok started the fire.
Yet when I was blamed for it, she acted like she knew nothing.
No…
Maybe the two of them had actually planned to frame me together.
Gyoa needed to hide the fact that she had bullied and beaten me.
Song-ok needed to hide that she used coal.
So they needed a scapegoat.
And that scapegoat was me.
Grinding my teeth, I walked toward the medicine hall.
“Hey! What are you two doing there together?”
“Ah!”
Gyoa, who had been pouring coal into the brazier, jumped in surprise when she saw me.
“You! Your hair…!”
When she had abandoned me like luggage in the freezing guest room earlier, my hair had been completely messy.
But now it was neatly braided into two sections, treated with camellia oil.
Only now did Gyoa realize someone had carefully taken care of her.
Fear flashed across her face.
Maybe she’s not really a beggar…
That must have been what she was thinking.
But Gyoa quickly changed her expression.
Then she muttered to herself,
“No… they said all the young master’s daughters were dead.”
Placing her hands on her hips, she shouted loudly.
“Hey! Why aren’t you staying quietly in your room? I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”
“Why were you searching for me?”
“Well, because you disappeared!”
“But why is it such a big deal that I disappeared? I’m just a beggar who came here hoping to get one meal.”
My attitude had completely changed.
Gyoa swallowed hard.
“I—I don’t care! Just go back to your room! Someone like you shouldn’t wander around freely! Huh? Are you glaring at me? Just you wait—!”
She tried to grab me.
But I quickly spun my body.
Even though I was small and thin, the sudden rotation was enough to slip out of her grasp.
“Y-you! D-do you know martial arts?”
Staggering, Gyoa stared at me in shock.
“Would something like this even count as martial arts in the Tang family?”
I tilted my head with my arms crossed.
At that moment, Gyoa’s face turned pale.
